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10,929,033 | ACCEPTED | Transmitting data | Transmitting packets of data from a first station to a second station. Each data packet conveys information of a first information type or a second information type thereby giving each an information type. Each data packet is transmitted using at least a first transmission process or a second transmission process and for each data packet a transmission process is selected in response to an indication of the information type of the information conveyed by the data packet. | 1. A method of transmitting packets of data from a first station to a second station, wherein each of said data packets conveys information of either at least a first information type or a second information type thereby giving each an information type; each data packet is transmitted using at least a first transmission process or a second transmission process; and for each data packet a transmission process (said first, second or other) is selected in response to an indication of the information type of the information conveyed by the data packet. 2. A method according to claim 1, wherein messages are received for transmission as packets, wherein a message containing said first information type is split for sending as two or more packets; and a message containing said second information type is transmitted within a single packet. 3. A method according to claim 1, wherein messages are received for transmission as packets, wherein a message containing a first information type results in the transmission of a first packet type for which an acknowledgement is always generated; and a message containing a second information type results in the transmission of a second packet type for which an alternative acknowledgement procedure is implemented. 4. A method according to claim 3, in which said alternative acknowledgement procedure involves returning a single packet that acknowledges a plurality of transmitted packets. 5. A method according to claim 3, in which said alternative acknowledgement procedure involves returning an indication of expected packets that have not been received. 6. A method according to claim 1, wherein a transmission of packets from said first station to said second station is interrupted due to a transmission interruption; messages continue to arrive at said first station for transmission to said second station but cannot be transmitted due to said transmission interruption; transmission of packets is re-established; all messages of said first information type are transmitted in packets; and only a selection of messages of said second information type are transmitted in packets. 7. A server for transmitting data packets to at least one terminal, wherein each of said data packets conveys information of either at least a first information type or a second information type thereby giving each an information type; the server is configured to transmit each data using at least a first transmission process or a second transmission process; and for each data packet the server selects a transmission process (said first, second or other) in response to an indication of the information type of the information conveyed by the data packet. 8. A server according to claim 7, wherein messages are received at the server for transmission as packets, and the server is configured to split for sending as two or more packets a message containing said first information type; and transmit within a single packet any message containing said second information type. 9. A server according to claim 7, wherein messages are received for transmission as packets, and the server is configured so that a message containing a first information type results in the transmission of a first packet type for which an acknowledgement is always generated; and a message containing a second information type results in the transmission of a second packet type for which an alternative acknowledgement procedure is implemented. 10. A server according to claim 7, wherein a transmission of packets from the server to a terminal is interrupted due to a transmission interruption; messages continue to arrive at the server for transmission to a terminal but cannot be transmitted due to said transmission interruption; transmission of packets is re-established; in which the server is configured to transmit in packets all messages of said first information type; and transmit in packets only a selection of messages of said second information type. 11. A server according to claim 13, configured to transmit data packets to a plurality of terminals. 12. Instructions executable by a network of computers and/or programmable data processing devices such that when executing said instructions stations connected to said network will transmit data packets over said network and said network will perform the steps of transmitting packets of data from a first station to a second station, wherein each of said data packets conveys information of either at least a first information type or a second information type thereby giving each an information type; each data packet is transmitted using at least a first transmission process or a second transmission process; and for each data packet a transmission process (said first, second or other) is selected in response to an indication of the information type of the information conveyed by the data packet. 13. Instructions according to claim 12, such that when executing said instructions messages are received at said first station for transmission as packets, and the first station is configured to split for sending as two or more packets a message containing said first information type; and transmit within a single packet any message containing said second information type. 14. Instructions executable by a combination of a server and mobile terminals connected to said server by a radio network such that when executing said instructions said combination performs the steps of transmitting packets of data from a first station to a second station, wherein each of said data packets conveys information of either at least a first information type or a second information type thereby giving each an information type; each data packet is transmitted using at least a first transmission process or a second transmission process; and for each data packet a transmission process (said first, second or other) is selected in response to an indication of the information type of the information conveyed by the data packet. 15. A computer readable medium having computer readable instructions executable by a computer such that when executing said instructions a computer will perform the step of transmitting data packets in accordance with a first transmission process or a second transmission process, wherein each of said data packets conveys information of either at least a first information type or a second information type thereby giving each an information type; each data packet is transmitted using at least a first transmission process or a second transmission process; and for each data packet a transmission process is selected in response to an indication of the information type of the information conveyed by the data packet. 16. A computer readable medium having computer readable instruction according to claim 15 such that when executing said instructions a computer will perform the steps of splitting for sending as two or more packets a message containing said first information type; and transmitting within a single packet a message containing said second information type. 17. A computer readable medium having computer readable instructions according to claim 15 such that when executing said instructions a computer will perform the steps of transmitting a first packet type for which an acknowledgement is always generated when a data packet conveying a first information type is received; and transmitting a second packet type for which an alternative acknowledgement procedure is implemented for data packets conveying a second information type. 18. A computer readable medium having computer readable instructions according to claim 17 such that when executing said instructions a computer will perform the steps of receiving a single packet that acknowledged a plurality of transmitted packets as said alternative acknowledgement procedure. 19. A computer readable medium having computer readable instructions according to claim 17 such that when executing said instruction a computer will perform the steps of receiving an indication of expected packets that have not been received as said alternative acknowledgement procedure. 20. A computer readable medium having computer readable instructions according to claim 17 such that when executing said instructions a computer will perform steps for responding to a condition in which the transmission of packets is interrupted due to a transmission interruption, wherein messages continue to arrive for transmission but cannot be transmitted due to said transmission interruption; transmission of packets is re-established; and the computer is configured to transmit as packets messages of said first information type; and transmit only a selection of messages of said second information type as packets. | FIELD OF THE INVENTION The invention relates to transmitting data from a first station to a second station. DESCRIPTION OF THE RELATED ART Protocols are known for transmitting data over a network, for example an intranet or the Internet. However, the transmission of real time data (data that must be transmitted to a station very quickly, possibly within milliseconds of its production) over a low-bandwidth network presents problems not addressed by such protocols. In particular, given that packets are inevitably lost, a low bandwidth network provides challenges in terms of how to deal with lost packets. BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION According to an aspect of the present invention there is provided a method of transmitting packets of data from a first station to a second station, wherein each of said data packets conveys information of either at least a first information type or a second information type thereby giving each an information type; each data packet is transmitted using at least a first transmission process or a second transmission process; and for each data packet a transmission process (said first, second or other) is select in response to an indication of the information type of the information conveyed by the data packet. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 illustrates a networked environment; FIG. 2 illustrates a prior art method of supplying data from a server to a terminal over a telephony network; FIG. 3 shows a prior art graph of data against time; FIG. 4 illustrates a typical performance of TCP over a mobile telephony network; FIG. 5 shows a real time data provider shown in FIG. 1; FIG. 6 details a real time data server shown in FIG. 5; FIG. 7 details steps carried out by the real time data server shown in FIG. 6; FIG. 8 details the contents of the memory shown in FIG. 6; FIG. 9 details a session item shown in FIG. 8; FIG. 10 details steps carried out during FIG. 7 to execute real time data server instructions; FIG. 11 illustrates the structure of a typical datagram; FIG. 12 details an MTP header shown in FIG. 11; FIG. 13 details steps carried out during FIG. 10 to transmit datagrams; FIG. 14 illustrates the process of transmitting data; FIG. 15 details steps carried out during FIG. 13 to prepare a transactional datagram; FIG. 16 details steps carried out during FIG. 13 to prepare a streamed datagram; FIG. 17 details steps carried out during FIG. 10 to perform output buffer processing; FIG. 18 details steps carried out during FIG. 17 to set an MTP header; FIG. 19 details steps carried out during FIG. 10 to receive datagrams; FIG. 20 illustrates the use of an MTP header field to measure connection latency; FIG. 21 details steps carried out during FIG. 19 to process acknowledgements and state changes; FIG. 22 details steps carried out during FIG. 21 to process an extended acknowledgement; FIG. 23 illustrates the reception of a datagram; FIG. 24 details steps carried out during FIG. 19 to extract the data contained in a received datagram; FIG. 25 details steps carried out during FIG. 10 to process datagrams placed in the transactional segment buffer; FIG. 26 details steps carried out during FIG. 10 to process incoming streamed datagrams; FIG. 27 details steps carried out during FIG. 10 to perform background processing; FIG. 28 illustrates an extended acknowledgement; FIG. 29 details steps carried out during FIG. 27 to update the datagram transmission rate; FIG. 30 details steps carried out during FIG. 10 to perform session maintenance; FIG. 31 details an application server shown in FIG. 5; FIG. 32 details steps carried out by the application server shown in FIG. 31; FIG. 33 details the contents of the memory shown in FIG. 32. FIG. 34 details instructions executed by a process shown in FIG. 32; FIG. 35 details steps carried out during FIG. 34 to send a selective update; FIG. 36 illustrates examples of providing varying levels of service dependent upon network conditions; FIG. 37 details a PDA shown in FIG. 5; FIG. 38 shows steps carried out by the PDA shown in FIG. 37; FIG. 39 details the contents of memory shown in FIG. 38; FIG. 40 details steps carried out during FIG. 38 to execute real time application instructions; FIG. 41 illustrates the calculation of resend latency; and FIG. 42 details steps carried out during FIG. 40 to negotiate a heartbeat rate. WRITTEN DESCRIPTION OF THE BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION FIG. 1 FIG. 1 illustrates a networked environment in which the invention may be used. A Real Time Data Provider 101 provides data to a number of terminals 102, 103, 104, 105, 106, 107, 108 and 109 via the Internet 110. The data can be separated into at least two types. The first type is streamed data, which comprises updates of certain information that a user of a terminal has indicated that he is interested in. This could be, for example, financial data such as stock prices or exchange rates, sports data such as the latest football scores, news items and so on. A second type of data is transactional data. This comprises any data forming a transaction, which could be a financial transaction such as placing a bid to trade stocks or placing a bet on a sports fixture. Transactional data can also include logging-on or user profile activities. The data is provided over a variety of networks, including radio networks such as mobile telephony networks or wireless networks. A Third Generation (3G) mobile telephony network, connected to the Internet 110, includes a gateway 111 which provides connectivity to a network of base stations. Terminals 102 and 103 are each connected to one of these base stations. A General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) gateway 112 is connected to the Internet 110 and provides connection to a network of GPRS base stations. Terminals 104 to 106 are each connected to one of these stations. A GMS gateway 113 is connected to the Internet 110, providing connectivity for terminal 107. A terminal could, when possible, switch between connections as shown by dotted line 114. Internet Service Provider (ISP) 115 is connected to the Internet 110 and provides internet access for server 116, server 117 and a Wireless Network or Wireless Fidelity (WiFi) gateway 118. Terminal 108 has a link to gateway 118. ISP 119 is connected to the Internet 110 and provides internet access for computer systems 120, 121, 122 and 123 via wire links. Terminal 109 is connected by an ethernet wire link, possibly using a docking cradle, to computer system 122. Alternatively, server 124 is connected directly to the Internet 110. Thus there is a number of ways in which a terminal may link to the Internet 110 in order to receive data from RTDP 101. There are, of course, other methods of connection and the rate of technological advance means that in the future there will be further methods. This description should not be construed as limiting connection methods to those described here. However, the number of methods makes the task of providing real time data difficult. While it is, for example, relatively easy to provide data quickly to terminals 108 and 109, terminals 102 to 107 use relatively low bandwidth, high latency and high variability connections over which it is very difficult to provide real time data. Mobile telephony systems such as those provided by gateways 111 to 113 are used to provide data. For example, mobile telephone users are able to browse the Internet 110. However, the rate of data supply can be extremely slow. This is merely inconvenient when browsing. However, if data on the basis of which decisions are to be made is required, for example financial data, it must be provided in a timely fashion. This means that the data should arrive at the terminal quickly, and preferably it should be possible to indicate to a user how up-to-date the information is. FIG. 2 FIG. 2 illustrates a prior art method of supplying data from a server to a terminal over a telephony network. A server 201 on an ethernet network 202 supplies data packets to a first gateway 203, where the data packets are placed on a high capacity data interconnect 204. A router 205 receives these packets and supplies them to another network 206. Eventually the packets arrive at a telecoms gateway 207, where a telecoms provider can select which of several wireless networks to supply the packets to. A GPRS gateway 208 then supplies the packets to a GPRS router 209, which routes the packets to the base station 210 to which the terminal 211 is currently connected. This journey across several networks is facilitated by the Internet Protocol (IP) which provides a header at the start of every packet defining the destination IP address. Other information is also provided in the IP header, such as the size of the packet, but its primary function is to define an address that gateways and routers can read, and decide where the packet should be sent next. Packets are sent separately, and may end up taking different routes. It is therefore possible for packets to arrive out of order. In order to maintain a dialogue between server 201 and terminal 211, an additional protocol must be used. Most commonly, this protocol is the Transport Control Protocol (TCP). This enables a two-way link to be set up between two systems on the Internet 110. Messages are sent, and TCP provides functionality such as acknowledging and resending data, if necessary, and reordering packets if they arrive in the wrong order. TCP was designed to be used on networks that have a high data capacity and low latency, but can suffer from congestion. However mobile telephony networks have different characteristics and TCP handles certain of these characteristics in an ineffective way. In the communication chain shown in FIG. 2, TCP (and other protocols) achieve effective communication across high-capacity parts of the Internet 110. However, the final link to terminal 211, over a low-capacity wireless connection, is extremely vulnerable. TCP fails to address these vulnerabilities effectively, since it was not designed for that purpose. FIG. 3 FIG. 3 shows a prior art graph of data against time for packets that are sent over the Internet 110. Graph 301 illustrates the headers of a packet sent using a transport protocol such as TCP. The Internet 110 comprises many interconnected networks. As a packet is sent over each individual network, a local network protocol header 302 is attached to it, generally to transfer it from one part of the network to another. At the point of exit from the network, the network gateway will strip the local network protocol header 302, leaving the IP header 303. From this the next destination on a neighbouring network is determined (the router uses various algorithms to work out the next intermediate destination). The local network protocol header is transient, and changes as the packet traverses the Internet 110. The IP header 303 defines the destination IP address for the packet. After this, there is the transport protocol header 304, which is typically used by the communication client and server to form a connection over which communications can take place. Finally the remainder of the data packet 305 is the data payload. Some packets do not have data, and simply consist of signalling in the transport header 304, for example an acknowledgement packet that tells the recipient that some data has been successfully received. Typically, though, acknowledgements are combined with data to reduce traffic. An example of a transport protocol is TCP, as described with reference to FIG. 2. TCP forms reliable connections and is often combined with higher protocols such as the File Transfer Protocol (FTP) or Hypertext Transport Protocol (HTTP). FIG. 4 FIG. 4 (prior art) illustrates a typical performance of TCP over a mobile telephony network. Graph 401 plots bandwidth 402 against time 403. The upper line 404 shows theoretically available bandwidth over the network, while the lower line 405 shows the use made of the bandwidth using TCP. TCP's performance is always less than 100%. When there are significant changes in network availability, TCP compensates inefficiently, because its underlying mechanisms make assumptions about the network that are invalid for a mobile connection. When bandwidth falls off, for example at point 406, the amount of data sent using TCP falls much faster, because data packets that have been lost need to be resent, resulting in a downward spiral of lost bandwidth. TCP cannot anticipate or compensate fast enough to avoid such inefficiencies. When a disconnection occurs, such as at point 407, TCP takes a long time to reestablish data flow when the link is reconnected. When using a terminal on a mobile telephony network, such disconnections are frequent, for example when the user goes through a tunnel. TCP presents another problem to real time data provision. When a disconnection takes place (as at point 407), a wireless service provider will often perform a service known as “IP spoofing”. This involves a proxy server being used to maintain the TCP connection with a server, even though the wireless connection is broken. When the connection is reestablished data can be sent from where it is cached on the proxy server to the terminal. The telecoms provider does this so that a data transfer can continue, rather than being restarted every time the connection is lost. This operation is helpful for internet browsing and downloading of large files to mobile telephones. However, it presents two problems to RTDP 101. The first is that if the telecoms provider caches a large amount of streamed data and sends it all to a terminal upon reconnection this can overload the connection. This is especially inappropriate given that much of it may be out of date. The second problem is that the RTDP 101 might send transactional data to, for example, terminal 102 while it is disconnected from 3G gateway 110. The 3G network, spoofing terminal 102, will acknowledge this data. However, if terminal 102 does not reconnect, which might happen for one of many reasons, then the cached transactional data will never be forwarded. This results in RTDP 101 wrongly concluding that terminal 102 has received the data. A further problem with TCP is that it is a connection-oriented protocol. When a client moves between wireless base stations its IP address can change, resulting in a requirement to set up a new TCP connection. This can interfere with communications. In particular, a secure transaction could be terminated. This also prevents a terminal from using a higher-bandwidth, lower latency network that may become available without terminating a connection, for example when a terminal connected to GPRS gateway 112 comes within range of 3G gateway 111, or moves into the radius of a WiFi gateway 118. FIG. 5 FIG. 5 shows RTDP 101 which comprises an application server 501 and a real time data server 502. The real time data server communicates with a large number (potentially thousands) of terminals. It facilitates communications between the application server 501 and the terminals. Terminals can have a variety of types of connection, including high speed WiFi or wire. The real time data server 502 manages communications with all these types of connections. A terminal need not be mobile to take advantage of the system. The application server 501 receives data from a number of data feeds. These are illustrated by two-way arrows, as data is provided to application server 501 but the server may also send information back, for example details of a financial transaction or an information request. Financial transaction services data feed 503 provides communications for making stock-market-based transactions. Sports transaction services data feed 504 provides communications for making sports-based transactions. Financial data feed 505 provides real time updates of, for example, share prices and exchange rates, while sports data feed 506 provides real time updates of sports scores. News data feed 507 provides news headlines and stories. It will be appreciated that the data feeds illustrated in FIG. 5 are representative of the type of data that a Real Time Data Server might provide to clients. Other data types and feeds are contemplated and included in this description. The application server 501 communicates with the real time data server 502 over an outbound-initiated TCP-based link 508. The connection between the two systems is made via a high-speed Gigabit Ethernet connection. In other embodiments, the two servers could use the same processing system. However, this provides less security. The application server 501 is protected by a first firewall 509, so as to resist any security vulnerabilities that may exist in the real time data server 502, which has its own firewall 510. The real time data server 502 takes data from the application server 501 and supplies it to terminals via the Internet 110 using a custom protocol called the Mobile Transport Protocol (MTP). This protocol addresses the needs of real time data services for mobile client terminals. In the embodiment described herein the terminals are Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs) such as PDA 511. These are small portable devices including a display screen 512, control buttons 513, a speaker 514 and a microphone 515. The display 512 may be touch-sensitive, allowing the PDA 511 to be controlled using a stylus on the screen instead of buttons 513. A typical PDA is supplied with software providing the functionality of, inter alia, a mobile telephone, word processing and other office-related capabilities, a calendar and address book, email and internet access, games, and so on. The skilled reader will appreciate that the PDAs illustrated in this document are not the only terminals that can be used. For example, a mobile telephone with enough storage and memory could be used, or other devices which can communicate over mobile telephony networks. PDA 511 may communicate with the real time data server 502 to obtain access to data provided by any of data feeds 503 to 507, or to obtain software downloads for installation. The application server 501 facilitates several different types of service. In particular, the efficient provision of multiple types of data having different characteristics is enabled using the custom protocol MTP. The two main types of data are transactional data and streamed data. For transactional data, a two-way communication between the PDA 511 and the real time data server 502 facilitates the making of a secure transaction. Data delivery must be guaranteed even if a connection is broken. Such data may be several kilobytes for each message, requiring multiple datagrams to be transmitted before a message is complete. These packets, or datagrams, must be reassembled in the right order before use. Streamed data comprises updates, for example of financial or sporting data. These may be provided at a fixed regular rate, or may be provided at an irregular rate as the data becomes available. Each update or message is contained in a single datagram (although a datagram may contain more than one message). For this reason it is not necessary for streamed datagrams to be ordered at the terminal. Because of these different data types, each of which has its own issues to be addressed, MTP provides two types of data communication, transactional communication and streamed communication. It facilitates communication of both types over the same communication link. The data types are differentiated, such that the bandwidth utilisation is maximised without compromising transactional communications. It specifically addresses the need for bandwidth efficiency, latency measurement, multiple data types and continuous updates over a low bandwidth, high latency, high variability wireless mobile link. Also, because by its nature a mobile terminal such as a PDA has low storage and memory capabilities, it minimises the computational requirements of the terminal. FIG. 6 FIG. 6 details real time data server 502. It comprises a central processing unit (CPU) 601 having a clock frequency of three gigahertz (GHz), a main memory 602 comprising two gigabytes (GB) of dynamic RAM and local storage 603 provided by a 60Gb-disk array. A CD-ROM disk drive 604 allows instructions to be loaded onto local storage 603 from a CD-ROM 605. A first Gigabit Ethernet card 606 facilitates intranet connection to the application server 501. The intranet can also be used for installation of instructions. A second Gigabit Ethernet card 607 provides a connection to Internet 110 using MTP. FIG. 7 FIG. 7 details steps carried out by real time data server 502. At step 701 the real time data server 502 is switched on and at step 702 a question is asked as to whether the necessary instructions are already installed. If this question is answered in the negative then at step 703 a further question is asked as to whether the instructions should be loaded from the intranet. If this question is answered in the affirmative then at step 704 the instructions are downloaded from a network 705. If it is answered in the negative then at step 706 the instructions are loaded from a CD-ROM 707. Following either of steps 704 or 706 the instructions are installed at step 708. At this point, or if the question asked at step 702 is answered in the negative, the instructions are executed at step 709. At step 710 the real time data server is switched off. In practice this will happen very infrequently, for example for maintenance. FIG. 8 FIG. 8 details the contents of memory 602 during the running of real time data server 502. An operating system 801 provides operating system instructions for common system tasks and device abstraction. The Windows™ XP™ operating system is used. Alternatively, a Macintosh™, Unix™ or Linux™ operating system provides similar functionality. Real time data server instructions 802 include MTP instructions and instructions for providing MTP status information to the application server 501. Session data 803 comprises the details of every session, such as session item 804, currently maintained by the server 502. Each client terminal that is currently logged on has a session, and when a session starts an area of memory is allocated to it in which variables, specific to each user, are stored. Other data includes data used by the operating system and real time data server instructions. FIG. 9 FIG. 9 details an individual session item 804 shown in FIG. 8. Each session item includes a session ID 901 and session state variables 902, indicating whether the session is starting, ongoing, stalled, reconnecting or disconnecting. Each item also includes transmitter data 903 and receiver data 904, since MTP provides two-way communication. Transmitter data 903 includes a transactional segment buffer 905, a streamed segment buffer 906 and prioritised message queues 907. Receiver data 904 includes a transactional segment buffer 908 and prioritised message queues 909. FIG. 10 FIG. 10 illustrates step 709 at which the real time data server instructions are executed. This step comprises a number of separate processes that effectively occur in parallel. The concurrency of these processes is achieved by a mixture of concurrent threads and sequential processing, details of which will be known to those skilled in the art. In particular, although the processes may be described in terms of communications with a single client, PDA 511, they should be understood to be relevant to all the clients that the real time data server 502 is communicating with. Process 1001 transmits datagrams from the real time data server 502 to a client 511. Each packet includes an IP header, a UDP header and an MTP header. For convenience each packet is referred to as a datagram. Process 1001 comprises two separate processes: datagram preparation 1002 and output buffer processing 1003. Process 1002 prepares data for transmission. Data received from application server 501 can be from several applications having different data characteristics and priorities and it must be processed before it can be sent to terminals such as PDA 511. Process 1004 receives datagrams from client terminals such as PDA 511 and comprises three separate processes: datagram reception 1005, transactional datagram processing 1006 and streamed datagram processing 1007. Process 1008, which will be described further with reference to FIG. 27, performs background processing, which includes various processes required to be performed while transmitting and receiving data, such as identifying timeout conditions. Process 1009 provides session maintenance, which includes operations performed when PDA 511 is temporarily disconnected. This process, which will be described further with reference to FIG. 30, is the first to start, with processes 1001, 1004 and 1008 being performed once the user session is established. FIG. 11 FIG. 11 illustrates the structure of a typical datagram 1101 sent between the real time data server 502 and PDA 511. A local network protocol header 1102 changes as the datagram passes from network to network across the Internet 110. An IP header 1103 defines the destination of the packet, as well as other characteristics. A UDP header 1104 precedes an MTP header 1105, which implements several features for efficiently supplying real time data to clients over mobile wireless links, as well as other data links of varying degrees of quality. The MTP header 1105 is followed by data 1106 that has a maximum length, in this embodiment, of approximately 500 bytes. This limit is chosen to avoid packet fragmentation and to avoid overloading the terminals, and could be varied. The IP header 1103 includes several fields. Version field 1108 indicates the version of IP being used, for example IPv4 or IPv6. Internet Header Length field 1109 indicates the length, in 32-bit words, of the IP header. Its minimum value is 5. Length field 1110 gives the total length, in bytes, of the datagram, including the IP header (but not including the local network protocol header 1102). Protocol field 1111 is set to a value indicating that UDP is being used. Source IP address field 1112 gives the return address of the datagram, while destination IP address field 1113 gives its destination. The UDP header 1104 has the following fields. Source port field 1114 gives the port on the computer sending the datagram, while destination port field 1115 gives the port number on the computer receiving the datagram. Length field 1116 gives the length of the datagram in bytes, including the UDP header but not including the previous headers 1102 and 1103. Checksum field 1117 contains a value computed from the IP header 1103, UDP header 1104 and the remainder of the datagram, enabling data integrity to be confirmed. FIG. 12 FIG. 12 details MTP header 1105. It contains a number of fields. Firstly, version number field 1201 gives the version of MTP being used. Fields 1202 to 1209 are single-bit fields that are considered to be “set” if their value is one, and not set if it is zero. SYN field 1202 and KAL field 1213 are used for signalling. At the start and end of a session, SYN field 1202 is used for handshaking, but it is also used to perform various connection timing procedures. KAL field 1213 is used to send “keep alive” datagrams that indicate that a connection is open. ACK field 1203 indicates that the datagram is being used to acknowledge a received datagram, while EACK field 1204 indicates an extended acknowledgement. STREAM field 1205 is used to differentiate between streamed and transactional data. When set, it indicates that the datagram contains streamed data. START field 1206 and END field 1207 are used to indicate that a datagram contains data and that it is the first or last of a set. If a datagram is too large to be sent as a single datagram then it may be split, and so START field 1206 indicates the first datagram and END field 1207 indicates the last. A datagram that has not been split has both fields set. An empty datagram does not have these fields set. RESET field 1208 is used for session handshaking when restarting a session, and FINISH field 1209 is used to close an MTP session. Session ID field 1210 is a number indicating which session the MTP datagram relates to. Sequence number field 1211 is a number indicating the datagram sequence. Each datagram that is sent out and that requires acknowledgement is given its own effectively unique number, which is then used in an acknowledgement by the client. (Since streamed and transactional datagrams are numbered using a different sequence, and since the sequence numbering loops at a number that is greater than the number of acknowledgements that will be outstanding at any time, the sequence number is not strictly unique but is effectively unique.) An acknowledgement is itself a datagram, which may contain data, and so acknowledgement number field 1212 is the sequence number of the datagram being acknowledged in a datagram that has the ACK field 1203 set. This datagram is probably otherwise unconnected with the datagram being acknowledged. FIG. 13 FIG. 13 details process 1002 at which datagrams are transmitted. Process 1001 comprises two, effectively concurrent processes 1002 and 1003. Process 1002 fills up the transactional and streamed segment buffers 905 and 906, while process 1003 looks in the buffers and marks the datagrams for sending. Process 1002 commences with step 1301 at which a question is asked as to whether there is any data for transmission. If this question is answered in the affirmative then a further question is asked at step 1302 as to whether the data is transactional data. If this question is answered in the affirmative then at step 1303 a datagram is prepared and at step 1304 it is placed in the transactional segment buffer 905. Alternatively, if the question asked at step 1302 is answered in the negative, a datagram of streamed data is prepared at step 1305. The elapsed time value in the datagram is set to zero, indicating fresh data, at step 1306 and at step 1307 the datagram is placed in the streamed segment buffer 906. Following steps 1303 or 1307, or if the question asked at step 1301 is answered in the affirmative, control is returned to step 1301 and the question is asked again as to whether there is any data for transmission. FIG. 14 FIG. 14 illustrates the process performed during steps 1303 to 1307, in which data is prepared for transmission. A datagram 1401 can comprise transactional data or streamed data, which is determined by whether or not STREAM field 1205 is set in the MTP header 1105. Each of the two types of data has its own buffer, transactional segment buffer 905 and streamed segment buffer 906, from which datagrams are sent. Once acknowledged, a datagram can be deleted from its location in segment buffer 905 or 906. Each segment buffer stores a number of datagrams. Transmission is facilitated by supplying a datagram to the operating system 801, which facilitates its electronic transmission using the Internet Protocol. Transactional and streamed datagrams are generated from data stored in prioritised message queues 907. This data is supplied to message queues 907 by applications running on application server 501. An application may supply all its outgoing messages to a particular message queue, or may pass messages to different queues depending upon the nature of the data. Transactional data is supplied to prioritised message queues 1402, 1403 and 1404. Streamed data is supplied to prioritised message queues 1405, 1406 and 1407. Each message queue may contain a number of messages supplied from applications on application server 501. These messages are delineated by level one message headers, such as header 1408, that specify the length of the data and the application from which it was supplied. The amount of data taken from each message queue and combined into a single datagram depends upon proportions defined for each message queue. For example, default proportions of fifty percent, thirty percent and twenty percent may be assigned to prioritised message queues 1405 to 1407 respectively. If message queue 1407 has no data then its allocation will be equally reallocated between queues 1406 and 1407, giving queue 1408 thirty-five percent and queue 1407 sixty-five percent. If only one queue contains data then it will have one hundred percent of the allocation. The way the data is allocated also depends upon the type of message queue. Transactional messages may be broken up over a number of datagrams, and so the process only considers the amount of data in the queue. However, streamed messages must be wholly contained within one datagram, and so only entire messages are taken from these message queues, even if this means that the message queue's priority allocation is not used up. Datagrams are created from the message queues and placed in segment buffers 905 and 906. These are then sent, with the first message being taken from each segment buffer in turn. The example in FIG. 14 shows datagram 1401, which is made up from transactional data. The amount of data that can be included in the datagram is calculated, and data is taken from each of queues 1402 to 1404 according to their priority levels. Data from different prioritised message queues is delineated within a datagram by level two message headers, such as headers 1409, 1410 and 1411. These headers include a length field 1412 and a message queue field 1413. Thus the example datagram 1401 does not contain a single message but in fact contains portions of five messages, since the data from each of queues 1402 to 1404 includes a message header and thus includes the end of one message and the beginning of another. The number of prioritised message queues shown here and their proportions are provided as an example only. There could be fewer queues, for example only one transactional queue and two streamed queues, or any other number. The proportions will vary according to the kinds of real time data provided and the realities of each individual system. Additionally, it is not necessary that unused allocation be equally divided between the remaining queues. It could be divided according to their own allocations, or in some other way. FIG. 15 FIG. 15 details step 1303, at which a transactional datagram is prepared. At step 1501 an MTP header is created in a temporary buffer. This is a default header that as yet does not contain any information specific to the datagram being considered. This information is added by buffer processing process 1003, which will be described with reference to FIG. 17. At step 1502 a variable N is set to be the number of transactional prioritised message queues 1402 to 1404 that contain data, and a variable Y is initialised to zero. At step 1503 the number of bytes available for data, indicated by variable S, is calculated by subtracting the product of N and the level two header size from the maximum data size. For example, the maximum data size may be 500 bytes. At step 1504 the variable N is decremented by one and at step 1505 the highest message queue is selected. A variable P is set to be the sum of the proportion of the datagram that the data in that queue may use, for example 0.3 for queue P1, and variable Y (zero on the first iteration), and a variable X is set to be the amount of data, in bytes, in the queue. At step 1506 a question is asked as to whether the variable N is equal to zero. If this question is answered in the affirmative then the queue under consideration is the last one containing data and so the following steps need not be carried out, control being directed to step 1513. However, if it is answered in the negative then at step 1507 a further question is asked as to whether the variable X is less than the product of the variables S and P; that is, whether the amount of data in the queue is less than the amount of data that may be used. If this question is answered in the affirmative then at step 1508 the variable Y is calculated as the variable X subtracted from the product of P and S, all divided by the product of S and N, all added to the previous value of Y. Thus Y is a proportion that is to be added to the proportions of the remaining queues in order to allocate to them the unused space allocated to the queue under consideration. For example, if the available space is 400 bytes and all three queues contained data, then P1 is allocated 120 bytes. If it only contained 100 bytes then a further 10 bytes would be allocated to each of the remaining queues. Y would thus be 0.05. Alternatively, if the question asked at step 1507 is answered in the negative, to the effect that the variable X is not less than the product of X and S, then at step 1509 the variable X is set to be the product of the variables P and S. Following either step 1508 or step 1509, or if the question asked at step 1506 is answered in the affirmative, at step 1510 a level two header is created in the temporary buffer and the first X bytes are moved from the queue into the temporary buffer. The question is then asked at step 1511 as to whether the variable N is equal to zero. If this question is answered in the negative then control is then returned to step 1504 where N is decremented again before the next queue is selected. If it is answered in the affirmative then step 1303 is over and a datagram has been prepared. The step at 1304 of placing this datagram in the transactional segment buffer 905 consists of moving the data from the temporary buffer to he transactional segment buffer 905. FIG. 16 FIG. 16 details step 1305, at which a streamed datagram is prepared from the data in streamed prioritised message queues 1405 to 1407. At step 1601 an MTP header is created in a temporary buffer, and at step 1602 a variable N is set to be the number of streamed message queues that contain data, while variables X and Y are set to be zero. At step 1603 the available space S is calculated in the same way as at step 1503, except that a further two bytes are subtracted, which will be used to store the elapsed time. At step 1604 the variable N is decremented by one. At step 1605 a level two header is created in the temporary buffer, and at step 1606 the first message queue is selected, and a variable P set to be the sum of the queue's priority proportion and the variable Y. At step 1607 the first message in the queue is selected, and the variable X is set to be the sum of the message's length in bytes and the previous value of X. At step 1608 a question is asked as to whether the variable X is less than the product of the variables P and S. If this question is answered in the affirmative then at step 1609 the message is moved to the temporary buffer and a further question is asked as to whether there is more data in the queue. If the question is answered in the negative then control is returned to step 1607 and the next message is selected. If the question asked at step 1608 is answered in the affirmative, or the question asked at step 1610 is answered in the negative, then at step 1611 the variable X is reset to zero, and the variable Y is updated to be the previous value of the variable X subtracted from the product of P and S, all divided by the product of S and N, all added to the previous value of Y. A question is then asked at step 1612 as to whether N is equal to zero. If this question is answered in the negative then control is returned to step 1604. If it is answered in the affirmative then step 1605 is concluded. Thus only entire messages are included in a streamed datagram, although more than one message may be contained in a single datagram. A streamed datagram may contain more than one message from a single queue, as long as it does not exceed its priority allocation, but may not contain a fragment of a datagram. As discussed above, the algorithm presented in FIG. 15 and FIG. 16 is only one possibility for prioritising data. FIG. 17 Output buffer processing 1003 is detailed in FIG. 17. At step 1701 a question is asked as to whether both the transactional segment buffer 905 and the streamed segment buffer 906 are empty, and if this question is answered in the negative then the next datagram to be sent in either buffer 905 or 906 is marked for transmission (the process alternates between the two buffers) at step 1702. This may be the next newest datagram, or it may be an unacknowledged datagram that has been marked to be resent. If the question asked at step 1701 is answered in the negative then at step 1703 a further question is asked as to whether an acknowledgement is required. If this question is answered in the affirmative then at step 1704 an empty acknowledgement datagram is created. If the question asked at step 1703 is answered in the negative then at step 1705 a further question is asked as to whether a heartbeat datagram is required, and if this question is answered in the affirmative then a latency-measuring datagram is produced at step 1706 (this will be described more fully with reference to FIG. 20). If the question asked at step 1705 is also answered in the negative then control is returned to step 1701 and the question is asked again as to whether the buffers are empty. Following any of steps 1702, 1704 or 1706, the MTP header as described in FIG. 12 is set at step 1707. At step 1708 the process waits for a transmission time, since the rate of datagram transmission is controlled, as will be described with reference to FIG. 29. When this transmission time is reached, the time of sending is internally recorded for the purposes of delaying the next transmission. It is recorded with the datagram stored in the segment buffer, along with an indication of how many times the datagram has already been sent. At step 1710 a question is asked as to whether this datagram is being resent and is also a datagram containing streamed data, as indicated by the setting of both STREAM field 1205 and START field 1206; if so the elapsed time is changed at step 1711 to reflect the amount of time since the first attempt at sending the datagram, as can be calculated from the time of the last sending and any previous value of the elapsed time. This is to faciliate the calculation of resend latency, as will be described with reference to FIG. 41. Finally, at step 1712, the datagram is sent. FIG. 18 FIG. 18 details step 1705, at which the MTP header is set. At step 1801 a question is asked as to whether there is a datagram received from the client that needs to be acknowledged. The answer to this question depends not only on whether a datagram has been received from PDA 511 but also what kind of datagram it is. A datagram containing transactional data is acknowledged immediately, as is any datagram being used for timing purposes, and so if either of these have been received but not acknowledged the question is answered in the affirmative. Streamed data, being less critical, is acknowledged using an extended acknowledge, in which multiple packets are acknowledged in order to lower network traffic. Thus if only streamed datagrams have been received then the question will be answered in the affirmative only if a suitable period of time has elapsed. Otherwise, or if no datagrams have been received at all, the question is answered in the negative. If the question asked at step 1001 is answered in the affirmative then at step 1802 ACK field 1203 is set and the sequence number of the datagram being acknowledged is entered in acknowledgement number field 1212. At step 1803 a question is asked as to whether this acknowledgement is an extended acknowledgement. If this question is answered in the affirmative then at step 1804 the EACK field 1204 is also set, and any datagrams that have not been received but have lower sequence numbers than the sequence number contained in field 1212 are listed as data in part 1106 of the datagram. Thus these datagrams are negatively acknowledged. Since the IP header 1103 and UDP header 1104 both contain length fields indicating the total length of the datagram the recipient of an extended acknowledgement knows implicitly how many datagrams are being negatively acknowledged. At this point, and if the question asked at step 1803 is answered in the negative, step 1705 is completed. (Note that because transactional datagrams have a separate sequence number from streamed datagrams, the extended acknowledgement process does not interfere with the acknowledgement of transactional datagrams.) However, if the question asked at step 1801 is answered in the negative, to the effect that an acknowledgement is not due, at step 1805 a further question is asked as to whether a latency measurement or heartbeat should be initiated. If this question is answered in the affirmative then at step 1806 SYN field 1202 is set to one. A datagram having this field set initiates a latency measurement. When an acknowledging datagram is received from PDA 511 it is used to measure round-trip latency (further described with reference to FIG. 17). (Thus the SYN field cannot be set in an acknowledging datagram. For this reason step 1805 is only initiated if the question asked at step 1801 is answered in the negative.) Alternatively, if no data is being sent, a datagram having this field set, in addition to being used to measure latency, provides a heartbeat that confirms that the connection is still open. Following step 1806, or if the question asked at step 1805 is answered in the negative, step 1705 is completed. This figure highlights one of the few ways in which the server and the client are not symmetrical. While a session is stalled, the server will not send heartbeat datagrams, but the client will. This is because the receipt of a datagram from the client by the server ends the stall. This is provided by the suspension of background processing process 1008, which makes the decision as to whether to send a heartbeat datagram, during a stalled session. However, process 1003 sends the datagram, if instructed to, in exactly the same way on both the server and the client. FIG. 19 FIG. 19 details process 1005 that receives datagrams sent by PDA 511. At step 1901 an incoming datagram is received and the receive time logged. A question is then asked at step 1902 as to whether the datagram has a sequence number identical to a recently received datagram of the same type (ie streamed or transactional). This can happen when acknowledgements and resends “cross” and when acknowledgements are lost over the network. Thus if this question is answered in the affirmative then control is directed to step 1912 and the datagram is acknowledged without being processed. Alternatively, if it is answered in the affirmative, then at step 1903 a question is asked as to whether the SYN field 1202 is set, indicating that the datagram is a latency-measurement datagram. Thus if this question is answered in the affirmative then at step 1904 a further question is asked as to whether ACK field 1203 is also set. If this question is also answered in the affirmative then the datagram is a returned latency-measurement datagram and so the latency is calculated at step 1905. Alternatively, if it is answered in the negative, then at step 1906 a question is asked as to whether the acknowledgement number field 1212 is zero. If this question is answered in the affirmative then the ACK field is not set but an acknowledgement number is given. This indicates that the acknowledgement field does not contain a sequence number but indicates a new heartbeat rate, measured in milliseconds, and thus the heartbeat timing rate contained in the session data 804 is updated at step 1907. This process will be described further with reference to FIG. 42. Following either of steps 1907 or 1905, or if either the question asked at step 1903 is answered in the negative or that asked at step 1906 is answered in the affirmative, then control is directed to step 1908, at which a question is asked as to whether the datagram contains streamed data, as indicated by the setting of STREAM field 1205. If this question is answered in the affirmative then the resend latency is recalculated at step 1909. Resend latency, in combination with connection latency, is used to estimate the age of data received, and is described further with reference to FIG. 41. Following this, or if the question asked at step 1908 is answered in the negative, acknowledgements and state changes are processed at step 1910, as will be further described with reference to FIG. 21. Finally the data 1106 is extracted at step 1911, as will be further described with reference to FIG. 23 and FIG. 24 and the datagram acknowledged at step 1912. The processing steps 1901 to 1910 relate only to the information contained within the MTP header 1105, much of which is not connected with the data in any way. FIG. 20 FIG. 20 illustrates the use of the SYN field 1202 to measure connection latency. It is necessary that at all times the client terminals are aware of exactly how old the data is. This is not possible using traditional methods such as, for example, clock synchronisation, because there may be thousands of terminals. Thus the system described herein provides a method of measuring the connection latency between the RTDP 101 and each of its terminals. A latency-measurement datagram is sent at regular intervals by setting the SYN field 1202 in an outgoing datagram in either transactional segment buffer 905 or streamed segment buffer 906 and noting the time at which it was sent. As an example, transactional segment buffer 905 is shown, containing several packets 2001, 2002 and 2003. The question asked at step 1805 is answered in the affirmative, to the effect that a latency measurement should be initiated, and so the SYN field 1202 of the next datagram to be sent, which is datagram 2001, is set. Datagram 2001 takes a number of milliseconds, shown by arrow 2004 and identified by the variable A, to be transmitted to PDA 511, whose receive buffer 2005 is shown. A process running on PDA 511, which is substantially identical to process 1005, sets the SYN field 1202 and the ACK field 1203 in its next outgoing datagram 2006. This process takes a time indicated by arrow 2007 and identified by the variable B. Finally, transmission of datagram 2006 back to real time data server 502 takes a time indicated by arrow 2008 and identified by the variable C. When datagram 2002 is received at real time data server 502 the fact that both the SYN and ACK fields are set triggers latency calculation at step 1905. The round trip time, which is obtained by comparing the receive time of datagram 2002 with the transmission time of datagram 2001, is equal to the sum of the variables A, B and C. Since network conditions are, on average, symmetric, A is assumed to be approximately equal to C. B is very small because it is possible to directly acknowledge packet 2001 without waiting for any out-of-order datagrams that would have to be received if the latency was measured using a cumulative acknowledgement, as with TCP. Thus, as shown by equation 2006, the two-way latency is approximately equal to the round trip time, and the one-way latency, or connection latency, is half the round trip time. Having obtained a value for the round trip time, it is filtered using equations 2007. K is an adaptive filter coefficient that is varied in order to optimise the ability of the filtered latency to follow quick changes when these are consistently observed. Thus the filtered latency is equal to the sum of the following factors: K subtracted from one all multiplied by the measured latency; and K multiplied by the previous filtered latency calculation. Other filtering or weighting methods may be used in order to smooth the variability of the latency calculation. The round trip time is used by both the server and the client to determine the length of time that should be waited for an acknowledgement before a transactional datagram is resent (timeout). Since streamed datagrams may be acknowledged using an extended acknowledgement, the time that a process waits before sending an extended acknowledgement is added to the latency value to produce the timeout for streamed datagrams. The constant measurement of the latency described above ensures that the timeout settings are as accurate as possible. A fixed timeout setting can be set too high, in which case the wait before resend would be too long, thus degrading the timeliness of the data, or it can be too low, resulting in too many resends. This dynamic timeout creates a compromise. The round trip time may be halved to give a connection latency, which indicates the approximate time taken by a datagram to be sent from the server to the client. This value is used by the client to indicate the timeliness of received data, and will therefore be described further with reference to FIG. 41. Resend latency measurement, which will be described with reference to FIG. 41, is also calculated at both the client and the server end but in this embodiment is only used by the client. It will therefore not be discussed at this stage. FIG. 21 FIG. 21 details step 1910 at which acknowledgements and state changes are processed. At step 2101 a question is asked as to whether the RESET field 1208 or FINISH field 1209 (as contained in the MTP header 1105 of the datagram received at step 1901) is set, indicating that the session should be reset or ended. If this question is answered in the affirmative then a disconnect takes place at step 2102. This concludes step 1910 if this route is taken. If the question asked at step 2101 is answered in the negative then at step 2103 a question is asked as to whether EACK field 1204 is set, indicating that the datagram contains an extended acknowledge. If this question is answered in the affirmative then at step 2104 the extended acknowledgement is processed. If it is answered in the negative then at step 2105 a further question is asked as to whether ACK field 1203 is set, indicating that the datagram contains an acknowledgement. If this question is answered in the affirmative then at step 2106 the acknowledgement is processed by removing the datagram that has the sequence number contained in SEQUENCE NUMBER field 1211 from the relevant segment buffer 905 or 906. If it is answered in the negative, or following step 2104, the session state variables 902 for PDA 511 are modified if necessary. FIG. 22 FIG. 22 details step 2104, at which an extended acknowledgement is processed. As described previously with reference to step 1804, an extended acknowledgement is in the form of a datagram with EACK field 1204 set, a streamed datagram sequence number contained in acknowledgement number field 1212, and possibly a list of streamed datagram sequence numbers that have not been received by PDA 511 as data 1106. Thus the process has a range of datagram sequence numbers to consider. This range starts at the number following the sequence number contained in the last extended acknowledgement and finishes at the number contained in the extended acknowledgement currently being considered. Thus at step 2201 the first sequence number in this range is selected. At step 2202 the streamed datagram corresponding to this sequence number is identified and at step 2203 a question is asked as to whether the sequence number identified at step 2201 is in the list of negatively acknowledged datagrams contained in data 1106 of the datagram. If the question is answered in the negative then the sequence number is being acknowledged and this is processed at step 2205. If the question is answered in the affirmative then, since the identified datagram is still stored in its relevant segment buffer 905 or 906, it is marked to be resent at step 2204. At step 2206 a question is asked as to whether the sequence number being considered is the same as the number contained in the acknowledgement number field 1212 of the datagram. If this question is answered in the negative then control is returned to step 2201 and the next sequence number is selected. If, however, it is answered in the affirmative, then the extended acknowledgement has been fully processed and step 2104 is completed. FIG. 23 FIG. 23 illustrates the reception of a datagram from PDA 511. A receive buffer is provided by the operating system 801, which supplies a datagram to receiving transactional segment buffer 908 or to process 1007, via process 1005. Once datagrams are ordered within transactional segment buffer 908, process 1006 decodes the level two message headers in the datagrams to split the data up and place it in the correct one of prioritised message queues 910. There are three transactional queues 2301, 2302, and 2303, corresponding to the message queues 1402 to 1404. Process 1007 performs the same function for streamed datagrams. There is no streamed segment buffer for incoming datagrams because there is no ordering necessary. There are three streamed queues 2304, 2305 and 2306. These correspond to the prioritised message queues 1405 to 1407. Once the data is placed in the queues, level one headers indicate to the applications that a message is complete and can be used. FIG. 24 FIG. 24 details step 1911, at which the data contained in a received datagram is extracted and acknowledged. At step 2401 a question is asked as to whether the received datagram contains data in portion 1106. If this question is answered in the negative then a further question is asked at step 2402 as to whether STREAM field 1205 is set, indicating that the datagram contains streamed data. If this question is answered in the negative then at step 2403 the data is placed in transactional segment buffer 908, while if it is answered in the affirmative then the data is passed to process 1007 at step 2404. Following step 2404, or if the question asked at step 2401 is answered in the negative, to the effect that the datagram contains no data, then a question is asked at step 2405 as to whether SYN field 1202 is set, indicating that the datagram is a latency measurement or heartbeat datagram. If this question is answered in the affirmative, or following step 2403, the datagram is immediately acknowledged at step 2406. This step involves flagging the sequence number in order that process 1003 acknowledges it in the next available outgoing datagram at step 1707 as described with reference to FIG. 18. (If there is no outgoing datagram, then an empty streamed datagram is created.) At this point, or if the question is answered in the negative, step 1911 is concluded. Thus transactional and latency-measurement datagrams are acknowledged immediately. Streamed datagrams are acknowledged using an extended acknowledgement, and empty datagrams that are not tagged, for example an acknowledgement containing no data, are not themselves acknowledged. FIG. 25 FIG. 25 details process 1006 which processes the datagrams placed in the transactional segment buffer 908. At step 2501 a question is asked as to whether there is data in the transactional segment buffer, and if this is answered in the negative then the question is asked again until it is answered in the affirmative, when at step 2502 a question is asked as to whether the first datagram in the segment buffer has the next expected sequence number and is complete (as described with reference to FIG. 12, a datagram can be split over more than one datagram, and if this happens then the full set of datagrams must be received before they can be processed). If this question is answered in the affirmative then the datagram can be processed, and at step 2504 the first level two message header in the datagram is read to obtain the length of the data following it and the message queue into which it is to be placed. The indicated amount of data is then removed from the segment buffer and placed in the correct queue at step 2505, with the level two header and MTP header being discarded. At step 2506 a question is asked as to whether there is another level two header, and if this question is answered in the affirmative then control is returned to step 2504. If it is answered in the negative, or if the question asked at step 2503 is answered in the negative, to the effect that the next datagram in segment buffer 908 is not the next expected one, control is returned to step 2501 and the process waits for more data. FIG. 26 FIG. 26 details process 1007, which processes incoming streamed datagrams. Since streamed datagrams do not have to be ordered, there is no necessity for an incoming streamed segment buffer. Thus at step 2601 a streamed datagram is received from process 1005, and at step 2602 the first level two message header in the datagram is read to obtain the length of the data following it and the message queue into which it is to be placed. The indicated amount of data is then removed from the datagram and placed in the correct queue at step 2603, with the level two header and MTP header being discarded. At step 2604 a question is asked as to whether there is another level two header, and if this question is answered in the affirmative then control is returned to step 2602. If it is answered in the negative, control is returned to step 2601 and the process waits for more data. FIG. 27 FIG. 27 details background processing process 1008. (This process is suspended on the server if the session is stalled. It is never suspended on the client.) At step 2701 the process considers whether or not a latency-measurement datagram needs to be sent. If so, a flag is set which triggers the question asked at step 1805, as to whether such a datagram should be sent, to be answered in the affirmative. It also triggers the question asked at step 1702 as to whether a heartbeat datagram is needed, which is asked only if both segment buffers are empty, to be answered in the affirmative. Thus if there is an outgoing datagram at the point where a latency-measurement datagram is required, then that datagram has its SYN field 1202 set. However, if there is no outgoing datagram then process 1003 creates one at step 1703. This is referred to as a heartbeat, but it is also a latency-measurement datagram. (It is also possible to use the KAL field 1213 as a heartbeat. A datagram with this field set is not acknowledged and not used as a latency-measuring datagram, but merely indicates that the connection is open.) At step 2702 the process negotiates a new heartbeat rate, if required. This is the maximum interval that should pass without data being sent on either the server or client side. If no data is sent, then a heartbeat datagram, which is an empty streamed datagram with the SYN field 1202 set, is sent. The server does not send heartbeats during stalling of a session. This is achieved by the suspension of process 1008 when a session is stalled. The negotiation of a heartbeat rate, although available to both client and server, is in this embodiment predominantly initiated by the client and will therefore be described with reference to FIG. 42. At step 2703 the process flags the necessity for an extended acknowledgement, if one is due, which leads to the question asked by process 1003 at step 1803 being answered in the affirmative. At step 2704 the process marks for resending any datagrams that have not been acknowledged within a timeout, and are thus still within their respective segment buffer 905 or 906. This is done by flagging the datagram for resending, and it also increments the value in resend field 1119 by one, to indicate the number of times the datagram has been resent. At step 2705 the process updates the timeouts based on connection characteristics. The timeout for a transactional datagram is equal to (or slightly larger than) the round trip time calculated at step 1905. The timeout for a streamed datagram is equal to (or slightly larger than) the round trip time calculated at step 1905 plus the time that the process will wait before sending an extended acknowledgement. At step 2706 the process recalculates the data transmission rate, if necessary. This recalculation is done at specified intervals, and thus may not be carried out on every cycle. At step 2707 the process sends an update of network characteristics to the application server, for use by the applications. In this embodiment this update includes the amount of data currently being sent per second (in datagrams or in bytes), the amount of data in the segment buffer that has the most data, or alternatively in both segment buffers, and the round trip time; in other embodiments the update could include more or less information. Control is then returned to step 2701 and the process cycles until terminated. FIG. 28 FIG. 28 illustrates an extended acknowledgement. The MTP header 1105 and data 1106 of a datagram are shown. In the header 1105 the EACK field 1204 is set. The acknowledgement number field 1212 contains the sequence number of the most recent streamed datagram received. The data portion 1106 contains a list of sequence numbers 2801, 2802 and 2803 that are lower than the number contained in field 1212 but which have not been received. The datagrams corresponding to these numbers are therefore negatively acknowledged. FIG. 28A FIG. 28A illustrates two of the different ways in which transactional and streamed data is treated. The word data is herein applied to all kinds of data, including the information received from feeds 503 to 507, the messages containing the information produced by application server 501 and the datagrams that contain a part or whole of these messages produced by real time data server 502, the messages received by a terminal and the information displayed by that terminal to the user. Application server 501, part of real time data provider 101, produces transactional messages 2811, 2812, 2813 and 2814 and streamed messages 2815, 2816, 2817 and 2818. Process 1102 on real time data server 502 sends these messages to a terminal such as PDA 511 in the form of datagrams. Transactional messages 2811 to 2814 are split and sent as part of datagram 2819, 2820 and 2821. For example, datagram 2819 may consist of a part of message 2811, a part of message 2812 and a part of message 2814. Streamed messages 2815 to 2818 are not split. Thus datagram 2825 consists of the whole of messages 2815 and 2816. Datagram 2826 consists of message 2817. The whole of message 2818 cannot also fit into the datagram, and so it is sent even though it is not at the maximum size. Datagram 2827 contains message 2818. Thus transactional messages may be split over at least two datagrams, while streamed messages must be contained within a datagram. Another difference in the treatment of transactional and streamed data is the method of acknowledgement. Thus each of transactional datagrams 2819 to 2821 is individually acknowledged using acknowledgements 2822, 2823 and 2824. However, streamed datagrams 2825 to 2827 may be acknowledged by PDA 511 using a single extended acknowledgement 2828, unless they are control datagrams that have a field such as SYN 1202, RESET 1208 or FINISH 1209 set, in which case they are individually acknowledged. Thus a first station, such as server 502, transmits packets of data or datagrams to a second station such as PDA 511, wherein each of said packets conveys information of either at least a first information type or a second information type thereby giving each an information type. Each packet is transmitted using at least a first transmission process or a second transmission process, and for each packet a transmission process (said first, second or other) is selected in response to an indication of the information type of the information conveyed by the data packet. FIG. 29 FIG. 29 details step 2706, at which the data transmission rate is calculated by updating the transmission interval (the time that process 1003 waits after sending a datagram before sending another datagram). Although each of the streamed and transactional data being sent from the RTDP 101 to each of its clients is relatively small in data terms, it must be provided in a timely fashion. Congestion should therefore be avoided. Existing protocols such as TCP merely react to congestion rather than preventing it, and as shown in FIG. 4 have a very slow restart when a connection is cut off. This problem is solved by having a separate transmission rate for each terminal, and constantly monitoring each of these rates to keep it optimum. Thus at step 2901 a question is asked as to whether the interval since the last update is less than the product of 1.25 and the round trip time calculated at step 1905. If this question is answered in the negative then it is not yet time to perform the calculation and step 2706 is concluded. This is because the effect of a previous update to the transmission rate is not felt until at least one round trip time later, and thus the calculation interval is a small amount more than the round trip time—a quarter of the round trip time in this embodiment. However, if the question is answered in the affirmative then at step 2902 the total number of resends in the streamed segment buffer 906 is determined and set as the value of a variable R. The number of resends is a sum of the number of datagrams in the buffer that are tagged to be resent, with an indication that a datagram is on its second resend adding two to the total, an indication that a datagram is on its third resent adding three to the total, and so on. At step 2903 a question is asked as to whether the value of R is zero, meaning that there are no datagrams in the buffer that are being resent. This indicates that the rate of transmission can be increased. Thus if this question is answered in the affirmative then a further question is asked at step 2904 as to whether the current interval between transmissions is significantly larger than a value saved as the “current best interval”. If this question is answered in the affirmative then the transmission interval is decreased by a first, larger amount at step 2905, while if it is answered in the negative then the transmission interval is decreased by a second, smaller amount at step 2906. This means that when the transmission interval is much larger than the last known achievable interval, the transmission interval is decreased much faster than when it is close to it. If the question asked at step 2903 is answered in the negative, to the effect that R is not zero, then at step 2907 a question is asked as to whether R is less than a certain threshold. If this question is answered in the affirmative then the transmission rate is not changed. If, however, it is answered in the negative then a further question is asked at step 2908 as to whether R is significantly smaller than the previous value of R. If this question is answered in the affirmative then the rate is not altered, even though R is above the threshold, because this value of R may be an anomaly. If R is above the threshold and not significantly smaller than the previous R, then this indicates that there are too many resends and the interval between datagram transmissions needs to be increased. However, first a question is asked at step 2909 as to whether the last change in the interval was a decrease. If this question is answered in the affirmative then the current transmission interval is the lowest known achievable interval at the current time, and so it is saved as the current best at step 2910. The transmission interval is then increased at step 2911 (the step size used in this embodiment is larger than both of the step sizes used for decreasing the transmission interval). The algorithm described herein is a robust method of attempting to increase the rate of datagram transmissions while minimising the number of resends, using continual and rapid adjustment. It provides a quick response to decreases in the available network bandwidth and a fast restart when transmission is temporarily cut off or after a congestion spike. Clearly the implementation details of the algorithm, such as the number of step sizes and what is meant by “significantly large” could be changed. In this embodiment, due to the small receive buffer of PDA 511, it is only possible to send one datagram at a time. However, in other embodiments, the method could be altered by sending more than one datagram at once when the transmission interval reaches a certain low threshold. It can be more efficient to send two packets at once at a larger interval than to continue decreasing the transmission interval. Additionally, in another embodiment it could be the transactional segment buffer or both segment buffers that are considered when summing the resends. FIG. 30 FIG. 30 details process 1009, which performs session maintenance. This process notes certain information available in the headers of datagrams as they arrive and maintains the client sessions accordingly, but does not interfere with the processing of the datagrams. Thus at step 3001 a datagram is received, and at step 3002 a question is asked as to whether the datagram header contains valid session details, for example session number, encryption and so on. If this question is answered in the negative, meaning either that the datagram has no session number or that it contains invalid session details, then at step 3003 a further question is asked as to whether the datagram is requesting a new session, indicated by the lack of a session number and the setting of SYN field 1202. If this question is answered in the affirmative then at step 3004 a new session is created for the client that sent the datagram. This includes creating session data 803 and validating the new session, ie checking whether a valid account number for an active account, valid name and correct password have been supplied, and is in practice performed by calling a subroutine on application server 501, on which the user details are stored. An answer in the negative to the question asked at step 3003 means that there is a problem of some kind with the datagram, for example it relates to a terminated session or the session details do not match, and so the session is ended at step 3012 by sending a reset datagram (a datagram in which the RESET field 1108 is set) to the originating IP address and removing the session data, if there is any. If the question asked at step 3002 is answered in the affirmative, to the effect that the session details are valid, then a further question is asked at step 3005 as to whether the IP address from which the datagram was sent matches the IP address held in the session variables. If this question is answered in the negative then at step 3006 the IP address is updated in the session variables. The client could change IP addresses for a number of reasons. The main ones are that a client that has moved between networks or cells, thus changing its mobile IP address, or that a client deliberately terminated its IP connection in order to fully use bandwidth for another function, for example to make a telephone call. In this case the client would probably be assigned a different IP address on reconnection, even if it is in the same cell of the same network. However, this functionality of MTP allows the client to immediately restore the session without visible delay to the user. At step 3007 a question is asked as to whether the datagram is terminating the session, indicated by a setting of FINISH field 1209. If this question is answered in the affirmative then the session is ended at step 3012, but if it is answered in the negative then at step 3008 a question is asked as to whether another datagram has been received for this session within two timeouts and if is answered in the affirmative then control is returned to step 3001. This timeout is different from the resend timeouts discussed with reference to FIG. 27, and is set by the heartbeat rate. The heartbeat rate is the maximum interval which should pass without receiving data from a client. Thus, if the question is answered in the affirmative, indicating that since the receipt of the last datagram a period of time equal to two timeouts has passed with no further communication from the client, then at step 3009 the session is placed in a stalled state. This involves noting in the session variables that the session is stalled, which prevents any more datagrams from being sent to the client. In this embodiment, this involves suspending datagram reception process 1104 and background processing process 1109. A stalled session can occur because the network connection to the client has been broken, because the PDA 511 does not currently require the real time data and has therefore stopped communicating, because the PDA 511 has been switched off without ending the session, and so on. At step 3010 a question is asked as to whether a datagram has been received for this session within ten minutes of the session being placed in a stalled state, and if this question is answered in the affirmative then the stall is ended and control is returned to step 3001. Ending a stall involves changing the session state and restarting any suspended processes. This will then have the effect of resending any datagrams that have not been acknowledged. However, in an alternative embodiment the streamed data buffer 906, and possibly the streamed message queues 1405 to 1407, could be flushed on the ending of a stall. If, however, the question asked at step 3010 is answered in the negative then at step 3012 the session is ended. The session is closed after a long stall firstly for security measures, because the user may have left his terminal unattended, and secondly to prevent memory space being used for an unwanted session, for example if the terminal has been switched off. Stalling as described above solves the problem with spoofing—that on reconnection the telecoms gateway sends a large amount of data all at once to the terminal, thus negating any value obtained by managing data transmission rate as described with reference to FIG. 29. Instead, when the connection is broken and the real time data server 502 stops receiving datagrams from PDA 511 the session is stalled and the real time data server 502 sends no more datagrams. Thus the telecoms gateway builds up a very small amount of data, if any, to send on when the connection is re-established. The second problem solved here is the maintenance of a session when the PDA 511 moves between cells in a telecoms network or indeed between networks. As soon as an incoming datagram that has the correct session ID and encryption but a different IP address is received, the IP address in the session data 804 is immediately updated so that datagrams intended for PDA 511 are sent to that IP address. The user therefore perceives very little, if any, delay when moving between IP addresses. FIG. 30A The updating of IP addresses described with respect to step 3006 is illustrated in FIG. 30A. A session is described by its session data 804 stored on application server 501. It includes a session ID field 901 containing a session ID 3020 and an IP address field 3021 containing an IP address 3022. The session may be in an active state or may move to a stalled state, as shown by arrow 3023, when no communication is received from the client within two timeouts as set by the heartbeat rate. A datagram 3024 is received by real time data server 502. It includes a source IP address field 1112 in its IP header 1103 and a session ID field 1210 in its MTP header 1210. The session ID 3020 matches the session ID in field 901. However, the IP address 3025 does not match the IP address 3021 in the IP header 3022. The session data 804 is therefore updated immediately by replacing the IP address in field 3021 with IP address 3025. All datagrams produced are now sent to this new address. Receipt of datagram 3024 also ends any stall, if one existed, and so the session is shown as active. FIG. 31 FIG. 31 details application server 501. It comprises a central processing unit (CPU) 3101 having a clock frequency of 3 GHz, a main memory 3102 comprising 2 GB of dynamic RAM and local storage 3103 provided by a 130 GB disk array. A CD-ROM disk drive 3104 allows instructions to be loaded onto local storage 3103 from a CD-ROM 3105. A Gigabit Ethernet card 3106 facilitates intranet connection to the real time data server 502 and the feeds 503 to 507. FIG. 32 FIG. 32 details steps carried out by application server 501. At step 3201 the application server 501 is switched on and at step 3202 a question is asked as to whether the necessary instructions are already installed. If this question is answered in the negative then at step 3203 a further question is asked as to whether the instructions should be loaded from the intranet. If this question is answered in the affirmative then at step 3204 the instructions are downloaded from a network 3205. If it is answered in the negative then at step 3206 the instructions are loaded from a CD-ROM 3207. Following either of steps 3204 or 3206 the instructions are installed at step 3208. At this point, or if the question asked at step 3202 is answered in the negative, the instructions are executed at step 3209. At step 3210 the application server is switched off. In practice this will happen very infrequently, for example for maintenance. FIG. 33 FIG. 33 details the contents of memory 3002 during the running of application server 501. An operating system 3301 provides operating system instructions for common system tasks and device abstraction. The Windows™ XP™ operating system is used. Alternatively, a Macintosh™, Unix™ or Linux™ operating system provides similar functionality. Application server instructions 3302 include an application manager 3303 and applications 3304, 3305, 3306, 3307, 3308 and 3309, including an application for each of data feeds 503 to 507. Application data 3310 is data used by the applications 3304 to 3309 and user account data 3311 comprises details of users' accounts, including the validation data information required when starting a session. Live data feed buffers 3312 are buffers for feeds 503 to 507. Other data includes data used by the operating system and application server instructions. FIG. 34 FIG. 34 details the instructions executed by application manager 3303 at step 3209. At step 3401 a client logs on successfully to start a session, and at step 3402 the user's application requirements, as stored in his account, are noted. These include the exact data in which the user is interested, for example stocks updates and news stories. At step 3403 a default level of service is selected, which is also retrieved from the user account. Levels of service will be discussed further with reference to FIG. 36. At step 3404 the application server 501 communicates with the client via real time data server 502 by sending messages. The content of these messages is determined by the user's application requirements and the current level of service. At step 3405 a question is asked as to whether the session is stalled, which will be indicated to the application server 501 by real time data server 502, and if this question is answered in the affirmative then at step 3406 a question is asked as to whether the stall has ended. If this question is answered in the affirmative then at step 3407 a selective update of data is performed and control is returned to step 3404. While the session is stalled, the application server 501 does not send any messages to real time data server 502. If either of the questions asked at steps 3405 or 3406 is answered in the negative, to the effect that the session is not stalled or that the stall has not ended, then at step 3408 a further question is asked as to whether the session has ended. If this question is answered in the affirmative then the session ends at step 3411. If, however, it is answered in the negative then at step 3409 any change in application requirements received from the client via real time data server 502 is processed, and at step 3410 any received network conditions update is processed to change the level of service, if necessary. Control is then returned to step 3404. Although this process is described here in terms of a single client and session, the skilled user will appreciate that step 3209 involves application server 501 performing these steps for every session. FIG. 35 FIG. 35 details the selective update performed at step 3407. At step 3501 all waiting transactional messages are sent. At step 3502 the waiting streamed messages are examined to identify messages that relate to the same data. If any are found, then the older ones are deleted. This means that if during a stall two or more updates have been produced for the same data, as is particularly likely with stock prices, then only the newest update is sent. At step 3503 concatenation of messages is performed if possible. This means that updates for data that have the same priority level could be amalgamated into one message, instead of being sent as individual messages. Finally, at step 3504, the streamed messages are sent. Thus, on a selective update, transactional messages are all sent, whereas only the newest streamed data is sent in order to avoid overloading the network and the client. FIG. 36 As described with respect to FIG. 27, the real time data server 502 periodically supplies to application server 501 updates of certain network condition indicators, which in this example comprise the current effective bandwidth, given by the amount of data being sent per second, the amount of data in one or more buffers, and the current round trip time. (In this sense, network includes the real time data server and the client, as well as the Internet, mobile telephony network or LAN, or any other networks in between.) The values of these indicators provide to the application server 502 information regarding the amount of data that can be sent to this client. The applications 3304 to 3309 then use this information to determine how much information of what type should be sent and at what speed. FIG. 36 thus illustrates different ways in which the level of service can be changed. Graph 3601 shows how a news application supplies different information dependent upon the effective bandwidth measurement supplied. When the effective bandwidth is low, then only news headlines are supplied. More effective bandwidth allows news summaries to be supplied, while even more allows limited graphics. When the effective bandwidth is very high, the full stories are sent. This is an example of how the level of service sets the type of data sent. Graph 3602 shows how a stock prices application could increase the interval between sending messages as the amount of data in the buffers increases. The application can then supersede data that is waiting to be sent with a newer update to the same data, and amalgamate messages if necessary. This is an example of how the level of service sets the amount of data sent. Graph 3603 shows how an exchange rate application could stop sending updates altogether if the connection latency is too high, send only some exchange rates if the connection latency is about normal, and send all the rates that the user is interested in if the latency gets very low. This could be valuable if the user has indicated that he does not want to trade on, and is therefore not interested in, certain exchange rates if the latency is known to be above a certain threshold. This is an example of how the amount and type of data sent could be set by the level of service. These graphs are only examples of ways in which network condition indicators could be used to vary the level of service. The exact way in which the level of service varies depends upon the application requirements of the user, the particular type of application, the data that the application supplies, and so on. Also, although these graphs indicate thresholds and linear correlations, the network conditions could be used so that an increase or decrease in a value triggers an increase or decrease in level of service, such that a particular value does not necessarily indicate a particular level of service. The values of two or more network condition indicators could be combined to indicate whether the level of service should increase or decrease. Additionally, the application manager 3303 could make the necessity to consider network conditions more binding on some applications than others. Thus MTP provides an additional advantage over other protocols. Because of its management of transmission rate, as described with reference to FIG. 29, networks with high bandwidth and low latency are used just as effectively as those with low bandwidth and high latency, but if network conditions are better then more information is sent. Thus if, for example, the user of PDA 511 moves into transmission range of WiFi gateway 118 and the PDA detects this and starts using WiFi instead of a telecoms network, not only does the session maintenance described with reference to FIG. 30 enable the session to be continued seamlessly over the higher capacity network, but the user may immediately perceive a higher level of service, depending upon the application being used. Thus the protocol makes the best possible use of low bandwidth and high latency connections, but also provides high bandwidth, low latency users with a high level of service and perceived functionality. FIG. 37 FIG. 37 details PDA 511. As described above, this is an example of a terminal that could be used in a system embodying the invention. It includes a CPU 3701 with a clock speed of 370 megahertz (MHz) with memory 3702 being provided by 64 megabytes (MB) of RAM. 256 MB of non-volatile FLASH memory 3703 is provided for program and data storage. Liquid crystal display 3704 is used to display information to the user. Input/output 3705 processes the input of the keys and buttons 513 while audio input/output 3706 provides a microphone and speaker interface for use with the telephone facility. Universal Serial Bus (USB) input/output 3707 is used to connect PDA 511 to another computer, or to the Internet 110 via a wired connection. GPRS/WiFi connection 3708 and GSM connection 3709 enable PDA 511 to connect to wireless networks, while Ethernet card 3710 enables PDA 511 to connect to a wired network, for example via a docking station on a computer. FIG. 38 FIG. 38 details steps carried out by PDA 511. At step 3801 PDA 511 is switched on and at step 3802 a question is asked as to whether the real time application instructions are already installed. If this question is answered in the negative then at step 3803 the instructions are downloaded from a network 3804. The instructions are then installed at step 3805. At this point, or if the question asked at step 3802 is answered in the negative, the instructions are executed at step 3806. Instructions for other applications on PDA 511 are executed at step 3807. At step 3808 the PDA is switched off. FIG. 39 FIG. 39 details the contents of memory 3702 during step 3806. An operating system 3901 provides operating system instructions for common system tasks and device abstraction. The Windows™ CE™ operating system is used, but a different PDA-suitable operating system could be used. Data transport instructions 3902, substantially like those described for the real time data server 502 except that there is only a single session, include MTP instructions. Real time application instructions 3903 include individual real time applications such as financial data application 3904. Application 3904 takes information provided via datagrams into a message queue and displays it on display 3704 according to its interface and user setups. For example, it may provide stocks prices in a grid with news headlines scrolling along the bottom. Web browser instructions 3905 and email client instructions 3905 are provided. These applications could also use MTP to communicate via the real time application provider 101. RTDP 101 can forward information from and to a third party using TCP and from and to a terminal using MTP. This emphasises that the protocol described herein for providing real time data could be used for communication of many types. Session data includes segment buffers, priority buffer and state variables as shown for session data 804 in FIG. 9. Real time application data 3908 is data used by the application instructions 3903 and user account data 3909 comprises the user's password, name, billing details and so on. Other data includes data used by the operating system and other applications. FIG. 40 Since MTP is a substantially symmetrical protocol there is no need to describe in detail much of the real time application instructions executed at step 3806. Datagrams are produced, transmitted and received in substantially the same way as the processes described with reference to FIG. 10. Thus, as shown in FIG. 40, step 3806 where the client runs the application instructions comprises the following processes running substantially in parallel. Process 4001 transmits datagrams from the client 511 to the real time data server 502. It comprises two separate processes: datagram preparation 4002 and output buffer processing 4003. Processes 4002 and 4003 are substantially identical to processes 1002 and 1003 respectively. Process 4004 receives datagrams from the real time data server 502 and comprises three separate processes: datagram reception 4005, transactional datagram processing 4006 and streamed datagram processing 4007. These processes are substantially identical to processes 1005, 1006 and 1007 respectively. Process 4008 performs background processing. This is similar to process 1008, except that process 4008 has no step corresponding to step 2707, at which the real time data server 502 informs the application server 501 of the network conditions. The only substantial difference between the client and the server is that the client does not perform a process corresponding to session maintenance 1009. An additional difference is that, in general, a session will be requested and terminated by the user of PDA 511. Datagram reception process 4005 includes step 4009, at which a resend latency value is calculated, and background processing 4008 includes step 4010, at which a heartbeat rate is negotiated. These steps correspond to steps 1909 and 2702 respectively. Although the facility for these steps exists on both the real time data server 502 and PDA 511, in practice, in this embodiment, it is only PDA 511 that uses them. They are thus described in FIG. 41 and FIG. 42 respectively. FIG. 41 FIG. 41 illustrates resend latency measurement. This is the delay caused by having to resend a datagram, as opposed to the connection latency which is the delay caused by the network. Packets sent across the Internet 110 are not guaranteed to arrive, which is why an additional protocol like MTP must be used to ensure eventual delivery. When an MTP datagram gets “lost”, meaning that it is not acknowledged, it will be resent. The data it contains, therefore, is more out-of-date than it would have been had it arrived first time. This resend latency is calculated at step 4009. In FIG. 41 the original datagram 4101 is transmitted and fails to be delivered. After a time, either through a lack of acknowledgement or a negative acknowledge, the real time data server 502 will resend the datagram. The resent datagram 4102 is also lost. A third attempt 4103 is successful. Each datagram contains an elapsed time field 4104. In datagram 4101 this is set to zero. In datagram 4102 it is the difference between the transmission time of datagram 4102 and the transmission time of datagram 4101; similarly for datagram 4103. Thus, for example, the elapsed time field for datagram 4103 is 421 milliseconds. When a resent datagram is received the resend latency is recalculated using a smoothing filter on the elapsed time. If no datagrams are received at all then the resend latency is gradually increased. This occurs in this embodiment once a heartbeat period has passed with no receipt of datagrams. However, receipt of any datagram, including transactional datagrams and empty streamed datagrams, will at this point decrease the latency, since it implies that the reason for non-receipt of streamed data may be that there is no data to send, and thus the last received updates may still be current. The resend latency is added to the connection latency to give the application latency. This is the actual time delay of the data displayed to the user on PDA 511. Thus the timeliness of the data, according to a function of the length of time taken to reach the client and the possible number of resends it required, is displayed to the user to allow him to make a decision regarding whether or not to use the data. Optionally, when the application latency falls below a certain threshold the screen may “grey out” and transactions may be suspended. FIG. 42 FIG. 42 details step 4010, at which the PDA 511 negotiates a new heartbeat rate with real time data server 502. The heartbeat rate is the maximum interval that is allowed to pass without sending data, both by the server and by the client. If no data has been sent at the end of this interval then an empty streamed datagram is sent. In this embodiment, this is combined with the connection latency measurement by sending the latency measurement datagram at intervals which are the same as the heartbeat rate. If the server does not receive any data from the client for an interval substantially equal to twice the heartbeat interval, then the session will stall. The client, however, does not stall a session on non-receipt of data, but continues to send data, or heartbeats if there is no data. A heartbeat is in this embodiment usually a latency-measurement datagram, but could be an empty datagram with the KAL field 1213 set. Since latency measurements are sent at the heartbeat rate, the latency is more accurate when the heartbeat is faster. This means that when the user is, for example, trading, the heartbeat should be fast, whereas when he is browsing news stories the heartbeat should be slow. Thus the heartbeat negotiation is triggered by events that occur when the PDA 511 switches applications, minimises or maximised applications or enters a particular state in an application. At step 4201 a new heartbeat rate is requested by sending a datagram that has SYN field 1202 set and a number in acknowledgement number field 1212, but does not have ACK field 1203 set. At step 4202 a question is asked as to whether the heartbeat rate has been agreed by receiving an acknowledgement of this datagram. If this question is answered in the negative then the heartbeat rate is not changed. Alternatively, if the heartbeat rate is agreed, the rate is changed at step 4203. Associated with this is the possibility that the client may at any time change its application requirements. For example, on minimising of the display of stock prices the client may, using a transactional datagram, change its application requirements to stop the transmission of stock prices. On using the telephone, which requires as much bandwidth as possible, the client may change its application requirements to cease all transmission of streamed data. When the user returns to the display of stocks then the application requirements can be changed again to indicate that the default requirements apply. However, even when no streamed data is being sent, the client and server continue to send latency measurements at the agreed heartbeat rate. This indicates not only that the connection is still active but allows an immediate display of latency when the user returns to the display of streamed data. | <SOH> FIELD OF THE INVENTION <EOH>The invention relates to transmitting data from a first station to a second station. | <SOH> BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION <EOH>According to an aspect of the present invention there is provided a method of transmitting packets of data from a first station to a second station, wherein each of said data packets conveys information of either at least a first information type or a second information type thereby giving each an information type; each data packet is transmitted using at least a first transmission process or a second transmission process; and for each data packet a transmission process (said first, second or other) is select in response to an indication of the information type of the information conveyed by the data packet. | 20040827 | 20090804 | 20060223 | 62476.0 | H04J322 | 0 | BOAKYE, ALEXANDER O | TRANSMITTING DATA | UNDISCOUNTED | 0 | ACCEPTED | H04J | 2,004 |
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10,929,081 | ACCEPTED | Apparatus and method to optimize revenue realized under multiple service level agreements | A method to optimize revenue realized under multiple service level agreements with multiple data storage clients is disclosed. The method provides an information storage and retrieval system. The method includes entering into (N) service level agreements to provide data storage services for (N) applications using the information storage and retrieval system, where each of the (N) service level agreements specifies an average maximum response time RTSLA. The method calculates for each value of (j), the value per unit throughput νj for the (j)th application, and then determines for each value of (j) the optimum data flow rate x(j)OPT. The method estimates, for each value of (j), a maximum data flow rate X(j)MAX that the (j)th application can utilize, and determines, for each value of (j), if x(j)OPT equals X(j)MAX. For each value of (j) where x(j)OPT does not equal X(j)MAX, the method delays execution of I/O requests from the (j)th application, such that the average response time for the (j)th application equals RT(j)SLA. | 1. A method to optimize revenue realized under multiple service level agreements, comprising the steps of: providing an information storage and retrieval system, comprising one or more data storage devices; entering into (N) service level agreements to provide data storage services for (N) applications using said information storage and retrieval system, wherein each of said (N) service level agreements specifies an average maximum response time RTSLA, and wherein the (j)th SLA recites RT(j)SLA, wherein (j) is greater than or equal to 1 and less than or equal to (N); calculating for each value of (j), the value per unit throughput νj for the (j)th application; determining for each value of (j) the optimum data flow rate x(j)OPT; initializing, for each value of (j), a maximum data flow rate X(j)MAX that the (j)th application can utilize; determining, for each value of (j), if x(j)OPT equals X(j)MAX; for each value of (j) wherein x(j)OPT does not equal X(j)MAX, delaying execution of I/O requests from the (j)th application, such that the average response time for the (j)th application equals RT(j)SLA. 2. The method of claim 1, further comprising the steps of: providing (N) indicators, wherein each of said (N) indicators can comprise a first value or a second value; for each value of (j) wherein x(j)OPT equals X(j)MAX, setting the (j)th indicator to said first value; for each value of (j) wherein x(j)OPT does not equal X(j)MAX, setting the (j)th indicator said second value; servicing I/O requests from said (N) applications; operative if the (j)th indicator is set to said first value, measuring X(j)MAX; operative if the (j)th indicator is set to said second value, measuring X(j)MIN, wherein X(j)MIN comprises the minimum data flow rate for the (j)th application to achieve RT(j)SLA; repeating said maximizing and determining steps, and for each application (j) wherein x(j)OPT does not equal X(j)MAX, repeating said delaying step. 3. The method of claim 2, wherein said providing (N) indicators step further comprises providing a bitmap comprising (N) bits. 4. The method of claim 3, further comprising the steps of: providing a Quality of Service server capable of communicating with each of said (N) applications and with said information storage and retrieval system; disposing said bitmap in said Quality of Service server. 5. The method of claim 3, further comprising the steps of: providing a gateway device capable of communicating with each of said (N) applications and with said information storage and retrieval system; disposing said bitmap in said gateway device. 6. The method of claim 2, further comprising the step of creating a database, wherein said database comprises said (N) indicators. 7. The method of claim 6, wherein said creating a database step further includes creating a database which includes, for each value of (j), RT(j)SLA, x(j)OPT, X(j)MAX, and optionally X(j)MIN. 8. The method of claim 6, further comprising the steps of: providing a Quality of Service server capable of communicating with each of said (N) applications and said information storage and retrieval system; disposing said database in said Quality of Service server. 9. The method of claim 6, further comprising the steps of: providing a gateway device capable of communicating with each of said (N) applications and said information storage and retrieval system; disposing said database in said gateway device. 10. The method of claim 1, further comprising the steps of: providing a gateway device capable of communicating with each of said (N) applications and with said information storage and retrieval system, wherein said gateway device includes an I/O request queue; wherein said delaying execution of I/O requests step further comprises enqueuing said I/O requests in said I/O request queue. 11. The method of claim 1, wherein said information storage and retrieval system comprises two or more data caches, two or more non-volatile storage devices, and three or more hard disk data storage devices using a RAID protocol. 12. The method of claim 1, wherein said providing an information storage and retrieval system step further comprises providing an information storage and retrieval system comprising a plurality of portable cartridges, wherein each portable cartridge comprises a magnetic tape. 13. The method of claim 12, wherein said providing an information storage and retrieval system step further comprises providing an information storage and retrieval system comprising a virtual tape server. 14. A method to optimize the total value of a set of applications being run for one or more customers, comprising the steps of: providing an information storage and retrieval system, comprising one or more data storage devices; entering into (N) service level agreements with one or more customers to provide data storage services for (N) applications using said information storage and retrieval system, wherein each of said (N) service level agreements specifies an average maximum response time RTSLA, and wherein the (j)th SLA recites RT(j)SLA, wherein (j) is greater than or equal to 1 and less than or equal to (N); calculating for each value of (j), the value per unit throughput νj for the (j)th application; determining for each value of (j) the optimum data flow rate x(j)OPT; initializing, for each value of (j), a maximum data flow rate X(j)MAX that the (j)th application can utilize; determining, for each value of (j), if x(j)OPT equals X(j)MAX; for each value of (j) wherein x(j)OPT does not equal X(j)MAX, delaying execution of I/O requests from the (j)th application, such that the average response time for the (j)th application equals RT(j)SLA. 15. The method of claim 14, wherein said providing step and said entering into step are performed by a service provider that provides data storage services for one or more data storage customers. 16. An article of manufacture comprising a computer useable medium having computer readable program code disposed therein to optimize revenue realized under (N) service level agreements to provide data storage services for (N) applications using an interconnected information storage and retrieval system comprising one or more data storage devices, wherein each of said (N) service level agreements specifies an average maximum response time RTSLA, and wherein the (j)th SLA recites RT(j)SLA, wherein (j) is greater than or equal to 1 and less than or equal to (N), the computer readable program code comprising a series of computer readable program steps to effect: obtaining for each value of (j), the value per unit throughput νj for the (j)th application; determining for each value of (j) the optimum data flow rate x(j)OPT; estimating, for each value of (j), a maximum data flow rate X(j)MAX that the (j)th application can utilize; determining, for each value of (j), if x(j)OPT equals X(j)MAX; for each value of (j) wherein x(j)OPT does not equal X(j)MAX, delaying execution of I/O requests from the (j)th application, such that the average response time for the (j)th application equals RT(j)SLA. 17. The article of manufacture of claim 16, further comprising (N) indicators, wherein each of said (N) indicators can comprise a first value or a second value, said computer readable program code further comprising a series of computer readable program steps to effect: for each value of (j) wherein x(j)OPT equals X(j)MAX, setting the (j)th indicator to said first value; for each value of (j) wherein x(j)OPT does not equal X(j)MAX, setting the (j)th indicator said second value; servicing I/O requests from said (N) applications; operative if the (j)th indicator is set to said first value, measuring X(j)MAX; operative if the (j)th indicator is set to said second value, measuring X(j)MIN, wherein X(j)MIN comprises the minimum data flow rate for the (j)th application to achieve RT(j)SLA. 18. The article of manufacture of claim 17, said computer readable program code further comprising a series of computer readable program steps to effect forming a bitmap comprising (N) bits, wherein said bitmap comprises said (N) indicators. 19. The article of manufacture of claim 17, said computer readable program code further comprising a series of computer readable program steps to effect creating a database, wherein said database comprises said (N) indicators. 20. The article of manufacture of claim 19, wherein said computer readable program code to effect creating a database further comprises a series of computer readable program steps to effect creating a database which includes, for each value of (j), RT(j)SLA, x(j)OPT, X(j)MAX, and optionally X(j)MIN. 21. The article of manufacture of claim 16, further comprising an I/O request queue, wherein said computer readable program code to delay execution of I/O requests further comprising a series of computer readable program steps to effect enqueuing said I/O requests in said I/O request queue. 22. The article of manufacture of claim 16, wherein said article of manufacture comprises a gateway device interconnected with said (N) applications and with said information storage and retrieval system. 23. An article of manufacture comprising a computer useable medium having computer readable program code disposed therein to optimize the total value of a set of applications being run for one or more storage services customers using an interconnected information storage and retrieval system comprising one or more data storage devices, wherein said information storage and retrieval system is operated by a storage services provider, and wherein each of said (N) service level agreements specifies an average maximum response time RTSLA, and wherein the (j)th SLA recites RT(j)SLA, wherein (j) is greater than or equal to 1 and less than or equal to (N), the computer readable program code comprising a series of computer readable program steps to effect: obtaining for each value of (j), the value per unit throughput νj for the (j)th application; determining for each value of (j) the optimum data flow rate x(j)OPT; estimating, for each value of (j), a maximum data flow rate X(j)MAX that the (j)th application can utilize; determining, for each value of (j), if x(j)OPT equals X(j)MAX; for each value of (j) wherein x(j)OPT does not equal X(j)MAX, delaying execution of I/O requests from the (j)th application, such that the average response time for the (j)th application equals RT(j)SLA. 24. A computer program product usable with a programmable computer processor having computer readable program code embodied therein to optimize revenue realized under (N) service level agreements to provide data storage services for (N) applications using an interconnected information storage and retrieval system comprising one or more data storage devices, wherein each of said (N) service level agreements specifies an average maximum response time RTSLA, and wherein the (j)th SLA recites RT(j)SLA, wherein (j) is greater than or equal to 1 and less than or equal to (N), comprising: computer readable program code which causes said programmable computer processor to obtain for each value of (j), the value per unit throughput νj for the (j)th application; computer readable program code which causes said programmable computer processor to determine for each value of (j) the optimum data flow rate x(j)OPT; computer readable program code which causes said programmable computer processor to estimate, for each value of (j), a maximum data flow rate X(j)MAX that the (j)th application can utilize; computer readable program code which causes said programmable computer processor to determine, for each value of (j), if x(j)OPT equals X(j)MAX; computer readable program code which, for each value of (j) wherein x(j)OPT does not equal X(j)MAX, causes said programmable computer processor to delay execution of I/O requests from the (j)th application, such that the average response time for the (j)th application equals RT(j)SLA. 25. The computer program product of claim 24, wherein said (N) applications are interconnected to said information storage and retrieval system via a gateway device comprising (N) indicators, wherein each of said (N) indicators can comprise a first value or a second value, said computer readable program code further comprising a series of computer readable program steps to effect: computer readable program code which, for each value of (j) wherein x(j)OPT equals X(j)MAX, causes said programmable computer processor to set the (j)th indicator to said first value; computer readable program code which, for each value of (j) wherein x(j)OPT does not equal X(j)MAX, causes said programmable computer processor to set the (j)th indicator said second value; computer readable program code which causes said programmable computer processor to service I/O requests from said (N) applications; computer readable program code which, if the (j)th indicator is set to said first value, causes said programmable computer processor to measure X(j)MAX; computer readable program code which, if the (j)th indicator is set to said second value, causes said programmable computer processor to measure X(j)MIN, wherein X(j)MIN comprises the minimum data flow rate for the (j)th application to achieve RT(j)SLA. 26. The computer program product of claim 25, further comprising computer readable program code which causes said programmable computer processor to form a bitmap comprising (N) bits, wherein said bitmap comprises said (N) indicators. 27. The computer program product of claim 25, further comprising computer readable program code which causes said programmable computer processor to create a database, wherein said database comprises said (N) indicators. 28. The computer program product of claim 27, wherein said computer readable code which causes said programmable computer processor to create a database further comprises computer readable program code which causes said programmable computer processor to creating a database which includes, for each value of (j), RT(j)SLA, x(j)OPT, X(j)MAX, and optionally X(j)MIN. 29. The computer program product of claim 25, wherein said gateway device further comprises an I/O request queue, wherein said computer readable code which causes said processor to delay execution of I/O requests further comprises computer readable program code which causes said programmable computer processor to enqueue said I/O requests in said I/O request queue. 30. A computer program product usable with a programmable computer processor having computer readable program code embodied therein to optimize the total value of a set of applications being run for one or more storage services customers using an interconnected information storage and retrieval system comprising one or more data storage devices, wherein said information storage and retrieval system is operated by a storage services provider, and wherein each of said (N) service level agreements specifies an average maximum response time RTSLA, and wherein the (j)th SLA recites RT(j)SLA, wherein (j) is greater than or equal to 1 and less than or equal to (N), comprising: obtaining for each value of (j), the value per unit throughput νj for the (j)th application; determining for each value of (j) the optimum data flow rate x(j)OPT; estimating, for each value of (j), a maximum data flow rate X(j)MAX that the (j)th application can utilize; determining, for each value of (j), if x(j)OPT equals X(j)MAX; for each value of (j) wherein x(j)OPT does not equal X(j)MAX, delaying execution of I/O requests from the (j)th application, such that the average response time for the (j)th application equals RT(j)SLA. | FIELD OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to an apparatus and method to optimize revenue realized under multiple service level agreements. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION A person offering a data storage service, such as a Storage Service Provider (“SSP”) or an information services department within a company, needs to ensure that performance requirements are met for accessing the stored data. It is common in computer systems for a single data storage system to be used to hold data for multiple storage clients, which may be different computers, different applications, or different users. When the data storage system is owned by a Storage Service Provider, different clients using the same system may be separate customers, with separate contractual arrangements with the SSP. A storage system has many components that participate in the servicing of requests from clients. These include but are not limited to: arm actuators, data channels, disk controllers, memory buses, and protocol chips on the disk drives themselves; processors, memory controllers, buses, and protocol chips on storage system controllers; and SCSI buses, network links, loops, fabric switches, and other components for the client-to-controller and controller-to-disk interconnect. A request generally requires several of these components to participate at particular steps in its processing. Many components can generally be used concurrently, so that steps in the servicing of many requests are being performed simultaneously. To facilitate the concurrent utilization of resources, the system is built with an ability to enqueue requests and the subtasks involved in servicing them. There is a tradeoff between throughput (the total number of requests or number of bytes processed) and response time (the elapsed time from when the request is received by the system and when its completion is reported to the client). To achieve maximum throughput, a client usually submits a large number of requests for data. The large request load enables efficient workload scheduling in the system, but the response time in this case may be many times greater than that for a lightly loaded system because the requests spend a long time in the queue before being serviced. Typically, the storage system contains one or more storage devices such as disk drives for storing data in a persistent way. It also contains one or more processors that handle requests for access, generally calling upon the storage devices to do so. Associated with these storage devices and processors are memory devices and data transfer channels, such as data buses, that are all needed for processing the requests. The system further includes some form of interconnect facility through which the clients submit data requests to the processors. This may be a network capable of supporting general purpose communications among clients, processors and other devices, or it may consist of more specialized interconnect facilities such as direct connections. Within one system, there may be many instances of each kind of device and facility. These are all resources of the system; however, they need not all be owned exclusively by the storage system. For example, the processors and memory buses might be involved in other computational tasks that are not part of handling storage requests from the clients. One request from a client to the system generally does not require exclusive use of all resources. The system is designed therefore to handle many requests from many clients concurrently by scheduling stages in the processing of requests concurrently, such as disk arm motion and data transfer. One of the system's functions for achieving concurrency is queuing, by which the stages of processing for one request can be delayed when other requests are occupying required resources. Storage service providers often enter into Service Level Agreements (“SLAs”) with data owners, whereby each SLA typically specifies a maximum average response time, i.e. an RTSLA, for requests made by the data owner to write and/or read data to and/or from the SSPs storage facility. When servicing requests from (N) multiple data owners under (N) SLAs, the SSP must allocate system resources such that RT(j)SLA, for each value of (j), is satisfied, where (j) is greater than or equal to 1 and less than or equal to (N). Although the data objects used by different clients will generally be separate, the storage system resources involved in accessing those data objects will often overlap. These resources may include any of the components described above, such as storage devices, processors, memory, buses, and interconnect. One client's access to data can suffer performance degradation when another client consumes too much of one or more resources. If this competition for resources is not controlled, may be difficult to meet the response times specified in the (N) SLAs. Even if each RT(j)SLA is satisfied, permitting each of the (N) applications to consume arbitrary levels of system resources will not likely generate the maximum revenue for the storage system provider. Various mechanisms are known in the art to allocate system resources amongst multiple storage system clients. What is needed, however, is an apparatus and method to both satisfy the contractual obligations of the storage system provider, and provide system resources in a way that maximizes the revenue to the storage system provider. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Applicants' invention includes an apparatus and method to optimize revenue realized under multiple service level agreements. The method provides an information storage and retrieval system, comprising one or more data storage devices. The method includes entering into (N) service level agreements to provide data storage services for (N) applications using the information storage and retrieval system, where each of the (N) service level agreements specifies an average maximum response time RTSLA. The method calculates for each value of (j), the value per unit throughput νj for the (j)th application, and then determines for each value of (j) the optimum data flow rate x(j)OPT. The method estimates, for each value of (j), a maximum data flow rate X(j)MAX that the (j)th application can utilize, and determines, for each value of (j), if x(j)OPT equals X(j)MAX. For each value of (j) where x(j)OPT does not equal X(j)MAX, the method delays execution of I/O requests from the (j)th application, such that the average response time for the (j)th application equals RT(j)SLA. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The invention will be better understood from a reading of the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the drawings in which like reference designators are used to designate like elements, and in which: FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing one embodiment of Applicants' information storage and retrieval system; FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing one embodiment of Applicants' data processing system; FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a second embodiment of Applicants' data processing system; and FIG. 4 is a flow chart summarizing the steps of Applicants' method. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS This invention is described in preferred embodiments in the following description with reference to the Figures, in which like numbers represent the same or similar elements. The invention will be described as embodied in an apparatus and method to operate a data processing system. A pending United States Patent Application having Ser. No. 10/187,227, owned by the common assignee hereof, further describes Applicants' computer storage system, and is hereby incorporated by reference herein. Referring now to FIG. 2, Applicants' data processing system 200 includes a number of clients 201, such as in the illustrated embodiment clients 201a, 201b, and 201n. In the illustrated embodiment of FIG. 2, Applicants' data processing system includes interconnections with 3 clients. In certain embodiments, (N) clients are capable of writing data to, and/or reading data from, Applicants' storage system, where (N) is greater than 3. In certain embodiments, one or more of the (N) clients comprises a computer system, such as a mainframe computer, personal computer, workstation, and combinations thereof, including one or more operating systems such as Windows, AIX, Unix, MVS, LINUX, etc. (Windows is a registered trademark of Microsoft Corporation; AIX is a registered trademark and MVS is a trademark of IBM Corporation; and UNIX is a registered trademark in the United States and other countries licensed exclusively through The Open Group.) As those skilled in the art will appreciate, such interconnected computers are often referred to as host computers. In certain embodiments, one or more of the (N) clients comprises an application running on a host computer. Each of the (N) clients is capable of generating requests 240 for the storage system 270 to store data to and retrieve data from data objects 205 associated with the storage system. The requests 240 contain attributes 245 such as whether data is stored or retrieved, the location at which the data is stored or retrieved, and the length of the request. The storage system 270 may consist of one device or multiple devices which are used by their owner to constitute a single data storage facility. Each client has at least one gateway connection 208 to a gateway 210, such as in the illustrated embodiment gateways 210a and 210n. Each gateway includes a processor, such as processors 212a and 212n, and a memory, such as memory 214a and 214n. In certain embodiments, each gateway device further includes a request classifier 220 and a flow controller 230. A client may have connections to multiple gateways as well as multiple connections to the same gateways, and multiple clients may have connections to the same gateway. Each gateway has at least one storage connection 216 to the storage system, i.e. system 270, by which it can transmit requests to the storage system and by which the storage system transmits the responses to these requests to the gateway. The gateways are connected to a Quality of Service (“QoS”) server 260 which provides configuration and control information to the gateways and extracts and stores monitor data from the gateways. QoS Server 260 includes processor 262 and memory 264. Within each flow controller 230 in operation are data objects each of which is referred to as a service class 231. Each service class contains a balance vector 234, a replenishment rate vector 236, and a carryover limit vector 238. Also in each service class 231 is a delay queue 232 into which requests 240 can be enqueued. Within each classifier 220 in operation are data objects each of which is referred to as a classification rule 225. The classification rules 225 contain information by which each request 240 is associated with a service class 231. FIG. 3 illustrates one embodiment of the logical configuration and capabilities shown in FIG. 2. The clients 301 comprise computers on which applications are generating I/O requests. Applicants' data processing system 300 includes one or more information storage and retrieval systems 370 which use data storage devices to create logical units which are made available for use by the clients. In the illustrated embodiment of FIG. 3, the clients 301 are interconnected with either switch 320a or 320b via a plurality of communication links 330. Switches 320a and 320b are interconnected with one another via a plurality of communication links 344, and with gateways 310a and 310b via a plurality of communication links 342. Switch 320b is interconnected to storage system 370a and 370b via a plurality of communication links 352. Switch 320a is interconnected to storage systems 370c and 370d via a plurality of communication links 354. In certain embodiments, communication links 330, 342, 344, 346, 352, and 354, are selected from a serial interconnection, such as RS-232 or RS-422, an ethernet interconnection, a SCSI interconnection, a Fibre Channel interconnection, an ESCON interconnection, a FICON interconnection, a Local Area Network (LAN), a private Wide Area Network (WAN), a public wide area network, Storage Area Network (SAN), Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP), the Internet, and combinations thereof. In certain embodiments, the clients, storage system, and gateways are attached in a network via Fibre Channel hardware, through one or more switch fabrics 320. In these Fibre Channel embodiments, gateways 320a and 320b are computing devices comprising a processor and a memory, and are attached to the Fibre Channel fabric. In certain embodiments, a processor disposed in the gateway, such as processor 362, executes a program, such as program 368, stored in memory 364 that performs the actions of a classifier 220 and a flow controller 230. QoS Server 360 comprises a computing device 366 which includes a processor 362, a memory 364, and one or more programs 368 stored in memory 364. In certain embodiments, storage system 270 (FIG. 2), and/or one or more of storage systems 370 (FIG. 3), comprise Applicants' information storage and retrieval system 100 (FIG. 1). In the illustrated embodiment of FIG. 1, Applicants' information storage and retrieval system 100 includes a first cluster 101A and a second cluster 101B. Each cluster includes a processor portion 130/140 and an input/output portion 160/170, respectively. Internal PCI buses in each cluster are connected via a Remote I/O bridge 155/165 between the processor portions 130/140 and device I/O portions 160/170, respectively. Information storage and retrieval system 100 further includes a plurality of host adapters 102-105, 107-110, 112-115, and 117-120, disposed in four host bays 101, 106, 111, and 116. Each host adapter may comprise one or more Fibre Channel ports, one or more FICON ports, one or more ESCON ports, or one or more SCSI ports. Each host adapter is connected to both clusters through one or more Common Platform Interconnect bus 121 such that each cluster can handle I/O from any host adapter. Processor portion 130 includes processor 132 and cache 134. In certain embodiments, processor portion 130 further include memory 133. In certain embodiments, memory device 133 comprises random access memory. In certain embodiments, memory device 133 comprises non-volatile memory. Processor portion 140 includes processor 142 and cache 144. In certain embodiments, processor portion 140 further include memory 143. In certain embodiments, memory device 143 comprises random access memory. In certain embodiments, memory device 143 comprises non-volatile memory. I/O portion 160 includes non-volatile storage (“WS”) 162 and NVS batteries 164. I/O portion 170 includes NVS 172 and NVS batteries 174. I/O portion 160 further comprises a plurality of device adapters, such as device adapters 165, 166, 167, and 168, and sixteen disk drives organized into two arrays, namely array “A” and array “B”. The illustrated embodiment of FIG. 1 shows two disk arrays. In other embodiments, Applicants' information storage and retrieval system includes more than two hard disk arrays. Each array of drives appears to a host computer as one or more logical drives. In the illustrated embodiment of FIG. 1, disk array “A” includes disk drives 181, 182, 183, 191, 192, 193, and 194. Disk array “B” includes disk drives 185, 186, 187, 188, 196, 197, and 198. In certain embodiments, arrays “A” and “B” utilize a RAID protocol. In certain embodiments, arrays “A” and “B” comprise what is sometimes called a JBOD array, i.e. “Just a Bunch Of Disks” where the array is not configured according to RAID. As those skilled in the art will appreciate, a RAID (Redundant Array of Independent Disks) rank comprises independent disk drives configured in an array of disk drives to obtain performance, capacity and reliability that exceeds that of a single large drive. In certain embodiments, Applicants' storage system 270/370 comprises an automated media library comprising a plurality of tape cartridges, one or more robotic accessors, and one or more tape drives. U.S. Pat. No. 5,970,030, assigned to the common assignee herein, describes such an automated media library and is hereby incorporated by reference. In certain embodiments, Applicants' storage system 270/370 comprises a virtual tape system. U.S. Pat. No. 6,269,423, assigned to the common assignee herein, describes such a virtual tape system, and is hereby incorporated by reference. FIG. 4 summarizes the steps of Applicants' method. In certain embodiments, Applicants' method is used to optimize revenue realized by a data storage services provider under multiple service level agreements with one or more data storage clients. In certain embodiments, Applicants' method is used to optimize the total value of a set of applications being run for one storage services customer by a data storage services provider. In certain embodiments, Applicants' method is used to optimize the total value of a set of applications being run for a plurality of storage services customers by a data storage services provider. In step 405, the Storage System Provider (“SSP”) enters into (N) Service Level Agreements (“SLAs”) for (N) applications, where the (j)th SLA specifies a maximum average response time RT(j)SLA. In entering into the SLA, the SSP agrees that the (j)th application will receive I/O services, such that the average I/O request from the (j)th application is serviced within the specified RT(j)SLA. In step 410, the SSP operates the storage system, such as for example system 200 or system 300, where the system receives I/O requests from the N) applications. In step 420, Applicants' method measures and saves the maximum data flow rate for each of the (N) applications. These values are used to initialize the quantities X(j)MAX, which in the subsequent operation of the algorithm, represent estimates of the maximum data flow rate that the (j)th application can utilize. That is, providing system resources in excess of those needed to reach X(j)MAX will be estimated not to result in an higher throughput for the (j)th application. The quantities X(j)(MIN) are also set to initial values in step 420. In subsequent operation of the algorithm, the values X(j)(MIN) represent estimates of the data flow rate that the (j)th application will utilize when its average I/O response time is equal to the specified RT(j)SLA. In certain embodiments, the initial value of X(j)(MIN) is set to 0.5*X(j)MAX. Step 420 can be performed any time after step 410 and prior to performing step 460. In certain embodiments, step 420 is performed by the SSP. In certain embodiments, step 420 is performed by a gateway device, such as gateway device 210 (FIG. 2)/310 (FIG. 3), interconnecting the client comprising the (j)th application and Applicants' information storage and retrieval system 270 (FIG. 2). In certain embodiments, step 420 is performed by Quality Of Service server 260 (FIG. 2). In certain embodiments, the values for X(j)MAX are saved in memory 214 (FIG. 2)/314 (FIG. 3). In certain embodiments, the values for X(j)MAX are saved in memory 264 (FIG. 2)/364 (FIG. 3). In step 430, Applicants' method calculates and saves the value per unit throughput νj for the (j)th application. As those skilled in the art will appreciate, νj can be expressed in any units of currency, i.e. U.S. Dollars, Euros, and the like. Step 420 may be performed any time after performing step 405 and prior to performing step 440. In certain embodiments, step 430 is performed by the SSP. In certain embodiments, step 430 is performed by a gateway device, such as gateway device 210 (FIG. 2)/310 (FIG. 3), interconnecting the client comprising the (j)th application and Applicants' information storage and retrieval system 270 (FIG. 2). In certain embodiments, step 430 is performed by Quality Of Service server 260 (FIG. 2). In certain embodiments, the values for νj are saved in memory 214 (FIG. 2)/314 (FIG. 3). In certain embodiments, the values for νj are saved in memory 264 (FIG. 2)/364 (FIG. 3). In certain embodiments of Applicants' method, the quantities vj are determined solely from contractual agreements, i.e. the SLAs, in which a base payment level Pj is stated in return for a corresponding base level of throughput Yj, provided that the required response time objective is met. In that case, vj=Pj/Yj. In other embodiments, v(j) may also reflect dynamic adjustments of the contractual agreement. For example, the service level agreement may permit the application to add incremental payments to vj as a temporary mechanism by which to influence the priority with which requests by the application are being handled. In certain of these embodiments, vj=(1+Fj)*Pj/Yj where Fj>=0 is an adjustment factor specified dynamically by the application. In step 440, Applicants' method maximizes linear optimization Equation (1), xjν1+x2ν2+ . . . +xnνj (1) where xj represents the throughput, i.e. the data flow rate, for the (j)th application. Thus, the term xjνj represents the monies generated by the (j)th application. Step 440 includes maximizing equation (1), subject to the constraints of Equations (2) and Equation (3): c 11 x 1 + c 12 x 2 + … + c 1 j x j ≤ U 1 c 21 x 1 + c 22 x 2 + … + c 2 j x j ≤ U 2 ⋯ c m1 x 1 + c m2 x 2 + … + c mj x j ≤ U m Equations ( 2 ) X(j)MIN≦x(j)≦X(j)MAX Equation (3) Referring now to Equations (2), the equation c11x1+c12x2+ . . . +c1jxj comprises the aggregate usage of a first system resource by all (N) applications. System resources include, for example, device adapter bandwidth, host adapter bandwidth, disk utilization, and the like. For that first system resource, U1 comprises the maximum available level of that first system resource. For the k-th system resource, Uk comprises the maximum allowable utilization of that resource. This is the maximum average utilization with which it is feasible for each application that uses the resource to satisfy its response time RT(j)SLA. Needless to say, the aggregate usage of a system resource by all (N) applications cannot exceed the maximum available level of that system resource. In certain embodiments, the values cnj and Un in Equations (2) are obtained from the known characteristics of the system resources, from the distribution of the data used by the j-th application over those resources, and from the characteristics of the requests generated by the j-th application. For example, if the (n)th resource is a data channel with bandwidth capacity of 200 megabytes per second, and the (j)th application transmits 50% of its data over this channel, and if xj is measured as the number of megabytes transmitted by the (j)th application per second, then we would have Un=200 and cnj=0.5 (expressing 50% as a fraction). In certain embodiments, the values cnj and Un in Equations (2) may be changed over time either because the system determines that the characteristics of the system resources, the distribution of data over the resources, or the characteristics of requests are different from what was used to produce the prior set of values. This determination may be done, for example, by the QoS Server 260 (FIG. 2) using data obtained by the gateway device 210 (FIG. 2). Referring now to Equation (3), the value for x(j) must fall within the range bounded by X(j)MIN and X(j)MAX. X(j)MIN represents the minimum level of system resources that must be provided to application (j) in order for the storage system to fulfill its contractual obligations, i.e. application (j) must realize an average response time less than or equal to RT(j)SLA. X(j)MAX represents the maximum level of system resources that application (j) can effectively utilize. Methods to solve linear optimization equations, such as Equation (1) subject to Equations (2) and Equation (3), are known in the art. For example, Harvey M. Wagner, Principles of Operations Research: With Applications to Managerial Decisions, 2nd Edition, Prentice-Hall: Englewood Cliffs, 1975, at Section 5.10 entitled “Upper-Bounded Variables teaches a method for solving linear optimization equations, such as Equation (1) subject to Equations (2) and Equation (3), and is hereby incorporated by reference. By maximizing Equation (1), subject to the constraints of Equations (2) and Equation (3), step 440 calculates (N) optimum data flow rates to maximize the revenues realized by the SSP, where x(j)OPT represents the optimum data flow rate for the (j)th application. In step 450, Applicants' method sets (j) equal to 1. In step 460, Applicants' method determines if the optimum data throughput rate, x(j)OPT, calculated in step 440 for the (j)th application, is equal to the measured maximum data flow rate X(j)MAX measured in step 420 for the (j)th application. Step 460 includes obtaining the stored values for X(j)MAX and x(j)OPT from memory, such as for example memory 214 (FIG. 2), 314 (FIG. 3), 264 (FIG. 2), and/or memory 364 (FIG. 3). In certain embodiments, step 450 is performed by a gateway, such as for example gateway 210a (FIG. 2) In certain embodiments, step 450 is performed by a Quality Of Service server, such as QOS server 260 (FIG. 2). If Applicants' method determines in step 460 that the optimum data throughput rate x(j)OPT is equal to the measured maximum data flow rate X(j)(MAX, then the method transitions from step 460 to step 470 wherein the method sets an indicator to indicate that X(j)MAX is to be later measured. In certain embodiments, Applicants' method creates and maintains a database which includes the calculated values for x(j)(OPT), the values for RT(j) abstracted from the relevant SLAs, and measured values for certain parameters X(j)MAX and X(j)MIN, in accord with steps 462 and 470 of Applicants' method. In these embodiments, step 470 includes setting a field in the database which indicates that X(j)MAX is to be measured when the provision of system resources is “throttled” for certain other applications. In certain embodiments, this database is created and maintained in a Quality or Service Server, such as for example QoS Server 260 (FIG. 2). In certain embodiments, this database is created and maintained in gateway device, such as for example gateway device 210a (FIG. 2). In other embodiments, Applicants' method includes forming a bitmap comprising (N) bits, where each of those bits can have a first value or a second value. Setting the (j)th bit to the first value indicates that the scheduling of requests from the (j)th application should not be intentionally delayed, and that the measurements of actual throughput for the (j)th application should be used to update estimates of X(j)MAX. Setting the (j)th bit to the second value indicates that the scheduling of requests from the (j)th application should be intentionally delayed such that the response-time requirement in the SLA is just met, and that the measurements of actual throughput for the (j)th application should be used to update estimates of X(j)MIN. In certain embodiments, this bitmap is created and maintained in a Quality or Service Server, such as for example QoS Server 260 (FIG. 2). In certain embodiments, this bitmap is created and maintained in gateway device, such as for example gateway device 210a (FIG. 2). In these bitmap embodiments, if Applicants' method determines in step 450 that the optimum data throughput rate, x(j)OPT, calculated in step 440 for the (j)th application, is equal to the measured maximum data flow rate X(j)(MAX measured in step 440, then in step 470 the method sets the (j)th bit in the bitmap to the first value. Alternatively, if Applicants' method determines in step 460 that the optimum data throughput rate, x(j)OPT is not equal to the measured maximum data flow rate X(j)(MAX, then the method transitions from step 460 to step 462 wherein the method indicates that X(j)MIN is to be measured. In certain embodiments, step 462 includes setting a field in the database described above, where that field indicates that X(j)MIN is to be measured for the (j)th application. In certain embodiments, step 462 includes setting the (j)th bit in the above-described bitmap of (N) bits to the second value. Applicants' method transitions from step 462 to step 464 wherein the method throttles the (j)th application such that I/O requests serviced from the (j)th application just comply with the average response time specified in the (j)th SLA, i.e. to RT(j)SLA. In certain embodiments, step 464 includes enqueuing I/O requests received from the (j)th application, where those I/O requests are enqueued for incrementally increasing time periods until Applicants' data processing system just reaches the contractual RT(j)SLA. In certain embodiments, step 464 is performed by a gateway device, such as gateway device 210 (FIG. 2)/310 (FIG. 3), interconnecting the client comprising the (j)th application and Applicants' information storage and retrieval system 270 (FIG. 2). In certain embodiments, step 464 is performed by Quality Of Service server 260 (FIG. 2). Applicants' method transitions from step 464 to step 480. In step 480, Applicants' method determines if the calculated value for x(j)OPT has been compared to the measured value for X(j)MAX for each of the (N) applications, i.e. if (j) equals (N). In certain embodiments, step 470 is performed by a gateway device interconnecting the computer running the (j)th application and Applicants' information storage and retrieval system. In certain embodiments, step 480 is performed by a Quality Of Service server interconnected with the computer running the (j)th application and with Applicants' information storage and retrieval system. If Applicants' method determines in step 480 that the calculated value for x(j)OPT has not been compared to the measured value for X(j)MAX for each of the (N) applications, then Applicants' method transitions from step 480 to step 485 wherein the method increments (j). Applicants' method transitions from step 485 to step 460 and continues as described above. Alternatively, if Applicants' method determines in step 480 that the calculated value for x(j)OPT has been compared to the measured value for X(j)MAX for each of the (N) applications, then Applicants' method transitions from step 480 to step 490 wherein the method operates Applicants' data processing system, such as for example system 200/300, and for each value of (j) measures the actual throughput utilized by the (j)th application, and updates the saved value of either X(j)MIN or X(j)MAX, as determined by steps 462 or 470, respectively. In some embodiments either X(j)MIN or X(j)MAX is replaced with the newly measured value. In other embodiments, the updated value is a combination of the previous value with the newly measured value. Applicants' method transitions from step 490 to step 430 and continues as described above. In certain embodiments, individual steps recited in FIG. 4 may be combined, eliminated, or reordered. For example, one embodiment of Applicants' method includes steps 405 through 480, wherein the method ends when (j) equals (N). In certain embodiments, Applicants' invention includes instructions residing in memory 264 (FIG. 2), where those instructions are executed by processor 262 (FIG. 2) to performs steps 410, 420, 430, 440, 450, 460, 462, 464, 470, 480, 485, and 490, recited in FIG. 4. In certain embodiments, Applicants' invention includes instructions residing in memory 214 (FIG. 2), where those instructions are executed by processor 212 (FIG. 2) to perform steps 410, 420, 430, 440, 450, 460, 462, 464, 470, 480, 485, and 490, recited in FIG. 4. In other embodiments, Applicants' invention includes instructions residing in any other computer program product, where those instructions are executed by a computer external to, or internal to, system 200/300, to perform steps 410, 420, 430, 440, 450, 460, 462, 464, 470, 480, 485, and 490, recited in FIG. 4. In any of these embodiments, the instructions may be encoded in an information storage medium comprising, for example, a magnetic information storage medium, an optical information storage medium, an electronic information storage medium, and the like. By “electronic storage media,” Applicants mean, for example, a device such as a PROM, EPROM, EEPROM, Flash PROM, compactflash, smartmedia, and the like. While the preferred embodiments of the present invention have been illustrated in detail, it should be apparent that modifications and adaptations to those embodiments may occur to one skilled in the art without departing from the scope of the present invention as set forth in the following claims. | <SOH> BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION <EOH>A person offering a data storage service, such as a Storage Service Provider (“SSP”) or an information services department within a company, needs to ensure that performance requirements are met for accessing the stored data. It is common in computer systems for a single data storage system to be used to hold data for multiple storage clients, which may be different computers, different applications, or different users. When the data storage system is owned by a Storage Service Provider, different clients using the same system may be separate customers, with separate contractual arrangements with the SSP. A storage system has many components that participate in the servicing of requests from clients. These include but are not limited to: arm actuators, data channels, disk controllers, memory buses, and protocol chips on the disk drives themselves; processors, memory controllers, buses, and protocol chips on storage system controllers; and SCSI buses, network links, loops, fabric switches, and other components for the client-to-controller and controller-to-disk interconnect. A request generally requires several of these components to participate at particular steps in its processing. Many components can generally be used concurrently, so that steps in the servicing of many requests are being performed simultaneously. To facilitate the concurrent utilization of resources, the system is built with an ability to enqueue requests and the subtasks involved in servicing them. There is a tradeoff between throughput (the total number of requests or number of bytes processed) and response time (the elapsed time from when the request is received by the system and when its completion is reported to the client). To achieve maximum throughput, a client usually submits a large number of requests for data. The large request load enables efficient workload scheduling in the system, but the response time in this case may be many times greater than that for a lightly loaded system because the requests spend a long time in the queue before being serviced. Typically, the storage system contains one or more storage devices such as disk drives for storing data in a persistent way. It also contains one or more processors that handle requests for access, generally calling upon the storage devices to do so. Associated with these storage devices and processors are memory devices and data transfer channels, such as data buses, that are all needed for processing the requests. The system further includes some form of interconnect facility through which the clients submit data requests to the processors. This may be a network capable of supporting general purpose communications among clients, processors and other devices, or it may consist of more specialized interconnect facilities such as direct connections. Within one system, there may be many instances of each kind of device and facility. These are all resources of the system; however, they need not all be owned exclusively by the storage system. For example, the processors and memory buses might be involved in other computational tasks that are not part of handling storage requests from the clients. One request from a client to the system generally does not require exclusive use of all resources. The system is designed therefore to handle many requests from many clients concurrently by scheduling stages in the processing of requests concurrently, such as disk arm motion and data transfer. One of the system's functions for achieving concurrency is queuing, by which the stages of processing for one request can be delayed when other requests are occupying required resources. Storage service providers often enter into Service Level Agreements (“SLAs”) with data owners, whereby each SLA typically specifies a maximum average response time, i.e. an RT SLA , for requests made by the data owner to write and/or read data to and/or from the SSPs storage facility. When servicing requests from (N) multiple data owners under (N) SLAs, the SSP must allocate system resources such that RT (j)SLA , for each value of (j), is satisfied, where (j) is greater than or equal to 1 and less than or equal to (N). Although the data objects used by different clients will generally be separate, the storage system resources involved in accessing those data objects will often overlap. These resources may include any of the components described above, such as storage devices, processors, memory, buses, and interconnect. One client's access to data can suffer performance degradation when another client consumes too much of one or more resources. If this competition for resources is not controlled, may be difficult to meet the response times specified in the (N) SLAs. Even if each RT (j)SLA is satisfied, permitting each of the (N) applications to consume arbitrary levels of system resources will not likely generate the maximum revenue for the storage system provider. Various mechanisms are known in the art to allocate system resources amongst multiple storage system clients. What is needed, however, is an apparatus and method to both satisfy the contractual obligations of the storage system provider, and provide system resources in a way that maximizes the revenue to the storage system provider. | <SOH> SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION <EOH>Applicants' invention includes an apparatus and method to optimize revenue realized under multiple service level agreements. The method provides an information storage and retrieval system, comprising one or more data storage devices. The method includes entering into (N) service level agreements to provide data storage services for (N) applications using the information storage and retrieval system, where each of the (N) service level agreements specifies an average maximum response time RT SLA . The method calculates for each value of (j), the value per unit throughput ν j for the (j)th application, and then determines for each value of (j) the optimum data flow rate x (j)OPT . The method estimates, for each value of (j), a maximum data flow rate X (j)MAX that the (j)th application can utilize, and determines, for each value of (j), if x (j)OPT equals X (j)MAX . For each value of (j) where x (j)OPT does not equal X (j)MAX , the method delays execution of I/O requests from the (j)th application, such that the average response time for the (j)th application equals RT (j)SLA . | 20040827 | 20140114 | 20060302 | 66527.0 | G06F1750 | 0 | JAKOVAC, RYAN J | APPARATUS AND METHOD TO OPTIMIZE REVENUE REALIZED UNDER MULTIPLE SERVICE LEVEL AGREEMENTS | UNDISCOUNTED | 0 | ACCEPTED | G06F | 2,004 |
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10,929,170 | ACCEPTED | Fluorescent ink detector | A printer luminescent ink sensor for a printing device including a radiant energy source; and a photodetector located downstream from a print head of the printing device. The photodetector is adapted to detect luminescent energy from an indicium printed by the print head, upon exposure to radiant energy from the radiant energy source, substantially immediately after the indicium is printed. | 1. A printer luminescent ink sensor for a printing device comprising: a radiant energy source; and a photodetector located downstream from a print head of the printing device, wherein the photodetector is adapted to detect luminescent energy from an indicium printed by the print head, upon exposure to radiant energy from the radiant energy source, substantially immediately after the indicium is printed. 2. A printer luminescent ink sensor as in claim 1 wherein the radiant energy source comprises an ultraviolet (UV) light emitting diode (LED). 3. A printer luminescent ink sensor as in claim 1 wherein the photodetector comprises a light-to-voltage sensor. 4. A printer luminescent ink sensor as in claim 3 wherein the photodetector comprises a wavelength filter. 5. A printer luminescent ink sensor as in claim 4 wherein the wavelength filter comprises about a 550 nm high pass filter. 6. A printer luminescent ink sensor as in claim 1 wherein the photodetector comprises a plurality of photosensors, wherein at least two of the photosensors are adapted to detect different wavelengths. 7. A printer luminescent ink sensor as in claim 6 wherein two of the photosensors each comprise a light-to-voltage sensor and a different bandpass wavelength filter. 8. A printing device comprising: a print head; a system for determining print quality of a printed indicium printed by the print head on an article, the system comprising: a printer luminescent ink sensor as in claim 1 located downstream from the print head; a system for determining if the printed indicium comprises luminescent ink based upon a signal from the printer luminescent ink sensor. 9. A printing device as in claim 8 wherein the printing device comprises a postage meter and the print head comprises a postage meter print head. 10. A printing device as in claim 8 wherein the system for determining print quality is adapted to determine if the printed indicium comprises a minimum predetermined amount of luminescence. 11. A printing device as in claim 8 wherein the system for determining print quality is adapted to determine a quality of the printed indicium based upon a shape of a waveform signal from the printer luminescent ink sensor. 12. A printing device as in claim 8 wherein the system for determining print quality is adapted to differentiate between different inks. 13. A printing device as in claim 12 wherein the system for determining print quality is adapted to differentiate between different fluorescent inks. 14. A printing device as in claim 8 further comprising an infrared (IR) detector adapted to sense black ink pigments. 15. A printing device as in claim 8 wherein the photodetector is adapted to sense at least two separate wavelengths and adapted to output a digital value based upon a detection threshold for each of the wavelengths. 16. A printing device as in claim 15 wherein the photodetector comprises a plurality of light-to-voltage sensors and a different filter with different transmission rates at each light-to-voltage sensor. 17. A printer fluorescent ink sensor for a printing device comprising: a radiant energy source; and a system for determining quality of fluorescence of an indicium printed by a print head of the printing device, the system comprising a fluorescent ink photodetector located downstream from the print head. 18. A printer fluorescent ink sensor as in claim 17 wherein the radiant energy source comprises an ultraviolet LED. 19. A printer fluorescent ink sensor as in claim 17 wherein the photodetector comprises a light-to-voltage sensor and a wavelength filter. 20. A printer fluorescent ink sensor as in claim 17 wherein the photodetector comprises a plurality of photosensors, wherein at least two of the photosensors are adapted to detect different wavelengths. 21. A printer fluorescent ink sensor as in claim 17 wherein two of the photosensors each comprise a light-to-voltage sensor and a different bandpass wavelength filter. 22. A printing device comprising: a print head; a printer fluorescent ink sensor as in claim 17 located downstream from the print head further comprising a system for determining if the indicium comprises fluorescent ink based upon a signal from the printer fluorescent ink sensor. 23. A printing device as in claim 22 wherein the printer fluorescent ink sensor is adapted to determine if the indicium comprises a minimum predetermined amount of fluorescence. 24. A printing device as in claim 22 wherein the printer fluorescent ink sensor is adapted to determine a quality of the indicium based upon a shape of a waveform signal from the printer fluorescent ink sensor. 25. A printing device as in claim 22 wherein the printer fluorescent ink sensor is adapted to differentiate between different inks. 26. A printing device as in claim 25 wherein the printer fluorescent ink sensor is adapted to differentiate between different fluorescent inks. 27. A printing device as in claim 22 further comprising an infrared (IR) detector adapted to sense black ink pigments. 28. A printing device as in claim 22 wherein the photodetector is adapted to sense at least two separate wavelengths and adapted to output a digital value based upon a detection threshold for each of the wavelengths. 29. A printing device as in claim 28 wherein the photodetector comprises a plurality of light-to-voltage sensors and a different filter with different transmission rates at each light-to-voltage sensor. 30. A printing device as in claim 22 wherein the printing device comprises a postage meter and the print head comprises a postage meter print head. 31. A method of printing luminescent ink in a printing device comprising: printing an indicium on an article at a print head of the printing device; radiating energy towards the printed indicium; and detecting energy emitted by the indicium at a sensing location in the printing device downstream of the print head. 32. A method as in claim 31 wherein the printing device comprises a postage meter, and printing of the indicium comprises printing a postage indicium on an article. 33. A printer fluorescent ink sensor as in claim 17 wherein the photodetector comprises a phototransistor including a band-pass filter. | BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to printing and, more particularly, to detecting in a printing device the printing of a luminescent ink. 2. Brief Description of Prior Developments Currently there is no way for a postage meter to determine if a fluorescent ink is being used in a postage meter. Furthermore, there is no way of identifying if either a fluorescent ink is printed or if a fluorescent ink indicium is missing due to a mechanical/electrical problem with the print head. It is important for a postage meter manufacturer to be aware of any of these outcomes to warrant that its meters operate as designed. Any solution to these problems must also be small enough to be implemented in mailing machines. There are sophisticated instruments, unrelated to printers or postage meters, which can give a fluorescent spectral response, but these instruments are very large and expensive. Currently many postage meter manufacturers place microchips on their ink cartridges to prevent the printer (or meter) from printing with a counterfeit or wrong ink color cartridge. This protects the integrity of the equipment and prevents the printer from being damaged by counterfeit ink. These chips have to be placed on each of the millions of cartridges produced, and are a significant expense. There is a desire to provide an alternative way of solving this problem. There is a desire to provide a Read After Print (RAP) sensor to protect supplies revenue and prevent damage to postage meters from unauthorized ink usage. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In accordance with one aspect of the present invention, a printer luminescent ink sensor for a printing device is provided including a radiant energy source; and a photodetector located downstream from a print head of the printing device. The photodetector is adapted to detect luminescent energy from an indicium printed by the print head, upon exposure to radiant energy from the radiant energy source, substantially immediately after the indicium is printed. In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, a printer fluorescent ink sensor for a printing device is provided comprising a radiant energy source; and a system for determining quality of fluorescence of an indicium printed by a print head of the printing device. The system comprises a fluorescent ink photodetector located downstream from the print head. In accordance with one method of the present invention, a method of printing luminescent ink in a printing device is provided comprising printing an indicium on an article at a print head of the printing device; radiating energy towards the printed indicium; and detecting energy emitted by the indicium at a sensing location in the printing device downstream of the print head. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The foregoing aspects and other features of the present invention are explained in the following description, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, wherein: FIG. 1 is a diagram showing some components of a postage meter incorporating features of the present invention; FIG. 2 is a chart showing of signals sent by the photodetector to the controller of FIG. 1 when the indicium being read is properly printed using red fluorescent ink; FIG. 3 is a chart showing signals sent by the photodetector to the controller of FIG. 1 when the indicium being read is properly printed using black fluorescent ink; FIG. 4 is a chart showing signals sent by the photodetector to the controller of FIG. 1 when the indicium being read is printed using non-fluorescent ink or not properly printed using fluorescent ink; FIG. 5 is a diagram showing some components of a postage meter of an alternate embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 6 is a chart showing a signal sent by a first sensor of the photodetector of FIG. 5 to the controller of the postage meter; FIG. 7 is a chart showing signal sent by a second sensor of the photodetector of FIG. 5 to the controller; FIG. 8 is a chart showing signal sent by a third sensor of the photodetector of FIG. 5 to the controller; FIG. 9 shows a chart of a fluorescence spectra of intensity versus wavelength for a first fluorescent ink; FIG. 10 is a chart which illustrates a signal from a first light-to-voltage sensor with a 615 nm filter when reading indicium printed with the ink of FIG. 9; FIG. 11 is a chart which illustrates a signal from a second light-to-voltage sensor with a 500 nm filter when reading indicium printed with the ink of FIG. 9; FIG. 12 shows a chart of a fluorescence spectra of intensity versus wavelength for a second fluorescent ink; FIG. 13 is a chart which illustrates a signal from a first light-to-voltage sensor with a 615 nm filter when reading indicium printed with the ink of FIG. 12; and FIG. 14 is a chart which illustrates a signal from a second light-to-voltage sensor with a 500 nm filter when reading indicium printed with the ink of FIG. 12. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Referring to FIG. 1, there is shown a diagram of some components of a postage meter 10 incorporating features of the present invention. Although the present invention will be described with reference to the exemplary embodiments shown in the drawings, it should be understood that the present invention can be embodied in many alternate forms of embodiments. In addition, any suitable size, shape or type of elements or materials could be used. The postage meter 10 generally comprises a print head 12, a printer luminescent ink sensor 14, and a controller 16. The postage meter 10 preferably comprises other features such as a display, an input device, and a data communications device (such as a modem), not shown. Although the present invention is being described with reference to use in a postage meter, features of the present invention could be used in any suitable type of printing device which is adapted to print an indicium with luminescent ink, such as fluorescent ink or phosphorescent ink. The print head 12 is adapted to print a postage indicium 18 on an article 20, such as an envelope or an adhesive paper strip. The print head 12 uses an ink jet printing method. The ink used to print the indicium 18 preferably comprises fluorescent ink. Color fluorescent inks, including black fluorescent ink, are known such as described in U.S. patent application publication Nos. US 2002/0195586 A1, US 2003/0005303 A1, and US 2003/0041774 A1, which are hereby incorporated by reference in their entireties. The color fluorescent ink could be any suitable color including, for example, red or blue. Invisible ink jet inks are also described in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/331829 filed Dec. 30, 2002 which is also hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety. Use of fluorescent inks for hidden indicium is described in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/692,569, filed Oct. 24, 2003, (attorney docket No. F-736) which is also hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety. Luminescent ink, such as fluorescent ink, can be used by a government postal service, such as the U.S. Postal Service (USPS), to validate or confirm that a postage indicium is authentic. The luminescent ink can also be used to place a marking on a postage indicium by the postal service to indicate that the postage value has been used or consumed. As noted above, in the past there was no way for a postage meter to determine if fluorescent ink was being used in the postage meter. Furthermore, there was no way of identifying in the postage meter itself if either a fluorescent ink was printed, or if a fluorescent ink indicium was missing or incomplete due to a mechanical/electrical problem with the print head. The present invention comprises the sensor 14 to overcome these problems. The sensor 14 is located downstream from the print head 12. In other words, as the article 20 moves in direction 28, the indicium 18 is printed by the print head and then moves along a sensing location 30 at the sensor 14. The sensor 14 generally comprises a photodetector 22 and a radiant energy source or excitation source 24. The photodetector 22 generally comprises a light-to-voltage sensor. However, any suitable type of photodetector could be used. The radiant energy source 24 generally comprises an ultraviolet (UV) light emitting diode (LED). The LED comprises a 410 nm LED. However, any suitable type of radiant energy source could be used. The sensor 14 also comprises a filter 26. The filter 26 is a wavelength filter, such as a 550 nm high pass filter. However, any suitable filter could be provided whether it be a physical filter or a coating on the optical lens. The filter is located in front of the light-to-voltage sensor, between the light-to-voltage sensor and the indicium 18. By using an ultraviolet (UV) light emitting diode (LED) and a detection system located downstream from the print head, the postage meter can determine the type of ink (fluorescent or non-fluorescent) that was printed on the envelope. The postage meter can use this information to warn the user of problems with the ink supply or if the wrong ink has been used. These are problems which can now be addressed by the drop in cost of detector components (UV LED, phototransistors). Referring also to FIGS. 2-4, charts are shown of signals sent by the photodetector 22 to the controller 16. FIG. 2 illustrates a signal pattern when the indicium 18 is properly printed using red fluorescent ink. FIG. 3 illustrates a signal pattern when the indicium 18 is properly printed using black fluorescent ink. FIG. 4 illustrates a signal pattern when the indicium 18 is properly printed using non-fluorescent ink or when the indicium is not properly printed with fluorescent ink. The voltage outputs from the photodetector can be summarized as follow: Output Ink Type 1 V-2 V Red Fluorescent Ink 0.5 V-1 V Black Fluorescent Ink Less than 0.5 V Non-Fluorescent Ink (or insufficient fluorescent ink) A method for producing a small, low cost, fluorescence detection system can be provided to identify: a fluorescent ink type or that a non-fluorescent ink type was printed; and/or that the print head is functioning properly; and/or that a good print (good quality fluorescent indicium) was made. With a low cost device (the sensor 14), such as less than $10.00, the meter can determine if the ink used to print the indicium 18 is fluorescent or not right after printing of the indicium 18 by the print head 12. If the sensor 14 detects that the indicium 18 is not properly printed (such as with insufficient fluorescent ink), or was printed without fluorescent ink, the meter can display an error message and warn the user to obtain the ink needed. Additionally, this sensor system can validate the indicium and insure there is enough fluorescence in the indicium 18 for the mail piece 20 to be faced by a USPS Facer-Canceller system. This invention can consist of an ultraviolet light emitting diode (UV-LED), a wavelength filter (such as a 550 nm or 600 nm high pass filter for example), and a light-to-voltage sensor. The UV-LED 24 can provide 410 nm light energy to the printed indicium. The indicium 18, if fluorescent, can transform the UV light 32 into 600 nm orange light. The light-to-voltage sensor 22, fitted with a special filter 26, can absorb (detect) 600 nm light and convert it to an output voltage. If software in the postage meter does not detect this voltage spike, the meter can report an error; signaling no print or printing with the wrong ink or insufficient fluorescent ink. With a given ink, the expected voltage change is consistent and known. The shape of the waveform outputted by the light-to-voltage sensor can be analyzed. Any change in the magnitude of the waveform outside the set parameters (more or less fluorescence) can indicate that a different ink (unapproved ink or competitor ink) is in use, or that there has been a print head failure. If differences in the width of the waveform peaks (such as the peaks shown in FIGS. 2 and 3) are detected, it can indicate that the print head nozzles may be clogged and that a full print is not being achieved. Referring now also to FIGS. 5-8, postage meter 40 with a system and method can be provided for producing a small, low cost, fluorescence detection system to identify unique spectral characteristics of a particular ink. This can consist of an ultraviolet light emitting diode (UV-LED) 24, a set of filters 26, 34, 36 with different narrow bandpass wavelengths or different transmission rates, and several light-to-voltage sensors 22. The UV-LED 24 can provide 410 nm light energy to the printed indicium 18. The indicium 18, if fluorescent, can transform the UV light 32 into a longer wavelength fluorescent emission. The light-to-voltage sensors 22 can be fitted with special filters 26, 34, 36 that will absorb (detect) fluorescent light and convert it to an output voltage. Each light-to-voltage sensor 22 can look for fluorescence in a different wavelength region. Thus, multiple detectors can be used to build a complex (multiple) and perhaps complete fluorescent spectra of the ink used in the indicium. Additionally, an infrared (IR) detector 42 can be added to detect the presence of black pigments in the ink. In the diagram of FIG. 5 narrow bandpass filters 26, 34, 36 of 400 nm, 500 nm and 620 nm are used to obtain the fluorescent intensity at that wavelength. However, in alternate embodiments more or less than three filters and light-to-voltage sensors could be used. In addition, the filters could have any suitable bandpass. FIG. 6 illustrates a signal from the first 1 light-to-voltage sensor 22 with first filter 26 when reading the indicium 18. FIG. 7 illustrates a signal from the second 2 light-to-voltage sensor 22 with second filter 34 when reading the indicium 18. FIG. 8 illustrates a signal from the third 3 light-to-voltage sensor 22 with third filter 36 when reading the indicium 18. In one type of embodiment, the photodetector could have a minimum detection threshold which can be set to give a discrete value for a particular ink or fluorescence wavelength, such as detection thresholds 44, 46 and 48 shown in FIGS. 6-8. If the ink is above the threshold it can be assigned a value of “1”. If the ink is below the threshold it can be assigned a value of “0” (i.e. 0, 1, 1 for the illustration in FIGS. 5-8). Other types of fluorescent ink can have a digital signal of 1,0,0; or 1,1,0; etc. Thus, the photodetector can differentiate between different fluorescent inks by the use of multiple photosensors; each adapted to sense a different wavelength. A non-fluorescent ink would have no fluorescence and would give a value of zero on all three detectors 22 (0,0,0). This can be extended to include multiple detectors and give further differentiation between inks. There are no commercially available products that specifically detect red fluorescent emissions. Spectrophotometers and the like are available, but cost tens of thousands of dollars. The current invention can cost less than $10.00 to produce. This invention can comprise placing a multiple detector system (2 or more light detectors) on a postage meter or a printer itself. The sensing system can determine multiple spectra characteristics of the ink's spectra that was printed. This enables software in the postage meter or printer to determine which ink has been printed, and can display an error message if the wrong ink is installed, or insufficient ink was used to print the indicium, or if the wrong ink was used. Also, by using a UV LED and a detection system located downstream from the print head, the postage meter or fluorescent ink printer can determine the type of ink (fluorescent, non-fluorescent, or black pigment based) that was printed on the article 20. The postage meter or printer can use this information to warn the user of problems with the ink supply or if the wrong ink has been used, such as by displaying an error message on the display and/or making an audible sound. Referring now also to FIGS. 9-11, FIG. 9 shows a fluorescence spectra of intensity versus wavelength for a first fluorescent ink 50. In this embodiment the ink 50 comprises a red fluorescent ink sold by the postage meter manufacturer. A system could be provided with only two photosensors; such as one with a 615 nm filter and one with a 500 nm filter. FIG. 10 illustrates a signal pattern from a first light-to-voltage sensor 22 with a 615 nm filter when reading the indicium 18 printed with the ink 50. FIG. 11 illustrates a signal pattern from a second light-to-voltage sensor 22 with a 500 nm filter when reading the indicium 18 printed with the ink 50. Again, using the detection thresholds 47, 46, the output from the photodetector would be 1,0 when reading an indicium printed with the red fluorescent ink 50. Referring now also to FIGS. 12-14, FIG. 12 shows a fluorescence spectra of intensity versus wavelength for a second fluorescent ink 52. In this embodiment the ink 52 comprises a red fluorescent ink sold by a third-party to the postage meter manufacturer. The postage meter photodetector system, reading an indicium printed with the third-party's ink 52 would produce the outputs shown in FIGS. 13 and 14 for its two detectors of 0,1. Because the controller did not sense a 1,0 signal after reading the indicium, the controller can automatically determine that an unauthorized ink is being used in the postage meter. The postage meter can be programmed to perform any one of a number of different actions based upon this reading. This can include, for example, disabling the postage meter until a service technician can be called, displaying a message on the display of the postage meter (such as the ink is unauthorized or replace the ink cartridge with a proper ink cartridge), activate a communications system to send a message to the postage meter manufacturer that a third party's ink is being used (so the manufacturer can offer a discount pricing to the user to attempt to keep the user as a customer), signal a patent infringement, or signal a violation of postal codes. Of course, these are only examples. Other uses of fluorescent or luminescent ink determination and/or differentiation could be incorporated into the postage meter or fluorescent ink printer. It should be understood that the foregoing description is only illustrative of the invention. Various alternatives and modifications can be devised by those skilled in the art without departing from the invention. Accordingly, the present invention is intended to embrace all such alternatives, modifications and variances which fall within the scope of the appended claims. | <SOH> BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION <EOH>1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to printing and, more particularly, to detecting in a printing device the printing of a luminescent ink. 2. Brief Description of Prior Developments Currently there is no way for a postage meter to determine if a fluorescent ink is being used in a postage meter. Furthermore, there is no way of identifying if either a fluorescent ink is printed or if a fluorescent ink indicium is missing due to a mechanical/electrical problem with the print head. It is important for a postage meter manufacturer to be aware of any of these outcomes to warrant that its meters operate as designed. Any solution to these problems must also be small enough to be implemented in mailing machines. There are sophisticated instruments, unrelated to printers or postage meters, which can give a fluorescent spectral response, but these instruments are very large and expensive. Currently many postage meter manufacturers place microchips on their ink cartridges to prevent the printer (or meter) from printing with a counterfeit or wrong ink color cartridge. This protects the integrity of the equipment and prevents the printer from being damaged by counterfeit ink. These chips have to be placed on each of the millions of cartridges produced, and are a significant expense. There is a desire to provide an alternative way of solving this problem. There is a desire to provide a Read After Print (RAP) sensor to protect supplies revenue and prevent damage to postage meters from unauthorized ink usage. | <SOH> SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION <EOH>In accordance with one aspect of the present invention, a printer luminescent ink sensor for a printing device is provided including a radiant energy source; and a photodetector located downstream from a print head of the printing device. The photodetector is adapted to detect luminescent energy from an indicium printed by the print head, upon exposure to radiant energy from the radiant energy source, substantially immediately after the indicium is printed. In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, a printer fluorescent ink sensor for a printing device is provided comprising a radiant energy source; and a system for determining quality of fluorescence of an indicium printed by a print head of the printing device. The system comprises a fluorescent ink photodetector located downstream from the print head. In accordance with one method of the present invention, a method of printing luminescent ink in a printing device is provided comprising printing an indicium on an article at a print head of the printing device; radiating energy towards the printed indicium; and detecting energy emitted by the indicium at a sensing location in the printing device downstream of the print head. | 20040830 | 20081021 | 20060302 | 59579.0 | B41J29393 | 0 | FIDLER, SHELBY LEE | FLUORESCENT INK DETECTOR | UNDISCOUNTED | 0 | ACCEPTED | B41J | 2,004 |
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10,929,473 | ACCEPTED | Liquid crystal display driving device of matrix structure type and its driving method | A liquid crystal display driving device of matrix structure type and its driving method are disclosed in the present invention. The driving device consists of a group of thin film transistors with matrix array, a plurality of gate lines and a plurality of data lines. The object of increasing response speed can be accomplished by the different arrangement of gate lines and data lines and the different connection between each thin film transistor and the gate and data lines. The driving method for the said driving device includes: each pair of gate lines in the display panel are simultaneously and orderly turned on at different time of driving transistor, and the different driving voltages are orderly applied to the thin film transistors connected to the gate lines. The structure and method can suit for picture treating of various displays such as liquid crystal display, organic light-emitting diode (OLED) display or plasma display panel (PDP). | 1. A liquid crystal display driving device of matrix structure type including: a group of thin film transistors with matrix array consisting of N rows and M columns of thin film transistors, wherein each thin film transistor can drive one pixel so that N×M of pixels can be driven; a group of N gate lines connected to the gate drivers and insulated with each other, wherein the first gate line is connected with the gates of all the thin film transistors of the first row, the second gate line is connected with the gates of all the thin film transistors of the second row . . . and the Nth gate line is connected with the gates of all the thin film transistors of the Nth row; and M groups of data lines connected to the source drivers and insulated with each other, wherein the first and the second date lines of the first group of date lines are respectively connected with the sources of all the thin film transistors of the odd and the even rows of the first column, the first and the second data lines of the second group of data lines are respectively connected with the sources of all the thin film transistors of the odd and the even rows of the second column . . . and the first and the second data lines of the Mth group of data lines are respectively connected with the sources of the all thin film transistors of the odd and the even rows of the Mth column. 2. The liquid crystal display driving device of matrix structure type as claimed in claim 1, wherein the first and the second data lines of each group of data lines are given data by two groups of source drivers, respectively, and the two groups of source drivers are respectively arranged on the upper and the lower sides of the liquid crystal display. 3. The liquid crystal display driving device of matrix structure type as claimed in claim 1, wherein the first data lines and the second data lines of each group of data lines are connected with the same source driver, each source driver is installed on the same side of the display panel and the data transfer is switched by an electronic switch. 4. The liquid crystal display driving device of matrix structure type as claimed in claim 1, wherein there is a space between the neighboring data lines to prevent them from short circuit. 5. The liquid crystal display driving device of matrix structure type as claimed in claim 1, wherein the gate driver is a chip installed on glass. 6. The liquid crystal display driving device of matrix structure type as claimed in claim 1, wherein the gate driver is an integrated gate driver circuit installed on glass. 7. A driving method for the liquid crystal display of matrix structure type including: a. making use of the liquid crystal display driving device as claimed in claim 1, wherein there are 2(m+n), i.e. N=2(m+n), gate lines in the liquid crystal display, the period of the predetermined voltage of over drive received by the thin film transistor connected with the first gate line is set as a over exciting period, and the period of the data voltage of the present frame interval received by the thin film transistor connected with the first gate line is set as a brightness keeping period; b. when the over exciting period begins, the first gate line and the 2nth gate line are simultaneously turned on, the predetermined voltage of the over drive for the frame is given to the thin film transistor connected with the first gate line, the data voltage of the preceding frame is given to the thin film transistor connected with the 2nth gate line, and the second and the (2n+1)th gate lines, the third and the (2n+2)th gate lines . . . and the (2m−1)th and the [2(n+m)−2]th gate lines are orderly and simultaneously turned on, the predetermined voltage is given to the thin film transistors connected with the second to the (2m−1)th gate lines, the data voltage of the preceding frame is given to the thin film transistors connected with the (2n+1)th to the [2(m+n)−2]th gate lines; c. when the brightness keeping period begins, the 2mth and the fist gate lines are simultaneously turned on, the predetermined voltage is given to the thin film transistors connected with the 2mth gate line, the data voltage of the preceding frame interval is given to the thin film transistors connected with the first gate line, and the (2m+1)th and the second gate lines, the (2m+2)th and the third gate lines . . . and the [2(m+n)]th (the last) and the (2n−1)th gate lines are orderly and simultaneously turned on, the predetermined voltage is given to the thin film transistors connected with the (2m+J)th to the [2(m+n)]th (the last) gate lines, the data voltage of the present frame interval is given to the thin film transistors connected with the second and the (2n−1)th gate lines; by using of the steps stated above, the response speed of the liquid crystal display can be increased. 8. The driving method for liquid crystal display of matrix structure type as claimed in claim 7, wherein the driving method suits for the active matrix type liquid crystal display, the organic light emitting diode (OLED) display or plasma display panel (PDP). 9. A liquid crystal display driving device of matrix structure type including: a group of thin film transistors with matrix array consisting of 2N rows and M columns of thin film transistors, wherein each transistor can drive one pixel, therefore, total 2N×M of pixels can be driven; a group of N gate lines connected to the gate drivers and insulated with each other, wherein the first gate line is connected with the gates of all the thin film transistors of the first and the second rows, the second gate line is connected with the gates of all the thin film transistors of the third and the fourth rows . . . and the Nth gate line is connected with the gates of all the thin film transistors of the (2N−1)th and the (2N)th rows; and M groups of data lines connected to the source drivers and insulated with each other, wherein the first and the second data lines of the first group of date lines are respectively connected with the sources of all the thin film transistors of the odd rows and the even rows of the first column, the first and the second data lines of the second group of data lines are respectively connected with the sources of all the thin film transistors of the odd rows and the even rows of the second column . . . and the first and the second date lines of the Mth groups of data lines are respectively connected with the sources of all the thin film transistors of the odd rows and the even rows of the Mth column. 10. The liquid crystal display driving device of matrix structure type as claimed in claim 9, wherein the first data line of each group of data lines and the second data line of each group of data lines are respectively given data from two groups of source drivers, the two groups of source drivers are respectively installed on the upper side and the lower side of the liquid crystal display. 11. The liquid crystal display driving device of matrix structure type as claimed in claim 9, wherein the first data line and the second data line of each group of data lines are connected with the same source driver, each source driver is installed on the same side of the display panel and the data transfer is switched by an electronic switch. 12. The liquid crystal display driving device of matrix structure type as claimed in claim 9, wherein there is a space between the neighboring data lines to prevent them from short circuit. 13. The liquid crystal display driving device of matrix structure type as claimed in claim 9, wherein the gate driver is a chip installed on glass. 14. The liquid crystal display driving device of matrix structure type as claimed in claim 9, wherein the gate driver is an integrated gate driver circuit installed on glass. 15. A driving method for the liquid crystal display of matrix structure type including: a. making use of the liquid crystal display driving device as claimed in claim 9, wherein there are m+n, i.e. N=m+n, gate lines in the liquid crystal display, the period of the predetermined voltage of the over drive received by the thin film transistors connected with the first gate line is set as a over exciting period, and the period of the data voltage of the present frame interval received by the thin film transistor connected with the first gate line is set as a brightness keeping period; b. when the over exciting period begins, the first and the nth gate lines are orderly turned on in a time of one synchronous control signal, the predetermined voltage of the over drive for the frame and the data voltage of the preceding frame are respectively given to the thin film transistor connected with the first and the nth gate lines, and the second and the (n+1)th gate lines, the third and the (n+2)th gate lines . . . and the mth and the (m+n−1)th gate lines are orderly turned on in a time of synchronous control signal, the predetermined voltage is given to the thin film transistors connected with the second to the mth gate lines, the data voltage of the preceding frame is given to the thin film transistors connected with the (n+1)th to the (m+n−1)th gate lines; c. when the brightness keeping period begins, the (m+1)th and the first gate lines are orderly turned on in a time of one synchronous control signal, the predetermined voltage and the data voltage of the present frame interval are respectively given to the thin film transistors connected with the (m+1)th and the first gate lines, and the (m+2)th and the second gate lines, the (m+3)th and the third gate lines . . . and the (m+n)th (the last) and the (n−1)th gate lines are orderly and synchronously turned on, the predetermined voltage is given to the thin film transistors connected with the (m+2)th to the (m+n)th (the last) gate lines, the data voltage of the present frame interval is given to the thin film transistors connected with the second to the (n−1)th gate lines; by using of the steps stated above, the response speed of the liquid crystal display can be increased. 16. The driving method for the liquid crystal display of matrix structure type as claimed in claim 15, wherein the driving method suits for the active matrix type liquid crystal display, the organic light emitting diode (OLED) display or the plasma display panel (PDP). 17. A liquid crystal display driving device of matrix structure type including: a group of thin film transistors with matrix array consisting of N rows and 2M columns of thin film transistors, wherein each thin film transistor can drive one pixel, therefore total N×2M of pixels can be driven; N groups of gate lines connected with the gate drivers and insulated with each other, wherein the first and the second gate lines of the first group of gate lines are respectively connected with the gates of all the thin film transistors of the odd column and the even column of the first row, the first and the second gate lines of the second group of gate lines are respectively connected with the gates of all the thin film transistors of the odd column and the even column of the second row . . . and the first and the second gate lines of the Nth group of gate lines are respectively connected with the gates of all the thin film transistors of the odd column and the even column of the Nth row; and a group of M data lines connected with the source drivers and insulated with each other, wherein the first date line is connected with the sources of all the thin film transistors of the first column and the second column, the second date lines is connected with the sources of all the thin film transistors of the third column and the fourth column . . . and the Mth data line is connected with the sources of all the thin film transistors of the (2M−1)th column and the 2Mth column. 18. The liquid crystal display driving device of matrix structure type as claimed in claim 17, wherein the first gate lines and second gate lines of each group of gate lines are respectively given data by two groups of gate drivers, the two groups of gate drivers are respectively installed on the left side and the right side of the liquid crystal display. 19. The liquid crystal display driving device of matrix structure type as claimed in claim 17, wherein there is a space between the neighboring gate lines to prevent them from short circuit. 20. The liquid crystal display driving device of matrix structure type as claimed in claim 17, wherein the gate driver is a chip installed on glass. 21. The liquid crystal display driving device of matrix structure type as claimed in claim 17, wherein the gate driver is an integrated gate driver circuit installed on glass. 22. A driving method for the liquid crystal display of matrix structure type including: a. making use of the liquid crystal display driving device as claimed in claim 17, wherein there are 2(m+n), i.e. N=2(m+n), gate liens in the liquid crystal display, the period of predetermined voltage of the over drive received by the thin film transistors connected with the first gate line of the first group of gate lines is set as a over exciting period, and the period of the data voltage of the present frame interval received by the thin film transistors connected with the first gate line of the first group of gate lines is set as a brightness keeping period; b. when the over exciting period begins, the first and the second gate lines of the first group of gate lines are orderly turned on in a time of synchronous control signal, the predetermined voltage of the over drive for the frame is given to the thin film transistors connected with the gate lines, and the first and the second gate lines of the nth group of gate lines are orderly turned on by the synchronous control signal, the data voltage of the preceding frame is given to the thin film transistors connected with the gate lines, and the first and second gate lines of the second group of gate lines, the first and the second gate lines of the (n+1)th group of gate lines . . . the first and the second gate lines of the (m+n)th group of gate lines are orderly turned on in a time of synchronous control signal, the predetermined voltage is given to the thin film transistors connected with the second group to the (m+1)th group of gate lines, the data voltage of the preceding frame is given to the thin film transistors connected with the (n+1)th group to the (m+n−1)th group of gate lines; c. when the brightness keeping period begins, the first and the second gate lines of the first group of gate lines are orderly turned on in a time of one synchronous control signal, the data voltage of the present frame interval is given to the thin film transistors connected with the gate lines, and the first and the second gate liens of the (m+2)th group of gate lines are orderly turned on by the synchronous control signal, the predetermined voltage is given to the thin film transistors connected with the gate lines, and the first and the second gate lines of the second group of gate lines, the first and the second gate lines of the (m+3)th group of gate lines . . . the first and the second gate lines of the (n−1)th group of gate lines and the first and the second (i.e. the last) gate lines of the (m+n)th group of gate lines are orderly and synchronously turned on, the data voltage of the present frame interval is given to the thin film transistors connected with the second group to the (n−1)th group of gate lines, the predetermined voltage is given to the thin film transistors connected with the (m+4)th group to the (m+n)th group of gate lines; by using of the steps stated above, the response speed of the liquid crystal display can be increased. 23. The driving method for the liquid crystal display of matrix structure type as claimed in claim 22, wherein the driving method suits for the active matrix type liquid crystal display, the organic light emitting diode (OLED) display or plasma display panel (PDP). 24. A the liquid crystal display driving device of matrix structure type including: a group of thin film transistors with matrix array consisting of 2N rows and M columns of thin film transistors, wherein each transistor can drive one pixel, therefore total 2N×M of pixels can be driven; N groups of gate lines connected with the gate drivers and insulated with each other, wherein the first gate line of the first group of gate lines is connected with the gates of all the thin film transistors of the first row, the second gate line of the first group of gate lines is respectively connected with the gates of all the thin film transistors of the second row . . . and the second gate line of the Nth group of gate lines is respectively connected with the gates of all the thin film transistors of the 2Nth row; and a group of M+1 data lines connected with the source drivers and insulated with each other, wherein the first and the second data lines are respectively connected with the sources of all the thin film transistors of the odd rows and the even rows of the first column, the second and the third data lines are respectively connected with the sources of all the thin film transistors of the odd rows and the even rows of the second column . . . and the Mth and the (M+1)th gate lines are respectively connected with the sources of all the thin film transistors of the odd rows and the even rows of the Mth column. 25. A the liquid crystal display driving device of matrix structure type as claimed in claim 24, wherein the first gate lines and the second gate lines of each group of gate lines are respectively given data by two groups of gate drivers, the two groups of gate drivers are respectively installed on the left side and the right side of the liquid crystal display. 26. A the liquid crystal display driving device of matrix structure type as claimed in claim 24, wherein the gate driver is a chip installed on glass. 27. A the liquid crystal display driving device of matrix structure type as claimed in claim 24, wherein the gate driver is an integrated gate driver circuit installed on glass. 28. A the liquid crystal display driving device of matrix structure type including: a group of thin film transistors with matrix array consisting of 2N rows and M columns of thin film transistors, wherein each transistor can drive one pixel, therefore total 2N×M of pixels can be driven; N groups of gate lines connected with the gate drivers and insulated with each other, wherein the first gate line of the first group of gate lines is connected with the gates of all the thin film transistors of the first row, the second gate line of the first group of gate lines is respectively connected with the gates of all the thin film transistors of the second row . . . and the second gate line of the Nth group of gate lines is respectively connected with the gates of all the thin film transistors of the Nth row; and a group of M data lines connected with the source drivers and insulated with each other, wherein the first data line is connected with the sources of all the thin film transistors of the first column, the second data line is connected with the sources of all the thin film transistors of the second column . . . and the Mth gate line is respectively connected with the sources of all the thin film transistors of the Mth column. 29. A the liquid crystal display driving device of matrix structure type as claimed in claim 28, wherein the first gate lines and the second gate lines of each group of gate lines are respectively given data by two groups of gate drivers, the two groups of gate drivers are respectively installed on the left side and the right side of the liquid crystal display. 30. The liquid crystal display driving device of matrix structure type as claimed in claim 28, wherein the gate driver is a chip installed on glass. 31. The liquid crystal display driving device of matrix structure type as claimed in claim 28, wherein the gate driver is an integrated gate driver circuit installed on glass. 32. A driving method for liquid crystal display of matrix structure type including: a. making use of the liquid crystal display driving device as claimed in claim 24 or 28, wherein there are 2m+2n, i.e. N=2m+2n, gate lines in the liquid crystal display, the period of predetermined voltage of the over drive received by the thin film transistors connected with the first gate line of the first group of gate lines is set as a over exciting period, the period of the data voltage of the present frame interval received by the thin film transistors connected with the first gate line of the first group of gate lines is set as a brightness keeping period; b. when the over exciting period begins, the first and the second gate lines of the first group of gate lines are orderly turned on in a time of one synchronous control signal, the predetermined voltage of the over drive for the frame is given to the thin film transistors connected with the gate lines, and the first and the second gate lines of the nth group of gate lines are orderly turned on by the synchronous control signal, the data voltage of the preceding frame is given to the thin film transistors connected with the gate lines, and the first and the second gate lines of the second group of gate lines, the first and the second gate lines of the (n+1)th group of gate lines . . . the first and the second gate lines of the (m+n−1)th group of gate lines and the first and the second gate lines of the (m+1)th group of gate lines are orderly turned on in a time of the synchronous control signal, the predetermined voltage is given to the thin film transistors connected with the second group to the (m+1)th group of gate lines, the data voltage of the preceding frame is given to the thin film transistors connected with the (n+1)th group to the (m+n−1)th group of gate lines; c. when the brightness keeping period begins, the first and the second gate lines of the first group of gate lines are orderly turned on in a time of one synchronous control signal, the data voltage of the present frame interval is given to the thin film transistors connected with the gate lines, and the first and the second gate lines of the (m+2)th group of gate lines are orderly turned on by the synchronous control signal, the predetermined voltage is given to the thin film transistors connected with the gate lines, and the first and the second gate lines of the second group of gate lines, the first and the second gate lines of the (m+3)th group of gate lines . . . the first and the second gate lines of the (m+n)th group of gate lines and the first and the second gate lines of the (n-l)th group of gate lines are orderly and synchronously turned on, the predetermined voltage is given to the thin film transistors connected with the (m+3)th group to the last gate line, the data voltage of the present frame interval is given to the thin film transistors connected with the second group to the (n−1)th group of gate lines; by using of the steps stated above, the response speed of the liquid crystal display can be increased. 33. The driving method for liquid crystal display of matrix structure type as claimed in claim 32, wherein the driving method suits for the active matrix type liquid crystal display, the organic light emitting diode (OLED) display or plasma display panel (PDP). 34. A driving method for liquid crystal display of matrix structure type including: a. making use of the liquid crystal display driving device as claimed in claim 24 or 28, wherein there are 2m+2n, i.e. N=2m+2n, gate lines in the liquid crystal display, the period of predetermined voltage of the over drive received by the thin film transistors connected with the first gate line of the first group of gate lines is set as a over exciting period, the period of the data voltage of the present frame interval received by the thin film transistors connected with the first gate line of the first group of gate lines is set as a brightness keeping period; b. when the over exciting period begins, the first gate line of the first group of gate lines and the first gate line of the nth group of gate lines are orderly turned on in a time of one synchronous control signal, the predetermined voltage of the over drive for the frame and the data voltage of the preceding frame are respectively given to the thin film transistors connected with the gate lines, and the second gate line of the first group of gate lines and the second gate line of the nth group of gate lines, the first gate line of the second group of gate lines and the first gate line of the (n+1)th group of gate lines . . . and the second gate line of the (m+n−1)th group of gate lines and the second gate lines of the (m+1)th group of gate lines are orderly and synchronously turned on by the synchronous control signal, the predetermined voltage is given to the thin film transistors connected with the first group to the (m+1)th group of gate lines, the data voltage of the preceding frame is given to the thin film transistors connected with the (n+1)th group to the (m+n−1)th group of gate lines; c. when the brightness keeping period begins, the first gate line of the first group of gate lines and the first gate line of the (m+2)th group of gate lines are orderly turned on in a time of one synchronous control signal, the data voltage of the frame interval and the predetermined voltage are respectively given to the thin film transistors connected with the gate lines, and the second gate line of the first group of gate lines and the second gate line of the (m+2)th group of gate lines, the first gate line of the second group of gate lines and the first gate line of the (m+3)th group of gate lines . . . and the second gate line of the (n−1)th group of gate lines and the second (i.e. the last) gate line of the (m+n)th group gate lines are orderly and synchronously turned on, the data voltage of the present frame interval is given to the thin film transistors connected with the second group to the (n−1)th group of gate lines, the predetermined voltage is given to the thin film transistors connected with the (m+2)th group to the last gate lines; by using of the steps stated above, the response speed of the liquid crystal display can be increased. 35. The driving method for the liquid crystal display of matrix structure type as claimed in claim 34, wherein the driving method suits for the active matrix type liquid crystal display, the organic light emitting diode (OLED) display or the plasma display panel (PDP). 36. A liquid crystal display driving device of matrix structure type including: a group of thin film transistors with matrix array consisting of N rows and 2M columns of thin film transistors, wherein each pair of neighboring thin film transistors can drive one pixel, therefore, total N×M of pixels can be driven; N groups of gate lines connected with the gate drivers and insulated with each other, wherein the first and the second gate line of the first group of gate lines are respectively connected with the gates of all the thin film transistors of the odd column and the even column of the first row, the first and the second gate lines of the second group of gate lines are respectively connected with the gates of all the thin film transistors of the odd column and the even column of the second row . . . and the first and the second gate lines of the Nth group of gate lines are respectively connected with the gates of all the thin film transistors of the odd column and the even column of the Nth row; and a group of 2M data lines connected with the source drivers and insulated with each other, wherein the first data line is connected with the sources of all the thin film transistors of the first column, the second data line is connected with the sources of all the thin film transistors of the second column . . . and the 2Mth data line is connected with the sources of all the thin film transistors of the 2Mth column. 37. The liquid crystal display driving device of matrix structure type as claimed in claim 36, wherein the first gate lines and the second gate lines of each group of gate lines are respectively given data by two groups of gate drivers, the two groups of gate drivers are respectively installed on the left side and the right side of the liquid crystal display. 38. The liquid crystal display driving device of matrix structure type as claimed in claim 36, wherein there is a space between the neighboring gate lines to prevent them from short circuit. 39. The liquid crystal display driving device of matrix structure type as claimed in claim 36, wherein the gate driver is a chip installed on glass. 40. The liquid crystal display driving device of matrix structure type as claimed in claim 36, wherein the gate drive is an integrated gate driver circuit installed on glass. 41. A driving method for the liquid crystal display driving device of matrix structure type including: a. making use of the liquid crystal display driving device as claimed in claim 36, wherein there are 2(m+n), i.e. N=2(m+n), gate lines in the liquid crystal display, the period of the predetermined voltage of the over drive received by the thin film transistors connected with the first gate line of the first group of gate lines is set as a over exciting period, and the period of the data voltage of the present frame interval received by the thin film transistors connected with the second gate line of the first group of gate lines is set as a brightness keeping period; b. when the over exciting period begins, the fist gate line of the first group of gate lines and the second gate line of the nth group of gate lines are orderly turned on in a time of one synchronous control signal, the predetermined voltage of the over drive for the frame and the data voltage of the preceding frame are respectively given to the thin film transistors connected with the gate lines, and the first gate line of the second group of gate lines and the second gate line of the (n+1)th group of gate lines, the first gate line of the third group of gate lines and the second gate line of the (n+2)th group of gate lines . . . and the second gate line of the (m+n−1)th group of gate lines and the first gate line of the (m+1)th group of gate lines are orderly turned on in a time of the synchronous control signal, the predetermined voltage is given to the thin film transistors connected with the first gate line of the second group to the (m+1)th group of gate lines, the data voltage of the preceding frame is given to the thin film transistors connected with the second gate line of the (n+1)th group to the (m+n−1)th group of gate lines; c. when the brightness keeping period begins, the second gate line of the first group of gate lines and the first gate line of the (m+2)th group of gate lines are orderly turned on in a time of one synchronous control signal, the data voltage of the frame interval and the predetermined voltage are respectively given to the thin film transistors connected with the gate lines, and the first gate line of the (m+3)th group of gate lines and the second gate line of the second group of gate lines, the first gate line of the (m+4)th group of gate lines and the second gate line of the third group of gate lines . . . and the first gate line of the (m+n)th group of gate lines and the second gate line of the (n−1)th group of gate lines are orderly and synchronously turned on, the data voltage of the present frame interval is given to the thin film transistors connected with the second gate line of the second group to the (n−1)th group of gate lines, the predetermined voltage is given to the thin film transistors connected with the first gate line of the (m+3)th group to the (m+n)th group of gate lines; by using of the steps stated above, the response speed of the liquid crystal display can be increased . 42. The driving method for the liquid crystal display of matrix structure type as claimed in claim 41, wherein the driving method suits for the active matrix type liquid crystal display, the organic light emitting diode (OLED) display or plasma display panel (PDP). 43. A liquid crystal display driving device of matrix structure type including: a group of thin film transistors with matrix array consisting of N rows and 2M columns of thin film transistors, wherein each pair of neighboring thin film transistors can drive one pixel, therefore total N×M of pixels can be driven; a group of N gate lines connected with the gate drivers and insulated with each other, wherein the first and the second gate lines are respectively connected with the gates of all the thin film transistors of the odd column and the even column of the first row, the second and the third gate lines are respectively connected with the gates of all the thin film transistors of the odd columns and the even columns of the second row . . . and the Nth and the (N+1)th gate lines are respectively connected with the gates of all the thin film transistors of the odd columns and the even columns of the Nth row; and M group of data lines connected with the source drivers and insulated with each other, wherein the first data line of the first group of date lines is connected with the sources of all the thin film transistors of the first column, the second data line of the first group of data lines is connected with the sources of all the thin film transistors of the second column . . . and the second data line of the Mth group of data lines is connected with the sources of all the thin film transistors of the odd rows and the even rows of the 2Mth column. 44. The liquid crystal display driving device of matrix structure type as claimed in claim 43, wherein there further is one row of thin film transistors installed above the first row of thin film transistors, each thin film transistor can control one pixel, the gates of the row of thin film transistors are connected with the first gate line and their sources are connected with the second data line of each group of data lines. 45. The liquid crystal display driving device of matrix structure type as claimed in claim 43, wherein the first data lines and the second data lines of each group of data lines are respectively given data by two groups of source drivers, and the two groups of source drivers are respectively installed on the upper side and the lower side of the liquid crystal display. 46. The liquid crystal display driving device of matrix structure type as claimed in claim 44, wherein the first data line and the second data lines of each group of data lines are respectively given data by two groups of source drivers, and the two groups of source drivers are respectively installed on the upper side and the lower side of the liquid crystal display. 47. The liquid crystal display driving device of matrix Structure type as claimed in claim 43, wherein the first data lines of each group of data lines and the second data lines of each group of data lines are connected with the same source driver, each source driver is installed on the same side of the display panel, and there is an electronic switch installed on the source driver for switching the data transfer. 48. The liquid crystal display driving device of matrix structure type as claimed in claim 44, wherein the first data lines of each group of data lines and the second data lines of each group of data lines are connected with the same source driver, each source driver is installed on the same side of the display panel, and there is an electronic switch installed on the source driver for switching the data transfer. 49. The liquid crystal display driving device of matrix structure type as claimed in claim 43, wherein there is a space between the neighboring gate lines to prevent them from short circuit. 50. The liquid crystal display driving device of matrix structure type as claimed in claim 44, wherein there is a space between the neighboring gate lines to prevent them from short circuit. 51. The liquid crystal display driving device of matrix Structure type as claimed in claim 43, wherein the gate driver is a chip installed on glass. 52. The liquid crystal display driving device of matrix structure type as claimed in claim 44, wherein the gate driver is a chip installed on glass. 53. The liquid crystal display driving device of matrix structure type as claimed in claim 43, wherein the gate driver is an integrated gate driver circuit installed on glass. 54. The liquid crystal display driving device of matrix structure type as claimed in claim 44, wherein the gate driver is an integrated gate driver circuit installed on glass. 55. A driving method for the liquid crystal display driving device of matrix structure type including: a. making use of the liquid crystal display driving device as claimed in claim 43, wherein there are m+n, i.e. N=m+n, gate lines in the liquid crystal display, the period of predetermined voltage of the over drive received by the thin film transistors connected with the first gate line is set as a over exciting period, and the period of data voltage of the present frame interval received by the thin film transistors connected with the first gate line is set as a brightness keeping period; b. when the over exciting period begins, the first and the (n+1)th gate lines are orderly turned on in a time of one synchronous control signal, the predetermined voltage of over drive for the frame and the data voltage for the preceding frame are given to the thin film transistors connected with the gate lines, and the second and the (n+2)th gate lines, the third and the (n+3)th gate lines . . . and the (m+n−1)th and the mth gate lines are orderly and synchronously turned on in a time of the synchronous control signal, the predetermined voltage is given to the thin film transistors connected with the second to the mth gate lines, the data voltage for the preceding frame is given to the thin transistors connected with the (n+2)th to the (m+n−1)th gate line; c. when the brightness keeping period begins, the first and the (m+1)th gate lines are orderly turned on in a time of one synchronous control signal the data voltage of the frame interval and the predetermined voltage are given to the thin film transistors connected with the gate lines, and the second and the (m+2)th gate lines, the third and the (m+3)th gate lines . . . and the (m+n)th (i.e. the last) and the nth gate lines are orderly and synchronously turned on, the predetermined voltage is given to the thin film transistors connected with the (m+2)th to the (m+n)th (i.e. the last) gate line, the data voltage of the present frame interval is given to the thin film transistors connected with the second to the nth gate line; by using of the steps stated above, the response speed of the liquid crystal display can be increased. 56. The driving method for the liquid crystal display of matrix structure type as claimed in claim 55, wherein the driving method suits for the active matrix type liquid crystal display, the organic light emitting diode (OLED) display or plasma display panel (PDP). | BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a liquid crystal display driving device of matrix structure type and its driving method, especially to a display driving device and its driving method, which can simultaneously or synchronously drive a plurality of thin film transistors to increase the response speed, wherein the source and the gate of each thin film transistor in the driving device are respectively connected with different gate lines and data lines to let the specific transistor be driven by the gate drivers and the data drivers, and the predetermined voltage for over drive or the data voltage for the present frame interval is applied to accomplish the object of increasing the response speed. The present invention can suit for the picture treatment of various liquid crystal displays, organic light emitting diode (OLED) display or plasma display panel (PDP). 2. Description of the Prior Art Because the liquid crystal display possesses the advantages of low power consumption, light of weight, thin thickness, without radiation and flickering, it gradually replaces the traditional cathode ray tube (CRT) display in the display market. The liquid crystal display is chiefly used as the screen of the digital television, the computer or the notebook computer. In particular, the large sized liquid crystal display is widely used in the amusements of the life, especially in the field in which the view angle, the response speed, the color number, and the image of high quality are in great request. Referring to FIGS. 1A and 1B, they are the simple schematic views showing the internal structure of the prior liquid crystal display. Mark 10 is the display panel. The data driver 11 is installed above the display panel, which can change the data of the adjusted gray level signal into the corresponding data voltage. The image signal can be transferred to the display panel 10 through the plurality of data lines 111 connected with the data driver 11. The gate driver 12 is installed on one side of the display panel 10, which can continuously provide scanning signal. The scanning signal can be transferred to the display panel 10 through the plurality of gate lines 121 connected with the gate driver 12. The data line 111 and the gate line 121 are orthogonally crossed and insulated with each other. The area enclosed in them is a pixel 13. After the image signal is output from the data driver 11, it will get to the source of the thin film transistor Q1 in the pixel 13 through the data line D1, and a control signal is correspondingly output from the gate driver 12, it will get to the gate of the thin film transistor Q1 through the gate line G1. The circuit in the pixel 13 will output the output voltage to drive the liquid crystal molecular corresponding to the pixel 13, and a parallel plate type of capacitor CLC (capacitor of liquid crystal) will be formed by the liquid crystal molecules between the two pieces of glass substrates in the display panel 10. Because the capacitor CLC cannot keep the voltage to the next time of renewing the frame data, so there is a storage capacitor CS provided for the voltage of the capacitor being able to be kept to the next time of renewing the frame data. The image treatment of the display is affected by the properties of the liquid crystal molecular such as viscosity, dielectricity and elasticity etc. The brightness in the traditional CRT is displayed by the strike of the electron beam on the screen coated with phosphorescent material, but the brightness display in the liquid crystal display needs time for the liquid crystal molecular to react with the driving voltage, the time is called “response time”. Taking the normally white (NW) mode as an example, the response time can be divided to two parts: (1) The ascending response time: it is the time for the liquid crystal molecular to rotate with the application of the voltage when the brightness of the liquid crystal box in the liquid crystal display changes from 90% to 10%, simply called “Tr”; and (2) The descending response time: it is the time for the liquid crystal molecular to restore without the application of the voltage when the brightness of the liquid crystal box changes from 10% to 90%, simply called “Tf”. When the display speed of the frame is above 25 frames per second, human will regard the quickly changing frames as the continuous picture. In general above 60 frames per second is the display speed of the screen in the modern family amusements such as DVD films of high quality and electronic games of quick movement, in other words, the time of each frame interval is 1/60 sec=16.67 ms. If the response time of the liquid crystal display is longer than the frame interval time, the phenomena of residue image or skip lattice would happen in the screen so that the quality of the image is badly affected. At present the methods for decreasing the response time of the liquid crystal display have: lowering the viscousity, reducing the gap of the liquid crystal box, increasing the dielectricity and the driving voltage, wherein the methods of lowering the viscosity, reducing the gap of the liquid crystal box and increasing the dielectricity can be executed from the material and the making process of the liquid crystal and the method of increasing the driving voltage can be executed from the driving method of liquid crystal panel. The latter can further improve the response speed of the gray level in no need of largely changing the structure of the display panel. It is called “overdrive” (OD) technique, wherein the increasing voltage can be transferred to the liquid crystal panel through the driver integrated circuit (diver IC) to increase the voltage for rotating the liquid crystal so that the expected brightness of the image data can be quickly obtained and the response time can be reduced due to the quick rotation and restoration of the liquid crystal. Referring to FIG. 2, the liquid crystal display has different brightness at different driving voltage. If L1 is the expected brightness of the image data and the liquid crystal molecular is driven by the present data voltage V1 to display the brightness, the brightness variation displayed by the driven liquid crystal molecular is shown as curve 21 and the time for obtaining the brightness is t0. An increased driving voltage V2 is provided to reduce the time for obtaining the brightness according to the brightness variation of the display gray level, which has been measured in advance. The brightness variation is shown as curve 22. Therefore, the time for obtaining the expected brightness can be reduced from t0to t0′; this is the so-called OD technique. Referring to FIG. 3A to 3C, if the expected brightness of an image in the preceding frame interval I−1 is code 32, and the expected brightness of the said image in the present frame interval I becomes code 120, the brightness variation of the liquid crystal display is shown as curve (a) without making use of OD technique. It is shown that the expected brightness cannot be obtained unless the I+1th frame interval is got. This would produce the problem of residue image. By use of OD technique, the driving voltage is increased to code 200 in the present frame interval I to be able to obtain the expected brightness at the end of the frame interval. Its brightness variation is shown as curve (b). In the driving process of the first gate line G1 and the first data line D1, when the frame interval I begins, a control voltage pulse is given to the first gate line G1 by the gate driver and at the same time a driving voltage code 200 is given to the first data line D1 by the data driver so that the first pixel (not shown) connected with the first gate line and the first data line can change its brightness. If the sequential frame interval still display the brightness of code 120 and the next frame interval I+1 begins, a control voltage pulse is still given to the first gate line and the driving voltage given to the first data line is decreased to code 120 to keep the expected brightness. The present invention makes use of the “overdrive” concept and discloses a novel liquid crystal display driving device of matrix structure type and its driving method to reduce the response time of the liquid crystal display. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The chief object of the present invention is to provide a liquid crystal display driving device of matrix structure type to increase the response speed of the liquid crystal display and the aspect ratio of the panel and to decrease the number of the data drivers and the data lines. Another object of the present invention is to provide a driving method for the liquid crystal display of matrix structure type, which can simultaneously or synchronously start the plurality of thin film transistors in the display panel and drive the pixels controlled by the thin film transistors to reduce the response time of the liquid crystal display. To achieve the above-stated objects of the present invention, the basic structure of the driving device of the present invention includes a group of thin film transistors with matrix array, gate lines connected with the gate drivers and insulated with each other, wherein the gates and the sources of all the thin film transistors are respectively connected with the gate lines and the data lines. The response time of the liquid crystal display can be reduced by the different arrangement design of the gate lines and the data lines and by the different connection location between the gate lines and the gates of the thin film transistors and between the data liens and the sources of the thin film transistors. The gate drivers can be respectively installed on the left side and the right side of the liquid crystal panel and the data drivers can be respectively installed on the upper side and the lower side. The gate driver can be a chip installed on glass or an integrated gate driver circuit installed on glass. The driving method for the said driving device includes: the period of the predetermined voltage of the over drive received by the thin film transistors connected with the first gate line is set as a over exciting period and the period of the data voltage of the present frame interval received by the thin film transistor connected with the first gate line is set as a brightness keeping period. When the over exciting period begins, two gate lines in the liquid crystal display are turned on in a time of one synchronous control signal or by the control signals simultaneously produced by the gate drivers. The predetermined voltage is given to the thin film transistors connected with one of the gate lines which are simultaneously or synchronously turned on, the data voltage is given to the thin film transistors connected with the other of the gate lines which are simultaneously or synchronously turned on, and scanning continues in turn. When the brightness keeping period begins, two gate lines in the liquid crystal display are orderly turned on in a time of one synchronous control signal or by the control signals simultaneously produced by the gate drivers. One of the gate lines is the next gate line of the last gate line given to the said predetermined voltage. The predetermined voltage of over drive is given to the thin film transistors connected with the said gate line, and the data voltage of the present frame interval is given to the thin film transistors connected with the first gate line which is turned on orderly. Scanning continues in turn until the whole liquid crystal display is scanned, and the next frame interval begins. If the ratio of the number of the gate lines scanned in the over excited period to the number of the total gate lines is P and the period of the frame interval of the liquid crystal display is T, then the duration of the over exciting is PT and the duration of the brightness keeping is (1-P)T. The ratio P can be adjusted according to the characteristic of the display panel. From the statement stated above, the present invention possesses the characteristic of dividing the space of the gate lines of the display panel into a plurality of regions and the time of the frame interval into a plurality of sub-region times. Each region is orderly scanned in a time of one synchronous control signal. Therefore, the state of “frame in frame” is formed in the space and the time. The method of the present invention can suit for various picture treatments of liquid crystal display, organic light emitting diode (OLED) display or plasma display panel (PDP). To make the present invention be able to be clearly understood, there are some preferred embodiments and their accompanying draws described in detail as below. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1A is a simple schematic view of the structure of the general liquid crystal display; FIG. 1B is an enlarged schematic sectional view taken from FIG. 1A, which shows the arrangement of the elements in the area enveloped in the data lines and the gate lines; FIG. 2 is a curve view showing the variation of the image brightness of the liquid crystal display with the time at different driving voltages; FIG. 3A is a comparison view showing the variation of the expected brightness of a pixel with OD technique and without OD technique; FIG. 3B is a schematic view showing the control voltage pulse of the first gate line from the gate driver of the liquid crystal display in the frame interval of FIG.3A; FIG. 3C is a schematic view showing the driving voltage of the first data line from the data drivers of the liquid crystal display in the frame interval of FIG. 3A; FIG. 4A is a schematic view showing the arrangement of the gate lines and the data lines of the display panel of the first embodiment according to the present invention; FIG. 4B is an enlarged schematic sectional view taken from FIG. 4A, which shows the arrangement of the gate lines and the data lines and the state of the gate and the source, which are connected to the gate lines and the data lines, of each thin film transistor; FIG. 4C is an enlarged schematic sectional view taken from FIG. 4A, which shows there is a space between the neighboring data lines for preventing them from short circuit; FIG. 5A is a schematic view of the arrangement of the gate lines and the data lines of the display panel of the first embodiment according to the present invention, which shows the state of the data drivers respectively installed on the upper side and the lower side of the display panel; FIG. 5B is an enlarged schematic sectional view taken from FIG. 5A, which shows the arrangement of the gate lines and the data lines and the state of the gate and the source, which are connected to the gate lines and the data lines, of each thin film transistor; FIG. 6A is a schematic view of the arrangement of the gate lines and the data lines of the display panel of the first embodiment according to the present invention, which shows the state of each pair of data lines connected to a data driver, which is connected to the electronic switch; FIG. 6B is an enlarged schematic sectional view taken from FIG. 6A, which shows the arrangement of the gate lines and the data lines and the state of the gate and the source, which are connected to the gate lines and the data lines, of each thin film transistor; FIG. 7 is a wave form view of the signal used in the driving method of the display device of the first embodiment according to the present invention, which shows the variation of the wave form of the signal of the gate lines and the data lines from the gate driver and the data drive at different frame interval time; FIG. 8A is a schematic view of the arrangement of the gate lines and the data lines of the display panel of the second embodiment according to the present invention; FIG. 8B is an enlarged schematic sectional view taken from FIG. 8A, which shows the arrangement of the gate liens and the data lines and the state of the gate and the source, which are connected with the gate lines and the data lines, of each thin film transistor; FIG. 8C is an enlarged schematic sectional view taken from FIG. 8A, which shows there is a space between the neighboring data lines for preventing them from short circuit; FIG. 9A is a schematic view of the arrangement of the gate lines and the data lines of the display panel of the second embodiment according to the present invention, which shows the state of the data drivers respectively installed on the upper side and the lower side of the display panel; FIG. 9B is an enlarged schematic sectional view taken from FIG. 9A, which shows the arrangement of the gate lines and the data lines and the state of the gate and the source, which are connected with the gate lines and the data lines, of each thin film transistor; FIG. 10A is a schematic view of the arrangement of the gate lines and the data lines of the display panel of the second embodiment according to the present invention, which shows the state of each pair of data lines connected to a data driver, which is connected to the electronic switch; FIG. 10B is an enlarged schematic sectional view taken from FIG. 10A, which shows the arrangement of the gate lines and the data lines and the state of the gate and the source, which are connected to the gate lines and the data lines, of each thin film transistor; FIG. 11 is a wave form view of the signal used in the driving method of the display device of the second embodiment according to the present invention, which shows the variation of the wave form of the signal of the gate lines and the data lines from the gate driver and the data driver ate different frame interval time; FIG. 12A is a schematic view showing the arrangement of the gate lines and the data lines of the display panel of the third embodiment according to the present invention; FIG. 12B is an enlarged schematic sectional view taken from FIG. 12A, which shows the arrangement of the gate lines and the data lines and the state of the gate and the source, which are connected to the gate lines and the data lines, of each thin film transistor; FIG. 12C is an enlarged schematic sectional view taken from FIG. 12A, which shows there is a space between the neighboring gate liens to prevent them from short circuit; FIG. 13A is a schematic view of the arrangement of the gate lines and the data lines of the display panel of the third embodiment according to the present invention, which shows the state of the gate drivers respectively installed on the left side and the right side of the display panel; FIG. 13B is an enlarged schematic sectional view taken from FIG. 13A, which shows the arrangement of the gate lines and the data lines and the state of the gate and the source, which are connected to the gate lines and the data lines, of each thin film transistor; FIG. 14 is a wave form view of the signal used in the driving method of the display device of the third embodiment according to the present invention, which shows the variation of the wave form of the signal of the gate lines and the data lines from the gate drivers and the data drivers at different frame interval time; FIG. 15A is a schematic view showing the arrangement of the gate lines and the data lines of the display panel of the fourth embodiment according to the present invention; FIG. 15B is an enlarged schematic sectional view taken from FIG. 15A, which shows the arrangement of the gate lines and the data lines and the state of the gate and the source, which are connected to the gate lines and the data lines, of each thin film transistor; FIG. 15C is an enlarged schematic sectional view taken from FIG. 15A, which shows another arrangement of the gate lines and the data lines of the display panel of the fourth embodiment according to the present invention; FIG. 16A is a schematic view of the arrangement of the gate lines and the data line of the display panel of the fourth embodiment according to the present invention, which shows the state of the gate drivers respectively installed the left side and the right side of the display panel; FIG. 16B is an enlarged schematic sectional view taken from FIG. 16A, which shows the arrangement of the gate lines and the data lines and the state of the gate and the source, which are connected to the gate lines and the data lines, of each thin film transistor; FIG. 17 is a wave form view of the signal used in the driving method of the display device of the fourth embodiment according to the present invention, which shows the variation of the wave form of the signal of the gate lines and the data lines from the gate drivers and the data drivers at different frame interval time; FIG. 18 is a wave form view of the signal used in another driving method of the display device of the third embodiment according to the present invention, which shows the variation of the wave form of the signal of the gate lines and the data lines from the gate drivers and the data drivers at different frame interval time; FIG. 19A is a schematic view showing the arrangement of the gate lines and the data lines of the display panel of the fifth embodiment according to the present invention; FIG. 19B is an enlarged schematic sectional view taken from FIG. 19A, which shows the arrangement of the gate lines and the data lines and the state of the gate and the source, which are connected to the gate lines and the data lines, of each thin film transistor; FIG. 19C is an enlarged schematic sectional view taken from FIG. 19A, which shows there is a space between the neighboring gate lines to prevent them from short circuit; FIG. 20A is a schematic view of the arrangement of the gate lines and the data lines of the display panel of the fifth embodiment according to the present invention, which shows the state of the gate drivers respectively installed on the left side and the right side of the display panel; FIG. 20B is an enlarged schematic sectional view taken from FIG. 20A, which shows the arrangement of the gate lines and the data liens and the state of the gate and the source, which are connected to the gate lines and the data lines, of each thin film transistor; FIG. 21 is a wave form view of the signal used in the driving method of the display device of the fifth embodiment according to the present invention, which shows the variation of the wave form of the signal of the gate lines and the data lines from the gate drivers and the data drivers at different frame interval time; FIG. 22A is a schematic view showing the arrangement of the gate lines and the data lines of the display panel of the sixth embodiment according to the present invention; FIG. 22B is an enlarged schematic sectional view taken from FIG. 22A, which shows the arrangement of the gate lines and the data liens and the state of the gate and the source, which are connected to the gate lines and the data lines, of each thin film transistor; FIG. 22C is an enlarged schematic sectional view taken from FIG. 22A, which shows another arrangement of the gate lines and the data lines and the state of the gate and the source, which are connected to the gate lines and the data lines, of each thin film transistor; FIG. 22D is an enlarged schematic sectional view taken from FIG. 22A, which shows there is a space between the neighboring data lines for preventing them from short circuit; FIG. 23A is a schematic view of the arrangement of the gate lines and the data lines of the display panel of the sixth embodiment according to the present invention, which shows the state of the data drivers respectively installed on the upper side and the lower side of the display panel; FIG. 23B is an enlarged schematic sectional view taken from FIG. 23A, which shows the arrangement of the gate lines and the data liens and the state of the gate and the source, which are connected to the gate lines and the data lines, of each thin film transistor; FIG. 24A is a schematic view of the arrangement of the gate lines and the data lines of the display panel of the sixth embodiment according to the present invention, which shows the state of each pair of data lines connected to a data driver, which is connected to the electronic switch; FIG. 24B is an enlarged schematic sectional view taken from FIG. 24A, which shows the arrangement of the gate lines and the data lines and the state of the gate and the source, which are connected to the gate lines and the data lines, of each thin film transistor; FIG. 25 is a wave form view of the signal used in the driving method of the display device of the sixth embodiment according to the present invention, which shows the variation of the wave form of the signal of the gate lines and the data lines from the gate driver and the data driver ate different frame interval time; DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring to FIG. 2, because each liquid crystal display panel has its characteristic and each of brightness of the liquid crystal display panel is produced by a preset driving voltage, it is necessary for the OD driving technique that the brightness variation of the panel at various driving voltages would be measured in advance. On the curve in the FIG. 2, the brightness, which is marked 21, 22, 23, 24, and 25, is respectively produced by the voltage V1, V2, V3, V4, and V5. If need be, the number of the curves about the measured brightness can be increased. The variation data of the curve can be made into a lookup table, which can be stored in the electronic elements of the liquid crystal display and become the base on which the driver can select the voltage to produce the brightness of the panel. The means about this technique can be arbitrarily modified and varied by the persons skilled at this art. The First Embodiment Referring to FIG. 4A to 4C, they show a preferred embodiment of the liquid crystal display driving device of matrix structure type according to the present invention. The driving device includes a group of thin film transistors Q with matrix array, which consists of N rows and M columns of thin film transistors, wherein, each thin film transistor Q can drive one pixel, so N×M pixels (shown by rectangle with dotted line) can be driven. The first gate line G1 is connected with the gates of all the thin film transistors Q of the first row, the second gate line G2 is connected with the gates of all the thin film transistors Q of the second row, and so are the others. Therefore, there are N gate lines connected to gate driver and they are insulated with each other. The first and the second data lines D1, D1′ of the first group of data lines are respectively connected with the sources of all the thin film transistors Q of the odd and the even rows of the first column. The first and the second data lines D2, D2′ of the second group of data lines are respectively connected with the sources of all the thin film transistors Q of the odd and the even rows of the second column and so are the others. Therefore, in total there are M groups of data lines connected to the data drivers and they are insulated with each other. To prevent the neighboring data lines from short circuit, for example, the second data line D1′ of the first group of data lines and the first data line D2 of the second group of data lines, a space is given between the neighboring data lines, of which arrangement is shown as FIG. 4C. As shown in FIG. 4A, the data drivers connected with the data lines are installed on the same side of the display panel. If the scanning frequency is 60 Hz and there are two gate lines being turned on at the same time, the scanning time can be further decreased. Referring to FIGS. 5A and 5B, the data drivers are respectively arranged on the upper and the lower sides of the liquid crystal display, and the first and the second data line of each group of data lines are respectively connected with the data drivers of the upper and the lower sides of the liquid crystal display, wherein, the scanning frequency of the data drivers is kept at 60 Hz. Referring to FIGS. 6A and 6B, the first data line of each group of data lines and the neighboring second line of another group of data lines are connected with the same data drivers, and the data transfer is switched by an electronic switch S of which scanning frequency is a multiple of 60 Hz, such as 120 Hz, 180 Hz . . . etc. The form of the gate driver can be a chip on glass or an integrated gate driver circuit on glass. Referring to FIG. 7, in the driving method of the present invention executed by the said device, when time is at frame interval 1, the expected brightness is code 120 and VLC is the driving voltage pulse, the voltage wave form has positive and negative phases due to the driving voltage of the liquid crystal being alternating current. The voltage value will be expressed with code in the following statement. In FIG. 7, curve (a) represents the brightness variation of the pixel in response to 5 milliseconds of over drive, curve (b) shows the brightness variation of the pixel in response to 16 milliseconds of over drive, and curve (c) displays the brightness variation of the pixel without over drive. If there are 2(m+n), i.e. N=2(m+n), gate lines in the liquid crystal display, the period of the predetermined voltage of over drive for the thin film transistor connected with the first gate line is set as the over exciting period t1, and the period of the data voltage of the present frame interval for the thin film transistor connected with the first gate line is set as the brightness keeping period t2. When the over exciting period t1 begins, the first gate line G1 and the 2nth gate line G2n are simultaneously turned on, and the predetermined voltage code 200 of over drive for the frame is given to the thin film transistor connected to the first gate line G1, the data voltage code 32 of the preceding frame is given to the thin film transistor Q connected to the 2nth gate line G2n in other words, the gate driver gives the control voltage pulse to the first gate line G1 and the 2nth gate line G2n at the same time, the data driver gives the predetermined voltage code 200 to the thin film transistor Q connected to the first gate line G1, the data voltage code 32 of the preceding frame is given to the thin film transistor Q connected to the 2nth gate line G2n. In the same manner, the second and the (2n+1)th gate lines, the third and the (2n+2)th gate lines . . . the (2m−1)th and the [2(n+m)−2]th gate lines are turned on in order, and the predetermined voltage code 200 of over drive for the frame is given to the thin film transistors Q connected to the second to the (2m−1)th gate lines, the data voltage code 32 of the preceding frame is given to the thin film transistors Q connected to the (2n+1)th to the [2(m+n)−2]th gate lines. When the brightness keeping period t2 begins, the 2mth and the first gate lines G2m, G1 are simultaneously turned on, and the predetermined voltage code 200 is given to the thin film transistor Q connected to the 2mth gate line G2m, the data voltage code 120 of the present frame interval is given to the thin film transistor Q connected to the first gate line G1. In the same manner, the (2m+1)th and the second gate lines, the (2m+2)th and the third gate lines . . . the [2(m+n)]th (the last) and the (2n−1)th gate lines are turned on in order, and the predetermined voltage code 200 is given to the thin film transistors Q connected to the (2m+1)th to the [2(m+n)]th (the last) gate lines, the data voltage code 120 is given to the thin film transistors connected to the second to the (2n−1)th gate lines by the steps stated above, the response speed of the liquid crystal display can be increased. If the ratio of the number of the gate lines which were scanned in the over exciting period t1 to the number of the total gate lines is P and the period of the frame interval of the liquid crystal display is T, then the duration of the over exciting is PT and the duration of the brightness keeping is (1-P)T. The ratio P can be adjusted according the characteristic of the display panel. The Second Embodiment Referring to FIG. 8A to 8C, the second embodiment of the liquid crystal display driving device of matrix structure type according to the present invention includes a group of thin film transistors with matrix array, which consist of 2N rows and M columns of thin film transistors Q, wherein, each thin film transistor Q can drive one pixel so that 2N×M of pixels (shown by the rectangle with dotted line) can be driven. The first gate line G1 is connected with the gates of all the thin film transistors Q of the first and the second rows, the second gate line G2 is connected with the gates of all the thin film transistors Q of the third and the fourth rows, and so are the others. Therefore, total N gate lines connected to the gate drivers and insulated with each other. The first and the second data lines D1, D1′ of the first group of data lines are respectively connected with the sources of all the thin film transistors of the odd rows and the even rows of the first column, the first and the second data lines D2, D2′ of the second group of data lines are respectively connected with the sources of all the thin film transistors of the odd and the even rows of the second column and so are the others. Therefore, in total there are M groups of data lines connected to the data drivers and they are insulated with each other. To prevent the neighboring data lines from short circuit, for example, the second data line D1′ of the first group of data lines and the first data line D2 of the second group of data lines, there is a space between the neighboring data lines, of which arrangement is shown in FIG. 8C. By this design, the aspect ratio of the liquid crystal display can be increased. Referring to FIG. 8A, the data drivers connected with the data lines are installed on the same side of the display panel. If the scanning frequency is 60 Hz and two gate lines are simultaneously turned on, the scanning time can be further reduced. The arrangement of the data drivers is shown as FIGS. 9A and 9B. The first and the second data lines of each group of data lines are respectively connected with the data drivers installed on the upper and the lower sides of the liquid crystal display, wherein the scanning frequency of the data drivers is kept at 60 Hz. As shown in FIGS. 10A and 10B, the first data line of each group of data lines and the neighboring second line of another group of data lines are connected with the same drivers, and the data transfer is switched by an electronic switch, of which scanning frequency is a multiple of 60 Hz, such as 120 Hz, 180 Hz . . . etc. The form of the gate driver can be a chip on glass or an integrated gate driver circuit on glass. Referring to FIG. 11, in the driving method of the present invention executed by the said device, when time is at frame interval 1, the expected brightness is code 120 and VLC is the driving voltage pulse. To prevent the driving voltage pulse from confusing with the alternating voltage for driving liquid crystal, the value of the driving voltage pulse will be expressed with code in the following statement. In FIG. 11, curve (a) represents the brightness variation of the pixel in response to 5 milliseconds of over drive, curve (b) shows the brightness variation of the pixel in response to 16 milliseconds of over drive, and curve (c) displays the brightness variation of the pixel without over drive. If there are m+n, i.e. N=m+n, gate lines in liquid crystal display, the period of the predetermined voltage of over drive for the thin film transistor connected with the first gate line is set as the over exciting period t1, and the period of the data voltage of the present frame interval for the thin film transistor connected with the first gate line is set as the brightness keeping period t2. When the over exciting period t1 begins, the first and the nth gate lines G1, Gn are orderly turned on in a synchronous control time. The predetermined voltage code 200 of over drive of the frame and the data voltage code 32 of the preceding frame are respectively given to the thin film transistors Q connected with the first and the nth gate lines. In the same manner, the second and the (n+1)th gate lines, the third and the (n+2)th gate lines . . . and the mth and the (m+n−1)th gate lines are turned on, and the predetermined voltage code 200 is given to the thin film transistors Q connected with the second to mth gate lines, the data voltage code 32 of the preceding frame is given to the thin film transistors Q connected with the (n+1)th to (m+n−1)th gate lines. When the brightness keeping period t2 begins, the (m+1)th and the first gate lines Gm+1, G1 are orderly turned on in a synchronous control time. The predetermined voltage code 200 and the data voltage code 120 of the present frame interval are respectively given to the thin film transistors Q connected with the (m+1)th and the first gate lines Gm+1, G1. The (m+2)th and the second gate lines, the (m+3)th and the third gate lines . . . and the (m+n)th (i.e. the last) and the (n−1)th gate lines Gm+n, Gn−1 are orderly and synchronously turned on. The predetermined voltage code 200 is given to the thin film transistors Q connected with the (m+2)th to (m+n)th (i.e. the last) gate lines, and the data voltage code 120 is given to the thin film transistors Q connected with the second to the (n−1)th gate lines. By this way, the object of increasing response speed of the liquid crystal display can be accomplished. If the ratio of the number of the gate lines scanned in the over exciting period t1 to the number of the total gate lines is P and the period of the frame interval of the liquid crystal display is T, then the duration of the over exciting is PT and the duration of the brightness keeping is (1-P)T. The ratio P can be adjusted according the characteristic of the display panel. The Third Embodiment Referring to FIG. 12A to 12C, the third embodiment of the liquid crystal display driving device of matrix structure type according to the present invention includes a group of thin film transistors with matrix array, which consists of N rows and 2M columns of thin film transistors Q, wherein each thin film transistor can drive one pixel, so total N×2M of pixels (shown by the rectangle of dotted line). The first and the second gate lines G1, G1′ of the first group of the gate lines are respectively connected with the gates of all the thin film transistors of the odd columns and the even columns of the first row, the first and the second gate lines G2, G2′ of the second group of gate lines are respectively connected with the gates of all the transistors Q of the odd columns and the even columns of the second row . . . and the first and the second gate lines of the Nth group of gate lines are respectively connected with the gates of all the thin film transistors of the odd columns and the even columns of the Nth row, therefore, there are in total N groups of gate lines connected to the gate drivers and insulated with each other. The first data line D1 is connected with the sources of all the thin film transistors Q of the first and the second columns, the second data line D2 is connected with the sources of all the thin film transistors Q of the third and the fourth columns . . . and the Mth data line is connected with the sources of all the thin film transistors Q of the (2M−1)th and the 2Mth columns. Therefore, there are in total M data lines connected with the data drivers and insulated with each other. To prevent the neighboring gate lines from short circuit, for example, the first and the second gate lines G1, G1′ of the first group of gate lines, there is a space between the neighboring gate lines, of which arrangement is shown as FIG. 12C. By the arrangement of the device stated above, the number of the data lines and the data drivers can be reduced. Referring to FIG. 12A, the gate drivers connected with the gate lines are installed on the same side of the display panel. Referring to FIGS. 13A and 13B, the first and the second gate lines of each group of gate lines are respectively given data by two groups of gate drivers, and the two groups of gate drivers are respectively installed on the left side and the right side of the liquid crystal display. The form of the gate driver can be a chip on glass, or an integrated gate driver circuit on glass. Referring to FIG. 14, in the driving method of the present invention executed by the said device, when time is at frame interval 1, the expected brightness is code 120 and VLC is the driving voltage pulse. To prevent the driving voltage pulse from confusing with the alternating voltage for driving liquid crystal, the value of the driving voltage pulse is expressed with code. In FIG. 14, curve (a) expresses the brightness variation of the pixel in response of the 5 milliseconds of over drive, curve (b) shows the brightness variation of the pixel in response of the 16 milliseconds of over drive, and curve (c) displays the brightness variation of the pixel without no over drive. If there are 2(m+n), i.e. N=2(m+n), gate lines in the liquid crystal display, the period of the predetermined voltage of over drive for the thin film transistor connected with the first gate line of the first group of gate lines is set as the over exciting period t1, and the period of the data voltage of the present frame interval received by the thin film transistor connected to the first gate line of the first group of gate lines is set as the brightness keeping period t2 . When the over exciting period t1 begins, the first and the second gate lineg,, G1, G1′ of the first group of gate lines are orderly turned on in a time of one synchronous control signal. The predetermined voltage code 200 of over drive of the frame is given to the thin film transistors Q connected with the first and the second gate lines of the first group of gate lines, and the first and the second gate lines Gn, Gn′ of the nth group of gate lines are orderly turned on by the synchronous control signal. The data voltage code 32 of the preceding frame is given to the thin film transistor Q connected with the first and the second gate lines Gn, Gn′ of of the nth group of gate lines. In the same manner, the first and the second gate lines of the second group of gate lines, the first and the second gate lines of the (n+1)th gate lines . . . the first and the second gate lines of the (m+n−1)th group of gate lines, the first and the second gate line Gm+1, Gm+1′ of the (m+1)th gate lines are orderly and synchronously turned on. The predetermined voltage code 200 is given to the thin film transistors Q connected with the second to the (m+1)th groups of gate lines. The data voltage code 32 of the preceding frame is given to the thin film transistors Q connected with the (n+1)th to the (m+n−1)th group of gate lines. When the brightness keeping period t2 begins, in a time of one synchronous control signal the first and the second gate lines of the first group of gate lines are orderly turned on. The data voltage of the present frame interval is given to the thin film transistors connected with the said gate lines. The first and the second gate lines of the (m+2)th group of gate lines are orderly turned on by the synchronous control signal. The predetermined voltage code 200 is given to the thin film transistors Q connected with the said gate lines. The first and the second gate lines of the second group of gate lines, the first and the second gate lines of the (m+3)th group of gate lines . . . the first and the second (i.e. the last) of the (m+n)th group of gate lines and the first and the second gate lines of the (n−1)th gate lines are orderly and synchronously turned on. The data voltage code 32 of the present frame interval is given to the thin film transistors connected with the second to the (n−1)th gate lines. The predetermined voltage code 200 is given to the thin film transistors Q connected with the (m+3)th to the (m+n)th gate lines. By use of the steps stated above, the response speed of the liquid crystal display can be increased. If the ratio of the number of the gate lines scanned in the over exciting period t1 to the number of the total gate lines is P and the period of the frame interval of the liquid crystal display is T, then the over exciting duration is PT and the brightness keeping duration is (1-P)T. The ratio P can be adjusted according to the characteristic of the display panel. The Fourth Embodiment Referring to FIGS. 15A and 15B, the fourth embodiment of the liquid crystal display driving device of matrix structure type according to the present invention includes a group of thin film transistors Q with matrix array, which consists of N rows and M columns of thin film transistors Q, wherein each thin film transistor Q can drive one pixel, so total 2N×M of pixels (shown by the rectangle with dotted line) can be driven. The first gate line G1 of the first group of gate lines is connected with the gates of all the thin film transistors Q of the first row, the second gate line G1′ of the first group of gate lines is connected with the gates of all the thin film transistors Q of the second row . . . and the second gate line of the Nth group of gate lines is connected with the gates of all the thin film transistors Q of the 2Nth row, therefore, there are in total N groups of gate lines connected to gate drivers and insulated with each other. The first and the second data lines D1, D2 are respectively connected with the sources of all the thin film transistors Q of the odd and the even rows of the first column, the second and the third data lines D3, D4 are respectively connected with the sources of all the thin film transistors Q of the odd and the even rows of the second column . . . and the Mth and the (M+1)th data lines are respectively connected with the sources of all the thin film transistors Q of the odd and the even rows of the Mth column, therefore there are in total M+1 data lines connected to the data drivers and insulated with each other. Referring to FIG. 15C, which is the other form of the fourth embodiment. It also consists of 2N rows and M columns of thin film transistors Q, wherein each thin film transistor Q can drive one pixel, so total 2N×M of pixels (shown by rectangle with dotted line) can be driven. The first gate line G1 of the first group of gate lines is connected with the gates of all the thin film transistors Q of the first row, the second gate line G2 of the first group of gate lines is connected with the gates of all the thin film transistors Q of the second row . . . and the second gate line of the Nth gate lines is connected with the gates of all the thin film transistors of the Nth row, therefore, there are in total N groups of gate lines connected to the gate drivers and insulated with each other. The first data line D1 is connected with the sources of all the thin film transistors Q of the first column, the second data line D2 is connected with the sources of all the thin film transistors Q of the second column . . . and the Mth data line is connected with the sources of all the thin film transistors Q of the Mth column, therefore, there are in total M data lines connected to the data drivers and insulated with each other. Referring to FIG. 15A, the gate drivers connected with the gate lines are installed on the same side of the display panel. Referring to FIG. 16, the first gate lines and the second gate lines of each group of gate lines are respectively given data by two groups of gate drivers, and the said two groups of gate drivers are respectively installed on the left and the right sides of the liquid crystal display. The form of the gate driver can be a chip on glass, or an integrated gate driver circuit on glass. There are two methods to execute the two forms of the embodiments stated above. Referring to FIG. 17, in the first driving method, when time is at frame interval 1, the expected brightness is code 120 and the VLC is the driving voltage pulse. To prevent the driving voltage from confusing with the alternating voltage for driving liquid crystal, the value of the driving voltage is expressed with code in the following statement. In FIG. 17, curve (a) expresses the brightness variation of the pixel in response of the 5 milliseconds of over drive, curve (b) shows the brightness variation of the pixel in response of the 16 milliseconds of over drive, and curve (c) displays the brightness variation of the pixel without no over drive. If there are 2(m+n), i.e. N=2(m+n), gate lines in liquid crystal display, the period of the predetermined voltage of over drive for the thin film transistors connected with the first gate line of the first group of gate lines is set as the over exciting period t1, and the period of data voltage of the present frame interval for the thing film transistors connected with the first gate line of the first groups of gate lines is set as the brightness keeping period t2. When the over exciting period t1 begins, the first and the second gate lines G1, G1′ of the first group of gate lines are orderly turned on in a time of one synchronous control signal. The predetermined voltage code 200 of over driver of the frame is given to the thin film transistors Q connected with the first and the second gate lines G1, G1′ of the first group of gate lines. The first and the second gate lines Gn, Gn′ of the nth group of gate lines are orderly turned on by the synchronous control signal. The data voltage code 32 of the preceding frame is given to the thin film transistor Q connected with the said gate lines. The first and the second gate lines of the second group of gate lines, the first and the second gate lines of the (n+1)th group of gate lines. . . the first and the second gate lines of the (m+n−1)th group of gate lines and the first and the second gate lines Gm+1, Gm+1′ of the (m+1)th group of gate lines are orderly and simultaneously turned on in a time of synchronous control signal. The predetermined voltage code 200 is given to the thin film transistors Q connected with the second to the (m+1)th groups of gate lines. The data voltage code 32 of the preceding frame is given to the thin film transistors Q connected with the (n+1)th to the (m+n−1)th groups of gate lines. When the brightness keeping period t2 begins, the first and the second gate lines G1, G1′ of the first group of gate are orderly turned on in a time of one synchronous control signal. The data voltage code 120 of the present frame interval is given to the thin film transistors connected with the said gate lines. The first and the second gate lines of the (m+2)th group of gate lines are orderly turned on by the synchronous control signal. The predetermined voltage code 200 is given to the thin film transistors connected with the said gate lines. The first and the second gate lines of the second group of gate lines, the first and the second gate lines of the (m+3)th group of gate lines . . . the first and the second gate lines Gm+n, Gm+n′ of the (m+n)th group of gate lines and the first and the second gate lines Gn−1, Gn−1′ of the (n−1)th group of gate lines are orderly and synchronously turned on. The predetermined voltage code 200 is given to the thin film transistors Q connected with the (m+3)th to the last gate lines. The data voltage code 120 of the present frame interval is given to the transistors Q connected with the second to the (n−1)th group of gate lines. By use of the steps stated above, the response speed of the liquid crystal display can be increased. Referring to FIG. 18, it shows the second driving method of the present invention. When time is at frame interval 1, the expected brightness is code 120 and VLC is the driving voltage pulse. The voltage value is expressed with code in the following statement to prevent the driving voltage from confusing with the alternating voltage for driving the liquid crystal. In FIG. 18, curve (a) expresses the brightness variation of the pixel in response of the 5 milliseconds of over driver, curve (b) shows the brightness variation of the pixel in response of the 16 milliseconds of over driver, and curve (c) displays the brightness variation of the pixel without over driver. If there are 2m+2n, i.e. N=2m+2n, gate lines in the liquid crystal display, the period of the predetermined voltage of over driver for the thin film transistors connected with the first gate line of the first group of gate lines is set as the over exciting period t1, and the period of the data voltage of the present frame interval for the thin film transistors connected with the first gate line of the first group of gate lines is set as the brightness keeping period t2. In the over exciting period t1, the first gate line G1 of the first group of gate lines and the first gate line Gn of the nth group of gate lines are orderly turned on in a time of one synchronous control signal. The predetermined voltage code 200 of over driver of one frame and the data voltage code 32 of the preceding frame are respectively given to the thin film transistors Q connected with the said gate lines. Then the second gate line G1′ of the first group of gate lines and the second gate line Gn of the nth group of gate lines, the first gate line of the second group of gate lines and the first gate line of the (n+1)th group of gate lines . . . and the second gate line of the (m+n−11)th group of gate lines and the second gate line of the (m+1)th group of gate lines are orderly and synchronously turned on by the synchronous control signal. The predetermined voltage code 200 is given to the thin film transistors Q connected with the first to the (m+1)th groups of gate lines. The data voltage code 32 of the preceding frame is given to the thin film transistors Q connected with the (n+1)th to the (m+n−1)th groups of gate lines. When the brightness keeping period t2 begins, the first gate line G1 of the first group of gate lines and the first gate line of the (m+2)th group of gate lines are orderly turned on in a time of one synchronous control signal. The data voltage code 120 of the frame interval and the predetermined voltage code 200 are respectively given to the thin film transistors Q connected with the said gate lines. The second gate line G1′ of the first group of gate lines and the second gate line of the (n+2)th group of gate lines, the first gate line of the second group of gate lines and the first gate line of the (m+3)th group of gate lines . . . and the second gate line G(n−1)′ of the (n−1)th group of gate lines and the second (i.e. the last) gate line G(m+n)′ of the (m+n)th group of gate lines are orderly and synchronously turned on. The predetermined voltage code 200 is given to the thin film transistors Q connected with the (m+2)th group to the last gate line G(m+n)′. The data voltage code 120 is given to the thin film transistors Q connected with the second group of gate lines to the (n−1)th group of gate lines. By use of the steps stated above, the response speed of the liquid crystal display can be increased. If the ratio of the number of the gate lines scanned in the over exciting period t1 to the number of the total gate lines is P and the period of the frame interval of the liquid crystal display is T, then the over exciting duration is PT and the brightness keeping duration is (1-P)T. The ratio P can be adjusted according to the characteristic of the display panel. The Fifth Embodiment Referring to FIG. 19A to 19C, the fifth embodiment of the liquid crystal display driving device of matrix structure type according to the present invention includes a group of thin film transistors Q with matrix array, which consists of N rows and 2M columns of thin film transistors Q. One pixel is driven by two neighboring thin film transistors Q, therefore total N×M of pixels (shown by rectangle with dotted line) can be driven. The first and the second gate lines G1, G 1′ of the first group of gate lines are respectively connected with the gates of all the thin film transistors Q of the odd and the even columns of the first row. The first and the second gate lines G2, G2′ of the second group of gate lines are respectively connected with the gates of all the thin film transistors Q of the odd and the even columns of the second row . . . and the first and the second gate lines of the Nth group of gate lines are respectively connected with the gates of all the thin film transistors Q of the odd and the even columns of the Nth row. Therefore, there are in total N groups of gate lines connected to the gate drivers and insulated with each other. The first data line D1 is connected with the sources of all the thin film transistors Q of the first column. The second data line D2 is connected with the sources of all the thin film transistors Q of the second column . . . and the 2Mth data line is connected with the sources of all the thin film transistors Q of the 2Mth column. Therefore, there are in total 2M data lines connected to the data drivers and insulated with each other. To prevent the neighboring gate lines from short circuit, for example, the first gate line G1 and the second gate line G1′ of the first group of gate lines, there is a space between the two neighboring gate lines, of which arrangement is shown as FIG. 19C. Referring to FIG. 19A, the gate drivers connected with the gate lines are installed on the same side of the display panel. Referring to FIGS. 20A and 20B, the first gate lines and the second gate lines of the each group of gate lines are respectively given data by two groups of gate drivers, and the said two groups of gate drivers are respectively installed on the left and the right sides of the liquid crystal display. The form of the gate driver can be a chip on glass or an integrated gate driver circuit on glass. Referring to FIG. 21, the driving method of the present invention can be executed by the device stated above. When time is at frame interval 1, the expected brightness is code 120 and VLC is the driving voltage pulse. The value of the driving voltage pulse is expressed with code in the following statement to prevent the driving voltage from confusing the alternating voltage for driving liquid crystal. In FIG. 21, curve (a) expresses the brightness variation of the pixel in response of 5 milliseconds of over driver, curve (b) shows the brightness variation of the pixel in response of 16 milliseconds of over driver, and curve (c) displays the brightness variation of the pixel without over driver. If there are 2m+2n, i.e. N=2m+2n, gate lines in the liquid crystal display, the period of the predetermined voltage of over driver for the thin film transistors connected with the first gate line of the first group of gate lines is set as the over exciting period t1, and the period of the data voltage of the present frame interval for the thin film transistors connected with the second gate line of the first group of gate lines is set as the brightness keeping period t2. When the over exciting period ti begins, the first gate line G1 of the first group of gate lines and the second gate line Gn′ of the nth group of gate lines are orderly turned on in a time of one synchronous control signal. The predetermined voltage code 200 of over driver of the frame and the data voltage code 32 of the preceding frame are respectively given to the thin film transistors Q connected with the said gate lines. The first gate line of the second group of gate lines and the second gate line of the (n+1)th group of gate lines, the first gate line of the third group of gate lines and the second gate line of the (n+2)th group of gate lines . . . and the second gate line of the (m+n−1)th group of gate lines and the first gate line of the (m+1)th group of gate lines are orderly and synchronously turned on in the time of synchronous control signal. The predetermined voltage code 200 is given to the thin film transistors Q connected with the first gate line of the second group to the (m+1)th group of gate lines. The data voltage code 32 of the preceding frame is given to the thin film transistors Q connected with the second gate line of the (n+1)th group to the (m+n−1 )th group of gate lines. When the brightness keeping period t2 begins, the second gate line G1′ of the first group of gate lines and the first gate line of the (m+2)th group of gate lines are orderly turned on in a time of one synchronous control signal. The data voltage code 120 of the frame interval and the predetermined voltage code 200 are respectively given to the thin film transistors Q connected with the said gate lines. The first gate line of the (m+3)th group of gate lines and the second gate line of the second group of gate lines, the first gate line of the (m+4)th group of gate lines and the second gate line of the third group of gate lines . . . and the first gate line of the (m+n)th group of gate lines and the second gate line of the (n−1)th group of gate lines are orderly and synchronously turned on. The data voltage code 120 of the present frame interval is given to the thin film transistors Q connected with the second gate line of the second group to the (n−1)th group of gate lines. The predetermined voltage code 200 is given to the thin film transistors Q connected with the first gate lines of the (m+3)th group to the (m+n)th group of gate lines. By use of the steps stated above, the response speed of the liquid crystal display can be increased. If the ratio of the number of the gate lines scanned in the over exciting period t1 to the number of the total gate lines is P and the frame interval period of the liquid crystal display is T, then the over exciting duration is PT and the brightness keeping duration is (1-P)T. The ratio P can be adjusted according to the characteristic of the display panel. The Sixth Embodiment Referring to FIG. 22A to 22C, the sixth embodiment of the liquid crystal display driving device of matrix structure type according to the present invention includes a group of thin film transistors Q with matrix array, which consists of N rows and 2M columns of thin film transistors Q. One pixel is driven by two neighboring thin film transistors so that total N×M of pixels (shown by the rectangle with dotted line) can be driven. The first and the second gate lines G, G2 are respectively connected with the gates of all the thin film transistors Q of the odd column and the even column of the first row. The second and the third gate lines G2, G3 are respectively connected with gates of all the thin film transistors Q of the odd column and the even column of the second row . . . and the Nth and the (N+1)th gate lines are respectively connected with the gates of all the thin film transistors Q of the odd column and the even column of the Nth row. Therefore, there are in total N gate lines connected to the gate drivers and insulated with each other. The first data line D1 of the first group of data lines is connected with the sources of all the thin film transistors Q of the first column. The second data line D1′ of the first group of data lines is connected with the sources of all the thin film transistors Q of the second column . . . and the second data line of the Mth group of data lines is connected with the sources of all the thin film transistors Q of the 2Mth column. Therefore, there are in total M groups of data lines connected to the data drivers and insulated with each other. Referring to FIG. 22C, a row of thin film transistors Q can be additionally installed above the first row of thin film transistors Q in the present embodiment. Each thin film transistor Q can control a pixel. The gates of the said row of thin film transistors Q are connected with the first gate line and their sources are connected with the second data line of each group of data lines. To prevent the neighboring data lines from short circuit, for example, the second data line D1′ of the first group of data lines and the first data line D2 of the second group of data lines, there is a space between two neighboring data lines of which arrangement is shown as FIG. 22D. Referring to FIG. 22A, the data drivers connected with the data lines are installed on the same side. If the scanning frequency is 60 Hz and two gate lines are simultaneously turned on, the scanning time can be further decreased. The data drivers can be arranged as shown in FIGS. 23A and 23B. The first data lines and the second data lines of each group of data lines are respectively connected with the data drivers installed on the upper side and the lower side of the liquid crystal display. The scanning frequency of the data drivers is kept at 60 Hz. As shown in FIGS. 24A and 24B, the first data lines and the second data lines of each group of data lines, which are neighboring, are connected with the same data driver. The data transfer is switched by an electronic switch. Its scanning frequency is a multiple of that of the said data driver, for examples, 120 Hz, 180 Hz . . . etc. The form of the gate driver can be a chip on glass, or an integrated gate driver circuit on glass. The driving method of the present invention is executed by the device stated above. Referring to FIG. 25, when time is at the frame interval 1, the expected brightness is code 120 and VLC is the driving voltage pulse. The value of the driving voltage is expressed with code in the following statement to prevent the driving voltage from confusing the alternating voltage for driving liquid crystal. In FIG. 25, curve (a) expresses the brightness variation of the pixel in response of the 5 milliseconds of over driver, curve (b) shows the brightness variation of the pixel in response of the 16 milliseconds of over driver. Curve (c) displays the brightness variation of the pixel without over driver. If there are m+n, i.e. N=m+n, gate lines in the liquid crystal display, the period of the predetermined voltage of over driver for the thin film transistor connected with the first gate line is set as the over exciting period ti and the period of the data voltage of the present frame interval received by the thin film transistors connected with the first gate line is set as the brightness keeping period t2. In the over exciting period t1, the first and the (n+1)th gate lines G1, Gn+1 are orderly turned on in a time of one synchronous control signal. The predetermined voltage code 200 and the data voltage code 32 of the preceding frame are respectively given to the thin film transistors Q connected with the said gate lines. The second and the (n+2)th gate lines, the third and the (n+3)th gate lines . . . and the (m+n−1)th and the mth gate lines are orderly and synchronously turned on in the time of synchronous control signal. The predetermined voltage code 200 is given to the thin film transistors connected with the second to the mth gate lines. The data voltage code 32 of the preceding frame is given to the thin film transistors Q connected with the (n+2)th to the (m+n−1)th gate lines. During the brightness keeping period t2, the first gate line and the (m+1)th gate line are orderly turned on in a time of one synchronous control signal. The data voltage code 120 of the frame interval and the predetermined voltage code 200 are respectively given to the thin film transistors Q connected with the said gate lines. The second and the (m+2)th gate lines, the third and the (m+3)th gate lines . . . and the (m+n)th (i.e. the last) and the nth gate lines are orderly turned on. The predetermined voltage code 200 is given to the thin film transistors Q connected with the (m+2)th to the (m+n)th (the last) gate lines. The data voltage code 120 is given to the thin film transistors Q connected with the second to the nth gate lines. By use of the steps stated above, the response speed of the liquid crystal display can be increased. If the number of the gate lines scanned in the over exciting period t1 to the number of the total gate lines is P and the frame interval time of the liquid crystal display is T, then the over exciting duration is PT and the brightness keeping duration is (1-p)T. The ratio P can be adjusted according to the characteristic of the display panel. The present invention can quickly drive the liquid crystal display and increase the response speed of the image gray level by the division of the time (frame interval time) and space (gate lines) and the application of the predetermined voltage and data voltage in the steps stated above. The driving method according to the present invention can suit for various liquid crystal display, active matrix type liquid crystal display, organic light emitting diode (OLED) display or plasma display panel (PDP). The “frame in frame” technique of the present invention has been described by the above embodiments, but they cannot be used to limit the present invention. Any persons skilled at the art related to the present invention can make partial modification and variation without departing from the spirit and the scope of the present invention. The patent scope of the present invention should take the accompanying claims as the criterion. Therefore, the present invention has the following advantages: 1. The liquid crystal display driving device of matrix structure type according to the present invention can increase both the response speed of the liquid crystal panel and the aspect ratio of the panel, but decrease both the number of the data drivers and the data lines and the production cost. 2. The driving method for the liquid crystal display of matrix structure type according to the present invention can simultaneously or synchronously turn on two rows of thin film transistors and the pixel of the panel can be driven by the thin film transistors, so the object of reducing the response time of the liquid crystal display can be accomplished. To sum up, the present invention indeed can accomplish its expected object of providing a liquid crystal display driving device of matrix structure type and its driving method to increase the response speed. It has high utilization value in industry, so it is brought forward claiming patent right. | <SOH> BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION <EOH>1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a liquid crystal display driving device of matrix structure type and its driving method, especially to a display driving device and its driving method, which can simultaneously or synchronously drive a plurality of thin film transistors to increase the response speed, wherein the source and the gate of each thin film transistor in the driving device are respectively connected with different gate lines and data lines to let the specific transistor be driven by the gate drivers and the data drivers, and the predetermined voltage for over drive or the data voltage for the present frame interval is applied to accomplish the object of increasing the response speed. The present invention can suit for the picture treatment of various liquid crystal displays, organic light emitting diode (OLED) display or plasma display panel (PDP). 2. Description of the Prior Art Because the liquid crystal display possesses the advantages of low power consumption, light of weight, thin thickness, without radiation and flickering, it gradually replaces the traditional cathode ray tube (CRT) display in the display market. The liquid crystal display is chiefly used as the screen of the digital television, the computer or the notebook computer. In particular, the large sized liquid crystal display is widely used in the amusements of the life, especially in the field in which the view angle, the response speed, the color number, and the image of high quality are in great request. Referring to FIGS. 1A and 1B , they are the simple schematic views showing the internal structure of the prior liquid crystal display. Mark 10 is the display panel. The data driver 11 is installed above the display panel, which can change the data of the adjusted gray level signal into the corresponding data voltage. The image signal can be transferred to the display panel 10 through the plurality of data lines 111 connected with the data driver 11 . The gate driver 12 is installed on one side of the display panel 10 , which can continuously provide scanning signal. The scanning signal can be transferred to the display panel 10 through the plurality of gate lines 121 connected with the gate driver 12 . The data line 111 and the gate line 121 are orthogonally crossed and insulated with each other. The area enclosed in them is a pixel 13 . After the image signal is output from the data driver 11 , it will get to the source of the thin film transistor Q 1 in the pixel 13 through the data line D 1 , and a control signal is correspondingly output from the gate driver 12 , it will get to the gate of the thin film transistor Q 1 through the gate line G 1 . The circuit in the pixel 13 will output the output voltage to drive the liquid crystal molecular corresponding to the pixel 13 , and a parallel plate type of capacitor C LC (capacitor of liquid crystal) will be formed by the liquid crystal molecules between the two pieces of glass substrates in the display panel 10 . Because the capacitor C LC cannot keep the voltage to the next time of renewing the frame data, so there is a storage capacitor C S provided for the voltage of the capacitor being able to be kept to the next time of renewing the frame data. The image treatment of the display is affected by the properties of the liquid crystal molecular such as viscosity, dielectricity and elasticity etc. The brightness in the traditional CRT is displayed by the strike of the electron beam on the screen coated with phosphorescent material, but the brightness display in the liquid crystal display needs time for the liquid crystal molecular to react with the driving voltage, the time is called “response time”. Taking the normally white (NW) mode as an example, the response time can be divided to two parts: (1) The ascending response time: it is the time for the liquid crystal molecular to rotate with the application of the voltage when the brightness of the liquid crystal box in the liquid crystal display changes from 90% to 10%, simply called “T r ”; and (2) The descending response time: it is the time for the liquid crystal molecular to restore without the application of the voltage when the brightness of the liquid crystal box changes from 10% to 90%, simply called “T f ”. When the display speed of the frame is above 25 frames per second, human will regard the quickly changing frames as the continuous picture. In general above 60 frames per second is the display speed of the screen in the modern family amusements such as DVD films of high quality and electronic games of quick movement, in other words, the time of each frame interval is 1/60 sec=16.67 ms. If the response time of the liquid crystal display is longer than the frame interval time, the phenomena of residue image or skip lattice would happen in the screen so that the quality of the image is badly affected. At present the methods for decreasing the response time of the liquid crystal display have: lowering the viscousity, reducing the gap of the liquid crystal box, increasing the dielectricity and the driving voltage, wherein the methods of lowering the viscosity, reducing the gap of the liquid crystal box and increasing the dielectricity can be executed from the material and the making process of the liquid crystal and the method of increasing the driving voltage can be executed from the driving method of liquid crystal panel. The latter can further improve the response speed of the gray level in no need of largely changing the structure of the display panel. It is called “overdrive” (OD) technique, wherein the increasing voltage can be transferred to the liquid crystal panel through the driver integrated circuit (diver IC) to increase the voltage for rotating the liquid crystal so that the expected brightness of the image data can be quickly obtained and the response time can be reduced due to the quick rotation and restoration of the liquid crystal. Referring to FIG. 2 , the liquid crystal display has different brightness at different driving voltage. If L 1 is the expected brightness of the image data and the liquid crystal molecular is driven by the present data voltage V 1 to display the brightness, the brightness variation displayed by the driven liquid crystal molecular is shown as curve 21 and the time for obtaining the brightness is t 0 . An increased driving voltage V 2 is provided to reduce the time for obtaining the brightness according to the brightness variation of the display gray level, which has been measured in advance. The brightness variation is shown as curve 22 . Therefore, the time for obtaining the expected brightness can be reduced from t 0 to t 0 ′; this is the so-called OD technique. Referring to FIG. 3A to 3 C, if the expected brightness of an image in the preceding frame interval I−1 is code 32 , and the expected brightness of the said image in the present frame interval I becomes code 120 , the brightness variation of the liquid crystal display is shown as curve (a) without making use of OD technique. It is shown that the expected brightness cannot be obtained unless the I+1 th frame interval is got. This would produce the problem of residue image. By use of OD technique, the driving voltage is increased to code 200 in the present frame interval I to be able to obtain the expected brightness at the end of the frame interval. Its brightness variation is shown as curve (b). In the driving process of the first gate line G 1 and the first data line D 1 , when the frame interval I begins, a control voltage pulse is given to the first gate line G 1 by the gate driver and at the same time a driving voltage code 200 is given to the first data line D 1 by the data driver so that the first pixel (not shown) connected with the first gate line and the first data line can change its brightness. If the sequential frame interval still display the brightness of code 120 and the next frame interval I+1 begins, a control voltage pulse is still given to the first gate line and the driving voltage given to the first data line is decreased to code 120 to keep the expected brightness. The present invention makes use of the “overdrive” concept and discloses a novel liquid crystal display driving device of matrix structure type and its driving method to reduce the response time of the liquid crystal display. | <SOH> SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION <EOH>The chief object of the present invention is to provide a liquid crystal display driving device of matrix structure type to increase the response speed of the liquid crystal display and the aspect ratio of the panel and to decrease the number of the data drivers and the data lines. Another object of the present invention is to provide a driving method for the liquid crystal display of matrix structure type, which can simultaneously or synchronously start the plurality of thin film transistors in the display panel and drive the pixels controlled by the thin film transistors to reduce the response time of the liquid crystal display. To achieve the above-stated objects of the present invention, the basic structure of the driving device of the present invention includes a group of thin film transistors with matrix array, gate lines connected with the gate drivers and insulated with each other, wherein the gates and the sources of all the thin film transistors are respectively connected with the gate lines and the data lines. The response time of the liquid crystal display can be reduced by the different arrangement design of the gate lines and the data lines and by the different connection location between the gate lines and the gates of the thin film transistors and between the data liens and the sources of the thin film transistors. The gate drivers can be respectively installed on the left side and the right side of the liquid crystal panel and the data drivers can be respectively installed on the upper side and the lower side. The gate driver can be a chip installed on glass or an integrated gate driver circuit installed on glass. The driving method for the said driving device includes: the period of the predetermined voltage of the over drive received by the thin film transistors connected with the first gate line is set as a over exciting period and the period of the data voltage of the present frame interval received by the thin film transistor connected with the first gate line is set as a brightness keeping period. When the over exciting period begins, two gate lines in the liquid crystal display are turned on in a time of one synchronous control signal or by the control signals simultaneously produced by the gate drivers. The predetermined voltage is given to the thin film transistors connected with one of the gate lines which are simultaneously or synchronously turned on, the data voltage is given to the thin film transistors connected with the other of the gate lines which are simultaneously or synchronously turned on, and scanning continues in turn. When the brightness keeping period begins, two gate lines in the liquid crystal display are orderly turned on in a time of one synchronous control signal or by the control signals simultaneously produced by the gate drivers. One of the gate lines is the next gate line of the last gate line given to the said predetermined voltage. The predetermined voltage of over drive is given to the thin film transistors connected with the said gate line, and the data voltage of the present frame interval is given to the thin film transistors connected with the first gate line which is turned on orderly. Scanning continues in turn until the whole liquid crystal display is scanned, and the next frame interval begins. If the ratio of the number of the gate lines scanned in the over excited period to the number of the total gate lines is P and the period of the frame interval of the liquid crystal display is T, then the duration of the over exciting is PT and the duration of the brightness keeping is ( 1 -P)T. The ratio P can be adjusted according to the characteristic of the display panel. From the statement stated above, the present invention possesses the characteristic of dividing the space of the gate lines of the display panel into a plurality of regions and the time of the frame interval into a plurality of sub-region times. Each region is orderly scanned in a time of one synchronous control signal. Therefore, the state of “frame in frame” is formed in the space and the time. The method of the present invention can suit for various picture treatments of liquid crystal display, organic light emitting diode (OLED) display or plasma display panel (PDP). To make the present invention be able to be clearly understood, there are some preferred embodiments and their accompanying draws described in detail as below. | 20040831 | 20080902 | 20060302 | 98475.0 | G09G500 | 2 | KOVALICK, VINCENT E | LIQUID CRYSTAL DISPLAY DRIVING DEVICE OF MATRIX STRUCTURE TYPE AND ITS DRIVING METHOD | SMALL | 0 | ACCEPTED | G09G | 2,004 |
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10,929,816 | ACCEPTED | Liquid ejector having internal filters | A liquid drop ejector is provided. The ejector includes a liquid chamber and a liquid supply. Portions of the liquid chamber define a nozzle bore. A liquid supply passageway is positioned between the liquid chamber and the liquid supply. The liquid supply passageway is in fluid communication with the liquid chamber and the liquid supply. A plurality of pillars is suspended in the liquid supply passageway. A wall of the liquid chamber can extend to the liquid supply passageway. A center pillar can also be included with a portion of the center pillar being positioned in the liquid chamber and another portion of the center pillar being positioned in the liquid supply passageway. | 1. A liquid drop ejector comprising: a liquid chamber, portions of the liquid chamber defining a nozzle bore; a liquid supply; a liquid supply passageway positioned between the liquid chamber and the liquid supply, the liquid supply passageway being in fluid communication with the liquid chamber and the liquid supply; and a plurality of pillars suspended in the liquid supply passageway. 2. The liquid drop ejector according to claim 1, the liquid supply passageway having a wall, wherein the pillars are suspended from the wall of the liquid supply passageway. 3. The liquid drop ejector according to claim 2, wherein the wall of the liquid supply passageway is substantially perpendicular to the nozzle bore as viewed from a plane perpendicular to a cross sectional view of the nozzle bore. 4. The liquid drop ejector according to claim 2, wherein the wall of the liquid supply passageway is parallel to the nozzle bore as viewed from a plane perpendicular to a cross sectional view of the nozzle bore. 5. The liquid drop ejector according to claim 1, wherein the portions of the liquid chamber defining the nozzle bore include a nozzle plate extending between the liquid chamber and the liquid supply passageway, the pillars being suspended from the nozzle plate. 6. The liquid drop ejector according to claim 1, wherein the pillars are suspended in the liquid supply passageway in a plane perpendicular to the nozzle bore as viewed from a plane perpendicular to a cross sectional view of the nozzle bore. 7. The liquid drop ejector according to claim 1, wherein the pillars are suspended in the liquid supply passageway in a plane parallel to the nozzle bore as viewed from a plane perpendicular to a cross sectional view of the nozzle bore. 8. The liquid drop ejector according to claim 1, further comprising: a center pillar, a portion of the center pillar being positioned in the liquid chamber and another portion of the center pillar being positioned in the liquid supply passageway. 9. The liquid drop ejector according to claim 8, the center pillar having two ends, one end being attached to a wall common to the liquid chamber and the liquid supply passageway, a portion of the second end being attached to another wall common to the liquid supply passageway and the liquid chamber and another portion of the second end being suspended in the liquid supply passageway. 10. A liquid drop ejector comprising: a plurality of liquid chambers, portions of each of the plurality of liquid chambers defining a nozzle bore, other portions of each of the plurality of liquid chambers defining a wall located between adjacent liquid chambers, the wall having a length; and a liquid supply passageway in fluid communication with each of the plurality of liquid chambers, wherein the length of the wall extends into the liquid supply passageway. 11. The liquid drop ejector according to claim 10, further comprising: a plurality of pillars suspended in the liquid supply passageway. 12. The liquid drop ejector according to claim 11, the liquid supply passageway having a wall, wherein the pillars are suspended from the wall of the liquid supply passageway. 13. The liquid drop ejector according to claim 12, wherein the wall of the liquid supply passageway is substantially perpendicular to the nozzle bore as viewed from a plane perpendicular to a cross sectional view of the nozzle bore. 14. The liquid drop ejector according to claim 12, wherein the wall of the liquid supply passageway is parallel to the nozzle bore as viewed from a plane perpendicular to a cross sectional view of the nozzle bore. 15. The liquid drop ejector according to claim 11, wherein the portions of the liquid chamber defining the nozzle bore include a nozzle plate extending between the liquid chamber and the liquid supply passageway, the pillars being suspended from the nozzle plate. 16. The liquid drop ejector according to claim 11, wherein the pillars are suspended in the liquid supply passageway in a plane perpendicular to the nozzle bore as viewed from a plane perpendicular to a cross sectional view of the nozzle bore. 17. The liquid drop ejector according to claim 11, wherein the pillars are suspended in the liquid supply passageway in a plane parallel to the nozzle bore as viewed from a plane perpendicular to a cross sectional view of the nozzle bore. 18. The liquid drop ejector according to claim 10, further comprising: a center pillar, a portion of the center pillar being positioned in the liquid chamber and another portion of the center pillar being positioned in the liquid supply passageway. 19. The liquid drop ejector according to claim 18, the center pillar having two ends, one end being attached to a wall common to the liquid chamber and the liquid supply passageway, a portion of the second end being attached to another wall common to the liquid supply passageway and the liquid chamber and another portion of the second end being suspended in the liquid supply passageway. 20. A liquid drop ejector comprising: a liquid chamber, portions of the liquid chamber defining a nozzle bore; a liquid supply; a liquid supply passageway positioned between the liquid chamber and the liquid supply, the liquid supply passageway being in fluid communication with the liquid chamber and the liquid supply; and a center pillar, a portion of the center pillar being positioned in the liquid chamber and another portion of the center pillar being positioned in the liquid supply passageway. 21. The liquid drop ejector according to claim 20, the center pillar having two ends, one end being attached to a wall common to the liquid chamber and the liquid supply passageway, a portion of the second end being attached to another wall common to the liquid supply passageway and the liquid chamber and another portion of the second end being suspended in the liquid supply passageway. 22. The liquid drop ejector according to claim 20, further comprising: a plurality of pillars suspended in the liquid supply passageway. 23. The liquid drop ejector according to claim 22, the liquid supply passageway having a wall, wherein the pillars are suspended from the wall of the liquid supply passageway. 24. The liquid drop ejector according to claim 23, wherein the wall of the liquid supply passageway is substantially perpendicular to the nozzle bore as viewed from a plane perpendicular to a cross sectional view of the nozzle bore. 25. The liquid drop ejector according to claim 23, wherein the wall of the liquid supply passageway is parallel to the nozzle bore as viewed from a plane perpendicular to a cross sectional view of the nozzle bore. 26. The liquid drop ejector according to claim 22, wherein the portions of the liquid chamber defining the nozzle bore include a nozzle plate extending between the liquid chamber and the liquid supply passageway, the pillars being suspended from the nozzle plate. 27. The liquid drop ejector according to claim 22, wherein the pillars are suspended in the liquid supply passageway in a plane perpendicular to the nozzle bore as viewed from a plane perpendicular to a cross sectional view of the nozzle bore. 28. The liquid drop ejector according to claim 22, wherein the pillars are suspended in the liquid supply passageway in a plane parallel to the nozzle bore as viewed from a plane perpendicular to a cross sectional view of the nozzle bore. 29. The liquid drop ejector according to claim 1, further comprising: a drop forming mechanism operatively associated with the liquid chamber. 30. The liquid drop ejector according to claim 29, wherein the drop forming mechanism comprises a heater. 31. The liquid drop ejector according to claim 30, wherein the heater is positioned adjacent to the nozzle bore. 32. The liquid drop ejector according to claim 30, wherein the heater is positioned in the liquid chamber. 33. The liquid drop ejector according to claim 1, the pillars having a cross sectional shape, wherein a portion of the cross sectional shape is circular. 34. The liquid drop ejector according to claim 1, the pillars having a cross sectional shape having a perimeter, wherein the perimeter of the cross sectional shape forms a closed curve. 35. The liquid drop ejector according to claim 1, further comprising: additional liquid chambers, portions of each additional liquid chamber defining a nozzle bore, wherein each additional liquid chamber is in fluid communication with the liquid supply passageway. 36. The liquid drop ejector according to claim 11, wherein the plurality of pillars is associated with one of the plurality of liquid chambers. 37. The liquid drop ejector according to claim 11, wherein one pillar of the plurality of pillars is associated with one chamber of the plurality of liquid chambers. | FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates generally to liquid ejectors and, more specifically, to liquid ejectors having internal filters. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Inkjet printing systems are extensively used throughout the world for the reproduction and generation of text and images. Inkjet printing systems eject liquids in the form of droplets that are deposited upon a suitable receiver in an image-wise fashion. Common uses include the printing of text and the reproduction of images. Liquids that are ejected can be inks or pigments and the applications vary widely but include printers, plotters, facsimile machines and copiers. For purposes of convenience the concepts of this invention are discussed in the terms of a thermal inkjet printer that employ one or more supplies or reservoirs of liquids to be deposited upon a medium such as paper. Ink is supplied to a liquid ejector mechanism, also known as a print head, through a supply channel and into a chamber of the liquid ejector that contains thermal resistors as firing mechanisms. Sending an electrical current through the thermal resistors causes the heating of the resistor and forces the formation of a vapor bubble within the chamber. The expanding vapor bubble within the chamber then causes an ink droplet to be forced out of an orifice situated upon the chamber. As ink is expelled from the orifice, energy is removed from the thermal resistor, the bubble collapses and ink refills the chamber to begin another sequence. As the need for ejection speed increases, so does the optimization of the operation of the chambers to maximize ink flow. Additionally the throughput requirement also means the need for more chambers and ejection orifices. It is a constant engineering challenge to maintain the proper balance that is required to enhance inkjet system performance. In typical inkjet printing systems, a filter element is generally placed at the inlet to the supply port of an inkjet chamber. Reference U.S. Pat. No. 6,582,064 by Cruz-Uribe et al., of Hewlett-Packard Company, Houston Tex., that describes integrated fluid filters constructed from stacks of stacked thin film layers with openings that function as filters. Reference also U.S. Pat. No. 6,502,927 by Nozawa of Canon Kabushiki Kaisha of Tokyo, Japan that describes pillars as filters. These filters have several functions such as that of an ink conduit and function to preclude the delivery of impurities, debris and air bubbles that could enter the chamber of a liquid ejector and cause clogging of the chamber or orifice thus rendering a firing chamber inoperable. Chambers and geometries are commonly configured to enhance operational performance. Reference U.S. Pat. No. 6,478,410 by Prasad, et al. of Hewlett-Packard Company, Palo Alto, Calif. that attempts to balance a higher inkjet droplet generator density with structures that attempt to achieve proper control of ink flow. Reference also U.S. Pat. No. 6,601,945 by Kitakami of Canon Kabushiki Kaisha, of Tokyo, Japan that attempts to correct for image quality by using a “windshield liquid droplet” that prevents the displacement upon a recording medium of the ink droplet discharged in a high density “full discharge” mode even when the ink droplet has a fine volume. U.S. Pat. No. 5,734,399 by Weber et al. of Hewlett-Packard Company of Palo Alto Calif. discloses shaped barrier geometries that prevent stray particles from reaching ink feed channels. The barriers are configured to have a plurality of inner barrier islands each associated with a chamber and a particular heater resistor. These barrier islands commonly occupy a common area between the ink firing chamber and the ink plenum, commonly known as an ink supply. U.S. Pat. No. 6,540,335 by Touge et al. of Canon Kabushiki Kaisha of Tokyo, Japan discloses an ink jet printhead for preventing problems that are caused by air bubbles caught in the printhead. Bubbles are left in the printhead after liquid discharge, and the invention enables the ejection of droplets with high reliability by controlling the residual bubble. U.S. Pat. No. 6,137,510 by Sato et al. of Canon Kabushiki Kaisha of Tokyo, Japan discloses the additions of pluralities of ribs that provide increased mechanical strength to the orifice plate and additionally reduce the detrimental effects of air bubbles. These ribs reduce the effects of these retained bubbles thereby achieving reliable ink droplet discharge. Lastly, U.S. Pat. No. 6,158,843 by Murthy et al. of Lexmark International of Lexington, Ky., discloses pillars extending vertically into the firing chamber but not into the common area. Filter elements also play an important role in the hydraulic interactions between neighboring nozzles. As the inkjet recording process has matured over the years, so too has the demand for ink jet recording heads to achieve higher recording speeds. Pluralities of nozzles that reside adjacent one another within a given printing system have to be addressed in relationship to one another within a short period of time. As these blocks of nozzles are fired, the stability within adjacent unfired or recently fired nozzles is negatively affected, thereby substantially increasing the interaction between adjacent nozzles. The generation of this adverse hydraulics, coupled with the internal filtering elements, affects the chamber refill time and limits how quickly a particular chamber can be ready to be reused. Since the chamber refill time is directly proportional to how quickly a chamber can be fired, the matching of filter properties is important. Properties that improve the refill efficiencies and additionally satisfy the need to filter impurities such as dust is critical, and most prior art suggests that attempts at doing both well have not been entirely successful. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION According to one feature of the present invention, a liquid drop ejector includes a liquid chamber and a liquid supply. Portions of the liquid chamber define a nozzle bore. A liquid supply passageway is positioned between the liquid chamber and the liquid supply and is in fluid communication with the liquid chamber and the liquid supply. A plurality of pillars is suspended in the liquid supply passageway. According to another feature of the present invention, a liquid drop ejector includes a plurality of liquid chambers with portions of each of the plurality of liquid chambers defining a nozzle bore. Other portions of each of the plurality of liquid chambers define a wall having a length located between adjacent liquid chambers. A liquid supply passageway is in fluid communication with each of the plurality of liquid chambers. The length of the wall extends into the liquid supply passageway. According to another feature of the present invention, a liquid drop ejector includes a liquid chamber, a liquid supply, and a center pillar. Portions of the liquid chamber define a nozzle bore. A liquid supply passageway is positioned between the liquid chamber and the liquid supply and is in fluid communication with the liquid chamber and the liquid supply. A portion of the center pillar is positioned in the liquid chamber and another portion of the center pillar is positioned in the liquid supply passageway. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS In the detailed description of the preferred embodiments of the invention presented below, reference is made to the accompanying drawings, in which: FIG. 1A is a partial planar view of an internal structure of a prior art liquid drop ejector. FIG. 1B is a second partial planar view of an internal structure of a prior art liquid drop ejector. FIG. 1C is a cross-sectional side view of the internal structure of the prior art liquid drop ejector of FIG. 1B taken along line 1C-1C. FIG. 1D is a partial planar view of the liquid drop ejector of the present invention showing a cross-section along line FIG. 2-FIG. 2. FIG. 1E is another partial planar view of the liquid drop ejector of the present invention showing a cross-section along line FIG. 2-FIG. 2. FIG. 2 is a cross-sectioned side view of the internal structure of the liquid drop ejector detailed in FIG. 1D. FIG. 3 is a side view of the liquid drop ejector of the present invention detailing a plurality of pillars suspended from the wall of the liquid supply passageway. FIG. 4 is a side view of the liquid drop ejector of the present invention detailing a second placement of the pillars suspended from the wall of the liquid supply passageway. FIG. 5 is a side view of the liquid drop ejector of the present invention detailing another placement of the pillars suspended from the wall of the liquid supply passageway, the drop ejector comprising a nozzle plate. FIG. 6 is a partial planar view of the internal structure of the liquid drop ejector of the present invention, showing a center pillar associated with the liquid drop ejector. FIG. 7 is an alternate cross-sectional side view of the internal structure of the liquid drop ejector detailed in FIG. 6. FIG. 8 is cross-sectional side view of a second internal configuration of the liquid drop ejector detailed in FIG. 7. FIG. 9 is a partial planar view of the internal structure of the liquid drop ejector of the present invention. FIG. 10 is a cross-sectioned side view of the internal structure of the liquid drop ejector detailed in FIG. 9. FIG. 11 is a partial planar view of the internal structure of the liquid drop ejector of the present invention detailing pillars suspended in the liquid passageway. FIG. 12 is a cross-sectioned side view of the internal structure of the liquid drop ejector shown in FIG. 11 detailing pillars suspended in the liquid passageway. FIG. 13 is a side view of the liquid drop ejector of the present invention detailing pillars suspended from the wall of the liquid supply passageway. FIG. 14 is a side view of the liquid drop ejector of the present invention detailing a second placement of the pillars suspended from the wall of the liquid supply passageway. FIG. 15 is a side view of the liquid drop ejector of the present invention detailing the placement of the pillars upon the nozzle plate of a drop ejector, or upon walls that can be parallel or perpendicular to the nozzle bore. FIG. 16 is a partial planar view of the internal structure of the liquid drop ejector of the present invention, showing the suspended pillars along with a center pillar associated with the liquid drop ejector. FIG. 17 is an alternate cross-sectional side view of the internal structure of the liquid drop ejector detailed in FIG. 16. FIG. 18 is cross-sectional side view of a second internal configuration of the liquid drop ejector detailed in FIG. 17. FIG. 19 is a partial planar view of the internal structure of the liquid drop ejector of the present invention. FIG. 20 is a cross-sectioned side view of the internal structure of the liquid drop ejector detailed in FIG. 19. FIG. 21 is a second cross-sectioned side view of an alternate structure of the liquid drop ejector detailed in FIG. 20. FIG. 22 is cross-sectional side view of another internal configuration of the liquid drop ejector detailed in FIG. 21 that adds pillars suspended from the wall of the liquid supply passageway. FIG. 23 is cross-sectional side view of another internal configuration of the liquid drop ejector detailed in FIG. 22 that adds pillars attached to a first wall. FIG. 24 is cross-sectional side view of another internal configuration of the liquid drop ejector detailed in FIG. 22 that adds pillars attached to a second wall. FIG. 25 is cross-sectional side view of another internal configuration of the liquid drop ejector wherein the drop ejector is comprised of a nozzle plate. FIG. 26 is a cross-sectional view of the liquid drop ejector of the present invention detailing a view where there is a drop forming mechanism associated with the liquid chamber. FIG. 27 is a cross-sectional view of the liquid drop ejector of the present invention detailing a view where there is a heater below the nozzle bore. FIG. 28 is a cross-sectional view of the liquid drop ejector of the present invention detailing a view where there is a heater adjacent the nozzle bore. FIG. 29 is a partial planar view of an internal structure of the liquid drop ejector of the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present description will be directed in particular to elements forming part of, or cooperating more directly with, apparatus in accordance with the present invention. It is to be understood that elements not specifically shown or described may take various forms well known to those skilled in the art. Referring to FIG. 1A, detailed is a greatly magnified partial planar view of a liquid drop ejector 10 (prior art). A liquid chamber 20 exists to forcibly eject a liquid 40 from liquid chamber 20 through nozzle bore 80 for a wide variety of purposes such as image reproduction. Chamber block 21, is a feature that is used for over-damping the meniscus ringing within the liquid drop ejector 10. Liquid 40 is supplied from the liquid supply 60 through a common area 50, and flows past pillars 90 that are used to trap particles that could plug liquid chamber and/or nozzle bore 80 thus rendering a portion of the liquid drop ejector useless. It is commonplace for practitioners of the art to use pillars 90 for the purpose of filtering and support. FIG. 1B is a partial planar view of a liquid drop ejector 10 (prior art). Block 30 is designed to prevent problems that are caused by air bubbles that are formed in the printhead. The liquid supply passageway 70 exists between the block 30 and the liquid chamber 20. It is instructive to note that there is a lack of a common area 50 that is detailed in FIG. 1A. Referring next to FIG. 1C, shown is a cross-sectional view of the partial planar view detailed in FIG. 1B. Note that by virtue of block 30 there exists a pair of well-defined liquid supply passageways 70. These liquid supply passageways 70 run along the whole length of the liquid drop ejector 10 (prior art). A liquid supply 60 exists for the supply of ink for the liquid drop ejector 10 (prior art). FIG. 1D details a partial planar view of the liquid drop ejector 10 of the present invention. Heater 170 exists to eject a liquid 40 through the nozzle bore 80 of the liquid drop ejector 10. Liquid chambers 20 exist by virtue of chamber walls 130 that serve to isolate the plurality of liquid chambers 20 physically from each other. In the case of the present invention, the plurality of pillars 90 is suspended within the liquid supply passageways 70, and adjacent rows of liquid chambers 20 are isolated by the block 30. In FIG. 1D, more than one pillar 90 is positioned within the liquid supply passageway 70 so as to be associated with an individual liquid chamber 20. Two pillars 90 are shown in FIG. 1D for illustrative purposes only. It should be understood that more than two pillars 90 can be positioned within the liquid supply passageway 70 and associated with an individual liquid chamber 20. Other pillar 90 and liquid chamber 20 associations can occur depending on the contemplated application of the liquid drop ejector 10. For example, and referring to FIG. 1E, the plurality of pillars 90 is positioned within the liquid supply passageway 70 such that each pillar of the plurality of pillars 90 is associated with an individual liquid chamber 20. FIG. 2 details a cross-sectional view of a liquid drop ejector 10 previously detailed in FIG. 1D, and shows the suspension of the pillars 90 directly within the liquid supply passageway 70, upon a wall 25 that is substantially perpendicular to the nozzle bore 80. Note again, that the suspension of the pillars 90 within the fluid supply passageway 70, allows a shorter liquid chamber 20 by moving the pillars 90 out of the prior art common area 50 (FIG. 1A) of the liquid drop ejector 10. Moving the pillars 90 out of the prior art common area 50 frees up this space and allows for its complete removal. The removal of the prior art common area 50 allows the shortening of the liquid chamber 20, thus reducing the distance that liquid 40 is required to flow thus reducing refill times while still preserving effective filtering of the liquid 40. Referring now to FIG. 3, detailed is a cross-sectional view of a liquid drop ejector 10 of the present invention. The liquid supply passageway 70 is containment for fluid 40. This being understood, the fluid supply passageway 70 has walls that are both perpendicular and parallel to the nozzle bore 80. Referring again to FIG. 3, a plurality of pillars 90 is shown residing upon a first perpendicular wall of the fluid supply passageway 70; upon a wall 35 that is substantially parallel to the nozzle bore 80. Next referring to FIG. 4 pillars 90 are shown residing upon a second perpendicular wall of the fluid supply passageway 70. FIG. 2 details pillars 90 that reside upon a wall that is substantially parallel to the nozzle 80. Referring now to FIG. 5, detailed is a cross-sectional view of a liquid drop ejector 10 of the present invention. In this diagram, a separate nozzle plate 100 is attached along the dashed line to form a roof for the liquid drop ejector 10. Nozzle plate 100 also contains both the liquid supply chamber 20 and the liquid supply passageway 70. Pillars 90 are shown suspended from the nozzle plate 100. It should be understood at this time that pillars 90 can be suspended in the liquid supply passageway 70 both in a plane perpendicular to the nozzle bore 80 as in FIG. 3, and a plane parallel to the nozzle bore 80 as shown in FIG. 2. Referring to FIG. 6, detailed is a greatly magnified partial planar view of a liquid drop ejector 10 of the present invention. A liquid chamber 20 exists to forcibly eject a liquid 40 from liquid chamber 20 through nozzle bore 80 for a wide variety of purposes such as image reproduction. Note that by virtue of block 30 there exists a pair of well-defined liquid supply passageways 70. These liquid supply passageways 70 run along the whole length of the liquid drop ejector 10. Liquid 40 is supplied via a liquid supply passageways 70, and flows past pillars 90 that are used to trap particles that could plug liquid chamber 20 and/or nozzle bore 80 thus rendering a portion of the liquid drop ejector useless. It is commonplace for practitioners of the art to use pillars 90 for the purpose of filtering and support. These pillars 90 exist in a prior art common area 50 (FIG. 1A) that exists between the liquid chamber 20 and the liquid supply passageway 70. The placement of pillars 90 within the liquid supply passageway 70, instead of the prior art common area 50 (FIG. 1A) produces significantly enhanced refill, while still preserving effective filtering. This suspension of pillars 90 directly within the liquid supply passageway 70, as opposed to the prior art placement of these pillars 90 within the prior art common area 50 (FIG. 1A), allows for a shorter distance that the liquid 40 is required to flow to refill the liquid chamber 20. Thus, the refilling time of the liquid chamber 20 of the liquid drop ejector 10 is substantially improved. Referring also to FIG. 6, there exists a center pillar 90a wherein a first portion of the center pillar 90a is positioned within the liquid chamber and wherein a second portion of the center pillar 90a is positioned within the liquid supply passageway 70. FIG. 7 details a cross-sectional view of a liquid drop ejector 10 previously detailed in FIG. 6, and shows the suspension of the pillars 90 directly within the liquid supply passageway 70. Note again that the suspension of the pillars 90 within the liquid supply passageway 70 allows a shorter liquid chamber 20 by moving the pillars 90 out of the prior art common area 50 (FIG. 1A) of the liquid drop ejector 10. Referring also to FIG. 7, there exists a center pillar 90a wherein a first portion of the center pillar 90a is positioned within the liquid chamber 20 and wherein a second portion of the center pillar 90a is positioned within the liquid supply passageway 70. Referring to FIG. 8, detailed is a center pillar 90b positioned within the liquid supply passageway 70 of the liquid drop ejector 10. Pillar 90b has a top and a bottom (two ends). The top end of the pillar 90b is attached to a first wall (or roof 110) of the liquid supply passageway 70, and the bottom end is attached to a second wall (or floor 120) of the liquid supply passageway 70. A first portion of the second end (bottom) of pillar 90b is positioned within the liquid chamber 20, and a second portion of the second end (bottom) of pillar 90b is positioned within the liquid supply passageway 70. Referring to FIG. 9, detailed is a greatly magnified partial planar view of a liquid drop ejector 10 of the present invention. A liquid chamber 20 exists to forcibly eject a liquid 40 from liquid chamber 20 through nozzle bore 80 for a wide variety of purposes such as image reproduction. Note that by virtue of block 30 there exists a pair of well-defined liquid supply passageways 70. These liquid supply passageways 70 run along the whole length of the liquid drop ejector 10. Liquid 40 is supplied via a liquid supply passageway 70 and is ultimately ejected through nozzle 80. A chamber wall 130 exists as a separation between adjacent liquid chambers 20. The length of the chamber wall 130 has been found to have a positive effect on crosstalk between adjacent liquid chambers 20. The extension of this chamber wall 130 into and over the liquid supply passageway 70 minimizes cross communication, (also known as crosstalk) of fluids between the adjacent chambers 20. It should be understood at this point that the main physical cause for crosstalk is the impulsive motion of the liquid due to the acceleration of the fluid interface with a vapor bubble during its generation and growth. Previous approaches to minimize this inter-nozzle coupling and subsequent interaction vary widely. One example is inertial decoupling where feed channels are made long and slender. Another example is capacitive decoupling, where an extra hole is placed within a nozzle plate to damp pressure surges by allowing the meniscus within this dummy nozzle to oscillate rather than the meniscus at an ejection nozzle. Others use elaborate constrictions and expansions within the fluid chamber to help achieve this goal. Given the high nozzle density and the high frequency of operation requirements of current liquid ejectors, all the above-mentioned solutions are marginal at best. The present invention provides a solution that allows high packing density while significantly decoupling adjacent nozzles. The extension of the chamber walls 130 of the liquid chambers 20 slightly into the liquid supply passageway 70 along with the removal of the problematic prior art common area 50 (FIG. 1A) that was discussed in FIG. 2. It needs to be understood at this point that filtering through the prior art common area 50 (FIG. 1A), using a variety of shaped filter elements as is practiced in the art, is extremely detrimental for crosstalk because it maintains a commonality of high-pressure regions between adjacent nozzles. The elimination of the prior art common area 50 (FIG. 1A), and the extension of the chamber walls 130 of the liquid chambers 20 slightly into the liquid supply passageway 70, brings success in drastically eliminating crosstalk. This occurs because we direct the impulsive motion of the liquid 40 to face the inherently much larger low-pressure area of the liquid supply passageway 70 rather than the inherently higher-pressure area of the prior art common area 50 (FIG. 1A) as discussed in FIG. 2. This fact causes the liquid 40 to have a significantly harder time to push its way into an adjacent liquid chamber 20 with its higher chamber pressure. FIG. 10 details a cross-sectional view of a liquid drop ejector 10 previously detailed in FIG. 9, and shows the extension of the chamber walls 130 into and over the liquid supply passageway 70. Note again that the elimination of the prior art common area 50 (FIG. 1A), and the extension of the chamber walls 130 of the liquid chambers 20 slightly into the liquid supply passageway 70, brings success in eliminating crosstalk for the reasons described in the previous paragraph. Referring to FIG. 11, detailed is a greatly magnified partial planar view of a liquid drop ejector 10 of the present invention. A liquid chamber 20 exists to forcibly eject a liquid 40 from liquid chamber 20 through nozzle bore 80 for a wide variety of purposes such as image reproduction. Note that by virtue of block 30 there exists a pair of well-defined liquid supply passageways 70. These liquid supply passageways 70 run along the whole length of the liquid drop ejector 10. Liquid 40 is supplied via a liquid supply passageway 70 and is ultimately ejected through nozzle 80. A chamber wall 130 exists as a separation between adjacent liquid chambers 20. The length of the chamber wall 130 has been found to have a positive effect on crosstalk between adjacent liquid chambers 20. The extension of this chamber wall 130 into and over the liquid supply passageway 70 minimizes cross-communication between adjacent liquid chambers 20 (also known as crosstalk). In addition to this reduction of crosstalk, it is also advantageous to add the capability of filtering. It is commonplace for practitioners of the art to use pillars 90 for the purpose of filtering and support. These pillars 90 exist in a prior art common area 50 that exists between the liquid chamber 20 and the liquid supply passageway 70. The placement of pillars 90 within the liquid supply passageway 70, instead of the prior art common area 50 (FIG. 1A), produces significantly enhanced refill, while still preserving effective filtering. The suspension of pillars 90 directly within the liquid supply passageway 70, as opposed to the prior art placement of these pillars 90 within a prior art common area 50 (FIG. 1A), allows for a shorter distance that the liquid 40 is required to flow to refill the liquid chamber 20. Thus, the refilling time of the liquid chamber 20 of the liquid drop ejector 10 is substantially improved, along with the aforementioned reduction of crosstalk. FIG. 12 details a cross-sectional view of the liquid drop ejector 10 previously detailed in FIG. 11, and shows the extension of the chamber walls 130 into and over the liquid supply passageway 70. Note again that the elimination of the prior art common area 50 (FIG. 1A) and the extension of the chamber walls 130 of the liquid chambers 20 slightly into the liquid supply passageway 70 bring success in drastically eliminating crosstalk. Additionally, the placement of pillars 90 within the liquid supply passageway 70, instead of the prior art common area 50 (FIG. 1A) produces significantly enhanced refill, while still preserving effective filtering. Referring now to FIG. 13, detailed is a cross-sectional view of a liquid drop ejector 10 of the present invention. The liquid supply passageway 70 is containment for fluid 40. This being understood, the fluid supply passageway 70 has walls that are both perpendicular and parallel to the nozzle bore 80. Referring again to FIG. 13, pillars 90 are shown residing upon a first perpendicular wall of the fluid supply passageway 70. Next referring to FIG. 14 pillars 90 are shown residing upon a second perpendicular wall of the fluid supply passageway 70. FIG. 12 details pillars 90 that reside upon a wall that is substantially parallel to the nozzle 80. Referring next to FIG. 15, detailed is a cross-sectional view of a liquid drop ejector 10 of the present invention. In this diagram, a separate nozzle plate 100 is attached along the dashed line to form a roof for the liquid drop ejector 10. Nozzle plate 100 also contains both the liquid chamber 20 and the liquid supply passageway 70. Pillars 90 are shown suspended from the nozzle plate 100. It should be understood at this time that pillars 90 can be suspended in the liquid supply passageway 70 both upon a wall 25 that is perpendicular to the nozzle bore 80 and upon a wall 35 that is parallel to the nozzle bore 80. Referring back to FIG. 13 and FIG. 12 respectively, detailed is a side view of the liquid drop ejector 10 of the present invention. FIG. 13 details pillars 90 are suspended in the liquid supply passageway 70 in a plane that is perpendicular to the nozzle bore 80 of liquid chamber 20. FIG. 12 details that pillars 90 are suspended in the liquid supply passageway 70 in a plane that is parallel to the nozzle bore 80 of liquid chamber 20 Referring to FIG. 16, detailed is a greatly magnified partial planar view of a liquid drop ejector 10 of the present invention. A liquid chamber 20 exists to forcibly eject a liquid 40 from liquid chamber 20 through nozzle bore 80 for a wide variety of purposes such as image reproduction. Note that by virtue of block 30 there exists a pair of well-defined liquid supply passageways 70. These liquid supply passageways 70 run along the entire length of the liquid drop ejector 10. Liquid 40 is supplied via a liquid supply passageway 70, and flows past pillars 90 that are used to trap particles that could plug liquid chamber 20 and/or nozzle bore 80 thus rendering a portion of the liquid drop ejector useless. It is commonplace for practitioners of the art to use pillars 90 for the purpose of filtering and support. The placement of pillars 90 within the liquid supply passageway 70 produces significantly enhanced refill, while still preserving effective filtering. This suspension of pillars 90 directly within the liquid supply passageway 70 allows for a shorter distance that the liquid 40 is required to flow to refill the liquid chamber 20. Thus, the refilling time of the liquid chamber 20 of the liquid drop ejector 10 is substantially improved. Referring also to FIG. 16, there exists a center pillar 90a wherein a first portion of the center pillar 90a is positioned within the liquid chamber 20 and wherein a second portion of the center pillar 90a is positioned within the liquid supply passageway 70. FIG. 17 details a cross-sectional view of a liquid drop ejector 10 previously detailed in FIG. 16, and shows the suspension of the pillars 90 directly within the liquid supply passageway 70. Note again that the suspension of the pillars 90 within the liquid supply passageway 70 allows a shorter liquid chamber 20. Referring also to FIG. 16, there exists a center pillar 90a wherein a first portion of the center pillar 90a is positioned within the liquid chamber and wherein a second portion of the center pillar 90a is positioned within the liquid supply passageway 70. Referring to FIG. 18, detailed is a center pillar 90b positioned within the liquid supply passageway 70 of the liquid drop ejector 10. Pillar 90b has a top and a bottom (two ends). The top end of the pillar 90b is attached to a first wall (or roof 110) of the liquid supply passageway 70, and the bottom end is attached to a second wall (or floor 120) of the liquid supply passageway 70. A first portion of the second end (bottom) of pillar 90b is positioned within the liquid chamber 20, and a second portion of the second end (bottom) of pillar 90b is positioned within the liquid supply passageway 70. Referring to FIG. 19, detailed is a greatly magnified partial planar view of a liquid drop ejector 10 of the present invention. A liquid chamber 20 exists to forcibly eject a liquid 40 from liquid chamber 20 through nozzle bore 80 for a wide variety of purposes such as image reproduction. Note that by virtue of block 30 there exists a pair of well-defined liquid supply passageways 70. These liquid supply passageways 70 run along the entire length of the liquid drop ejector 10. Liquid 40 is supplied via a liquid supply passageway 70, and flows past center pillars 90a that are used to trap particles that could plug liquid chamber 20 and/or nozzle bore 80 thus rendering a portion of the liquid drop ejector useless. Referring also to FIG. 19, note that center pillars 90a have a first portion positioned within the liquid chamber 20 and a second portion positioned within the liquid supply passageway 70. FIG. 20 details a cross-sectional view of a liquid drop ejector 10 previously detailed in FIG. 19, and shows the suspension of the pillars 90a partially within the liquid supply passageway 70. Note again, that the pillars 90a have a first portion positioned within the liquid chamber 20 and a second portion positioned within the liquid supply passageway 70. Referring now to FIG. 21, detailed are pillars 90b positioned with a first portion positioned within the liquid chamber 20 and a second portion positioned within the liquid supply passageway 70 of the liquid drop ejector 10. Pillars 90b have a top and a bottom (two ends). The top end of the pillars 90b is attached to a first wall (or roof 110) of the liquid supply passageway 70, and the bottom end is attached to a second wall (or floor 120) of the liquid supply passageway 70. A first portion of the second end (bottom) of pillars 90b is positioned within the liquid chamber 20, and a second portion of the second end (bottom) of pillars 90b is positioned within the liquid supply passageway 70. Referring to FIG. 22, detailed is the addition of suspended pillars 90 that are positioned within the liquid supply passageway 70 of the liquid drop ejector 10. Note that one end of the pillars 90b is attached the wall (or roof 110) of the liquid supply passageway 70, and the second or bottom end is hanging freely into the liquid supply passageway 70. The placement of pillars 90 within the liquid supply passageway 70 produces significantly enhanced refill, while still preserving effective filtering. Referring to FIG. 23, detailed is the addition of alternate pillars 90 that are positioned within the liquid supply passageway 70 of the liquid drop ejector 10. One end of the pillar 90b is attached to a first vertical wall of the liquid supply passageway 70, and the second or bottom end is hanging freely into the liquid supply passageway 70. The placement of pillars 90 within the liquid supply passageway 70 produces significantly enhanced refill, while still preserving effective filtering. Referring to FIG. 24, detailed is the addition of yet another alternate pillars 90 that are positioned within the liquid supply passageway 70 of the liquid drop ejector 10. One end of the pillar 90b is attached to a second vertical wall of the liquid supply passageway 70, and the second or bottom end is hanging freely into the liquid supply passageway 70. The placement of pillars 90 within the liquid supply passageway 70 produces significantly enhanced refill, while still preserving effective filtering. It should be noted that FIG. 2 and FIG. 3 are both side views of the liquid drop ejector 10 of the present invention. Referring to the area of the liquid supply passageway 70, there exists a plurality of walls. FIG. 2 details a wall perpendicular to the nozzle bore 25 upon which pillars 90 are attached. FIG. 3 details a wall parallel to the nozzle bore to which pillars 90 are attached. Referring now to FIG. 25 detailed is a side view of the liquid drop ejector 10 of the present invention. Referring to the area of the liquid supply passageway 70, there exists a plurality of walls. In this configuration a nozzle plate 100 covers the liquid chambers 20. FIG. 25 details a nozzle plate 100 that extends between the liquid chambers 20 and the liquid supply passageways 70, to which pillars 90 and center pillars 90b are attached. Referring back to FIG. 23 and FIG. 22 respectively, detailed is a side view of the liquid drop ejector 10 of the present invention. FIG. 23 details pillars 90 are suspended in the liquid supply passageway 70 in a plane that is perpendicular to the nozzle bore 80 as viewed from a plane perpendicular to a cross sectional view of the nozzle bore 80. FIG. 22 details that pillars 90 are suspended in the liquid supply passageway 70 in a plane that is parallel to the nozzle bore 80 as viewed from a plane perpendicular to a cross sectional view of the nozzle bore 80. Referring next to FIG. 26, detailed is a side view of the liquid drop ejector 10 of the present invention, wherein the liquid chambers 20 exist to forcibly eject a liquid 40 from liquid chamber 20 through nozzle bore 80 for a wide variety of purposes such as image reproduction. Note that by virtue of block 30 there exists a pair of well-defined liquid supply passageways 70. These liquid supply passageways 70 run along the entire length of the liquid drop ejector 10. This defines liquid supply passageways 70, one existing on each side of block 30, and where there is associated with the liquid drop ejector 10. A drop forming mechanism 140 exists within the liquid chamber 20. Referring now to FIG. 27 and FIG. 28 detailed is a side view of the liquid drop ejector 10 of the present invention. Liquid chambers 20 exist to forcibly eject a liquid 40 from liquid chamber 20 through nozzle bore 80 for a wide variety of purposes such as image reproduction. Note that by virtue of block 30 there exists a pair of well-defined liquid supply passageways 70. These liquid supply passageways 70 run along the entire length of the liquid drop ejector 10. FIG. 27 details an embodiment wherein there exists a heater below 150 the nozzle bore 80 of the liquid chamber 20. FIG. 28 details an embodiment wherein there exists a heater adjacent 160 the nozzle bore 80 positioned within the liquid chamber 20. Referring lastly to FIG. 29, detailed is a side view of the liquid drop ejector 10 of the present invention. Liquid chambers 20 exist to forcibly eject a liquid 40 from liquid chamber 20 through nozzle bore 80 for a wide variety of purposes such as image reproduction. Note that by virtue of block 30 there exists a pair of well-defined liquid supply passageways 70. These liquid supply passageways 70 run along the entire length of the liquid drop ejector 10. It should be understood that the pillars 90 that exist within the liquid drop ejector 10 could embody a variety of shapes and configurations including shapes that are circular and shapes that the perimeter of its cross section forms a variety of closed curves. The invention has been described in detail with particular reference to certain preferred embodiments thereof, but it will be understood that variations and modifications can be effected within the scope of the invention. PARTS LIST 10 liquid drop ejector 20 liquid chamber 21 center block 25 wall perpendicular to nozzle bore 30 block 35 wall parallel to nozzle bore 40 liquid 50 common area 60 liquid supply 70 liquid supply passageway 80 nozzle bore 90 pillar 100 nozzle plate 110 roof 120 floor 130 chamber wall 140 drop forming mechanism 150 heater below 160 heater adjacent | <SOH> BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION <EOH>Inkjet printing systems are extensively used throughout the world for the reproduction and generation of text and images. Inkjet printing systems eject liquids in the form of droplets that are deposited upon a suitable receiver in an image-wise fashion. Common uses include the printing of text and the reproduction of images. Liquids that are ejected can be inks or pigments and the applications vary widely but include printers, plotters, facsimile machines and copiers. For purposes of convenience the concepts of this invention are discussed in the terms of a thermal inkjet printer that employ one or more supplies or reservoirs of liquids to be deposited upon a medium such as paper. Ink is supplied to a liquid ejector mechanism, also known as a print head, through a supply channel and into a chamber of the liquid ejector that contains thermal resistors as firing mechanisms. Sending an electrical current through the thermal resistors causes the heating of the resistor and forces the formation of a vapor bubble within the chamber. The expanding vapor bubble within the chamber then causes an ink droplet to be forced out of an orifice situated upon the chamber. As ink is expelled from the orifice, energy is removed from the thermal resistor, the bubble collapses and ink refills the chamber to begin another sequence. As the need for ejection speed increases, so does the optimization of the operation of the chambers to maximize ink flow. Additionally the throughput requirement also means the need for more chambers and ejection orifices. It is a constant engineering challenge to maintain the proper balance that is required to enhance inkjet system performance. In typical inkjet printing systems, a filter element is generally placed at the inlet to the supply port of an inkjet chamber. Reference U.S. Pat. No. 6,582,064 by Cruz-Uribe et al., of Hewlett-Packard Company, Houston Tex., that describes integrated fluid filters constructed from stacks of stacked thin film layers with openings that function as filters. Reference also U.S. Pat. No. 6,502,927 by Nozawa of Canon Kabushiki Kaisha of Tokyo, Japan that describes pillars as filters. These filters have several functions such as that of an ink conduit and function to preclude the delivery of impurities, debris and air bubbles that could enter the chamber of a liquid ejector and cause clogging of the chamber or orifice thus rendering a firing chamber inoperable. Chambers and geometries are commonly configured to enhance operational performance. Reference U.S. Pat. No. 6,478,410 by Prasad, et al. of Hewlett-Packard Company, Palo Alto, Calif. that attempts to balance a higher inkjet droplet generator density with structures that attempt to achieve proper control of ink flow. Reference also U.S. Pat. No. 6,601,945 by Kitakami of Canon Kabushiki Kaisha, of Tokyo, Japan that attempts to correct for image quality by using a “windshield liquid droplet” that prevents the displacement upon a recording medium of the ink droplet discharged in a high density “full discharge” mode even when the ink droplet has a fine volume. U.S. Pat. No. 5,734,399 by Weber et al. of Hewlett-Packard Company of Palo Alto Calif. discloses shaped barrier geometries that prevent stray particles from reaching ink feed channels. The barriers are configured to have a plurality of inner barrier islands each associated with a chamber and a particular heater resistor. These barrier islands commonly occupy a common area between the ink firing chamber and the ink plenum, commonly known as an ink supply. U.S. Pat. No. 6,540,335 by Touge et al. of Canon Kabushiki Kaisha of Tokyo, Japan discloses an ink jet printhead for preventing problems that are caused by air bubbles caught in the printhead. Bubbles are left in the printhead after liquid discharge, and the invention enables the ejection of droplets with high reliability by controlling the residual bubble. U.S. Pat. No. 6,137,510 by Sato et al. of Canon Kabushiki Kaisha of Tokyo, Japan discloses the additions of pluralities of ribs that provide increased mechanical strength to the orifice plate and additionally reduce the detrimental effects of air bubbles. These ribs reduce the effects of these retained bubbles thereby achieving reliable ink droplet discharge. Lastly, U.S. Pat. No. 6,158,843 by Murthy et al. of Lexmark International of Lexington, Ky., discloses pillars extending vertically into the firing chamber but not into the common area. Filter elements also play an important role in the hydraulic interactions between neighboring nozzles. As the inkjet recording process has matured over the years, so too has the demand for ink jet recording heads to achieve higher recording speeds. Pluralities of nozzles that reside adjacent one another within a given printing system have to be addressed in relationship to one another within a short period of time. As these blocks of nozzles are fired, the stability within adjacent unfired or recently fired nozzles is negatively affected, thereby substantially increasing the interaction between adjacent nozzles. The generation of this adverse hydraulics, coupled with the internal filtering elements, affects the chamber refill time and limits how quickly a particular chamber can be ready to be reused. Since the chamber refill time is directly proportional to how quickly a chamber can be fired, the matching of filter properties is important. Properties that improve the refill efficiencies and additionally satisfy the need to filter impurities such as dust is critical, and most prior art suggests that attempts at doing both well have not been entirely successful. | <SOH> SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION <EOH>According to one feature of the present invention, a liquid drop ejector includes a liquid chamber and a liquid supply. Portions of the liquid chamber define a nozzle bore. A liquid supply passageway is positioned between the liquid chamber and the liquid supply and is in fluid communication with the liquid chamber and the liquid supply. A plurality of pillars is suspended in the liquid supply passageway. According to another feature of the present invention, a liquid drop ejector includes a plurality of liquid chambers with portions of each of the plurality of liquid chambers defining a nozzle bore. Other portions of each of the plurality of liquid chambers define a wall having a length located between adjacent liquid chambers. A liquid supply passageway is in fluid communication with each of the plurality of liquid chambers. The length of the wall extends into the liquid supply passageway. According to another feature of the present invention, a liquid drop ejector includes a liquid chamber, a liquid supply, and a center pillar. Portions of the liquid chamber define a nozzle bore. A liquid supply passageway is positioned between the liquid chamber and the liquid supply and is in fluid communication with the liquid chamber and the liquid supply. A portion of the center pillar is positioned in the liquid chamber and another portion of the center pillar is positioned in the liquid supply passageway. | 20040830 | 20080513 | 20060302 | 72244.0 | B41J2175 | 0 | VO, ANH T N | LIQUID EJECTOR HAVING INTERNAL FILTERS | UNDISCOUNTED | 0 | ACCEPTED | B41J | 2,004 |
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10,929,906 | ACCEPTED | Kettle with tilt-open spout closure | A vessel has a body defining a storage unit and a spout communicating with the storage unit, a spout closure coupled to the body at a first coupling location for movement between open and closed positions, a handle having a front end movably coupled to the spout closure at a second coupling location and a rear end spaced from the body, and support structure fixed to the body and movably supporting the rear end of the handle at a third coupling location, the coupling locations being arranged so that the spout closure is unresponsive to a vertical lifting force exerted on the handle, but opens in response to a tipping force exerted on the handle by a user's hand. | 1. A vessel comprising: a body defining a storage unit and having a spout communicating with the storage unit, a spout closure coupled to the body at a first coupling location for movement between a closed position closing the spout and an open position opening the spout, a handle having a front end coupled to the spout closure for movement relative thereto at a second coupling location and a rear end spaced from the body, and support structure fixed to the body and movably supporting the rear end of the handle at a third coupling location, the first and second and third coupling locations being arranged so that the spout closure is responsive to a force exerted on the handle by a user's hand to tip the body in a pouring direction for movement from the closed position to the open position, but is unresponsive to a vertical lifting force exerted on the handle by the user's hand. 2. The vessel of claim 1, wherein the body has a refill opening therein communicating with the storage unit, and further comprising a cover for the refill opening. 3. The vessel of claim 2, wherein the handle and the support structure cooperate to span the refill opening. 4. The vessel of claim 1, wherein the handle is pivotally coupled to the spout closure and to the support structure. 5. The vessel of claim 1, wherein the third coupling location is spaced forwardly from the rear end of the handle. 6. The vessel of claim 1, wherein the spout closure includes a lid for covering a discharge end of the spout in the closed position. 7. The vessel of claim 6, wherein the spout closure includes an insert portion receivable in the discharge end of the spout in the closed position. 8. The vessel of claim 1, wherein the spout closure includes a lid for covering and uncovering a discharge end of the spout and a pivot arm extending rearwardly from the lid, the second coupling location being disposed adjacent to a distal rear end of the pivot arm and the first coupling location being disposed between the lid and the second coupling location. 9. The vessel of claim 8, wherein the second coupling location is disposed between the first and third coupling locations. 10. A vessel comprising: a body defining a storage unit and having a spout communicating with the storage unit, a spout closure coupled to the body at a first coupling location for movement between a closed position closing the spout and an open position opening the spout, a handle movably coupled to the spout closure at a second coupling location and having a hollow rear portion, and handle support structure fixed to the body and movably coupled to the handle at a third coupling location within the hollow portion, the coupling locations being arranged so that the spout closure is responsive to a force exerted on the handle by a user's hand to tip the body in a pouring direction for movement from the closed position to the open position, but is unresponsive to a vertical lifting force exerted on the handle by the user's hand. 11. The vessel of claim 10, wherein the handle includes a first portion coupled to the spout closure and a tubular portion encompassing the first portion and projecting rearwardly therefrom. 12. The vessel of claim 11, wherein the tubular portion includes upper and lower portions fixedly secured together and to the first portion of the handle. 13. The vessel of claim 12, wherein the first portion of the handle has apertures therethrough, the upper and lower portions including projections which cooperate to extend through the apertures. 14. The vessel of claim 10, wherein the handle includes a frictional grip portion. 15. The vessel of claim 10, wherein the handle and the spout closure are adapted for pivotal movement at each of the coupling locations. 16. The vessel of claim 15, wherein the second coupling location is disposed between the first and third coupling locations. 17. A method of opening a normally closed spout closure of a spouted vessel body comprising: moveably coupling a handle to the spout closure and to the body, vertically lifting the grip portion without opening the closure, and causing the spout closure to open by using the handle to tilt the body for pouring from the spout. 18. The method of claim 17, further comprising pivotally coupling the spout closure to the vessel body at a first coupling location for movement between the open and closed positions. 19. The method of claim 18, wherein the handle is pivotally coupled to the spout closure at a second coupling location and to the body of the third coupling location, the second coupling location being disposed between the first and third coupling locations. 20. The method of claim 19, wherein the third coupling location is on support structure fixed to the body. 21. A vessel comprising: a body defining a storage unit and having a spout communicating with a storage unit, a spout closure coupled to the body at a first coupling location for a movement between a closed position closing the spout and an open position opening the spout, and a handle assembly having movable and fixed portions, the movable portion being movably coupled to the spout closure at a second coupling location, the fixed portion being fixed to the body, the movable portion being movably coupled to the fixed portion at a third coupling location, the second coupling location being disposed between the first and third coupling locations so that the spout closure is responsive to a force asserted on the handle assembly by a user's hand to tip the body in a pouring direction for movement from a closed position to the open position, but is unresponsive to a vertical lifting force asserted on the handle assembly by the user's hand. 22. The vessel of claim 21, wherein the fixed portion includes support structure fixed to the body. 23. The vessel of claim 21, wherein the movable portion includes a first portion coupled to the spout closure and a tubular portion encompassing the first portion and projecting rearwardly therefrom. 24. The vessel of claim 23, wherein the tubular portion includes upper and lower portions fixedly secured together and to the first portion of the handle. 25. The vessel of claim 21, wherein the second coupling location is disposed between the first and third coupling locations. | BACKGROUND This application relates to closures for spouted vessels, such as tea kettles and the like, and relates in particular to techniques for controlling opening and closing of the spout closure. Various types of kettle spout closures have heretofore been provided, as well as various techniques for controlling opening and closing of the spout closure. In particular, prior arrangements have been provided with handles which move relative to the vessel body in response to lifting forces applied by a user's hand, for opening the spout closure. While such arrangements operate in a satisfactory manner, they have the drawback of maintaining the spout closure in an open position as long as a lifting force is exerted on the handle. This may be disadvantageous, since it may permit liquid to splash out of the spout while the vessel is being carried. This could be dangerous if the vessel contains hot liquid, such as boiling water. Vessels, such as tea kettles, have also been provided with spout closures coupled to a pendulum-like counterweight mechanism which is acted upon by gravity to tend to maintain the counterweight mechanism vertical so that, when the vessel is tipped for pouring, the relative movement between the counterweight and the vessel causes the spout closure to open. Such arrangements have, however, been complicated, the counterweight mechanism necessitating additional parts which may make the vessel difficult to store or clean, if located outside the vessel body, or may interfere with the contents of the vessel, if located within the vessel body. SUMMARY There is disclosed herein a spouted vessel with a spout closure which avoids disadvantages of prior arrangements, while affording structural and operating advantages. In an embodiment, a vessel comprises a body defining a storage unit and having a spout communicating with the storage unit, a spout closure coupled to the body at a first coupling location for movement between a closed position closing the spout and an open position opening the spout, a handle having a front end coupled to the spout closure for movement relative thereto at a second coupling location and a rear end spaced from the body, and support structure fixed to the body and movably supporting the rear end of the handle at a third coupling location, the first and second and third coupling locations being arranged so that the spout closure is responsive to a force exerted on the handle by a user's hand to tip the body in a pouring direction for movement from the closed position to the open position, but is unresponsive to a vertical lifting force exerted on the handle by the user's hand. In an embodiment, the handle may have a hollow rear portion, the third coupling location being disposed within the hollow rear portion. In an embodiment, the vessel may have a handle assembly with movable and fixed portions, the movable portion being movably coupled to the spout closure at the second coupling location and to the fixed portion at the third coupling location, being fixed to the body and movably coupled to the front portion. There is also disclosed a method of opening a normally closed spout closure of a spouted vessel body, comprising movably coupling a handle to the spout closure and to the body, vertically lifting the handle without opening the closure, and causing the spout closure to open by using the handle to tilt the body for pouring from the spout. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS For the purpose of facilitating an understanding of the subject matter sought to be protected, there are illustrated in the accompanying drawings embodiments thereof, from an inspection of which, when considered in connection with the following description, the subject matter sought to be protected, its construction and operation, and many of its advantages should be readily understood and appreciated. FIG. 1 is a side elevational view of a kettle with a spout closure disposed in the closed position; FIG. 2 is a rear perspective view of the kettle of FIG. 1; FIG. 3 is an enlarged view of the kettle of FIG. 1 in vertical section; FIG. 4 is a fragmentary view taken generally along the line 4-4 in FIG. 3; and FIG. 5 is a reduced view similar to FIG. 3, with the kettle tipped for pouring and the spout closure in its open position. DETAILED DESCRIPTION Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, there is illustrated a vessel in the form of a tea kettle 10 having a body 11 with a substantially flat, circular bottom wall 12 and an upstanding sidewall structure 13 which, as illustrated, is generally frustoconical in shape, although it will be appreciated that it could have any of a number of different shapes. Referring also to FIG. 3, the sidewall structure 13 terminates at an open upper end forming a top opening 14 and cooperates with the bottom wall 12 to define a storage unit 15. The top opening 14 is defined by a substantially cylindrical rim flange 16 at the upper end of the sidewall structure 13. Referring to FIGS. 3 and 4, there is formed through the sidewall structure 13 an array of apertures 17, which may include vertically aligned oval apertures 18 and rows of horizontally aligned circular aperture 17. However, it will be appreciated that other aperture shapes and other pattern arrangements of the apertures could be utilized. Integral with the sidewall structure 13 is an elongated spout 20 having a wide base 21 which encompasses the array of apertures 17 and is fixedly secured to the sidewall structure 13 in a fluid-tight manner, by any suitable means. The spout 20 is generally frustoconical in shape and tapers to a narrow discharge end 22. In the case of an enamel kettle, there may be disposed in the discharge end 22 an annular liner 23, provided at its upper end with a radially outwardly and downwardly extending lip flange 24, which is generally L-shaped in transverse cross section and hooks over the distal end of the spout 20 to retain the liner 23 in place. The tea kettle 10 is also provided with a circular cover 25, concave as viewed from above, provided at its periphery with a generally cylindrical, flexible and resilient skirt flange 26 dimensioned for frictional engagement with the rim flange 16 of the body 11 for retaining the cover in place in a closed position illustrated in the drawings, for closing the top opening 14. Extending diametrically across the cover 25 is a handle 27 provided at its opposite ends with inserts 28 for receiving suitable fasteners, such as screws 29, for securing the handle to the cover 25. The spout 20 is provided with a closure assembly 30, which includes a circular lid 31 having an insert portion 32 dimensioned to fit inside the discharge end 22 of the spout 20 while the remainder of the lid 31 rests against the liner lip flange 24 for covering the discharge end of the spout 20 in a closed position illustrated in FIGS. 1-3. A whistle aperture 33 may be formed through the lid 31 in a known manner. Integral with the lid 31 and projecting rearwardly therefrom is a lever arm 34 adapted to be pivotally coupled to the kettle body 11. More specifically, a bracket 35 is fixed at the upper junction between the spout 20 and the sidewall structure 13. A clevis 36 is mounted on the bracket 35 and has upwardly projecting arms which receive therebetween an intermediate portion of the lever arm 34, being pivotally coupled thereto by a pivot pin 37 which extends through an aperture 38 in the lever arm 34 and through complementary apertures (not shown) in the arms of the clevis 36 and defines a first coupling location. The clevis 36 may be secured to the bracket 31 by any suitable means. Formed through the lever arm 34 adjacent to its rear end is an elongated slot 41 which receives therethrough a pivot pin 42 which defines a second coupling location. A leaf spring 43 may be clamped to the bracket 31 by a screw 40 so as to bear against the underside of the intermediate portion of the lever arm 34 and bias it toward rotation in a clockwise direction about the pivot pin 37, as viewed in FIG. 3. The tea kettle 10 also includes a handle assembly, generally designated by the numeral 45, which includes a movable handle 50 and fixed support structure 60. The handle 50 includes a front portion 51 which has a leg 52 provided at its lower front end with a clevis 53 which receives therebetween the rear end of the lever arm 34 and is pivotally coupled thereto by the pivot pin 42, which is received through complementary apertures (not shown) in the legs of the clevis 53. The front portion 51 of the handle is generally L-shaped, the leg 52 being integral at its upper end with a rearwardly extending arm 54 having a plurality of generally circular apertures 55 extending therethrough from an upper side to an underside thereof. A clevis 56 is formed at the rear end of the arm 54 and is provided with complementary apertures (not shown) for receiving a pivot pin 57 at a third coupling location. The support structure 60 is also generally L-shaped and includes an upstanding base 61 having a generally axial cavity 62 formed in the lower end thereof for receiving a projection 63 which is fixed on the outer surface of the sidewall structure 13 at a location diametrically opposite the spout 20, the base 61 being fixedly secured to the projection 60, as by screws 64. Integral with the base 61 at its upper end is a forwardly projecting arm 65, which has formed therethrough a cylindrical aperture 66 which may be generally parallel to the apertures 55 in the handle 50. The forward distal end of the arm 65 is received between the legs of the clevis 56 and has a hole 67 therethrough for receiving the pivot pin 57 to pivotally couple the support structure 60 to the handle 50. Thus, it can be seen that the handle assembly 45 cooperates with the closure assembly 34 for spanning the top opening 14 of the tea kettle 10. The handle 50 also includes a grip assembly 70, which is fixed to the front portion 51. The grip assembly 70 includes a generally semi-cylindrical upper member 71 having a plurality of depending projections or posts 72, which respectively extend into the apertures 55 in the arm 54 and the aperture 66 in the support structure 60, and a generally part-cylindrical lower member 73 having upstanding short projections 74 which respectively mate with the projections 72 and may be fixedly secured thereto, as by screws 77, for securing the upper and lower members 71 and 73 together. Thus, it can be seen that the upper and lower members 71 and 73 cooperate to form a generally tubular rear portion of the handle 50, which encompasses the arm 54 and projects rearwardly therefrom to encompass the arm 65 of the support structure 60. The upper member 71 may be provided with an elongated slot 76 at the rear end thereof. The outer surfaces of the upper and lower members 71 and 73 may be covered with a grip sheath 75, which may be formed of a suitable elastomeric material, such as that sold under the trademark SANTOPRENE, to afford frictional gripping and cushioning characteristics for engagement with a user's hand. It can be seen that the handle 50, including the front portion 51 and the grip assembly 70 fixed thereto, are pivotally movable relative to the support structure 60 at the third coupling location defined by the pivot pin 57. Considerable clearance is afforded between the projections 72 and 74 and the aperture 66 to accommodate this movement. Referring now in particular to FIGS. 3 and 5, it can be seen that the parts are arranged so that, when the tea kettle 10 is sitting upright on its bottom wall 12, the lid 31 is disposed in a normal closed position, illustrated in FIG. 3, closing the spout 20 so as to inhibit the escape therefrom of liquid contents of the storage unit 15. It is a significant aspect of the tea kettle 10 that, when it is lifted vertically, as by a user grasping the handle 50 and imparting a vertical lifting movement thereto, there is no effect on the closure assembly 30, and the lid 31 will remain in its closed position. Thus, the kettle 10 can be carried from place to place by the handle while minimizing the chance of spillage of contents from the spout 20. This advantage results from the unique arrangement of the coupling locations defined by the pivot pins, and the support of the handle 50 adjacent to its rear end on the support structure 60. Thus, the upward lifting movement on the handle 50 tends to exert a generally vertically upward force on the pivot pin 42, which tends to pivot the lever arm 34, if at all, in a generally clockwise direction, as viewed in FIG. 3, which tends to hold the lid 31 in its closed position. However, when it is desired to dispense the contents of the tea kettle 10 by pouring through the spout 20, the user, while grasping the handle 50, will tip the tea kettle 10 forwardly, as indicated in FIG. 5. In response to this movement, the weight of the kettle 10 and its contents will tend to move it in a generally counterclockwise direction, as viewed in FIG. 5, about the axis of the pivot pin 42, against the tipping force being exerted by the user's hand on the handle 50. This will cause a slight pivotal movement of the handle 50 in a clockwise direction about the axis of the pivot pin 57 which will, in turn, cause a pivotal movement of the lever arm 34 in a counterclockwise direction about the axis of the pivot pin 37 for pivoting the lid 31 to an open position, illustrated in FIG. 5, to permit pouring from the spout 20. When the tea kettle 10 is returned to its upright position, illustrated in FIG. 3, these forces and motions will be reversed, and the lid 31 will return to its normal closed position of FIG. 3. In a constructional model of the tea kettle 10, the body 11, the spout 20, the cover 25 and the pivot pins may be formed as suitable metals, while the handles 27 and 50 and the support structure 60 may be formed of suitable thermally insulating materials, such as suitable plastics or other materials. While the disclosed embodiment is in the nature of a tea kettle, it will be appreciated that the principles of the invention could apply to any handled vessel with a lidded spout. From the foregoing, it can be seen that there has been provided an improved spouted vessel with a spout closure which pivots between open and closed positions about an axis, which is so disposed relative to pivotal couplings between a handle and handle support structure and between the handle and the closure assembly, that the spout closure will automatically open when the kettle is tipped in a pouring motion, but will remain closed when the kettle is lifted by its handle. The matter set forth in the foregoing description and accompanying drawings is offered by way of illustration only and not as a limitation. While particular embodiments have been shown and described, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that changes and modifications may be made without departing from the broader aspects of applicants' contribution. The actual scope of the protection sought is intended to be defined in the following claims when viewed in their proper perspective based on the prior art. | <SOH> BACKGROUND <EOH>This application relates to closures for spouted vessels, such as tea kettles and the like, and relates in particular to techniques for controlling opening and closing of the spout closure. Various types of kettle spout closures have heretofore been provided, as well as various techniques for controlling opening and closing of the spout closure. In particular, prior arrangements have been provided with handles which move relative to the vessel body in response to lifting forces applied by a user's hand, for opening the spout closure. While such arrangements operate in a satisfactory manner, they have the drawback of maintaining the spout closure in an open position as long as a lifting force is exerted on the handle. This may be disadvantageous, since it may permit liquid to splash out of the spout while the vessel is being carried. This could be dangerous if the vessel contains hot liquid, such as boiling water. Vessels, such as tea kettles, have also been provided with spout closures coupled to a pendulum-like counterweight mechanism which is acted upon by gravity to tend to maintain the counterweight mechanism vertical so that, when the vessel is tipped for pouring, the relative movement between the counterweight and the vessel causes the spout closure to open. Such arrangements have, however, been complicated, the counterweight mechanism necessitating additional parts which may make the vessel difficult to store or clean, if located outside the vessel body, or may interfere with the contents of the vessel, if located within the vessel body. | <SOH> SUMMARY <EOH>There is disclosed herein a spouted vessel with a spout closure which avoids disadvantages of prior arrangements, while affording structural and operating advantages. In an embodiment, a vessel comprises a body defining a storage unit and having a spout communicating with the storage unit, a spout closure coupled to the body at a first coupling location for movement between a closed position closing the spout and an open position opening the spout, a handle having a front end coupled to the spout closure for movement relative thereto at a second coupling location and a rear end spaced from the body, and support structure fixed to the body and movably supporting the rear end of the handle at a third coupling location, the first and second and third coupling locations being arranged so that the spout closure is responsive to a force exerted on the handle by a user's hand to tip the body in a pouring direction for movement from the closed position to the open position, but is unresponsive to a vertical lifting force exerted on the handle by the user's hand. In an embodiment, the handle may have a hollow rear portion, the third coupling location being disposed within the hollow rear portion. In an embodiment, the vessel may have a handle assembly with movable and fixed portions, the movable portion being movably coupled to the spout closure at the second coupling location and to the fixed portion at the third coupling location, being fixed to the body and movably coupled to the front portion. There is also disclosed a method of opening a normally closed spout closure of a spouted vessel body, comprising movably coupling a handle to the spout closure and to the body, vertically lifting the handle without opening the closure, and causing the spout closure to open by using the handle to tilt the body for pouring from the spout. | 20040830 | 20070605 | 20060302 | 60572.0 | A47G1914 | 1 | NGO, LIEN M | KETTLE WITH TILT-OPEN SPOUT CLOSURE | UNDISCOUNTED | 0 | ACCEPTED | A47G | 2,004 |
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10,929,963 | ACCEPTED | Showerhead system with integrated handle | A showerhead system for communicating a fluid supply, the system including a fixed fluid dispensing unit supported at a location, the fixed dispensing unit including a plurality of nozzles in fluid communication with the fluid supply. A removable fluid dispensing unit is releasably secured to a receptacle established within the fixed dispensing, the removable unit further including at least one additional nozzle. The fluid supply is adapted to be in selective communication with either or both the fixed and removable fluid dispensing units, such as through the provision of a fluid diverter element located at an inlet of the fixed unit and from which extends a conduit in separate communication with the removable unit. | 1. A showerhead system for communicating a fluid supply, said showerhead system comprising: a fixed fluid dispensing unit supported at a location, said fixed dispensing unit comprising at least one nozzle in fluid communication with the fluid supply; a removable fluid dispensing unit releasably secured to a receptacle established with said fixed dispensing unit and comprising at least one additional nozzle; and the fluid supply adapted to being in selective communication with at least one of said fixed and said removable fluid dispensing unit. 2. The showerhead system as described in claim 1, further comprising a plurality of nozzles associated with said fixed fluid dispensing unit. 3. The showerhead system as described in claim 2, further comprising a plurality of nozzles associated with said removable fluid dispensing unit. 4. The showerhead system as described in claim 2, wherein said plurality of nozzles associated with said fixed fluid dispensing unit are located contiguous to one another. 5. The showerhead system as described in claim 1, wherein fixed fluid dispensing unit has a recess to which is matingly engaged said removable unit. 6. The showerhead system as described in claim 5, wherein said recess extends along a substantial centerline associated with said fixed fluid dispensing unit. 7. The showerhead system as described in claim 1 further comprising a holster affixed to said fixed fluid dispensing unit, said holster adapted to engage said removable unit. 8. The showerhead system as described in claim 7 wherein said removable unit is laterally displaced relative to said fixed fluid dispensing unit. 9. The showerhead system as described in claim 7 wherein said removable unit is basally displaced relative to said fixed fluid dispensing unit. 10. The showerhead system as described in claim 7 further comprising a spring-loaded button controlling a locking pin, said locking pin engaging a complementary depression in said removable unit. 11. The showerhead system as described in claim 1, further comprising a fluid inlet associated with said fixed dispensing unit, a fluid diverter element fluidly communicating said fluid supply with said at least one said fixed and removable dispensing units. 12. The showerhead system as described in claim 11, further comprising a conduit communicating said fluid diverter with said removable fluid dispensing unit. 13. The showerhead system as described in claim 1 further comprising an articulating joint intermediate between said at least one nozzle of said fixed dispensing unit and the fluid supply. 14. The showerhead system as described in claim 1, wherein said removable dispensing unit has a plurality of spray function modes. 15. The showerhead system as described in claim 14 further comprising a mode control dial intermediate between the at least one additional nozzle of said removable fluid dispensing unit and the fluid supply. 16. The showerhead system as described in claim 14 wherein said fixed fluid dispensing unit further comprises at least one gripping location to permit readjustment of said fixed unit about said articulating joint. 17. The showerhead system as described in claim 1 wherein said fixed fluid dispensing unit has a face through which is formed a plurality of nozzles. 18. The showerhead system as described in claim 15, further comprising at least one individual plurality of nozzles associated with a fluid dispensing surface of said removable unit. 19. A showerhead system for communicating a fluid supply, said showerhead system comprising: a fixed fluid dispensing unit supported at a location, said fixed dispensing unit comprising a plurality of nozzles in fluid communication with the fluid supply; a removable fluid dispensing unit releasably secured to a receptacle established with said fixed dispensing unit and comprising at least one additional plurality of nozzles; and a fluid inlet associated with said fixed dispensing unit, a fluid diverter element fluidly communicating said fluid supply with at least one of said fixed and removable dispensing units. 20. The showerhead system as described in claim 19, wherein fixed fluid dispensing unit has a recess to which is matingly engaged said removable unit. 21. The showerhead system as described in claim 19 further comprising a holster affixed to said fixed fluid dispensing unit, said holster adapted to engage said removable unit. 22. The showerhead system as described in claim 21 wherein said removable unit is laterally displaced relative to said fixed fluid dispensing unit. 23. The showerhead system as described in claim 21 wherein said removable unit is basally displaced relative to said fixed fluid dispensing unit. 24. The showerhead system as described in claim 21 further comprising a spring-loaded button controlling a locking pin, said locking pin engaging a complementary depression in said removable unit. 25. The showerhead system as described in claim 19, further comprising a fluid inlet associated with said fixed dispensing unit, a fluid diverter element fluidly communicating said fluid supply with said at least one said fixed and removable dispensing units. 26. The showerhead system as described in claim 19, wherein said removable dispensing unit has a plurality of spray function modes. 27. The showerhead system as described in claim 26 further comprising a mode control dial intermediate between the at least one additional nozzle of said removable fluid dispensing unit and the fluid supply. 28. The showerhead system as described in claim 26 wherein said fixed fluid dispensing unit further comprises at least one gripping location to permit readjustment of said fixed unit about said articulating joint. | RELATED APPLICATION The present application claims the priority of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60/517,683, filed Nov. 6, 2003, and entitled “Showerhead System with Integrated Handle”. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention generally relates to showerheads. More specifically, the present invention discloses a showerhead incorporating a detachable handle and spray head. 2. Description of the Prior Art The prior art is well documented with various examples of showerhead attachments and assemblies. In each instance, such showerhead devices provide either or both of a steady stream flow or pulse flow of water to a user, and such as within a shower or tub enclosure. In certain instances, the assembly may be subdivided into more than one water dispensing head, such often including a fixed showerhead and a movable showerhead fluidly related in some fashion to the fixed showerhead. A first example drawn from the prior art is set forth in U.S. Pat. No. 4,752,975, issued to Yates, and which teaches a showerhead assembly including a diverter valve for diverting a water supply to one of two showerheads. One of the showerheads is generally laterally and adjustably displaced from the other of the showerheads by means of a swivelable extension arm and the entire assembly is easily installable on the existing overhead water supply line of a shower stall or bath enclosure. U.S. Pat. No. 5,749,552, issued to Fan, teaches a mounting assembly for mounting a bracket for attaching a handheld showerhead in relation to a wall of a bathroom. The mounting assembly includes a fitting having an end for connecting with a fixed spray head, another end for connecting a water supply pipe and an extending portion for threadably engaging a top end of a post on which the bracket can be slidably locked therealong. A bottom end of the post is attached with a vacuum mounting assembly for mounting the bottom end of the post on the wall by a vacuum pressure. Finally, U.S. Pat. No. 3,471,872, issued to Symmons, teaches a plumbing fixture for baths which facilitates provision of a handheld spray unit in a bathtub or shower installation. A casing incorporates a diverter valve assembly and an ornamental housing which conceals the casing and is adapted to function as a tub spout or as a showerhead support. In spite of the prior art efforts, there remains a need for a showerhead incorporating a detachable handle and spray head. Such a showerhead would provide flexibility in the water stream characteristics and the shower experience. SUMMARY OF THE PRESENT INVENTION The present invention is a showerhead system for communicating a pressurized water supply. The present invention is an improvement over prior art showerhead systems in that it provides both fixed and interengageable water dispensing units, the fixed unit being supported at a location and comprising a first plurality of nozzles established in a desired contiguous or non-contiguous array. The removable fluid dispensing unit is releasably secured to a receptacle formed within the body of the fixed unit and provides at least one additional, and preferably a plurality of, fluid dispensing nozzle. The fluid (water) supply is established in selective communication with either or both the fixed and removable dispensing units and such further includes a hose extending from a fluid inlet associated with the fixed dispensing unit and which extends to an inlet end of the removable dispensing unit. A fluid diverter element fluidly communicates the fluid supply with either the fixed dispensing element or, if so adjusted, with only the removable dispensing element via the hose or further with both the fixed and removable dispensing units. The fixed dispensing unit may further include an articulated joint configured intermediate the nozzle and fluid supply and the fixed dispensing unit further includes at least one gripping location to permit readjustment of the fixed unit about the articulating joint. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Reference will now be made to the attached drawings, when read in combination with the following detailed description, wherein like reference numerals refer to like parts throughout the several views, and in which: FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a showerhead assembly according to the present invention having a central removable unit; FIG. 2 is an exploded view of the showerhead assembly depicted in FIG. 1; FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken along line 3-3 of FIG. 1 and illustrating a first cutaway of a mounted portion of the showerhead assembly; FIG. 4 is a magnified view of the cutaway illustration depicted in FIG. 3; FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view taken along line 5-5 of FIG. 1 and illustrating a second and centerline cutaway of the showerhead assembly; FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a showerhead assembly according to the present invention having a basal removable unit; FIG. 7 is a perspective view of a showerhead assembly according to the present invention having a lateral removable unit; and FIG. 8 is a perspective view of a showerhead assembly according to the present invention having an embodiment of a lateral removable unit. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention has utility as a bathroom shower fixture. An inventive showerhead system includes a fixed fluid dispensing unit and a removable fluid dispensing unit releasably secured to a receptacle therefor associated with the fixed dispensing unit such that the fixed dispensing unit and removable dispensing unit in a secured relationship form an integral dispensing face. A fluid supply provides selective communication with at least one of the fixed and removable fluid dispensing units. Referring to FIG. 1, an illustration is shown at 10 of a showerhead assembly and such as which is mounted to a fixed vertical location 12, such as which is typically associated with a shower enclosure or wall surface associated with a bathtub. As previously described, the present invention provides the user with a traditional showerhead experience, additional to the option of removing and manipulating a removable shower handle incorporated into the showerhead. According to the present invention, and as will be further described, the handle optionally functions independently from the head as a water source, or in combination therewith, for the handle and showerhead in their assembled position and dissociated positions, respectively. Referring again to FIG. 1, the showerhead system includes a fixed fluid dispensing unit 14 which is supported at a location 12. The location 12 illustratively includes a vertical or wall surface, or a Roman tub edge. The fixed dispensing unit 14 includes an inlet end 16, such further including an internal passageway for communicating a fluid flow, such as originating from a pipe or tubing extending in communication with the inlet end. A fluid diverter element 18, such as a valve, “T” connector or other suitable directional flow control element, is located in fluid communication with the inlet fluid supply and a flow outlet associated with the fixed dispensing element 14. As will be further described, the fluid diverter 18 facilitates selective or combined fluid flow to either or both of fixed and removable fluid dispensing units associated with the showerhead system 10. A plurality of fluid dispensing nozzles 20 are formed along a face of the fixed dispensing unit 14 and are further understood to be provided in either a contiguous or non-contiguous array pattern. It is further understood and envisioned that the dispensing nozzles 20 are optionally formed in any desired pattern or arrangement, and can also be provided in different sizes and spray dispersion patterns within the skill of one in the ordinary art. The head of the fixed dispensing unit 14 is optionally further repositioned by virtue of an articulating joint 22 located intermediate between the fluid supply inlet 16 and the array of dispensing nozzles 20. The articulating joint 22 is appreciated to be any conventional adjustment mechanism known to the art, such as a ball joint type or other means of adjustment that affords the ability to tilt and/or rotate the inventive showerhead. As is also best again shown in exploded fashion in FIG. 2, the articulated joint 22 preferably includes an assembly of fittings and elements to facilitate attachment at one end to a fitting 23 associated with the fluid diverter 18 and, at another end, to a fitting 25 associated with the fixed dispensing head 14. A gripping location, see rear edge 24, facilitates repositioning of the head associated with the fixed unit 14 and about the articulated joint 22. It is also appreciated that a variety of head configurations are operative in the present invention, these configurations illustratively including multiple nozzles in one contiguous pattern such as a ring, arc, rail and a parabola; and a single nozzle forming a circular or linear opening to create a spray or waterfall-type discharge. As is best illustrated in the exploded view of FIG. 2, a receptacle is formed within the fluid dispensing head associated with the fixed unit and is illustrated by recessed side 26 and base surface 28. In a preferred embodiment, the receptacle surfaces are formed along an axial centerline associated with the fixed dispensing head; however it is understood that the receptacle may also be formed in a side-by-side arrangement or other asymmetric fashion relative to the fixed head, as illustratively depicted with respect to FIGS. 6-8. Referring again to FIGS. 1, 2 and 5, a removable fluid dispensing unit is illustrated at 30 and, as best again illustrated in FIG. 2, includes a body exhibiting a backside configuration, and such that it may be mechanically and releasably secured within the side 26 and base recessed surface 28 formed in the fixed dispensing unit 14. As again is best shown in FIG. 2, an apertured cutout, see inner walls 27, is formed in the fixed dispensing unit 14 and seats an associated outer perimeter 29 of the removable dispensing unit 30 upon the same being mounted within the recessed side 26 and base surface 28 of the fixed head. It is further appreciated that a retaining portion is optionally integrated into the removable dispensing unit 30 or, alternatively, represents complementary securing components that attach to a handle and/or showerhead of an inventive system. It is also envisioned and understood that the removable fluid dispensing unit 30 may be secured to the fixed unit 14 such as through the use of Velcro® (hook and loop) portions, spring-loaded retainer pins, cradles, or other securements consistent with the forces and humidity associated with the showerhead use environment. The removable unit 30 includes at least one plurality of fluid dispensing nozzles and, in a preferred embodiment, may include a first array of nozzles 32 formed in a planar extending face associated with the removable unit. The array of nozzles 32 are similar to the nozzles 20 which are formed across the face of the fixed unit 14. Preferably, a second array of fluid dispensing nozzles 34 are provided. More preferably, a centrally located nozzle 36 is provided relative to the circular nozzle array 34. Each nozzle array 37 and 34 being established in preferably a non-contiguous pattern and providing a different shape and configuration in order to provide multiple spray function modes associated with the removable fluid dispensing unit illustratively including a variable spray or pulse pattern. A removable unit mode control dial 37 affords mode control for the removable unit 30. As is again best illustrated with reference to FIG. 2, the removable fluid dispensing unit 30 is connected to the water supply through a conduit 38, such as a hose, or other means of conducting the water. One end of the hose 40 is connected to the removable unit 30 and an opposite end 42 is connected to the diverter or T connection 18. As previously described, the head associated with the fixed dispensing unit 14 is optionally connected to the water supply and/or to the inlet 16 through the diverter 18 and it is contemplated that the diverter valve may include up to three flow adjustment positions to facilitate selective or combined fluid flow through the fixed and/or removable dispensing units. In case of a T connection type with no diverting feature, the water is supplied to the removable and fixed dispensing units at all times. Referring to FIG. 3, a cross section is shown through the fixed dispensing head 14, which shows the head bottom part 44 and the head top part 46, which are assembled together. The head bottom part 44 further exhibits a series of holes that accommodate the nozzles 20. A nozzle plate 48 is located between the two assemblable halves, directing a water flow 50, see FIG. 4, to different body areas at different angles. In an alternate variant, the nozzle plates 46 and 48 are not used, and in this case the holes in the head bottom part 44 are provided with the nozzle function. The centerline sectional cutaway of FIG. 5 further shows the assembled interaction between the removable unit 30, the head associated with the fixed unit 30, and the articulating/joint assembly 22. Referring now to FIG. 3, a perspective view of an inventive showerhead assembly with an alternate configuration is shown generally at 60 where like numerals correspond to those previously described with respect to preceding FIGS. 1-5. A fixed dispensing head 64 includes multiple nozzles 20 to define a spray face 66. The nozzles 20 in fluid communication with the inlet 16 by way of the diverter 18 and the joint assembly 22. A recess 67 is adapted to receive a removable fluid dispensing unit 68 therein. The removable dispensing unit 68 having a spray head 69 including fluid dispensing nozzles 32 forming a spray face 70, the face 70 continuous with fixed spray face 66. The removable unit spray head 69 tapering to a handle 72 and retained in position relative to the fixed dispensing head unit 64 by way of a holster 74. It is appreciated that a removable third dispensing head unit 69 is retained within a holster 74 through modes illustratively including friction fit and snap fit. Preferably, a second array of fluid dispensing nozzles 34 are provided in the removable head unit 69. When a second array of fluid dispensing nozzles 34 are present, it is preferred that a removable unit face dial 75 is present to afford mode control for the removable unit 69. Referring now to FIG. 7, an inventive lateral shower head assembly is shown generally at 80 where like numerals correspond to those detailed previously with respect to FIGS. 1-6. A fixed dispensing head unit 84 has an array of first nozzles 20 defining a spray face 86. Laterally adjacent to the spray face 86 is a recess 87 adapted to receive a removable fluid dispensing head unit 88 having a head 89 that tapers to a handle 92. The nozzles 32 and 34 being in fluid communication with the water inlet 16 by way of hose 38. The fixed fluid dispensing unit 84 is convoluted to form a holster 94 adapted to engage the removable unit 88 intermediate between the head 89 and the handle 92. The holster 94 securing the removable unit 88 by a mode illustratively including pressure fit and snap fit. A removable unit face dial 75 affords mode control for water dispensation therefrom. Referring now to FIG. 8, a securement variant for retaining a removable fluid dispensing unit to a fixed dispensing unit is shown generally at 100 where like numerals correspond to those detailed previously with respect to FIGS. 1-7. A fixed dispensing head unit 84 has an array of first nozzles 20 defining a spray face 86. Laterally adjacent to the spray face 86 is a recess 87 adapted to receive a removable fluid dispensing head unit 88 having a head 89 that tapers to a handle 92. The nozzles 32 and 34 being in fluid communication with the water inlet 16 by way of hose 38. The fixed fluid dispensing unit 84 is convoluted to form a holster 94 adapted to engage the removable unit 88 intermediate between the head 89 and the handle 92. The holster 94 securing the removable unit 88 by a mode illustratively including pressure fit and snap fit. A removable unit face dial 75 affords mode control for water dispensation therefrom. The removable fluid dispensing unit 88 is retained in contact with the fixed unit 104 to form an integral spray face with 106 through a spring-loaded button 110 extended from the fixed unit spray face 106. A spring-loaded pin that extends from the fixed unit 104 into a complementary indentation in the handle 92 retains the removable unit 88 in position. Depression of the button 110 retracts the pin (not shown) allowing for detachment of the removable unit 88. Replacement of the removable unit 88 depresses the pin which again seats within a complementary indentation in the handle 92. It is appreciated that alternate modes of retaining a removable portion in selective engagement with the fixed portion are known to the art and illustratively include a hinge-pin, male-female, luer, and bayonet fittings. The preceding figures and description illustrate the general principles of the present invention and some specific embodiments thereof. These are not intended to be a limitation upon the practice of the present invention since numerous modifications and variations will be readily apparent to one skilled in the art upon consideration of the drawings and description. The following claims, including all equivalents thereof, are intended to define the scope of the invention. | <SOH> BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION <EOH>1. Field of the Invention The present invention generally relates to showerheads. More specifically, the present invention discloses a showerhead incorporating a detachable handle and spray head. 2. Description of the Prior Art The prior art is well documented with various examples of showerhead attachments and assemblies. In each instance, such showerhead devices provide either or both of a steady stream flow or pulse flow of water to a user, and such as within a shower or tub enclosure. In certain instances, the assembly may be subdivided into more than one water dispensing head, such often including a fixed showerhead and a movable showerhead fluidly related in some fashion to the fixed showerhead. A first example drawn from the prior art is set forth in U.S. Pat. No. 4,752,975, issued to Yates, and which teaches a showerhead assembly including a diverter valve for diverting a water supply to one of two showerheads. One of the showerheads is generally laterally and adjustably displaced from the other of the showerheads by means of a swivelable extension arm and the entire assembly is easily installable on the existing overhead water supply line of a shower stall or bath enclosure. U.S. Pat. No. 5,749,552, issued to Fan, teaches a mounting assembly for mounting a bracket for attaching a handheld showerhead in relation to a wall of a bathroom. The mounting assembly includes a fitting having an end for connecting with a fixed spray head, another end for connecting a water supply pipe and an extending portion for threadably engaging a top end of a post on which the bracket can be slidably locked therealong. A bottom end of the post is attached with a vacuum mounting assembly for mounting the bottom end of the post on the wall by a vacuum pressure. Finally, U.S. Pat. No. 3,471,872, issued to Symmons, teaches a plumbing fixture for baths which facilitates provision of a handheld spray unit in a bathtub or shower installation. A casing incorporates a diverter valve assembly and an ornamental housing which conceals the casing and is adapted to function as a tub spout or as a showerhead support. In spite of the prior art efforts, there remains a need for a showerhead incorporating a detachable handle and spray head. Such a showerhead would provide flexibility in the water stream characteristics and the shower experience. | <SOH> SUMMARY OF THE PRESENT INVENTION <EOH>The present invention is a showerhead system for communicating a pressurized water supply. The present invention is an improvement over prior art showerhead systems in that it provides both fixed and interengageable water dispensing units, the fixed unit being supported at a location and comprising a first plurality of nozzles established in a desired contiguous or non-contiguous array. The removable fluid dispensing unit is releasably secured to a receptacle formed within the body of the fixed unit and provides at least one additional, and preferably a plurality of, fluid dispensing nozzle. The fluid (water) supply is established in selective communication with either or both the fixed and removable dispensing units and such further includes a hose extending from a fluid inlet associated with the fixed dispensing unit and which extends to an inlet end of the removable dispensing unit. A fluid diverter element fluidly communicates the fluid supply with either the fixed dispensing element or, if so adjusted, with only the removable dispensing element via the hose or further with both the fixed and removable dispensing units. The fixed dispensing unit may further include an articulated joint configured intermediate the nozzle and fluid supply and the fixed dispensing unit further includes at least one gripping location to permit readjustment of the fixed unit about the articulating joint. | 20040830 | 20080422 | 20050512 | 98116.0 | 3 | GORMAN, DARREN W | SHOWERHEAD SYSTEM WITH INTEGRATED HANDLE | UNDISCOUNTED | 0 | ACCEPTED | 2,004 |
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10,929,993 | ACCEPTED | Heliostat device | Heliostat devices are disclosed. A disclosed heliostat device comprises planar reflectors and their frame, an azimuth angle adjusting mechanism and an altitudinal angle adjusting mechanism, and a sunlight tracking sensor. This device can perform sun tracking and accurate projection in fixed direction, via the directed sensor mounted in the fixed projection direction to form multi-stage control sensors. | 1. A heliostat device comprising: planar reflectors and a frame, an azimuth angle adjusting mechanism, an altitudinal angle adjusting mechanism, a sunlight tracking sensor, the azimuth angle adjusting mechanism comprising a vertical shaft and a sleeve for the vertical shaft, a bottom support rotating around a central axial line (ZZ′) of the vertical shaft, the altitudinal angle adjusting mechanism comprising at least one transversal main turning shaft parallel with the planar reflectors, the intersecting point (O1) in space of the vertical shaft axial line and the transversal main turning shaft axial line or the setting point (O2) on the shortest connecting line between the two axial lines coincides with the center of one of the planar reflectors, and a directed sensor with a light sensing surface facing the planar reflector, a central axial line of the directed sensor coincides or is parallel with the connecting line (O1O′) or (O2O′) of the intersecting point (O1) or setting point (O2) with the center (O′) of the directed projection area. 2. A heliostat device as described in claim 1, wherein the directed sensor comprises: a post, and a lens with O3 as its center and photosensitive elements of one or more stages, the lens being located in a top front of the post, the photosensitive elements being behind the lens, a least one of the stages of the photosensitive elements comprising a four-quadrant photosensitive element with O4 as its center, located in a rear of the post, wherein the central axial line of the directed sensor is the connecting line between O3 and O4. 3. A heliostat device as described in claim 1, wherein the azimuth angle and the altitudinal angle of the sunlight tracking sensor change at a magnitude twice that of the change in the azimuth angle and the altitudinal angle of a normal line of the planar reflector. 4. A heliostat device as described in claim 3, wherein the vertical shaft or the sleeve of the vertical shaft of the azimuth angle adjusting mechanism is connected with an azimuth shaft via a driving mechanism, so that the azimuth shaft and the bottom support rotate around the central axial line of the vertical shaft in the same direction at a speed ratio of 2:1, and the transversal main turning shaft of the altitudinal angle adjusting mechanism is connected with an altitudinal shaft via a driving mechanism for reversed direction, a speed ratio of the driving mechanism connecting the altitudinal shaft with the transversal main turning shaft is 2:1, the sunlight tracking sensor is mounted on a rotating shaft rigidly fixed on a bevel gear, the rotating shaft is pivoted at one end on the sleeve rigidly fixed with the azimuth shaft, the bevel gear is engaged with an azimuth bevel gear freely rotating on the azimuth shaft, the azimuth bevel gear is engaged with an altitudinal bevel gear freely rotating on the altitudinal shaft, the altitudinal bevel gear on the altitudinal shaft and the bevel gear on the rotating shaft have substantially the same diameter; both the azimuth shaft and the altitudinal shaft are fixed with electromagnetic clutches that enable the freely rotating bevel gears to rotate with the shafts, and circuits of both electromagnetic clutches are interlocked. 5. A heliostat device as described in claim 3, wherein the vertical shaft or the sleeve of the vertical shaft of the azimuth angle adjusting mechanism is connected with an azimuth shaft via a driving mechanism, so that the azimuth shaft and the bottom support rotate around the central axial line of the vertical shaft in the same direction at a speed ratio of 2:1, and the transversal main turning shaft of the altitudinal angle adjusting mechanism is connected with an altitudinal shaft via a driving mechanism for the same direction, a speed ratio of the driving mechanism connecting the altitudinal shaft with the transversal main turning shaft is 2:1, the sunlight tracking sensor is mounted on a rotating shaft pivoted on an abutment, the abutment is fixed on an end of the azimuth shaft, the rotating shaft is connected with the altitudinal shaft via a flexible shaft. 6. A heliostat device as described in claim 3, wherein the vertical shaft or the sleeve of the vertical shaft of the azimuth angle adjusting mechanism is connected with an azimuth shaft via a driving mechanism, so that the azimuth shaft and the bottom support rotate around the central axial line of the vertical shaft in the same direction at a speed ratio of 2:1, and the transversal main turning shaft of the altitudinal angle adjusting mechanism is connected with an altitudinal shaft via a driving mechanism for the same direction, a speed ratio of the driving mechanism connecting the altitudinal shaft with the transversal main turning shaft is 2:1, the sunlight tracking sensor is mounted on a rotating shaft pivoted on an abutment, the abutment is fixed on an end of the altitudinal shaft, the rotating shaft is connected with the azimuth shaft via a flexible shaft. 7. A heliostat device as described in claim 3, wherein the vertical shaft or a sleeve of the vertical shaft of the azimuth angle adjusting mechanism is connected with an azimuth shaft via a driving mechanism, so that the azimuth shaft and the bottom support rotate around the central axial line of the vertical shaft in the same direction at a speed ratio of 2:1, and the transversal main turning shaft of the altitudinal angle adjusting mechanism is connected with an altitudinal shaft via a driving mechanism for the same direction, a speed ratio of the driving mechanism connecting the altitudinal shaft with the transversal main turning shaft is 2:1, the sunlight tracking sensor comprises the altitudinal angle detector mounted on the altitudinal shaft and the azimuth angle detector mounted on the azimuth angle. 8. A heliostat device as described in claim 1, wherein the frame is a parallel connecting rod mechanism, the planar reflectors are parallel with each other and are located symmetrically on the frame of the parallel connecting rod mechanism, the azimuth angle adjusting mechanism also comprises vertical supports fixed on both sides of the bottom support and the driving mechanism linked with the bottom support, the bottom support has at least three rollers supported on the ground, and the planar reflectors and the frame are rotatably supported on the vertical supports via the transversal main turning shaft. 9. A heliostat device as described in claim 8, wherein the azimuth angle driving mechanism comprises: a motor, a screw and a supporting base and a nut, an output shaft of the motor connected with an end of the screw, the screw being supported on the supporting base and being spirally engaged with the nut, the nut being pivoted on the bottom support, and the supporting base being supported on the ground. 10. A heliostat device as described in claim 8, wherein the azimuth angle driving mechanism comprises: a motor and a reducer, an input shaft of the reducer is connected with a motor shaft, and an output shaft is connected with one of the rollers of the bottom support. 11. A heliostat device as described in claim 8, wherein the altitudinal angle adjusting mechanism includes an altitudinal angle driving mechanism, the altitudinal angle driving mechanism comprises a motor and its supporting base, a screw and a nut, an output shaft of the motor being connected with an end of the screw, the nut or a supporting base being pivoted on a connecting rod or a connecting member of two connecting rods of the connecting rod mechanism, while an opposite end is pivoted on the connecting member of the vertical supports. 12. A heliostat device as described in claim 8, wherein the altitudinal angle adjusting mechanism includes an altitudinal angle driving mechanism, the altitudinal angle driving mechanism comprises a motor, two tensioning sprockets, a motor output shaft sprocket and a chain, the two tensioning sprockets being mounted on vertical supports, ends of the chain being rigidly fixed with respective ones of the connecting rods of the parallel connecting rod mechanism, the chain being engaged with the two tensioning sprockets and the motor output shaft sprocket. | FIELD OF THE DISCLOSURE This disclosure relates generally to solar energy utilization, and, more particularly, to heliostat devices that can be used for lighting or thermal power generation using solar energy. BACKGROUND The heliostat is an important device frequently involved in the utilization of solar energy, and it is mainly used in lighting or thermal power generation with solar energy. For instance, in thermal power generation with a tower using solar energy, the solar heat radiation is reflected by a number of heliostats to a solar receiver mounted on top of a high tower, to heat the medium to produce superheated steam, or to directly heat water in the heat collector to produce superheated steam, which then drives the turbo-generator set to generate electricity, thus converting solar energy into electrical energy. To enable the solar radiation to be reflected onto the fixed receiver by reflectors at all times during the day, a tracking mechanism must be provided for the reflectors. To control the tracking mechanism, two forms are mainly adopted nowadays, namely, programmed control and control by sensors. With programmed control, the movement of the dual-shaft tracking mechanism is controlled according to the calculated sun movement route. Programmed control has the shortcoming of accumulated error and high cost. With control by sensors, the movement of the tracking mechanism is controlled according to the incident sun radiation direction measured by the sensors. Control by sensors has the shortcomings that: (a) it cannot control the reflected light directly, (b) as there is mechanical error in precision that cannot be overcome, it is difficult to ensure accurate tracking and positioning by solely relying on the tracking sensors mounted on the tracking mechanism, and (c) it cannot realize stable and reliable control. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1-1 is the structure schematic of a first example heliostat device constructed in accordance with the teachings of this invention. FIG. 1-2 shows the locally enlarged structure in FIG. 1-1. FIG. 1-3 is the enlarged schematic of local structure I in FIG. 1-2. FIG. 2 is the detailed structure of a specific driving mechanism for the sensor in FIG. 1-1. FIG. 3 shows the principle of directed sun tracking. FIG. 4 is the schematic of the structure of the directed sensor in Embodiment 1. FIG. 5-1 is the schematic of the structure of second example Embodiment. FIG. 5-2 is the enlarged schematic of local structure I in FIG. 5-1. FIG. 5-3 is the schematic of another structure of the second example Embodiment 2. FIG. 5-4 is the enlarged schematic of local structure II in FIG. 5-3. FIG. 6 is the schematic of the structure of a third example Embodiment. DETAILED DESCRIPTION Embodiment 1 In this Embodiment, the heliostat device has the structure as shown in FIG. 1-1, and the local structure is enlarged as shown in FIGS. 1-2 and 1-3. It includes three planar reflectors 1, 1′ and 1″, the planar reflectors azimuth angle adjusting mechanism and altitudinal angle adjusting mechanism and the multi-stage control sensors including sunlight tracking sensor 18 and directed sensor 25. The azimuth angle adjusting mechanism includes the vertical shaft 8 with ZZ′ as the central axial line and its sleeve 7, the altitudinal angle adjusting mechanism includes at least one transversal main turning shaft 2 parallel with the planar reflectors, the axial line of the said vertical shaft 8 and the axial line of transversal main turning shaft 2 intersect in space at point O1, the point O1 basically coincides with the center of planar reflector 1′, and the center of the directed projection area is set as the point O′ on the tower. The azimuth angle adjusting mechanism also includes the bottom support 3 that rotates around the axial line ZZ′ of vertical shaft 8, the vertical supports 4 and 4′ fixed on both sides of bottom support 3, and the driving mechanism linked with the bottom support. The planar reflectors 1, 1′ and 1″ are mounted mutually parallel and symmetrically on the corresponding connecting rods of parallel connecting rod mechanism frame 5, which is rotatably supported on vertical supports 4 and 4′ via transversal main turning shaft 2. The said bottom support 3 has at least three rollers supporting on the horizontal ground (shown as 6, 6′ 6″ and 6′″ in this Embodiment), and the whole heliostat device is supported on the ground by the four rollers 6, 6′ 6″ and 6′″ under the bottom support 3. The azimuth angle driving mechanism mainly comprises the motor 13, screw 14 and its supporting base 15 and nut 16. The output shaft of motor 13 is connected with one end of the screw 14, and both ends of screw 14 are supported on the supporting base 15 and the screw 14 is spirally engaged with nut 16. Nut 16 is pivoted on bottom support 3, and the supporting base 15 is supported on the ground. In this Embodiment, the vertical shaft 8 is fixed on the ground, and fitted in sleeve 7, which is located in the center of bottom support 3 and is rigidly connected with bottom support 3. The azimuth angle driving mechanism drives the bottom support 3 and the planar reflectors and their frame on it to rotate around the central axial line ZZ′ of vertical shaft 8. The drive for the altitudinal angle adjusting mechanism mainly comprises motor 9 and its supporting base 11, screw 10 and nut 12. The nut 12 is pivoted on the connecting member 26 between the vertical supports 4 and 4′, the output shaft of motor 9 is connected with one end of screw 10, and the supporting base 11 is pivoted on the connecting member 27 of the two connecting rods of the parallel connecting rod mechanism. The altitudinal angle driving mechanism drives the parallel connecting rod mechanism frame 5 and the planar reflectors on it to rotate around the axial line of transversal main turning shaft 2, and also adjusts the distance between planar reflectors at the same time. The sunlight tracking sensor 18 in the heliostat device in this Embodiment can be the similar sensor previously used, such as the structure and principle for U.S. Pat. No. “6,465,766B1” (which is hereby incorporated herein by reference in its entirety) previously applied by and awarded to this Applicant. What is special is the transitional driving mechanism connecting vertical shaft 8 and transversal main turning shaft 2 with this sensor 18. As shown in FIG. 2, sunlight tracking sensor 18 is mounted and fixed on rotating shaft 26, which is also rigidly connected with bevel gear 27, the rotating shaft 26 is pivoted at one end on the sleeve 33 rigidly fixed with the azimuth shaft 28. Bevel gear 27 is engaged with azimuth bevel gear 29 freely rotating on azimuth shaft 28, and this azimuth bevel gear 29 is also engaged with the altitudinal bevel gear 31 freely rotating on altitudinal shaft 30. Azimuth shaft 28 and altitudinal shaft 30 are perpendicular to each other, and are mounted on base 32, respectively fixed with the electromagnetic clutches 33′ and 34 that can make the free bevel gears rotate with the shafts. Both electromagnetic clutches are mutually interlocked, and the respective clutch plates 35′ and 31′ can slide along the pins on azimuth bevel gear 29 and altitudinal bevel gear 31. The three bevel gears 27, 29 and 31 are in the same diameter. According to the principle of geometrical optics, to reflect the sunlight to a fixed direction, the change in the azimuth angle and altitudinal angle of the normal line of the planar reflector should be respectively half of the change in azimuth angle and altitudinal angle of the sun. This can be explained and verified in FIG. 3. As shown in FIG. 3, in ΔOL1L2, OL6 is the angular bisector, in ΔOL1L3, OL4 is the angular bisector, in ΔOL2L3, OL5 is the angular bisector, and plane M2ZZ′N2 is the angular bisector plane of the angle formed by the plane M1ZZ′N1 and plane M3ZZ′N3. We need to reflect the sunlight from point L1 to point O out in the direction OL2 after it passes the heliostat device at point O. For this purpose, we should divide the process into two steps. First, let the normal line of the planar reflector change by P as half of the changing angle 2β in the altitudinal angle, then change by a as half of the changing angle 2α in the azimuth angle, so that the sunlight is reflected in the direction OL2 from the direction L1O. This is the theoretical basis we apply to use the sunlight tracking sensor 18 to track the sun position and to realize directed projection. In this way, as the change in the azimuth angle of planar reflectors is realized by bottom support 3 rotating around the central axial line ZZ′, and the change in altitudinal angle realized by the parallel connecting rod mechanism rotating around the axial line of transversal main turning shaft 2, while the movement of sunlight tracking sensor 18 is performed directly by altitudinal shaft 30 and azimuth shaft 28, therefore links must be established respectively between the altitudinal shaft 30 and transversal main turning shaft 2 and between azimuth shaft 28 and the vertical shaft 8 via the driving mechanism, so that the change in azimuth angle and altitudinal angle of the normal line of the planar reflector is respectively half of the change in the azimuth angle and altitudinal angle of the sun. As shown in FIG. 2, in this Embodiment, the altitudinal shaft 30 is connected with transversal main turning shaft 2 via a reversing gear mechanism with a reduction ratio of 2:1, the bevel gear 27 and the rotating shaft 26 move in the reverse direction to the altitudinal bevel gear 31. As shown in FIG. 1-2, azimuth shaft 28 is connected with vertical shaft 8 via a synchronized tooth belt mechanism with a ratio of 1:1 and a gear driving mechanism(40′ and 41) with a ratio of 1:1, and the relative movement between the azimuth shaft 28 and the vertical shaft 8 and bottom support 3 is like this: the motor 13 drives nut 16 to move on screw 14, to drive bottom support 3 to rotate around axial line ZZ′ of vertical shaft 8, assuming that azimuth shaft 28 rotates by an angle of a clockwise with bottom support 3. Meanwhile, as vertical shaft 8 is fixed, i.e., the belt wheel 42 is fixed, but the synchronized toothed belt 39 rotates by an angle a clockwise with the bottom support 3,so the engaging point of belt wheel 42 rigidly fixed on vertical shaft 8 with the synchronized toothed belt 39 is forced to change continuously, to force belt wheel 40 to drive gear 40′ to move counterclockwise by a, gear 40′ in turn drives gear 41 to move clockwise by α, and this angle of movement is superimposed on the angle of a already moved by azimuth shaft 28, therefore azimuth shaft 28 has actually moved by 2α clockwise, so that the azimuth shaft 28 and bottom support 3 rotate around axial line ZZ′ in the same direction at a speed ratio of 2:1. The directed sensor 25 is as shown in FIG. 4. Its light sensing surface is facing the planar reflector 1′, its central axial line coincides with the connecting line O1O′, and it includes the post 35, lens 36 with O3 as its center, photosensitive elements of single stage or more than one stage (shown as two stages 37 and 38 in this Embodiment). The lens 36 is on the top front of post 35. The photosensitive elements of two stages are located at different positions behind the lens. The first stage of photosensitive elements 37 comprises photosensitive diodes in annular distribution, and the last stage of photosensitive element 38 comprises a four-quadrant photosensitive element with O4 as its center, located at the most rear of post 35, the central axial line of the directed sensor is the connecting line between O3 and O4. With the action of tracking sensor 18, the light is reflected from the planar reflector to directed sensor 25, and is focused by lens 36 into a light spot of proper size and projected to the photosensitive elements 37 or 38. Now the control circuit collects and processes the signals from photosensitive elements at different locations, to drive the device. The reflected sunlight will approach continuously to the center O4 of the four-quadrant photosensitive element in the last stage, until the directed sensor central axial line O3O4 coincides with the connecting line O1O′, the device has realized the directed projection of sunlight in the direction of O1O′. The whole device is operated in this way: first, the sensors and mechanisms are properly adjusted at the starting positions, so that the device is in the status of automatic operation. When the position of the sun changes, the sunlight tracking sensor 18 transmits the signals of changes in sun altitudinal angle and azimuth angle to the processing circuit, to respectively control the azimuth angle and altitudinal angle driving mechanisms. It first controls the azimuth angle driving mechanism to move nut 16 on screw 14, and further to rotate bottom support 3 around the axial line ZZ′ of vertical shaft 8. As vertical shaft 8 is connected with azimuth shaft 28 via a driving mechanism, azimuth shaft 28 rotates accordingly, and the azimuth shaft 28 and bottom support 3 rotate around axial line ZZ′ in the same direction at a speed ratio of 2:1. At this time, the electromagnetic clutch 33′ on azimuth shaft 28 picks up the clutching plate 35′, so that the formerly free azimuth bevel gear 29 forms a “rigid” like structure with this shaft 28 via the pin, as the rotating shaft 26 is pivoted at one end on sleeve 33 fixed on the azimuth shaft 28. In this way, rotation of azimuth shaft 28 will make azimuth bevel gear 29, shaft 26, bevel gear 27 and the sensor 18 on it rotate together with shaft 28 to adjust the E-W azimuth, while altitudinal bevel gear 31 remains free. Then it controls the altitudinal angle driving mechanism, motor 9 moves nut 12 on screw 10, and further rotates frame 5 around the axial line of transversal main turning shaft 2. At this time, the electromagnetic clutch 34 on altitudinal shaft 30 picks up the clutching plate 31′, so that the formerly free altitudinal bevel gear 31 forms a “rigid” like structure with this shaft 30 via the pin. As the two electromagnetic clutch circuits are interlocked, the azimuth bevel gear 29 at this time is free again. The altitudinal bevel gear 31 brings the free azimuth bevel gear 29 to rotate, and with the action of the connection bridge by the azimuth bevel gear 29, the bevel gear 27 rotates in the reversed direction, so that the altitudinal shaft 30, rotating in the reversed direction to transversal main turning shaft 2, finally makes bevel gear 27 and sensor 18 move in the same S-N direction with the whole planar reflectors at a ratio of 2:1, until the planar reflectors have basically reached the desired tracking position. The change in azimuth angle and altitudinal angle of planar reflectors is respectively half of the change in azimuth angle and altitudinal angle of the sunlight. In other words, after the function of sunlight tracking sensor 18, the whole heliostat has entered the functioning range of directed sensor 25. Accurate direction fixing can be realized after the aligning function of the two stages of photosensitive elements 37 and 38. As compared with previous heliostat devices, the heliostat device in this Embodiment has the following advantages: (1) This device can perform functions of sun tracking and accurate projection in fixed direction on the basis of the sunlight tracking sensor 18, via the directed sensor 25 mounted in fixed projection direction to form multi-stage control sensors. It has overcome the shortcomings of previous devices with accumulated error and high cost in programmed control, poor stability and reliability in direction fixing by solely relying upon the sunlight tracking sensor, and has demonstrated better applicability. (2) In this Embodiment, a specific transitional driving mechanism comprising three bevel gears and two electromagnetic clutches are used to realize driving of the integrated sensor 18 to detect the altitudinal angle and azimuth angle of the sun, so that the tracking sensor can track the position of the sun well, and the reflected light from planar reflectors is close to the projection direction. The design is smart and is based on scientific principle, only the structure seems little more complicated. (3) Sleeve 7 is rigidly connected with bottom support 3 of the azimuth angle adjusting mechanism, and vertical shaft 8 is fixed on ground, so that the rotation central axial line ZZ′ of the whole device with respect to azimuth angle has been established. The adjustment of both altitudinal angle and azimuth angle is accomplished by a screw and nut mechanism, and its acting force is applied all by an arm of force with a certain length, making it easy to drive. Four rollers 6, 6′, 6″ and 6′″ are used to support the weight of the whole device, making it more stable. In general, the structure of this Embodiment has the following advantages: stable foundation, small driving force, low power consumption by motor, and good resistance against wind, conventional and ordinary materials are selected and the machining and manufacture process is relatively simple and convenient, therefore the price will be significantly lower than existing heliostats, making it possible to lower the investment for power stations. Embodiment 2 The structure of the heliostat device in this Embodiment is generally similar to that in Embodiment 1, with the difference that the transitional driving mechanism connecting vertical shaft 8 and transversal main turning shaft 2 with the sunlight tracking sensor 18 is a flexible shaft mechanism, instead of a specific mechanism comprising three bevel gears and two electromagnetic clutches. As shown in FIGS. 5-1 and 5-2, the said sunlight tracking sensor 18 is mounted on the rotating shaft 26 pivoted on abutment 43, which is fixed on the upper end of azimuth shaft 28, the said rotating shaft 26 is connected with altitudinal shaft 30 with the flexible shaft 44, the said azimuth shaft 28 is connected with vertical shaft 8 via the driving mechanism, the azimuth shaft 28 and bottom support 3 rotate around axial line ZZ′ in the same direction at a speed ratio of 2:1, and the said altitudinal shaft 30 is connected with the transversal main turning shaft 2 via a speed reduction mechanism for the same direction with the reduction ratio of 2:1. In this way, when azimuth shaft 28 rotates, the abutment 43 and sensor 18 fixed on the top of azimuth shaft 28 rotate together with it. At the same time, rotation of altitudinal shaft 30 in turn transmits the rotating action to rotating shaft 26 via flexible shaft 44, so that sensor 18 rotates with turning shaft 26, until the sensor is aligned with the sun. Obviously, this Embodiment has also realized driving of the sensor 18 for integrated detection of altitudinal angle and azimuth angle of the sun, but in a structure much simpler. Of course, the flexible shaft mechanism can also take another form, as shown in FIGS. 5-3 and 5-4, the said abutment 43 is fixed on one end of altitudinal shaft 30, the said rotating shaft 26 is connected with azimuth shaft 28 via flexible shaft 46, and the said azimuth shaft 28 is connected with vertical shaft 8 via the driving mechanism, the azimuth shaft 28 and bottom support 3 rotate around axial line ZZ′ in the same direction at a speed ratio of 2:1, and the said altitudinal shaft 30 is connected with the transversal main turning shaft 2 via a speed reduction mechanism for the same direction with the reduction ratio of 2:1. The above-mentioned function is also realized. Embodiment 3 The structure of the heliostat device in this Embodiment is as shown in FIG. 6. As compared with Embodiment 1, there are the following differences: (1) The azimuth angle driving mechanism is different. It mainly comprises motor 19 and reducer 20, the input shaft of the said reducer 20 is connected with the motor shaft, its output shaft is connected with one of the rollers 6″ on the bottom support. In this way, this roller becomes the driving roller, to push the bottom support 3 to rotate around the axial line ZZ′ of vertical shaft 8, to realize adjustment of azimuth angle. (2) The altitudinal angle driving mechanism is different. It mainly comprises motor 21, tensioning sprockets 22 and 23 with spring mechanism, motor output shaft sprocket and chain 24. The two ends of chain 24 are rigidly connected respectively with the two ends C and A of the connecting rods CD and AB of the parallel connecting rod mechanism and the chain 24 is engaged with tensioning sprockets 22 and 23 and motor output shaft sprocket. In this way, the motor 21 rotates to drive the sprocket, so that the engaging position of chain 24 with sprockets changes continuously, and frame 5 rotates around the axial line of the transversal turning shaft, to realize adjustment of altitudinal angle. (3) The sunlight tracking sensor 18 comprises the altitudinal angle detector 18″ mounted on altitudinal shaft 30 and the azimuth angle detector 18′ mounted on azimuth shaft 28, the said altitudinal shaft 30 is connected with transversal main turning shaft 2 via a reduction mechanism for the same direction with a speed ratio of 2:1, the said azimuth angle 28 is connected with the vertical shaft 8 via the driving mechanism, and the azimuth shaft 28 and bottom support 3 rotate around axial line ZZ′ in the same direction at a speed ratio of 2:1. In this way, the relatively complicated specific transitional driving mechanism comprising three bevel gears and two electromagnetic clutches is omitted, while the tracking function is still realized. In addition to the above embodiments, there are still many other embodiments. For instance: (1) The intersecting point O1 in space of the vertical shaft axial line with the axial line of the transversal main turning shaft is not restricted to an abstracted infinitely small point mathematically, and it can be an area around the intersecting point. Furthermore, the vertical shaft axial line and the axial line of transversal main turning shaft may not necessarily intersect, the axial line of the transversal main turning shaft can be as close as possible to the right front or rear of the vertical shaft axial line; now on the shortest connecting line of these two axial lines as close as possible, a point is set as O2, the setting point O2 basically coincides with the center of one of the planar reflectors, and the central axial line of the directed sensor coincides or is parallel with the connecting line O2O′. In this case, this said area can also be an area near the point O2. The center of the directed projection area can also be a point in the area near the center. (2) The relations of vertical shaft 8 and sleeve 7 in these Embodiments can be changed as appropriate, so that the vertical shaft 8 is located in the center of bottom support 3 and is in rigid connection with bottom support 3; the said sleeve 7 is fixed on the ground, with other parts changed accordingly. (3) In the altitudinal angle driving mechanism in Embodiment 1, the nut 12 is pivoted on the connecting member 27 of the two connecting rods of the parallel connecting rod mechanism, the supporting base 11 is pivoted on the connecting member 26 between the two vertical supports, and this will also drive the parallel connecting rod mechanism and the planar reflectors on it to rotate around the axial line of the transversal main turning shaft, to adjust the altitudinal angle of the planar reflectors and their mutual distance in the same way. (4) More than one directed sensor 25 can be mounted in different positions in fixed projection direction in the above Embodiments. (5) Mutual combined change of the altitudinal angle driving mechanism and azimuth angle driving mechanism in Embodiments 1 and 2 and so on. All equivalent or similar combined changes made on the basis of the teachings of this invention by technical personnel in this field shall be within the scope of this patent. From the foregoing, persons of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that heliostat devices have been provided, which can perform functions of sun tracking and accurately directed projection on the basis of the sunlight tracking sensor, via the directed sensor mounted in fixed projection direction to form multi-stage control sensors. A disclosed heliostat device comprises planar reflectors and their frame, planar reflectors azimuth angle adjusting mechanism and altitudinal angle adjusting mechanism, and sunlight tracking sensor, the azimuth angle adjusting mechanism comprising a vertical shaft and its sleeve, a bottom support rotating around the central axial line (ZZ′) of the vertical shaft, the altitudinal angle adjusting mechanism comprising at least one transversal main turning shaft parallel with the planar reflectors, the intersecting point (O1) in space of the said vertical shaft axial line and the transversal main turning shaft axial line or the setting point (O2) on the shortest connecting line between the two axial lines basically coincides with the center of one of the planar reflectors, and this device also includes a directed sensor with the light sensing surface facing the said planar reflector, and the central axial line of the directed sensor coincides or is parallel with the connecting line (O1O′ ) or (O2O′) of the said intersecting point (O1) or setting point (O2) with the center (O′) of the directed projection area. In this way, the device is first driven to rotate around the vertical shaft axial line and the transversal main turning shaft axial line under the control by the sunlight tracking sensor, to adjust the azimuth angle and altitudinal angle of the planar reflectors. When the change in altitudinal angle and azimuth angle of the normal line of the planar reflector is respectively half of the change in the altitudinal angle and azimuth angle of the sun as detected by the tracking sensor, the device is basically in the proper position. Now the device enters the functioning range of the directed sensor, while the tracking sensor does not function. The directed sensor start to work, until the central axial line of directed sensor coincides or is parallel with the connecting line O1O′ or O2O′ (i.e., the required directed projection direction), the planar reflectors can be accurately adjusted to the desired position. Further, the said directed sensor comprises the post, lens with O3 as its center and photosensitive elements of single stage or more stages, the said lens being located in the top front of the post, the photosensitive elements of single stage or more stages behind the lens, the single stage or last stage of photosensitive elements comprising a four-quadrant photosensitive element with O4 as its center, located in the most rear of the post, the central axial line of the directed sensor is the connecting line between O3 and O4. As the directed sensor comprises a single stage or more than one stage of photosensitive elements, after the sunlight is reflected by the planar reflectors, its direction continuous approaches the desired projecting direction, and finally positioned in the direction pointed by the connecting line O1O′ or O2O′ . This device can perform functions of sun tracking and accurate projection in fixed direction on the basis of the sunlight tracking sensor, via the directed sensor mounted in fixed projection direction to form multi-stage control sensors. It has overcome the shortcomings of previous devices with accumulated error and high cost in programmed control, poor stability and reliability in direction fixing by solely relying upon the tracking sensor, and has demonstrated better applicability. Although certain example methods and apparatus have been described herein, the scope of coverage of this patent is not limited thereto. On the contrary, this patent covers all methods, apparatus and articles of manufacture fairly falling within the scope of the appended claims either literally or under the doctrine of equivalents. | <SOH> BACKGROUND <EOH>The heliostat is an important device frequently involved in the utilization of solar energy, and it is mainly used in lighting or thermal power generation with solar energy. For instance, in thermal power generation with a tower using solar energy, the solar heat radiation is reflected by a number of heliostats to a solar receiver mounted on top of a high tower, to heat the medium to produce superheated steam, or to directly heat water in the heat collector to produce superheated steam, which then drives the turbo-generator set to generate electricity, thus converting solar energy into electrical energy. To enable the solar radiation to be reflected onto the fixed receiver by reflectors at all times during the day, a tracking mechanism must be provided for the reflectors. To control the tracking mechanism, two forms are mainly adopted nowadays, namely, programmed control and control by sensors. With programmed control, the movement of the dual-shaft tracking mechanism is controlled according to the calculated sun movement route. Programmed control has the shortcoming of accumulated error and high cost. With control by sensors, the movement of the tracking mechanism is controlled according to the incident sun radiation direction measured by the sensors. Control by sensors has the shortcomings that: (a) it cannot control the reflected light directly, (b) as there is mechanical error in precision that cannot be overcome, it is difficult to ensure accurate tracking and positioning by solely relying on the tracking sensors mounted on the tracking mechanism, and (c) it cannot realize stable and reliable control. | <SOH> BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS <EOH>FIG. 1-1 is the structure schematic of a first example heliostat device constructed in accordance with the teachings of this invention. FIG. 1-2 shows the locally enlarged structure in FIG. 1-1 . FIG. 1-3 is the enlarged schematic of local structure I in FIG. 1-2 . FIG. 2 is the detailed structure of a specific driving mechanism for the sensor in FIG. 1-1 . FIG. 3 shows the principle of directed sun tracking. FIG. 4 is the schematic of the structure of the directed sensor in Embodiment 1. FIG. 5-1 is the schematic of the structure of second example Embodiment. FIG. 5-2 is the enlarged schematic of local structure I in FIG. 5-1 . FIG. 5-3 is the schematic of another structure of the second example Embodiment 2. FIG. 5-4 is the enlarged schematic of local structure II in FIG. 5-3 . FIG. 6 is the schematic of the structure of a third example Embodiment. detailed-description description="Detailed Description" end="lead"? | 20040830 | 20061003 | 20060302 | 70075.0 | F24J238 | 0 | PYO, KEVIN K | HELIOSTAT DEVICE | SMALL | 0 | ACCEPTED | F24J | 2,004 |
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10,930,148 | ACCEPTED | Septic system remediation method and apparatus | A method and apparatus for remediating a failing wastewater treatment system comprising (a) a positive oxygen and ozone-generating, or ozone-generating only, pressure pump having an output, (b) a tube having a first end and a second end, the first end being attachable to the pump output, and (c) an air stone attachable to the second tube end. The pump is used to deliver oxygen and ozone, or ozone only, through the tube to the air stone. As much tube as is required is used to allow the air stone to be introduced into almost any portion of the wastewater treatment system so as to introduce air into the effluent and allow aerobic bacteria to proliferate. The apparatus of the present invention could also include a plurality of such pumps, tubes and air stones, and in many combinations. | 1. An apparatus for the remediation of a wastewater treatment system, such system being comprised of at least one septic tank having an outlet, a distribution system and a leaching system, wherein effluent drains from the tank outlet through the distribution system and to the leaching system comprising: at least one positive pressure ozone generating pump having an output; a tube having a first end and a second end, the first end being attachable to the pump output; and an air stone attachable to the second tube end, said air stone being used to introduce ozone into the effluent and encourage aerobic bacteria to proliferate. 2. The apparatus of claim 1 further comprising the use of air pumps in combination with one or more ozone pumps. 3. The apparatus of claim 2 wherein the plurality of pumps, tubes and air stones are distributed at different locations throughout the system. 4. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the air stone comprises a low pressure drop sintered air stone having a relatively large surface area. 5. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the at least one pump is electrically actuated and includes internal electrical connections that are packaged within a weatherproof container. 6. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the tubing is made from a vinyl material. 7. The apparatus of claim 1 further comprising means for introducing one or more from a group consisting of anaerobic bacteria, aerobic bacteria, facultative bacteria, enzymes and vitamins to the system. 8. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the apparatus is utilized with at least one holding tank. 9. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the apparatus is utilized with at least one mobile and/or portable holding tank. 10. A method for the remediation of a wastewater treatment system, such system being comprised of at least one septic tank having an outlet, a distribution system and a leaching system, wherein effluent drains from the tank outlet through the distribution system and to the leaching system, comprising the steps of: providing at least one positive pressure ozone generating pump having an output; providing a tube having a first end and a second end, the first end being attachable to the pump output; providing an air stone that is attachable to the second tube end; introducing the air stone into a portion of the system; and delivering ozone through the tube into the effluent via the air stone to encourage aerobic bacteria to proliferate therewithin. 11. The method of claim 10 further comprising the step of delivering air into the effluent from at least one air pump in combination with the at least one ozone generating pump. 12. The method of claim 10 further wherein the ozone delivering step further comprises delivering air through the tube into the effluent via the air stone. 13. The method of claim 11 wherein the plurality of pumps, tubes and air stones providing steps include distributing the plurality of such pumps, tubes and air stones at different locations throughout the system. 14. The method of claim 10 wherein the air stone providing step includes providing a low pressure drop sintered air stone having a relatively large surface area. 15. The method of claim 10 wherein the pump providing step includes providing a pump that is electrically actuated and includes internal electrical connections that are packaged within a weatherproof container. 16. The method of claim 10 further comprising the step of introducing one or more from a group consisting of anaerobic bacteria, aerobic bacteria, facultative bacteria, enzymes and vitamins to the system. 17. The method of claim 10 wherein the method is adapted for use with at least one holding tank. 18. The method of claim 10 wherein the method is adapted for use with at least one mobile and/or portable holding tank. 19. A method for remediating a wastewater treatment system, such system being comprised of at least one septic tank having an inlet and an outlet, and at least one absorption field wherein effluent drains from the tank outlet, wherein an accumulation of bio-mat has reduced the flow of effluent through the absorption field, comprising the steps of: introducing a combination of ozone and air to the bio-mat; introducing live aerobic bacteria to the bio-mat; monitoring the level of effluent in the absorption field; and stopping the introduction of ozone and air to the effluent when the bio-mat is sufficiently reduced or made permeable. 20. The method of the claim 19 further comprising the step of introducing live anaerobic bacteria to the system after stopping the introduction of ozone and air to the system. | CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application 60/503,033 filed Sep. 15, 2003. FIELD OF THE INVENTION This invention relates generally to septic systems and to the components that make up such systems. More particularly, it relates to an improved method and apparatus for remediating the formation of a bio-mat that can occur in the absorption field component of a private on-site wastewater treatment system. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Septic systems and septic system components are well known in the art. Such systems are typically found in relatively sparsely populated areas not otherwise serviced by municipal waste water systems. The purpose of a septic system is to dispose of the wastewater that is generated by the occupants of a home or other building in such a manner that surrounding soils can be used to disperse the wastewater without causing an adverse effect on ground water and, in turn, on public health and the environment in general. To accomplish this task, septic systems are normally comprised of a septic tank, a distribution system and a leaching system. The septic tank is connected to the plumbing of a home or building by means of a sewer line. The septic tank provides a holding area for the settling of waste solids and for some initial treatment of the waste. Generally, septic tanks have baffles to slow the velocity of the liquid moving through the tank and to prevent solids from leaving the tank. In this way, properly functioning septic tanks produce an effluent of fairly uniform quality. The effluent then moves to a distribution system that directs the flow of effluent from the septic tank to the leaching system in such a manner as to fully utilize the leaching system. Most systems take advantage of gravity, meaning that flow runs through piping and distribution boxes without the assistance of any mechanical device such as a pump. The leaching system disperses the sewage effluent over a given underground area and into the surrounding natural soils. There are several types of leaching systems and the specific type used often depends on the surrounding soil conditions. Most residential leaching systems use stone filled leaching trenches but galleries, pits, and beds have also been used. In the experience of this inventor, private on-site wastewater treatment systems have finite lifetimes due to many factors including household water use, excessive introduction of chemicals into the waste stream, poor maintenance, and environmental factors. Replacement of any septic system component that may be required to deal with remediation of the entire system can be extremely expensive. The reason for this is the fact that the septic system components, for the most part, are buried underground as previously described and are largely inaccessible. A very significant factor is that passive septic systems typically rely on the presence of indigenous anaerobic bacteria to break down the solid waste introduced to the system. As solid waste enters the septic tank, it flows through the series of baffles that are designed to reduce the velocity of the flow as previously described. Generally, three identifiable layers occur in a septic tank. First, as designed, solid wastes precipitate out of the flow to the bottom of the septic tank. This layer is generally known as sludge. Liquid effluent is the intermediate layer and generally consists of liquids and solids partially broken down into liquids by the anaerobic bacteria that are present in the septic tank. This intermediate layer is drained off to the absorption field. The top layer in the septic tank is generally known as the scum layer. The scum layer is comprised of mostly residual detergents, soaps, fats and oils and has a tendency to float at the top of the septic tank. Optimally, the septic tank is designed such that only the partially treated liquid effluent is permitted to leave the septic tank for the absorption field. Unfortunately, this is not always the case. The standard septic system is passive in that it relies on the presence of indigenous anaerobic bacteria to break down the solid wastes introduced into the system. Anaerobic bacteria thrive in conditions such as those that exist at the bottom of a septic system, where oxygen is lacking. Accordingly, septic systems are designed to have the capacity to treat a certain amount of solid wastes based on the capability of the indigenous bacteria to break down the solid waste over a certain period of time. Therefore, the average amount of solid waste produced per day should be approximately equal to the amount that the anaerobic bacteria can break down in one day. Aerobic bacteria are also indigenous and occur naturally within the waste stream. Aerobic bacteria, however, exist and function only where oxygen is present. While aerobic bacteria typically break down solid wastes more quickly than anaerobic bacteria, they are ineffective at breaking down sludge, or the solid layer at the bottom of the septic tank, because there is no oxygen present in that layer. Due to increased installation and operating costs, aerobic systems that would otherwise eliminate this sludge layer are not favored for home use. As anaerobic bacteria digest solids suspended in the effluent as they make their way to the absorption field or in the absorption field, the suspended solids and accompanying bacteria are then deposited at the interface between the absorption field and the soil surrounding the system. This layer is known as the “bio-mat” and it performs further filtering of the effluent. Unfortunately, the bio-mat layer can grow to a thickness where it almost completely, or almost completely, impedes absorption. While there are many ways in which septic systems can fail, two of the most likely modes of failure include the creation and thickening of a bio-mat layer at the absorption field component of the system due to the decomposition of solids within the effluent. Excess sludge and scum from the septic tank can also build up in this bio-mat. For example, when the rate of decomposition caused by the anaerobic bacteria is incapable of keeping up with rate of solids draining into the system, the septic tank fills with sludge. As the sludge level gets higher, the scum level at the top of the tank takes up more space. This causes the liquid effluent to run through the septic tank more quickly, which prevents solids from settling. The solids that fail to settle in the septic tank proceed to the absorption system, where they frequently plug the pores in the soil used for absorption. The scum layer can also find its way out of the septic tank and similarly prevents soil absorption. And if too much of the absorption field is plugged by scum and solids, the effluent will actually back up in the absorption area and cause muddy spots in the area above the absorption field. This is a sign that the absorption field has failed, an extremely malodorous and unsightly condition. As alluded to earlier, replacement of soil absorption systems is frighteningly costly and heavily regulated by states, counties and municipalities due to the threat that malfunctioning systems pose to the groundwater. Replacement systems are very expensive, with the actual expense depending on the condition of other components in the septic system. Some owners chose to convert their existing passive system to an active system, an even more costly endeavor. Another possible option is to create an above-grade soil absorption system. Above grade systems also have operating and maintenance expenses and those are even greater than passive systems. Holding tanks are frequently the option of last resort as they are also expensive and need to be regularly pumped by a commercial contractor. Frequently, a failing or failed soil absorption system can be remediated with the support of naturally occurring aerobic bacteria in the system. In theory, an aerobic system could eliminate or substantially reduce the failure rate of an absorption field. Unfortunately, aerobic bacteria also require the introduction of oxygen into the waste stream. This inventor has previously identified a need for a temporary means for introducing oxygen into a failed or failing soil absorption field for the purpose of converting the biochemical process from an anaerobic one to an aerobic one. In U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/764,245, this inventor disclosed that a forced introduction of oxygen into the system would allow the aerobic bacteria to scour the bio-mat, thereby working to reduce the thickness and/or increase the permeability of the bio-mat and permit the system to revert back to an anaerobic passive system as originally designed. There is also a need to alter the biochemical process by conversion of the complete soil absorption component or a localized area of it. This inventor has also found that the forced introduction of ozone gas can improve performance of the remediation process disclosed above. Ozone, also known as triatomic oxygen or O3, is itself a powerful oxidizing agent. In nature, ozone is created when the electrical current of lightning transforms diatomic oxygen molecules, or O2, into activated triatomic oxygen, or O3. Ozone, however, is also an unstable gas which, at normal temperatures and under all ordinary conditions, spontaneously decomposes to diatomic oxygen or O2. This decomposition is speeded by solid surfaces and by many chemical substances. For this reason, ozone is not encountered except in the immediate vicinity of where it is formed. That is, ozone cannot be stored and must be generated on-site. When ozone is introduced into the system, some of the highly oxidizing agent decomposes bio-degradable matter in the system. The balance of the available ozone rapidly decomposes to oxygen and is available for consumption by the aerobic bacteria. BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Accordingly, the present invention provides an improved apparatus and a method for the remediation of failing private onsite wastewater treatment systems, such systems being comprised of a septic tank having an inlet and an outlet, in some cases, a second septic tank or pumping chamber having an inlet and an outlet and a seepage pit, drywell, absorption field or a above grade mound system having an inlet and a plurality of outlets wherein effluent drains from the inlet to the outlet. The apparatus, in its most simple form, comprises (a) a positive oxygen and ozone-generating, or ozone-generating only, pressure pump having an output, (b) a tube having a first end and a second end, the first end being attachable to the pump output, and (c) an air stone attachable to the second tube end. The pump is used to deliver oxygen and ozone, or ozone only, through the tube to the air stone. As much tube as is required is used to allow the air stone to be introduced into almost any portion of the wastewater treatment system so as to introduce air into the effluent and allow aerobic bacteria to proliferate. The apparatus of the present invention could also include a plurality of such pumps, tubes and air stones, and in many combinations. The present invention also provides an improved method for remediating failed or failing private onsite wastewater treatment systems wherein an accumulation of bio-mat has reduced the flow of effluent through the dry well or the absorption field minimally comprising the steps of (a) introducing oxygen and ozone, or ozone only, to the bio-mat, (b) introducing live aerobic bacteria to the bio-mat, (c) monitoring the level of effluent in the absorption field or dry well, and (d) stopping the introduction of oxygen and ozone, or ozone only, to the effluent when the bio-mat is sufficiently reduced or made permeable. The improved method of the present invention could also include introducing anaerobic and or aerobic bacteria to the treated area before, and or during and or after the remediation equipment is removed. The foregoing and other features of the improved method and apparatus of the present invention will be apparent from the detailed description that follows. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a typical private wastewater treatment system of the type that the method and apparatus of the present invention could be used with. FIG. 2 is a top plan view of the system illustrated in FIG. 1. FIG. 3 is a side elevational view of the system shown in FIG. 1. FIG. 4 is a photograph illustrating the components of an apparatus constructed in accordance with the present invention. FIG. 5 is a graph illustrating ponded effluent depth versus elapsed time in a typical application using the method and apparatus of the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION Reference is now made to the drawings wherein like numbers refer to like elements throughout. FIG. 1 illustrates a septic system, generally identified 10, with which the improved apparatus and method of the present invention is intended to be used. It is to be understood, however, that the precise configuration of the improved system is not a limitation of the present invention and could assume any number of sizes and layouts. The septic system 10 shown is for illustration purposes only. A six foot tall man 4 is included for relative size reference as well. As shown in FIG. 3, the septic system 10 lies, for the most part, below earth grade 2. The system 10 includes a pipe 12 leading from a home or building (not shown) which pipe 12 is connected to a first septic tank 14. The first tank 14 may or may not have a vented cover. As shown, the first tank 14 includes a riser 16. The first tank 14 is, in turn, connected to a second tank 18. This second tank 18 may or may not have a vented cover as well. As shown, the second tank 18 includes a riser 20 and a vent 21. As will become apparent later in this detailed description, if either the first or second tanks 14, 18 do not have a vented cover atop of 16, 20, respectively, one may need to be added in order to utilize the apparatus of the present invention. This second tank 18 may also be a pumping chamber. It should also be noted that the second tank 18 lies slightly below the first tank 14 such that gravity affects a downstream flow of effluent from one tank to the other. The second tank 18 is, in turn, connected to a dry well or seepage pit 22. The dry well or seepage pit 22 includes a vent 24. An alternate to a dry well or seepage pit 22 is an absorption field 26 or an above grade mound system (not shown). The absorption field 26 may include a distribution box 28 and a vent 30. The distribution box 28 of the absorption field 26 may or may not include a distribution box riser 32 and a distribution box vent 34. Again for reasons that will become apparent later in this detailed description, a distribution box riser 32 will likely need to be added to the system 10 if one is not already included. As shown in FIG. 3, it will be shown that the downward flow of effluent is affected by gravity. Alternatively, the effluent can be moved by a positive pressure pump to the soil distribution component of the system. In general, the improved apparatus of the present invention is comprised of at least one high volume ozone-generating pump 40 connected to at least one low pressure drop sintered air stone 60. The air stone 60 has a relatively large surface area. See FIG. 4. The pumps 40 and all internal electrical connections are packaged in a weatherproof container 42. The external electrical connection 44 is connected via an extension cord to a circuit breaker or may be permanently hardwired to an electrical junction box. The pumps 40 force oxygen and ozone, or ozone only, into clear vinyl tubing 50, although many types of tubing are acceptable and would be within the scope of the present invention. The tubes, or aeration lines, 50 are then connected to the air stones 60, which are placed at various locations inside the septic system 10. It is to be understood that at least one high volume ozone-generating pump 40 be utilized to introduce ozone into the system. Other pumps 40 may be used with or without ozone-generating capabilities. As shown in FIG. 1, and using the improved system illustrated therein as representative of a typical system, the preferred location for the aeration lines 50 is in the vent pipe 34 of the distribution box 28, the vent pipe 24 of the dry well 22, or the vent pipe 21 of the second tank or pumping chamber 18. For example, as shown in FIGS. 1, 2 and 3, a first pump 40a, tubing 50a, and air stone 60a are used with the second tank 18. At that location, the first air stone 60a and a portion of the tubing 50a are inserted into the second tank 18 via the tank vent 21. A second pump 40b, tubing 50b, and air stone 60b are used with the dry well or seepage pit 22. And a third pump 40c, tubing 50c, and air stone 60c are used with the distribution box 28 of the absorption field 26. If the standing effluent level in the distribution box 28 is not of adequate depth, an alternate location should be considered. If a vent pipe or well is not available at this location, one may be installed for a rather nominal cost. In most cases, the standard vent cap can be used during remediation. It is to be understood that the improved apparatus of the present invention could be installed in alternate locations. For example, the aeration lines could be installed in the final septic tank or pumping chamber of a multiple tank system or in the septic tank in a single tank system immediately prior to the outlet to the soil absorption system. As an alternate to installing through a vented cover, small holes can be drilled through the lid of the tank or compartment and the aeration lines installed. Installation of an approved effluent filter is recommended with this application method. Remediation is a lengthy process. However, the improved method and apparatus of the present invention provides some degree of immediate relief quite quickly. Thereafter, the rate of remediation tapers off over time. Substantial remediation can occur in most systems within about 6 months, although other systems may require as long as one year. If, even then, the system is not completely remediated, the equipment can be operated for longer periods without detrimental effects to the system. One advantage to the use of at least one ozone-generating pump 40 within the system is that the application of ozone to any medium, liquid or gas, does not add other chemicals to the system. Depending on conditions, the introduction of ozone, approved bacteria, enzymes and vitamins may expedite the remediation process. Unfortunately, after the remediation equipment has been removed, there will be a lag of decomposition activity while the aerobic bacteria die and the anaerobic bacteria again takes over. Many types of bacteria are available for purchase which include both aerobic, and or anaerobic and or facultative that can expedite the system's return to normalcy. Addition of these products is not required in the improved method of the present invention but may be considered to enhance performance. In the experience of this inventor, the length of time required to remediate a failing or failed absorption field depends on several factors, including, but not limited to, system type, size, severity of failure, site conditions, precipitation, and the average temperature during the remediation process. Several trials have been conducted that show the influences of these conditions. All trials showed successful application of the remediation program. The trials showed little change in measured effluent in the absorption system during the first several days of remediation. The following weeks showed a significant drop in effluent levels. Over time, the rate of effluent reduction decays. Rapid effluent drop near the top of the absorption system is to be expected as it is not normally used until the lower levels become plugged and the effluent levels begin to rise. Daily specific hydraulic loading and local precipitation had similar effects on all systems. In another particular application, the present invention provides for use of one Enaly OZX-1000U ozone generator 40, two 12 inch Micro-Bubble air stones 60, 20 feet of tubing 50, a pair of “tees”, one tube weight, a weatherproof container 42, an extension cord 44 and a UL rated ground fault circuit interrupter, or GFCI. See also FIG. 4. All electrical connections for the generator 40 are located inside the weatherproof container 42. An extension cord runs to a GFCI and then to the power source. The generator 40 used in this embodiment of the invention provides an ozone output of 1000 mg/hour with a pump output of 4 to 5 liters per minute, although other generators of various output capacities could be used. Other sizes and types of tubing 50 would also work equally well. Additionally, several types of air stones 60 other than that specified will work. The air stones 60 are attached to the end of the tubing 50 and distribute ozone more effectively to wet areas. It would also be possible to achieve favorable remediation by using a combination of air pumps and ozone generators 40, which combination would still come within the scope of the present invention. In the opinion of this inventor, installation of the improved device of the present invention is relatively simple and straightforward and can frequently be accomplished by the homeowner. The user should first identify the components of his or her particular septic system. Frequently, the local government or health department will have information about the homeowner's septic system on file. However, as a general rule, home septic systems are comprised of a pipe running from the house to the septic tank, in some cases, a pipe running to a second septic tank or pumping chamber, and a typical distribution box that splits the effluent into several pipes going into the absorption field, as discussed above. With this configuration, there are several different locations in which the improved apparatus of the present invention can be installed to eliminate excess bio-mat. The preferred location to install the remediation equipment is as close to the bio-mat problem as possible. Therefore, in a septic system having a first septic tank 14, a second septic tank or pumping chamber 18, a dry well 22 and a distribution box 28 leading to one or more absorption field vents 30, 34, the preferred location would be in the dry well or seepage pit 22. A secondary, but still beneficial location would be to install the aerator stone 60 in the distribution box 28. However, it would also be beneficial to install the aerator stone 60 of the present invention after the second septic tank 18. Obviously, different septic systems will require slightly different installations. In the event that a septic system 10 does not have a vent at a convenient location to monitor the progress of the remediation method, a monitoring well can be added to a conventional soil absorption system by driving a “sandpoint” well point not less than 12 inches and not more than 24 inches below the bottom of the soil absorption vent pipe 30. The bottom of the “sandpoint” should be driven to the bottom of the soil absorption field 26. Therefore, the effluent level in the “sandpoint” can then be monitored. The improved remediation apparatus of the present invention should be allowed to operate for six months. If the system 10 is severely plugged, the equipment can operate for more time without damaging the septic system. The depth of the ponded effluent should be recorded regularly. Frequently, plotting the data on a program such as Microsoft® Excel will enable the user to predict the amount of time required for remediation. A good estimate of the required operating time can be obtained by examining a plot of the Ponded Effluent Depth as shown in FIG. 5. Normally, treatment should continue for two months after the ponded effluent depth stabilizes. For the system plotted in FIG. 5, the owner of the septic system might expect to operate the system a total of 120 days. The user should expect some anomalous measurements during the remediation period. For example, in FIG. 5, the ponded effluent depth in the septic system declined for several days, remained steady, and then rose again. This rise could be attributed to many things such as increased water usage and precipitation. This improved process and apparatus can also be applied to the effluent contained in a holding tank. In this application, the effluent category can be changed from untreated waste to treated waste. This recategorization may reduce the pumping cost associated with the holding tank. Typically, untreated waste of a holding tank must be disposed of in a waste treatment facility. The waste treatment facility charges the waste hauler for this service, who in turn charges the owner of the holding tank. Treated waste can be alternatively distributed into the surface of the ground at less cost. Yet another application of this improved process and equipment is in mobile and portable holding tanks. Mobile and portable holding tanks can be found in but not limited to recreational vehicles, camping trailers, boats, etc. These holding tanks are anaerobic in nature and emit odorful methane gases. Owners typically add chemical odor controllers containing paraformaldehyde, alkyl dimethyl benzyl ammonium chloride (quaternary ammonium) or other disinfectants. These chemicals are toxic and detrimental to a private on-site wastewater treatment system. Many rural campgrounds are serviced by private on-site wastewater treatment system. Many campgrounds discourage or have banned the use of these additives. As alluded to earlier, the application of ozone to any medium does not add any other chemicals. In this application, the naturally occurring aerobic bacteria can eliminate the odors of a blackwater or sewage holding tank. In fact, ozone in its gaseous state is a proven deodorizer for a variety of odorous materials. Ozone also has the proven ability to convert biorefractory organic materials to biodegradable materials. Thus, ozone oxidation can produce wastewater with lower concentrations of problematic organic compounds. The equipment will keep the holding tank significantly free of sludge build up on the sidewalls and depth sensors. Application of this improved process to the gray water holding tank will also eliminate odor, keeps the holding tank free of sludge build up on the sidewalls and depth sensors. This treated gray water is then suitable for the use of flushing the toilet. Based on the foregoing, it will be apparent that there has been provided an improved apparatus and method for introducing oxygen and ozone, or ozone only, into a failed or failing soil absorption field for the purpose of converting the biochemical process from an anaerobic one to an aerobic one. The forced introduction of oxygen and ozone, or ozone only, into the system allows the aerobic bacteria to scour the bio-mat, thereby working to reduce the thickness of the bio-mat and permitting the system to revert back to an anaerobic passive system as originally designed. By using the improved method and apparatus of the present invention, the biochemical process is altered by complete or localized conversion of the soil absorption component as above described. The improved apparatus of the present invention may seem quite simple in practice compared to existing aerobic systems. However, the goal of this improved approach to remediation is value based. The idea is to provide an inexpensive and effective alternative to replacing the absorption system of a septic system. This has been accomplished by the improved method and apparatus of the present invention. | <SOH> BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION <EOH>Septic systems and septic system components are well known in the art. Such systems are typically found in relatively sparsely populated areas not otherwise serviced by municipal waste water systems. The purpose of a septic system is to dispose of the wastewater that is generated by the occupants of a home or other building in such a manner that surrounding soils can be used to disperse the wastewater without causing an adverse effect on ground water and, in turn, on public health and the environment in general. To accomplish this task, septic systems are normally comprised of a septic tank, a distribution system and a leaching system. The septic tank is connected to the plumbing of a home or building by means of a sewer line. The septic tank provides a holding area for the settling of waste solids and for some initial treatment of the waste. Generally, septic tanks have baffles to slow the velocity of the liquid moving through the tank and to prevent solids from leaving the tank. In this way, properly functioning septic tanks produce an effluent of fairly uniform quality. The effluent then moves to a distribution system that directs the flow of effluent from the septic tank to the leaching system in such a manner as to fully utilize the leaching system. Most systems take advantage of gravity, meaning that flow runs through piping and distribution boxes without the assistance of any mechanical device such as a pump. The leaching system disperses the sewage effluent over a given underground area and into the surrounding natural soils. There are several types of leaching systems and the specific type used often depends on the surrounding soil conditions. Most residential leaching systems use stone filled leaching trenches but galleries, pits, and beds have also been used. In the experience of this inventor, private on-site wastewater treatment systems have finite lifetimes due to many factors including household water use, excessive introduction of chemicals into the waste stream, poor maintenance, and environmental factors. Replacement of any septic system component that may be required to deal with remediation of the entire system can be extremely expensive. The reason for this is the fact that the septic system components, for the most part, are buried underground as previously described and are largely inaccessible. A very significant factor is that passive septic systems typically rely on the presence of indigenous anaerobic bacteria to break down the solid waste introduced to the system. As solid waste enters the septic tank, it flows through the series of baffles that are designed to reduce the velocity of the flow as previously described. Generally, three identifiable layers occur in a septic tank. First, as designed, solid wastes precipitate out of the flow to the bottom of the septic tank. This layer is generally known as sludge. Liquid effluent is the intermediate layer and generally consists of liquids and solids partially broken down into liquids by the anaerobic bacteria that are present in the septic tank. This intermediate layer is drained off to the absorption field. The top layer in the septic tank is generally known as the scum layer. The scum layer is comprised of mostly residual detergents, soaps, fats and oils and has a tendency to float at the top of the septic tank. Optimally, the septic tank is designed such that only the partially treated liquid effluent is permitted to leave the septic tank for the absorption field. Unfortunately, this is not always the case. The standard septic system is passive in that it relies on the presence of indigenous anaerobic bacteria to break down the solid wastes introduced into the system. Anaerobic bacteria thrive in conditions such as those that exist at the bottom of a septic system, where oxygen is lacking. Accordingly, septic systems are designed to have the capacity to treat a certain amount of solid wastes based on the capability of the indigenous bacteria to break down the solid waste over a certain period of time. Therefore, the average amount of solid waste produced per day should be approximately equal to the amount that the anaerobic bacteria can break down in one day. Aerobic bacteria are also indigenous and occur naturally within the waste stream. Aerobic bacteria, however, exist and function only where oxygen is present. While aerobic bacteria typically break down solid wastes more quickly than anaerobic bacteria, they are ineffective at breaking down sludge, or the solid layer at the bottom of the septic tank, because there is no oxygen present in that layer. Due to increased installation and operating costs, aerobic systems that would otherwise eliminate this sludge layer are not favored for home use. As anaerobic bacteria digest solids suspended in the effluent as they make their way to the absorption field or in the absorption field, the suspended solids and accompanying bacteria are then deposited at the interface between the absorption field and the soil surrounding the system. This layer is known as the “bio-mat” and it performs further filtering of the effluent. Unfortunately, the bio-mat layer can grow to a thickness where it almost completely, or almost completely, impedes absorption. While there are many ways in which septic systems can fail, two of the most likely modes of failure include the creation and thickening of a bio-mat layer at the absorption field component of the system due to the decomposition of solids within the effluent. Excess sludge and scum from the septic tank can also build up in this bio-mat. For example, when the rate of decomposition caused by the anaerobic bacteria is incapable of keeping up with rate of solids draining into the system, the septic tank fills with sludge. As the sludge level gets higher, the scum level at the top of the tank takes up more space. This causes the liquid effluent to run through the septic tank more quickly, which prevents solids from settling. The solids that fail to settle in the septic tank proceed to the absorption system, where they frequently plug the pores in the soil used for absorption. The scum layer can also find its way out of the septic tank and similarly prevents soil absorption. And if too much of the absorption field is plugged by scum and solids, the effluent will actually back up in the absorption area and cause muddy spots in the area above the absorption field. This is a sign that the absorption field has failed, an extremely malodorous and unsightly condition. As alluded to earlier, replacement of soil absorption systems is frighteningly costly and heavily regulated by states, counties and municipalities due to the threat that malfunctioning systems pose to the groundwater. Replacement systems are very expensive, with the actual expense depending on the condition of other components in the septic system. Some owners chose to convert their existing passive system to an active system, an even more costly endeavor. Another possible option is to create an above-grade soil absorption system. Above grade systems also have operating and maintenance expenses and those are even greater than passive systems. Holding tanks are frequently the option of last resort as they are also expensive and need to be regularly pumped by a commercial contractor. Frequently, a failing or failed soil absorption system can be remediated with the support of naturally occurring aerobic bacteria in the system. In theory, an aerobic system could eliminate or substantially reduce the failure rate of an absorption field. Unfortunately, aerobic bacteria also require the introduction of oxygen into the waste stream. This inventor has previously identified a need for a temporary means for introducing oxygen into a failed or failing soil absorption field for the purpose of converting the biochemical process from an anaerobic one to an aerobic one. In U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/764,245, this inventor disclosed that a forced introduction of oxygen into the system would allow the aerobic bacteria to scour the bio-mat, thereby working to reduce the thickness and/or increase the permeability of the bio-mat and permit the system to revert back to an anaerobic passive system as originally designed. There is also a need to alter the biochemical process by conversion of the complete soil absorption component or a localized area of it. This inventor has also found that the forced introduction of ozone gas can improve performance of the remediation process disclosed above. Ozone, also known as triatomic oxygen or O 3 , is itself a powerful oxidizing agent. In nature, ozone is created when the electrical current of lightning transforms diatomic oxygen molecules, or O 2 , into activated triatomic oxygen, or O 3 . Ozone, however, is also an unstable gas which, at normal temperatures and under all ordinary conditions, spontaneously decomposes to diatomic oxygen or O 2 . This decomposition is speeded by solid surfaces and by many chemical substances. For this reason, ozone is not encountered except in the immediate vicinity of where it is formed. That is, ozone cannot be stored and must be generated on-site. When ozone is introduced into the system, some of the highly oxidizing agent decomposes bio-degradable matter in the system. The balance of the available ozone rapidly decomposes to oxygen and is available for consumption by the aerobic bacteria. | <SOH> BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION <EOH>Accordingly, the present invention provides an improved apparatus and a method for the remediation of failing private onsite wastewater treatment systems, such systems being comprised of a septic tank having an inlet and an outlet, in some cases, a second septic tank or pumping chamber having an inlet and an outlet and a seepage pit, drywell, absorption field or a above grade mound system having an inlet and a plurality of outlets wherein effluent drains from the inlet to the outlet. The apparatus, in its most simple form, comprises (a) a positive oxygen and ozone-generating, or ozone-generating only, pressure pump having an output, (b) a tube having a first end and a second end, the first end being attachable to the pump output, and (c) an air stone attachable to the second tube end. The pump is used to deliver oxygen and ozone, or ozone only, through the tube to the air stone. As much tube as is required is used to allow the air stone to be introduced into almost any portion of the wastewater treatment system so as to introduce air into the effluent and allow aerobic bacteria to proliferate. The apparatus of the present invention could also include a plurality of such pumps, tubes and air stones, and in many combinations. The present invention also provides an improved method for remediating failed or failing private onsite wastewater treatment systems wherein an accumulation of bio-mat has reduced the flow of effluent through the dry well or the absorption field minimally comprising the steps of (a) introducing oxygen and ozone, or ozone only, to the bio-mat, (b) introducing live aerobic bacteria to the bio-mat, (c) monitoring the level of effluent in the absorption field or dry well, and (d) stopping the introduction of oxygen and ozone, or ozone only, to the effluent when the bio-mat is sufficiently reduced or made permeable. The improved method of the present invention could also include introducing anaerobic and or aerobic bacteria to the treated area before, and or during and or after the remediation equipment is removed. The foregoing and other features of the improved method and apparatus of the present invention will be apparent from the detailed description that follows. | 20040831 | 20080930 | 20050324 | 75148.0 | 1 | BARRY, CHESTER T | WASTEWATER TREATMENT SYSTEM | SMALL | 0 | ACCEPTED | 2,004 |
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10,930,285 | ACCEPTED | Flexible caller ID and calling name information presentation | Embodiments of the system, and method provide for network support for providing caller flexibility on “name”, “number”, and “message” for a calling terminal that is displayed on a called terminal. One embodiment of the method may have the steps of: entering a command to use at least one of an alternate caller name, an alternate caller number and an alternate caller message for a calling terminal, instead of a preassigned caller name and caller number for the calling terminal; looking up the at least one of an alternate caller name, an alternate caller number and an alternate caller message; and using the at least one of an alternate caller name, an alternate caller number and an alternate caller message in place of the preassigned caller name and caller number for the calling terminal. | 1. A method for network support for providing caller flexibility information of a calling terminal, comprising the steps of: entering a command to use at least one of an alternate caller name, an alternate caller number and an alternate caller message for a calling terminal, instead of a preassigned caller name and caller number for the calling terminal; looking up the at least one of an alternate caller name, an alternate caller number and an alternate caller message; and using the at least one of an alternate caller name, an alternate caller number and an alternate caller message in place of the preassigned caller name and caller number for the calling terminal. 2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the calling terminal is one of a mobile terminal and a non-mobile terminal. 3. The method according to claim 1, wherein the command is entered by the calling terminal. 4. The method according to claim 1, wherein the calling terminal is in a network, and wherein the command is entered by the network. 5. The method according to claim 1, wherein the at least one of an alternate caller name, an alternate caller number and an alternate caller message is stored in a database in the network. 6. The method according to claim 5, wherein the database in which is stored the at least one of an alternate caller name, an alternate caller number and an alternate caller message is a dynamic database, and wherein the at least one of an alternate caller name, an alternate caller number and an alternate caller message is changeable by at least one of the calling terminal and the network. 7. The method according to claim 1, wherein the at least one of an array of alternate caller names, an array of alternate caller numbers and an array of alternate caller messages is stored in a database in the network for the calling terminal. 8. The method according to claim 7, wherein the database in which is stored the at least one of an array of alternate caller names, an array of alternate caller numbers and an array of alternate caller messages is a dynamic database, and wherein the at least one of an array of alternate caller names, an array of alternate caller numbers and an array of alternate caller messages is changeable by at least one of the calling terminal and the network. 9. The method according to claim 1, wherein one of the following is used for the calling terminal: an alternate caller name; an alternate caller number; an alternate caller message; an alternate caller name and an alternate caller number; an alternate caller name and an alternate caller message; an alternate caller number and an alternate caller message; and an alternate caller name, an alternate caller number, and an alternate caller message. 10. A method for network support for providing caller flexibility information of a calling terminal that is displayed on a called terminal, comprising the steps of: storing for a calling terminal at least one of an alternate caller name, an alternate caller number and an alternate caller message in a database in the network; entering a command to use the at least one of an alternate caller name, an alternate caller number and an alternate caller message for the calling terminal, instead of a preassigned caller name and caller number for the calling terminal; looking up in the database the at least one of an alternate caller name, an alternate caller number and an alternate caller message for the calling terminal; and displaying on the called terminal the at least one of an alternate caller name, an alternate caller number and an alternate caller message in place of the preassigned caller name and caller number for the calling terminal. 11. The method according to claim 10, wherein the calling terminal is one of a mobile terminal and a non-mobile terminal, and wherein the called terminal is one of a mobile terminal and a non-mobile terminal. 12. The method according to claim 10, wherein the command is entered by the calling terminal. 13. The method according to claim 10, wherein the calling terminal and the called terminal are in a network, and wherein the command is entered by the network. 14. The method according to claim 10, wherein the database in which is stored the at least one of an alternate caller name, an alternate caller number and an alternate caller message is a dynamic database, and wherein the at least one of an alternate caller name, an alternate caller number and an alternate caller message is changeable by at least one of the calling terminal and the network. 15. The method according to claim 10, wherein at least one of an array of alternate caller names, an array of alternate caller numbers and an array of alternate caller messages is stored in a database in the network for the calling terminal. 16. The method according to claim 15, wherein the database in which is stored the at least one of an array of alternate caller names, an array of alternate caller numbers and an array of alternate caller messages' is a dynamic database, and wherein the at least one of an array of alternate caller names, an array of alternate caller numbers and an array of alternate caller messages is changeable by at least one of the calling terminal and the network. 17. The method according to claim 10, wherein one of the following is used for the calling terminal: an alternate caller name; an alternate caller number; an alternate caller message; an alternate caller name and an alternate caller number; an alternate caller name and an alternate caller message; an alternate caller number and an alternate caller message; and an alternate caller name, an alternate caller number, and an alternate caller message. 18. A system that provides caller flexibility on “name” and “number” of a calling terminal that is displayed on a called terminal, comprising the steps of: a calling terminal and a called terminal operatively connected to a network; a database operatively connected to the network; at least one of an alternate caller name, an alternate caller number and an alternate caller message, for the calling terminal, stored in the database; and an input command, the input command effecting use of the at least one of an alternate caller name, an alternate caller number and an alternate caller message for the calling terminal, instead of a preassigned caller name and caller number for the calling terminal; wherein, when the input command is entered to use the at least one of an alternate caller name, an alternate caller number and an alternate caller message, the network displays, at the called terminal, the at least one of an alternate caller name, an alternate caller number and an alternate caller message for the calling terminal. 19. The system according to claim 18, wherein the calling terminal is one of a mobile terminal and a non-mobile terminal, and wherein the called terminal is one of a mobile terminal and a non-mobile terminal. 20. The system according to claim 18, wherein the command is entered by one of the calling terminal and the network. 21. The system according to claim 18, wherein the database is programmable, the database being programmed to, based on the time and day, provide a specific caller name and/or a specific caller number and/or a specific caller message, and wherein the database is programmed to invoke a fixed set of settings on at least one of a day and a time. | TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates generally to telecommunication networks, and in particular to providing caller flexibility on “name”, “number”, and “message” for a calling terminal that is displayed on a called terminal. BACKGROUND Wireless communication systems are constantly evolving. System designers are continually developing greater numbers of features for both service providers as well as for the end users. In the area of wireless phone systems, cellular based phone systems have advanced tremendously in recent years. Wireless phone systems are available based on a variety of modulation techniques and are capable of using a number of allocated frequency bands. Available modulation schemes include analog FM and digital modulation schemes using Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA) or Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA). Each scheme has inherent advantages and disadvantages relating to system architecture, frequency reuse, and communications quality. However, the features the manufacturer offers to the service provider and which the service provider offers to the consumer are similar between the different wireless systems. Regardless of the modulation scheme in use, the wireless phone available to the end user has a number of important features. Nearly all wireless phones incorporate at least a keyboard for entering numbers and text, and a display that allows the user to display text, dialed numbers, pictures and incoming caller numbers. Additionally, wireless phones may incorporate electronic phonebooks, speed dialing, single button voicemail access, and messaging capabilities, such as e-mail. The features described above present only a sample of features that are capable of, or have already been, implemented into wireless phone systems. Any individual feature is capable of implementation into some or all of the wireless systems using the modulation schemes mentioned above. A particularly useful feature provides caller identification. An automatic number identification device is used in a telephone system to enable a telephone central office to identify from which of two parties on a two party telephone service a call is originating and is coupled to a pair of telephone lines extended from the telephone central office to one of the parties being served by the two party telephone service. In other words, an automatic number identification system allows a modem or a telephone to identify the caller ID signals without user intervention. Some telephones and modems are equipped with ANI capability to provide users the convenience of ANI system. An ANI system is also useful for such state-of-the-art technology as “recall.” When an attempted telephone call goes unanswered, the caller ID is identified by an automatic number identification system on the called telephone and stored in a memory device such as a random access memory (RAM). When a user on the called telephone side wishes to call the last number the user missed, the user can press a special “recall” button or a combination of buttons, such as the “*” key followed by the “9” key, on the user's telephone key panel to initiate an outgoing call to the last number that called. Upon detecting a special key sequence for “recall,” the user's telephone makes a “recall” to the telephone number that last called. In an ANI system, caller ID signals are sent to a called modem or a telephone when a call is made to the called telephone number. The caller ID signals provide the called telephone or modem with identification of the calling telephone. The called telephone uses the caller ID (ANI) signals to identify the calling telephone or modem. Typical caller ID signals include frequency shift keyed (FSK) modem tones transmitted between rings of the ringing signal. A similar system for providing the name of a caller is referred to as calling name presentation (CNAP). It is a drawback of the prior art that current ANI and CNAP functionality provides limited control to an end user/operator on what is displayed at the called party device. In the prior art only the name and number of the caller or a restriction code e.g. private call may be displayed. It is a further drawback of the prior art that the database cannot be programmed to, based on the time and day, provide a specific caller name and/or a specific caller number and/or a specific caller message. The prior art also cannot invoke a fixed set of settings based on a day and/or a time. SUMMARY The invention in one implementation encompasses a system. One embodiment of the system may have: a calling terminal and a called terminal operatively connected to a network; a database operatively connected to the network; at least one of an alternate caller name, an alternate caller number and an alternate caller message, for the calling terminal, stored in the database; and an input command, the input command effecting use of the at least one of an alternate caller name, an alternate caller number and an alternate caller message for the calling terminal, instead of a preassigned caller name and caller number for the calling terminal; wherein, when the input command is entered to use the at least one of an alternate caller name, an alternate caller number and an alternate caller message, the network displays, at the called terminal, the at least one of an alternate caller name, an alternate caller number and an alternate caller message for the calling terminal. Another implementation of the present invention encompasses a method that may have the steps of: entering a command to use at least one of an alternate caller name, an alternate caller number and an alternate caller message for a calling terminal, instead of a preassigned caller name and caller number for the calling terminal; looking up the at least one of an alternate caller name, an alternate caller number and an alternate caller message; and using the at least one of an alternate caller name, an alternate caller number and an alternate caller message in place of the preassigned caller name and caller number for the calling terminal. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Features of exemplary implementations of the invention will become apparent from the description, the claims, and the accompanying drawings in which: FIG. 1 depicts a block diagram that illustrates elements of a system according to one embodiment for providing caller flexibility on “name”, “number” and “message” that may be displayed in place of normal ANI and CNAP. FIG. 2 illustrates a very general flow chart of logical operational steps that may be followed in accordance with one embodiment of the present method and system. FIG. 3 illustrates a more specific flow chart of logical operational steps that may be followed in accordance with one embodiment of the present method and system. DETAILED DESCRIPTION The particular values and configurations discussed in these non-limiting examples can be varied and are cited merely to illustrate an embodiment of the present invention and are not intended to limit the scope of the invention. Embodiments of the present method and system are not only applicable to a distributed call-centric area, but also to both the consumer and the enterprise, wireline and wireless systems. Although the present system and method may be used with any type of network (wired and wireless, for example), in one exemplary embodiment the subscriber may be a mobile subscriber who uses a mobile terminal (also referred to as mobile phone, a cell phone, mobile handset, or car phone). It is to be understood, however, that the present system and method may be used with non-mobile phones and terminals, as well as, mobile phones and mobile terminals. Those skilled in the art will be able to transfer the teachings of the present method and apparatus from the below-described mobile terminal embodiment to an embodiment for a non-mobile terminal. In the FIG. 1 embodiment a network 101 is operatively connected to at least one mobile terminal 102. As is known the network 101 may have at least one base station 103, which is operatively connected to a mobile switching center 105, wirelessly coupled to the mobile terminal 102. The mobile switching center 105 in the network 101 may also have a call control module 107 operatively connected to base station 103 and to a flexible caller ID module 109. A database 111 may also be operatively connected to the flexible caller ID module 109. The network 101 may be, or may be part of, one or more of a telephone network, a local area network (“LAN”), the Internet, and a wireless network. In the depicted embodiment, a public switched telephone network (PSTN) 104 is connected to the mobile switching center 105. The PSTN 104 routes calls to and from mobile users through the mobile switching center 105. The PSTN 104 also routes calls from and to wireline stations 106. The PSTN 104 generally may be implemented as the worldwide voice telephone network accessible to all those with telephones and access privileges (e.g., AT&T long distance network). The flexible caller ID module 109 allows calling terminals to subscribe to an operator service that allows them to display at least one of an identified substitute name, substitute number and substitute message (that may be stored, for example, in the database 111) on the called terminal. The following is one example of an embodiment of the present system and method. A caller making a call from a home number (630-224-9999) on behalf of F&D Services (whose phone number is 987-234-5678). The caller may have the F&D Services number, 987-234-5678, displayed at the called party screen instead of the limited traditional choice. While an individual may have control over information that may be displayed on the other terminating end, the control may alternatively be managed by a third entity (for example, F&D services overriding what is displayed when a call is made from 630.224.9999 based on time of day or some other context). Referring to FIG. 2, one embodiment of a method for network support for providing caller flexibility on “name”, “number”, and “message” that is displayed in place of normal ANI and CNAP. This embodiment of the present method provides network support for caller flexibility information of a calling terminal. Such an embodiment may have the steps of: entering a command to use at least one of an alternate caller name, an alternate caller number and an alternate caller message for a calling terminal, instead of a preassigned caller name and caller number for the calling terminal (step 201); looking up the at least one of an alternate caller name, an alternate caller number and an alternate caller message (step 202); and using the at least one of an alternate caller name, an alternate caller number and an alternate caller message in place of the preassigned caller name and caller number for the calling terminal (step 203). The calling terminal may be one of a mobile terminal and a non-mobile terminal. The command may be entered by the calling terminal or by the network. Instead of only one alternate caller name, alternate caller number or alternate caller message there may be at least one of an array of alternate caller names, an array of alternate caller numbers and an array of alternate caller messages stored in a database in the network for the calling terminal. Also, the database in which is stored the at least one of an array of alternate caller names, an array of alternate caller numbers and an array of alternate caller messages may be a dynamic database, wherein the at least one of an array of alternate caller names, an array of alternate caller numbers and an array of alternate caller messages may be changeable by at least one of the calling terminal and the network. In further embodiments of the present method and system the database may be programmed to, based on the time and day, provide a specific caller name and/or a specific caller number and/or a specific caller message. Besides the flexibility to alter the number/name/message on a per call basis, a fixed set of settings may be invoked based on a day and/or a time. More specifically, one of the following may be used for the calling terminal: an alternate caller name; an alternate caller number; an alternate caller message; an alternate caller name and an alternate caller number; an alternate caller name and an alternate caller message; an alternate caller number and an alternate caller message; and an alternate caller name, an alternate caller number, and an alternate caller message. Other information may be used for the calling terminal in addition to that listed above. Referring to FIG. 3, another embodiment of a method for network support for caller flexibility information of a calling terminal that is displayed on a called terminal, may have the steps of: storing for a calling terminal at least one of an alternate caller name, an alternate caller number and an alternate caller message in a database in the network (step 301); entering a command to use the at least one of an alternate caller name, an alternate caller number and an alternate caller message for the calling terminal, instead of a preassigned caller name and caller number for the calling terminal (step 302); looking up in the database the at least one of an alternate caller name, an alternate caller number and an alternate caller message for the calling terminal (step 303); and displaying on the called terminal the at least one of an alternate caller name, an alternate caller number and an alternate caller message in place of the preassigned caller name and caller number for the calling terminal (step 304). The calling terminal may be one of a mobile terminal and a non-mobile terminal, and the called terminal may be one of a mobile terminal and a non-mobile terminal. Therefore, the improved present method and system overcomes the drawbacks of the prior art, such as, wherein the current ANI and CNAP functionality provides limited control to an end user/operator of what is displayed at the called party device. Embodiments of the present system and method provide caller flexibility on “name”, “number”, and “message” that is displayed in place of ANI and CNAP. In further embodiments of the present method and apparatus a subscriber may have the flexibility to create an array of numbers and an array of names or messages that may be displayed/transmitted based on subscriber choice at any point in time. Thus, the displayed information may be dynamic and not just static. Embodiments of the present method and system overcome the drawbacks of Page: 9 the prior art in that the prior art lacks the functionality in any of the current implementations (be it in the wireline or the wireless system) of the present method and system. In further embodiments of the present method and system the database may be programmed to, based on the time and day, provide a specific caller name and/or a specific caller number and/or a specific caller message. Besides the flexibility to alter the number/name/message on a per call basis, a fixed set of settings may be invoked based on a day and/or a time. The present system and method may be used with non-mobile phones and terminals, as well as, mobile phones and mobile terminals. Also, different types of data storage devices may be used with the present method and system. For example, a data storage device may be one or more of a magnetic, electrical, optical, biological, and atomic data storage medium. The steps or operations described herein are just exemplary. There may be many variations to these steps or operations without departing from the spirit of the invention. For instance, the steps may be performed in a differing order, or steps may be added, deleted, or modified. Although exemplary implementations of the invention have been depicted and described in detail herein, it will be apparent to those skilled in the relevant art that various modifications, additions, substitutions, and the like can be made without departing from the spirit of the invention and these are therefore considered to be within the scope of the invention as defined in the following claims. | <SOH> BACKGROUND <EOH>Wireless communication systems are constantly evolving. System designers are continually developing greater numbers of features for both service providers as well as for the end users. In the area of wireless phone systems, cellular based phone systems have advanced tremendously in recent years. Wireless phone systems are available based on a variety of modulation techniques and are capable of using a number of allocated frequency bands. Available modulation schemes include analog FM and digital modulation schemes using Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA) or Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA). Each scheme has inherent advantages and disadvantages relating to system architecture, frequency reuse, and communications quality. However, the features the manufacturer offers to the service provider and which the service provider offers to the consumer are similar between the different wireless systems. Regardless of the modulation scheme in use, the wireless phone available to the end user has a number of important features. Nearly all wireless phones incorporate at least a keyboard for entering numbers and text, and a display that allows the user to display text, dialed numbers, pictures and incoming caller numbers. Additionally, wireless phones may incorporate electronic phonebooks, speed dialing, single button voicemail access, and messaging capabilities, such as e-mail. The features described above present only a sample of features that are capable of, or have already been, implemented into wireless phone systems. Any individual feature is capable of implementation into some or all of the wireless systems using the modulation schemes mentioned above. A particularly useful feature provides caller identification. An automatic number identification device is used in a telephone system to enable a telephone central office to identify from which of two parties on a two party telephone service a call is originating and is coupled to a pair of telephone lines extended from the telephone central office to one of the parties being served by the two party telephone service. In other words, an automatic number identification system allows a modem or a telephone to identify the caller ID signals without user intervention. Some telephones and modems are equipped with ANI capability to provide users the convenience of ANI system. An ANI system is also useful for such state-of-the-art technology as “recall.” When an attempted telephone call goes unanswered, the caller ID is identified by an automatic number identification system on the called telephone and stored in a memory device such as a random access memory (RAM). When a user on the called telephone side wishes to call the last number the user missed, the user can press a special “recall” button or a combination of buttons, such as the “*” key followed by the “9” key, on the user's telephone key panel to initiate an outgoing call to the last number that called. Upon detecting a special key sequence for “recall,” the user's telephone makes a “recall” to the telephone number that last called. In an ANI system, caller ID signals are sent to a called modem or a telephone when a call is made to the called telephone number. The caller ID signals provide the called telephone or modem with identification of the calling telephone. The called telephone uses the caller ID (ANI) signals to identify the calling telephone or modem. Typical caller ID signals include frequency shift keyed (FSK) modem tones transmitted between rings of the ringing signal. A similar system for providing the name of a caller is referred to as calling name presentation (CNAP). It is a drawback of the prior art that current ANI and CNAP functionality provides limited control to an end user/operator on what is displayed at the called party device. In the prior art only the name and number of the caller or a restriction code e.g. private call may be displayed. It is a further drawback of the prior art that the database cannot be programmed to, based on the time and day, provide a specific caller name and/or a specific caller number and/or a specific caller message. The prior art also cannot invoke a fixed set of settings based on a day and/or a time. | <SOH> SUMMARY <EOH>The invention in one implementation encompasses a system. One embodiment of the system may have: a calling terminal and a called terminal operatively connected to a network; a database operatively connected to the network; at least one of an alternate caller name, an alternate caller number and an alternate caller message, for the calling terminal, stored in the database; and an input command, the input command effecting use of the at least one of an alternate caller name, an alternate caller number and an alternate caller message for the calling terminal, instead of a preassigned caller name and caller number for the calling terminal; wherein, when the input command is entered to use the at least one of an alternate caller name, an alternate caller number and an alternate caller message, the network displays, at the called terminal, the at least one of an alternate caller name, an alternate caller number and an alternate caller message for the calling terminal. Another implementation of the present invention encompasses a method that may have the steps of: entering a command to use at least one of an alternate caller name, an alternate caller number and an alternate caller message for a calling terminal, instead of a preassigned caller name and caller number for the calling terminal; looking up the at least one of an alternate caller name, an alternate caller number and an alternate caller message; and using the at least one of an alternate caller name, an alternate caller number and an alternate caller message in place of the preassigned caller name and caller number for the calling terminal. | 20040831 | 20090623 | 20060302 | 72174.0 | H04M164 | 1 | GAUTHIER, GERALD | FLEXIBLE CALLER ID AND CALLING NAME INFORMATION PRESENTATION | UNDISCOUNTED | 0 | ACCEPTED | H04M | 2,004 |
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10,930,345 | ACCEPTED | Methods and apparatus for generating and modulating illumination conditions | Methods and apparatus for generating essentially white light. In one example, a white light generating apparatus comprises at least one first white LED characterized by a first spectrum, and at least one second white LED characterized by a second spectrum, wherein the first spectrum is substantially different than the second spectrum. | 1. An apparatus for generating essentially white light, comprising: at least one first white LED characterized by a first spectrum; and at least one second white LED characterized by a second spectrum, the first spectrum being substantially different than the second spectrum. 2. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising at least one optical filter configured to selectively transmit a portion of light emitted from at least one of the first and second white LEDs. 3. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein the at least one optical filter is a high pass filter. 4. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein the at least one optical filter comprises a plurality of optical filters, each of the plurality of optical filters being configured to selectively transmit a portion of the light emitted from at least one of the first and second white LEDs. 5. The apparatus of claim 4, wherein the selectively transmitted portion of the light emitted from the at least one of the first and second LEDs includes at least a portion of the Planckian locus. 6. The apparatus of claim 4, wherein at least one of the plurality of filters is a yellow filter. 7. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein the first white LED has a color temperature of approximately 20,000 Kelvin, and the second white LED has a color temperature of approximately 5,750 Kelvin. 8. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein: the at least one optical filter comprises a plurality of optical filters; wherein at least a first one of the plurality of optical filters is adapted to transmit a portion of the light corresponding to a color temperature of approximately 2,300 Kelvin; and wherein at least a second one of the plurality of optical filters is adapted to transmit a portion of the light corresponding to a color temperature of approximately 4,500 Kelvin. 9. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the first white LED has a color temperature of approximately 2,300 Kelvin, and the second white LED has a color temperature of approximately 4,500 Kelvin. 10. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising a mounting configured to approximate an appearance of a fluorescent tube. 11. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the at least one first white LED and the at least one second white LED are configured in a substantially linear arrangement. 12. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising at least one controller adapted to pulse width modulate at least one of the plurality of first and second white LEDs. 13. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising at least one third LED having a third spectrum different that the first spectrum and the second spectrum. 14. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein the at least one third LED includes at least one third white LED. 15. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein the at least one third LED includes at least one amber LED. 16. The apparatus of claim 13, further comprising: at least one fourth LED having a fourth spectrum; and at least one fifth LED having a fifth spectrum, wherein the first, second, third, fourth and fifth spectra are respectively different. 17. The apparatus of claim 16, further comprising: at least one sixth LED having a sixth spectrum; and at least one seventh LED having a seventh spectrum, wherein the first, second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh spectra are respectively different. 18. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein a first quantity of the at least one first white LED is different than a second quantity of the at least one second white LED. 19. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising at least one controller adapted to independently control a first intensity of first radiation emitted from the at least one first white LED and a second intensity of second radiation emitted from the at least one is second white LED. 20. The apparatus of claim 19, wherein the at least one first white LED comprises a plurality of first white LEDs and the at least one second white LED comprises a plurality of second white LEDs, and wherein the at least one controller is configured to generate a first control signal to control all of the first white LEDs substantially identically to one another, and a second control signal to control all of the second white LEDs substantially identically to one another. 21. The apparatus of claim 19, further comprising at least one power connection coupled to the at least one controller, the at least one power connection configured to engage mechanically and electrically with a conventional light socket. 22. The apparatus of claim 21, wherein the at least one power connection includes an Edison screw-type power connection. 23. The apparatus of claim 21, wherein the at least one power connection includes a fluorescent-type power connection. 24. The apparatus of claim 21, wherein the at least one power connection includes a halogen MR-16-type power connection. 25. The apparatus of claim 21, further comprising at least one of a housing and a mounting for the at least one first white LED and the at least one second white LED, wherein the at least one of the housing and the mounting is configured to resemble at least one type of conventional light bulb. 26. The apparatus of claim 25, wherein the at least one of the housing and the mounting is configured to resemble an Edison-mount light bulb housing. 27. The apparatus of claim 25, wherein the at least one of the housing and the mounting is configured to resemble a fluorescent light bulb housing. 28. The apparatus of claim 25, wherein the at least one of the housing and the mounting is configured to resemble a halogen MR-16-type light bulb housing. 29. The apparatus of claim 19, wherein the at least one controller is configured to independently control the at least one first white LED and the at least one second white LED so as to controllably vary a color temperature of the essentially white light generated by the apparatus. 30. The apparatus of claim 29, further comprising at least one user interface coupled to the at least one controller and configured to facilitate an adjustment of the color temperature of the essentially white light generated by the apparatus. 31. The apparatus of claim 29, further comprising at least one sensor coupled to the at least one controller and configured to generate at least one control signal in response to at least one detectable condition, wherein the at least one controller is configured to control the color temperature of the essentially white light generated by the apparatus in response to the at least one control signal. 32. The apparatus of claim 29, further comprising at least one of a receiver and a transmitter coupled to the at least one controller and configured to communicate at least one control signal to or from the apparatus. 33. The apparatus of claim 29, wherein the at least one controller is configured to independently control the at least one first white LED and the at least one second white LED using a pulse width modulation (PWM) technique. 34. The apparatus of claim 29, wherein the at least one controller is configured as an addressable controller capable of receiving at least one network signal including at least first lighting information relating to the color temperature of the essentially white light generated by the apparatus. 35. The apparatus of claim 34, wherein the at least one network signal includes address information and lighting information for a plurality of apparatus, and wherein the at least one controller is configured to process the at least one network signal based on at least the address information in the at least one network signal to recover the first lighting information. 36. The apparatus of claim 34, wherein the at least one network signal is formatted using a DMX protocol, and wherein the at least one controller is configured to independently control the first intensity of the first radiation emitted from the at least one first LED and the second intensity of the second radiation emitted from the at least one second white LED based at least in part on the DMX protocol. 37. An apparatus for generating essentially white light, comprising: at least one first white LED characterized by a first spectrum; at least one second white LED characterized by a second spectrum, the first spectrum being substantially different than the second spectrum; at least one non-white LED; and at least one controller adapted to independently control at least a first intensity of first radiation emitted from the at least one first white LED, a second intensity of second radiation emitted from the at least one second white LED, and a third intensity of third radiation emitted from the at least one non-white LED. 38. The apparatus of claim 37, wherein the at least one non-white LED comprises at least one amber LED. 39. The apparatus of claim 37, further comprising at least one optical filter configured to selectively transmit a portion of light emitted from at least one of the first and second white LEDs. 40. The apparatus of claim 37, further comprising a mounting for the at least one first white LED, the at least one second white LED and the at least one non-white LED, wherein the mounting is configured to approximate an appearance of a fluorescent tube. 41. The apparatus of claim 40, wherein the at least one first white LED, the at least one second white LED and the at least one non-white LED are configured in a substantially linear arrangement. 42. The apparatus of claim 37, further comprising at least one power connection coupled to the at least one controller and configured to engage mechanically and electrically with a conventional light socket. 43. The apparatus of claim 42, wherein the at least one power connection includes an Edison screw-type power connection. 44. The apparatus of claim 42, wherein the at least one power connection includes a fluorescent-type power connection. 45. The apparatus of claim 42, wherein the at least one power connection includes a halogen MR-16-type power connection. 46. The apparatus of claim 42, further comprising at least one of a housing and a mounting for the at least one first white LED, the at least one second white LED, the at least one non-white LED and the at least one controller, wherein the at least one of the housing and the mounting is configured to resemble at least one type of conventional light bulb. 47. The apparatus of claim 46, wherein the at least one of the housing and the mounting is configured to resemble an Edison-mount light bulb housing. 48. The apparatus of claim 46, wherein the at least one of the housing and the mounting is configured to resemble a fluorescent light bulb housing. 49. The apparatus of claim 46, wherein the at least one of the housing and the mounting is configured to resemble a halogen MR-16-type light bulb housing. 50. The apparatus of claim 37, further comprising at least one user interface coupled to the at least one controller and configured to facilitate an adjustment of an overall perceivable color of the essentially white light. 51. The apparatus of claim 37, further comprising at least one sensor coupled to the at least one controller and configured to generate at least one control signal in response to at least one detectable condition, wherein the at least one controller is configured to control an overall perceivable color of the essentially white light generated by the illumination apparatus in response to the at least one control signal. 52. The apparatus of claim 37, further comprising at least one of a receiver and a transmitter coupled to the at least one controller and configured to communicate at least one control signal to or from the apparatus. 53. The apparatus of claim 37, wherein the at least one controller is configured to independently control the at least one first white LED, the at least one second white LED and the at least one non-white LED using a pulse width modulation (PWM) technique. 54. The apparatus of claim 37, wherein the at least one controller is configured as an addressable controller capable of receiving at least one network signal including at least first lighting information relating to the overall perceivable color of the essentially white light generated by the apparatus. 55. The apparatus of claim 54, wherein the at least one network signal is formatted using a DMX protocol, and wherein the at least one controller is configured to independently control the first intensity of the first radiation emitted from the at least one first LED, the second intensity of the second radiation emitted from the at least one second white LED, and the third intensity of the third radiation emitted from the at least one non-white LED based at least in part on the DMX protocol. 56. A lighting fixture for generating white light, comprising: at least one first white LED characterized by a first spectrum; at least one second white LED characterized by a second spectrum, the first spectrum being substantially different than the second spectrum; and at least one third LED characterized by a first chromaticity to the right of the 2300 Kelvin point of a Planckian locus on a conventional chromaticity chart. 57. The fixture of claim 56, wherein the at least one third LED comprises at least one amber LED. 58. The fixture of claim 56, wherein the at least one third LED has a dominant wavelength of approximately 592 nm. 59. The fixture of claim 56, wherein the lighting fixture is adapted to allow variability of a light output of at least one of the first white LED, the second white LED and the third LED. 60. The fixture of claim 59, wherein the fixture is adapted such that the at least one first white LED, the at least one second white LED, and the at least one third LED produce a combined output, and such that the variability of the light output permits a spectrum of the combined output to achieve a combined chromaticity on the Planckian locus. 61. The fixture of claim 60, wherein the fixture is adapted such that the spectrum of the combined output includes at least a portion of the Planckian locus ranging from approximately 2300 Kelvin to approximately 4500 Kelvin. 62. The fixture of claim 61, wherein the fixture is adapted such that the spectrum of the combined output is substantially variable over the portion of the Planckian locus from approximately 2300 Kelvin to approximately 4500 Kelvin. 63. The fixture of claim 60, wherein the lighting fixture is adapted such that the spectrum of the combined output does not have any substantial valleys at wavelengths below a wavelength corresponding to a maximum peak of the spectrum. 64. The fixture of claim 60, wherein the fixture is adapted such that the combined output at a color temperature of 2300 Kelvin has a CRI value of greater than 50, and the combined output at a color temperature of 4500 Kelvin has a CRI value of greater than 80. 65. The fixture of claim 56, further comprising a housing or mounting configured to resemble at least one type of conventional light bulb. 66. The fixture of claim 65, wherein the lighting fixture is configured as a fluorescent tube. 67. The fixture of claim 66, wherein the at least one first white LED, the at least one second white LED and the at least one third LED are configured in a substantially linear arrangement. 68. The fixture of claim 56, wherein the lighting fixture further comprises a controller adapted to pulse width modulate at least one of the first, second and non-white LEDs. 69. The fixture of claim 56, further comprising at least one power connection configured to engage mechanically and electrically with a conventional light socket. 70. The fixture of claim 56, further comprising at least one controller adapted to independently control at least one of a first intensity of first radiation emitted from the at least one first white LED and a second intensity of second radiation emitted from the at least one second white LED. 71. The fixture of claim 70, further comprising at least one user interface coupled to the at least one controller and configured to facilitate an adjustment of an overall perceivable color of the white light generated by the fixture. 72. The fixture of claim 70, further comprising at least one sensor coupled to the at least one controller and configured to generate at least one control signal in response to at least one detectable condition, wherein the at least one controller is configured to control an overall perceivable color of the white light generated by the fixture in response to the at least one control signal. 73. The fixture of claim 70, wherein the at least one controller is configured as an addressable controller capable of receiving at least one network signal including at least first lighting information relating to the overall perceivable color of the white light generated by the fixture. 74. The apparatus of claim 73, wherein the at least one network signal is formatted using a DMX protocol, and wherein the at least one controller is configured to independently control the first intensity of the first radiation emitted from the at least one first LED and the second intensity of the second radiation emitted from the at least one second white LED based at least in part on the DMX protocol. 75. A method for generating essentially white light, comprising: generating first radiation from at least one first white LED, the first radiation characterized by a first spectrum; generating second radiation from at least one second white LED, the second radiation characterized by a second spectrum, the first spectrum being substantially different than the second spectrum; and combining the first radiation and the second radiation to form a light output. 76. The method of claim 75, further comprising optically filtering at least one of the first and second radiation. 77. The method of claim 76, wherein the optical filtering comprises high pass filtering. 78. The method of claim 76, wherein the optical filtering comprises selectively transmitting at least a portion of one of the first radiation and the second radiation corresponding to the Planckian locus. 79. The method of claim 76, wherein the optical filtering comprises projecting at least a portion of one of the first radiation and the second radiation though a yellow filter. 80. The method of claim 76, wherein the first radiation is filtered to have a color temperature of approximately 20,000 Kelvin, and the second radiation LED is filtered to have a color temperature of approximately 5,750 Kelvin. 81. The method of claim 76, wherein the optical filtering comprises: selectively transmitting at least a portion of the first radiation corresponding to a color temperature of approximately 2,300 Kelvin; and selectively transmitting at least a portion of the second radiation corresponding to a color temperature of approximately 4,500 Kelvin. 82. The method of claim 75, further comprising pulse width modulating at least one of the first radiation and the second radiation. 83. The method of claim 75, further comprising: generating third radiation from at least one third LED characterized by a third spectrum different that the first spectrum and the second spectrum; and combining the first, second and third radiations to form the light output. 84. The method of claim 83, wherein the step of generating third radiation comprises generating essentially white light. 85. The method of claim 83, wherein the step of generating third radiation comprises generating amber light. 86. The method of claim 83, further comprising: generating fourth radiation characterized by a fourth spectrum; and generating fifth radiation characterized by a fifth spectrum; and combining the fourth radiation and the fifth radiation with the first, second and third radiations, wherein the fourth spectrum and the fifth spectrum are different from each other and are different from the first spectrum, the second spectrum and the third spectrum. 87. The method of claim 86, further comprising: generating sixth radiation characterized by a sixth spectrum; and generating seventh radiation characterized by a seventh spectrum; and combining the sixth radiation and the seventh radiation with the first, second, third, fourth and fifth radiations, wherein the sixth spectrum and the seventh spectrum are different from each other and are different from the first spectrum, second spectrum, third spectrum, fourth spectrum and the fifth spectrum. 88. The method of claim 75, further comprising controlling a first intensity of the first radiation independently of the second intensity of the second radiation. 89. The method of claim 75, further comprising controlling at least one of the first radiation and the second radiation so as to vary an overall perceivable color of the light output. 90. The method of claim 89, wherein the step of controlling comprises operating a user interface to vary the overall perceivable color of the light output. 91. The method of claim 89, further comprising detecting a condition, wherein the step of controlling comprises varying the perceivable color in response to the condition. 92. The method of claim 89, wherein the step of controlling comprises independently controlling at least one of the first radiation and the second radiation using a pulse width modulation (PWM) technique. 93. The method of claim 89, further comprising a step of receiving at least one network signal including at least lighting information relating to the overall perceivable color of the light output. 94. The method of claim 93, wherein the step of receiving includes processing the at least one network signal based on at least address information in the at least one network signal to recover the lighting information. 95. The method of claim 93, wherein the step of receiving includes receiving at least one network signal formatted using a DMX protocol, and wherein the step of controlling includes independently controlling at least a first intensity of the first radiation and at least a second intensity of the second radiation based on the DMX protocol. | CROSS-REFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATIONS This application claims the benefit under 35 U.S.C. § 120 as a continuation of U.S. Non-provisional Application Ser. No. 09/716,819, filed Nov. 20, 2000, entitled “Systems and Methods for Generating and Modulating Illumination Conditions,” which in turn claims priority to each of the following U.S. Provisional Applications: Ser. No. 60/166,533, filed Nov. 18, 1999, entitled “Designing Lights with LED Spectrum;” Ser. No. 60/201,140, filed May 2, 2000, entitled “Systems and Methods for Modulating Illumination Conditions;” and Ser. No. 60/235,678, filed Sep. 27, 2000, entitled “Ultraviolet Light Emitting Diode Device.” Each of the above references is hereby incorporated herein by reference. BACKGROUND Human beings have grown accustomed to controlling their environment. Nature is unpredictable and often presents conditions that are far from a human being's ideal living conditions. The human race has therefore tried for years to engineer the environment inside a structure to emulate the outside environment at a perfect set of conditions. This has involved temperature control, air quality control and lighting control. The desire to control the properties of light in an artificial environment is easy to understand. Humans are primarily visual creatures with much of our communication being done visually. We can identify friends and loved ones based on primarily visual cues and we communicate through many visual mediums, such as this printed page. At the same time, the human eye requires light to see by and our eyes (unlike those of some other creatures) are particularly sensitive to color. With today's ever-increasing work hours and time constraints, less and less of the day is being spent by the average human outside in natural sunlight. In addition, humans spend about a third of their lives asleep, and as the economy increases to 24/7/365, many employees no longer have the luxury of spending their waking hours during daylight. Therefore, most of an average human's life is spent inside, illuminated by manmade sources of light. Visible light is a collection of electromagnetic waves (electromagnetic radiation) of different frequencies, each wavelength of which represents a particular “color” of the light spectrum. Visible light is generally thought to comprise those light waves with wavelength between about 400 nm and about 700 nm. Each of the wavelengths within this spectrum comprises a distinct color of light from deep blue/purple at around 400 nm to dark red at around 700 nm. Mixing these colors of light produces additional colors of light. The distinctive color of a neon sign results from a number of discrete wavelengths of light. These wavelengths combine additively to produce the resulting wave or spectrum that makes up a color. One such color is white light. Because of the importance of white light, and since white light is the mixing of multiple wavelengths of light, there have arisen multiple techniques for characterization of white light that relate to how human beings interpret a particular white light. The first of these is the use of color temperature, which relates to the color of the light within white. Correlated color temperature is characterized in color reproduction fields according to the temperature in degrees Kelvin (K) of a black body radiator that radiates the same color light as the light in question. FIG. 1 is a chromaticity diagram in which Planckian locus (or black body locus or white line) (104) gives the temperatures of whites from about 700 K (generally considered the first visible to the human eye) to essentially the terminal point. The color temperature of viewing light depends on the color content of the viewing light as shown by line (104). Thus, early morning daylight has a color temperature of about 3,000 K while overcast midday skies have a white color temperature of about 10,000 K. A fire has a color temperature of about 1,800 K and an incandescent bulb about 2848 K. A color image viewed at 3,000 K will have a relatively reddish tone, whereas the same color image viewed at 10,000 K will have a relatively bluish tone. All of this light is called “white,” but it has varying spectral content. The second classification of white light involves its quality. In 1965 the Commission Internationale de l'Eclairage (CIE) recommended a method for measuring the color rendering properties of light sources based on a test color sample method. This method has been updated and is described in the CIE 13.3-1995 technical report “Method of Measuring and Specifying Colour Rendering Properties of Light Sources,” the disclosure of which is herein incorporated by reference. In essence, this method involves the spectroradiometric measurement of the light source under test. This data is multiplied by the reflectance spectrums of eight color samples. The resulting spectrums are converted to tristimulus values based on the CIE 1931 standard observer. The shift of these values with respect to a reference light are determined for the uniform color space (UCS) recommended in 1960 by the CIE. The average of the eight color shifts is calculated to generate the General Color Rendering Index, known as CRI. Within these calculations the CRI is scaled so that a perfect score equals 100, where perfect would be using a source spectrally equal to the reference source (often sunlight or full spectrum white light). For example a tungsten-halogen source compared to full spectrum white light might have a CPU of 99 while a warm white fluorescent lamp would have a CRI of 50. Artificial lighting generally uses the standard CRI to determine the quality of white light. If a light yields a high CRI compared to full spectrum white light then it is considered to generate better quality white light (light that is more “natural” and enables colored surfaces to be better rendered). This method has been used since 1965 as a point of comparison for all different types of light sources. In addition to white light, the ability to generate specific colors of light is also highly sought after. Because of humans' light sensitivity, visual arts and similar professions desire colored light that is specifiable and reproducible. Elementary film study classes teach that a movie-goer has been trained that light which is generally more orange or red signifies the morning, while light that is generally more blue signifies a night or evening. We have also been trained that sunlight filtered through water has a certain color, while sunlight filtered through glass has a different color. For all these reasons it is desirable for those involved in visual arts to be able to produce exact colors of light, and to be able to reproduce them later. Current lighting technology makes such adjustment and control difficult, because common sources of light, such as halogen, incandescent, and fluorescent sources, generate light of a fixed color temperature and spectrum. Further, altering the color temperature or spectrum will usually alter other lighting variables in an undesirable way. For example, increasing the voltage applied to an incandescent light may raise the color temperature of the resulting light, but also results in an overall increase in brightness. In the same way, placing a deep blue filter in front of a white halogen lamp will dramatically decrease the overall brightness of the light. The filter itself will also get quite hot (and potentially melt) as it absorbs a large percentage of the light energy from the white light. Moreover, achieving certain color conditions with incandescent sources can be difficult or impossible as the desired color may cause the filament to rapidly burn out. For fluorescent lighting sources, the color temperature is controlled by the composition of the phosphor, which may vary from bulb to bulb but cannot typically be altered for a given bulb. Thus, modulating color temperature of light is a complex procedure that is often avoided in scenarios where such adjustment may be beneficial. In artificial lighting, control over the range of colors that can be produced by a lighting fixture is desirable. Many lighting fixtures known in the art can only produce a single color of light instead of range of colors. That color may vary across lighting fixtures (for instance a fluorescent lighting fixture produces a different color of light than a sodium vapor lamp). The use of filters on a lighting fixture does not enable a lighting fixture to produce a range of colors, it merely allows a lighting fixture to produce its single color, which is then partially absorbed and partially transmitted by the filter. Once the filter is placed, the fixture can only produce a single (now different) color of light, but cannot produce a range of colors. In control of artificial lighting, it is further desirable to be able to specify a point within the range of color producible by a lighting fixture that will be the point of highest intensity. Even on current technology lighting fixtures whose colors can be altered, the point of maximum intensity cannot be specified by the user, but is usually determined by unalterable physical characteristics of the fixture. Thus, an incandescent light fixture can produce a range of colors, but the intensity necessarily increases as the color temperature increases which does not enable control of the color at the point of maximum intensity. Filters further lack control of the point of maximum intensity, as the point of maximum intensity of a lighting fixture will be the unfiltered color (any filter absorbs some of the intensity). SUMMARY Applicants have appreciated that the correlated color temperature, and CRI, of viewing light can affect the way in which an observer perceives a color image. An observer will perceive the same color image differently when viewed under lights having different correlated color temperatures. For example, a color image which looks normal when viewed in early morning daylight will look bluish and washed out when viewed under overcast midday skies. Further, a white light with a poor CRI may cause colored surfaces to appear distorted. Applicants also have appreciated that the color temperature and/or CRI of light is critical to creators of images, such as photographers, film and television producers, painters, etc., as well as to the viewers of paintings, photographs, and other such images. Ideally, both creator and viewer utilize the same color of ambient light, ensuring that the appearance of the image to the viewer matches that of the creator. Applicants have further appreciated that the color temperature of ambient light affects how viewers perceive a display, such as a retail or marketing display, by changing the perceived color of such items as fruits and vegetables, clothing, furniture, automobiles, and other products containing visual elements that can greatly affect how people view and react to such displays. One example is a tenet of theatrical lighting design that strong green light on the human body (even if the overall lighting effect is white light) tends to make the human look unnatural, creepy, and often a little disgusting. Thus, variations in the color temperature of lighting can affect how appealing or attractive such a display may be to customers. Moreover, the ability to view a decoratively colored item, such as fabric-covered furniture, clothing, paint, wallpaper, curtains, etc., in a lighting environment or color temperature condition which matches or closely approximates the conditions under which the item will be viewed would permit such colored items to be more accurately matched and coordinated. Typically, the lighting used in a display setting, such as a showroom, cannot be varied and is often chosen to highlight a particular facet of the color of the item leaving a purchaser to guess as to whether the item in question will retain an attractive appearance under the lighting conditions where the item will eventually be placed. Differences in lighting can also leave a customer wondering whether the color of the item will clash with other items that cannot conveniently be viewed under identical lighting conditions or otherwise directly compared. In view of the foregoing, one embodiment of the present invention relates to systems and methods for generating and/or modulating illumination conditions to generate light of a desired and controllable color, for creating lighting fixtures for producing light in desirable and reproducible colors, and for modifying the color temperature or color shade of light produced by a lighting fixture within a prespecified range after a lighting fixture is constructed. In one embodiment, LED lighting units capable of generating light of a range of colors are used to provide light or supplement ambient light to afford lighting conditions suitable for a wide range of applications. Disclosed is a first embodiment which comprises a lighting fixture for generating white light including a plurality of component illumination sources (such as LEDs), producing electromagnetic radiation of at least two different spectrums (including embodiments with exactly two or exactly three), each of the spectrums having a maximum spectral peak outside the region 510 nm to 570 nm, the illumination sources mounted on a mounting allowing the spectrums to mix so that the resulting spectrum is substantially continuous in the photopic response of the human eye and/or in the wavelengths from 400 nm to 700 nm. In another embodiment, the lighting fixture can include illumination sources that are not LEDs possibly with a maximum spectral peak within the region 510 nm to 570 nm. In yet another embodiment, the fixture can produce white light within a range of color temperatures such as, but not limited to, the range 500K to 10,000K and the range 2300 K to 4500 K. The specific color or color temperature in the range may be controlled by a controller. In an embodiment the fixture contains a filter on at least one of the illumination sources which may be selected, possibly from a range of filters, to allow the fixture to produce a particular range of colors. The lighting fixture may also include in one embodiment illumination sources with wavelengths outside the above discussed 400 nm to 700 nm range. In another embodiment, the lighting fixture can comprise a plurality of LEDs producing three spectrums of electromagnetic radiation with maximum spectral peaks outside the region of 530 nm, to 570 nm (such as 450 nm and/or 592 nm) where the additive interference of the spectrums results in white light. The lighting fixture may produce white light within a range of color temperatures such as, but not limited to, the range 500K to 10,000K and the range 2300K to 4500 K. The lighting fixture may include a controller and/or a processor for controlling the intensities of the LEDs to produce various color temperatures in the range. Another embodiment comprises a lighting fixture to be used in a lamp designed to take fluorescent tubes, the lighting fixture having at least one component illumination source (often two or more) such as LEDs mounted on a mounting, and having a connector on the mounting that can couple to a fluorescent lamp and receive power from the lamp. It also contains a control or electrical circuit to enable the ballast voltage of the lamp to be used to power or control the LEDs. This control circuit could include a processor, and/or could control the illumination provided by the fixture based on the power provided to the lamp. The lighting fixture, in one embodiment, is contained in a housing, the housing could be generally cylindrical in shape, could contain a filter, and/or could be partially transparent or translucent. The fixture could produce white, or other colored, light. Another embodiment comprises a lighting fixture for generating white light including a plurality of component illumination sources (such as LEDs, illumination devices containing a phosphor, or LEDs containing a phosphor), including component illumination sources producing spectrums of electromagnetic radiation. The component illumination sources are mounted on a mounting designed to allow the spectrums to mix and form a resulting spectrum, wherein the resulting spectrum has intensity greater than background noise at its lowest spectral valley. The lowest spectral valley within the visible range can also have an intensity of at least 5%, 10%, 25%, 50% or 75% of the intensity of its maximum spectral peak. The lighting fixture may be able to generate white light at a range of color temperatures and may include a controller and/or processor for enabling the selection of a particular color or color temperature in that range. Another embodiment of a lighting fixture could include a plurality of component illumination sources (such as LEDs), the component illumination sources producing electromagnetic radiation of at least two different spectrums, the illumination sources being mounted on a mounting designed to allow the spectrums to mix and form a resulting spectrum, wherein the resulting spectrum does not have a spectral valley at a longer wavelength than the maximum spectral peak within the photopic response of the human eye and/or in the area from 400 nm to 700 nm. Another embodiment comprises a method for generating white light including the steps of mounting a plurality of component illumination sources producing electromagnetic radiation of at least two different spectrums in such a way as to mix the spectrums; and choosing the spectrums in such a way that the mix of the spectrums has intensity greater than background noise at its lowest spectral valley. Another embodiment comprises a system for controlling illumination conditions including, a lighting fixture for providing illumination of any of a range of colors, the lighting fixture being constructed of a plurality of component illumination sources (such as LEDs and/or potentially of three different colors), a processor coupled to the lighting fixture for controlling the lighting fixture, and a controller coupled to the processor for specifying illumination conditions to be provided by the lighting fixture. The controller could be computer hardware or computer software; a sensor such as, but not limited to a photodiode, a radiometer, a photometer, a colorimeter, a spectral radiometer, a camera; or a manual interface such as, but not limited to, a slider, a dial, a joystick, a trackpad, or a trackball. The processor could include a memory (such as a database) of predetermined color conditions and/or an interface-providing mechanism for providing a user interface potentially including a color spectrum, a color temperature spectrum, or a chromaticity diagram. In another embodiment the system could include a second source of illumination such an, but not limited to, a fluorescent bulb, an incandescent bulb, a mercury vapor lamp, a sodium vapor lamp, an arc discharge lamp, sunlight, moonlight, candlelight, an LED display system, an LED, or a lighting system controlled by pulse width modulation. The second source could be used by the controller to specify illumination conditions for the lighting fixture based on the illumination of the lighting fixture and the second source illumination and/or the combined light from the lighting fixture and the second source could be a desired color temperature. Another embodiment comprises a method with steps including generating light having color and brightness using a lighting fixture capable of generating light of any range of colors, measuring illumination conditions, and modulating the color or brightness of the generated light to achieve a target illumination condition. The measuring of illumination conditions could include detecting color characteristics of the illumination conditions using a light sensor such as, but not limited to, a photodiode, a radiometer, a photometer, a calorimeter, a spectral radiometer, or a camera; visually evaluating illumination conditions, and modulating the color or brightness of the generated light includes varying the color or brightness of the generated light using a manual interface; or measuring illumination conditions including detecting color characteristics of the illumination conditions using a light sensor, and modulating the color or brightness of the generated light including varying the color or brightness of the generated light using a processor until color characteristics of the illumination conditions detected by the light sensor match color characteristics of the target illumination conditions. The method could include selecting a target illumination condition such as, but not limited to, selecting a target color temperature and/or providing an interface comprising a depiction of a color range and selecting a color within the color range. The method could also have steps for providing a second source of illumination, such as, but not limited to, a fluorescent bulb, an incandescent bulb, a mercury vapor lamp, a sodium vapor lamp, an arc discharge lamp, sunlight, moonlight, candlelight, an LED lighting system, an LED, or a lighting system controlled by pulse width modulation. The method could measure illumination conditions including detecting light generated by the lighting fixture and by the second source of illumination. In another embodiment modulating the color or brightness of the generated light includes varying the illumination conditions to achieve a target color temperature or the lighting fixture could comprise one of a plurality of lighting fixtures, capable of generating a range of colors. In yet another embodiment there is a method for designing a lighting fixture comprising, selecting a desired range of colors to be produced by the lighting fixture, choosing a selected color of light to be produced by the lighting fixture when the lighting fixture is at maximum intensity, and designing the lighting fixture from a plurality of illumination sources (such as LEDs) such that the lighting fixture can produce the range of colors, and produces the selected color when at maximum intensity. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a chromaticity diagram including the black body locus; FIG. 2 depicts an embodiment of a lighting fixture suitable for use in this invention; FIG. 3 depicts the use of multiple lighting fixtures according to one embodiment of the invention; FIG. 4 depicts an embodiment of a housing for use in one embodiment of this invention; FIGS. 5a and 5b depict another embodiment of a housing for use in one embodiment of this invention; FIG. 6 depicts an embodiment of a computer interface enabling a user to design a lighting fixture capable of producing a desired spectrum; FIG. 7 shows an embodiment for calibrating or controlling the light fixture of the invention using a sensor; FIG. 8a shows a general embodiment of the control of a lighting fixture of this invention; FIG. 8b shows one embodiment of the control of a lighting fixture invention in conjunction with a second source of light; FIG. 9 shows an embodiment for controlling a light fixture of the invention using a computer interface; FIG. 10a shows another embodiment for controlling a lighting fixture of this invention using a manual control; FIG. 10b depicts a close up of a control unit such as the one used in FIG. 10a; FIG. 11 shows an embodiment of a control system which enables multiple lighting control to simulate an environment; FIG. 12 depicts the CIE spectral luminosity function Vλ which indicates the receptivity of the human eye; FIG. 13 depicts spectral distributions of black body sources at 5,000 K and 2,500 K; FIG. 14 depicts one embodiment of a nine LED white light source; FIG. 15a depicts the output of one embodiment of a lighting fixture comprising nine LEDs and producing 5,000 K white light; FIG. 15b depicts the output of one embodiment of a lighting fixture comprising nine LEDs and producing 2,500 K white light; FIG. 16 depicts one embodiment of the component spectrums of a three LED light fixture; FIG. 17a depicts the output of one embodiment of a lighting fixture comprising three LEDs and producing 5,000 K white light; FIG. 17b depicts the output of one embodiment of a lighting fixture comprising three LEDs and producing 2,500 K white light; FIG. 18 depicts the spectrum of a white Nichia LED, NSP510 BS (bin A); FIG. 19 depicts the spectrum of a white Nichia LED, NSP510 BS (bin C); FIG. 20 depicts the spectral transmission of one embodiment of a high pass filter; FIG. 21a depicts the spectrum of FIG. 18 and the shifted spectrum from passing the spectrum of FIG. 18 through the high pass filter in FIG. 20; FIG. 21b depicts the spectrum of FIG. 19 and the shifted spectrum from passing the spectrum of FIG. 19 through the high pass filter in FIG. 20; FIG. 22 is a chromaticity map showing the black body locus (white line) enlarged on a portion of temperature between 2,300K and 4,500K. Also shown is the light produced by two LEDs in one embodiment of the invention; FIG. 23 is the chromaticity map further showing the gamut of light produced by three LEDs in one embodiment of the invention; FIG. 24 shows a graphical comparison of the CRI of a lighting fixture of the invention compared to existing white light sources; FIG. 25 shows the luminous output of a lighting fixture of the invention at various color temperatures; FIG. 26a depicts the spectrum of one embodiment of a white light fixture according to the invention producing light at 2300K; FIG. 26b depicts the spectrum of one embodiment of a white light fixture producing light at 4500K; FIG. 27 is a diagram of the spectrum of a compact fluorescent light fixture with the spectral luminosity function as a dotted line; FIG. 28 shows a lamp for using fluorescent tubes as is known in the art; FIG. 29 depicts one possible LED lighting fixture which could be used to replace a fluorescent tube; and FIG. 30 depicts one embodiment of how a series of filters could be used to enclose different portions of the black body locus. DETAILED DESCRIPTION The description below pertains to several illustrative embodiments of the invention. Although many variations of the invention may be envisioned by one skilled in the art, such variations and improvements are intended to fall within the scope of this disclosure. Thus, the scope of the invention is not to be unduly limited in any way by the disclosure below. As used in this document, the following terms generally have the following meanings; however, these definitions are in no way intended to limit the scope of the term as would be understood by one of skill in the art. As used herein, the term “LED system” means any electroluminescent diode or other type of carrier injection/junction-based system that is capable of receiving an electrical signal and producing radiation in response to the signal. Thus, the term “LED” generally includes light emitting diodes of all types and also includes, but is not limited to, light emitting polymers, semiconductor dies that produce light in response to a current, organic LEDs, electron luminescent strips, super luminescent diodes (SLDs) and other such devices. In an embodiment, an “LED” may refer to a single light emitting diode having multiple semiconductor dies that are individually controlled. The term LEDs does not restrict the physical or electrical packaging of any of the above and that packaging could include, but is not limited to, surface mount, chip-on-board, or T-package mount LEDs and LEDs of all other configurations. The term “LED” also includes LEDs packaged or associated with material (e.g. a phosphor) wherein the material may convert energy from the LED to a different wavelength. For example, the term “LED” also includes constructions that include a phosphor where the LED emission pumps the phosphor and the phosphor converts the energy to longer wavelength energy. White LEDs typically use an LED chip that produces short wavelength radiation and the phosphor is used to convert the energy to longer wavelengths. This construction also typically results in broadband radiation as compared to the original chip radiation. “Illumination source” includes all illumination sources, including, but not limited to, LEDs; incandescent sources including filament lamps; pyro-luminescent sources such as flames; candle-luminescent sources such as gas mantles and carbon arc radiation sources; photo-luminescent sources including gaseous discharges; fluorescent sources; phosphorescence sources; lasers; electro-luminescent sources such as electro-luminescent lamps; cathode luminescent sources using electronic satiation; and miscellaneous luminescent sources including galvano-luminescent sources, crystallo-luminescent sources, kine-luminescent sources, thermo-luminescent sources, tribo-luminescent sources, sono-luminescent sources, and radio-luminescent sources. Illumination sources may also include luminescent polymers. An illumination source can produce electromagnetic radiation within the visible spectrum, outside the visible spectrum, or a combination of both. A component illumination source is any illumination source that is part of a lighting fixture. “Lighting fixture” or “fixture” is any device or housing containing at least one illumination source for the purposes of providing illumination. “Color,” “temperature” and “spectrum” are used interchangeably within this document unless otherwise indicated. The three terms generally refer to the resultant combination of wavelengths of light that result in the light produced by a lighting fixture. That combination of wavelengths defines a color or temperature of the light. Color is generally used for light which is not white, while temperature is for light that is white, but either term could be used for any type of light. A white light has a color and a non-white light could have a temperature. A spectrum will generally refer to the spectral composition of a combination of the individual wavelengths, while a color or temperature will generally refer to the human perceived properties of that light. However, the above usages are not intended to limit the scope of these terms. The recent advent of colored LEDs bright enough to provide illumination has prompted a revolution in illumination technology because of the ease with which the color and brightness of these light sources may be modulated. One such modulation method is discussed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,016,038 the entire disclosure of which is herein incorporated by reference. The systems and methods described herein discuss how to use and build LED light fixtures or systems, or other light fixtures or systems utilizing component illumination sources. These systems have certain advantages over other lighting fixtures. In particular, the systems disclosed herein enable previously unknown control in the light which can be produced by a lighting fixture. In particular, the following disclosure discusses systems and methods for the predetermination of the range of light, and type of light, that can be produced by a lighting fixture and the systems and methods for utilizing the predetermined range of that lighting fixture in a variety of applications. To understand these systems and methods it is first useful to understand a lighting fixture which could be built and used in embodiments of this invention. FIG. 2 depicts one embodiment of a lighting module which could be used in one embodiment of the invention, wherein a lighting fixture (300) is depicted in block diagram format. The lighting fixture (300) includes two components, a processor (316) and a collection of component illumination sources (320), which is depicted in FIG. 2 as an array of light emitting diodes. In one embodiment of the invention, the collection of component illumination sources comprises at least two illumination sources that produce different spectrums of light. The collection of component illumination sources (320) are arranged within said lighting fixture (300) on a mounting (310) in such a way that the light from the different component illumination sources is allowed to mix to produce a resultant spectrum of light which is basically the additive spectrum of the different component illumination sources. In FIG. 2, this is done my placing the component illumination sources (320) in a generally circular area; it could also be done in any other manner as would be understood by one of skill in the art, such as a line of component illumination sources, or another geometric shape of component illumination sources. The term “processor” is used herein to refer to any method or system for processing, for example, those that process in response to a signal or data and/or those that process autonomously. A processor should be understood to encompass microprocessors, microcontrollers, programmable digital signal processors, integrated circuits, computer-software, computer hardware, electrical circuits, application specific integrated circuits, programmable logic devices, programmable gate arrays, programmable array logic, personal computers, chips, and any other combination of discrete analog, digital, or programmable components, or other devices capable of providing processing functions. The collection of illumination sources (320) is controlled by the processor (316) to produce controlled illumination. In particular, the processor (316) controls the intensity of different color individual LEDs in the array of LEDs so as to control the collection of illumination sources (320) to produce illumination in any color within a range bounded by the spectra of the individual LEDs and any filters or other spectrum-altering devices associated therewith. Instantaneous changes in color, strobing and other effects, can also be produced with lighting fixtures such as the light module (300) depicted in FIG. 2. The lighting fixture (300) may be configured to receive power and data from an external source in one embodiment of the invention, the receipt of such data being over data line (330) and power over power line (340). The lighting fixture (300), through the processor (316), may be made to provide the various functions ascribed to the various embodiments of the invention disclosed herein. In another embodiment, the processor (316) may be replaced by hard wiring or another type of control whereby the lighting fixture (300) produces only a single color of light. Referring to FIG. 3, the lighting fixture (300) may be constructed to be used either alone or as part of a set of such lighting fixtures (300). An individual lighting fixture (300) or a set of lighting fixtures (300) can be provided with a data connection (350) to one or more external devices, or, in certain embodiments of the invention, with other light modules (300). As used herein, the term “data connection” should be understood to encompass any system for delivering data, such as a network, a data bus, a wire, a transmitter and receiver, a circuit, a video tape, a compact disc, a DVD disc, a video tape, an audio tape, a computer tape, a card, or the like. A data connection may thus include any system or method to deliver data by radio frequency, ultrasonic, auditory, infrared, optical, microwave, laser, electromagnetic, or other transmission or connection method or system. That is, any use of the electromagnetic spectrum or other energy transmission mechanism could provide a data connection as disclosed herein. In an embodiment of the invention, the lighting fixture (300) may be equipped with a transmitter, receiver, or both to facilitate communication, and the processor (316) may be programmed to control the communication capabilities in a conventional manner. The light fixtures (300) may receive data over the data connection (350) from a transmitter (352), which may be a conventional transmitter of a communications signal, or may be part of a circuit or network connected to the lighting fixture (300). That is, the transmitter (352) should be understood to encompass any device or method for transmitting data to the light fixture (300). The transmitter (352) may be linked to or be part of a control device (354) that generates control data for controlling the light modules (300). In one embodiment of the invention, the control device (354) is a computer, such as a laptop computer. The control data may be in any form suitable for controlling the processor (316) to control the collection of component illumination sources (320). In one embodiment of the invention, the control data is formatted according to the DMX-512 protocol, and conventional software for generating DMX-512 instructions is used on a laptop or personal computer as the control device (354) to control the lighting fixtures (300). The lighting fixture (300) may also be provided with memory for storing instructions to control the processor (316), so that the lighting fixture (300) may act in stand alone mode according to pre-programmed instructions. The foregoing embodiments of a lighting fixture (300) will generally reside in one of any number of different housings. Such housing is, however, not necessary, and the lighting fixture (300) could be used without a housing to still form a lighting fixture. A housing may provide for lensing of the resultant light produced and may provide protection of the lighting fixture (300) and its components. A housing may be included in a lighting fixture as this term is used throughout this document. FIG. 4 shows an exploded view of one embodiment of a lighting fixture of the present invention. The depicted embodiment comprises a substantially cylindrical body section (362), a lighting fixture (364), a conductive sleeve (368), a power module (372), a second conductive sleeve (374), and an enclosure plate (378). It is to be assumed here that the lighting fixture (364) and the power module (372) contain the electrical structure and software of lighting fixture (300), a different power module and lighting fixture (300) as known to the art, or as described in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/215,624, the entire disclosure of which is herein incorporated by reference. Screws (382), (384), (386), (388) allow the entire apparatus to be mechanically connected. Body section (362), conductive sleeves (368) and (374) and enclosure plate (378) are preferably made from a material that conducts heat, such as aluminum. Body section (362) has an emission end (361), a reflective interior portion (not shown) and an illumination end (363). Lighting module (364) is mechanically affixed to said illumination end (363). Said emission end (361) may be open, or, in one embodiment may have affixed thereto a filter (391). Filter (391) may be a clear filter, a diffusing filter, a colored filter, or any other type of filter known to the art. In one embodiment, the filter will be permanently attached to the body section (362), but in other embodiments, the filter could be removably attached. In a still further embodiment, the filter (391) need not be attached to the emission end (361) of body portion (362) but may be inserted anywhere in the direction of light emission from the lighting fixture (364). Lighting fixture (364) may be disk-shaped with two sides. The illumination side (not shown) comprises a plurality of component light sources which produce a predetermined selection of different spectrums of light. The connection side may hold an electrical connector male pin assembly (392). Both the illumination side and the connection side can be coated with aluminum surfaces to better allow the conduction of heat outward from the plurality of component light sources to the body section (362). Likewise, power module (372) is generally disk shaped and may have every available surface covered with aluminum for the same reason. Power module (372) has a connection side holding an electrical connector female pin assembly (394) adapted to fit the pins from assembly (392). Power module (372) has a power terminal side holding a terminal (398) for connection to a source of power such as an AC or DC electrical source. Any standard AC or DC jack may be used, as appropriate. Interposed between lighting fixture (364) and power module (372) is a conductive aluminum sleeve (368), which substantially encloses the space between modules (362) and (372). As shown, a disk-shaped enclosure plate (378) and screws (382), (384), (386) and (388) can seal all of the components together, and conductive sleeve (374) is thus interposed between enclosure plate (378) and power module (372). Alternatively, a method of connection other than screws (382), (384), (386), and (388) may be used to seal the structure together. Once sealed together as a unit, the lighting fixture (362) may be connected to a data network as described above and may be mounted in any convenient manner to illuminate an area. FIGS. 5a and 5b show an alternative lighting fixture (5000) including a housing that could be used in another embodiment of the invention. The depicted embodiment comprises a lower body section (5001), an upper body section (5003) and a lighting platform (5005). Again, the lighting fixture can contain the lighting fixture (300), a different lighting fixture known to the art, or a lighting fixture described anywhere else in this document. The lighting platform (5005) shown here is designed to have a linear track of component illumination devices (in this case LEDs (5007)) although such a design is not necessary. Such a design is desirable for an embodiment of the invention, however. In addition, although the linear track of component illumination sources in depicted in FIG. 5a as a single track, multiple linear tracks could be used as would be understood by one of skill in the art. In one embodiment of the invention, the upper body section (5003) can comprise a filter as discussed above, or may be translucent, transparent, semi-translucent, or semi-transparent. Further shown in FIG. 5a is the optional holder (5010) which may be used to hold the lighting fixture (5000). This holder (5010) comprises clip attachments (5012) which may be used to frictionally engage the lighting fixture (5000) to enable a particular alignment of lighting fixture (5000) relative to the holder (5010). The mounting also contains attachment plate (5014) which may be attached to the clip attachments (5012) by any type of attachment known to the art whether permanent, removable, or temporary. Attachment plate (5014) may then be used to attach the entire apparatus to a surface such as, but not limited to, a wall or ceiling. In one embodiment, the lighting fixture (5000) is generally cylindrical in shape when assembled (as shown in FIG. 5b) and therefore can move or “roll” on a surface. In addition, in one embodiment, the lighting fixture (5000) only can emit light through the upper body section (5003) and not through the lower body section (5001). Without a holder (5010), directing the light emitted from such a lighting fixture (5000) could be difficult and motion could cause the directionality of the light to undesirably alter. In one embodiment of the invention, it is recognized that prespecified ranges of available colors may be desirable and it may also be desirable to build lighting fixtures in such a way as to maximize the illumination of the lighting apparatus for particular color therein. This is best shown through a numerical example. Let us assume that a lighting fixture contains 30 component illumination sources in three different wavelengths, primary red, primary blue, and primary green (such as individual LEDs). In addition, let us assume that each of these illumination sources produces the same intensity of light, they just produce at different colors. Now, there are multiple different ways that the thirty illumination sources for any given lighting fixture can be chosen. There could be 10 of each of the illumination sources, or alternatively there could be 30 primary blue colored illumination sources. It should be readily apparent that these light fixtures would be useful for different types of lighting. The second light apparatus produces more intense primary blue light (there are 30 sources of blue light) than the first light source (which only has 10 primary blue light sources, the remaining 20 light sources have to be off to produce primary blue light), but is limited to only producing primary blue light. The second light fixture can produce more colors of light, because the spectrums of the component illumination sources can be mixed in different percentages, but cannot produce as intense blue light. It should be readily apparent from this example that the selection of the individual component illumination sources can change the resultant spectrum of light the fixture can produce. It should also be apparent that the same selection of components can produce lights which can produce the same colors, but can produce those colors at different intensities. To put this another way, the full-on point of a lighting fixture (the point where all the component illumination sources are at maximum) will be different depending on what the component illumination sources are. A lighting system may accordingly be specified using a full-on point and a range of selectable colors. This system has many potential applications such as, but not limited to, retail display lighting and theater lighting. Often times numerous lighting fixtures of a plurality of different colors are used to present a stage or other area with interesting shadows and desirable features. Problems can arise, however, because lamps used regularly have similar intensities before lighting filters are used to specify colors of those fixtures. Due to differences in transmission of the various filters (for instance blue filters often loose significantly more intensity than red filters), lighting fixtures must have their intensity controlled to compensate. For this reason, lighting fixtures are often operated at less than their full capability (to allow mixing) requiring additional lighting fixtures to be used. With the lighting fixtures of the instant invention, the lighting fixtures can be designed to produce particular colors at identical intensities of chosen colors when operating at their full potential; this can allow easier mixing of the resultant light, and can result in more options for a lighting design scheme. Such a system enables the person building or designing lighting fixtures to generate lights that can produce a pre-selected range of colors, while still maximizing the intensity of light at certain more desirable colors. These lighting fixtures would therefore allow a user to select certain color(s) of lighting fixtures for an application independent of relative intensity. The lighting fixtures can then be built so that the intensities at these colors are the same. Only the spectrum is altered. It also enables a user to select lighting fixtures that produce a particular high-intensity color of light, and also have the ability to select nearby colors of light in a range. The range of colors which can be produced by the lighting fixture can be specified instead of, or in addition to, the full-on point. The lighting fixture can then be provided with control systems that enable a user of the lighting fixture to intuitively and easily select a desired color from the available range. One embodiment of such a system works by storing the spectrums of each of the component illumination sources. In this example embodiment, the illumination sources are LEDs. By selecting different component LEDs with different spectrums, the designer can define the color range of a lighting fixture. An easy way to visualize the color range is to use the CIE diagram which shows the entire lighting range of all colors of light which can exist. One embodiment of a system provides a light-authoring interface such as an interactive computer interface. FIG. 6 shows an embodiment of an interactive computer interface enabling a user to see a CIE diagram (508) on which is displayed the spectrum of color a lighting fixture can produce. In FIG. 6 individual LED spectra are saved in memory and can be recalled from memory to be used for calculating a combined color control area. The interface has several channels (502) for selecting LEDs. Once selected, varying the intensity slide bar (504) can change the relative number of LEDs of that type in the resultant lighting fixture. The color of each LED is represented on a color chart such as a CIE diagram (508) as a point (for example, point (506)). A second LED can be selected on a different channel to create a second point (for example, point (501)) on the CIE chart. A line connecting these two points represents the extent that the color from these two LEDs can be mixed to produce additional colors. When a third and fourth channel are used, an area (510) can be plotted on the CIE diagram representing the possible combinations of the selected LEDs. Although the area (510) shown here is a polygon of four sides it would be understood by one of skill in the art that the area (510) could be a point line or a polygon with any number of sides depending on the LEDs chosen. In addition to specifying the color range, the intensities at any given color can be calculated from the LED spectrums. By knowing the number of LEDs for a given color and the maximum intensity of any of these LEDs, the total light output at a particular color is calculated. A diamond or other symbol (512) may be plotted on the diagram to represent the color when all of the LEDs are on full brightness or the point may represent the present intensity setting. Because a lighting fixture can be made of a plurality of component illumination sources, when designing a lighting fixture, a color that is most desirable can be selected, and a lighting fixture can be designed that maximizes the intensity of that color. Alternatively, a fixture may be chosen and the point of maximum intensity can be determined from this selection. A tool may be provided to allow calculation of a particular color at a maximum intensity. FIG. 6 shows such a tool as symbol (512), where the CIE diagram has been placed on a computer and calculations can be automatically performed to compute a total number of LEDs necessary to produce a particular intensity, as well as the ratio of LEDs of different spectrums to produce particular colors. Alternatively, a selection of LEDs may be chosen and the point of maximum intensity determined; both directions of calculation are included in embodiments of this invention. In FIG. 6 as the number of LEDs are altered, the maximum intensity points move so that a user can design a light which has a maximum intensity at a desired point. Therefore the system in one embodiment of the invention contains a collection of the spectrums of a number of different LEDs, provides an interface for a user to select LEDs that will produce a range of color that encloses the desirable area, and allows a user to select the number of each LED type such that when the unit is on full, a target color is produced. In an alternative embodiment, the user would simply need to provide a desired spectrum, or color and intensity, and the system could produce a lighting fixture which could generate light according to the requests. Once the light has been designed, in one embodiment, it is further desirable to make the light's spectrum easily accessible to the lighting fixture's user. As was discussed above, the lighting fixture may have been chosen to have a particular array of illumination sources such that a particular color is obtained at maximum intensity. However, there may be other colors that can be produced by varying the relative intensities of the component illumination sources. The spectrum of the lighting fixture can be controlled within the predetermined range specified by the area (510). To control the lighting color within the range, it is recognized that each color within the polygon is the additive mix of the component LEDs with each color contained in the components having a varied intensity. That is, to move from one point in FIG. 6 to a second point in FIG. 6, it is necessary to alter the relative intensities of the component LEDs. This may be less than intuitive for the final user of the lighting fixture who simply wants a particular color, or a particular transition between colors and does not know the relative intensities to shift to. This is particularly true if the LEDs used do not have spectra with a single well-determined peak of color. A lighting fixture may be able to generate several shades of orange, but how to get to each of those shades may require control. In order to be able to carry out such control of the spectrum of the light, it is desirable in one embodiment to create a system and method for linking the color of the light to a control device for controlling the light's color. Since a lighting fixture can be custom designed, it may, in one embodiment, be desirable to have the intensities of each of the component illumination sources “mapped” to a desirable resultant spectrum of light and allowing a point on the map to be selected by the controller. That is, a method whereby, with the specification of a particular color of light by a controller, the lighting fixture can turn on the appropriate illumination sources at the appropriate intensity to create that color of light. In one embodiment, the lighting fixture design software shown in FIG. 6 can be configured in such a way that it can generate a mapping between a desirable color that can be produced (within the area (510)), and the intensities of the component LEDs that make up the lighting fixture. This mapping will generally take one of two forms: 1) a lookup table, or 2) a parametric equation, although other forms could be used as would be known to one of skill in the art. Software on board the lighting fixture (such as in the processor (316) above) or on board a lighting controller, such as one of those known to the art, or described above, can be configured to accept the input of a user in selecting a color, and producing a desired light. This mapping may be performed by a variety of methods. In one embodiment, statistics are known about each individual component illumination sources within the lighting fixture, so mathematical calculations may be made to produce a relationship between the resulting spectrum and the component spectrums. Such calculations would be well understood by one of skill in the art. In another embodiment, an external calibration system may be used. One layout of such a system is disclosed in FIG. 7. Here the calibration system includes a lighting fixture (2010) that is connected to a processor (2020) and which receives input from a light sensor or transducer (2034). The processor (2020) may be processor (316) or may be an additional or alternative processor. The sensor (2034) measures color characteristics, and optionally brightness, of the light output by the lighting fixture (2010) and/or the ambient light, and the processor (2020) varies the output of the lighting fixture (2010). Between these two devices modulating the brightness or color of the output and measuring the brightness and color of the output, the lighting fixture can be calibrated where the relative settings of the component illumination sources (or processor settings (2020)) are directly related to the output of the fixture (2010) (the light sensor (2034) settings). Since the sensor (2034) can detect the net spectrum produced by the lighting fixture, it can be used to provide a direct mapping by relating the output of the lighting fixture to the settings of the component LEDs. Once the mapping has been completed, other methods or systems may be used for the light fixture's control. Such methods or systems will enable the determination of a desired color, and the production by the lighting fixture of that color. FIG. 8a shows one embodiment of the system (2000) where a control system (2030) may be used in conjunction with a lighting fixture (2010) to enable control of the lighting fixture (2010). The control system (2030) may be automatic, may accept input from a user, or may be any combination of these two. The system (2000) may also include a processor (2020) which may be processor (316) or another processor to enable the light to change color. FIG. 9 shows a more particular embodiment of a system (2000). A user computer interface control system (2032) with which a user may select a desired color of light is used as a control system (2030). The interface could enable any type of user interaction in the determination of color. For example, the interface may provide a palette, chromaticity diagram, or other color scheme from which a user may select a color, e.g., by clicking with a mouse on a suitable color or color temperature on the interface, changing a variable using a keyboard, etc. The interface may include a display screen, a computer keyboard, a mouse, a trackpad, or any other suitable system for interaction between the processor and a user. In certain embodiments, the system may permit a user to select a set of colors for repeated use, capable of being rapidly accessed, e.g., by providing a simple code, such as a single letter or digit, or by selecting one of a set of preset colors through an interface as described above. In certain embodiments, the interface may also include a look-up table capable of correlating color names with approximate shades, converting color coordinates from one system, (e.g., RGB, CYM, YIQ, YUV, HSV, HLS, XYZ, etc.) to a different color coordinate system or to a display or illumination color, or any other conversion function for assisting a user in manipulating the illumination color. The interface may also include one or more closed-form equations for converting from, for example, a user-specified color temperature (associated with a particular color of white light) into suitable signals for the different component illumination sources of the lighting fixture (2010). The system may further include a sensor as discussed below for providing information to the processor (2020), e.g., for automatically calibrating the color of emitted light of the lighting fixture (2010) to achieve the color selected by the user on the interface. In another embodiment, a manual control system (2031) is used in the system (2000), as depicted in FIG. 10a, such as a dial, slider, switch, multiple switch, console, other lighting control unit, or any other controller or combination of controllers to permit a user to modify the illumination conditions until the illumination conditions or the appearance of a subject being illuminated is desirable. For example, a dial or slider may be used in a system to modulate the net color spectrum produced, the illumination along the color temperature curve, or any other modulation of the color of the lighting fixture. Alternatively, a joystick, trackball, trackpad, mouse, thumb-wheel, touch-sensitive surface, or a console with two or more sliders, dials, or other controls may be used to modulate the color, temperature, or spectrum. These manual controls may be used in conjunction with a computer interface control system (2032) as discussed above, or may be used independently, possibly with related markings to enable a user to scan through an available color range. One such manual control system (2036) is shown in greater detail in FIG. 10b. The depicted control unit features a dial marked to indicate a range of color temperatures, e.g., from 3000K to 10,500K. This device would be useful on a lighting fixture used to produce a range of temperatures (“colors”) of white light. It would be understood by one of skill in the art that broader, narrower, or overlapping ranges may be employed, and a similar system could be employed to control lighting fixtures that can produce light of a spectrum beyond white, or not including white. A manual control system (2036) may be included as part of a processor controlling an array of lighting units, coupled to a processor, e.g., as a peripheral component of a lighting control system, disposed on a remote control capable of transmitting a signal, such as an infrared or microwave signal, to a system controlling a lighting unit, or employed or configured in any other manner, as will readily be understood by one of skill in the art. Additionally, instead of a dial, a manual control system (2036) may employ a slider, a mouse, or any other control or input device suitable for use in the systems and methods described herein. In another embodiment, the calibration system depicted in FIG. 7 may function as a control system or as a portion of a control system. For instance a selected color could be input by the user and the calibration system could measure the spectrum of ambient light; compare the measured spectrum with the selected spectrum, adjust the color of light produced by the lighting fixture (2010), and repeat the procedure to minimize the difference between the desired spectrum and the measured spectrum. For example, if the measured spectrum is deficient in red wavelengths when compared with the target spectrum, the processor may increase the brightness of red LEDs in the lighting fixture, decrease the brightness of blue and green LEDs in the lighting fixture, or both, in order to minimize the difference between the measured spectrum and the target spectrum and potentially also achieve a target brightness (i.e. such as the maximum possible brightness of that color). The system could also be used to match a color produced by a lighting fixture to a color existing naturally. For instance, a film director could find light in a location where filming does not occur and measure that light using the sensor. This could then provide the desired color which is to be produced by the lighting fixture. In one embodiment, these tasks can be performed simultaneously (potentially using two separate sensors). In a yet further embodiment, the director can remotely measure a lighting condition with a sensor (2034) and store that lighting condition on memory associated with that sensor (2034). The sensor's memory may then be transferred at a later time to the processor (2020) which may set the lighting fixture to mimic the light recorded. This allows a director to create a “memory of desired lighting” which can be stored and recreated later by lighting fixtures such as those described above. The sensor (2034) used to measure the illumination conditions may be a photodiode, a phototransistor, a photoresistor, a radiometer, a photometer, a colorimeter, a spectral radiometer, a camera, a combination of two or more of the preceding devices, or any other system capable of measuring the color or brightness of illumination conditions. An example of a sensor may be the IL2000 SpectroCube Spectroradiometer offered for sale by International Light Inc., although any other sensor may be used. A colorimeter or spectral radiometer is advantageous because a number of wavelengths can be simultaneously detected, permitting accurate measurements of color and brightness simultaneously. A color temperature sensor which may be employed in the systems methods described herein is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,521,708. In embodiments wherein the sensor (2034) detects an image, e.g., includes a camera or other video capture device, the processor (2020) may modulate the illumination conditions with the lighting fixture (2010) until an illuminated object appears substantially the same, e.g., of substantially the same color, as in a previously recorded image. Such a system simplifies procedures employed by cinematographers, for example, attempting to produce a consistent appearance of an object to promote continuity between scenes of a film, or by photographers, for example, trying to reproduce lighting conditions from an earlier shoot. In certain embodiments, the lighting fixture (2010) may be used as the sole light source, while in other embodiments, such as is depicted in FIG. 8b, the lighting fixture (2010) may be used in combination with a second source of light (2040), such as an incandescent, fluorescent, halogen, or other LED sources or component light sources (including those with and without control), lights that are controlled with pulse width modulation, sunlight, moonlight, candlelight, etc. This use can be to supplement the output of the second source. For example, a fluorescent light emitting illumination weak in red portions of the spectrum may be supplemented with a lighting fixture emitting primarily red wavelengths to provide illumination conditions more closely resembling natural sunlight. Similarly, such a system may also be useful in outdoor image capture situations, because the color temperature of natural light varies as the position of the sun changes. A lighting fixture (2010) may be used in conjunction with a sensor (2034) as controller (2030) to compensate for changes in sunlight to maintain constant illumination conditions for the duration of a session. Any of the above systems could be deployed in the system disclosed in FIG. 11. A lighting system for a location may comprise a plurality of lighting fixtures (2301) which are controllable by a central control system (2303). The light within the location (or on a particular location such as the stage (2305) depicted here) is now desired to mimic another type of light such as sunlight. A first sensor (2307) is taken outside and the natural sunlight (2309) is measured and recorded. This recording is then provided to central control system (2303). A second sensor (which may be the same sensor in one embodiment) (2317) is present on the stage (2305). The central control system (2303) now controls the intensity and color of the plurality of lighting fixtures (2301) and attempts to match the input spectrum of said second sensor (2317) with the prerecorded natural sunlight's (2309) spectrum. In this manner, interior lighting design can be dramatically simplified as desired colors of light can be reproduced or simulated in a closed setting. This can be in a theatre (as depicted here), or in any other location such as a home, an office, a soundstage, a retail store, or any other location where artificial lighting is used. Such a system could also be used in conjunction with other secondary light sources to create a desired lighting effect. The above systems allow for the creation of lighting fixtures with virtually any type of spectrum. It is often desirable to produce light that appears “natural” or light which is a high-quality, especially white light. A lighting fixture which produces white light according to the above invention can comprise any collection of component illumination sources such that the area defined by the illumination sources can encapsulate at least a portion of the black body curve. The black body curve (104) in FIG. 1 is a physical construct that shows different color white light with regards to the temperature of the white light. In a preferred embodiment, the entire black body curve would be encapsulated allowing the lighting fixture to produce any temperature of white light. For a variable color white light with the highest possible intensity, a significant portion of the black body curve may be enclosed. The intensity at different color whites along the black body curve can then be simulated. The maximum intensity produced by this light could be placed along the black body curve. By varying the number of each color LED (in FIG. 6 red, blue, amber, and blue-green) it is possible to change the location of the full-on point (the symbol (512) in FIG. 6). For example, the full-on color could be placed at approximately 5400K (noon day sunlight shown by point (106) in FIG. 1), but any other point could be used (two other points are shown in FIG. 1 corresponding to a fire glow and an incandescent bulb). Such a lighting apparatus would then be able to produce 5400 K light at a high intensity; in addition, the light may adjust for differences in temperature (for instance cloudy sunlight) by moving around in the defined area. Although this system generates white light with a variable color temperature, it is not necessarily a high quality white light source. A number of combinations of colors of illumination sources can be chosen which enclose the black body curve, and the quality of the resulting lighting fixtures may vary depending on the illumination sources chosen. Since white light is a mixture of different wavelengths of light, it is possible to characterize white light based on the component colors of light that are used to generate it. Red, green, and blue (RGB) can combine to form white; as can light blue, amber, and lavender; or cyan, magenta and yellow. Natural white light (sunlight) contains a virtually continuous spectrum of wavelengths across the human visible band (and beyond). This can be seen by examining sunlight through a prism, or looking at a rainbow. Many artificial white lights are technically white to the human eye, however, they can appear quite different when shown on colored surfaces because they lack a virtually continuous spectrum. As an extreme example one could create a white light source using two lasers (or other narrow band optical sources) with complimentary wavelengths. These sources would have an extremely narrow spectral width perhaps 1 nm wide. To exemplify this, we will choose wavelengths of 635 nm and 493 nm. These are considered complimentary since they will additively combine to make light which the human eye perceives as white light. The intensity levels of these two lasers can be adjusted to some ratio of powers that will produce white light that appears to have a color temperature of 5000K. If this source were directed at a white surface, the reflected light will appear as 5000K white light. The problem with this type of white light is that it will appear extremely artificial when shown on a colored surface. A colored surface (as opposed to colored light) is produced because the surface absorbs and reflects different wavelengths of light. If hit by white light comprising a full spectrum (light with all wavelengths of the visible band at reasonable intensity), the surface will absorb and reflect perfectly. However, the white light above does not provide the complete spectrum. To again use an extreme example, if a surface only reflected light from 500 nm-550 nm it will appear a fairly deep green in full-spectrum light, but will appear black (it absorbs all the spectrums present) in the above described laser-generated artificial white light. Further, since the CRI index relies on a limited number of observations, there are mathematical loopholes in the method. Since the spectrums for CRI color samples are known, it is a relatively straightforward exercise to determine the optimal wavelengths and minimum numbers of narrow band sources needed to achieve a high CRI. This source will fool the CRI measurement, but not the human observer. The CRI method is at best an estimator of the spectrum that the human eye can see. An everyday example is the modern compact fluorescent lamp. It has a fairly high CRI of 80 and a color temperature of 2980K but still appears unnatural. The spectrum of a compact fluorescent is shown in FIG. 27. Due to the desirability of high-quality light (in particular high-quality white light) that can be varied over different temperatures or spectrums, a further embodiment of this invention comprises systems and method for generating higher-quality white light by mixing the electromagnetic radiation from a plurality of component illumination sources such as LEDs. This is accomplished by choosing LEDs that provide a white light that is targeted to the human eye's interpretation of light, as well as the mathematical CRI index. That light can then be maximized in intensity using the above system. Further, because the color temperature of the light can be controlled, this high quality white light can therefore still have the control discussed above and can be a controllable, high-quality, light which can produce high-quality light across a range of colors. To produce a high-quality white light, it is necessary to examine the human eye's ability to see light of different wavelengths and determine what makes a light high-quality. In it's simplest definition, a high-quality white light provides low distortion to colored objects when they are viewed under it. It therefore makes sense to begin by examining a high-quality light based on what the human eye sees. Generally the highest quality white light is considered to be sunlight or full-spectrum light, as this is the only source of “natural” light. For the purposes of this disclosure, it will be accepted that sunlight is a high-quality white light. The sensitivity of the human eye is known as the Photopic response. The Photopic response can be thought of as a spectral transfer function for the eye, meaning that it indicates how much of each wavelength of light input is seen by the human observer. This sensitivity can be expressed graphically as the spectral luminosity function Vλ (501), which is represented in FIG. 12. The eye's Photopic response is important since it can be used to describe the boundaries on the problem of generating white light (or of any color of light). In one embodiment of the invention, a high quality white light will need to comprise only what the human eye can “see.” In another embodiment of the invention, it can be recognized that high-quality white light may contain electromagnetic radiation which cannot be seen by the human eye but may result in a photobiological response. Therefore a high-quality white light may include only visible light, or may include visible light and other electromagnetic radiation which may result in a photobiological response. This will generally be electromagnetic radiation less than 400 nm (ultraviolet light) or greater than 700 nm (infrared light). Using the first part of the description, the source is not required to have any power above 700 nm or below 400 nm since the eye has only minimal response at these wavelengths. A high-quality source would preferably be substantially continuous between these wavelengths (otherwise colors could be distorted) but can fall-off towards higher or lower wavelengths due to the sensitivity of the eye. Further, the spectral distribution of different temperatures of white light will be different. To illustrate this, spectral distributions for two blackbody sources with temperatures of 5000K (601) and 2500K (603) are shown in FIG. 13 along with the spectral luminosity function (501) from FIG. 12. As seen in FIG. 13, the 5000K curve is smooth and centered about 555 nm with only a slight fall-off in both the increasing and decreasing wavelength directions. The 2500K curve is heavily weighted towards higher wavelengths. This distribution makes sense intuitively, since lower color temperatures appear to be yellow-to-reddish. One point that arises from the observation of these curves, against the spectral luminosity curve, is that the Photopic response of the eye is “filled.” This means that every color that is illuminated by one of these sources will be perceived by a human observer. Any holes, i.e., areas with no spectral power, will make certain objects appear abnormal. This is why many “white” light sources seem to disrupt colors. Since the blackbody curves are continuous, even the dramatic change from 5000K to 2500K will only shift colors towards red, making them appear warmer but not devoid of color. This comparison shows that an important specification of any high-quality artificial light fixture is a continuous spectrum across the photopic response of the human observer. Having examined these relationships of the human eye, a fixture for producing controllable high-quality white light would need to have the following characteristic. The light has a substantially continuous spectrum over the wavelengths visible to the human eye, with any holes or gaps locked in the areas where the human eye is less responsive. In addition, in order to make a high-quality white light controllable over a range of temperatures, it would be desirable to produce a light spectrum which can have relatively equal values of each wavelength of light, but can also make different wavelengths dramatically more or less intense with regards to other wavelengths depending on the color temperature desired. The clearest waveform which would have such control would need to mirror the scope of the photopic response of the eye, while still being controllable at the various different wavelengths. As was discussed above, the traditional mixing methods which create white light can create light which is technically “white” but sill produces an abnormal appearance to the human eye. The CRI rating for these values is usually extremely low or possibly negative. This is because if there is not a wavelength of light present in the generation of white light, it is impossible for an object of a color to reflect/absorb that wavelength. In an additional case, since the CRI rating relies on eight particular color samples, it is possible to get a high CRI, while not having a particularly high-quality light because the white light functions well for those particular color samples specified by the CRI rating. That is, a high CRI index could be obtained by a white light composed of eight 1 nm sources which were perfectly lined up with the eight CRI color structures. This would, however, not be a high-quality light source for illuminating other colors. The fluorescent lamp shown in FIG. 27 provides a good example of a high CRI light that is not high-quality. Although the light from a fluorescent lamp is white, it is comprised of many spikes (such as (201) and (203)). The position of these spikes has been carefully designed so that when measured using the CRI samples they yield a high rating. In other words, these spikes fool the CRI calculation but not the human observer. The result is a white light that is usable but not optimal (i.e., it appears artificial). The dramatic peaks in the spectrum of a fluorescent light are also clear in FIG. 27. These peaks are part of the reason that fluorescent light looks very artificial. Even if light is produced within the spectral valleys, it is so dominated by the peaks that a human eye has difficulty seeing it. A high-quality white light may be produced according to this disclosure without the dramatic peaks and valleys of a florescent lamp. A spectral peak is the point of intensity of a particular color of light which has less intensity at points immediately to either side of it. A maximum spectral peak is the highest spectral peak within the region of interest. It is therefore possible to have multiple peaks within a chosen portion of the electromagnetic spectrum, only a single maximum peak, or to have no peaks at all. For instance, FIG. 12 in the region 500 nm to 510 nm has no spectral peaks because there is no point in that region that has lower points on both sides of it. A valley is the opposite of a peak and is a point that is a minimum and has points of higher intensity on either side of it (an inverted plateau is also a valley). A special plateau can also be a spectrum peak. A plateau involves a series of concurrent points of the same intensity with the points on either side of the series having less intensity. It should be clear that high-quality white light simulating black-body sources do not have significant peaks and valleys within the area of the human eye's photopic response as is shown in FIG. 13. Most artificial light, does however have some peaks and valleys in this region such shown in FIG. 27, however the less difference between these points the better. This is especially true for higher temperature light whereas for lower temperature light the continuous line has a positive upward slope with no peaks or valleys and shallow valleys in the shorter wavelength areas would be less noticeable, as would slight peaks in the longer wavelengths. To take into account this peak and valley relationship to high-quality white light, the following is desirable in a high-quality white light of one embodiment of this invention. The lowest valley in the visible range should have a greater intensity than the intensity attributable to background noise as would be understood by one of skill in the art. It is further desirable to close the gap between the lowest valley and the maximum peak; and other embodiments of the invention have lowest valleys with at least 5% 10%, 25%, 33%, 50%, and 75% of the intensity of the maximum peaks. One skilled in the art would see that other percentages could be used anywhere up to 100%. In another embodiment, it is desirable to mimic the shape of the black body spectra at different temperatures; for higher temperatures (4,000 K to 10,000 K) this may be similar to the peaks and valleys analysis above. For lower temperatures, another analysis would be that most valleys should be at a shorter wavelength than the highest peak. This would be desirable in one embodiment for color temperatures less than 2500 K. In another embodiment it would be desirable to have this in the region 500 K to 2500 K. From the above analysis high-quality artificial white light should therefore have a spectrum that is substantially continuous between the 400 nm and 700 nm without dramatic spikes. Further, to be controllable, the light should be able to produce a spectrum that resembles natural light at various color temperatures. Due to the use of mathematical models in the industry, it is also desirable for the source to yield a high CRI indicative that the reference colors are being preserved and showing that the high-quality white light of the instant invention does not fail on previously known tests. In order to build a high-quality white light lighting fixture using LEDs as the component illumination sources, it is desirable in one embodiment to have LEDs with particular maximum spectral peaks and spectral widths. It is also desirable to have the lighting fixture allow for controllability, that is that the color temperature can be controlled to select a particular spectrum of “white” light or even to have a spectrum of colored light in addition to the white light. It would also be desirable for each of the LEDs to produce equal intensities of light to allow for easy mixing. One system for creating white light includes a large number (for example around 300) of LEDs, each of which has a narrow spectral width and each of which has a maximum spectral peak spanning a predetermined portion of the range from about 400 nm to about 700 nm, possibly with some overlap, and possibly beyond the boundaries of visible light. This light source may produce essentially white light, and may be controllable to produce any color temperature (and also any color). It allows for smaller variation than the human eye can see and therefore the light fixture can make changes more finely than a human can perceive. Such a light fixture is therefore one embodiment of the invention, but other embodiments can use fewer LEDs when perception by humans is the focus. In another embodiment of the invention, a significantly smaller number of LEDs can be used with the spectral width of each LED increased to generate a high-quality white light. One embodiment of such a light fixture is shown in FIG. 14. FIG. 14 shows the spectrums of nine LEDs (701) with 25 nm spectral widths spaced every 25 nm. It should be recognized here that a nine LED lighting fixture does not necessarily contain exactly nine total illumination sources. It contains some number of each of nine different colored illuminating sources. This number will usually be the same for each color, but need not be. High-brightness LEDs with a spectral width of about 25 nm are generally available. The solid line (703) indicates the additive spectrum of all of the LED spectrums at equal power as could be created using the above method lighting fixture. The powers of the LEDs may be adjusted to generate a range of color temperature (and colors as well) by adjusting the relative intensities of the nine LEDs. FIGS. 15a and 15b are spectrums for the 5000K (801) and 2500K (803) white-light from this lighting fixture. This nine LED lighting fixture has the ability to reproduce a wide range of color temperatures as well as a wide range of colors as the area of the CIE diagram enclosed by the component LEDs covers most of the available colors. It enables control over the production of non-continuous spectrums and the generation of particular high-quality colors by choosing to use only a subset of the available LED illumination sources. It should be noted that the choice of location of the dominant wavelength of the nine LEDs could be moved without significant variation in the ability to produce white light. In addition, different colored LEDs may be added. Such additions may improve the resolution as was discussed in the 300 LED example above. Any of these light fixtures may meet the quality standards above. They may produce a spectrum that is continuous over the photopic response of the eye, that is without dramatic peaks, and that can be controlled to produce a white light of multiple desired color temperatures. The nine LED white light source is effective since its spectral resolution is sufficient to accurately simulate spectral distributions within human-perceptible limits. However, fewer LEDs may be used. If the specifications of making high-quality white light are followed, the fewer LEDs may have an increased spectral width to maintain the substantially continuous spectrum that fills the Photopic response of the eye. The decrease could be from any number of LEDs from 8 to 2. The 1 LED case allows for no color mixing and therefore no control. To have a temperature controllable white light fixture at least two colors of LEDs may be required. One embodiment of the current invention includes three different colored LEDs. Three LEDs allow for a two dimensional area (a triangle) to be available as the spectrum for the resultant fixture. One embodiment of a three LED source is shown in FIG. 16. The additive spectrum of the three LEDs (903) offers less control than the nine LED lighting fixture, but may meet the criteria for a high-quality white light source as discussed above. The spectrum may be continuous without dramatic peaks. It is also controllable, since the triangle of available white light encloses the black body curve. This source may lose fine control over certain colors or temperatures that were obtained with a greater number of LEDs as the area enclosed on the CIE diagram is a triangle, but the power of these LEDs can still be controlled to simulate sources of different color temperatures. Such an alteration is shown in FIGS. 17a and 17b for 5000K (1001) and 2500K (1003) sources. One skilled in the art would see that alternative temperatures may also be generated. Both the nine LED and three LED examples demonstrate that combinations of LEDs can be used to create high-quality white lighting fixtures. These spectrums fill the photopic response of the eye and are continuous, which means they appear more natural than artificial light sources such as fluorescent lights. Both spectra may be characterized as high-quality since the CRIs measure in the high 90s. In the design of a white lighting fixture, one impediment is the lack of availability for LEDs with a maximum spectral peak of 555 nm. This wavelength is at the center of the Photopic response of the eye and one of the clearest colors to the eye. The introduction of an LED with a dominant wavelength at or near 555 nm would simplify the generation of LED-based white light, and a white light fixture with such an LED comprises one embodiment of this invention. In another embodiment of the invention, a non-LED illumination source that produces light with a maximum spectral peak from about 510 nm to about 570 nm could also be used to fill this particular spectral gap. In a still further embodiment, this non-LED source could comprise an existing white light source and a filter to make that resulting light source have a maximum spectral peak in this general area. In another embodiment high-quality white light may be generated using LEDs without spectral peaks around 555 nm to fill in the gap in the Photopic response left by the absence of green LEDs. One possibility is to fill the gap with a non-LED illumination source. Another, as described below, is that a high-quality controllable white light source can be generated using a collection of one or more different colored LEDs where none of the LEDs have a maximum spectral peak in the range of about 510 nm to 570 nm. To build a white light lighting fixture that is controllable over a generally desired range of color temperatures, it is first necessary to determine the criteria of temperature desired. In one embodiment, this is chosen to be color temperatures from about 2300K to about 4500K which is commonly used by lighting designers in industry. However, any range could be chosen for other embodiments including the range from 500K to 10,000K which covers most variation in visible white light or any sub-range thereof. The overall output spectrum of this light may achieve a CRI comparable to standard light sources already existing. Specifically, a high CRI (greater than 80) at 4500K and lower CRI (greater than 50) at 2300K may be specified although again any value could be chosen. Peaks and valleys may also be minimized in the range as much as possible and particularly to have a continuous curve where no intensity is zero (there is at least some spectral content at each wavelength throughout the range). In recent years, white LEDs have become available. These LEDs operate using a blue LED to pump a layer of phosphor. The phosphor down-coverts some of the blue light into green and red. The result is a spectrum that has a wide spectrum and is roughly centered about 555 nm, and is referred to as “cool white.” An example spectrum for such a white LED (in particular for a Nichia NSPW510 BS (bin A) LED), is shown in FIG. 18 as the spectrum (1201). The spectrum (1201) shown in FIG. 18 is different from the Gaussian-like spectrums for some LEDs. This is because not all of the pump energy from the blue LED is down-converted. This has the effect of cooling the overall spectrum since the higher portion of the spectrum is considered to be warm. The resulting CRI for this LED is 84 but it has a color temperature of 20,000K. Therefore the LED on its own does not meet the above lighting criteria. This spectrum (1201) contains a maximum spectral peak at about 450 nm and does not accurately fill the photopic response of the human eye. A single LED also allows for no control of color temperature and therefore a system of the desired range of color temperatures cannot be generated with this LED alone. Nichia Chemical currently has three bins (A, B, and C) of white LEDs available. The LED spectrum (1201) shown in FIG. 18 is the coolest of these bins. The warmest LED is bin C (the spectrum (1301) of which is presented in FIG. 19). The CRI of this LED is also 84; it has a maximum spectral peak of around 450 nm, and it has a CCT of 5750K. Using a combination of the bin A or C LEDs will enable the source to fill the spectrum around the center of the Photopic response, 555 nm. However, the lowest achievable color temperature will be 5750K (from using the bin C LED alone) which does not cover the entire range of color temperatures previously discussed. This combination will appear abnormally cool (blue) on its own as the additive spectrum will still have a significant peak around 450 nm. The color temperature of these LEDs can be shifted using an optical high-pass filter placed over the LEDs. This is essentially a transparent piece of glass or plastic tinted so as to enable only higher wavelength light to pass through. One example of such a high-pass filter's transmission is shown in FIG. 20 as line (1401). Optical filters are known to the art and the high pass filter will generally comprise a translucent material, such as plastics, glass, or other transmission media which has been tinted to form a high pass filter such as the one shown in FIG. 20. One embodiment of the invention includes generating a filter of a desired material (to obtain particular physical properties) upon specifying the desired optical properties. This filter may be placed over the LEDs directly, or may be filter (391) from the lighting fixture's housing. One embodiment of the invention allows for the existing fixture to have a preselection of component LEDs and a selection of different filters. These filters may shift the range of resultant colors without alteration of the LEDs. In this way a filter system may be used in conjunction with the selected LEDs to fill an area of the CIE enclosed (area (510)) by a light fixture that is shifted with respect to the LEDs, thus permitting an additional degree of control. In one embodiment, this series of filters could enable a single light fixture to produce white light of any temperature by specifying a series of ranges for various filters which, when combined, enclose the white line. One embodiment of this is shown in FIG. 30 where a selection of areas (3001, 3011, 3021, 3031) depends on the choice of filters shifting the enclosed area. This spectral transmission measurement shows that the high pass filter in FIG. 20 absorbs spectral power below 500 nm. It also shows an overall loss of approximately 10% which is expected. The dotted line (1403) in FIG. 20 shows the transmission loss associated with a standard polycarbonate diffuser which is often used in light fixtures. It is to be expected that the light passing through any substance will result in some decrease in intensity. The filter whose transmission is shown in FIG. 20 can be used to shift the color temperature of the two Nichia LEDs. The filtered ((1521) and (1531)) and un-filtered ((1201) and (1301)) spectrums for the bin A and C LEDs are shown in FIGS. 21a and 21b. The addition of the yellow filter shifts the color temperature of the bin A LED from 20,000K to 4745K. Its chromaticity coordinates are shifted from (0.27, 0.24) to (0.35, 0.37). The bin C LED is shifted from 5750K to 3935K and from chromaticity coordinates (0.33,0.33) to (0.40, 0.43). The importance of the chromaticity coordinates becomes evident when the colors of these sources are compared on the CIE 1931 Chromaticity Map. FIG. 22 is a close-up of the chromaticity map around the Plankian locus (1601). This locus indicates the perceived colors of ideal sources called blackbodies. The thicker line (1603) highlights the section of the locus that corresponds to the range from 2300K to 4100K. FIG. 22 illustrates how large of a shift can be achieved with a simple high-pass filter. By effectively “warming up” the set of Nichia LEDs, they are brought into a chromaticity range that is useful for the specified color temperature control range and are suitable for one embodiment of the invention. The original placement was dashed line (1665), while the new color is represented by line (1607) which is within the correct region. In one embodiment, however, a non-linear range of color temperatures may be generated using more than two LEDs. The argument could be made that even a linear variation closely approximating the desired range would suffice. This realization would call for an LED close to 2300K and an LED close to 4500K, however. This could be achieved two ways. One, a different LED could be used that has a color temperature of 2300K. Two, the output of the Nichia bin C LED could be passed through an additional filter to shift it even closer to the 2300K point. Each of these systems comprises an additional embodiment of the instant invention. However, the following example uses a third LED to meet the desired criteria. This LED should have a chromaticity to the right of the 2300K point on the blackbody locus. The Agilent HLMP-EL1 8 amber LED, with a dominant wavelength of 592 nm, has chromaticity coordinates (0.60,0.40). The addition of the Agilent amber to the set of Nichia white LEDs results in the range (1701) shown in FIG. 23. The range (1701) produced using these three LEDs completely encompasses the blackbody locus over the range from 2300K to 4500K. A light fixture fabricated using these LEDs may meet the requirement of producing white light with the correct chromaticity values. The spectra of the light at 2300K (2203) and 5000K (2201) in FIGS. 26a and 26b show spectra which meet the desired criteria for high-quality white light; both spectra are continuous and the 5000K spectrum does not show the peaks present in other lighting fixtures, with reasonable intensity at all wavelengths. The 2300K spectrum does not have any valleys at lower wavelengths than it's maximum peak. The light is also controllable over these spectra. However, to be considered high-quality white light by the lighting community, the CRI should be above 50 for low color temperatures and above 80 for high color temperatures. According to the software program that accompanies the CIE 13.3-1995 specification, the CRI for the 2300K simulated spectrum is 52 and is similar to an incandescent bulb with a CRI of 50. The CRI for the 4500K simulated spectrum is 82 and is considered to be high-quality white light. These spectra are also similar in shape to the spectra of natural light as shown in FIGS. 26a and 26b. FIG. 24 shows the CRI plotted with respect to the CCT for the above white light source. This comparison shows that the high-quality white light fixture above will produce white light that is of higher quality than the three standard fluorescent lights (1803), (1805), and (1809) used in FIG. 24. Further, the light source above is significantly more controllable than a fluorescent light as the color temperature can be selected as any of those points on curve (1801) while the fluorescents are limited to the particular points shown. The luminous output of the described white light lighting fixture was also measured. The luminous output plotted with respect to the color temperature is given in FIG. 25, although the graph in FIG. 25 is reliant on the types and levels of power used in producing it, the ratio may remain constant with the relative number of the different outer LEDs selected. The full-on point (point of maximum intensity) may be moved by altering the color of each of the LEDs present. It would be understood by one of skill in the art that the above embodiments of white-light fixtures and methods could also include LEDs or other component illumination sources which produce light not visible to the human eye. Therefore any of the above embodiments could also include illumination sources with a maximum spectral peak below 400 nm or above 700 nm. A high-quality LED-based light may be configured to replace a fluorescent tube. In one embodiment, a replacement high-quality LED light source useful for replacing fluorescent tubes would function in an existing device designed to use fluorescent tubes. Such a device is shown in FIG. 28. FIG. 28 shows a typical fluorescent lighting fixture or other device configured to accept fluorescent tubes (2404). The lighting fixture (2402) may include a ballast (2410). The ballast (2410) maybe a magnetic type or electronic type ballast for supplying the power to at least one tube (2404) which has traditionally been a fluorescent tube. The ballast (2410) includes power input connections (2414) to be connected with an external power supply. The external power supply may be a building's AC supply or any other power supply known in the art. The ballast (2410) has tube connections (2412) and (2416) which attach to a tube coupler (2408) for easy insertion and removal of tubes (2404). These connections deliver the requisite power to the tube. In a magnetic ballasted system, the ballast (2410) may be a transformer with a predetermined impedance to supply the requisite voltage and current. The fluorescent tube (2404) acts like a short circuit so the ballast's impedance is used to set the tube current. This means that each tube wattage requires a particular ballast. For example, a forty-watt fluorescent tube will only operate on a forty-watt ballast because the ballast is matched to the tube. Other fluorescent lighting fixtures use electronic ballasts with a high frequency sine wave output to the bulb. Even in these systems, the internal ballast impedance of the electronic ballast still regulates the current through the tube. FIG. 29 shows one embodiment of a lighting fixture according to this disclosure which could be used as a replacement fluorescent tube in a housing such as the one in FIG. 28. The lighting fixture may comprise, in one embodiment, a variation on the fighting fixture (5000) in FIGS. 5a and 5b. The lighting fixture can comprise a bottom portion (1101) with a generally rounded underside (1103) and a generally flat connection surface (1105). The lighting fixture also comprises a top portion (1111) with a generally rounded upper portion (1113) and a generally flat connection surface (1115). The top portion (1111) will generally be comprised of a translucent, transparent, or similar material allowing light transmission and may comprise a filter similar to filter (391). The flat connection surfaces (1105) and (1115) can be placed together to form a generally cylindrical lighting fixture and can be attached by any method known in the art. Between top portion (1111) and bottom portion (1101) is a lighting fixture (1150) which comprises a generally rectangular mounting (1153) and a strip of at least one component illumination source such as an LED (1155). This construction is by no means necessary and the lighting fixture need not have a housing with it or could have a housing of any type known in the art. Although a single strip is shown, one of skill in the art would understand that multiple strips, or other patterns of arrangement of the illumination sources, could be used. The strips generally have the component LEDs in a sequence that separates the colors of LEDs if there are multiple colors of LEDs but such an arrangement is not required. The lighting fixture will generally have lamp connectors (2504) for connecting the lighting fixture to the existing lamp couplers (2408) (e.g., as shown in FIG. 28). The LED system may also include a control circuit (2510). This circuit may convert the ballast voltage into D.C. for the LED operation. The control circuit (2510) may control the LEDs (1155) with constant D.C. voltage or control circuit (2510) may generate control signals to operate the LEDs. In a preferred embodiment, the control circuit (2510) would include a processor for generating pulse width modulated control signals, or other similar control signals, for the LEDs. These white lights therefore are examples of how a high-quality white light fixture can be generated with component illumination sources, even where those sources have dominant wavelengths outside the region of 530 nm to 570 nm. The above white light fixtures can contain programming which enables a user to easily control the light and select any desired color temperature that is available in the light. In one embodiment, the ability to select color temperature can be encompassed in a computer program using, for example, the following mathematical equations: Intensity of Amber LED(T)=(5.6×10−8)T3−(6.4×10−4)T2+(2.3)T−2503.7; Intensity of Warm Nichia LED (T)=(9.5×1031 3)T3−(1.2×10−3)T2+(4.4)T−5215.2; Intensity of Cool Nichia LED (T)=(4.7×10−8)T3−(6.3×10−4)T2+(2.8)T−3909.6, where T=Temperature in degrees K. These equations may be applied directly or may be used to create a look-up table so that binary values corresponding to a particular color temperature can be determined quickly. This table can reside in any form of programmable memory for use in controlling color temperature (such as, but not limited to, the control described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,016,038). In another embodiment, the light could have a selection of switches, such as DIP switches enabling it to operate in a stand-alone mode, where a desired color temperature can be selected using the switches, and changed by alteration of the stand alone product The light could also be remotely programmed to operate in a standalone mode as discussed above. The lighting fixture in FIG. 29 may also comprise a program control switch (2512). This switch may be a selector switch for selecting the color temperature, color of the LED system, or any other illumination conditions. For example, the switch may have multiple settings for different colors. Position “one” may cause the LED system to produce 3200K white light, position “two” may cause 4000K white light, position “three” may be for blue light and a fourth position may be to allow the system to receive external signals for color or other illumination control. This external control could be provided by any of the controllers discussed previously. Some fluorescent ballasts also provide for dimming where a dimmer switch on the wall will change the ballast output characteristics and as a result change the fluorescent light illumination characteristics. The LED lighting system may use this as information to change the illumination characteristics. The control circuit (2510) can monitor the ballast characteristics and adjust the LED control signals in a corresponding fashion. The LED system may have lighting control signals stored in memory within the LED lighting system. These control signals may be preprogrammed to provide dimming, color changing, a combination of effects or any other illumination effects as the ballasts' characteristics change. A user may desire different colors in a room at different times. The LED system can be programmed to produce white light when the dimmer is at the maximum level, blue light when it is at 90% of maximum, red light when it is at 80%, flashing effects at 70% or continually changing effects as the dimmer is changed. The system could change color or other lighting conditions with respect to the dimmer or any other input. A user may also want to recreate the lighting conditions of incandescent light. One of the characteristics of such lighting is that it changes color temperature as its power is reduced. The incandescent light may be 2800K at full power but the color temperature will reduce as the power is reduced and it may be 1500K when the lamp is dimmed to a great extent. Fluorescent lamps do not reduce in color temperature when they are dimmed. Typically, the fluorescent lamp's color does not change when the power is reduced. The LED system can be programmed to reduce in color temperature as the lighting conditions are dimmed. This may be achieved using a look-up table for selected intensities, through a mathematical description of the relationship between intensity and color temperature, any other method known in the art, or any combination of methods. The LED system can be programmed to provide virtually any lighting conditions. The LED system may include a receiver for receiving signals, a transducer, a sensor or other device for receiving information. The receiver could be any receiver such as, but not limited to, a wire, cable, network, electromagnetic receiver, IR receiver, RF receiver, microwave receiver or any other receiver. A remote control device could be provided to change the lighting conditions remotely. Lighting instructions may also be received from a network. For example, a building may have a network where information is transmitted through a wireless system and the network could control the illumination conditions throughout a building. This could be accomplished from a remote site as well as on site. This may provide for added building security or energy savings or convenience. The LED lighting system may also include optics to provide for evenly distributed lighting conditions from the fluorescent lighting fixture. The optics may be attached to the LED system or associated with the system. The system has applications in environments where variations in available lighting may affect aesthetic choices. In an example embodiment, the lighting fixture may be used in a retail embodiment to sell paint or other color sensitive items. A paint sample may be viewed in a retail store under the same lighting conditions present where the paint will ultimately be used. For example, the lighting fixture may be adjusted for outdoor lighting, or may be more finely tuned for sunny conditions, cloudy conditions, or the like. The lighting fixture may also be adjusted for different forms of interior lighting, such as halogen, fluorescent, or incandescent lighting. In a further embodiment, a portable sensor (as discussed above) may be taken to a site where the paint is to be applied, and the light spectrum may be analyzed and recorded. The same light spectrum may subsequently be reproduced by the lighting fixture, so that paint may be viewed under the same lighting conditions present at the site where the paint is to be used. The lighting fixture may similarly be used for clothing decisions, where the appearance of a particular type and color of fabric may be strongly influenced by lighting conditions. For example, a wedding dress (and bride) may be viewed under lighting conditions expected at a wedding ceremony, in order to avoid any unpleasant surprises. The lighting fixture can also be used in any of the applications, or in conjunction with any of the systems or methods discussed elsewhere in this disclosure. In another example embodiment, the lighting fixture may be used to accurately reproduce visual effects. In certain visual arts, such as photography, cinematography, or theater, make-up is typically applied in a dressing room or a salon, where lighting may be different than on a stage or other site. The lighting fixture may thus be used to reproduce the lighting expected where photographs will be taken, or a performance given, so that suitable make-up may be chosen for predictable results. As with the retail applications above, a sensor may be used to measure actual lighting conditions so that the lighting conditions may be reproduced during application of make-up. In theatrical or film presentations, colored light often corresponds to the colors of specific filters which can be placed on white lighting instruments to generate a specific resulting shade. There are generally a large selection of such filters in specific shades sold by selected companies. These filters are often classified by a spectrum of the resulting light, by proprietary numerical classifications, and/or by names which give an implication of the resulting light such as “primary blue,” “straw,” or “chocolate.” These filters allow for selection of a particular, reproducible color of light, but, at the same time, limit the director to those colors of filters that are available. In addition, mixing the colors is not an exact science which can result in, slight variations in the colors as lighting fixtures are moved, or even change temperature, during a performance or film shoot. Thus, in one embodiment there is provided a system for controlling illumination in a theatrical environment. In another embodiment, there is provided a system for controlling illumination in cinematography. The wide variety of light sources available create significant problems for film production in particular. Differences in lighting between adjacent scenes can disrupt the continuity of a film and create jarring effects for the viewer. Correcting the lighting to overcome these differences can be exacting, because the lighting available in an environment is not always under the complete control of the film crew. Sunlight, for example, varies in color temperature during the day, most apparently at dawn and dusk, when yellows and reds abound, lowering the color temperature of the ambient light. Fluorescent light does not generally fall on the color temperature curve, often having extra intensity in blue-green regions of the spectrum, and is thus described by a correlated color temperature, representing the point on the color temperature curve that best approximates the incident light. Each of these lighting problems may be addressed using the systems described above. The availability of a number of different fluorescent bulb types, each providing a different color temperature through the use of a particular phosphor, makes color temperature prediction and adjustment even more complicated. High-pressure sodium vapor lamps, used primarily for street lighting, produce a brilliant yellowish-orange light that will drastically skew color balance. Operating at even higher internal pressures are mercury vapor lamps, sometimes used for large interior areas such as gymnasiums. These can result in a pronounced greenish-blue cast in video and film. Thus, there is provided a system for simulating mercury vapor lamps, and a system for supplementing light sources, such as mercury vapor lamps, to produce a desired resulting color. These embodiments may have particular use in cinematography. To try and recreate all of these lighting types, it is often necessary for a filmmaker or theatre designer to place these specific types of lights in their design. At the same time, the need to use these lights may thwart the director's theatric intention. The gym lights flashing quickly on and off in a supernatural thriller is a startling- effect, but it cannot be achieved naturally through mercury vapor lamps which take up to five minutes to warm up and produce the appropriate color light. Other visually sensitive fields depend on light of a specific color temperature or spectrum. For example, surgical and dental workers often require colored light that emphasizes contrasts between different tissues, as well as between healthy and diseased tissue. Doctors also often rely on tracers or markers that reflect, radiate, or fluoresce color of a specific wavelength or spectrum to enable them to detect blood vessels or other small structures. They can view these structures by shining light of the specific wavelength in the general area where the tracers are, and view the resultant reflection or fluorescing of the tracers. In many instances, different procedures may benefit from using a customized color temperature or particular color of light tailored to the needs of each specific procedure. Thus, there is provided a system for the visualization of medical, dental or other imaging conditions. In one embodiment, the system uses LEDs to produce a controlled range of light within a predetermined spectrum. Further, there is often a desire to alter lighting conditions during an activity, a stage should change colors as the sun is supposed to rise, a color change may occur to change the color of a fluorescing tracer, or a room could have the color slowly altered to make a visitor more uncomfortable with the lighting as the length of their stay increased. While the invention has been disclosed in connection with the embodiments shown and described in detail, various equivalents, modifications, and improvements will be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art from the above description. Such equivalents, modifications, and improvements are intended to be encompassed by the following claims. | <SOH> BACKGROUND <EOH>Human beings have grown accustomed to controlling their environment. Nature is unpredictable and often presents conditions that are far from a human being's ideal living conditions. The human race has therefore tried for years to engineer the environment inside a structure to emulate the outside environment at a perfect set of conditions. This has involved temperature control, air quality control and lighting control. The desire to control the properties of light in an artificial environment is easy to understand. Humans are primarily visual creatures with much of our communication being done visually. We can identify friends and loved ones based on primarily visual cues and we communicate through many visual mediums, such as this printed page. At the same time, the human eye requires light to see by and our eyes (unlike those of some other creatures) are particularly sensitive to color. With today's ever-increasing work hours and time constraints, less and less of the day is being spent by the average human outside in natural sunlight. In addition, humans spend about a third of their lives asleep, and as the economy increases to 24/7/365, many employees no longer have the luxury of spending their waking hours during daylight. Therefore, most of an average human's life is spent inside, illuminated by manmade sources of light. Visible light is a collection of electromagnetic waves (electromagnetic radiation) of different frequencies, each wavelength of which represents a particular “color” of the light spectrum. Visible light is generally thought to comprise those light waves with wavelength between about 400 nm and about 700 nm. Each of the wavelengths within this spectrum comprises a distinct color of light from deep blue/purple at around 400 nm to dark red at around 700 nm. Mixing these colors of light produces additional colors of light. The distinctive color of a neon sign results from a number of discrete wavelengths of light. These wavelengths combine additively to produce the resulting wave or spectrum that makes up a color. One such color is white light. Because of the importance of white light, and since white light is the mixing of multiple wavelengths of light, there have arisen multiple techniques for characterization of white light that relate to how human beings interpret a particular white light. The first of these is the use of color temperature, which relates to the color of the light within white. Correlated color temperature is characterized in color reproduction fields according to the temperature in degrees Kelvin (K) of a black body radiator that radiates the same color light as the light in question. FIG. 1 is a chromaticity diagram in which Planckian locus (or black body locus or white line) ( 104 ) gives the temperatures of whites from about 700 K (generally considered the first visible to the human eye) to essentially the terminal point. The color temperature of viewing light depends on the color content of the viewing light as shown by line ( 104 ). Thus, early morning daylight has a color temperature of about 3,000 K while overcast midday skies have a white color temperature of about 10,000 K. A fire has a color temperature of about 1,800 K and an incandescent bulb about 2848 K. A color image viewed at 3,000 K will have a relatively reddish tone, whereas the same color image viewed at 10,000 K will have a relatively bluish tone. All of this light is called “white,” but it has varying spectral content. The second classification of white light involves its quality. In 1965 the Commission Internationale de l'Eclairage (CIE) recommended a method for measuring the color rendering properties of light sources based on a test color sample method. This method has been updated and is described in the CIE 13.3-1995 technical report “Method of Measuring and Specifying Colour Rendering Properties of Light Sources,” the disclosure of which is herein incorporated by reference. In essence, this method involves the spectroradiometric measurement of the light source under test. This data is multiplied by the reflectance spectrums of eight color samples. The resulting spectrums are converted to tristimulus values based on the CIE 1931 standard observer. The shift of these values with respect to a reference light are determined for the uniform color space (UCS) recommended in 1960 by the CIE. The average of the eight color shifts is calculated to generate the General Color Rendering Index, known as CRI. Within these calculations the CRI is scaled so that a perfect score equals 100, where perfect would be using a source spectrally equal to the reference source (often sunlight or full spectrum white light). For example a tungsten-halogen source compared to full spectrum white light might have a CPU of 99 while a warm white fluorescent lamp would have a CRI of 50. Artificial lighting generally uses the standard CRI to determine the quality of white light. If a light yields a high CRI compared to full spectrum white light then it is considered to generate better quality white light (light that is more “natural” and enables colored surfaces to be better rendered). This method has been used since 1965 as a point of comparison for all different types of light sources. In addition to white light, the ability to generate specific colors of light is also highly sought after. Because of humans' light sensitivity, visual arts and similar professions desire colored light that is specifiable and reproducible. Elementary film study classes teach that a movie-goer has been trained that light which is generally more orange or red signifies the morning, while light that is generally more blue signifies a night or evening. We have also been trained that sunlight filtered through water has a certain color, while sunlight filtered through glass has a different color. For all these reasons it is desirable for those involved in visual arts to be able to produce exact colors of light, and to be able to reproduce them later. Current lighting technology makes such adjustment and control difficult, because common sources of light, such as halogen, incandescent, and fluorescent sources, generate light of a fixed color temperature and spectrum. Further, altering the color temperature or spectrum will usually alter other lighting variables in an undesirable way. For example, increasing the voltage applied to an incandescent light may raise the color temperature of the resulting light, but also results in an overall increase in brightness. In the same way, placing a deep blue filter in front of a white halogen lamp will dramatically decrease the overall brightness of the light. The filter itself will also get quite hot (and potentially melt) as it absorbs a large percentage of the light energy from the white light. Moreover, achieving certain color conditions with incandescent sources can be difficult or impossible as the desired color may cause the filament to rapidly burn out. For fluorescent lighting sources, the color temperature is controlled by the composition of the phosphor, which may vary from bulb to bulb but cannot typically be altered for a given bulb. Thus, modulating color temperature of light is a complex procedure that is often avoided in scenarios where such adjustment may be beneficial. In artificial lighting, control over the range of colors that can be produced by a lighting fixture is desirable. Many lighting fixtures known in the art can only produce a single color of light instead of range of colors. That color may vary across lighting fixtures (for instance a fluorescent lighting fixture produces a different color of light than a sodium vapor lamp). The use of filters on a lighting fixture does not enable a lighting fixture to produce a range of colors, it merely allows a lighting fixture to produce its single color, which is then partially absorbed and partially transmitted by the filter. Once the filter is placed, the fixture can only produce a single (now different) color of light, but cannot produce a range of colors. In control of artificial lighting, it is further desirable to be able to specify a point within the range of color producible by a lighting fixture that will be the point of highest intensity. Even on current technology lighting fixtures whose colors can be altered, the point of maximum intensity cannot be specified by the user, but is usually determined by unalterable physical characteristics of the fixture. Thus, an incandescent light fixture can produce a range of colors, but the intensity necessarily increases as the color temperature increases which does not enable control of the color at the point of maximum intensity. Filters further lack control of the point of maximum intensity, as the point of maximum intensity of a lighting fixture will be the unfiltered color (any filter absorbs some of the intensity). | <SOH> SUMMARY <EOH>Applicants have appreciated that the correlated color temperature, and CRI, of viewing light can affect the way in which an observer perceives a color image. An observer will perceive the same color image differently when viewed under lights having different correlated color temperatures. For example, a color image which looks normal when viewed in early morning daylight will look bluish and washed out when viewed under overcast midday skies. Further, a white light with a poor CRI may cause colored surfaces to appear distorted. Applicants also have appreciated that the color temperature and/or CRI of light is critical to creators of images, such as photographers, film and television producers, painters, etc., as well as to the viewers of paintings, photographs, and other such images. Ideally, both creator and viewer utilize the same color of ambient light, ensuring that the appearance of the image to the viewer matches that of the creator. Applicants have further appreciated that the color temperature of ambient light affects how viewers perceive a display, such as a retail or marketing display, by changing the perceived color of such items as fruits and vegetables, clothing, furniture, automobiles, and other products containing visual elements that can greatly affect how people view and react to such displays. One example is a tenet of theatrical lighting design that strong green light on the human body (even if the overall lighting effect is white light) tends to make the human look unnatural, creepy, and often a little disgusting. Thus, variations in the color temperature of lighting can affect how appealing or attractive such a display may be to customers. Moreover, the ability to view a decoratively colored item, such as fabric-covered furniture, clothing, paint, wallpaper, curtains, etc., in a lighting environment or color temperature condition which matches or closely approximates the conditions under which the item will be viewed would permit such colored items to be more accurately matched and coordinated. Typically, the lighting used in a display setting, such as a showroom, cannot be varied and is often chosen to highlight a particular facet of the color of the item leaving a purchaser to guess as to whether the item in question will retain an attractive appearance under the lighting conditions where the item will eventually be placed. Differences in lighting can also leave a customer wondering whether the color of the item will clash with other items that cannot conveniently be viewed under identical lighting conditions or otherwise directly compared. In view of the foregoing, one embodiment of the present invention relates to systems and methods for generating and/or modulating illumination conditions to generate light of a desired and controllable color, for creating lighting fixtures for producing light in desirable and reproducible colors, and for modifying the color temperature or color shade of light produced by a lighting fixture within a prespecified range after a lighting fixture is constructed. In one embodiment, LED lighting units capable of generating light of a range of colors are used to provide light or supplement ambient light to afford lighting conditions suitable for a wide range of applications. Disclosed is a first embodiment which comprises a lighting fixture for generating white light including a plurality of component illumination sources (such as LEDs), producing electromagnetic radiation of at least two different spectrums (including embodiments with exactly two or exactly three), each of the spectrums having a maximum spectral peak outside the region 510 nm to 570 nm, the illumination sources mounted on a mounting allowing the spectrums to mix so that the resulting spectrum is substantially continuous in the photopic response of the human eye and/or in the wavelengths from 400 nm to 700 nm. In another embodiment, the lighting fixture can include illumination sources that are not LEDs possibly with a maximum spectral peak within the region 510 nm to 570 nm. In yet another embodiment, the fixture can produce white light within a range of color temperatures such as, but not limited to, the range 500K to 10,000K and the range 2300 K to 4500 K. The specific color or color temperature in the range may be controlled by a controller. In an embodiment the fixture contains a filter on at least one of the illumination sources which may be selected, possibly from a range of filters, to allow the fixture to produce a particular range of colors. The lighting fixture may also include in one embodiment illumination sources with wavelengths outside the above discussed 400 nm to 700 nm range. In another embodiment, the lighting fixture can comprise a plurality of LEDs producing three spectrums of electromagnetic radiation with maximum spectral peaks outside the region of 530 nm, to 570 nm (such as 450 nm and/or 592 nm) where the additive interference of the spectrums results in white light. The lighting fixture may produce white light within a range of color temperatures such as, but not limited to, the range 500K to 10,000K and the range 2300K to 4500 K. The lighting fixture may include a controller and/or a processor for controlling the intensities of the LEDs to produce various color temperatures in the range. Another embodiment comprises a lighting fixture to be used in a lamp designed to take fluorescent tubes, the lighting fixture having at least one component illumination source (often two or more) such as LEDs mounted on a mounting, and having a connector on the mounting that can couple to a fluorescent lamp and receive power from the lamp. It also contains a control or electrical circuit to enable the ballast voltage of the lamp to be used to power or control the LEDs. This control circuit could include a processor, and/or could control the illumination provided by the fixture based on the power provided to the lamp. The lighting fixture, in one embodiment, is contained in a housing, the housing could be generally cylindrical in shape, could contain a filter, and/or could be partially transparent or translucent. The fixture could produce white, or other colored, light. Another embodiment comprises a lighting fixture for generating white light including a plurality of component illumination sources (such as LEDs, illumination devices containing a phosphor, or LEDs containing a phosphor), including component illumination sources producing spectrums of electromagnetic radiation. The component illumination sources are mounted on a mounting designed to allow the spectrums to mix and form a resulting spectrum, wherein the resulting spectrum has intensity greater than background noise at its lowest spectral valley. The lowest spectral valley within the visible range can also have an intensity of at least 5%, 10%, 25%, 50% or 75% of the intensity of its maximum spectral peak. The lighting fixture may be able to generate white light at a range of color temperatures and may include a controller and/or processor for enabling the selection of a particular color or color temperature in that range. Another embodiment of a lighting fixture could include a plurality of component illumination sources (such as LEDs), the component illumination sources producing electromagnetic radiation of at least two different spectrums, the illumination sources being mounted on a mounting designed to allow the spectrums to mix and form a resulting spectrum, wherein the resulting spectrum does not have a spectral valley at a longer wavelength than the maximum spectral peak within the photopic response of the human eye and/or in the area from 400 nm to 700 nm. Another embodiment comprises a method for generating white light including the steps of mounting a plurality of component illumination sources producing electromagnetic radiation of at least two different spectrums in such a way as to mix the spectrums; and choosing the spectrums in such a way that the mix of the spectrums has intensity greater than background noise at its lowest spectral valley. Another embodiment comprises a system for controlling illumination conditions including, a lighting fixture for providing illumination of any of a range of colors, the lighting fixture being constructed of a plurality of component illumination sources (such as LEDs and/or potentially of three different colors), a processor coupled to the lighting fixture for controlling the lighting fixture, and a controller coupled to the processor for specifying illumination conditions to be provided by the lighting fixture. The controller could be computer hardware or computer software; a sensor such as, but not limited to a photodiode, a radiometer, a photometer, a colorimeter, a spectral radiometer, a camera; or a manual interface such as, but not limited to, a slider, a dial, a joystick, a trackpad, or a trackball. The processor could include a memory (such as a database) of predetermined color conditions and/or an interface-providing mechanism for providing a user interface potentially including a color spectrum, a color temperature spectrum, or a chromaticity diagram. In another embodiment the system could include a second source of illumination such an, but not limited to, a fluorescent bulb, an incandescent bulb, a mercury vapor lamp, a sodium vapor lamp, an arc discharge lamp, sunlight, moonlight, candlelight, an LED display system, an LED, or a lighting system controlled by pulse width modulation. The second source could be used by the controller to specify illumination conditions for the lighting fixture based on the illumination of the lighting fixture and the second source illumination and/or the combined light from the lighting fixture and the second source could be a desired color temperature. Another embodiment comprises a method with steps including generating light having color and brightness using a lighting fixture capable of generating light of any range of colors, measuring illumination conditions, and modulating the color or brightness of the generated light to achieve a target illumination condition. The measuring of illumination conditions could include detecting color characteristics of the illumination conditions using a light sensor such as, but not limited to, a photodiode, a radiometer, a photometer, a calorimeter, a spectral radiometer, or a camera; visually evaluating illumination conditions, and modulating the color or brightness of the generated light includes varying the color or brightness of the generated light using a manual interface; or measuring illumination conditions including detecting color characteristics of the illumination conditions using a light sensor, and modulating the color or brightness of the generated light including varying the color or brightness of the generated light using a processor until color characteristics of the illumination conditions detected by the light sensor match color characteristics of the target illumination conditions. The method could include selecting a target illumination condition such as, but not limited to, selecting a target color temperature and/or providing an interface comprising a depiction of a color range and selecting a color within the color range. The method could also have steps for providing a second source of illumination, such as, but not limited to, a fluorescent bulb, an incandescent bulb, a mercury vapor lamp, a sodium vapor lamp, an arc discharge lamp, sunlight, moonlight, candlelight, an LED lighting system, an LED, or a lighting system controlled by pulse width modulation. The method could measure illumination conditions including detecting light generated by the lighting fixture and by the second source of illumination. In another embodiment modulating the color or brightness of the generated light includes varying the illumination conditions to achieve a target color temperature or the lighting fixture could comprise one of a plurality of lighting fixtures, capable of generating a range of colors. In yet another embodiment there is a method for designing a lighting fixture comprising, selecting a desired range of colors to be produced by the lighting fixture, choosing a selected color of light to be produced by the lighting fixture when the lighting fixture is at maximum intensity, and designing the lighting fixture from a plurality of illumination sources (such as LEDs) such that the lighting fixture can produce the range of colors, and produces the selected color when at maximum intensity. | 20040831 | 20070814 | 20050210 | 72228.0 | 5 | LEE, GUNYOUNG T | METHODS AND APPARATUS FOR GENERATING AND MODULATING ILLUMINATION CONDITIONS | UNDISCOUNTED | 1 | CONT-ACCEPTED | 2,004 |
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10,930,683 | ACCEPTED | System and method of obtaining data-dependent jitter (DDJ) estimates from measured signal data | Methods for estimating data-dependent jitter (DDJ) from measured samples of a transmitted data signal include a first exemplary step of obtaining a plurality of measurements (e.g., time tags and event counts for selected pulse widths in the data signal). Such measurements may be obtained at predetermined intervals within a transmitted signal or may be obtained at randomly selected intervals, and should yield measurements for each data pulse in a repeating data pattern. An average unit interval value representative of the average bit time of the transmitted signal is determined. Time interval error estimates representative of the timing deviation from each signal edge's measured value relative to its ideal value (determined in part from the calculated average unit interval value) are also determined, as well as a classification for each measured signal edge relative to a corresponding data pulse in the repeating data pattern. DDJ delta lines are then calculated for signal edges of each pulse width in the transmitted data pattern, from which peak-to-peak DDJ values and/or estimates of duty-cycle-distortion (DCD) can be determined. | 1. A method of estimating data-dependent jitter (DDJ) from measured samples of a transmitted signal, said method comprising the following steps: obtaining a plurality of measurements for a plurality of selected signal edges within a transmitted signal, wherein said transmitted signal comprises a repeating data pattern characterized by a predetermined number of data pulses and wherein the duration between adjacent selected signal edges corresponds to a predetermined event count increment corresponding to an integer multiple of the predetermined number of data pulses within said repeating data pattern plus a fixed integer value; determining a unit interval value representative of the average bit time of the transmitted signal; calculating a time or pattern interval error estimate for selected of the signal edges measured in said obtaining step; and calculating a plurality of DDJ delta line values from the calculated time or pattern interval error estimates. 2. The method of claim 1, wherein said fixed integer value equals one. 3. The method of claim 1, wherein said plurality of measurements obtained for each selected signal edge comprise an absolute time tag and an event count relative to a selected reference edge within the transmitted signal. 4. The method of claim 1, further comprising a step of determining for selected of the signal edges measured in said obtaining step which one of the rising or falling edges of the predetermined data pulses in said repeating data pattern the respective measured signal edges correspond to. 5. The method of claim 1, further comprising a step of applying a windowing function w(i) to the time interval error estimates TIE(i) for each ith measurement. 6. The method of claim 5, further comprising a step of calculating a windowing power loss compensation factor which is to be used in combination with the windowing function to calculate said plurality of DDJ delta line values. 7. The method of claim 1, further comprising a step of calculating the peak-to-peak DDJ by subtracting the minimum value of the calculated plurality of DDJ delta lines from the maximum value of the calculated plurality of DDJ delta lines. 8. The method of claim 1, further comprising a step of extracting an estimate for duty-cycle-distortion (DCD) from the calculated plurality of DDJ delta line values by subtracting the average of all DDJ delta line values calculated for falling signal edges in the repeating data pattern from the average of all DDJ delta line values calculated for rising signal edges in the repeating data pattern. 9. The method of claim 1, wherein said step of calculating a time or pattern interval error estimate for said selected of the signal edges measured in said obtaining step comprises estimating edge timing relative to the closest repetition of a pattern reference edge. 10. A measurement system configured to obtain data-dependent jitter (DDJ) estimates for a transmitted signal, said measurement system comprising: at least one measurement channel for obtaining multiple respective start and stop measurements for selected signal edges within the transmitted signal, wherein each start and stop measurement includes an absolute time stamp and an event count relative to a selected reference edge within the transmitted signal; and a processor circuit coupled to said at least one measurement channel, said processor circuit configured to determine a unit interval value for the average bit time of the transmitted signal, calculate a time interval error estimate for selected of the measured signal edges, and calculate a plurality of DDJ delta line values from the calculated time interval error estimates. 11. The measurement system of claim 10, wherein the transmitted signal comprises a repeating data pattern with a known sequence length and a known number of rising edges, and wherein said measurement system further comprises an event counter to determine an event count increment equal to an integer multiple of the known number of rising edges plus a fixed integer value, whereby the event count increment is measured by said event counter between immediately subsequent measurements obtained by said at least one measurement channel. 12. The measurement system of claim 10, wherein the plurality of respective start and stop measurements obtained by said at least one measurement channel correspond to pulse width measurements for respective selected rising edges within the repeating data pattern and the falling edges immediately following each rising edge. 13. The measurement system of claim 10, wherein said at least one measurement channel comprises a pair of comparators, multiplexers and interpolators coupled to a continuous time counter and a continuous event counter. 14. The measurement system of claim 10, wherein said processor circuit comprises: a computer-readable medium for storing executable instructions corresponding to the steps of determining a unit interval value for the average bit time of the transmitted signal, calculating a time interval error estimate for selected of the signal edges measured in said obtaining step, and calculating a plurality of DDJ delta line values from the calculated time interval error estimates; and a computer coupled to said computer-readable medium for executing the instructions stored therein. 15. The measurement system of claim 14, wherein said computer-readable medium comprises one or more of a server database, a magnetic disk or tape, a CD-ROM or DVD-ROM, and a flash or other nonvolatile memory. 16. The measurement system of claim 10, wherein said processor circuit is further configured to determine for selected of the measured signal edges which one of the rising or falling edges of the predetermined data pulses in said repeating data pattern the respective measured signal edges correspond to. 17. The measurement system of claim 10, wherein said processor circuit is further configured to apply a windowing function w(i) to the time interval error estimates TIE(i) for each ith measurement and to calculate a windowing power loss compensation factor which is to be used in combination with the windowing function to calculate said plurality of DDJ delta line values. 18. The measurement system of claim 10, wherein said processor circuit is further configured to calculate the peak-to-peak DDJ by subtracting the minimum value of the calculated plurality of DDJ delta lines from the maximum value of the calculated plurality of DDJ delta lines. 19. The measurement system of claim 10, wherein said processor circuit is further configured to extract an estimate for duty-cycle-distortion (DCD) from the calculated plurality of DDJ delta line values by subtracting the average of all DDJ delta line values calculated for falling signal edges in the repeating data pattern from the average of all DDJ delta line values calculated for rising signal edges in the repeating data pattern. 20. A method of estimating data-dependent jitter (DDJ) from measured samples of a transmitted signal, said method comprising the following steps: obtaining a plurality of measurements for a plurality of randomly selected signal edges within a transmitted signal, wherein said transmitted signal comprises a repeating data pattern characterized by a known sequence of rising and falling edges; computing a unit interval estimate representative of the average bit time for the transmitted signal based on the measurements from said obtaining step; computing a time interval error estimate for each signal edge measured in said obtaining step, wherein the respective time interval error estimates are computed in part from the computed unit interval estimate; classifying each measured signal edge and corresponding time interval error estimate into one of a plurality of predetermined groups corresponding to the different rising and falling edges in the known repeating data pattern; and computing a plurality of DDJ delta line values from the computed time interval error estimates for each measured signal edge. 21. The method of claim 20, wherein said step of obtaining a plurality of measurements comprises obtaining respective start and stop measurements corresponding to pulse width measurements for randomly selected rising edges in the transmitted data signal and their immediately subsequent respective falling edges. 22. The method of claim 20, wherein said plurality of signal measurements obtained for each ith selected signal edge comprises an absolute time tag t(i) and an event count E(i) relative to a selected reference edge within the transmitted signal. 23. The method of claim 22, wherein said unit interval estimate (UI) is computed from the following formula: UI = t [ k ] - t [ j ] E [ k ] - E [ j ] ppat patlen , where ppat is the number of rising edges in the known repeating data pattern, patLen is the total number of data bits in the known repeating data pattern, and the value of E[k]−E[j] is determined to be an integer multiple of ppat. 24. The method of claim 20, wherein said step of computing a time interval error estimate for each signal edge measured in said obtaining step comprises determining which of the known sequence of rising and falling edges that comprise the known repeating data pattern correspond to the first signal edge measured in said obtaining step. 25. The method of claim 20, wherein said step of computing a time interval error estimate for each signal edge measured in said obtaining step comprises estimating edge timing relative to the closest repetition of a pattern reference edge. 26. The method of claim 20, further comprising a step of calculating a peak-to-peak DDJ value by subtracting the minimum value of the computed plurality of DDJ delta lines from the maximum value of the computed plurality of DDJ delta lines. 27. The method of claim 20, further comprising a step of extracting an estimate for duty-cycle-distortion (DCD) from the computed plurality of DDJ delta line values by subtracting the average of all DDJ delta line values calculated for falling signal edges in the repeating data pattern from the average of all DDJ delta line values computed for rising signal edges in the repeating data pattern. 28. A measurement system configured to obtain data-dependent jitter (DDJ) estimates for a transmitted signal, said measurement system comprising: at least one measurement channel for obtaining multiple respective start and stop measurements for randomly selected signal edges within the transmitted signal, wherein the transmitted signal comprises a repeating data pattern characterized by a known sequence of rising and falling edges; and a processor circuit coupled to said at least one measurement channel, said processor circuit configured to compute a unit interval estimate representative of the average bit time for the transmitted signal based on the signal edge measurements obtained by said a least one measurement channel, compute a time interval error estimate for each signal edge measurement, wherein the respective time interval error estimates are computed in part from the computed unit interval estimate, classify each measured signal edge and corresponding time interval error estimate into one of a plurality of predetermined groups corresponding to the different rising and falling edges in the known repeating data pattern, and compute a plurality of DDJ delta line values from the computed time interval error estimates for each measured signal edge. 29. The measurement system of claim 28, wherein the plurality of respective start and stop measurements obtained by said at least one measurement channel correspond to pulse width measurements for randomly selected rising edges and their immediately subsequent respective falling edges. 30. The measurement system of claim 28, wherein said at least one measurement channel comprises a pair of comparators, multiplexers and interpolators coupled to a continuous time counter and a continuous event counter. 31. The measurement system of claim 28, further comprising an event counter to determine the event count increment between randomly selected signal edges measured by said at least one measurement channel. 32. The measurement system of claim 28, wherein said processor circuit comprises: a computer-readable medium for storing executable instructions corresponding to the steps of computing a unit interval estimate representative of the average bit time for the transmitted signal, computing a time interval error estimate for each signal edge measured by said at least one measurement channel, wherein the respective time interval error estimates are computed in part from the computed unit interval estimate, classifying each measured signal edge and corresponding time interval error estimate into one of a plurality of predetermined groups corresponding to the different rising and falling edges in the known repeating data pattern, and computing a plurality of DDJ delta line values from the computed time interval error estimates for each measured signal edge; and a computer coupled to said computer-readable medium for executing the instructions stored therein. 33. The measurement system of claim 32, wherein said computer-readable medium comprises one or more of a server database, a magnetic tape or disk, a CD-ROM or DVD-ROM, and a flash or other non-volatile memory. 34. The measurement system of claim 28, wherein said processor circuit is further configured to calculate the peak-to-peak DDJ by subtracting the minimum value of the computed plurality of DDJ delta lines from the maximum value of the computed plurality of DDJ delta lines. 35. The measurement system of claim 28, wherein said processor circuit is further configured to extract an estimate for duty-cycle-distortion (DCD) from the computed plurality of DDJ delta line values by subtracting the average of all DDJ delta line values computed for falling signal edges in the repeating data pattern from the average of all DDJ delta line values computed for rising signal edges in the repeating data pattern. 36. A method of estimating data-dependent jitter (DDJ) from measured samples of a transmitted data signal, said method comprising the following steps: establishing an integer number d of preceding bits which are to be considered for each transmitted bit in a data signal, wherein the data signal comprises a repeating data pattern characterized by a known number of rising and falling edges; classifying selected possible pattern edges into one of a plurality of classification groups, wherein said plurality of classification groups correspond to distinct groups having different d -bit preceding bit histories; obtaining a plurality of measurements of selected edges in a transmitted version of the data signal; for selected of the signal edges measured in said obtaining step, determining a time interval error value representative of the measured edge's timing deviation from an ideal value and determining a pattern referred index representative of the pattern edge number in the repeating data pattern that the measured edge corresponds to; and calculating respective DDJ delta lines by determining the mean of the time interval error values for edges that belong to each respective classification group. 37. The method of claim 36, wherein said step of obtaining a plurality of measurements is effected such that the distance between adjacent measured signal edges corresponds to a predetermined event count. 38. The method of claim 37, wherein said predetermined event count comprises an integer multiple of the known number of rising edges in said repeating data pattern plus a fixed integer value. 39. The method of claim 38, wherein said fixed integer value equals one. 40. The method of claim 36, wherein said step of obtaining a plurality of measurements comprises obtaining respective start and stop measurements corresponding to pulse width measurements for randomly selected rising edges in the transmitted data signal and their immediately subsequent respective falling edges. 41. The method of claim 36, wherein said plurality of signal measurements obtained for each selected signal edge comprises an absolute time tag and an event count relative to a selected reference edge within the transmitted signal. 42. The method of claim 36, further comprising a step of calculating the peak-to-peak DDJ by subtracting the minimum value of the respectively calculated DDJ delta lines from the maximum value of the respectively calculated DDJ delta lines. 43. The method of claim 36, further comprising a step of extracting an estimate for duty-cycle-distortion (DCD) from the calculated plurality of DDJ delta line values by subtracting the average of all DDJ delta line values calculated for falling signal edges in the repeating data pattern from the average of all DDJ delta line values calculated for rising signal edges in the repeating data pattern. 44. A measurement system configured to obtain data-dependent jitter (DDJ) estimates for a transmitted signal, said measurement system comprising: at least one measurement channel for obtaining multiple respective start and stop measurements for selected signal edges within the transmitted signal; a processor circuit coupled to said at least one measurement channel, said processor circuit configured to establish a plurality of classification groups for a transmitted signal comprising a known repeating data pattern, wherein the plurality of classification groups correspond to distinct groups having different d−bit preceding bit histories for a given integer value d, for selected of the signal edges measured by said at least one measurement channel determine a time interval error value representative of the measured edge's timing deviation from an ideal value and determining a pattern referred index representative of the pattern edge number in the repeating data pattern that the measured edge corresponds to, and calculate respective DDJ delta lines by determining the mean of the time interval error values for edges that belong to each respective classification group. 45. The measurement system of claim 44, wherein the plurality of respective start and stop measurements obtained by said at least one measurement channel correspond to pulse width measurements for respective selected rising edges and their immediately subsequent falling edges. 46. The measurement system of claim 44, wherein the duration between adjacent respective start measurements obtained by said at least one measurement channel corresponds to a predetermined event count equal to an integer multiple of the number of rising edges in the known repeating data pattern plus a fixed integer value. 47. The measurement system of claim 44, wherein said at least one measurement channel comprises a pair of comparators, multiplexors and interpolators coupled to a continuous time counter and a continuous event counter. 48. The measurement system of claim 44, wherein said processor circuit comprises a computer-readable medium for storing executable instructions corresponding to the steps of establishing a plurality of classification groups for a transmitted signal comprising a known repeating data pattern, wherein the plurality of classification groups correspond to distinct groups having different d−bit preceding bit histories for a given integer value d, for selected of the signal edges measured by said at least one measurement channel determining a time interval error value representative of the measured edge's timing deviation from an ideal value and determining a pattern referred index representative of the pattern edge number in the repeating data pattern that the measured edge corresponds to, and calculating respective DDJ delta lines by determining the mean of the time interval error values for edges that belong to each respective classification group; and a computer coupled to the computer-readable medium for executing the instructions stored therein. 49. The measurement system of claim 44, wherein said processor circuit is further configured to calculate the peak-to-peak DDJ by subtracting the minimum value of the respectively calculated DDJ delta lines from the maximum value of the respectively calculated DDJ delta lines. | BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION In general, an integrated circuit refers to an electrical circuit contained on a single monolithic chip containing active and passive circuit elements. As should be well understood in this art, integrated circuits are fabricated by diffusing and depositing successive layers of various materials in a preselected pattern on a substrate. The materials can include semiconductive materials such as silicon, conductive materials such as metals, and low dielectric materials such as silicon dioxide. The semiconductive materials contained in integrated circuit chips are used to form such conventional circuit elements as resistors, capacitors, diodes and transistors. Integrated circuits are used in great quantities in electronic devices such as digital computers because of their small size, low power consumption and high reliability. The complexity of integrated circuits ranges from simple logic gates and memory units to large arrays capable of complete video, audio and print data processing. As the semiconductor industry strives to meet technological demands for faster and more efficient circuits, integrated circuit chips and assemblies are created with reduced dimensions, higher operating speeds and reduced energy requirements. As integrated circuit signal speeds increase, timing errors and pulse width deviations within such signals may constitute a greater portion of a signal period that the signal itself. Timing fluctuations in integrated circuits are generally referred to as “jitter”. Jitter can be broadly defined in certain interpretations as the variation of a signal edge from its ideal position in time, and can be an important performance measure for integrated circuit signals, including serial links and clock signals. For serial link qualification, jitter is decomposed into its various components, which are generally divided into two types, deterministic and random. The impact of each jitter component on bit error rate (BER) performance is different. While random jitter is unbounded and is due to sources that can only be characterized statistically, deterministic jitter is bounded and may be correlated to known sources such as supply voltage fluctuations, control-system instability, temperature variation, noise and the like. Deterministic jitter has two main contributing portions, namely periodic jitter (PJ) and data-dependent jitter (DDJ). DDJ behaves as a high-frequency jitter that is strongly correlated to a data stream's bit pattern. The main sources of DDJ in a signal are related to inter-symbol interference (ISI) and signal reflections. ISI may typically be the result of bandwidth limitations of a transmission channel, which causes single bit information to spread into adjacent transmitted data bits. In some instances, the impact of ISI on DDJ may be affected by slew rate and/or phase distortions. Slew rate concerns the rate of change of voltage levels in a signal. Binary signals that include signal changes from a “0” bit defined by a first predefined voltage level and a “1” bit defined by a second predefined voltage level ideally have an infinite slew rate. However, bandwidth limitations of existing transmission channels result in a finite transition rate between first and second voltage levels representative of adjacent “0” bits and “1” bits, resulting in the leaking of bit information into adjacent data bits. With regard to phase distortions or group delay variations, it is noted that some channels have very fast changing phase characteristics within specific frequency ranges (often close to the pass-band to stop-band). In such cases, slight variations of data bit rate due to signal transition density, or channel parameters, can result in significant variations in bit transition edge delay. Referring still to the different possible sources of DDJ, it should be appreciated that transmission line reflections may also contribute to DDJ in a transmitted signal. Reflection may occur on channels comprised of transmission lines with mismatched termination impedances. If mismatch exists in both ends of a transmission line, a receiver will receive a delayed and attenuated version of the transmitted signal in addition to the transmitted signal. The amount of delay and attenuation depends on the transmission line characteristics and the amount of termination mismatches. In practical transmission channels, the primary sources of DDJ often correspond to ISI and related effects of slew rate. However, in situations where the channel consists of multiple transmission lines (e.g., including but not limited to multiple printed circuit board traces, relays, connectors, intermediate terminations, etc.), reflections and phase-distortion ISI may also become significant. Test fixtures and connectors associated with automated testing equipment may also contribute to possible signal reflections and/or phase distortion ISI. The measurement and determination of signal jitter, including the various components thereof, is imperative in characterizing the performance of integrated circuits, especially in the production and testing stages of integrated circuit manufacturing. Various devices, including time interval analyzers, counter-based measurement devices and oscilloscopes, have been developed to measure various signal timing deviations, including jitter. An example of a time interval analyzer that may be employed to measure high frequency circuit signals and determine various aspects of signal timing deviations is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,091,671 (Kattan), which is assigned to the present applicants' assignee, Guide Technology, Inc. The time interval analyzer disclosed in Kattan measures jitter, including total cycle-to-cycle jitter, by determining deviations between one or more of the amplitude, phase, and/or pulse width of real signal pulses and ideal signal pulses. Other examples of time measurement devices that could be configured to measure signal timing variations are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,194,925 (Kimsal et al.) and U.S. Pat. No. 4,757,452 (Scott et al.) Kimsal et al. discloses a time interval measurement system in which a voltage differential across a hold capacitor generated between events occurring in an input signal determines the time interval between events. Scott et al. provides a system for measuring timing jitter of a tributary data stream that has been multiplexed into a higher-rate multiplex stream using pulse stuffing techniques. Scott et al. is an event counter based system that does not directly measure time intervals but determines their frequency by maintaining a continuous count of the number of pulses occurring within a signal. Still further, U.S. Pat. No. 4,908,784 (Box et al.) discloses a measurement apparatus configured to measure the time interval between two events (start and stop) through counters. As referenced above, several devices exist for measuring signal properties, including timing variations such as total signal jitter. However, specific types of signal analysis must be applied to signal measurements in order to extract the different components of a signal (e.g., jitter signal) so that the source of jitter can be more easily characterized. U.S. Pat. No. 6,356,850 (Wilstrup et al.) discloses features and steps for separating the components of a jitter signal, including the random and periodic components of the jitter signal. U.S. Pat. No. 6,298,315 (Li et al.) discloses features and steps for separating and analyzing the random and deterministic components of a distribution using tail-fitting steps and estimation of associated statistical confidence levels. Although the above examples and others exist for measuring and analyzing various aspects of signal jitter, no one design exists that encompasses all features and aspects of the present invention. All the aforementioned patents are incorporated herein by reference for all purposes. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In view of the recognized features encountered in the prior art and addressed by the present subject matter, features and steps for estimating the data-dependent jitter (DDJ) component of measured data have been developed. Varied exemplary embodiments of a system and method for obtaining DDJ measurements are hereafter presented, selected of which offer such advantages as improved robustness against low frequency periodic jitter (PJ) and accelerated measurement capability. In one exemplary embodiment of the present invention, a method of estimating data-dependent jitter from measured samples of a transmitted signal includes a first step of obtaining a plurality of measurements (e.g., an absolute time tag and an event count relative to a reference edge) for selected signal edges within a transmitted signal. The transmitted signal typically includes a repeating data pattern characterized by a predetermined number of data pulses. The duration between adjacent measured signal edges of the transmitted signal may correspond to a predetermined event count increment such as an integer multiple of the predetermined number of data pulses in the transmitted signal plus a fixed integer value such as one. A unit interval value representative of the average bit time of the transmitted signal is determined along with time interval error (TIE) values for selected of the measured signal edges. Additional determination may be made for each measured signal edge identifying which data pulse in the known data pattern the measured edge corresponds to. A plurality of DDJ delta lines may then be computed from the TIE values. Windowing functions and windowing power loss compensation factors may also be applied to the calculated values before DDJ estimates are obtained. Peak-to-peak DDJ values and/or duty-cycle-distortion (DCD) values may be subsequently determined in part from the computed DDJ delta lines. Another exemplary embodiment of the present subject matter corresponds to a method of estimating DDJ from random samples of a transmitted signal. Such additional exemplary embodiment includes a first step of obtaining a plurality of measurements (e.g., time tags and event counts) for a plurality of randomly selected rising edges and respective subsequent falling edges in a transmitted data signal consisting of a repeating data pattern characterized by a known sequence of rising and falling edges. A unit interval estimate representative of the average bit time for the transmitted signal may be calculated and then used to aid in computation of TIE values for each measured signal edge. Each measured signal edge is also classified into one of a plurality of predetermined groups based on the different rising and falling edges in the known data pattern. DDJ delta lines can then be computed from the TIE values for each measured edge. Peak-to-peak DDJ values and/or duty-cycle distortion can also be subsequently determined for this exemplary method. A still further exemplary embodiment of the present subject matter relates to DDJ estimation and includes a first step of establishing a plurality of classification groups for a transmitted signal including a known repeating data pattern. The plurality of classification groups correspond to distinct groups having different d -bit preceding bit histories for a given integer value d (e.g., d=7). A plurality of measurements are obtained for selected edges of the transmitted signal at which point a time interval error value representative of the measured edge's timing deviation from an ideal value is determined. Pattern referred indices representative of the pattern edge number in the repeating data pattern that each measured edge corresponds to is also determined. Respective DDJ delta lines (and optional peak-to-peak DDJ values and/or DCD values) may then be calculated. It should be appreciated that the present subject matter equally concerns an apparatus and system for implementing the aforementioned exemplary steps. For example, a processor circuit may be coupled to a measurement channel that obtains the signal measurements and may also be configured to perform such steps as outlined in the exemplary methods above. In one embodiment, such a processor circuit more particularly includes a computer-readable medium for storing executable instructions corresponding to one or more of the aforementioned steps and other steps desired in the subject signal analysis. The computer-readable medium may correspond to one or more of a server database, a magnetic tape or disk, a CD-ROM, a flash or other nonvolatile memory, etc. The exact type of memory or storage medium should not be limiting to embodiments of the present invention. The processor circuit further includes a computer coupled to the readable medium that is adapted to execute the software instructions stored on the computer-readable medium. The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification, illustrate one or more embodiments of the present subject matter, and together with the description serve to explain certain principles of the disclosed technology. Additional embodiments of the present subject matter may incorporate various steps or features of the above-referenced embodiments, and the scope of the presently disclosed technology should in no way be limited to any particular embodiment. Additional objects, features and aspects of the present subject matter and corresponding embodiments are discussed in greater detail below. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS A full and enabling disclosure of the present subject matter, including the best mode thereof, directed to one of ordinary skill in the art, is set forth in the specification, which makes reference to the appended drawings, in which: FIG. 1 provides a graphical representation of DDJ delta lines calculated for an exemplary transmitted data signal; FIG. 2. provides a schematic diagram illustration of exemplary hardware components for obtaining and analyzing signal measurements to obtain DDJ estimates in accordance with aspects of the present invention; FIG. 3 provides a block diagram of exemplary steps in a first exemplary method of obtaining DDJ estimates in accordance with aspects of the present invention; FIG. 4 provides a block diagram of exemplary steps in a second exemplary method of obtaining DDJ estimates in accordance with aspects of the present invention; FIG. 5 provides a block diagram of exemplary steps in a third exemplary method of obtaining DDJ estimates in accordance with aspects of the present invention; FIG. 6 provides a graphical illustration of an exemplary data signal showing start and stop edges associated with exemplary pulse width measurements obtained for a repeating data pattern in accordance with the presently disclosed technology; FIG. 7 provides a graphical illustration of an exemplary data signal showing 6-bit preceding bit histories for selected data bits within such signal in accordance with aspects of the presently disclosed technology; FIG. 8 provides an exemplary graphical illustration of DCD error versus ideal DCD values for two different transmitted data patterns in accordance with employing steps and features of the presently disclosed technology; and FIGS. 9A and 9B provide respective exemplary graphical illustrations of the DDJ for rising edges and falling edges versus ideal DCD for two different transmitted data patterns in accordance with employing steps and features of the presently disclosed technology. Repeat use of reference characters in the present specification and drawings is intended to represent same or analogous features or elements of the present subject matter. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS Reference will now be made in detail to presently preferred embodiments of the disclosed technology, one or more examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings. Each example is provided by way of explanation of the present technology, not limitation of the present technology. In fact, it will be apparent to those skilled in that art that modifications and variations can be made in the present technology without departing from the spirit and scope thereof. For instance, features illustrated or described as part of one embodiment may be used on another embodiment to yield a still further embodiment. Thus, it is intended that the present subject matter covers such modifications and variations as come within the scope of the appended claims and their equivalents. As previously mentioned, jitter is generally divided into two types, deterministic and random. Random jitter is unbounded and is due to sources that can only be characterized statistically. Deterministic jitter, on the other hand, is bounded and may be correlated to known sources such as supply voltage fluctuations, control-system instability, temperature variation, noise and the like. Deterministic jitter has two main contributing portions, namely periodic jitter (PJ) and data-dependent jitter (DDJ). One or both of inter-symbol interference (ISI) and reflections contribute to DDJ. Electrical reasons for DDJ include bandwidth limitations of the signal transmission path and/or impedance mismatch along that path. Aspects of the present invention will be generally directed to the measurement and analysis of data-dependent jitter (DDJ). DDJ manifests itself as data-dependent shifts of the data transition edges relative to the data sampling point in the receiver. DDJ includes very high-frequency jitter components, which clock recovery circuits cannot track because most of its frequency components fall outside the receiver's clock recovery bandwidth. These variations result in shifting of a bit-error rate (BER) bathtub curve toward the sampling edge, which deteriorates the link BER performance. Although deterministic, DDJ is fully characterized by forming the histogram of DDJ-related shifts for all the edges in a data stream. Because of limited ISI depth (i.e., the number of adjacent bits affecting a specific data bit), DDJ is bounded within a range. ISI depth is a function of the transmission channel characteristics. In many experiments that characterize or test the effectiveness of a serial communications link, data streams are transmitted that are composed of repetitions of a finite length bit pattern. In such cases, there are a finite number of DDJ-related edge shifts that can occur within the data stream signal. Therefore, a DDJ histogram, which is an estimate of the DDJ probability distribution function (pdf), will consist of separate distinct lines, called DDJ delta lines. Because ISI depth is limited, such repetitive patterns can produce a good estimate of the complete DDJ pdf as long as the pattern repetition includes all the bit combinations within the ISI depth. FIG. 1 shows the DDJ delta lines for a typical channel over which a PRBS7 pattern (a repeating Pseudo-Random Binary Sequence having a sequence length of 27−1=127 bits) is transmitted. The graphical representation of FIG. 1 illustrates a discrete probability distribution estimate versus time in picoseconds. The total jitter PDF is a result of convolving different jitter component pdf s. Therefore, each DDJ delta line results in a PDF that is a summation of scaled and shifted versions of the rest of the jitter component PDFs. Assuming the other jitter components mostly consist of normally-distributed random jitter, it can be shown that only DDJ delta lines located at the maximum and minimum of the DDJ range significantly affect the BER performance. Therefore, peak-to-peak DDJ (DDJpp) is used in many serial link standards to quantify DDJ. Although sufficient in some cases, peak-to-peak DDJ does not completely describe DDJ impact on BER in all cases; it is important to consider DDJ delta lines that lie close to the maximum and minimum lines, and also take into account their frequency of occurrence relative to the rest of the delta-lines. Nevertheless, DDJpp is an important parameter for comparing the performance of different links. One exemplary known method for obtaining DDJ measurements is done in the frequency domain and involves using real-time sampling oscilloscopes to digitize a repeated data pattern of a test signal. Collected samples of the test signal can provide a fairly accurate estimate of each edge location relative to a trigger time. The information relayed by the collected samples forms a time interval error (TIE) sequence, which is the difference between measured and ideal transition times. Passing the TIE sequence through a Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) operation produces a frequency domain representation of the jitter signal. In the frequency domain, components that are harmonics of the pattern repetition rate represent DDJ-related jitter. Isolating these components and using an inverse FFT operation reproduces the DDJ signal in time domain, which may be used to estimate DDJpp. The above known method for estimating DDJ in a signal is fairly accurate when the pattern length of the test signal's repeated data pattern is relatively short (e.g., a pattern with 20 bits or less). For longer patterns, the energy of DDJ components is spread over many frequency bins, causing some DDJ energy to be hidden in a the noise floor of the transmitted test signal. In such cases, performing the inverse FFT will reconstruct only portions of DDJ, which may render an inaccurate estimate of DDJpp. In light of the potential problems associated with the above known method and others for determining DDJ estimates for a measured signal, features and steps associated with obtaining DDJ estimates have been developed in accordance with certain embodiments of the present invention. Referring now to FIG. 2, a schematic representation of exemplary hardware components for obtaining and analyzing signal measurements in accordance with aspects of the present invention is provided. The hardware components illustrated in FIG. 2 are exemplary of those found in a FEMTO® 2000 or GT 4000 model time interval analyzer such as manufactured and sold by Guide Technology, Inc. of Sunnyvale, Calif. Although some aspects of the hardware components of FIG. 2 are discussed herein, additional discussion of these and other components of a measurement device that may be utilized in conjunction with certain aspects of the present invention are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,091,671 (Kattan), which is incorporated herein by reference for all purposes. The time interval analyzer 10 of FIG. 2 includes two channels indicated at 12 and 14. Each channel includes a control computer 16, for example a 200 MHz DSP processor, with associated memory 18, for example a high performance FIFO memory, and logic circuit 20. Alternatively, the channels may share a common computer, memory and logic circuit, which may collectively be referred to as a processor circuit. Each channel, in turn, includes parallel measurement circuits having comparators 22a and 22b, multiplexers 24a and 24b and interpolators 26a and 26b. That is, each channel includes multiple, in this case, two measurement circuits. An arming circuit 28 is controlled by computer 16 to trigger the interpolators. A continuous time counter 30 and continuous event counter 32 provide time and event counts to both channels 12 and 14. Alternatively, each measurement circuit may have its own time counter and event counter, provided that the respective counters for each measurement circuit are synchronized. The first measurement circuit 22a-26a/20 of each channel may be referred to as the “start” measurement circuit, while the second measurement circuit 22b-26b/20 may be referred to as the “stop” measurement circuit. Generally, time interval analyzer 10 measures characteristics of a desired signal by comparing the time and/or event measurements of the start circuit with that of the stop circuit. The particular measurement depends upon the signal selected at multiplexers 24a and 24b and upon the manner in which arming circuit 28 arms the interpolators. For example, if the start circuit passes the Ain signal from comparator 22a as shown in FIG. 2, if the stop circuit multiplexer passes the inverse of the Ain signal from comparator 22b, and if the interpolator 26b is armed immediately following interpolator 26a, but before the expiration of a period equal to the input signal pulse width, the difference between the time portions of the start and stop measurement tags is equal to the pulse width. Once an interpolator has measured a signal edge, the logic circuit 20 instructs computer 16 to read the interpolator measurement from a capacitor within the interpolator whose charge or discharge is representative of a time signal that corresponds to the occurrence of the measured signal edge relative to a predetermined time reference. Computer 16 is also instructed to read the time and event counts from counters 30 and 32. It then downloads the time and event counts to memory 18, from which computer 16 retrieves the information to assign to the signal measurement. In this manner, the processor circuit correlates the measured signal edge with time and event measurements from the counters. Thus a “measurement tag” indicates the time the signal edge occurred and the edge's position within the sequence of edges. Time interval analyzers such as the one schematically illustrated in FIG. 2 are capable of generating time interval error (TIE) data as well as absolute time tags (referenced to the first sample) for selected edges within a data stream. TIE can be generally described as the time displacement between a given signal edge (or event) and its ideal location determined from an average unit interval, or average bit time. The sampling rate of a data stream is typically much less than the bit rate for a data stream since the measurement circuitry must have an opportunity to settle and recharge (or discharge) after a given measurement to ensure the accuracy of a subsequent measurement. Since the sampling rate is lower than the bit rate, TIE data obtained by a time interval analyzer is effectively an undersampled sequence of total TIE. The undersampled TIE, however, still can be used in conjunction with the time tags to provide accurate estimates of DDJ. One method of doing so is to use TIE data directly in the time domain. A TIE sequence may be generated by a real-time oscilloscope or time measurement device such as a time interval analyzer. The DDJ component of TIE for a specific data pattern edge is the same in different pattern repetitions because the data bit history before that pattern edge is similar for each repetition. Therefore, to estimate DDJ for a specific pattern edge, it is sufficient to collect a number of TIE samples for that edge from different pattern repetitions (i.e., by “locking” on to that specific pattern edge) and computing the sample average. The averaging reduces the contributions of random and periodic jitter on the TIE data and provides an estimate of the DDJ component. Repeating this procedure for the rest of the pattern edges provides DDJ for all the edges. This data can then be used to identify DDJ histogram delta lines or to compute DDJpp. For longer data patterns measured by a time interval analyzer (typically longer than 10,000 bits), it might be somewhat time consuming to collect many samples of TIE for all pattern edges. In such cases, DDJ may be measured only for a subset of pattern edges (such as the ones that are more likely to cause maximum or minimum DDJ) in order to reduce the test time for computing DDJpp. Analysis of the pattern transition density may be used to identify such pattern edges. More particular aspects of such DDJ measurement technology, including multiple method and corresponding system embodiments will now be presented with respect to FIGS. 3-5. A first exemplary method for obtaining DDJ estimates for a transmitted signal provides algorithm steps based on a regular sampling methodology that uses an event counter feature of a time measurement device (e.g., a continuous time interval analyzer such as depicted in FIG. 2) to capture and classify different pattern edges in a signal. Exemplary algorithm steps for such first exemplary method for estimating DDJ are illustrated in the block diagram of FIG. 3. The signal under test (SUT) for the method of FIG. 3 is required to comprise a repeating data pattern having a finite bit length. Using such repetition helps to sample all or selected pattern edges when under-sampling the signal (i.e., having a sampling rate much less than the bit rate of the SUT), and also allows for multiple sampling of each pattern edge to help reduce the effects of other jitter components, such as random and periodic jitter. A first step 40 in the method of FIG. 3 is to obtain a plurality of signal edge measurements in an SUT having a repeating data pattern. The data sampling of step 40 is effected such that the event count increment between the start edges of two adjacent samples is equal to an integer multiple of the number of data pulses in the data pattern plus one. In other words: E(i+1)−E(i)=K·ppat+1 i=1, . . . , N (1) where K is an integer and ppat is the number of triggerable events (or pulses) in the data pattern. This quantity is the same as the total number of rising edges or total number of falling edges in the data pattern. Further, N is the total number of samples in one iteration of the repeating data pattern and the function E(i) is defined as the event count for measured sample i. In further accordance with exemplary sampling step 40, a time interval mode that establishes what input signals and corresponding measurements to obtain is configured such that measurements are obtained for selected rising edges within a SUT and the immediately subsequent respective falling edges. Such a “pulse width” mode may be effected in a similar manner as described above with respect to FIG. 2, whereby a start measurement circuit in a given measurement channel measures a given rising edge and the stop measurement circuit in the same channel measures the immediately subsequent falling edge. An example of a data signal measured via step 40 is depicted in FIG. 6, which illustrates measured portions of a data signal 52. Signal 52 consists of a 15-bit pattern (namely, the sequence represented in binary format as [101010110010101]) that is repeatedly transmitted. Assume that a first measured pulse 54 corresponds to the first pulse in the data stream. A time duration 56 is then calculated to correspond to an event count increment determined by (1) to be 7K+1, where K is an integer value as previously described and 7 is the number of rising edges in the known 15-bit data pattern of signal 52. The value of K may often be limited to an integer having a value great enough to ensure that measurement circuitry will be fully enabled between subsequent measurements. After an event count increment defined by duration 56 has elapsed, a second pulse 58 corresponding to a copy of the second pulse in the data pattern is measured. The same event count increment represented by duration 56 is then monitored at which point a third measured pulse 60 corresponding to the third pulse in the data stream is measured. This process repeats until the fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh pulses in the data pattern are measured at which point the cycle returns to measuring the first pulse in the data pattern and so on until N total samples are obtained. It should be appreciated that although the present subject matter describes an event count increment and corresponding time delay defined as K·ppat+1, other event count increments (e.g., K·ppat+3, K·ppat+7, etc.) may also enable a measurement sweep of all pulses in the data pattern. It is within the purview of one of ordinary skill in the art to implement such variations to the event count increment between measurements. The value of N is selected such that N=M·ppat+1, where M is an integer and indicates the number of samples that are desired per pattern edge. Multiple samples per edge are obtained and then averaged to help eliminate RJ and PJ quantities. The total sampling time (Ttot) to obtain N measurements is defined as: i Ttot=(K·patLen/ppat+1)M·ppat·UI (2) where UI is the signal bit rate and patLen is the pattern length in bits. Ttot should be at least 100 ms in some embodiments to ensure that the algorithm rejects PJ frequencies as low as 30 Hz. This may be achieved either by increasing the values for M and/or K. Referring still to FIG. 6, for each pulse iteration, measurements of the rising and falling edges of the designated pulse may be obtained. For example, measurements of pulse 54 include a time stamp tr (1) at rising edge 62 and a time stamp tf (1) at falling edge 64. Measurements of pulse 58 may include a time stamp tr (2) at rising edge 66 and a time stamp tf (2) at falling edge 68. Measurements of pulse 60 may include a time stamp tr (3) at rising edge 70 and a time stamp tf (3) at falling edge 72. Time intervals P(i) may also be calculated to determine the time difference between a rising edge and the immediately subsequent falling edge. Such time interval essentially corresponds to the pulse width for a data pulse and is defined as P(i)=tf(i)−tr(i). Event counts for each measured rising or falling signal edge may also be obtained in addition to each time stamp. Such measurements are obtained for N data pulses in the signal under test. It should be appreciated that the actual type of measurements obtained may correspond to such information as one of rising edges, falling edges, signal periods, pulse widths, duty cycle or any combination of such multiple measurement types. Referring again to the methodology outlined in FIG. 3, a next step 42 in such method corresponds to computing a unit interval value (UI) representative of the average bit time in seconds for the transmitted signal. This computation can be effected in many different ways. One exemplary way for computing the average bit time in step 42 is to use the following estimate: UI = t ( N ) - t ( 1 ) E ( N ) - E ( 1 ) · ppat patLen ( 3 ) The estimate defined in (3) may sometimes result in slight offset, which cause long term trend in subsequent TIE estimates. A next step 44 in the first exemplary method for estimating DDJ involves computing time interval error (TIE) estimates for all or selected pattern edges. TIE can be generally described as the time displacement between a given signal edge (or event) and its ideal location determined from an average unit interval, or average bit time. TIE sequences computed in step 44 can be grouped based on the which edge of the data pattern they correspond to, as follows: rise1: TIEr(1,m) riseL: TIEr(L, m) m=1, . . . M (4) fall1: TIEf(1,m) fallL: TIEf(L,m) where riseX and fallX are the set of selected rising and falling edges in the pattern and where L≦ppat. Since TIE estimates are obtained for measured edges and grouped based on which edge in a data pattern is measured, a supplemental objective of step 44 is to determine the pattern edge that a given measurement block starts with such that all measurements in the block can be identified. Continuous time interval analyzers, such as the one depicted in FIG. 2, typically do not use a pattern trigger signal to start measurements, thus resulting in a random selection of the pattern edge at the beginning of a measurement block. For some measurements, the knowledge of the pattern edge at the beginning of a measurement block can significantly enhance the speed and/or accuracy of measurement and also enable the extraction of more jitter/timing analysis data. Since continuous time interval analyzers do, however, track the timing and event numbers of all sampled edges, it is possible to extract the pattern edge at the beginning of the measurement block using various techniques. One exemplary such technique involves matching a portion of the received data with the known data pattern to synchronize the block to the pattern. After synchronization, TIE and patter-referred edge indices can then be more accurately computed. A pattern-referred edge index indicates the pattern edge number id(i) that each ith sampled edge corresponds to. Such a synchronization method typically works well, even for relatively long data patterns. However, the method can be somewhat sensitive to signal jitter contents and does require rotating the pattern multiple times to find the best match. Other methods utilize an averaged pattern interval error (PIE) estimate that can then be compared against various pattern rotations to find what pattern edge occurs at the beginning of the block. This latter method performs more robustly in some embodiments than the aforementioned synchronization method, but does not function as well for long data patterns where there may not be a sufficient number of per-edge repetitions in the sampled measurement block. It should be appreciated that specific implementation of such methods for identifying pattern edges in a measurement block should be well understood by one of ordinary skill in the art, and such a determination could be done in many specific ways while remaining within the spirit and scope of the subject invention. Referring still to the method of FIG. 3, exemplary step 46 corresponds to calculating a windowing function w(i) which may then be multiplied by each value in the TIEr and TIEf sequences. Window scaling is used to reduced the impact of potential low frequency PJ phase randomness on DDJ estimation results. A still further processing step 48 corresponds to computing a windowing power loss compensation factor kw as follows: k w = M max ( FFT ( w ( k ) ) ( 5 ) A final step 50 involves computing DDJ delta lines defined by: DDJ r ( l ) = TIE r ( l , m ) · w ( m ) _ / k w = 1 M · k w ∑ m = 1 M TIE r ( l , m ) · w ( m ) DDJ f ( l ) = TIE r ( l , m ) · w ( m ) _ / k w = 1 M · k w ∑ m = 1 M TIE f ( l , m ) · w ( m ) . l = 1 , … , L ( 6 ) The delta lines calculated in (6) can also be manipulated to provide a value for the peak-to-peak DDJ including DCD (DDJ_DCDpp) by: DDJ—DCDpp=max({DDJ—DCDr, DDJ—DCDf})−min({DDJ_DCDr, DDJ—DCDf}). (7) A second exemplary method of estimating DDJ in a transmitted signal will now be discussed with reference to FIG. 4, which provides a block diagram illustration of exemplary steps thereof. The embodiment represented in FIG. 4 presents a different sampling environment than that discussed in the embodiment of FIG. 3. The first exemplary method of FIG. 3 uses a regular sampling pattern with a constant event count increment between any two adjacent samples of a transmitted signal. However, other types of sampling that provide multiple samples of different pattern edges in a known repeating data pattern may also be used. For example, the methodology embodiment represented in FIG. 4 employs a random sampling environment. One advantage of random sampling over regular sampling in some embodiments is an ability to average out certain low frequency periodic jitter components and to synchronize to the data repetition rate. Referring now to a first step 74 in the second exemplary method represented in FIG. 4, a plurality of signal edge measurements are obtained for a transmitted data signal. Measurements for each ith measured signal edge may include such quantities as previously described including an absolute time stamp t(i) and an event count relative to a known reference edge E(i). The transmitted data signal may correspond to a signal such as signal 52 illustrated in FIG. 6, consisting of a repeating data pattern characterized by a known sequence of rising and falling edges. The time intervals between adjacent measurements obtained in step 74 is selected randomly, such that the event count increment between to adjacent samples follows a pattern defined by: E(i+1)−E(i)=r(i) i=1, . . . , N (8) where r(i) is sequence of random integers, and N is the total number of samples. The measurement mode of the time interval analyzer or other measurement device configured to obtain the measurements in step 74 is preferably set to a “pulse width” mode, whereby respective values P(i) corresponding to the time difference between each randomly selected ith rising edge and the immediately subsequent falling edge are obtained. A next step 76 in the method of FIG. 4 corresponds to computing a unit interval (UI) estimate representative of the average bit time in seconds for the transmitted signal. One particular way to compute such a unit interval estimate is to search for the event numbers E(j) and E(k) such that E(k)−E(j) is a multiple of the number of pattern edges (ppat). A unit interval value UI is then calculated from the following: UI = t [ k ] - t [ j ] E [ k ] - E [ j ] ppat patlen ( 9 ) where N is the total number of samples in the arrays and the measurements for samples k and j are as described above. A still further step 78 in the method of FIG. 4 concerns computing a time interval error (TIE) estimate for all signal edges measured in step 74 using the UI estimate computed in step 76. Such TIE estimates can be calculated in several different ways, similar to step 44 of FIG. 3. A first process for computing TIE estimates involves synchronizing the transmitted data stream with the pattern definition to extract the starting edge of the data stream, as previously described with respect to step 44 of FIG. 3. This knowledge provides an ability to predict the location of the rest of the edges in the pattern relative to the first one. TIE estimates can also be determined using pattern interval error (PIE) estimates, also as previously described with respect to step 44 of FIG. 3. Such latter method does not require pattern synchronization, and provides the estimate of any edge timing relative to the closet repetition of the pattern reference edge. It is computed as below: PIE ( i ) = t ( i ) - ( ⌈ E [ i ] - E [ 1 ] ppat ⌉ · patLen ) · UI ( 10 ) where [x] represents the integer part of X. Referring still to FIG. 4, a next step 80 in the exemplary method corresponds to classifying each measured signal edge using an event number modulus ppat so that the edges with the same remainder to ppat are grouped together. Each group represents repetitions of the same pattern edge in the repeatedly transmitted data pattern. These groups are defined as follows: mod(E(i)−E(1),ppat)=1→rise1: TIEr(1,m) or PIEr(1,ml) mod(E(i)−E(1),ppat)=L→riseL: TIEf(L,mL) or PIEr(L, mL) (11) mod(E(i)−E(1),ppat)=1→fall1: TIEf(1,ml) or PIEf(1,ml) mod(E(i)−E(1),ppat)=L→fallL: TIEf(L,mL) or PIEf(L,mL) where riseX and fallX are the set of selected rising and falling edges in the pattern (L≦ppat). A final step 82 in the exemplary method of FIG. 4 is to compute a plurality of DDJ delta lines. If the TIE estimates were calculated in step 78 from the TIE synchronization process, the following formula can be used: DDJ r ( l ) = TIE r ( l , m l ) _ = 1 M l ∑ m = 1 M l TIE r ( l , m l ) DDJ f ( l ) = TIE f ( l , m l ) _ = 1 M l ∑ m = 1 M l TIE f ( l , m l ) l = 1 , … , L ( 12 ) If the PIE estimation process was used in step 78, then the equations below can be used: DDJ r ( l ) = rem ( PIE r ( l , m l ) _ , UI ) = rem ( 1 M l ∑ m = 1 M l PIE r ( l , m l ) , UI ) DDJ f ( l ) = rem ( PIE f ( l , m l ) _ , UI ) = rem ( 1 M l ∑ m = 1 M l PIE f ( l , m l ) , UI ) l = 1 , … , L ( 13 ) where rem(X,Y) represents remainder of X divided by Y. The delta lines calculated in (12) or (13) can also be manipulated to provide a value for the peak-to-peak DDJ including DCD (DDJ_DCDPP) by: DDJ_DCDPP=max({DDJ—DCDr,DDJ—DCDf})−min({DDJ—DCDr, DDJ—DCDf}) (14) It should be noted that random sampling reduces the impact of low frequency periodic jitter on DDJ estimates. The algorithms presented above with reference to FIGS. 3 and 4 measure edge shift for at least one of every edge in the repeatedly transmitted data pattern. Such methods work well for short patterns (less than 40 edges or so), but the test time increases significantly for relatively longer patterns. For example, total sampling time for a PRBS15 pattern with 8192 rising edges, will require sampling 2,048,000 samples. With 250 samples per pattern edge and a sampling rate of 10 μs per sample, the DDJ measurement processes set forth in FIGS. 3 and 4 take about 20.5s. Such a measurement time is often impractical in production, especially for high volume component testing. To speed up the DDJ measurement process, the dependence of edge shift on its immediate preceding bit history can be used. A third exemplary method, now presented with respect to FIG. 5 uses synchronization to estimate TIE for all sampled edges (as in some particular exemplary embodiments of previous steps 44 and 78). These TIE sequences are grouped together based on their preceding bit history, which is predicted from the synchronization process and knowledge of the data pattern. For example, all rising edge transitions that have a 6-bit preceding bit history of 000100 are grouped together. This is repeated for all possible 6-bit combinations. Later, the TIE estimates for the edges in one group are averaged to average out RJ/PJ effects and get accurate pattern dependent estimates of edge shift. The number of preceding bits used for grouping is referred to as “DDJ depth”. A DDJ depth assumption of 7 provides good results in some embodiments, although specific DDJ depths expressed herein should not convey unnecessary limitations of the presently disclosed technology. A DDJ depth of 7 means that only a maximum of 128 edges need to be sampled regardless of the pattern length. This method limits the total sampling time to 320 ms (32 ms for 1 us/s rate), which is a significant improvement over other methods. The third exemplary method of FIG. 5 works especially well with pseudo-random bit sequences (PRBS) because different combinations of bit histories occur in the pattern with the same likelihood. This method has a tendency to average out reflection-related DDJ components because such components depend on the relation of bit rate and longer term bit history, not the immediate preceding bit history for a transition. FIG. 7 illustrates how bit history can be identified for each pattern edge and used to group different edges. Referring now to FIG. 7, a data signal 84 consists of a 39-bit repeating data pattern, namely the sequence {100111010000111110101001110110010111100}, with one copy of the data pattern repeated in each signal span 86. Signal 84 consists of ten distinct data pulses (and thus ten corresponding rising and falling edges). Each of the ten rising edges are labeled 1-10, respectively. Assuming a DDJ depth of 6, the 6-bit history for edges 3 through 8 are as follows. The 6-bit history 88 for edge 3 corresponds to k=011100, the 6-bit history 90 for edge 4 corresponds to k=000010, the 6-bit history 92 for edge 5 corresponds to k=011111, the 6-bit history 94 for edge 6 corresponds to k=010111, the 6-bit history 96 for edge 7 corresponds to k=001010, and the 6-bit history 98 for edge 8 corresponds to k=011100. For purposes of forming different identification groups based on these exemplary 6-bit histories, edges 3 and 8 can be grouped together because they the same 6-bit immediate history. Having now described certain aspects of the signals to be measured using the third exemplary DDJ estimation method of the present technology, reference will again be directed to the block diagram representation of FIG. 5. A first step 100 in such method corresponds to determining what the DDJ pattern depth will be for the subject DDJ estimation technique. This is done by making an assumption that only a predetermined number (d) of preceding data bits in a data pattern affect a transition pattern dependent timing shift. A next step 102 corresponds to classifying the different edges in a given data pattern into multiple groups such that each group contains pattern edges that have similar d -bit preceding bit histories. For each pattern transition denoted as m(i), the different classification groups can be defined as: Gk=m(i)|bit history=k for k=1, . . . , 2d (15) A next step 104 in the method of FIG. 5 is to sample a plurality of time intervals (corresponding to both start and stop time tags for a selected rising edge and its immediately subsequent falling edge) in a transmitted data signal such as signal 84 in FIG. 7. The signal edge sampling performed in step 104 may be effected either by regular sampling such as described in step 40 of FIG. 3 and equation (1) or by random sampling as described in step 74 of FIG. 4 and equation (8). In step 106, pattern matching techniques as generally described with reference to the synchronization procedure associated with step 44 of FIG. 3, can be used to compute the time interval error sequence [TIErise(i), TIEfall(i)] and the pattern referred indices [idrise(i), idfall(i)] for each ith sampled edge. The pattern referred indices indicate the pattern edge number (e.g., one of 1-10 in the signal of FIG. 7) that each sampled edge corresponds to. For example, in a regular sampling regime, if the first sampled edge is the 7th pattern edge, the second sampled edge will be the 8th pattern edge, and so on such that (id(1)=7, id(2)=8, . . . ). Referring still to FIG. 5, a next step 108 in the third exemplary DDJ estimation method corresponds to finding the mean of the TIE estimates computed in step 106 for edges that belong to the same group Gk. This will result in a maximum of 2d pattern-dependent transition time shifts defined as: DDJ ( k ) = 1 N k ∑ i = 1 N k TIE k ( i ) TIE k ( i ) = TIE ( j ) ❘ id ( j ) = k ( 16 ) where Nk is the number of elements in group Gk. In step 110, the peak-to-peak DDJ may be determined from the results of equation (16) by: DDJPP=max(DDJ(k))−min(DDJ(k)) (17) The DDJ estimates obtained via the three exemplary methods presented above with respect to FIGS. 3-5, respectively, provide a value that also includes any effects of duty-cycle-distortion (DCD) that may be present in a transmitted signal. DCD is another jitter component stemming from the unequal effective bit time interval for “0” and “1” bits. DCD is often due to unbalanced rise and fall time of a signal transmitter. DDJ and DCD are both considered part of deterministic jitter because they are bounded and have deterministic behavior when a transmitted data stream is known. The probability distribution function of combined DDJ and DCD is often in the form of a number of distinct delta lines, because the possible displacements of a signal edge from its ideal position in time can take a finite number of values. This can be explained by observing that DDJ+DCD for a data edge only depends on whether that edge is falling or rising and also on the sequence of a limited number of bits prior to that edge (due to limited memory of the transmission path.) DDJ and DCD affect the key bit-error-rate (BER) performance parameter of a serial link in a similar way, and their combination is often expressed as a peak-to-peak value to quantify their effect on BER. Although the combination of DDJ+DCD is sufficient for BER estimation in most cases, such a quantity does not provide DDJ and DCD information separately, which may be needed for diagnostic purposes. As such, it should be appreciated that the present subject matter also provides steps and features for expressing DDJ and DCD as separate quantities, and thus the present invention encompasses estimation of both DDJ and DCD. One method of extracting DCD from the DDJ estimates obtained in the above exemplary methods is to use the data found in the computed DDJ delta lines, such as determined by one of equations (7), (12) or (13), and to then subtract the averages of DDJ+DCD for rising and falling edges, i.e. using the following formula: DCD={overscore (DDJ—DCDr)}−{overscore (DDJ—DCDf)} (18) The DCD estimate defined by (18) is typically accurate if the sources of ISI are mostly bandwidth limitations of the transmission path as opposed to non-linearity. The estimate may also depend on the pattern selection. The most accurate estimate is obtained when a clock type pattern is used because DDJ disappears for such patterns. Some embodiments of the exemplary methods above for measuring DDJ+DCD provide accurate results if the number of samples for each pattern edge (M) is sufficiently large to average out the effects of random and periodic jitter (RJ and PJ). Typically a value of M>50 is sufficient to provide the most accurate results, as the effect of RJ and PJ decreases by 1/√{square root over (M)}. However, if a PJ component occurs at a frequency that is synchronized with the pattern repetition rate, the DDJ measurement may be significantly affected. A remedy in such cases is to change the repeating data pattern of the test signal to eliminate the PJ/DDJ synchronization. It should be further noted that the DDJ+DCD is also a function of the transmission path from the signal source to the measurement device (e.g., time interval analyzer (TIA) equipment) that obtains the signal measurements. The path impact either has to be calibrated by using a known signal at the transmitter, or be characterized through simulations. The expected error of DCD measurement for different values of DCD and two different data patterns are shown in FIG. 8. Line 112 represents the DCD error in picoseconds (ps) versus the ideal DCD in ps for a transmitted signal comprising a repeating PRBS7 data pattern, while line 114 represents the same quantities for a transmitted signal comprising a repeating K28.5 data pattern. The RJ and PJ are ignored in the representations of FIG. 8 to emphasize the effect of DDJ in estimating DCD. These results show very accurate DCD estimates are possible using the exemplary algorithms presented herein. Simulations also show that DDJ and DCD interact, such that the peak-to-peak DDJ for rising edges and falling edges may not be the same. In such cases, it may be beneficial to define DDJ separately for rising edges and falling edges. An example of these separate quantities is illustrated in FIGS. 9A and 9B, respectively. FIG. 9A provides DDJ estimates versus DCD for measured rising edges in a given signal while FIG. 9B provides DDJ estimates versus DCD for measured falling edges. Signals 116a and 116b represent values for a transmitted signal comprising a PRBS7 data pattern, while signals 118a and 118b represent values for a transmitted signal comprising a K28.5 data pattern. Such DDJ estimates as illustrated in FIGS. 9A and 9B are useful for diagnostic reasons, but typically are not necessary for BER or standard compliance tests. While the specification has been described in detail with respect to specific embodiments of the invention, it will be appreciated that those skilled in the art, upon attaining an understanding of the foregoing, may readily conceive of alterations to, variations of, and equivalents to these embodiments. These and other modifications and variations to the present invention may be practiced by those of ordinary skill in the art, without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention, which is more particularly set forth in the appended claims. Furthermore, those of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that the foregoing description is by way of example only, and is not intended to limit the invention. | <SOH> BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION <EOH>In general, an integrated circuit refers to an electrical circuit contained on a single monolithic chip containing active and passive circuit elements. As should be well understood in this art, integrated circuits are fabricated by diffusing and depositing successive layers of various materials in a preselected pattern on a substrate. The materials can include semiconductive materials such as silicon, conductive materials such as metals, and low dielectric materials such as silicon dioxide. The semiconductive materials contained in integrated circuit chips are used to form such conventional circuit elements as resistors, capacitors, diodes and transistors. Integrated circuits are used in great quantities in electronic devices such as digital computers because of their small size, low power consumption and high reliability. The complexity of integrated circuits ranges from simple logic gates and memory units to large arrays capable of complete video, audio and print data processing. As the semiconductor industry strives to meet technological demands for faster and more efficient circuits, integrated circuit chips and assemblies are created with reduced dimensions, higher operating speeds and reduced energy requirements. As integrated circuit signal speeds increase, timing errors and pulse width deviations within such signals may constitute a greater portion of a signal period that the signal itself. Timing fluctuations in integrated circuits are generally referred to as “jitter”. Jitter can be broadly defined in certain interpretations as the variation of a signal edge from its ideal position in time, and can be an important performance measure for integrated circuit signals, including serial links and clock signals. For serial link qualification, jitter is decomposed into its various components, which are generally divided into two types, deterministic and random. The impact of each jitter component on bit error rate (BER) performance is different. While random jitter is unbounded and is due to sources that can only be characterized statistically, deterministic jitter is bounded and may be correlated to known sources such as supply voltage fluctuations, control-system instability, temperature variation, noise and the like. Deterministic jitter has two main contributing portions, namely periodic jitter (PJ) and data-dependent jitter (DDJ). DDJ behaves as a high-frequency jitter that is strongly correlated to a data stream's bit pattern. The main sources of DDJ in a signal are related to inter-symbol interference (ISI) and signal reflections. ISI may typically be the result of bandwidth limitations of a transmission channel, which causes single bit information to spread into adjacent transmitted data bits. In some instances, the impact of ISI on DDJ may be affected by slew rate and/or phase distortions. Slew rate concerns the rate of change of voltage levels in a signal. Binary signals that include signal changes from a “0” bit defined by a first predefined voltage level and a “1” bit defined by a second predefined voltage level ideally have an infinite slew rate. However, bandwidth limitations of existing transmission channels result in a finite transition rate between first and second voltage levels representative of adjacent “0” bits and “1” bits, resulting in the leaking of bit information into adjacent data bits. With regard to phase distortions or group delay variations, it is noted that some channels have very fast changing phase characteristics within specific frequency ranges (often close to the pass-band to stop-band). In such cases, slight variations of data bit rate due to signal transition density, or channel parameters, can result in significant variations in bit transition edge delay. Referring still to the different possible sources of DDJ, it should be appreciated that transmission line reflections may also contribute to DDJ in a transmitted signal. Reflection may occur on channels comprised of transmission lines with mismatched termination impedances. If mismatch exists in both ends of a transmission line, a receiver will receive a delayed and attenuated version of the transmitted signal in addition to the transmitted signal. The amount of delay and attenuation depends on the transmission line characteristics and the amount of termination mismatches. In practical transmission channels, the primary sources of DDJ often correspond to ISI and related effects of slew rate. However, in situations where the channel consists of multiple transmission lines (e.g., including but not limited to multiple printed circuit board traces, relays, connectors, intermediate terminations, etc.), reflections and phase-distortion ISI may also become significant. Test fixtures and connectors associated with automated testing equipment may also contribute to possible signal reflections and/or phase distortion ISI. The measurement and determination of signal jitter, including the various components thereof, is imperative in characterizing the performance of integrated circuits, especially in the production and testing stages of integrated circuit manufacturing. Various devices, including time interval analyzers, counter-based measurement devices and oscilloscopes, have been developed to measure various signal timing deviations, including jitter. An example of a time interval analyzer that may be employed to measure high frequency circuit signals and determine various aspects of signal timing deviations is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,091,671 (Kattan), which is assigned to the present applicants' assignee, Guide Technology, Inc. The time interval analyzer disclosed in Kattan measures jitter, including total cycle-to-cycle jitter, by determining deviations between one or more of the amplitude, phase, and/or pulse width of real signal pulses and ideal signal pulses. Other examples of time measurement devices that could be configured to measure signal timing variations are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,194,925 (Kimsal et al.) and U.S. Pat. No. 4,757,452 (Scott et al.) Kimsal et al. discloses a time interval measurement system in which a voltage differential across a hold capacitor generated between events occurring in an input signal determines the time interval between events. Scott et al. provides a system for measuring timing jitter of a tributary data stream that has been multiplexed into a higher-rate multiplex stream using pulse stuffing techniques. Scott et al. is an event counter based system that does not directly measure time intervals but determines their frequency by maintaining a continuous count of the number of pulses occurring within a signal. Still further, U.S. Pat. No. 4,908,784 (Box et al.) discloses a measurement apparatus configured to measure the time interval between two events (start and stop) through counters. As referenced above, several devices exist for measuring signal properties, including timing variations such as total signal jitter. However, specific types of signal analysis must be applied to signal measurements in order to extract the different components of a signal (e.g., jitter signal) so that the source of jitter can be more easily characterized. U.S. Pat. No. 6,356,850 (Wilstrup et al.) discloses features and steps for separating the components of a jitter signal, including the random and periodic components of the jitter signal. U.S. Pat. No. 6,298,315 (Li et al.) discloses features and steps for separating and analyzing the random and deterministic components of a distribution using tail-fitting steps and estimation of associated statistical confidence levels. Although the above examples and others exist for measuring and analyzing various aspects of signal jitter, no one design exists that encompasses all features and aspects of the present invention. All the aforementioned patents are incorporated herein by reference for all purposes. | <SOH> SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION <EOH>In view of the recognized features encountered in the prior art and addressed by the present subject matter, features and steps for estimating the data-dependent jitter (DDJ) component of measured data have been developed. Varied exemplary embodiments of a system and method for obtaining DDJ measurements are hereafter presented, selected of which offer such advantages as improved robustness against low frequency periodic jitter (PJ) and accelerated measurement capability. In one exemplary embodiment of the present invention, a method of estimating data-dependent jitter from measured samples of a transmitted signal includes a first step of obtaining a plurality of measurements (e.g., an absolute time tag and an event count relative to a reference edge) for selected signal edges within a transmitted signal. The transmitted signal typically includes a repeating data pattern characterized by a predetermined number of data pulses. The duration between adjacent measured signal edges of the transmitted signal may correspond to a predetermined event count increment such as an integer multiple of the predetermined number of data pulses in the transmitted signal plus a fixed integer value such as one. A unit interval value representative of the average bit time of the transmitted signal is determined along with time interval error (TIE) values for selected of the measured signal edges. Additional determination may be made for each measured signal edge identifying which data pulse in the known data pattern the measured edge corresponds to. A plurality of DDJ delta lines may then be computed from the TIE values. Windowing functions and windowing power loss compensation factors may also be applied to the calculated values before DDJ estimates are obtained. Peak-to-peak DDJ values and/or duty-cycle-distortion (DCD) values may be subsequently determined in part from the computed DDJ delta lines. Another exemplary embodiment of the present subject matter corresponds to a method of estimating DDJ from random samples of a transmitted signal. Such additional exemplary embodiment includes a first step of obtaining a plurality of measurements (e.g., time tags and event counts) for a plurality of randomly selected rising edges and respective subsequent falling edges in a transmitted data signal consisting of a repeating data pattern characterized by a known sequence of rising and falling edges. A unit interval estimate representative of the average bit time for the transmitted signal may be calculated and then used to aid in computation of TIE values for each measured signal edge. Each measured signal edge is also classified into one of a plurality of predetermined groups based on the different rising and falling edges in the known data pattern. DDJ delta lines can then be computed from the TIE values for each measured edge. Peak-to-peak DDJ values and/or duty-cycle distortion can also be subsequently determined for this exemplary method. A still further exemplary embodiment of the present subject matter relates to DDJ estimation and includes a first step of establishing a plurality of classification groups for a transmitted signal including a known repeating data pattern. The plurality of classification groups correspond to distinct groups having different d -bit preceding bit histories for a given integer value d (e.g., d=7). A plurality of measurements are obtained for selected edges of the transmitted signal at which point a time interval error value representative of the measured edge's timing deviation from an ideal value is determined. Pattern referred indices representative of the pattern edge number in the repeating data pattern that each measured edge corresponds to is also determined. Respective DDJ delta lines (and optional peak-to-peak DDJ values and/or DCD values) may then be calculated. It should be appreciated that the present subject matter equally concerns an apparatus and system for implementing the aforementioned exemplary steps. For example, a processor circuit may be coupled to a measurement channel that obtains the signal measurements and may also be configured to perform such steps as outlined in the exemplary methods above. In one embodiment, such a processor circuit more particularly includes a computer-readable medium for storing executable instructions corresponding to one or more of the aforementioned steps and other steps desired in the subject signal analysis. The computer-readable medium may correspond to one or more of a server database, a magnetic tape or disk, a CD-ROM, a flash or other nonvolatile memory, etc. The exact type of memory or storage medium should not be limiting to embodiments of the present invention. The processor circuit further includes a computer coupled to the readable medium that is adapted to execute the software instructions stored on the computer-readable medium. The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification, illustrate one or more embodiments of the present subject matter, and together with the description serve to explain certain principles of the disclosed technology. Additional embodiments of the present subject matter may incorporate various steps or features of the above-referenced embodiments, and the scope of the presently disclosed technology should in no way be limited to any particular embodiment. Additional objects, features and aspects of the present subject matter and corresponding embodiments are discussed in greater detail below. | 20040831 | 20070410 | 20060302 | 72005.0 | G06F1900 | 1 | WALLING, MEAGAN S | SYSTEM AND METHOD OF OBTAINING DATA-DEPENDENT JITTER (DDJ) ESTIMATES FROM MEASURED SIGNAL DATA | SMALL | 0 | ACCEPTED | G06F | 2,004 |
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10,930,809 | ACCEPTED | Surgical support for femur | A surgical support for a femur utilizing a shaft having a proximal portion and a distal portion. The shaft lies along an axis which is coincident with a first plane. A hook connects to the shaft through an intermediate portion and lies in a second plane which intersects the first plane. The hook includes a flattened portion for support of the femur. | 1. A support for a femur bone during a surgical procedure utilizing a surgical table, comprising: a. a shaft possessing a proximal portion and a distal portion at least a part of said shaft lying along an axis which coincides with a first plane; b. a hook, said hook lying in a second plane, said first and second planes intersecting one another; c. an intermediate portion connecting said shaft and said hook; and d. a base member for positioning said shaft relative to the surgical table. 2. The support of claim 1 in which said shaft comprises a tubular member. 3. The support of claim 1 in which said support comprises a rigid body. 4. The support of claim 1 in which said hook includes a flattened portion. 5. The support of claim 4 in which said shaft comprises a tubular member. 6. The support of claim 4 in which said support comprises a rigid body. 7. The support of claim 1 in which said base member includes a bracket having a plurality of openings, each of said openings accommodating a portion of said shaft. 8. The support of claim 1 in which said shaft includes an end portion configured to fit in any of said openings of said rack. 9. The support of claim 7 in which said shaft comprises a tubular member. 10. The support of claim 7 in which said support comprises a rigid body. 11. The support of claim 7 in which said hook includes a flattened portion. | BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a novel and useful surgical support for a femur. Recent advances in surgery focus on minimally invasive techniques, which generally, reduce the size of the incision and eliminate the detachment or severing of muscles. In this regard, minimally invasive hip replacement surgery utilizes entry at the anterior of the patient's leg. By following such approach, the surgeon may accomplish a hip replacement by utilizing a four inch incision rather than a ten inch incision in the prior technique. Also, muscles within the leg are not damaged, resulting in fast recovery of the patient and eliminating muscle detachment during the post operative time. Anterior approach hip replacement techniques still require access to the acetabulum which must be cleared prior to the insertion of the artificial femur head. In addition, proper manipulation and positioning of the femur is essential in carrying out the anterior approach hip replacement surgery. A support for a femur during surgical techniques such as hip replacement would be a notable advance in the medical field. BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In accordance with the present invention a novel and useful support for a femur during surgical procedures is herein provided. The support of the present invention utilizes a shaft possessing a proximal portion and a distal portion. At least a part of the shaft lies along an axis which coincides with a first plane. The shaft may terminate in an end fitting which allows the shaft to be mounted on a jack associated with a surgical table. A hook is also employed in the present invention and lies in a second plane. The first and second planes intersect one another. That is to say, the hook is connected to the shaft by an intermediate portion and is angulated to properly position the femur and allow the surgeon to effect hip replacement without the femur obstructing access to the acetabulum of the hip. Hooks may be oppositely angled relative to the shaft to accommodate the right or left femur of a patient. A base member is also employed for positioning the shaft relative to the surgical table. The base member may be fastened to the table or separately supported. In certain aspects of the present invention the base member may take the form of a bracket having a plurality of openings. Each opening in the bracket is capable of accommodating a portion of the shaft, namely the end portion of the shaft in most cases. The base member may be connected to a jack associated with the surgical table. It may be apparent that a novel and useful support for a femur bone during a surgical procedure has been hereinabove described. It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a support for a femur bone during a surgical procedure which adequately supports the femur and provides the surgeon with access to anatomical portions of the hip in order to effect artificial hip replacement. Another object of the present invention is to provide a support for a femur bone during a surgical procedure which is compatible with surgical tables used in surgery. Another object of the present invention is to provide a support for a femur bone during a surgical procedure which allows the practicing of non-invasive hip replacement surgery and permits fast recovery of patients having such surgery. A further object of the present invention is to provide a support for a femur bone during a surgical procedure which supports the femur and which is adjustable in conjunction with a bracket as well as other components found on conventional surgical tables. Another object of the present invention is to provide a support for a femur bone during a surgical procedure which is easily engageable with the femur and disengagable when not required during the surgical procedure. The invention possesses other objects and advantages especially as concerns particular characteristics and features thereof which will become apparent as the specification continues. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWING FIG. 1 is a side elevational view of the support of the present invention showing a femur in phantom. FIG. 2 is a front elevational view of a left handed support for a left leg of the present invention with a femur depicted in phantom. FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along line 3-3 of FIG. 1. FIG. 4 is a rear elevational view of a right handed support for a right leg of the present invention located in a bracket connected to a jack, partially shown. FIG. 5 is a partial sectional view taken along line 5-5 of FIG. 4. FIG. 6 is a schematic view indicating the positioning of the support of the present invention using a right-handed hook with a conventional surgical table partially depicted, with a patient in the supine position prior to hip replacement surgery. For a better understanding of the invention reference is made to the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments thereof which should be referenced to the prior described drawings. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION Various aspects of the present invention will evolve from the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments thereof which should be referenced to the hereinbefore delineated drawings. The preferred embodiment of the invention is depicted as a whole in the drawings by reference character 10. With reference to FIGS. 1-3, support 10 includes as one of its elements a shaft 12. Shaft 12 possesses a proximal portion 14 and a distal portion 16. Shaft 12, or at least a portion of shaft 12, lies along axis 18. Shaft 12 may be formed of any rigid material such as metal, composites, and the like. Distal portion 14 of shaft 12 includes a rectangular solid end 20 and a cap 22, the purpose of which will be discussed hereinafter. The proximal portion 16 of shaft 12 leads to an intermediate or spanning portion 24 and is formed of the same material as shaft 12. Intermediate portion 24 terminates in a rounded hook 26 a left-handed version. It should be realized that hook 26 may be squared or otherwise angulated. Hook 26 is formed with a tubular end 28 and a flattened curved section 30. Femur 32 is depicted in FIGS. 1 and 2 as lying within the flattened portion 30 of hook 26. Referring now to FIG. 4, it may be observed that support 10, having a right-handed hook 33 holding left femur 35 is also provided with a base member 34. Base member 34 may take the form of a bracket 36 which includes and end portion 38 that connects to a jack 40 which is part of a conventional surgical table 42 shown in FIG. 6. With reference to FIG. 5, it may be apparent that bracket 36 includes a plurality of opening 44 each of which is intended to fit rectangular solid end 20 of support shaft 12. Cap 22 serves to limit the penetration of rectangular solid end 20 of shaft 12 into any one of the plurality of openings 44 of bracket 46. It should be noted that end 20 of bracket 12 lies in opening 46 within bracket 36. With reference to FIGS. 2 and 4, it should be seen that hooks 26 and 33 lie along an axes 48 and 49, respectively, which are not parallel or coincident with axis 18. In fact, axis 18 lies in a plane 50, while axes 48 and 49 lie in planes 52 and 53. Planes 50 and 52, and planes 50 and 53, intersect one another. Such angular orientation between hooks 26 or 33 and shaft 12 provides the proper angle to left femurs 32 and right femur 35, respectively, which is supported by hooks 26 or 33 during hip surgery. With reference to FIG. 6, anesthetized patient 54 is shown in place on surgical table 42 a position ready for anterior approach hip surgery on the hip associated with right leg 56. Traction boots 58 and 60 are employed and are used to provide traction through a mechanism of table 42, not shown completely in FIG. 6. In this regard, a surgical table known as the PRO fx manufactured by Orthopedic Systems, Inc. of Union City, Calif. would suffice in this regard. Surgical table jack 40 is able to raise and lower support 10 connected to bracket 36. The raising and lowering of jack 40 takes place through a rotatable shaft 62, partially shown, the motion of which is indicated by directional arrow 64. Bracket 36 is also capable of rotating relative to jack 40 such that the surgeon performing non-invasive hip surgery possesses complete control of the positioning of support 10 relative to femur 35, shown in phantom on FIGS. 1-4, within right leg 56. In operation, the user places support 10 on base member 34 in the form of bracket 36 in the preferred embodiment. Such mounting is accomplished by the placement of end 20 of shaft 12 of support 10 within any of the plurality of openings 44 of bracket 36. At the proper time after an incision is made in patient 54, FIG. 6, hook 26 or 33 enters the wound at the hip region of patient 54 and supports right femur 32 or left femur 35, respectively. Typical jack 40, in combination with support 10, is able to properly angle and support left femur 35 such that the surgeon is capable of gaining unrestricted access to the acetabulum and other portions of the hip in order to accomplish an artificial hip replacement for a patient 54, FIG. 4. When support 10 is no longer needed, support 10, including hook 26 or 33, is swing from the wound in patient 54 and moved outwardly by the rotation of bracket 36 relative to typical jack 40, directional arrow 66. Support 10 may then be removed or left in this position as surgery progresses and is finished. While in the foregoing, embodiments of the present invention have been set forth in considerable detail for the purposes of making a complete disclosure of the invention, it may be apparent to those of skill in the art that numerous changes may be made in such detail without departing from the spirit and principles of the invention. | <SOH> BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION <EOH>The present invention relates to a novel and useful surgical support for a femur. Recent advances in surgery focus on minimally invasive techniques, which generally, reduce the size of the incision and eliminate the detachment or severing of muscles. In this regard, minimally invasive hip replacement surgery utilizes entry at the anterior of the patient's leg. By following such approach, the surgeon may accomplish a hip replacement by utilizing a four inch incision rather than a ten inch incision in the prior technique. Also, muscles within the leg are not damaged, resulting in fast recovery of the patient and eliminating muscle detachment during the post operative time. Anterior approach hip replacement techniques still require access to the acetabulum which must be cleared prior to the insertion of the artificial femur head. In addition, proper manipulation and positioning of the femur is essential in carrying out the anterior approach hip replacement surgery. A support for a femur during surgical techniques such as hip replacement would be a notable advance in the medical field. | <SOH> BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION <EOH>In accordance with the present invention a novel and useful support for a femur during surgical procedures is herein provided. The support of the present invention utilizes a shaft possessing a proximal portion and a distal portion. At least a part of the shaft lies along an axis which coincides with a first plane. The shaft may terminate in an end fitting which allows the shaft to be mounted on a jack associated with a surgical table. A hook is also employed in the present invention and lies in a second plane. The first and second planes intersect one another. That is to say, the hook is connected to the shaft by an intermediate portion and is angulated to properly position the femur and allow the surgeon to effect hip replacement without the femur obstructing access to the acetabulum of the hip. Hooks may be oppositely angled relative to the shaft to accommodate the right or left femur of a patient. A base member is also employed for positioning the shaft relative to the surgical table. The base member may be fastened to the table or separately supported. In certain aspects of the present invention the base member may take the form of a bracket having a plurality of openings. Each opening in the bracket is capable of accommodating a portion of the shaft, namely the end portion of the shaft in most cases. The base member may be connected to a jack associated with the surgical table. It may be apparent that a novel and useful support for a femur bone during a surgical procedure has been hereinabove described. It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a support for a femur bone during a surgical procedure which adequately supports the femur and provides the surgeon with access to anatomical portions of the hip in order to effect artificial hip replacement. Another object of the present invention is to provide a support for a femur bone during a surgical procedure which is compatible with surgical tables used in surgery. Another object of the present invention is to provide a support for a femur bone during a surgical procedure which allows the practicing of non-invasive hip replacement surgery and permits fast recovery of patients having such surgery. A further object of the present invention is to provide a support for a femur bone during a surgical procedure which supports the femur and which is adjustable in conjunction with a bracket as well as other components found on conventional surgical tables. Another object of the present invention is to provide a support for a femur bone during a surgical procedure which is easily engageable with the femur and disengagable when not required during the surgical procedure. The invention possesses other objects and advantages especially as concerns particular characteristics and features thereof which will become apparent as the specification continues. | 20040901 | 20101102 | 20060323 | 62580.0 | A61F500 | 2 | PATEL, TARLA R | SURGICAL SUPPORT FOR FEMUR | UNDISCOUNTED | 0 | ACCEPTED | A61F | 2,004 |
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10,930,857 | ACCEPTED | Apparatus and method of adaptive filter | Briefly, according to some embodiments of the invention a method and apparatus to generate a filter are provided. The apparatus may include a phase modulation unit to vary a phase component of a signal, a measurement unit to measure a parameter of the phase modulation unit and a filter generator to generate a filter based on the parameter. In some embodiments of the invention, the filter is adapted to provide a compensated signal to the phase modulation unit to compensate for deviation of the parameter. | 1. A method comprising: generating a matrix of predetermined filters based on one or more filter parameters: measuring an actual parameter related to a phase modulation unit; and generating a filter based on the actual parameter and the predetermined filters for providing a compensated signal to compensate deviation of the actual parameter of the phase modulation unit. 2. The method of claim 1, wherein generating the matrix comprises: calculating a predetermined filter based on a filter parameter and generating the filter based on the predetermined filter. 3. The method of claim 2, wherein calculating comprises: calculating two or more predetermined filters based on combinations of two or more filter parameters. 4. The method of claim 3, further comprising: storing the matrix of calculated filter parameters vectors; and generating the filter based on the matrix. 5. The method of claim 4, wherein generating the filter comprises: interpolating the actual parameter with the two or more stored predetermined filters. 6. An apparatus comprising: a matrix of predetermined filters; a phase modulation unit to vary a phase component of a signal; a measurement unit to measure an actual parameter of the phase modulation unit; a filter operable coupled to the measurement unit; and a filter generator to generate the filter based on the actual parameter and a predetermined filter of the matrix of predetermined filters, wherein the filter is adapted to provide a compensated signal to the phase modulation unit to compensate for deviation of the actual parameter. 7. The apparatus of claim 6, comprising: a calculator to calculate the predetermined filter based on a filter parameter, wherein the filter generator is able to generate the filter based on the predetermined filter. 8. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein the calculator is adapted to calculate two or more predetermined filters based on combinations of two or more filter parameters. 9. The apparatus of claim 8, comprising: a memory to store the matrix of predetermined filters. 10. The apparatus of claim 6, comprising: an interpolator to interpolate the actual parameter with the matrix of predetermined filters. 11. A communication device comprising: an internal antenna to transmit a signal; a matrix of predetermined filters: a phase modulation unit to vary a phase component of the signal; a measurement unit to measure an actual parameter of the phase modulation unit; a filter operably coupled to the measurement unit; and a filter generator to generate the filter based on the actual parameter and a predetermined filter of the matrix of predetermined filters, wherein the filter is adapted to provide a compensated signal to the phase modulation unit to compensate for deviation of the actual parameter. 12. The communication device of claim 11, comprising: a calculator to calculate the predetermined filter based on a filter parameter, wherein the filter generator is able to generate the filter based on the predetermined filter. 13. The communication device of claim 12, wherein, the calculator is adapted to calculate two or more predetermined filter is based on combinations of two or more filter parameters. 14. The communication device of claim 13, comprising: a memory to store the matrix of predetermined filters. 15. The communication device of claim 11, comprising: an interpolator to interpolate the actual parameter with the two or more stored predetermined filters. 16. A communication system comprising: a wireless communication device that includes a phase modulation unit to vary a phase component of a signal; a matrix of predetermined filters; a measurement unit to measure an actual parameter of the phase modulation unit; a filter operably coupled to the measurement unit; and a filter generator to generate the filter based on the actual parameter and a predetermined filter of the matrix of predetermined filters, wherein the filter is adapted to provide a compensated signal to the phase modulation unit to compensate for deviation of the actual parameter. 17. The communication system of claim 16, wherein the wireless communication device, comprises: a calculator to calculate the predetermined filter based on a filter parameter, wherein the filter generator is able to generate the filter based on the predetermined filter. 18. The communication system of claim 17, wherein the calculator is adapted to calculate two or more predetermined filters based on combinations of two or more filter parameters. 19. The communication system of claim 18, wherein the wireless communication device comprises: a memory to store the matrix of predetermined filters. 20. The communication system of claim 16, wherein the wireless communication device comprises: an interpolator to interpolate actual parameter with the matrix of predetermined filters. 21. An article comprising: a storage medium, having stored thereon instructions that, when executed, result in: generating a matrix of predetermined filters based on one or more filter parameters; measuring an actual parameter related to a phase modulation unit; and generating a filter based on the actual parameter and the predetermined filters for providing a compensated signal to compensate deviation of the actual parameter of the phase modulation unit. 22. The article of claim 21, further includes instructions for generating the matrix that, when executed, result in: calculating a predetermined filter based on a filter parameter and generating the filter based on the predetermined filter. 23. The article of claim 22, wherein the instruction of calculating, when executed, results in: calculating two or more predetermined filters based on combinations of two or more filter parameters. 24. The article of claim 23, further includes instructions that, when executed, result in: storing the matrix of calculated filter parameters vectors; and generating the filter based on the two or more stored predetermined filters. 25. The article of claim 24, wherein the instruction of generating, when executed, results in: interpolating the actual parameter with the two or more stored predetermined filters. | BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION In polar modulation, a signal is separated into its instantaneous amplitude and phase/frequency components (rather than into the classical in-phase (I) and quadrature (Q) components), and the amplitude component and phase/frequency component are modulated independently. The amplitude component may be modulated with any suitable amplitude modulation (AM) technique, while the phase/frequency component may be modulated using an analog phase locked loop (PLL). The bandwidth of the PLL may be quite small, much smaller than the actual bandwidth of the transmission signal's instantaneous phase/frequency. For example, in the case where the PLL is fed by a sigma-delta converter that has a high pass noise nature, the loop filter may be narrow enough to attenuate the sigma-delta quantization noise and the phase noise of the PLL. A pre-emphasis filter may emphasize, prior to modulation, those frequency components that would be attenuated by the PLL. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Embodiments of the invention are illustrated by way of example and not limitation in the figures of the accompanying drawings, in which like reference numerals indicate corresponding, analogous or similar elements, and in which: FIG. 1 is a block-diagram illustration of an exemplary communication system according to some embodiments of the invention; FIG. 2 is a block-diagram illustration of an exemplary phase path according to some embodiments of the invention; and FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustration of a method to generate a filter according to some exemplary embodiments of the invention. It will be appreciated that for simplicity and clarity of illustration, elements shown in the figures have not necessarily been drawn to scale. For example, the dimensions of some of the elements may be exaggerated relative to other elements for clarity. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION In the following detailed description, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the invention. However, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that the present invention may be practiced without these specific details. In other instances, well-known methods, procedures, components, and circuits have not been described in detail so as not to obscure the present invention. It should be understood that the present invention may be used in a variety of applications. Although the present invention is not limited in this respect, the circuits and techniques disclosed herein may be used in many apparatuses such as, for examples modems, wireless local area network (WLAN) stations, receivers of a radio system or the like. Portable communication devices intended to be included within the scope of the present invention may include, by a way of example only, cellular radiotelephone portable communication devices, digital communication system portable devices and the like. Types of cellular radiotelephone systems intended to be within the scope of the present invention include, although are not limited to, Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) and WCDMA cellular radiotelephone portable devices for transmitting and receiving spread spectrum signals, Global System for Mobile communication (GSM) cellular radiotelephone, Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA), Extended-TDMA (E-TDMA), General Packet Radio Service (GPRS), Extended GPRS, and the like. For simplicity, although the scope of the invention is in no way limited in this respect, embodiments of the present that will be described below may be related to a CDMA family of cellular radiotelephone systems that may include CDMA, WCDMA, CDMA 2000 and the like. The term “plurality” may be used throughout the specification to describe two or more components, devices, elements, parameters and the like. For example, “plurality of mobile stations” describes two or more mobile stations. In addition, it should be known to one skilled in the art that the term “a portable communication device” may refer to, but is not limited to, a mobile station, a portable radiotelephone device, a cell-phone, a cellular device, personal computer, Personal Digital Assistant (PDA), user equipment and the like. Some embodiments of the invention may be implemented, for example, using a machine-readable medium or article which may store an instruction or a set of instructions that, if executed by a machine (for example, by a station of wireless communication system and/or by other suitable machines), cause the machine to perform a method and/or operations in accordance with embodiments of the invention. Such machine may include, for example, any suitable processing platform, computing platform, computing device, processing device, computing system, processing system, computer, processor, or the like, and may be implemented using any suitable combination of hardware and/or software. The machine-readable medium or article may include, for example, any suitable type of memory unit, memory device, memory article, memory medium, storage device, storage article, storage medium and/or storage unit, for example, memory, removable or non-removable media, erasable or non-erasable media, writeable or re-writeable media, digital or analog media, hard disk, floppy disk, Compact Disk Read Only Memory (CD-ROM), Compact Disk Recordable (CD-R), Compact Disk Rewriteable (CD-RW), optical disk, magnetic media, various types of Digital Versatile Disks (DVDs), or the like. The instructions may include any suitable type of code, for example, source code, compiled code, interpreted code, executable code, static code, dynamic code, or the like, and may be implemented using any suitable high-level, low-level, object-oriented, visual, compiled and/or interpreted programming language, e.g., C, C++, Java, high level design programming language, assembly language, machine code, or the like. Turning first to FIG. 1, a block-diagram illustration of an exemplary wireless communication system 100 is shown. Although the scope of the present invention is not limited in this respect, wireless communication system 100 may include a communication device 101 and a communication device 102. According to some embodiments of the invention, communication device 101 may include a base band (BB) symbol generator 114, a splitter 116, an amplitude path 118, a phase path 120, a power amplifier 122 and one or more antennas, for example antenna 108. Communication device 102 may include at least a receiver 110 and one or more antennas, for example antenna 112. Although the scope of the present invention is not limited to this embodiment, communication device 101 may communicate with communication device 102 over a communication channel 104, if desired. Although the scope of the invention is not limited in this respect, the communication system 100 may be part of a cellular communication system (with one of communication devices 101, 102 being a base station and the other a mobile station, or with both communication devices 100, 102 being mobile stations), a pager communication system, a personal digital assistant and a server, a wireless local area network (WLAN), a metropolitan area networks (WMAN) or the like. Although the scope of the present invention is not limited in this respect, antennas 108 and 112 may be for example, a dipole antenna, a Yagi antenna, an internal antenna, a multi-pole antenna, and the like. According to embodiments of the invention, communication devices 101 may include a receiver and transmitter. Although the scope of the present invention is not limited to this embodiment, baseband symbol generator 114 of communication device 101 may generate a signal of baseband symbols. Splitter 116 may split the signal into its instantaneous amplitude and phase/frequency components. Amplitude path 118 may modulate and amplify the amplitude components. Phase path 120 may include a phase modulator that may modulate and up-convert the phase/frequency components. Power amplifier 122 may amplify the output of phase modulator 120 with a gain controlled by the output of amplitude path 118. Antenna 108 may coupled to power amplifier (PA) 122 and may transmit the output of power amplifier 122. According to some exemplary embodiments of the invention, baseband symbol generator 114 may be implemented in accordance with a wireless standard, if desired. Splitter 116 may be implemented in hardware, software or firmware or any combination of hardware and/or software thereof. According to other embodiments of the present invention, an input of power amplifier 122 may be operably coupled to a multiplier (not shown), if desired. Although the scope of the present invention is not limited in this respect, phase path 120 may include components that may compensate on deviation in parameters of phase path 120. Furthermore, phase path 120 may include a phase modulator to vary a phase component of a signal. According to embodiments of the invention, phase path 120 may output a compensated signal that may be amplified by PA 122. Turning to FIG. 2 a block-diagram illustration of an exemplary phase path 200 according to an embodiment of the invention is shown. Although the scope of the present invention is not limited in this respect, phase path 200 may include a filter 210, a phase modulator unit 220, a filter generator 230, a memory 240 that may include filters 242 and 244, a calculator 250, one or more filter parameters 255, a measurement unit 260 and an interpolator 270. Although the scope of the present invention is not limited to this embodiment, phase modulator unit 220 may include a phase lock loop (PLL), a synthesizer and the like (not shown). Phase modulator unit 220 may vary a phase component of a signal. Measurement unit 260 may measure one or more parameters of phase modulator unit 220. For example, measurement unit 260 may measure parameters such as, for example PLL open loop gain, loop filter cut off and the like. In one exemplary embodiment of the invention, filter generator 230 may receive the parameter from measurement unit 260 (e.g. shown with a dotted line) and may generate a filter based on the parameter, for example, filter 210. Filter 210 may provide a compensated signal 215 to phase modulation unit 220. Phase modulation unit 220 may use compensated signal 215 to compensate deviation of one or more parameters of phase modulator unit 220. Although the scope of the present invention is not limited in this respect, in some embodiments of the invention, filter generator 230 may calculate filter 210, in some other embodiments calculator 250 may calculate filter 210 and in other embodiments of the invention filter generator 230 and calculator 250 may be embedded into a single unit, if desired. In this exemplary embodiment of the invention, calculator 250 may calculate a coefficients vector {overscore (C)}={overscore (F)}{{overscore (X)}} of filter 210 where: {overscore (X)}—may be a vector of parameters of dimension N; and {overscore (F)}—may be a function that makes optimal mapping of the vector {overscore (X)} to the coefficients vector {overscore (C)}. According to some embodiments of the invention filter 210 may be implemented as Immediate Impulse Response (IIR) filter, were {overscore (C)} may include Nz zeros and Np poles. Thus, {overscore (C)} may include Nc coefficients, where NC=NZ+NP+2. It should understand that the present invention is in no way limited to IIR filter or to Finite Impulse Response (FIR) filter. Other types of filters may be used with embodiments of the invention. Additionally and/or alternatively, the vector of measured parameters may be X _ Actual = [ x Act0 x Act1 . x ActN - 1 ] an optimal coefficient vector C may be calculated by {overscore (C)}Opt={overscore (F)}{{overscore (X)}Actual} According to some embodiments of the invention, filter generator 230 and/or calculator 250 may repeat the above calculation if the value of {overscore (X)}Actual varied. Although the scope of the present invention is not limited in this respect, calculator 250 may calculate one or more predetermined filters for example, filters 242 and 244, based on one or more filter parameters 255. For example, filter 242 may include a set of k0 and w0 parameters wherein, k0 may be a PLL open loop gain parameter and w0 may be filter bandwidth parameters. In a similar manner, filter 244 may include k1 and w1 filter parameters, if desired. In this exemplary embodiment, filters 242 and 244 may be stored in memory 240. Memory 240 may be a Flash memory, random access memory (RAM) or the like. Interpolator 270 may interpolate one or more measured parameters {overscore (X)}Actual with the two or more stored predetermined filters. Interpolator 270 may interpolate the parameters according to interpolation function {overscore ({circumflex over (F)})}, if desired. Filter generator 230 may generate and/or calculate filter 210 base on the one or more predetermined filters that stored in memory 240 and/or interpolated filter parameters provided by interpolator 270, if desired. For example, filter generator 230 may generate filter 210 according to {overscore (C)}Opt={overscore (F)}{{overscore (X)}Actual}, were {overscore (C)}Opt may be an optimal vector of coefficients of filter 210. In the art of digital signal processing, memory 240 may be referred as a bank of filters, although the scope of the present invention is not limited in this respect. Although the scope of the present invention is not limited in this respect, calculator 250 may calculate two or more predetermined filters based on combinations of two or more filter parameters. In some embodiments of the invention the predetermined filters may be pre-calculation and the calculations results for example filters coefficients of may be stored in memory 240. In other embodiments of the invention, the predetermined filters may be calculated and stored according to a request and/or periodically, if desired. Turning to FIG. 3 a flow chart of a method of generating a filter according to exemplary embodiment of the invention is shown. Although the scope of the present invention is not limited in this respect, the method may begin with identifying one or more parameters that may influence filter 210 (text block 310). The parameters may be parameters of phase modulation unit 220 (as is shown in FIG. 2) such as, for example voltage controlled oscillator (VCO) gain K, fractional N synthesizer division ratio, loop filter H(s) and the like. The parameters may be represented by a vector. A parameter in vector {overscore (X)} may have a minimum and maximum value and quantization levels. For example, a grid vector {overscore (x)}k may be defined for parameter {overscore (x)}k of {overscore (X)} with all possible quantization levels (text block 320). In addition, mk may be denoted as the size of vector {overscore (x)}k (number of quantization levels of xk) and {overscore (M)} may be denoted as the vector of all mk. Accordingly, R may be a matrix of the predetermined filters. Matrix R may be an N dimension matrix where a size of a dimension may be determined by {overscore (M)}. An element may be a vector of dimension CN. Vector {overscore (I)} may be the vector of indexes of the {overscore (x)}k vectors where {overscore (I)}={i0, i1, . . . , iN-1}. According to some embodiments of the invention calculator 250 may calculate matrix R of predetermined filters (e.g. filters 242, 244) according to R _ ( I _ ) = R _ ( X _ ( I _ ) ) = F _ { X _ ( I _ ) } = F { x 0 = x _ 0 ( i 0 ) x 1 = x _ 1 ( i 1 ) . x N - 1 = x _ N - 1 ( i N - 1 ) } ( test block 330 ) . Matrix R may have an N dimension total of ∏ k = 0 N - 1 m k elements, where an element may be a vector of Nc dimensions. For the clearness of the description, matrix R may be stored in memory 240 and may be referred as pre-stored filters, although the scope of the present invention is not limited in this respect. According to embodiments of the invention, measurement unit 250 may measure actual parameters of phase modulation unit 220 (text block 340). For example, X _ Actual = [ x Act0 x Act1 . x ActN - 1 ] may be a vector of the actual parameters and optimal {overscore (C)} (e.g. the vector of filter 210) may be {overscore (C)}Opt={overscore (F)}{{overscore (X)}Actual}. Filter generator 230 may generate filter 220 by interpolation of the actual parameters, e.g. {overscore (X)}Actual from pre-stored filters, e.g. matrix R (text block 350) according to C _ ^ Opt = F _ ^ { X _ Actual , R } , if desired. In some embodiments of the invention, the calculation of filter 210 may be repeated according to variations of the measured parameters, e.g. {overscore (X)}Actual (text block 360) or may be terminated (text block 370) if no change in measured parameters occurred. Although the scope of the present invention is not limited to this respect, phase modulation unit 220 may be a phase lock loop (PLL) (not shown) and may include, VCO, fraction-N-synthesizer and other components. In this embodiment filter 210 may be calculated as follows: The transfer function of phase modulation unit 220 may be Y ( s ) X ( s ) = ( K V / ( N + β ) ) · H ( s ) / s 1 + ( K V / ( N + β ) ) · H ( s ) / s = K · H ( s ) / s 1 + K · H ( s ) / s K = K V / ( N + β ) where: Kv—may be the VCO gain; N—may be integer frequency division ratio; β—may be fractional frequency division ratio; and H(s)—may be the loop filter. The transfer function of filter 210 may be: X ( s ) W ( s ) = 1 + K · H ( s ) / s K · H ( s ) / s , s = j · 2 · π · f , f < f 0 If H(s) may be composed of zeros and poles then Δp may be denoted as the variation of the zeros and poles from their nominal value, and Δk may be denoted as the variation of K from its nominal value. Thus: X _ = [ Δ p Δ k ] ; and C _ = F _ { X _ } The minimum and maximum range of Δp and Δk may be set to ±Pmax and ±Kmax respectively. The grid may be set to dp and dk, respectively. According to this embodiment of the invention, matrix R may consist of (2·P maxi dp+1)·(2·K max/dk+1) elements, where an element may be a vector of dimension Nc. Assuming that the actual values are: X _ Actual = [ Δ p Act Δ k Act ] ; and Assuming that {overscore ({circumflex over (F)})} is a linear interpolation then C _ ^ Opt may be calculated by: C _ ^ Opt = F _ ^ ( X _ Actual ) = ∇ F _ ( X _ Actual ) ❘ X _ Actual = X _ 0 · ( X _ Actual - X _ 0 ) + F _ ( X _ 0 ) F _ ( X _ Actual ) = [ f 0 ( X _ Actual ) f 1 ( X _ Actual ) . f N c - 1 ( X _ Actual ) ] , X _ Actual = [ Δ p Act Δ k Act ] , X _ 0 = [ Δ p 0 Δ k 0 ] ∇ F _ ( X _ Actual ) = [ ∂ F _ ( X _ Actual ) ∂ Δ p ∂ F _ ( X _ Actual ) ∂ Δ k ] ∂ F _ ( X _ Actual ) ∂ Δ p = [ ∂ f 0 ( X _ Actual ) ∂ Δ p ∂ f 1 ( X _ Actual ) ∂ Δ p . ∂ f N c - 1 ( X _ Actual ) ∂ Δ p ] where: {overscore (X)}0—may be defined as the closest point to {overscore (X)}Actual; and {overscore ({circumflex over (F)})} ({overscore (X)}Actual)—may be the linear interpolation function. While certain features of the invention have been illustrated and described herein, many modifications, substitutions, changes, and equivalents will now occur to those of ordinary skill in the art. It is, therefore, to be understood that the appended claims are intended to cover all such modifications and changes as fall within the spirit of the invention. | <SOH> BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION <EOH>In polar modulation, a signal is separated into its instantaneous amplitude and phase/frequency components (rather than into the classical in-phase (I) and quadrature (Q) components), and the amplitude component and phase/frequency component are modulated independently. The amplitude component may be modulated with any suitable amplitude modulation (AM) technique, while the phase/frequency component may be modulated using an analog phase locked loop (PLL). The bandwidth of the PLL may be quite small, much smaller than the actual bandwidth of the transmission signal's instantaneous phase/frequency. For example, in the case where the PLL is fed by a sigma-delta converter that has a high pass noise nature, the loop filter may be narrow enough to attenuate the sigma-delta quantization noise and the phase noise of the PLL. A pre-emphasis filter may emphasize, prior to modulation, those frequency components that would be attenuated by the PLL. | <SOH> BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS <EOH>Embodiments of the invention are illustrated by way of example and not limitation in the figures of the accompanying drawings, in which like reference numerals indicate corresponding, analogous or similar elements, and in which: FIG. 1 is a block-diagram illustration of an exemplary communication system according to some embodiments of the invention; FIG. 2 is a block-diagram illustration of an exemplary phase path according to some embodiments of the invention; and FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustration of a method to generate a filter according to some exemplary embodiments of the invention. detailed-description description="Detailed Description" end="lead"? It will be appreciated that for simplicity and clarity of illustration, elements shown in the figures have not necessarily been drawn to scale. For example, the dimensions of some of the elements may be exaggerated relative to other elements for clarity. | 20040901 | 20090113 | 20060302 | 68763.0 | H04L2720 | 1 | JOSEPH, JAISON | APPARATUS AND METHOD OF ADAPTIVE FILTER | UNDISCOUNTED | 0 | ACCEPTED | H04L | 2,004 |
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10,930,884 | ACCEPTED | Method and system for adaptive rule-based content scanners | A method for scanning content, including identifying tokens within an incoming byte stream, the tokens being lexical constructs for a specific language, identifying patterns of tokens, generating a parse tree from the identified patterns of tokens, and identifying the presence of potential exploits within the parse tree, wherein said identifying tokens, identifying patterns of tokens, and identifying the presence of potential exploits are based upon a set of rules for the specific language. A system and a computer readable storage medium are also described and claimed. | 1. A method for scanning content, comprising: identifying tokens within an incoming byte stream, the tokens being lexical constructs for a specific language; identifying patterns of tokens; generating a parse tree from the identified patterns of tokens; and identifying the presence of potential exploits within the parse tree, wherein said identifying tokens, identifying patterns of tokens, and identifying the presence of potential exploits are based upon a set of rules for the specific language. 2. The method of claim 1 further comprising converting the incoming byte stream to a reduced set of character codes. 3. The method of claim 1 wherein further comprising decoding character sequences according to an escape encoding. 4. The method of claim 1 wherein said generating a parse tree is based upon a shift-and-reduce algorithm. 5. The method of claim 1 wherein the set of rules expresses exploits in terms of patterns of tokens. 6. The method of claim 1 wherein the set of rules includes actions to be performed when corresponding patterns are matched. 7. The method of claim 1 wherein the specific language is JavaScript. 8. The method of claim 1 wherein the specific language is Visual Basic VBScript. 9. The method of claim 1 wherein the specific language is HTML. 10. The method of claim 1 wherein the specific language is Uniform Resource Identifier (URI). 11. The method of claim 1 for scanning a first type of content that has a second type of content embedded therewithin, further comprising recursively invoking another method in accordance with claim 1, for scanning the second type of content. 12. A system for scanning content, comprising: a tokenizer for identifying tokens within an incoming byte stream, the tokens being lexical constructs for a specific language; a parser operatively coupled to said tokenizer for identifying patterns of tokens, and generating a parse tree therefrom; and an analyzer operatively coupled to said parser for analyzing the parse tree and identifying the presence of potential exploits therewithin, wherein said tokenizer, said parser and said analyzer use a set of rules for the specific language to identify tokens, patterns and potential exploits, respectively. 13. The system of claim 12 further comprising a pre-scanner for identifying content that is innocuous. 14. The system of claim 12 wherein said tokenizer comprises a normalizer for converting the incoming byte stream to a reduced set of character codes. 15. The system of claim 12 wherein said tokenizer comprises a decoder for decoding character sequences according to an escape encoding. 16. The system of claim 12 wherein said parser generates the parse tree using a shift-and-reduce algorithm. 17. The system of claim 12 further comprising a pattern-matching engine operatively coupled to said parser and to said analyzer, for matching a pattern within a sequence of tokens. 18. The system of claim 17 wherein the pattern is represented as a finite-state machine. 19. The system of claim 17 wherein the pattern is represented as a pattern expression tree. 20. The system of claim 17 wherein patterns are merged into a single deterministic finite automaton (DFA). 21. The system of claim 12 wherein the set of rules expresses exploits in terms of patterns of tokens. 22. The system of claim 12 wherein the set of rules includes actions to be performed when corresponding patterns are matched. 23. The system of claim 22 further comprising a scripting engine for implementing the actions to be performed. 24. The system of claim 12 wherein the specific language is JavaScript. 25. The system of claim 12 wherein the specific language is Visual Basic script. 26. The system of claim 12 wherein the specific language is HTML. 27. The system of claim 12 wherein the specific language is Uniform Resource Identifier (URI). 28. A computer-readable storage medium storing program code for causing a computer to perform the steps of: identifying tokens within an incoming byte stream, the tokens being lexical constructs for a specific language; identifying patterns of tokens; generating a parse tree from the identified patterns of tokens; and identifying the presence of potential exploits within the parse tree, wherein said identifying tokens, identifying patters of tokens, and identifying the presence of potential exploits are based upon a set of rules for the specific language. 29. A method for scanning content, comprising: expressing an exploit in terms of patterns of tokens and rules, where tokens are lexical constructs of a specific programming language, and rules are sequences of tokens that form programmatical constructs; and parsing an incoming byte source to determine if an exploit is present therewithin, based on said expressing. 30. The method of claim 29 further comprising generating a parse tree for the incoming byte source, the nodes of the parse tree corresponding to tokens and rules. 31. The method of claim 30 wherein nodes of the parse tree corresponding to rules are positioned as parent nodes, the children of which correspond to the sequences of tokens that correspond to the rules. 32. The method of claim 31 wherein a new parent node is added to the parse tree if a rule is matched. 33. The method of claim 32 wherein said parsing determines if an exploit is present within the incoming byte source when a new parent node is added to the parse tree. 34. The method of claim 33 wherein tokens and rules have names associated therewith, and further comprising assigning values to nodes in the parse tree, the value of a node corresponding to a token being the name of the corresponding token, and the value of a node corresponding to a rule being the name of the corresponding rule. 35. The method of claim 34 further comprising storing an indicator for the matched rule in the new parent node of the parse tree, if said parsing determines the presence of the matched rule. 36. A system for scanning content, comprising: a parser for parsing an incoming byte source to determine if an exploit is present therewithin, based on a formal description of the exploit expressed in terms of patterns of tokens and rules, where tokens are lexical constructs of a specific programming language, and rules are sequences of tokens that form programmatical constructs. 37. The system of claim 36 wherein said parser comprises a tree generator for generating a parse tree for the incoming byte source, the nodes of the parse tree corresponding to tokens and rules. 38. The system of claim 37 wherein nodes of the parse tree corresponding to rules are positioned as parent nodes, the children of which correspond to the sequences of tokens that correspond to the rules. 39. The system of claim 38 wherein said tree generated adds a new parent node to the parse tree if a rule is matched. 40. The system of claim 39 wherein said parser determines if a matched rule is present within the incoming byte source when said tree generator adds a new parent node to the parse tree. 41. The system of claim 40 wherein tokens and rules have names associated therewith, and wherein said tree generator assigns value to nodes in the parse tree, the value of a node corresponding to a token being the name of the corresponding token, and the value of a node corresponding to a rule being the name of the corresponding rule. 42. The system of claim 41 wherein said tree generator stores an indicator for the matched rule in the new parent node of the parse tree, if said parser determines the presence of the matched rule. 43. A computer-readable storage medium storing program code for causing a computer to perform the steps of: expressing an exploit in terms of patterns of tokens and rules, where tokens are lexical constructs of a specific programming language, and rules are sequences of tokens that form programmatical constructs; and parsing an incoming byte source to determine if an exploit is present therewithin, based on said expressing. | CROSS REFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATIONS This application is a continuation-in-part of assignee's pending application U.S. Ser. No. 09/539,667, filed on Mar. 30, 2000, entitled “System and Method for Protecting a Computer and a Network from Hostile Downloadables,” which is a continuation of assignee's patent application U.S. Ser. No. 08/964,388, filed on 6 Nov. 1997, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,092,194, also entitled “System and Method for Protecting a Computer and a Network from Hostile Downloadables.” FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to network security, and in particular to scanning of mobile content for exploits. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Conventional anti-virus software scans a computer file system by searching for byte patterns, referred to as signatures that are present within known viruses. If a virus signature is discovered within a file, the file is designated as infected. Content that enters a computer from the Internet poses additional security threats, as such content executes upon entry into a client computer, without being saved into the computer's file system. Content such as JavaScript and VBScript is executed by an Internet browser, as soon as the content is received within a web page. Conventional network security software also scans such mobile content by searching for heuristic virus signatures. However, in order to be as protective as possible, virus signatures for mobile content tend to be over-conservative, which results in significant over-blocking of content. Over-blocking refers to false positives; i.e., in addition to blocking of malicious content, prior art technologies also block a significant amount of content that is not malicious. Another drawback with prior art network security software is that it is unable to recognize combined attacks, in which an exploit is split among different content streams. Yet another drawback is that prior art network security software is unable to scan content containers, such as URI within JavaScript. All of the above drawbacks with conventional network security software are due to an inability to diagnose mobile code. Diagnosis is a daunting task, since it entails understanding incoming byte source code. The same malicious exploit can be encoded in an endless variety of ways, so it is not sufficient to look for specific signatures. Nevertheless, in order to accurately block malicious code with minimal over-blocking, a thorough diagnosis is required. SUMMARY OF THE DESCRIPTION The present invention provides a method and system for scanning content that includes mobile code, to produce a diagnostic analysis of potential exploits within the content. The present invention is preferably used within a network gateway or proxy, to protect an intranet against viruses and other malicious mobile code. The content scanners of the present invention are referred to as adaptive rule-based (ARB) scanners. An ARB scanner is able to adapt itself dynamically to scan a specific type of content, such as inter alia JavaScript, VBScript, URI, URL and HTTP. ARB scanners differ from prior art scanners that are hard-coded for one particular type of content. In distinction, ARB scanners are data-driven, and can be enabled to scan any specific type of content by providing appropriate rule files, without the need to modify source code. Rule files are text files that describe lexical characteristics of a particular language. Rule files for a language describe character encodings, sequences of characters that form lexical constructs of the language, referred to as tokens, patterns of tokens that form syntactical constructs of program code, referred to as parsing rules, and patterns of tokens that correspond to potential exploits, referred to as analyzer rules. Rules files thus serve as adaptors, to adapt an ARB content scanner to a specific type of content. The present invention also utilizes a novel description language for efficiently describing exploits. This description language enables an engineer to describe exploits as logical combinations of patterns of tokens. Thus it may be appreciated that the present invention is able to diagnose incoming content. As such, the present invention achieves very accurate blocking of content, with minimal over-blocking as compared with prior art scanning technologies. There is thus provided in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention a method for scanning content, including identifying tokens within an incoming byte stream, the tokens being lexical constructs for a specific language, identifying patterns of tokens, generating a parse tree from the identified patterns of tokens, and identifying the presence of potential exploits within the parse tree, wherein said identifying tokens, identifying patters of tokens, and identifying the presence of potential exploits are based upon a set of rules for the specific language. There is moreover provided in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention a system for scanning content, including a tokenizer for identifying tokens within an incoming byte stream, the tokens being lexical constructs for a specific language, a parser operatively coupled to the tokenizer for identifying patterns of tokens, and generating a parse tree therefrom, and an analyzer operatively coupled to the parser for analyzing the parse tree and identifying the presence of potential exploits therewithin, wherein the tokenizer, the parser and the analyzer use a set of rules for the specific language to identify tokens, patterns and potential exploits, respectively. There is further provided in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention a computer-readable storage medium storing program code for causing a computer to perform the steps of identifying tokens within an incoming byte stream, the tokens being lexical constructs for a specific language, identifying patterns of tokens, generating a parse tree from the identified patterns of tokens, and identifying the presence of potential exploits within the parse tree, wherein said identifying tokens, identifying patters of tokens, and identifying the presence of potential exploits are based upon a set of rules for the specific language. There is yet further provided in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention a method for scanning content, including expressing an exploit in terms of patterns of tokens and rules, where tokens are lexical constructs of a specific programming language, and rules are sequences of tokens that form programmatical constructs, and parsing an incoming byte source to determine if an exploit is present therewithin, based on said expressing. There is additionally provided in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention a system for scanning content, including a parser for parsing an incoming byte source to determine if an exploit is present therewithin, based on a formal description of the exploit expressed in terms of patterns of tokens and rules, where tokens are lexical constructs of a specific programming language, and rules are sequences of tokens that form programmatical constructs. There is moreover provided in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention a computer-readable storage medium storing program code for causing a computer to perform the steps of expressing an exploit in terms of patterns of tokens and rules, where tokens are lexical constructs of a specific programming language, and rules are sequences of tokens that form programmatical constructs, and parsing an incoming byte source to determine if an exploit is present therewithin, based on said expressing. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The present invention will be more fully understood and appreciated from the following detailed description, taken in conjunction with the drawings in which: FIG. 1 is a simplified block diagram of an overall gateway security system that uses an adaptive rule-based (ARB) content scanner, in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 2 is a simplified block diagram of an adaptive rule-based content scanner system, in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 3 is an illustration of a simple finite state machine for detecting tokens “a” and “ab”, used in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 4 is an illustration of a simple finite state machine for a pattern, used in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 5 is a simplified flowchart of operation of a parser for a specific content language within an ARB content scanner, in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 6 is a simplified block diagram of a system for serializing binary instances of ARB content scanners, transmitting them to a client site, and regenerating them back into binary instances at the client site, in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention; and FIG. 7 illustrates a representative hierarchy of objects created by a builder module, in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention. LIST OF APPENDICES Appendix A is a source listing of an ARB rule file for the JavaScript language, in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION The present invention concerns scanning of content that contains mobile code, to protect an enterprise against viruses and other malicious code. Reference is now made to FIG. 1, which is a simplified block diagram of an overall gateway security system that uses an adaptive rule-based (ARB) content scanner, in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention. Shown in FIG. 1 is a network gateway 110 that acts as a conduit for content from the Internet entering into a corporate intranet, and for content from the corporate intranet exiting to the Internet. One of the functions of network gateway 110 is to protect client computers 120 within the corporate intranet from malicious mobile code originating from the Internet. Mobile code is program code that executes on a client computer. Mobile code can take many diverse forms, including inter alia JavaScript, Visual Basic script, HTML pages, as well as a Uniform Resource Identifier (URI). Mobile code can be detrimental to a client computer. Mobile code can access a client computer's operating system and file system, can open sockets for transmitting data to and from a client computer, and can tie up a client computer's processing and memory resources. Such malicious mobile code cannot be detected using conventional anti-virus scanners, which scan a computer's file system, since mobile code is able to execute as soon as it enters a client computer from the Internet, before being saved to a file. Many examples of malicious mobile code are known today. Portions of code that are malicious are referred to as exploits. For example, one such exploit uses JavaScript to create a window that fills an entire screen. The user is then unable to access any windows lying underneath the filler window. The following sample code shows such an exploit. <!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC “-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional// EN”> <HTML> <HEAD> <TITLE>BID-3469</TITLE> <SCRIPT> op=window.createPopup( ); s=‘<body>foobar</body>’; op.document.body.innerHTML=s; function oppop( ) { if (!op.isOpen) { w = screen.width; h = screen.height; op.show(0,0,w,h,document.body); } } function doit ( ) { oppop( ); setInterval(“window.focus( ); {oppop( );}”,10); } </SCRIPT> </HEAD> <BODY> <H1>BID-3469</H1> <FORM method=POST action=“”> <INPUT type=“button” name=“btnDoIt” value=“Do It” onclick=“doit( )”> </FORM> </BODY> </HTML> Thus it may be appreciated that the security function of network gateway 110 is critical to a corporate intranet. In accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention, network gateway includes a content scanner 130, whose purpose is to scan mobile code and identify potential exploits. Content scanner 130 receives as input content containing mobile code in the form of byte source, and generates a security profile for the content. The security profile indicates whether or not potential exploits have been discovered within the content, and, if so, provides a diagnostic list of one or more potential exploits and their respective locations within the content. Preferably, the corporate intranet uses a security policy to decide whether or not to block incoming content based on the content's security profile. For example, a security policy may block content that may be severely malicious, say, content that accesses an operating system or a file system, and may permit content that is less malicious, such as content that can consume a user's computer screen as in the example above. The diagnostics within a content security profile are compared within the intranet security policy, and a decision is made to allow or block the content. When content is blocked, one or more alternative actions can be taken, such as replacing suspicious portions of the content with innocuous code and allowing the modified content, and sending a notification to an intranet administrator. Scanned content and their corresponding security profiles are preferably stored within a content cache 140. Preferably, network gateway checks if incoming content is already resident in cache 140, and, if so, bypasses content scanner 130. Use of cache 140 saves content scanner 130 the task of re-scanning the same content. Alternatively, a hash value of scanned content, such as an MD5 hash value, can be cached instead of caching the content itself. When content arrives at scanner 130, preferably its hash value is computed and checked against cached hash values. If a match is found with a cached hash value, then the content does not have to be re-scanned and its security profile can be obtained directly from cache. Consider, for example, a complicated JavaScript file that is scanned and determined to contain a known exploit therewithin. An MD5 hash value of the entire JavaScript file can be stored in cache, together within a security profile indicating that the JavaScript file contains the known exploit. If the same JavaScript file arrives again, its hash value is computed and found to already reside in cache. Thus, it can immediately be determined that the JavaScript file contains the known exploit, without re-scanning the file. It may be appreciated by those skilled in the art that cache 140 may reside at network gateway 110. However, it is often advantageous to place cache 140 as close as possible to the corporate intranet, in order to transmit content to the intranet as quickly as possible. However, in order for the security profiles within cache 140 to be up to date, it is important that network gateway 110 notify cache 140 whenever content scanner 130 is updated. Updates to content scanner 130 can occur inter alia when content scanner 130 is expanded (i) to cover additional content languages; (ii) to cover additional exploits; or (iii) to correct for bugs. Preferably, when cache 140 is notified that content scanner 130 has been updated, cache 140 clears its cache, so that content that was in cache 140 is re-scanned upon arrival at network gateway 110. Also, shown in FIG. 1 is a pre-scanner 150 that uses conventional signature technology to scan content. As mentioned hereinabove, pre-scanner 150 can quickly determine if content is innocuous, but over-blocks on the safe side. Thus pre-scanner 150 is useful for recognizing content that poses no security threat. Preferably, pre-scanner 150 is a simple signature matching scanner, and processes incoming content at a rate of approximately 100 mega-bits per second. ARB scanner 130 performs much more intensive processing than pre-scanner 150, and processes incoming content at a rate of approximately 1 mega-bit per second. In order to accelerate the scanning process, pre-scanner 150 acts as a first-pass filter, to filter content that can be quickly recognized as innocuous. Content that is screened by pre-scanner 150 as being potentially malicious is passed along to ARB scanner 130 for further diagnosis. Content that is screened by pre-scanner 150 as being innocuous bypasses ARB scanner 130. It is expected that pre-scanner filters 90% of incoming content, and that only 10% of the content required extensive scanning by ARB scanner 130. As such, the combined effect of ARB scanner 130 and pre-scanner 150 provides an average scanning throughout of approximately 9 mega-bits per second. Use of security profiles, security policies and caching is described in applicant's U.S. Pat. No. 6,092,194 entitled SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR PROTECTING A COMPUTER AND A NETWORK FROM HOSTILE DOWNLOADABLES, in applicant's U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/539,667 entitled SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR PROTECTING A COMPUTER AND A NETWORK FROM HOSTILE DOWNLOADABLES and filed on 30 Mar. 2000, and in applicant's U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/838,889 entitled METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR CACHING AT SECURE GATEWAYS and filed on 3 May 2004 Reference is now made to FIG. 2, which is a simplified block diagram of an adaptive rule-based content scanner system 200, in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention. An ARB scanner system is preferably designed as a generic architecture that is language-independent, and is customized for a specific language through use of a set of language-specific rules. Thus, a scanner system is customized for JavaScript by means of a set of JavaScript rules, and is customized for HTML by means of a set of HTML rules. In this way, each set of rules acts as an adaptor, to adapt the scanner system to a specific language. A sample rule file for JavaScript is provided in Appendix A, and is described hereinbelow. Moreover, in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention, security violations, referred to as exploits, are described using a generic syntax, which is also language-independent. It is noted that the same generic syntax used to describe exploits is also used to describe languages. Thus, referring to Appendix A, the same syntax is used to describe the JavaScript parser rules and the analyzer exploit rules. It may thus be appreciated that the present invention provides a flexible content scanning method and system, which can be adapted to any language syntax by means of a set of rules that serve to train the content scanner how to interpret the language. Such a scanning system is referred to herein as an adaptive rule-based (ARB) scanner. Advantages of an ARB scanner, include inter alia: the ability to re-use software code for many different languages; the ability to re-use software code for binary content and EXE files; the ability to focus optimization efforts in one project, rather than across multiple projects; and the ability to describe exploits using a generic syntax, which can be interpreted by any ARB scanner. The system of FIG. 2 includes three main components: a tokenizer 210, a parser 220 and an analyzer 230. The function of tokenizer 210 is to recognize and identify constructs, referred to as tokens, within a byte source, such as JavaScript source code. A token is generally a sequence of characters delimited on both sides by a punctuation character, such as a white space. Tokens includes inter alia language keywords, values, names for variables or functions, operators, and punctuation characters, many of which are of interest to parser 220 and analyzer 230. Preferably, tokenizer 210 reads bytes sequentially from a content source, and builds up the bytes until it identifies a complete token. For each complete token identified, tokenizer 210 preferably provides both a token ID and the token sequence. In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the tokenizer is implemented as a finite state machine (FSM) that takes input in the form of character codes. Tokens for the language are encoded in the FSM as a sequence of transitions for appropriate character codes, as described hereinbelow with reference to FIG. 3. When a sequence of transitions forms a complete lexical token, a punctuation character, which normally indicates the end of a token, is expected. Upon receiving a punctuation character, the token is complete, and the tokenizer provides an appropriate ID. If a punctuation character is not received, the sequence is considered to be part of a longer sequence, and no ID is provided at this point. Reference is now made to FIG. 3, which is an illustration of a simple finite state machine for detecting tokens “a” and “ab”, used in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention. Shown in FIG. 3 are five states, 1-5, with labeled and directed transitions therebetween. As tokenizer reads successive characters, a transition is made from a current state to a next state accordingly. 210 State 1 is an entry state, where tokenizer 210 begins. State 4 is a generic state for punctuation. Specifically, whenever a punctuation character is encountered, a transition is made from the current state to state 4. The “a” token is identified whenever a transition is made from state 3 to state 4. Similarly, the “ab” token is identified whenever a transition is made from state 5 to state 4. A generic token, other than “a” and “ab” is identified whenever a transition is made from state 2 to state 4. A punctuation token is identified whenever a transition is made out of state 4. Referring back to FIG. 2, tokenizer 210 preferably includes a normalizer 240 and a decoder 250. In accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention, normalizer 240 translates a raw input stream into a reduced set of character codes. Normalized output thus becomes the input for tokenizer 210. Examples of normalization rules includes, inter alia skipping character ranges that are irrelevant; assigning special values to character codes that are irrelevant for the language structure but important for the content scanner; translating, such as to lowercase if the language is case-insensitive, in order to reduce input for tokenizer 210; merging several character codes, such as white spaces and line ends, into one; and translating sequences of raw bytes, such as trailing spaces, into a single character code. Preferably, normalizer 240 also handles Unicode encodings, such as UTF-8 and UTF-16. In accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention, normalizer 240 is also implemented as a finite-state machine. Each successive input is either translated immediately according to normalization rules, or handled as part of a longer sequence. If the sequence ends unexpectedly, the bytes are preferably normalized as individual bytes, and not as part of the sequence. Preferably, normalizer 240 operates in conjunction with decoder 250. Preferably, decoder 250 decodes character sequences in accordance with one or more character encoding schemes, including inter alia (i) SGML entity sets, including named sets and numerical sets; (ii) URL escape encoding scheme; (iii) ECMA script escape sequences, including named sets, octal, hexadecimal and Unicode sets; and (iv) character-encoding switches. Preferably, decoder 250 takes normalized input from normalizer 240. In accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention, decoder 250 is implemented as a finite-state machine. The FSM for decoder 250 terminates when it reaches a state that produces a decoded character. If decoder 250 fails to decode a sequence, then each character is processed by tokenizer 210 individually, and not as part of the sequence. Preferably, a plurality of decoders 250 can be pipelined to enable decoding of text that is encoded by one escape scheme over another, such as text encoded with a URL scheme and then encoded with ECMA script scheme inside of JavaScript strings. Tokenizer 210 and normalizer 240 are generic modules that can be adapted to process any content language, by providing a description of the content language within a rule file. Preferably, the rule file describes text characters used within the content language, and the composition of constructs of the content language, referred to as tokens. Tokens may include inter alia, an IDENT token for the name of a variable or function, various punctuation tokens, and tokens for keywords such as NEW, DELETE, FOR and IF. A sample rule file for JavaScript is provided in Appendix A, and is described hereinbelow. In accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention, parser 220 controls the process of scanning incoming content. Preferably, parser 220 invokes tokenizer 210, giving it a callback function to call when a token is ready. Tokenizer 210 uses the callback function to pass parser 220 the tokens it needs to parse the incoming content. Preferably, parser 220 uses a parse tree data structure to represent scanned content. A parse tree contains a node for each token identified while parsing, and uses parsing rules to identify groups of tokens as a single pattern. Examples of parsing rules appear in Appendix A, and are described hereinbelow. Preferably, the parse tree generated by parser 220 is dynamically built using a shift-and-reduce algorithm. Successive tokens provided to parser 220 by tokenizer 210 are positioned as siblings. When parser 220 discovers that a parsing rule identifies of group of siblings as a single pattern, the siblings are reduced to a single parent node by positioning a new parent node, which represents the pattern, in their place, and moving them down one generation under the new parent note. Preferably, within the parse tree, each node contains data indicating inter alia an ID number, the token or rule that the node represents, a character string name as a value for the node, and a numerical list of attributes. For example, if the node represents an IDENT token for the name of a variable, then the value of the node is the variable name; and if the node represents a rule regarding a pattern for a function signature, then the value of the node is the function name. In addition, whenever a parsing rule is used to recognize a pattern, information about the pattern may be stored within an internal symbol table, for later use. In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, parsing rules are implemented as finite-state machines. These FSMs preferably return an indicator for (i) an exact match, (ii) an indicator to continue with another sibling node, or (iii) an indicator of a mis-match that serves as an exit. More generally, parsing rules may be implemented using a hybrid mix of matching algorithms. Thus, it may use a deterministic finite automaton (DFA) for quick identification of rule candidates, and a non-deterministic finite automaton (NFA) engine for exact evaluation of the candidate rules. In addition to a pattern, a parser rule optionally includes one or more actions to be performed if an exact pattern match is discovered. Actions that can be performed include inter alia creating a new node in the parse tree, as described hereinabove with respect to the shift and reduce algorithm; setting internal variables; invoking a sub-scanner 270, as described hereinbelow; and searching the parse tree for nodes satisfying specific conditions. By default, when the pattern within a parser rule is matched, parser 220 automatically performs a reduce operation by creating a new node and moving token nodes underneath the new node. A rule may be assigned a NoCreate attribute, in which case the default is changed to not performing the reduction operation upon a match, unless an explicit addnode command is specified in an action for the rule. Sub-scanner 270 is another ARB scanner, similar to scanner 200 illustrated in FIG. 2 but for a different type of content. Preferably, sub-scanner 270 is used to scan a sub-section of input being processed by scanner 200. Thus, if an HTML scanner encounters a script element that contains JavaScript code, then there will be a rule in the HTML scanner whose action includes invoking a JavaScript scanner. In turn, the JavaScript scanner may invoke a URI scanner. Use of sub-scanner 270 is particularly efficient for scanning content of one type that contains content of another type embedded therein. Preferably, immediately after parser 220 performs a reduce operation, it calls analyzer 230 to check for exploits. Analyzer 230 searches for specific patterns of content that indicate an exploit. Preferably, parser 220 passes to analyzer 230 a newly-created parsing node. Analyzer 230 uses a set of analyzer rules to perform its analysis. An analyzer rule specifies a generic syntax pattern in the node's children that indicates a potential exploit. An analyzer rule optionally also includes one or more actions to be performed when the pattern of the rule is matched. In addition, an analyzer rule optionally includes a description of nodes for which the analyzer rule should be examined. Such a description enables analyzer 230 to skip nodes that are not to be analyzed. Preferably, rules are provided to analyzer 230 for each known exploit. Examples of analyzer rules appear in Appendix A, and are described hereinbelow. Preferably, the nodes of the parse tree also include data for analyzer rules that are matched. Specifically, if analyzer 230 discovers that one or more analyzer rules are matched at a specific parsing tree node, then the matched rules are added to a list of matched rules stored within the node. An advantage of the present invention is that both parser 220 and analyzer 230 use a common ARB regular expression syntax. As such, a common pattern matching engine 260 performs pattern matching for both parser 220 and analyzer 230. In accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention, pattern matching engine 260 accepts as input (i) a list of ARB regular expression elements describing a pattern of interest; and (ii) a list of nodes from the parse tree to be matched against the pattern of interest. Preferably, pattern matching engine 260 returns as output (i) a Boolean flag indicating whether or not a pattern is matched; and (ii) if the pattern is matched, positional variables that match grouped portions of the pattern. For example, if a pattern “(IDENT) EQUALS NUMBER” is matched, then $1 is preferably set to a reference to the nodes involved in the IDENT token. That is, if a matched pattern is “(1 2 3) 4 5”, then $1 refers to the nodes 1, 2 and 3 as a single group. Preferably, the ARB regular expression that is input to pattern matching engine 260 is pre-processed in the form of a state machine for the pattern. Reference is now made to FIG. 4, which is an illustration of a simple finite state machine, used in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention, for a pattern, (IDENT<val==“foo” & match(*):Rule1>|List <val==“bar”>) EQUALS NUMBER Specifically, the pattern of interest specifies either an IDENT token with value “foo” and that matches Rule1, or a List with value “bar”, followed by an EQUALS token and a NUMBER token. Reference is now made to Appendix A, which is a source listing of an ARB rule file for the JavaScript language, in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention. The listing in Appendix A is divided into six main sections, as follows: (i) vchars, (ii) tokens, (iii) token_pairs, (iv) attribs, (v) parser_rules and (vi) analyzer_rules. The vchars section includes entries for virtual characters. Each such entry preferably conforms to the syntax vchar vchar-name [action=string] (char|hex-num) { vchar-pattern* } For example, the entry vchar nl 0x0d { [0x0d]+; [0x0a]+ } converts a sequence of one or more CRs (carriage-returns) and a sequence of one or more LFs (line-feeds) to a newline meta-character. The vchars section also includes entries for aliases, which are names for special virtual characters. Each such entry preferably conforms to the syntax vchar_alias vchar-name { hex-num } For example, the entry Vchar_alias underscore { 0x5F; } identifies the hexadecimal number 0x5F with the name “underscore”. The tokens section includes entries for language tokens for a scanner language; namely, JavaScript for Appendix A. Each such entry preferably conforms to the syntax token-entry* (cdata); For example, the entry LBRACE “[!left_curly_bracket!]” punct; defines identifies a punctuation token, LBRACE, as a “left_curly_bracket”, which is an alias for 0x7B as defined in the previous vchars section. Note that aliases are preferably surrounded by exclamation points. A CDATA token, for identifying strings or commented text, preferably conforms to the syntax “start” “end” [“escape-pattern] “skip-pattern”; For example, the entry DOUBLE_QUOTE DOUBLE_QUOTE “[!backslash!][!double_quote]?” “[{circumflex over ( )} [!backslash!][!double_quote!]]+”; identifies a string as beginning and ending with a DOUBLE-QUOTE token, as previously defined, with an escape pattern that has a “backslash” followed by zero or one “double_quote”, and a skip pattern that has one or more characters other than “backslash” and “double_quote”. The token pairs section defines tokens that can validly appear in juxtaposition, and tokens that cannot validly appear in juxtaposition, in conformance with the language rules. Generally, when the tokenizer encounters an invalid juxtaposition, it inserts a virtual semi-colon. An entry for a token-pair preferably conforms to the syntax {valid | invalid} [(] token-ID | token-ID]* [)] [(] token-ID | token-ID]* [)]; For example, the entry invalid IF (ELSE | FOR | WHILE | DOT); indicates that an IF token cannot validly be followed by an ELSE, FOR, WHILE or DOT token. Thus, if an IF token followed by an ELSE, FOR, WHILE, or DOT token is encountered in the input, tokenizer 210 will insert a virtual delimiter character between them. The parser-rules section has entries defining rules for the parser. Such entries preferably conform to the syntax rule rule-name [nonode] [noanalyze] [nomatch] { [patterns { ID-pattern*; }] [actions { action*; }] } A pattern is a regular expression of IDs, preferably conforming to the syntax ID1-expr ID2-expr ... IDn-expr Preferably, ID-expr is one of the following: ID (ID [ID]*) ID <val==val> ID <id==rule-ID> ID <match(n) : rule-ID> ID <match(*) : rule-ID> ID <match (m,n) : rule-ID> The modifiers ‘*’, ‘+’, ‘?’, ‘{m}’ and ‘{m,n}’ are used conventionally as follows: ‘*’ zero or more occurrences ‘+’ one or more occurrences ‘?’ zero or one occurrence ‘{m}’ exactly m occurrences ‘{m,n}’ between m and n occurrences, inclusive For example, the pattern in the rule for FuncSig (FUNCTION) (IDENT?) (List) describes a keyword “function”, followed by zero or one IDENT token, and followed by a “List”. In turn, the pattern in the rule for List (LPAREN) ((Expr) (COMMA Expr)*)? (RPAREN) describes a LPAREN token and a RPAREN token surrounding a list of zero or more Expr's separated by COMMA tokens. In turn, the pattern in the rule for Expr ([ExprDelimTokens ExprLdelimTokens ExprLdelimRules]? ([{circumflex over ( )} ExprDelimTokens ExprLdelimTokens ExprLdelimRules ExprExcludeRules ExprRdelimTokens]+) [ExprDelimTokens ExprRdelimTokens]) | ([ExprStmntRules]); describes a general definition of what qualifies as an expression, involving delimiter tokens and other rules. An action prescribes an action to perform when a pattern is matched. For example, the action in the rule for FuncSig this.val=$(2).val; @(“FUNCNAME”).val=$(2).val; assigns a value to FuncSig, which is the value of the second parameter in the pattern for FuncSig; namely, the value of the IDENT token. In addition, the action assigns this same value to an entry in a symbol table called “FUNCNAME”, as described hereinbelow. It may thus be appreciated that certain rules have values associated therewith, which are assigned by the parser as it processes the tokens. The symbol table mentioned hereinabove is an internal table, for rules to store and access variables. The analyzer-rules section has entries defining rules for the parser. Such entries preferably conform to the syntax rule rule-name [nonode] [noanalyze] [nomatch] { [nodes { ID-pattern; }] [patterns { ID-pattern*; }] [actions { action*; }] } Patterns and actions for analyzer rules are similar to patterns and actions for parser rules. For example, the pattern (IDENT) ASSIGNMENT IDENT <val==“screen”> DOT IDENT <val==“width”>; within the rule for ScrWidAssign describes a five-token pattern; namely, (i) an IDENT token, followed by (ii) an ASSIGNMENT token, followed by (iii) an IDENT token that has a value equal to “screen”, followed by (iv) a DOT token, and followed by (v) an IDENT token that has a value equal to “width”. Such a pattern indicates use of a member reference “screen.width” within an assignment statement, and corresponds to the example exploit listed above in the discussion of FIG. 1. The action @($(1).val).attr += ATTR_SCRWID; within the ScrWidAssign rule assigns the attribute ATTR_SCRWID to the symbol table entry whose name is the value of the IDENT token on the left side of the pattern. Similarly, the pattern (IDENT) ASSIGNMENT IDENT <@(val).attr?=ATTR_WINDOW> DOT FuncCall <val==“createPopup”> $; in the rule for CreatePopup1 corresponds to the command op=window.createPopup( ); in the example exploit above. It may thus be appreciated that exploits are often described in terms of composite pattern matches, involving logical combinations of more than one pattern. Node patterns within analyzer rules preferably specify nodes for which an analyzer rule should be evaluated. Node patterns serve to eliminate unnecessary analyses. Referring back to FIG. 2, when parser 220 finds a pattern match for a specific parser rule, it preferably creates a node in the parser tree, and places the matching nodes underneath the newly created node. Preferably, parser 220 assigns the name of the specific rule to the name of the new node. However, if the rule has a “nonode” attribute, then such new node is not created. After performing the actions associated with the specific rule, parser 220 preferably calls analyzer 230, and passes it the newly-created parser node of the parser tree. However, if the rule has a “noanalyzer” attribute, then analyzer 230 is not called. When analyzer 230 finds a pattern match for a specific analyzer rule, it preferably adds the matched rule to the parser tree. However, if the rule has a “nomatch” attribute, then the matched rule is not added to the parser tree. Reference is now made to FIG. 5, which is a simplified flowchart of operation of a parser for a specific content language, such as parser 220 (FIG. 2), within an ARB content scanner, such as content scanner 130 (FIG. 1), in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention. Prior to beginning the flowchart in FIG. 5, it is assumed that the parser has initialized a parse tree with a root node. At step 500, the parser calls a tokenizer, such as tokenizer 210, to retrieve a next token from an incoming byte stream. At step 510 the parser adds the token retrieved by the tokenizer as a new node to a parse tree. Preferably, new nodes are added as siblings until a match with a parser rule is discovered. Nodes within the parse tree are preferably named; i.e., they have an associated value that corresponds to a name for the node. Preferably, new nodes added as siblings are named according to the name of the token they represent. At step 520 the parser checks whether or not a pattern is matched, based on parser rules within a rule file for the specific content language. If not, then control returns to step 500, for processing the next token. If a match with a parser rule is discovered at step 520, then at step 530 the parser checks whether or not the matched parser rule has a “nonode” attribute. If so, then control returns to step 500. If the matched parser rule does not have a “nonode” attribute, then at step 540 the parser performs the matched parser rule's action. Such action can include inter alia creation of a new node, naming the new node according to the matched parser rule, and placing the matching node underneath the new node, as indicated at step 540. Thus it may be appreciated that nodes within the parse tree have names that correspond either to names of tokens, or names of parser rules. At step 550 the parser checks whether or not the matched parser rules has a “noanalyze” attribute. If so, then control returns to step 520. If the matched parser rules does not have a “noanalyze” attribute, then at step 560 the parser calls an analyzer, such as analyzer 230, to determine if a potential exploit is present within the current parse tree. It may thus be appreciated that the analyzer is called repeatedly, while the parse tree is being dynamically built up. After checking the analyzer rules, the analyzer returns its diagnostics to the parser. At step 570 the parser checks whether or not the analyzer found a match for an analyzer rule. If not, then control returns to step 500. If the analyzer did find a match, then at step 580 the parser performs the matched analyzer rule's action. Such action can include inter alia recording the analyzer rule as data associated with the current node in the parse tree; namely, the parent node that was created at step 540, as indicated at step 580. In accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention, binary class instances of ARB scanners are packaged serially, for transmission to and installation at a client site. Reference is now made to FIG. 6, which is a simplified block diagram of a system for serializing binary instances of ARB content scanners, transmitting them to a client site, and regenerating them back into binary instances at the client site. The workflow in FIG. 6 begins with a set of rule files for one or more content languages. Preferably, the rule files are generated by one or more people who are familiar with the content languages. A rule-to-XML convertor 610 converts rule files from ARB syntax into XML documents, for internal use. Thereafter a builder module 620 is invoked. Preferably, builder module 620 generates a serialized rule data file, referred to herein as an archive file. In turn, ARB scanner factory module 630 is responsible for producing an ARB scanner on demand. Preferably, an ARB scanner factory module has a public interface as follows: class arbScannerFactory { INT32 createScanner(const std::string& mimeType, arbScanner** scanner); INT32 retireScanner(arbScanner *scanner, INT32& factoryStillActive); Bool hasScannerType(const std::string& mimeType); } ARB scanner factory module 630 is also responsible for pooling ARB scanners for later re-use. ARB scanner factory module 630 instantiates a scanner repository 640. Repository 640 produces a single instance of each ARB scanner defined in the archive file. Preferably, each instance of an ARB scanner is able to initialize itself and populate itself with the requisite data. Reference is now made to FIG. 7, which illustrates a representative hierarchy of objects created by builder module 620, in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention. Shown in FIG. 7 are four types of content scanners: a scanner for HTML content, a scanner for JavaScript content, and a scanner for URI content. An advantage of the present invention is the ability to generate such a multitude of content scanners within a unified framework. After ARB scanner factory module 630 is produced, builder module 620 calls a serialize( ) function. As such, the serialize( ) function called by builder module 620 causes all relevant classes to serialize themselves to the archive file recursively. Thereafter the archive file is sent to a client site. After receiving the archive file, the client deserializes the archive file, and creates a global singleton object encapsulating an ARB scanner factory instance 650. The singleton is initialized by passing it a path to the archive file. When the client downloads content from the Internet it preferably creates a pool of thread objects. Each thread object stores its ARB scanner factory instance 650 as member data. Whenever a thread object has content to parse, it requests an appropriate ARB scanner 660 from its ARB scanner factory object 650. Then, using the ARB scanner interface, the thread passes content and calls the requisite API functions to scan and process the content. Preferably, when the thread finishes scanning the content, it returns the ARB scanner instance 660 to its ARB scanner factory 650, to enable pooling to ARB scanner for later re-use. It may be appreciated by those skilled in the art that use of archive files and scanner factories enables auto-updates of scanners whenever new versions of parser and analyzer rules are generated. In reading the above description, persons skilled in the art will realize that there are many apparent variations that can be applied to the methods and systems described. Thus, although FIG. 5 describes a method in which a complete diagnostic of all match analyzer rules is produced, in an alternative embodiment the method may stop as soon as a first analyzer rule is matched. The parser would produce an incomplete diagnostic, but enough of a diagnostic to determine that the scanned content contains a potential exploit. In addition to script and text files, the present invention is also applicable to parse and analyze binary content and EXE files. Tokens can be defined for binary content. Unlike tokens for text files that are generally delimited by punctuation characters, tokens for binary content generally have different characteristics. In the foregoing specification, the invention has been described with reference to specific exemplary embodiments thereof. It will, however, be evident that various modifications and changes may be made to the specific exemplary embodiments without departing from the broader spirit and scope of the invention as set forth in the appended claims. Accordingly, the specification and drawings are to be regarded in an illustrative rather than a restrictive sense. | <SOH> BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION <EOH>Conventional anti-virus software scans a computer file system by searching for byte patterns, referred to as signatures that are present within known viruses. If a virus signature is discovered within a file, the file is designated as infected. Content that enters a computer from the Internet poses additional security threats, as such content executes upon entry into a client computer, without being saved into the computer's file system. Content such as JavaScript and VBScript is executed by an Internet browser, as soon as the content is received within a web page. Conventional network security software also scans such mobile content by searching for heuristic virus signatures. However, in order to be as protective as possible, virus signatures for mobile content tend to be over-conservative, which results in significant over-blocking of content. Over-blocking refers to false positives; i.e., in addition to blocking of malicious content, prior art technologies also block a significant amount of content that is not malicious. Another drawback with prior art network security software is that it is unable to recognize combined attacks, in which an exploit is split among different content streams. Yet another drawback is that prior art network security software is unable to scan content containers, such as URI within JavaScript. All of the above drawbacks with conventional network security software are due to an inability to diagnose mobile code. Diagnosis is a daunting task, since it entails understanding incoming byte source code. The same malicious exploit can be encoded in an endless variety of ways, so it is not sufficient to look for specific signatures. Nevertheless, in order to accurately block malicious code with minimal over-blocking, a thorough diagnosis is required. | <SOH> SUMMARY OF THE DESCRIPTION <EOH>The present invention provides a method and system for scanning content that includes mobile code, to produce a diagnostic analysis of potential exploits within the content. The present invention is preferably used within a network gateway or proxy, to protect an intranet against viruses and other malicious mobile code. The content scanners of the present invention are referred to as adaptive rule-based (ARB) scanners. An ARB scanner is able to adapt itself dynamically to scan a specific type of content, such as inter alia JavaScript, VBScript, URI, URL and HTTP. ARB scanners differ from prior art scanners that are hard-coded for one particular type of content. In distinction, ARB scanners are data-driven, and can be enabled to scan any specific type of content by providing appropriate rule files, without the need to modify source code. Rule files are text files that describe lexical characteristics of a particular language. Rule files for a language describe character encodings, sequences of characters that form lexical constructs of the language, referred to as tokens, patterns of tokens that form syntactical constructs of program code, referred to as parsing rules, and patterns of tokens that correspond to potential exploits, referred to as analyzer rules. Rules files thus serve as adaptors, to adapt an ARB content scanner to a specific type of content. The present invention also utilizes a novel description language for efficiently describing exploits. This description language enables an engineer to describe exploits as logical combinations of patterns of tokens. Thus it may be appreciated that the present invention is able to diagnose incoming content. As such, the present invention achieves very accurate blocking of content, with minimal over-blocking as compared with prior art scanning technologies. There is thus provided in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention a method for scanning content, including identifying tokens within an incoming byte stream, the tokens being lexical constructs for a specific language, identifying patterns of tokens, generating a parse tree from the identified patterns of tokens, and identifying the presence of potential exploits within the parse tree, wherein said identifying tokens, identifying patters of tokens, and identifying the presence of potential exploits are based upon a set of rules for the specific language. There is moreover provided in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention a system for scanning content, including a tokenizer for identifying tokens within an incoming byte stream, the tokens being lexical constructs for a specific language, a parser operatively coupled to the tokenizer for identifying patterns of tokens, and generating a parse tree therefrom, and an analyzer operatively coupled to the parser for analyzing the parse tree and identifying the presence of potential exploits therewithin, wherein the tokenizer, the parser and the analyzer use a set of rules for the specific language to identify tokens, patterns and potential exploits, respectively. There is further provided in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention a computer-readable storage medium storing program code for causing a computer to perform the steps of identifying tokens within an incoming byte stream, the tokens being lexical constructs for a specific language, identifying patterns of tokens, generating a parse tree from the identified patterns of tokens, and identifying the presence of potential exploits within the parse tree, wherein said identifying tokens, identifying patters of tokens, and identifying the presence of potential exploits are based upon a set of rules for the specific language. There is yet further provided in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention a method for scanning content, including expressing an exploit in terms of patterns of tokens and rules, where tokens are lexical constructs of a specific programming language, and rules are sequences of tokens that form programmatical constructs, and parsing an incoming byte source to determine if an exploit is present therewithin, based on said expressing. There is additionally provided in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention a system for scanning content, including a parser for parsing an incoming byte source to determine if an exploit is present therewithin, based on a formal description of the exploit expressed in terms of patterns of tokens and rules, where tokens are lexical constructs of a specific programming language, and rules are sequences of tokens that form programmatical constructs. There is moreover provided in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention a computer-readable storage medium storing program code for causing a computer to perform the steps of expressing an exploit in terms of patterns of tokens and rules, where tokens are lexical constructs of a specific programming language, and rules are sequences of tokens that form programmatical constructs, and parsing an incoming byte source to determine if an exploit is present therewithin, based on said expressing. | 20040830 | 20120717 | 20050519 | 72035.0 | 11 | WILLIAMS, JEFFERY L | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR ADAPTIVE RULE-BASED CONTENT SCANNERS | UNDISCOUNTED | 1 | CONT-ACCEPTED | 2,004 |
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10,930,899 | ACCEPTED | Magnetic recording layer | A magnetic recording medium comprising a backcoating layer, a support, and a magnetic layer containing ferromagnetic powder, the backcoating layer having 800 to 1500 projections of 50 nm or more and less than 75 nm in height per 6400 μm2 and 600 or less projections of 75 nm or more in height per 6400 μm2. | 1. A magnetic recording medium comprising a backcoating layer, a support, and a magnetic layer containing ferromagnetic powder, the backcoating layer having 800 to 1500 projections of 50 nm or more and less than 75 nm in height per 6400 μm 2 and 600 or less projections of 75 nm or more in height per 6400 μm2. 2. The magnetic recording medium according to claim 1, wherein the ferromagnetic powder is ferromagnetic metal powder having an average length of 30 to 150 nm and a coefficient of length variation of 25% or smaller. 3. The magnetic recording medium according to claim 2, wherein the ferromagnetic metal powder contains Fe, and further contains 10 to 40 atom % of Co, 2 to 20 atom % of Al, and 1 to 15 atom % of Y each based on Fe, and has a coercive force of 160 to 240 kA/m and a saturation magnetization of 80 to 160 mT. 4. The magnetic recording medium according to claim 1, wherein the ferromagnetic powder is ferromagnetic hexagonal ferrite powder having an average diameter of 5 to 40 nm and a coefficient of diameter variation of 10 to 25%. 5. The magnetic recording medium according to claim 4, wherein the ferromagnetic hexagonal ferrite powder has a coercive force of 160 to 240 kA/m and a saturation magnetization of 40 to 80 mT. 6. The magnetic recording medium according to claim 1, wherein the magnetic layer has a thickness of 40 to 200 nm. 7. The magnetic recording medium according to claim 1, wherein the magnetic layer has a thickness of 50 to 150 nm. 8. The magnetic recording medium according to claim 1, which is a magnetic tape for digital recording applied to a recording and reproduction system having a magnetoresistive head. 9. The magnetic recording medium according to claim 1, wherein the backcoating layer has 900 to 1450 projections of 50 nm or more and less than 75 nm in height per 6400 μm2. 10. The magnetic recording medium according to claim 1, wherein the backcoating layer has 950 to 1400 projections of 50 nm or more and less than 75 nm in height per 6400 μm2. 11. The magnetic recording medium according to claim 1, wherein the backcoating layer has 550 or less projections of 75 nm or more in height per 6400 μm2. 12. The magnetic recording medium according to claim 1, wherein the backcoating layer has 500 or less projections of 75 nm or more in height per 6400 μm2. 13. The magnetic recording medium according to claim 1, wherein the backcoating layer contains carbon black having an average particle size of 17 to 50 nm and carbon black having an average particle size of 75 to 300 nm. 14. The magnetic recording medium according to claim 13, wherein the carbon black having an average particle size of 17 to 50 nm and the carbon black having an average particle size of 75 to 300 nm are contained in the backcoating layer at a weight ratio of 98:2 to 75:25. | FIELD OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to a magnetic recording medium and more particularly a magnetic recording medium having a reduced error rate, a reduced frictional coefficient, and good tape pack quality by virtue of its improved backcoating layer. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION In line with the increasing capacity of magnetic recording media, the data transfer speed in VTRs and computer drives has been increased by raising the relative running speed of a magnetic recording medium with respect to a magnetic head. Improvement on recording density is indispensable for achieving high capacity, and magnetic recording media with excellent electromagnetic characteristics have been demanded. Very fine and highly coercive ferromagnetic metal powder and hexagonal ferrite powder have been used in pursuit for improved recording density. Further increased recording density has been sought by reducing the thickness of a magnetic layer formed of such fine, high-coercivity ferromagnetic powder thereby minimizing read output reduction caused by thickness loss. For example, JP-A-5-182178 discloses a magnetic recording medium having a substrate, a non-magnetic lower layer containing inorganic powder dispersed in a binder, and a magnetic upper layer having a thickness of 1.0 μm or smaller and containing ferromagnetic powder dispersed in a binder, the magnetic upper layer having been formed while the non-magnetic lower layer is wet. These technologies have introduced various magnetic recording tapes with such a dual layer structure, including those for computers such as DLT IV, DDS3, DDS4, LTO, SDLT, and DTF2 formats, and those for broadcast such as a DVC pro format. Approaches to high capacity and high density magnetic recording media include developing novel fine magnetic powder, optimizing the dual layer structure, optimizing magnetic characteristics, and smoothing the magnetic layer surface. From the aspect of magnetic recording derives, studies on shortening of recording wavelength for increasing recording density have been conducted with the focus on a magnetic recording head. An inductive magnetic head for reproduction relying on electromagnetic induction should have an increased number of coil turns in order to obtain an increased read output. However, this causes an increase in inductance and an increase in resistance in the high frequency region, which eventually results in reduction of read output. Therefore, there is a limit in reachable recording density with an inductive magnetic head. On the other hand, a head for reading based on magnetoresistive effects, i.e., a magnetoresistive (MR) head has now come to be used on hard disks, etc. An MR head provides a few times as much output as an inductive head. Having no inductive coil, an MR head achieves great reduction of noise created by equipment, such as impedance noise, to bring about improvement on high density recording and reproduction characteristics. Therefore, an MR head, being promising for improvement on high-density recording reproduction, has been steadily extending its application in computer drives including linear tape-open (LTO) drives. In an attempt to bring out the potential of a drive equipped with an MR head, the inventors of the present invention have hitherto studied smoothing the surface of a magnetic layer by, for example, designing a proper magnetic layer formulation or developing a smooth substrate or optimizing calendering conditions. However, when a magnetic recording tape with a backcoating layer is stored or handled for processing in form of a tape pack (roll) wound on a hub, the surface roughness profile of the backcoating layer can imprint itself in the magnetic layer under compressive force exerted in the normal directions of the roll. Such an imprint has now turned out to cause deterioration in S/N characteristics or increased error rates. To overcome the roughness imprint problem, it has been attempted to smoothen the backcoating layer surface, but back side smoothening results in increased friction and poor tape pack wind quality in a running test. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide a magnetic recording medium having an improved backcoating layer, with which the medium has a reduced error rate, can be rewound properly into a good tape pack, and exhibits excellent sliding characteristics. The present invention relates to a magnetic recording medium having a support, a magnetic layer containing ferromagnetic powder provided on one side of the support, and a backcoating layer provided on the other side of the support. The backcoating layer has 800 to 1500 projections of 50 nm or more and less than 75 nm in height and 600 or less projections of 75 nm or more in height both per 6400 μm2. The present invention embraces in its scope the following preferred embodiments of the above-defined magnetic recording medium. 1) The ferromagnetic powder is ferromagnetic metal powder having an average length of 30 to 150 nm with a coefficient of length variation of 25% or smaller. 2) The ferromagnetic metal powder mainly comprises Fe, contains 10 to 40 atom % of Co, 2 to 20 atom % of Al, and 1 to 15 atom % of Y each based on Fe, and has a coercive force of 2000to3000 Oe (160to240 kA/m) and a saturation magnetization σs of 80 to 160 mT. (3) The ferromagnetic powder is ferromagnetic hexagonal ferrite powder having an average diameter of 5 to 40 nm with a coefficient of diameter variation of 10 to 25%. (4) The ferromagnetic hexagonal ferrite powder has a coercive force of 2000 to 3000 Oe (160 to 240 kA/m) and a saturation magnetization σs of 40 to 80 mT. (5) The magnetic layer has a thickness of 40 to 200 nm. (6) The magnetic recording medium is a magnetic tape for digital recording applied to a recording and reproduction system having an MR head. By controlling the densities of projections of specific height ranges on the backcoating layer, a magnetic recording medium having a reduced frictional coefficient, good tape pack quality, and a reduced error rate is obtained. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a magnetic recording medium having at least a support, a magnetic layer on one side of the support, and a backcoating layer on the other side of the support. The backcoating layer has, on its outer surface, 800 to 1500, preferably 900 to 1450, still preferably 950 to 1400, projections having a height of 50 nm or more and less than 75 nm per 6400 μm2 and 600 or less, preferably 550 or less, still preferably 500 or less, projections having a height of 75 nm or greater per 6400 μm2. As long as the density of projections having a height of 50 nm or more and less than 75 nm falls within the recited range, the backcoating layer has a reduced frictional coefficient so that the magnetic tape exhibits stable running properties and is rewound into a neat tape pack. If the density of projections of 50 nm or higher and lower than 75 nm is smaller than 800/6400 μm2, the backcoating layer will have an increased frictional coefficient. As a result, the tape exhibits unstable running. Besides, entrapment of air between strands of tape while being wound is very small. It follows that the tape is wound so tightly as to deform the hub and as to deform the tape pack to a parabolic shape. If, on the other hand, that density exceeds 1500/6400 μm2, the frictional coefficient decreases, and the air entrapment between strands of tape increases. As a result, when the entrapped air escapes from between the strands during winding, the strand can pop out as a reaction. Such a step winding would suffer from edge damage when some outer force is applied to the tape cartridge, for example, if the tape cartridge is dropped, which results in an increase of errors. As long as the density of projections of 75 nm or higher is limited to 600/6400 μm2 at the most, the adverse influences of the roughness transfer to the magnetic layer are suppressed to minimize the error rate. It is desirable in principle that the number of such high projections be as small as possible. The projection densities on the backcoating layer can be so controlled as specified in the invention by various means. The means include adjusting particle sizes of inorganic particles such as carbon black and abrasives, selecting the kinds of the binder for dispersing the inorganic particles and the lubricant, selecting the kneading and/or dispersing conditions in the preparation of a coating composition for the backcoating layer, selecting the backcoating layer thickness, and controlling coating and drying conditions, calendering conditions, and backcoating layer surface finishing conditions. Carbon black that can be used in the backcoating layer is usually a combination of fine particles with an average particle size of 17 to50 nm and coarse particles with an average particle size of 75 to 300 nm. Only fine particles of carbon black may be used alone. The fine carbon black particles are effective in reducing the surface resistivity of the backcoating layer and contributory to formation of micro projections. The coarse carbon black particles form relatively large projections, making contribution to reduction in contact area and reduction in frictional coefficient. Note that coarse carbon black particles added too much can result in excessive projections of 75 nm or higher. Moreover, coarse carbon black particles tend to fall off the backcoating layer under some tape running conditions, which can result in increased error rates. Examples of commercially available carbon blacks having an average particle size of 50 nm or smaller include RAVEN 2000 (average particle size (hereinafter the same): 18 nm), RAVEN 1500 (17 nm), RAVEN 1000 (24 nm), and RAVEN 860 ULTRA (39 nm) from Columbian Carbon; BP800 (17 nm), REGAL 330 (25 nm), REGAL 250 (34 nm), and REGAL 99 (38 nm) from Cabot Corp.; and #40 (24 nm), and #95 (40 nm) from Mitsubishi Chemical Corp. Examples of commercially available carbon blacks having an average particle size of 75 to 300 nm include Asahi #50 (80 nm) and Asahi #51 (85 nm) from Asahi Carbon Co.; Seast SPSRF-LS (95 nm) and Seast TA FT class (122 nm) from Tokai Carbon Co., Ltd.; RAVEN 450 (75 nm) and RAVEN 410 (101 nm) from Columbian Carbon; and Thermal Black (270 nm) from Cancarb Ltd. Carbon blacks having an average particle size of 75 to 300 nm can be chosen from carbon blacks for rubbers or colors. The fine carbon black particles having an average particle size of 17 to 50 nm and the coarse carbon black particles having an average particle size of 75 to 300 nm are preferably used at a weight ratio of 98:2 to 75:25, still preferably 97:3 to 85:15. The total carbon black content in the backcoating layer is usually 30 to 70% by weight, preferably 40 to 60% by weight, based on the total solids content. The inorganic powder, except carbon black, that can be used in the backcoating layer includes those having an average particle size of 80 to 250 nm and a Mohs hardness of 5 to 9. The inorganic powder for use in the backcoating layer can be chosen from among those used as non-magnetic powder or abrasives in the non-magnetic lower layer described later. Inter alia, α-iron oxide or α-alumina is preferred. The inorganic powder content in the backcoating layer is preferably 3 to 40 parts by weight, still preferably 5 to 30parts by weight, per100 parts by weight of a binder hereinafter described. The backcoating layer is basically made up the above-described carbon black and inorganic powder dispersed in a binder. The backcoating layer preferably contains a dispersant, a lubricant, and other arbitrary components. Suitable dispersants include fatty acids having 8 to 18 carbon atoms, such as lauric acid, caprylic acid, myristic acid, palmitic acid, stearic acid, oleic acid, linoleic acid, and elaidic acid; copper oleate, copper phthalocyanine, barium sulfate, and basic organic dye compounds. These dispersants can be used either individually or as a combination thereof. Preferred of them are copper oleate, copper phthalocyanine, barium sulfate, and basic organic dye compounds. The lubricant that can be used in the backcoating layer is chosen from those commonly used in magnetic tapes. Fatty acids having 18 or more carbon atoms or fatty acid esters are preferred for improving running properties. The lubricant is usually used in an amount of 1 to 5 parts by weight per 100 parts by weight of a binder resin. The backcoating layer is provided on a side of a support opposite to the magnetic layer side in a conventional manner. That is, a coating composition prepared by dissolving and dispersing the aforementioned components in an appropriate organic solvent is applied to a support and dried in a usual manner to form a backcoating layer. Surface projections on the backcoating layer are divided into those originated in the surface profile of the support and those originated in the coating layer. A support generally contains an organic or inorganic filler. The projections formed by the filler are, while smoothed to some extent by the backcoating layer, transmitted to the surface of the backcoating layer to form small surface projections. The number of projections on the backcoating layer ascribed to the filler can be varied by changing the size and amount of the filler incorporated into the support. The influence of the projections on the support can be lessened by increasing the thickness of the backcoating layer, thereby to reduce the projections on the backcoating layer. The inorganic powder used in the backcoating layer becomes less dispersible and readier to form projections as its particle size decreases. The disperse state of powder also depends on the binder to be combined with. In preparing the coating composition of the backcoating layer, when the components are strongly kneaded with a reduced amount of a solvent, the blend is difficult to disperse, and the projections tend to increase. When the kneading is gentle with an increased amount of a solvent, or the components are directly dispersed without being kneaded, the projections tend to decrease. Dispersing conditions include the dispersing time and the hardness and specific gravity of a dispersing medium used in sand mill dispersing. The projections increase with reduction of dispersing time. In general, the projections can be reduced by extending the dispersing time. Stricter calendering conditions (e.g., pressure, temperature, roll hardness, speed, etc.) generally result in reduced projections. The surface finish of the backcoating layer includes burnishing with an abrasive tape or a diamond wheel. The surface projections can also be controlled by selecting the grit number and the contact pressure of the abrasive tape or diamond wheel. Thus, there are many methods for controlling the surface projections of the backcoating layer, from which proper means should be selected and combined properly to accomplish the performance required of a particular magnetic recording medium. The magnetic layer preferably has a three-dimensional mean surface roughness Sa of 3.0 nm or less. The magnetic layer preferably has a thickness of 40 to 200 nm, more preferably 50 to 150 nm. The magnetic layer may have a single layer or a multilayer structure. A suitable thickness is designed for the intended recording/reproduction system. In general, a smaller thickness than 40 nm tends to fail to produce a sufficient output and a satisfactory C/N ratio, and a larger thickness than 200 nm tends to result in increased noise and a reduced C/N ratio. The average thickness of the magnetic layer can be measured as follows. A magnetic recording medium having a dual layer structure composed of a non-magnetic layer (hereinafter sometimes referred to as a lower layer) and a magnetic layer (hereinafter sometimes referred to as an upper layer) is taken for instance. In accordance with the well-known ultra-thin section analysis, a micrograph (×50000) is taken of an ultra-thin section (about 80 nm thick) cut from the medium along the thickness direction with a transmission electron microscope. The magnetic layer surface and the upper layer/lower layer interface on the micrograph are traced on a transparent film. Five hundred straight lines parallel to the thickness direction are drawn between the traced two lines at an interval of 0.025 μm. The average of the lengths of the straight lines is taken as an average thickness of the magnetic layer. The surface properties of the magnetic layer can be controlled by adjusting particle sizes of the components in the upper layer (i.e., magnetic powder, abrasive, carbon black, etc.) and the inorganic powders used in the lower layer (i.e., non-magnetic powder, abrasive, carbon black, etc.), selecting the kinds of binders for dispersing these powders and lubricants, selecting the kneading and/or dispersing conditions in the preparation of coating compositions for the upper and lower layers, selecting the thickness of the upper and lower layers, and controlling coating and drying conditions, calendering conditions, and magnetic layer surface finishing conditions. The magnetic powder and the inorganic powders become less dispersible and readier to provide surface asperities as their particle size decreases. The disperse state, which affects the surface properties, also depends on the binder to be combined with. In preparing the coating compositions of the upper and lower layers, when the components are strongly kneaded with a reduced amount of a solvent, the blend is difficult to disperse, and the surface tends to have asperities. When the kneading is gentle with an increased amount of a solvent, the surface tends to become smooth. Dispersing conditions include the dispersing time and the hardness and specific gravity of a dispersing medium used in sand mill dispersing. The projections increase with reduction of dispersing time. In general, the projections can be reduced by extending the dispersing time. However, extension of the dispersing time can be accompanied by contamination of the dispersed particles with wear debris from a dispersing machine or a dispersing media and resultant agglomeration of the particles, which can result in an increase of surface projections. Stricter calendering conditions (e.g., pressure, temperature, roll hardness, speed, number of nips, etc.) generally result in a smoother surface. The surface finishing of the magnetic layer includes burnishing with an abrasive tape or a diamond wheel. The surface projections can be controlled by selecting the grit number and the contact pressure of the abrasive tape or diamond wheel. In the case of tape media, the treatments using a lapping tape, a sapphire blade, a diamond wheel, etc. as taught in JP-A-63-259830 are useful. The surface projections can be controlled by selecting the treatment and the conditions for carrying out the treatment. Even where the support or the coating layer have many projections, such a surface treatment reduces the projections of the magnetic layer to provide a smooth surface. Thus, there are many methods for controlling the surface projections of the magnetic layer, from which proper means should be selected and combined properly to accomplish the performance required of a particular magnetic recording medium. The ferromagnetic powder that can be used in the magnetic layer includes ferromagnetic metal powder and ferromagnetic hexagonal ferrite powder. The ferromagnetic metal powder is not limited, provided that Fe is a main component. Ferromagnetic alloys mainly comprising α-Fe are preferred. The ferromagnetic metal powder may further contain Al, Si, S, Sc, Ti, V, Cr, Cu, Y, Mo, Rh, Pd, Ag, Sn, Sb, Te, Ba, Ta, W, Re, Au, Pb, Bi, La, Ce, Pr, Nd, P, Co, Mn, Zn, Ni, Sr, B, etc. Ferromagnetic alloys containing at least one of Al, Si, Ca, Y, Ba, La, Nd, Co, Ni, and B in addition to α-Fe are still preferred. Those containing Co, Al, and Y are particularly preferred. Those containing 10 to 40 atom % of Co, 2 to 20 atom % of Al, and 1 to 15 atom % of Y each based on Fe are especially preferred. The ferromagnetic metal powder can be pretreated with a dispersant, a lubricant, a surface active agent, an antistatic agent, and the like before being dispersed. The ferromagnetic metal powder may contain a small amount of water, a hydroxide or an oxide. The water content of the ferromagnetic metal powder, which is preferably optimized according to the kind of the binder to be combined with, preferably ranges 0.01 to 2% by weight. The ferromagnetic metal powder preferably has a crystallite size of 80 to 180 A, still preferably 100 to 180 A, particularly preferably 120 to 160 A. The crystallite size is an average calculated from a half value width of the X-ray diffraction peak by Scherrer's formula. X-Ray diffractometry was carried out using RINT 2000 from Rigaku Co., Ltd. equipped with a CuKαl ray source at a tube voltage of 50 kV and a tube current of 300 mA. The ferromagnetic metal powder preferably has an average length (long axis length) of 30 to 150 nm, still preferably 40 to 100 nm. The recited range of the average particle length is suited for high density magnetic recording because the thermal fluctuation can be reduced to stabilize the magnetization, and the noise is low. The coefficient of variation of particle length is 25% or smaller, preferably 23% or smaller. With a so controlled coefficient of length variation, a narrow coercive force distribution is obtained to bring about improved high density recording performance. The ferromagnetic metal powder preferably has a BET specific surface area (SBET) of at least 30 m2/g and less than 50 m2/g, still preferably 38 to 48 m2/g, so as to secure satisfactory surface properties and low noise. The pH of the ferromagnetic metal powder, which should be optimized depending on the binder to be used in combination, usually ranges 4 to 12, preferably 7 to 10. If desired, the ferromagnetic metal powder is surface treated with 0.1 to 10% by weight of Al, Si, P or an oxide thereof based on the ferromagnetic metal powder. This surface treatment is effective in reducing the adsorption of lubricants, e.g., fatty acids, onto the surface to 100 mg/m2 or less. The ferromagnetic metal powder may contain inorganic soluble ions, such as Na, Ca, Fe, Ni, and Sr ions. Presence of not more than 200 ppm of such ions is little influential on the characteristics. The void of the ferromagnetic metal powder is preferably as small as possible. The void is preferably 20% by volume or less, still preferably 5% by volume or less. The ferromagnetic metal powder can have an acicular shape, a tabular shape, a spindle shape, and any other general shapes as long as the particle size falls within the above-recited range. Acicular ferromagnetic metal particles are preferred. Acicular ferromagnetic metal particles preferably have an average aspect ratio of 4 to 12, still preferably 5 to 12. The ferromagnetic metal powder preferably has a coercive force Hc of 2000 to 3000 Oe (160 to 240 kA/m), still preferably 2100 to2900 Oe (170 to230 kA/m), and a saturation magnetization σs of 80 to 170 A·m2/kg, still preferably 90 to 150 A·m2/kg. The ferromagnetic hexagonal ferrite powder that can be used in the magnetic layer should be of low noise particularly when it is read with an MR head for increasing the track density. The average diameter of the ferromagnetic hexagonal ferrite powder is preferably 5 to 40 nm, still preferably 10 to 35 nm, particularly preferably 15 to 30 nm. The recited range of the average particle diameter is suited for high density magnetic recording because thermal fluctuation can be reduced to stabilize the magnetization, and the noise is low. The average aspect ratio of the hexagonal ferrite particles is preferably 1 to15, still preferably 1 to 7. Within that range, sufficient orientation is obtained while securing a sufficient packing density and suppressing noise due to particles' stacking. The particles within the above-recited size range have a BET specific surface area (SBET) of 30 to 200 m2/g. The SBET approximately corresponds to a surface area arithmetically calculated from the diameter and the thickness. It is preferred that the particle size (diameter and thickness) distribution be as small as possible. While the size distribution is mostly not normal, the coefficient of diameter variation is 10 to 25%. In order to make the particle size distribution sharper, the reaction system for particle formation is made homogenous as much as possible, or the particles as produced are subjected to treatment for distribution improvement. For example, selective dissolution of ultrafine particles in an acid solution is among known treatments. Usually, ferromagnetic hexagonal ferrite powders can be designed to have a coercive force Hc of from about 500 to 5000 Oe (40 to 400 kA/m). While a higher coercive force is more advantageous for high-density recording, an upper limit is governed by the ability of a recording head. The coercive force of the hexagonal ferrite powder used in the invention is preferably about 2000 to 3000 Oe (160 to 240 kA/m), still preferably 2200 to 2800 Oe (176 to 224 kA/m). Where the saturation magnetization of the head exceeds 1.4 T, it is desirable that the coercive force of the magnetic powder be 2000 Oe (160 kA/m) or higher. The coercive force can be controlled by the particle size (diameter and thickness), the kind and amount of constituent elements, the substitution site of elements, conditions of particle forming reaction, and the like. The hexagonal ferrite powder preferably has a saturation magnetization σs of 40 to 80 A·m2/kg. A relatively high σs within that range is desirable. A saturation magnetization tends to decrease as the particle size becomes smaller. It is well known that the saturation magnetization can be improved by using a magnetoplumbite type ferrite combined with a spinel type ferrite or by properly selecting the kinds and amounts of constituent elements. It is also possible to use a W-type hexagonal ferrite powder. It is also practiced to treat ferromagnetic hexagonal ferrite powder to be dispersed with a substance compatible with a dispersing medium and a binder resin. The treating substance includes organic or inorganic compounds. Typical examples are compounds of Si, Al or P, various silane coupling agents, and various titan coupling agents. The treating substance is usually used in an amount of 0.1 to 10% by weight based on the magnetic powder. The pH of the magnetic powder is of importance for dispersibility. The pH value optimum for a dispersing medium or a binder resin can range from about 4 to 12. From the standpoint of chemical stability and storage stability of the magnetic recording medium, a pH of about 6 to 11 is selected. The water content of the magnetic powder is also influential on dispersibility. While varying according to the kinds of the dispersing medium and the binder resin, the optimum water content usually ranges from 0.01 to 2.0% by weight. The ferromagnetic hexagonal ferrite powder to be used in the invention can be prepared by, for example, (i) a process by controlled crystallization of glass which comprises blending barium oxide, iron oxide, an oxide of a metal that is to substitute iron, and a glass forming oxide (e.g., boron oxide) in a ratio providing a desired ferrite composition, melting the blend, rapidly cooling the melt into an amorphous solid, re-heating the solid, washing and grinding the solid to obtain a barium ferrite crystal powder or (ii) a hydrothermal process which comprises neutralizing a solution of barium ferrite-forming metal salts with an alkali, removing by-products, heating in a liquid phase at 100° C. or higher, washing, drying, and grinding to obtain a barium ferrite crystal powder or (iii) a coprecipitation process which comprises neutralizing a solution of barium ferrite-forming metal salts with an alkali, removing by-products, drying, treating at 1100° C. or lower, and grinding to obtain a barium ferrite crystal powder. In the present invention, ferromagnetic hexagonal barium ferrite is particularly preferred. Carbon black species that can be used in the upper layer include furnace black for rubber, thermal black for rubber, carbon black for colors, and acetylene black. The carbon black used in the upper layer preferably has a specific surface area of 5 to 500 m2/g, a DBP oil absorption of 10 to 400 ml/100 g, an average particle size of 5 to 300 nm, a pH of 2 to 10, a water content of 0.1 to 10% by weight, and a tap density of 0.1 to 1 g/ml. Specific examples of commercially available carbon black products which can be used in the upper layer include Black Pearls 2000, 1300, 1000, 900, 800 and 700 and Vulcan XC-72 (from Cabot Corp.); #80, #60, #55, #50, and #35 (from Asahi Carbon Co., Ltd.); #2400B, #2300, #900, #1000, #30, #40, and #10B (from Mitsubishi Chemical Corp.); and Conductex SC and RAVEN 150, 50, 40, and 15 (from Columbian Carbon). Carbon black having been surface treated with a dispersant, etc., resin-grafted carbon black, or carbon black with its surface partially graphitized may be used. Carbon black may previously been dispersed in a binder before being added to a coating composition. The above-enumerated carbon black species can be used either individually or as a combination thereof. The carbon black, if added, can be used in an amount of 0.1 to 30% by weight based on the ferromagnetic powder. Carbon black serves for antistatic control, reduction of frictional coefficient, reduction of light transmission, film strength enhancement, and the like. These functions vary depending on the species. Accordingly, it is understandably possible to optimize the kinds, amounts, and combinations of the carbon black species for each layer according to the intended purpose with reference to the above-mentioned characteristics, such as particle size, oil absorption, conductivity, pH, and so forth. In selecting carbon black species for use in the magnetic layer, reference can be made, e.g., in Carbon Black Kyokai (ed.), Carbon Black Binran. The inorganic powder that can be used in the lower layer is non-magnetic powder including metal oxides, metal carbonates, metal sulfates, metal nitrides, metal carbides, and metal sulfides. Examples are α-alumina having an α-phase content of 90% or more, β-alumina, γ-alumina, θ-alumina, silicon carbide, chromium oxide, cerium oxide, α-iron oxide, hematite, goethite, corundum, silicon nitride, titanium carbide, titanium oxide, silicon dioxide, tin oxide, magnesium oxide, tungsten oxide, zirconium oxide, boron nitride, zinc oxide, calcium carbonate, calcium sulfate, barium sulfate, and molybdenum disulfide. They can be used either individually or in combination. Preferred among them are titanium dioxide, zinc oxide, iron oxide, and barium sulfate, particularly titanium dioxide and α-iron oxide, because they can be produced with small particle size distribution and be endowed with a function through many means. The non-magnetic powder preferably has an average particle size of 0.005 to 0.5 μm. If desired, non-magnetic powders different in particle size may be used in combination, or a single kind of a non-magnetic powder having a broadened size distribution may be used to produce the same effect. A still preferred particle size of the non-magnetic powder is 0.01 to 0.2 μm. In particular, a non-acicular metal oxide preferably has an average particle size of 0.08 μm or smaller, and an acicular metal oxide preferably has a length of 0.2 μm or shorter, still preferably 0.15 μm or shorter, particularly preferably 0.1 μm or shorter. The non-magnetic powder has an aspect ratio of 2 to 20, preferably 3 to 10. The tap density of the powder is 0.05 to 2 g/ml, preferably 0.2 to 1.5 g/ml. The water content of the non-magnetic powder is 0.1 to 5% by weight, preferably 0.2 to 3% by weight, still preferably 0.3 to 1.5% by weight. The pH of the non-magnetic powder is from 2 to 11. Non-magnetic powder whose pH is between 5.5 and 10 is particularly preferred because it is highly adsorbable by the functional group (described infra) of the binder and therefore well dispersible in the binder and also it imparts mechanical strength to the coating film. The non-magnetic powder has a specific surface area of 1 to 100 m2/g, preferably 5 to 80 m2/g, still preferably 10 to 70 m2/g. The non-magnetic powder preferably has a crystallite size of 0.004 to 1 μm, still preferably 0.04 to 0.1 μm. The DBP oil absorption is 5 to 100 ml/100 g, preferably 10 to 80 ml/100 g, still preferably 20 to 60 ml/100 g. The specific gravity is 1 to 12, preferably 3 to 6. The particle shape may be any of needle-like, spherical, polygonal and tabular shapes. The Mohs hardness is preferably 4 to 10. The SA (stearic acid) adsorption of the non-magnetic powder is in a range of 1 to 20 μmol/m2, preferably 2 to 15 μmol/m2, still preferably 3 to 8 μmol/m2. The pH of the powder is preferably between 3 and 6. It is preferred that Al2O3, SiO2, TiO2, ZrO2, SnO2, Sb2O3, ZnO or Y2O3 be present on the surface of the non-magnetic powder by surface treatment. Among them, preferred for dispersibility are Al2O3, SiO2, TiO2, and ZrO2, with Al2O3, SiO2, and ZrO2 being still preferred. These oxides may be used either individually or in combination. According to the purpose, a composite surface layer can be formed by co-precipitation or a method comprising first applying alumina to the non-magnetic particles and then treating with silica or vise versa. The surface layer may be porous for some purposes, but a homogeneous and dense surface layer is usually preferred. Carbon black can be incorporated into the non-magnetic lower layer to reduce the surface resistivity and the light transmission, which are well-known effects of carbon black, and also to obtain a desired micro Vickers hardness. Useful carbon black species include furnace black for rubber, thermal black for rubber, carbon black for colors, and acetylene black. The carbon black used in the lower layer has a specific surface area of 100 to 500 m2/g, preferably 150 to 400 m2/g, a DBP oil absorption of 20 to 400 ml/100 g, preferably 30 to 40 ml/100 g, and an average particle size of 5 to 80 nm, preferably 10 to 50 nm, still preferably 10 to 40 nm. The carbon black preferably has a pH of 2 to 10, a water content of 0.1 to 10% by weight, and a tap density of 0.1 to 1 g/ml. Specific examples of commercially available carbon black products which can be used in the lower layer include Black Pearls 2000, 1300, 1000, 900, 800, 880, and 700 and Vulcan XC-72 (from Cabot Corp.); #3050B, #3150B, #3250B, #3750B, #3950B, #4000, and #4010 (from Mitsubishi Chemical Corp.); Conductex SC and RAVEN 8800, 8000, 7000, 5750, 5250, 3500, 2100, 2000, 1800, 1500, 1255, 1250 (from Columbian Carbon); Ketjen Black EC (from Akzo Nobel Chemicals). Carbon black having been surface treated with a dispersant, etc., resin-grafted carbon black, or carbon black with its surface partially graphitized may be used. Carbon black may previously been dispersed in a binder before being added to a coating composition. The above-enumerated carbon black species can be used either individually or as a combination thereof. The carbon black, if added, can be used in an amount of 50% by weight or less based on the above-described inorganic powder and 40% by weight or less based on the total weight of the non-magnetic layer. The above-recited carbon black species can be used either individually or as a combination thereof. In selecting carbon black species for use in the lower layer, reference can be made, e.g., in Carbon Black Kyokai (ed.), Carbon Black Binran. The lower layer can contain organic powder according to the purpose. Useful organic powders include acrylic-styrene resin powders, benzoguanamine resin powders, melamine resin powders, and phthalocyanine pigments. Polyolefin resin powders, polyester resin powders, polyamide resin powders, polyimide resin powders, and polyethylene fluoride resin powders are also usable. Methods of preparing these resin powders include those disclosed in JP-A-62-18564 and JP-A-60-255827. With respect to the other techniques involved in forming the lower layer, e.g., binder resins, lubricants, dispersants, additives, solvents, and methods of dispersion, the following description as for the magnetic layer applies. In particular, known techniques regarding a magnetic layer can be applied with respect to the kinds and amounts of binder resins, additives and dispersants. Known technologies relating to a magnetic layer, a non-magnetic layer, and a backcoating layer, particularly known techniques relating to the binders, dispersants, additives, solvents, and methods of dispersion used in the formation of a magnetic layer are applied to the present invention. Binders that can be used in the invention include conventionally known thermoplastic resins, thermosetting resins and reactive resins, and mixtures thereof. The thermoplastic resins used as a binder usually have a glass transition temperature of −100° to 150° C., an number average molecular weight of 1,000 to 200,000, preferably 10,000 to 100,000, and a degree of polymerization of about 50 to 1000. Such thermoplastic resins include homo- or copolymers containing a unit derived from vinyl chloride, vinyl acetate, vinyl alcohol, maleic acid, acrylic acid, an acrylic ester, vinylidene chloride, acrylonitrile, methacrylic acid, a methacrylic ester, styrene, butadiene, ethylene, vinyl butyral, vinyl acetal, a vinyl ether, etc.; polyurethane resins, and various rubber resins. Useful thermosetting or reactive resins include phenolic resins, epoxy resins, thermosetting polyurethane resins, urea resins, melamine resins, alkyd resins, reactive acrylic resins, formaldehyde resins, silicone resins, epoxy-polyamide resins, polyester resin/isocyanate prepolymer mixtures, polyester polyol/polyisocyanate mixtures, and polyurethane/polyisocyanate mixtures. For the details of these resins, Plastic Handbook, Asakura Shoten (publisher) can be referred to. Known electron beam (EB)-curing resins can also be used in each layer. The details of the EB-curing resins and methods of producing them are described in JP-A-62-256219. The above-recited resins can be used either individually or as a combination thereof. Preferred resins are a combination of a polyurethane resin and at least one vinyl chloride resin selected from polyvinyl chloride, a vinyl chloride-vinyl acetate copolymer, a vinyl chloride-vinyl acetate-vinyl alcohol copolymer, and a vinyl chloride-vinyl acetate-maleic anhydride copolymer and a combination of the above-described combination and polyisocyanate. The polyurethane resin includes those of known structures, such as polyester polyurethane, polyether polyurethane, polyether polyester polyurethane, polycarbonate polyurethane, polyester polycarbonate polyurethane, and polycaprolactone polyurethane. In order to ensure dispersing capabilities and durability, it is preferred to introduce into the above-recited binder resins at least one polar group by copolymerization or through addition reaction, the polar group being selected from —COOM, —SO3M, —OSO3M, —P═O(OM)2, —O—P═O(OM)2 (wherein M is a hydrogen atom or an alkali metal base), —OH, —NR2, —N+R3 (wherein R is a hydrocarbon group), an epoxy group, —SH, —CN, and the like. The amount of the polar group to be introduced is 10−1 to 10−8 mol/g, preferably 10−2 to 10−6 mol/g. Examples of commercially available binders that can be used in the invention are VAGH, VYHH, and PKHH (from Union Carbide Corp.); MPR-TA, MPR-TA5, MPR-TAL, MPR-TSN, MPR-TMF, MPR-TS, MPR-TM, and MPR-TAO (from Nisshin Chemical Industry Co., Ltd.); DX83 and 100FD (from Denki Kagaku Kogyo K.K.); MR-104, MR-105, MR110, MR100, MR555, and 400X-110A (from Zeon Corp.); Nipporan N2301, N2302, and N2304 (from Nippon Polyurethane Industry Co., Ltd.); Barnock D-400 and D-210-80, and Crisvon 6109 and 7209 (from Dainippon Ink & Chemicals, Inc.); and Vylon UR-8300, UR-8700, RV530, and RV280 (from Toyobo Co., Ltd.). The binder is used in the non-magnetic layer and the magnetic layer in an amount of 5 to 50% by weight, preferably 10 to 30% by weight, based on the non-magnetic powder and the magnetic powder, respectively. Where a vinyl chloride resin, a polyurethane resin, and polyisocyanate are used in combination, their amounts are preferably selected from a range of 5 to 30% by weight, a range of 2 to 20% by weight, and a range of 2 to 20% by weight, respectively. In case where head corrosion by a trace amount of released chlorine is expected to occur, polyurethane alone or a combination of polyurethane and polyisocyanate can be used. The polyurethane to be used preferably has a glass transition temperature of −50° to 150° C., still preferably 0° to 100° C., an elongation at break of 100 to 2000%, a stress at rupture of0.05 to 10 kg/mm2 (0.49 to 98 Mpa), and a yield point of 0.05 to 10 kg/mm2 (0.49 to 98 Mpa). When the magnetic recording medium has a multilayered structure, the constituent layers can have different binder formulations in terms of the binder content, the proportions of a vinyl chloride resin, a polyurethane resin, polyisocyanate, and other resins, the molecular weight of each resin, the amount of the polar group introduced, and other physical properties of the resins. It is rather desirable to optimize the binder design for each layer. For the optimization, known techniques relating to a non-magnetic/magnetic multilayer structure can be utilized. For example, to increase the binder content of the magnetic layer is effective to reduce scratches on the magnetic layer, or to increase the binder content of the non-magnetic layer is effective to increase flexibility thereby to improve head touch. The polyisocyanate that can be used in the invention includes tolylene diisocyanate, 4,4′-diphenylmethane diisocyanate, hexamethylene diisocyanate, xylylene diisocyanate, naphthylene-1,5-diisocyanate, o-toluidine diisocyanate, isophorone diisocyanate, and triphenylmethane triisocyanate. Further included are reaction products between these isocyanate compounds and polyols and polyisocyanates produced by condensation of the isocyanates. Known abrasives mostly having a Mohs hardness of 6 or higher can be used in the present invention, either individually or as a combination thereof. Such abrasives include α-alumina having an α-phase content of at least 90%, β-alumina, silicon carbide, chromium oxide, cerium oxide, α-iron oxide, corundum, artificial diamond, silicon nitride, titanium carbide, titanium oxide, silicon dioxide, and boron nitride. A composite of these abrasives (an abrasive surface treated with another) is also useful. Existence of impurity compounds or elements, which are sometimes observed in the abrasives, will not affect the effect as long as the content of the main component is 90% by weight or higher. The abrasive preferably has a tap density of 0.3 to 2 g/ml, a water content of 0.1 to 5% by weight, a pH of 2 to 11, and a specific surface area of 1 to 30 m2/g. The abrasive grains may be needle-like, spherical or cubic. Angular grains are preferred for high abrasive performance. As is understandable, the kinds, amounts, and combination of abrasives used in the magnetic and non-magnetic layers can be optimized for each layer according to the purpose. The abrasive may previously be dispersed in a binder before being incorporated into a coating composition. Additives that can be used in the invention include those producing lubricating effects, antistatic effects, dispersing effects, plasticizing effects, and the like. Such additives include monobasic fatty acids having 8 to 24 carbon atoms, which maybe saturated or unsaturated and straight-chain or branched, and their metal (e.g., Li, Na, K, Cu) salts, saturated or unsaturated, and straight-chain or branched mono- to hexahydric alcohols having 12 to 22 carbon atoms, alkoxyalcohols having 12 to 22 carbon atoms, mono-, di- or tri-fatty acid esters between monobasic fatty acids having 10 to 24 carbon atoms, which may be saturated or unsaturated and straight-chain or branched, and at least one of mono- to hexahydric, saturated or unsaturated, and straight-chain or branched alcohols having 2 to 12 carbon atoms, fatty acid esters of polyalkylene oxide monoalkyl ethers, fatty acid amides having 8 to 22 carbon atoms, and aliphatic amines having 8 to 22 carbon atoms. Specific examples are lauric acid, myristic acid, palmitic acid, stearic acid, behenic acid, butyl stearate, oleic acid, linoleic acid, linolenic acid, elaidic acid, octyl stearate, amyl stearate, isooctyl stearate, octyl myristate, and butoxyethyl stearate. The kinds and amounts of these additives serving as lubricants or surface active agents can be varied between the lower and upper layers according to the intended purpose. The following is a few examples of conceivable manipulations using additives. (1) Bleeding of fatty acid additives is suppressed by using fatty acids having different melting points between the magnetic layer and the non-magnetic layer. (2) Bleeding of ester additives is suppressed by using esters different in boiling point or polarity between the magnetic layer and the non-magnetic layer. (3) Coating stability is improved by adjusting the amount of a surface active agent. (4) The amount of the lubricant in the non-magnetic layer is increased to improve the lubricating effect. All or part of the additives can be added at any stage of preparing the magnetic or non-magnetic coating composition. For example, the additives can be blended with the magnetic powder before kneading, or be mixed with the magnetic powder, the binder, and a solvent in the step of kneading, or be added during or after the step of dispersing or immediately before coating. The purpose of using an additive could be achieved by applying a part of, or the whole of, the additive on the magnetic layer surface either by simultaneous coating or successive coating, which depends on the purpose. A lubricant could be applied to the magnetic layer surface even after calendering or slitting, which depends on the purpose. The thickness of the support is selected from a range of 2 to 100 μm, preferably 2 to 80 μm. In particular, the thickness of the support for computer tapes ranges 3.0 to 10.0 μm, preferably 3.0 to 8.0 μm, still preferably 3.0 to 5.5 μm. The thickness of the magnetic layer is preferably 40 to 200 nm, still preferably 50 to 150 nm. The magnetic layer can be a single layer or a multilayer. An undercoating layer may be provided between the support and the non-magnetic or magnetic layer to improve the adhesion. The undercoating layer usually has a thickness of 0.01 to 0.5 μm, preferably 0.02 to 0.5 μm. The material of the undercoating layer can be selected from known ones. The backcoating layer usually has a thickness of 0.2 to 1.5 μm, preferably 0.3 to 0.8 μm. The non-magnetic lower layer has a thickness of 0.2 to 5.0 μm, preferably 0.3 to 3.0 μm, still preferably 1.0 to 2.5 82 m. The non-magnetic flexible support includes films made of known resins, such as polyesters (e.g., polyethylene terephthalate and polyethylene naphthalate), polycarbonate, polyamide (inclusive of totally aromatic polyamide) , polyimide, polyamide-imide, and aramid. The support may previously be subjected to surface treatment, such as corona discharge treatment, plasma treatment, treatment for easy adhesion, heat treatment, and dustproof treatment. As previously stated, the surface roughness profile of the support is freely controllable by the size and amount of the filler that is added where needed. Useful fillers include oxides and carbonates of Ca, Si, Ti, etc. and organic fine powders of acrylic resins, etc. The surface profile of the support preferably has a maximum height Smax of 1 μm or smaller, a 10 point average roughness Sz of 0.5 μm or smaller, a maximum peak-to-mean plane height Sp of 0.5 μm or smaller, a maximum mean plane-to-valley depth Sv of 0.5 μm or smaller, a mean plane area ratio Sr of 10% to 90%, and an average wavelength Sλa of 5 to 300 μm. In order to obtain desired electromagnetic characteristics and durability, the support should have formed on the surface thereof micro projections. The surface projections can be controlled usually by dispersing filler particles having an average particle size of 0.01 to 0.2 μm in the film-forming resin at a density of up to 20000 per mm2 of the resulting base film. Fillers generally contain coarse grains and agglomerates, which unavoidably result in large projections. In the present invention, the number of projections of 0.273 μm or greater per 100 mm2 is preferably not more than 100, still preferably 80 or fewer, particularly preferably 50 or fewer. The support has a Young's modulus of at least 5 GPa, preferably 6 GPa or more, in both the machine direction (MD) and the transverse direction (TD). The Young's modulus in the TD is desirably larger than that in the MD. The support preferably has a thermal shrinkage of 3% or less, still preferably 1.5% or less, at 100° C.×30 minutes and of 1% or less, still preferably 0.5% or less, at 80° C.×30 minutes, a breaking strength of 5 to 100 kg/mm2 (49 to 980 MPa), and an elastic modulus of 100 to 2000 kg/mm2 (0.98 to 19.6 GPa). The coefficient of temperature expansion is 10−4 to 10−8/° C., preferably 10−5 to 10−6/° C., and the coefficient of humidity expansion is 10−4/RH % or less, preferably 10−5/RH % or less. It is desirable for the support to be substantially isotropic such that the differences in these thermal, dimensional, and mechanical characteristics along different in-plane directions are within 10%. The magnetic recording medium of the invention is produced by applying coating compositions for the constituent layers, followed by drying and finishing. Methods of preparing the magnetic and non-magnetic coating compositions include at least the steps of kneading and dispersing and, if desired, the step of mixing which is provided before or after the step of kneading and/or the step of dispersing. Each step may be carried out in two or more divided stages. Any of the materials, including the magnetic powder, non-magnetic powder, binder, carbon black, abrasive, antistatic, lubricant, and solvent, can be added at the beginning of or during any step. Individual materials may be added in divided portions in two or more steps. For example, polyurethane may be added dividedly in the kneading step, the dispersing step, and a mixing step provided for adjusting the viscosity of the dispersion. Organic solvents that can be used in the preparation of the coating compositions include ketones, such as methyl ethyl ketone, methyl isobutyl ketone, cyclohexanone, and tetrahydrofuran; alcohols, such as butanol, isobutyl alcohol, and isopropyl alcohol; and esters, such as methyl acetate, butyl acetate, isobutyl acetate, and isopropyl acetate. These organic solvents do not always need to be 100% pure and may contain impurities, such as isomers, unreacted matter, by-products, decomposition products, oxidation products, and water. The impurity content is preferably 30% or less, still preferably10% or less. The organic solvent used in the magnetic layer and that in the non-magnetic layer are preferably the same in kind but may be different in amount. It is advisable to use a solvent with high surface tension (e.g., cyclohexanone or dioxane) in the non-magnetic lower layer to improve coating stability. Specifically, it is important that the arithmetic mean of the solvent composition of the upper layer be equal to or higher than that of the lower layer. A solvent with somewhat high polarity is preferred for improving dispersibility of powders. The solvent formulation preferably contains at least 50% of a solvent having a dielectric constant of 15 or higher. The solubility parameter of the solvent or the mixed solvent is preferably 8 to 11. As a matter of course, known techniques relating to the manufacture of magnetic recording media can be applied as a part of the method of producing the magnetic recording medium of the invention. A magnetic recording medium having a high residual magnetic flux density (Br) can be obtained by using a kneading machine with high kneading power, such as a continuous kneader or a pressure kneader. In using a continuous kneader or a pressure kneader, the ferromagnetic powder, the whole or a part (preferably at least 30% by weight of the total binder) of the binder, and 15 to 500 parts by weight of a solvent per 100 parts by weight of the ferromagnetic powder are kneaded together. For the details of the kneading operation, reference can be made in JP-A-1-106338 and JP-A-64-79274. In the preparation of the non-magnetic coating composition for lower layer, a high specific gravity dispersing medium is used preferably. Zirconia beads are suitable. The coating composition for non-magnetic layer and the coating composition for magnetic layer are applied to a non-magnetic flexible support either simultaneously or successively with the latter at the top. While the coating layers are wet, the coated support is subjected to smoothing and magnetic orientation. Methods and equipment for producing the magnetic recording medium according to the invention, which has a dual layer structure, include the following: (1) A lower layer is first applied by using a coating apparatus generally employed for a magnetic coating composition, such as a gravure coater, a roll coater, a blade coater or an extrusion coater. While the lower layer is wet, an upper layer is applied by means of an extrusion coating apparatus disclosed in JP-B-1-46186, JP-A-60-238179, and JP-A-2-265672 which is of the type in which a support is pressed while coated. (2) A lower layer and an upper layer are applied almost simultaneously through a single coating head disclosed in JP-A-63-88080, JP-A-2-17971, and JP-A-2-265672, the coating head having two slits through which the respective coating liquids pass. (3) A lower layer and an upper layer are applied almost simultaneously by means of an extrusion coating apparatus disclosed in JP-A-2-174965, the apparatus being equipped with a back-up roll. In order to prevent reduction of electromagnetic characteristics due to agglomeration of magnetic particles, it is advisable to give shear to the magnetic coating composition in the coating head. The techniques taught in JP-A-62-95174 and JP-A-1-236968 are suited for shear application. The coating compositions should satisfy the viscosity requirement specified in JP-A-3-8471. Smoothing of the coating surface can be carried out by applying a stainless steel plate onto the surface of the coated web. Smoothing can also be implemented by a method using the solid smoother disclosed in JP-B-60-57387, a method of using a rod scraper, either stationary or rotating in a direction reverse to the web running direction, with which to scrape and meter excess of the coating, or a method using a flexible sheet that is brought into planar contact with the coating layer. Magnetic orientation of the magnetic layer is preferably conducted with a solenoid having a magnetic power of 1000 G (100 mT) or higher and a cobalt magnet having a magnetic power of 2000 G (200 mT) or higher arranged with the same poles facing to each other. In the preparation of disk media, the layer should rather be subjected to random orientation. Calendering is carried out with rolls of heat-resistant plastics, such as epoxy resins, polyimide, polyamide and polyimide-amide. Metallic rolls are also employable. Calendering is preferably carried out at a temperature of 70° C. or higher, still preferably 80° C. or higher, under a linear pressure of 200 kg/cm (196 kN/m) or higher, still preferably 300 kg/cm (294 kN/m) or higher. The magnetic recording medium of the invention preferably has a coefficient of friction of 0.5 or smaller, still preferably 0.3 or smaller, against SUS 420J, a surface resistivity of 104 to 1012 Ω/sq, and a static potential of −500 to +500 V each on both sides thereof. The magnetic layer preferably has an elastic modulus at 0.5% elongation of 100 to 2000 kg/mm2 (980 to 19600 N/mm2) and a breaking strength of 10 to 70 kg/mm2 (98 to 686 N/mm2) in the running direction and the cross direction. The magnetic recording medium preferably has an elastic modulus of 100 to 1500 kg/mm2 (980 to 14700 N/mm2) , a residual elongation of 0.5% or less, and a thermal shrinkage of not more than 1%, still preferably not more than 0.5%, particularly preferably 0.1% or less, at or below 100° C. in both the running direction and the cross direction. The glass transition temperature (maximum loss elastic modulus in dynamic viscoelasticity measurement at 110 Hz) of the magnetic layer is preferably 50° to 120° C., and that of the lower layer is preferably 0° to 100° C. The loss elastic modulus preferably ranges from 1×103 to 8×104 N/cm2. The loss tangent is preferably 0.2 or lower. Too high a loss tangent easily leads to a tack problem. The residual solvent content in the magnetic layer is preferably 100 mg/m2or less, still preferably 10 mg/m2 or less. The upper and the lower layers each preferably have a void of 30% by volume or less, still preferably 20% by volume or less. While a lower void is better for high output, there are cases in which a certain level of void is recommended. For instance, a relatively high void is often preferred for recording media for data storage which put weight on durability against repeated use. In the case of tape media, a squareness (SQ) in the running direction is 0.70 or greater, preferably 0.80 or greater, particularly preferably 0.90 or greater, measured in a magnetic field of 5 kOe. The squarenesses in the two directions perpendicular to the running direction are preferably 80% or smaller than that in the running direction. The magnetic layer preferably has a switching field distribution (SFD) of 0.6 or smaller. Where the magnetic recording medium of the invention has a lower layer between the magnetic layer and the support, it is easily anticipated that the physical properties are varied between the lower and the upper layers according to the purpose. For example, the elastic modulus of the upper magnetic layer can be set relatively high to improve running durability, while that of the lower layer can be set relatively low to improve head contact. Where the magnetic recording medium has two or more magnetic layers, the physical properties of the magnetic layers can be designed with reference to conventional relevant technology. For instance, to increase the coercive force of the upper magnetic layer over that of the lower layer is proposed in many patents including JP-B-37-2218 and JP-A-58-56228. Reduction of thickness of the magnetic layer as in the present invention has made it feasible to implement recording on a magnetic layer with further increased coercivity. The particle size of various powders used in the invention including ferromagnetic metal powder, hexagonal ferrite powder, and carbon black is measured from high-resolution transmission electron micrographs with the aid of an image analyzer. The outline of particles on micrographs is traced with the image analyzer to obtain the particle size. The particle size is represented by (1) the length of a major axis where a particle is needle-shaped, spindle-shaped or columnar (with the height greater than the maximum diameter of the base) like acicular ferromagnetic metal powder, (2) a maximum diameter of a main plane or a base where a particle is tabular or columnar (with the height smaller than the maximum diameter of the base) like hexagonal ferromagnetic powder, or (3) a circle equivalent diameter where a particle is spherical, polygonal or amorphous and has no specific major axis. The “circle equivalent diameter” is calculated from a projected area. The average particle size of powder is an arithmetic mean calculated from the particle sizes of 500 primary particles measured as described above. The term “primary particles” denotes particles dependent of each other without agglomeration. The term “average particle size” as used herein refers to the “average length” of particles having the shape identified in (1) above; the “average diameter” of particles having the shape identified in (2); or the “average circle equivalent diameter” of particles having the shape identified in (3). The average aspect ratio of powder is an arithmetic mean of length (major axis length)/breadth (minor axis length) ratios of particles defined in (1) above or an arithmetic mean of diameter/thickness (or height) ratios of particles defined in (2) above. The term “breadth” as used herein means the maximum length of axes perpendicular to the length (major axis) of a particle defined in (1) above. In connection to particle size distribution, the “coefficient of variation” is defined to be a percentage of standard deviation to mean. Throughout the specification and claims, unit conversions were made as 1 kgf=9.8 N and 1 Oe ((1/4π) kA/m)=0.08 kA/m. EXAMPLES The present invention will now be illustrated in greater detail with reference to Examples, but it should be understood that the invention is not construed as being limited thereto. Unless otherwise noted, all the percents and parts are by weight. Formulation of coating composition A for backcoating layer: Fine carbon black (average particle size: see Table 1) 100 parts Coarse carbon black (average particle size: see Table 1) see Table 1 α-Fe2O3 (average particle size: 0.11 μm) (TF100 available 20 parts from Toda Kogyo Corp.) α-Al2O3 (average particle size: 0.20 μm) 5 parts Nitrocellulose resin 55 parts Polyurethane resin 40 parts Copper oleate 0.1 part Copper phthalocyanine 0.2 parts The components shown above were dispersed in a sand mill for a retention time of 120 minutes. Fifteen parts of polyisocyanate was added, and the dispersion was filtered through a filter having an average pore size of 1 μm to prepare coating compositions A (sample Nos. 1 to 6) varied in size of the fine carbon black and size and amount of coarse carbon black as shown in Table 1. Formulation of coating composition B for upper layer: Ferromagnetic metal powder (Co/Fe = 24 atom %; Al/Fe = 10 100 parts atom %; Y/Fe = 10 atom %; Hc: 2500 Oe (200 kA/m); σs: 140 A · m2/kg; SBET: 59 m2/g; average length: 0.08 μm; pH: 9) Vinyl chloride copolymer MR110 (from Zeon Corp.) 5 parts Polyester polyurethane resin (molecular weight: 35,000; 3 parts neopentyl glycol/caprolactone polyol/4,4′-diphenylmethane diisocyanate (MDI) = 0.9/2.6/1 (by weight); —SO3Na group content: 1 × 10−4 eq/g) Carbon black (average particle size: 80 nm) 0.5 parts α-Al2O3 (average particle size: 0.2 μm) 5 parts Phenylphosphonic acid 3 parts Stearic acid (industrial grade) 0.5 parts sec-Butyl stearate (industrial grade) 1.5 parts Cyclohexanone 30 parts Methyl ethyl ketone 90 parts Toluene 60 parts The pigment, polyvinyl chloride, phenylphosphonic acid, and a half of the solvent system of the formulation shown above were kneaded in a kneader. The polyurethane resin and the rest of the respective formulations were added to the blend, followed by dispersing in a sand mill. One part of polyisocyanate (Coronate L from Nippon Polyurethane Industry Co., Ltd.) was added to the dispersion. Forty parts of a methyl ethyl ketone/cyclohexanone mixed solvent was added thereto, followed by filtration through a filter having an average pore size of 1 μm to prepare a coating composition B for upper layer. Formulation of coating composition C for lower layer: α-Fe2O3 (average length: 0.1 μm; SBET: 48 m2/g; pH: 8; 80 parts surface coating compound: 1% Al2O3) Carbon black (average particle size: 16 nm) 20 parts Vinyl chloride copolymer MR110 (from Zeon Corp.) 10 parts Polyester polyurethane resin (molecular weight: 35,000; 5 parts neopentyl glycol/caprolactone polyol/MDI = 0.9/2.6/1 (by weight) ; —SO3Na group content: 1 × 10−4 eq/g) Phenylphosphonic acid 3 parts Stearic acid 1 part sec-Butyl stearate (industrial grade) 1 part Cyclohexanone 50 parts Methyl ethyl ketone 100 parts Toluene 50 parts A coating composition C for lower layer was prepared from the formulation shown above in the same manner as for the coating composition B, except for changing the amount of polyisocyanate (Coronate L) to 3 parts. Examples 1 to 3 and Comparative Examples 1 to 3 A 6.0 μm thick polyethylene naphthalate base film was coated with the coating composition C to a dry thickness of 1.5 μm followed by the coating composition B to a dry thickness of 0.1 μm by wet-on-wet simultaneous coating. While the coating layers were wet, the coated film was subjected to orientation treatment using a cobalt magnet having a magnetic power of 6000 Oe (480 kA/m) and a solenoid having a magnetic power of 6000 Oe (480 kA/m) and dried. The coating composition A for backcoating layer was applied to the opposite side of the base film to a dry thickness of 0.6 μm. After drying, the coated film was calendered on a 7-roll calender set at 80° C. at a speed of 200 m/min. The coated film was heated at 70° C. for 48 hours to cure the polyisocyanate. The resulting coated film roll was slit into half-inch tape while trimming both edges off. The tape samples thus obtained were evaluated as follows. The results are shown in Table 1. (1) Number of Projections on Backcoating Layer Surface An AFM scan (512×512 pixels) was taken over a surface area (80 μm×80 μm) of the backcoating layer using Nanoscope III from Digital Instruments, U.S.A. The plane dividing the 3D surface profile into peaks and valleys equal in volume was regarded as a mean plane (0 height). The profile was horizontally cut along planes parallel to, and 50 nm and 75 nm above, the mean plane to count the number of peaks of 50 nm or higher and lower than 75 nm and peaks of 75 nm or higher. Three visual fields were scanned for each sample to obtain averages. (2) Frictional Coefficient of Backcoating Layer The tape was slid on a SUS 420J cylinder having a diameter of 4 mm and a surface roughness Ra of 10 nm at a wrap angle of 180° at a speed of 24 mm/sec with a load T1 of 10 g applied to one end of the tape. The tension (T2) of the tape was measured to calculate the coefficient of friction (μ) according to the following Euler's formula: μ=(1/π)ln(T2/T1) (3) Error Rate Measured on an LTO 2 tape drive equipped with an MR head with a read track width of 3 μm in accordance with ECMA standards. (4) Tape Pack Condition After the tape was run on an LTO 2 tape drive 100 passes in an environment of 50° C. and 80% RH, the cartridge was disassembled to inspect the tape pack on the reel for any irregularities. The tape pack condition was graded P (Pass: good pack with no pack compression nor step winding) or NP (No Pass: poor pack with pack compression or step winding). TABLE 1 Average Number of Particle Coarse Carbon Black Projections/ Size of Fine Average 6400 μm2 Coefficient Error Coating Carbon Particle Amount ≧50 nm, of Rate Tape Pack Composition A Black (nm) Size (nm) (part) <75 nm ≧75 nm Friction (×10−7) Condition Compara. 1 13 270 4 630 180 0.29 4.2 NP (pack Example 1 compression) Example 1 2 25 270 4 920 260 0.23 5.3 P Example 2 3 34 101 4 1244 400 0.22 7.5 P Example 3 4 43 101 4 1350 465 0.22 7.7 P Compara. 5 60 101 4 1700 800 0.21 95 NP (step Example 2 winding) Compara. 6 43 270 10 1450 700 0.22 82 P Example 3 The results in Table 1 reveal that the magnetic recording tapes having a backcoating layer according to the present invention have a smaller frictional coefficient and a lower error rate and maintain a good tape pack. To the contrary, the comparative tapes are inferior in terms of at least one of frictional coefficient, error rate, and tape pack condition. This application is based on Japanese Patent application JP 2003-312813, filed Sep. 4, 2003, the entire content of which is hereby incorporated by reference, the same as if set forth at length. | <SOH> BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION <EOH>In line with the increasing capacity of magnetic recording media, the data transfer speed in VTRs and computer drives has been increased by raising the relative running speed of a magnetic recording medium with respect to a magnetic head. Improvement on recording density is indispensable for achieving high capacity, and magnetic recording media with excellent electromagnetic characteristics have been demanded. Very fine and highly coercive ferromagnetic metal powder and hexagonal ferrite powder have been used in pursuit for improved recording density. Further increased recording density has been sought by reducing the thickness of a magnetic layer formed of such fine, high-coercivity ferromagnetic powder thereby minimizing read output reduction caused by thickness loss. For example, JP-A-5-182178 discloses a magnetic recording medium having a substrate, a non-magnetic lower layer containing inorganic powder dispersed in a binder, and a magnetic upper layer having a thickness of 1.0 μm or smaller and containing ferromagnetic powder dispersed in a binder, the magnetic upper layer having been formed while the non-magnetic lower layer is wet. These technologies have introduced various magnetic recording tapes with such a dual layer structure, including those for computers such as DLT IV, DDS3, DDS4, LTO, SDLT, and DTF2 formats, and those for broadcast such as a DVC pro format. Approaches to high capacity and high density magnetic recording media include developing novel fine magnetic powder, optimizing the dual layer structure, optimizing magnetic characteristics, and smoothing the magnetic layer surface. From the aspect of magnetic recording derives, studies on shortening of recording wavelength for increasing recording density have been conducted with the focus on a magnetic recording head. An inductive magnetic head for reproduction relying on electromagnetic induction should have an increased number of coil turns in order to obtain an increased read output. However, this causes an increase in inductance and an increase in resistance in the high frequency region, which eventually results in reduction of read output. Therefore, there is a limit in reachable recording density with an inductive magnetic head. On the other hand, a head for reading based on magnetoresistive effects, i.e., a magnetoresistive (MR) head has now come to be used on hard disks, etc. An MR head provides a few times as much output as an inductive head. Having no inductive coil, an MR head achieves great reduction of noise created by equipment, such as impedance noise, to bring about improvement on high density recording and reproduction characteristics. Therefore, an MR head, being promising for improvement on high-density recording reproduction, has been steadily extending its application in computer drives including linear tape-open (LTO) drives. In an attempt to bring out the potential of a drive equipped with an MR head, the inventors of the present invention have hitherto studied smoothing the surface of a magnetic layer by, for example, designing a proper magnetic layer formulation or developing a smooth substrate or optimizing calendering conditions. However, when a magnetic recording tape with a backcoating layer is stored or handled for processing in form of a tape pack (roll) wound on a hub, the surface roughness profile of the backcoating layer can imprint itself in the magnetic layer under compressive force exerted in the normal directions of the roll. Such an imprint has now turned out to cause deterioration in S/N characteristics or increased error rates. To overcome the roughness imprint problem, it has been attempted to smoothen the backcoating layer surface, but back side smoothening results in increased friction and poor tape pack wind quality in a running test. | <SOH> SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION <EOH>An object of the present invention is to provide a magnetic recording medium having an improved backcoating layer, with which the medium has a reduced error rate, can be rewound properly into a good tape pack, and exhibits excellent sliding characteristics. The present invention relates to a magnetic recording medium having a support, a magnetic layer containing ferromagnetic powder provided on one side of the support, and a backcoating layer provided on the other side of the support. The backcoating layer has 800 to 1500 projections of 50 nm or more and less than 75 nm in height and 600 or less projections of 75 nm or more in height both per 6400 μm 2 . The present invention embraces in its scope the following preferred embodiments of the above-defined magnetic recording medium. 1) The ferromagnetic powder is ferromagnetic metal powder having an average length of 30 to 150 nm with a coefficient of length variation of 25% or smaller. 2) The ferromagnetic metal powder mainly comprises Fe, contains 10 to 40 atom % of Co, 2 to 20 atom % of Al, and 1 to 15 atom % of Y each based on Fe, and has a coercive force of 2000to3000 Oe (160to240 kA/m) and a saturation magnetization σs of 80 to 160 mT. (3) The ferromagnetic powder is ferromagnetic hexagonal ferrite powder having an average diameter of 5 to 40 nm with a coefficient of diameter variation of 10 to 25%. (4) The ferromagnetic hexagonal ferrite powder has a coercive force of 2000 to 3000 Oe (160 to 240 kA/m) and a saturation magnetization σs of 40 to 80 mT. (5) The magnetic layer has a thickness of 40 to 200 nm. (6) The magnetic recording medium is a magnetic tape for digital recording applied to a recording and reproduction system having an MR head. By controlling the densities of projections of specific height ranges on the backcoating layer, a magnetic recording medium having a reduced frictional coefficient, good tape pack quality, and a reduced error rate is obtained. detailed-description description="Detailed Description" end="lead"? | 20040901 | 20060314 | 20050310 | 58197.0 | 1 | RESAN, STEVAN A | MAGNETIC RECORDING LAYER | UNDISCOUNTED | 0 | ACCEPTED | 2,004 |
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10,930,928 | ACCEPTED | RADIAL ARM SAW SAFETY TOP | A radial arm saw is adapted with a safety top configured with cutting box enclosure that contains and collects substantially all of the sawdust generated during use. A dust collection system is in fluid communication with the cutting box for removing the sawdust contained therein. Spring biased push blocks function to hold the work piece in place during the sawing process while maintaining the user's hands safely away from the saw blade. A laser alignment device projects a beam within the cutting box along the cutting plane. A control panel is provided to allow use by authorized users upon entry of an authorization code. | 1. In combination with a radial arm saw assembly comprising a table having a top and a rip fence projecting upward therefrom, a vertical column extending upwardly near the rear of the, a radial arm extending horizontally from the top of the column, a rotary power saw suspended below the radial arm by a carriage adapted for travel along the length of radial arm, the saw including a rotating blade, a protective blade shroud, and a handle, the improvement comprising: a work surface mounted to the top of said table; at least one push handle in slidable engagement with said work surface a cutting box disposed on top of the work surface, said cutting box defining an interior bounded by a top in spaced relation with said work surface, opposing side walls, and front and rear walls; at least one of said side walls defining an opening with brush bristles disposed in said opening to allow a work piece to be at least partially inserted within said cutting box through said opening; said cutting box top defining an elongate slotted aperture for receiving the lower portion of the saw blade as the blade travels during the sawing process; and said cutting box interior in fluid communication with a dust collection system for collecting sawdust. 2. The combination of claim 1, further including a laser alignment device projecting a beam along said cutting box top slotted aperture toward the saw blade. 3. The combination of claim 1, further including a control panel, said control panel including a keypad, and internal controls that enables operation of the radial arm saw upon entry of an authorization code. 4. The combination of claim 1, further including said protective blade shroud including downwardly projecting brush bristles connected along a lower peripheral edge thereof, said brush bristles engaging the top of said cutting box. 5. A safety top for use in combination with a radial arm saw assembly comprising a table having a top, a vertical column extending upwardly near the rear of the top, a radial arm extending horizontally from an uppermost portion of the column, a rotary power saw suspended below the radial arm by a carriage adapted for travel along the length of radial arm, the saw including a rotating blade, a protective blade shroud, and a handle, the improvement comprising: a planar top work surface mounted on the table top, said planar top work surface including a rip fence extending vertically upward therefrom, and at least one push handle in slidable engagement with said top work surface; a cutting box disposed on top of the work surface, said cutting box defining an interior bounded by a top in spaced relation with said work surface, opposing side walls, and front and rear walls; at least one of said side walls including an opening with a portion thereof having brush bristles disposed therein to allow a work piece to be at least partially inserted within said cutting box through said brush bristles; said cutting box top defining an elongate slotted aperture for receiving the lower portion of the saw blade as the blade travels during the sawing process; and said cutting box interior in fluid communication with a dust collection system for collecting sawdust. 6. A safety top for use in combination with a radial arm saw assembly according to claim 5, further including means for projecting a light beam toward the saw blade in alignment with said cutting box top slotted aperture. 7. A safety top for use in combination with a radial arm saw assembly according to claim 5, further including a control panel, said control panel including a keypad, and internal controls that enables operation of the radial arm saw upon entry of an authorization code. 8. A safety top for use in combination with a radial arm saw assembly according to claim 7, wherein said control panel includes transformer means for stepping down a plurality of voltages to 24 VAC. 9. A safety top for use in combination with a radial arm saw assembly according to claim 7, wherein said control panel includes a main disconnect switch that enables disconnection of power to the saw. 10. A safety top for use in combination with a radial arm saw assembly according to claim 7, wherein said control panel includes a push-start/pull-stop control button to initiate or discontinue operation of the saw. 11. A safety top for use in combination with a radial arm saw assembly according to claim 7, wherein said control panel includes a visual alarm beacon configured to flash when power is supplied to the radial arm saw. 12. A safety top for use in combination with a radial arm saw assembly according to claim 7, wherein said control panel further includes a strobe light configured to flash when power is supplied to said saw. 13. A safety top for use in combination with a radial arm saw assembly according to claim 7, further including a protective saw blade shroud disposed in partial covering relation with said saw blade, said shroud having a lower peripheral edge portion defining an opening, said lower peripheral edge including downwardly projecting brush bristles in sweeping engagement with said cutting box top. | CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS N/A STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT N/A COPYRIGHT NOTICE A portion of the disclosure of this patent document contains material that is subject to copyright protection. The copyright owner has no objection to the facsimile reproduction by anyone of the patent document or patent disclosure as it appears in the Patent and Trademark Office patent file or records, but otherwise reserves all copyrights rights whatsoever. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to radial arm saws, and more particularly to a safety top for use in safe operation of radial arm saws while providing improved dust collection. 2. Description of Related Art Radial arm saws are routinely found in wood working environments for use us in various wood cutting applications. Over the past several years, the use of the radial arm saw has expanded significantly due largely to versatility and simplicity of use. Today, radial arm saws are in use in wood working shops, garages, even retail outlets, such as hardware and home improvement stores. A typical radial arm saw includes a work table having a horizontal flat top work surface with a vertically projecting backstop, commonly referred to as a fence. The material to be cut, such as a piece of wood, is supported on the work surface and against the fence. At the rear of the work table a vertical column extends upwardly. Extending horizontally from the top of the column is a radial arm, which is capable of rotation about the column, but which is generally positioned over the top of the table. A rotary power saw is suspended below the radial arm by a carriage adapted for travel along the length of the radial arm. In most operations saw is positioned over the work table and is moved along the radial arm to cut a workpiece positioned on the work surface. While the radial arm saw is an efficient and proven power tool, there remain a number of problems and shortcomings associated with the operation thereof that heretofore have not been adequately solved or addressed. One such problem associated with the radial saw operation relates to the substantial amount of sawdust created and dispersed when cutting. The sawdust generated by a radial arm saw ranges from very fine dust particles to larger wood chips. While this problem has been widely recognized for many years, radial arm saw manufactures have failed to develop an effective dust collection system for use with these saws. One common, yet ineffective, solution has been to provide the saw blade with a protective guard or hood adapted with a suction port connected to a vacuum-generating dust collection system by a hose. That attempt, however, has proven unsatisfactory and generally ineffective. As a result of the persistent problems associated with saw dust, the background art reveals a number of attempts directed to dust collection systems for use with radial arm saws. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 2,839,102, issued to Kido, discloses a dust collecting attachment that mounts behind the guide fence of a radial arm saw. The attachment defines slotted openings aligned with kerfs in the guide fence, and is attached to a suction-generating dust collector apparatus. U.S. Pat. No. 3,322,169, issued to Hilliard, discloses a dust collector for a radial arm saw including a rectangular shroud having an inlet and a tapered tube extending rearwardly therefrom for connection to a vacuum hose. U.S. Pat. No. 3,401,724, issued to Kreitz, discloses a dust collector for a radial arm saw comprising generally funnel-shaped hood positioned at the rear of the work table. The wide hood inlet opens toward the front of the work table and a narrow outlet is connected to a dust collector apparatus. U.S. Pat. No. 4,144,781, issued to Kreitz, discloses a dust collector for a radial arm saw including a generally funnel-shaped flat-bottomed shroud connected to a vacuum hose. The top and bottom of the shroud are contoured so that the shroud partially surrounds the column which supports the radial arm saw. U.S. Pat. No. 4,742,743, issued to Scarpone, discloses a radial arm saw accessory comprising a grid structure formed in the table surface in proximity to the fence to permit passage of sawdust therethrough. It appears, however, that the above-referenced advances in the art of radial arm saw dust collection have not been successful in substantially containing and collecting sawdust generated by the radial arm saw. Accordingly, those devices have not gained widespread acceptance. Thus, there exists a need for improvements in radial arm saw design. More particularly, there exists a need for an improved dust collection system for use with radial arm saws. Another serious problem present with the widespread use of radial arm saws relates to operator safety. More particularly, during normal use the rotating saw blade often comes in close proximity to the operators hands and fingers. As a result, numerous individuals have been seriously injured by inadvertent contact with the rotating saw blade while operating the radial arm saw. The problem is complicated since operation of the saw requires the user to move the saw/blade across the work surface while cutting thereby increasing the risk of injury. The risk of injury increases when the saw is used by inexperienced operators in garage shops or employees in retail locations. Despite the serious risk of injury inherent with conventional radial arm saw designs, manufactures have failed to provide adequate measures intended to prevent injury. The background art reveals a number of attempts directed to protecting operators from injury while operating radial arm saws. These attempts include blade guards intended to prevent the operator's hand from contacting the rotating blade. Blade guards, however, have proven ineffective. Other attempts include providing work piece guides and push devices designed to assist the operator in positioning the work piece. U.S. Pat. No. 5,678,467, issued to Aigner, discloses a handle adapted for holding or pushing wood during the sawing process. The Aigner device, and others in the art, provide handle-like structures that engage the wooden workpiece such that the user's hand is positioned away from the cutting plane. The prior art further reveals a number of work piece guides, primarily for use with table saws. Representative disclosures of such devices are found in U.S. Pat. No. 4,026,173 (Livick), U.S. Pat. No. 4,469,318 (Slavic), and U.S. Pat. No. 4,485,711 (Schnell). These devices, however, are adapted for pushing and guiding the workpiece thought the cutting area, and are generally not suitable for use with a radial arm saw wherein the saw blade is moved through the workpiece. Accordingly, there exists a need for improvements directed to radial arm saws directed to protecting operators from injury by securing the workpiece. BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention overcomes the disadvantages and shortcomings in the art by adapting a radial arm saw with a safety top configured with cutting box enclosure adapted to contain for containing and collecting substantially all of the sawdust generated when in use. The safety top further includes spring biased push blocks that function to hold the work piece in place during the sawing process while maintaining the user's hands safely away from the saw blade. In accordance with the present invention, a radial arm saw is adapted with a safety top providing an improved work surface, a fully integrated structure that contains and captures substantially all of the sawdust and particles generated by the saw, and integrated push blocks that are mechanically biased to secure the workpiece in engagement with the fence. Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide an improved safety top for use with radial arm saws. Another object of the present invention is to provide an improved dust collection system for use with radial arm saws. Still another object of the present invention is to provide advancements in control systems for radial arm saws. In accordance with these and other objects, which will become apparent hereinafter, the instant invention will now be described with particular reference to the accompanying drawings. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 depicts a typical radial arm saw of the prior art; FIG. 2 depicts a radial arm saw adapted with a safety top in accordance with the present invention; FIG. 3 illustrates cutting of a wood work piece using a radial arm saw adapted with a safety top in accordance with the present invention; FIG. 4 is a bottom view of the safety top showing alternate mechanical biasing systems for the push handles; FIG. 5 is a top view of the safety top wherein the saw is positioned to cut a wood work piece; FIG. 6 is a top view of the safety top wherein the work piece has been cut; and FIG. 7 depicts a control panel for use with the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION FIG. 1 depicts a radial arm saw 10 typical of prior art saws to which the present invention most directly pertains. The typical radial arm saw 10 includes a work table 20 having a horizontal flat top work surface 22 with a vertically projecting backstop 24, commonly referred to as a rip fence. The material to be cut, such as a piece of wood, is supported on work surface 22 in abutting relation with fence 24. A vertical column 30 extends upwardly from the back of work table 20. Extending horizontally from the top of column 30 is a radial arm 32, which is capable of rotation about the column, but which is generally positioned over the top of the table. A rotary power saw 40 is suspended below the radial arm by a carriage adapted for travel along the length of radial arm 32. Power saw 40 includes a rotating blade 42, a protective blade shroud 44, a motor housing 46, and a handle 48. As noted above, blade shroud 44 is often configured to function as a dust collecting shroud by attachment of a shop vac dust collector thereto. In most operations saw is positioned over the work table and is moved along the radial arm to cut a workpiece positioned on the work surface when pulled by the user such that the saw moves from behind the fence through the workpiece to be cut. FIG. 2 depcits a radial arm saw adapted with a safety top assembly, generally referenced as 100, an improved control system, generally referenced as 200, according to the present invention. Safety top 100 is preferably fabricated from a durable material. In a preferred embodiment, safety top 100 is fabricated from sheets phynolic material, which sheets are known for their strength, high heat resistance and flame retardancy. It should be noted, however, that any suitable material is considered within the scope of the present invention. Safety top 100 is preferably a fully assembled structure adapted for mounting directly on to a radial arm saw with minimal if any modification required. Safety top 100 includes a generally planar work surface 102 and a backstop or rip fence 104 (hereinafter “fence”) vertically projecting therefrom. Work surface 102 defines a pair of slotted apertures 106 that function as guide slots for push handles 108. Each push handle 108 includes a base 108A, a vertical end wall 108B for engaging a workpiece, and a cutout portion 108C to facilitate grasping thereof by the user. Base 108A includes a downwardly projecting tongue sized for slidable inserted engagement with slotted aperture 106. FIG. 3 depicts a wood workpiece, such a two-by-four disposed between push handles 108 and rip fence 104. Each push handle 108 is mechanically biased toward fence 104 by a spring loaded biasing mechanism preferably disposed on the bottom surface of work surface 102. FIG. 4 shows a bottom view of safety top 100 and discloses a preferred helical spring loaded embodiment of the mechanical biasing system depicted on the right hand side of FIG. 3, which embodiment is generally referenced as 110, and an alternate auto-retracting embodiment mechanical biasing system depicted on the left hand side of FIG. 3, which embodiment is generally referenced as 120. The helical spring mechanical biasing system 110 includes a plurality of anchors 112 fastened to the underside of work surface, and an anchor 114 fastened to the lower portion of push handle 108. A spring biased cable and pulley system is connected to anchors 112 and 114. More particularly, the spring biased cable and pulley system includes a chain section 116 connected at one end thereof to an anchor 112, a helical spring 117 connected on one end thereof to chain 116 and connected at the opposite end thereof to a first pulley 118. A cable 119 is routed in a two pulley configuration with opposing cable ends connected to a fixed anchor 112 and anchor 114 respectively thereby realizing a mechanical advantage. The provision of chain section 116 allows for adjustment of the tension by adjustable connection of individual links to anchor 112. The alternate embodiment mechanical biasing system 120 includes an automatic retraction apparatus 122 connected to the lower portion of push handle 108 by a cable 124. Automatic retraction apparatus 122 is generally characterized as providing a retraction force of a substantially constant level by use of internal spring mechanisms. It should be noted, however, that any suitable biasing system, whether mechanical or electrical is considered within the scope of the present invention. As should be apparent, the mechanical biasing systems function to urge push handles 108 toward rip fence 104 so as to secure a piece of wood in place for the sawing process. Safety top 100 further includes dust collecting cutting box 130 mounted on and projecting above work surface 102. Cutting box 130 is preferably mounted in alignment with power saw 40, and particularly saw blade 42 for reasons more fully discussed hereinbelow. Cutting box 130 is bounded by a floor formed by the work surface 102, and further includes a top 132, opposing sides 134, and front and rear walls 136. Top 132 defines a plurality of slotted apertures (“slots”), including a saw blade slot 137 aligned with saw blade 42, and left and right slotted apertures 138 disposed on opposing sides of blade slot 136 and in parallel relation therewith. Saw blade slot 136 allows saw blade 42 to pass below cutting box top 132 during the sawing process. Left and right slotted apertures 138 function to provide the user with a line of sight through cutting box top 132 to the cutting area disposed below. Cutting box sides 134 include portions thereof formed by brush bristles 135 connected to and projecting downwardly from top 132, extending forward from fence 104. Brush bristles 135 allow a work piece to be inserted into cutting box 130 and automatically form a seal to contain saw dust within cutting box 130. The present invention further contemplates providing the saw portion with a specially adapted semi-circular shroud 150 in partial covering relation with the saw blade. Shroud 150 defines a bottom opening having a generally rectangular cross-section, which opening includes brush bristles 152 attached to the peripheral edge thereof. Shroud bristles 152 project downwardly from shroud 150 and are in sweeping contact with the cutting box top 132 thereby forming a dust seal between shroud 150 and top 132 as the saw moves back and forth while cutting the work piece. Cutting box 130 thus defines an internal chamber wherein the rotating saw blade meets the work piece during the cutting process and functions to contain the sawdust and wood chips generated as the blade cuts through the wood. Accordingly, cutting box 130 is further adapted for connection to an external dust collection system. More particularly, cutting box 130 is adapted with first and second dust collection outlet ports, referenced as 160 and 162 respectively. Each outlet port provides a connection point for attachment of a hose from a vacuum generating external dust collection system. Since vacuum type dust collection systems are well known, those systems shall not be further detailed. Outlet port 160 is preferably located rearward along cutting box side 134 and thus places the interior of cutting box 130 in fluid communication with the external dust collection system. As best depicted in FIG. 4, second outlet port 162 is defined by a dust collecting tray 164 disposed beneath work surface 102 in alignment with a slotted aperture 166 defined bottom of work surface 102. First and second outlet ports are preferably connected to a common dust collection system by a vacuum hose adapted with a Y-fitting. As best depicted in FIG. 3, safety top 100 further includes a flexible, generally flat, strip of sealing material 170 having a first end thereof attached to shroud 150 and a second end thereof 172 hanging or draping down the back side of safety top 100. Sealing strip 170 further includes opposing edges thereof riding within grooves formed on opposing sides of saw blade slot 137. Accordingly, as the saw is moved forward during the cutting process, sealing strip 170 is pulled in trailing relation with shroud 150 so a to cover or seal that portion of saw blade slot 137 behind the saw thereby providing a seal and preventing saw dust from escaping. As the saw is moved rearward during the cutting process sealing strip 170 is pushed rearward while traveling within grooves formed on opposing sides of saw blade slot 137. As should be apparent, any sawdust generated during operation of the radial arm saw adapted with a safety top 100 in accordance with the present invention will be contained within cutting box 130 and will be removed therefrom via dust collection outlet ports 160 and 162. As best depicted in FIGS. 5 and 6, radial arm saw safety top 102 further includes a laser alignment device 180 for projecting a light beam 182 over the work piece to insure proper alignment and precise cutting. In a preferred embodiment, laser alignment device 180 is mounted within cutting box 130 and oriented so as to project a light beam over the work piece and along the cutting plane formed by the edge of the saw blade. Light beam 182 thus provides visible indication as to exactly where the saw blade will intersect the work piece. Light beam 182 may be visible to the operator through any of cutting box top slots 137 or 138. As further illustrated in FIG. 2, the present invention may further include a control panel, referenced as 200 which functions to provide safe and efficient operation of the radial arm saw, particularly for saws operating in retail store environments, such as saws operating in home improvement and hardware stores. Control panel 200 provides a primary connection to electrical power, such as 208 VAC, 230 VAC, or 460 VAC electrical power and includes a step-down electrical transformer capable of 24 VAC output. The ability of control panel 200 to operate using a range of voltages is considered important since the power available at different locations often varies. Control panel 200 includes a keypad 202 that provides an input device to restrict operation to authorized users who enter an appropriate authorization code. A power supply is connected to the 24 VAC output for providing DC power to keypad 202. Control panel 200 further includes a main disconnect switch 204 that enables quick disconnection of power to the saw and various components. In addition, a push-start/pull-stop control button 206 is provided to initiate or discontinue operation. Further, control panel 200 includes a visual alarm beacon 208 that is configured to flash when power is supplied to the radial arm saw systems, and an alarm horn 210 that is configured to generate an audible sound after a predetermined time period to indicate that the radial arm saw is about to shut down. The operating sequence for a radial arm saw adapted with a control panel according to the present invention is a follows. A red indicator light on the keypad indicates that power is being supplied to the radial arm saw control panel. The user enters the appropriate security code on the keypad to initiate operation. As should be apparent, any suitable code may be used. Upon entry of the appropriate code, a light on control button 206 illuminates indicating that a predetermined operation period, such as five minutes, has begun. The user then must pull control button 206 to automatically supply power from the control panel to the radial arm saw and dust collection system, at which time beacon 208 is activated thus providing a visual signal/warning that power has been supplied and the systems are operational. Shortly before expiration of the predetermined operation period (e.g. 30 seconds prior to expiration) alarm horn 210 sounds as a signal that the saw will automatically shut down shortly. While the system is programmed to allow operation for a predetermined period of time before automatically shutting down, the period of operation may be extended by re-entering the authorization code. If, at any time, the operator wishes to manually shut the systems down he simply must push control button 206. The instant invention has been shown and described herein in what is considered to be the most practical and preferred embodiment. It is recognized, however, that departures may be made therefrom within the scope of the invention and that obvious modifications will occur to a person skilled in the art. | <SOH> BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION <EOH>1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to radial arm saws, and more particularly to a safety top for use in safe operation of radial arm saws while providing improved dust collection. 2. Description of Related Art Radial arm saws are routinely found in wood working environments for use us in various wood cutting applications. Over the past several years, the use of the radial arm saw has expanded significantly due largely to versatility and simplicity of use. Today, radial arm saws are in use in wood working shops, garages, even retail outlets, such as hardware and home improvement stores. A typical radial arm saw includes a work table having a horizontal flat top work surface with a vertically projecting backstop, commonly referred to as a fence. The material to be cut, such as a piece of wood, is supported on the work surface and against the fence. At the rear of the work table a vertical column extends upwardly. Extending horizontally from the top of the column is a radial arm, which is capable of rotation about the column, but which is generally positioned over the top of the table. A rotary power saw is suspended below the radial arm by a carriage adapted for travel along the length of the radial arm. In most operations saw is positioned over the work table and is moved along the radial arm to cut a workpiece positioned on the work surface. While the radial arm saw is an efficient and proven power tool, there remain a number of problems and shortcomings associated with the operation thereof that heretofore have not been adequately solved or addressed. One such problem associated with the radial saw operation relates to the substantial amount of sawdust created and dispersed when cutting. The sawdust generated by a radial arm saw ranges from very fine dust particles to larger wood chips. While this problem has been widely recognized for many years, radial arm saw manufactures have failed to develop an effective dust collection system for use with these saws. One common, yet ineffective, solution has been to provide the saw blade with a protective guard or hood adapted with a suction port connected to a vacuum-generating dust collection system by a hose. That attempt, however, has proven unsatisfactory and generally ineffective. As a result of the persistent problems associated with saw dust, the background art reveals a number of attempts directed to dust collection systems for use with radial arm saws. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 2,839,102, issued to Kido, discloses a dust collecting attachment that mounts behind the guide fence of a radial arm saw. The attachment defines slotted openings aligned with kerfs in the guide fence, and is attached to a suction-generating dust collector apparatus. U.S. Pat. No. 3,322,169, issued to Hilliard, discloses a dust collector for a radial arm saw including a rectangular shroud having an inlet and a tapered tube extending rearwardly therefrom for connection to a vacuum hose. U.S. Pat. No. 3,401,724, issued to Kreitz, discloses a dust collector for a radial arm saw comprising generally funnel-shaped hood positioned at the rear of the work table. The wide hood inlet opens toward the front of the work table and a narrow outlet is connected to a dust collector apparatus. U.S. Pat. No. 4,144,781, issued to Kreitz, discloses a dust collector for a radial arm saw including a generally funnel-shaped flat-bottomed shroud connected to a vacuum hose. The top and bottom of the shroud are contoured so that the shroud partially surrounds the column which supports the radial arm saw. U.S. Pat. No. 4,742,743, issued to Scarpone, discloses a radial arm saw accessory comprising a grid structure formed in the table surface in proximity to the fence to permit passage of sawdust therethrough. It appears, however, that the above-referenced advances in the art of radial arm saw dust collection have not been successful in substantially containing and collecting sawdust generated by the radial arm saw. Accordingly, those devices have not gained widespread acceptance. Thus, there exists a need for improvements in radial arm saw design. More particularly, there exists a need for an improved dust collection system for use with radial arm saws. Another serious problem present with the widespread use of radial arm saws relates to operator safety. More particularly, during normal use the rotating saw blade often comes in close proximity to the operators hands and fingers. As a result, numerous individuals have been seriously injured by inadvertent contact with the rotating saw blade while operating the radial arm saw. The problem is complicated since operation of the saw requires the user to move the saw/blade across the work surface while cutting thereby increasing the risk of injury. The risk of injury increases when the saw is used by inexperienced operators in garage shops or employees in retail locations. Despite the serious risk of injury inherent with conventional radial arm saw designs, manufactures have failed to provide adequate measures intended to prevent injury. The background art reveals a number of attempts directed to protecting operators from injury while operating radial arm saws. These attempts include blade guards intended to prevent the operator's hand from contacting the rotating blade. Blade guards, however, have proven ineffective. Other attempts include providing work piece guides and push devices designed to assist the operator in positioning the work piece. U.S. Pat. No. 5,678,467, issued to Aigner, discloses a handle adapted for holding or pushing wood during the sawing process. The Aigner device, and others in the art, provide handle-like structures that engage the wooden workpiece such that the user's hand is positioned away from the cutting plane. The prior art further reveals a number of work piece guides, primarily for use with table saws. Representative disclosures of such devices are found in U.S. Pat. No. 4,026,173 (Livick), U.S. Pat. No. 4,469,318 (Slavic), and U.S. Pat. No. 4,485,711 (Schnell). These devices, however, are adapted for pushing and guiding the workpiece thought the cutting area, and are generally not suitable for use with a radial arm saw wherein the saw blade is moved through the workpiece. Accordingly, there exists a need for improvements directed to radial arm saws directed to protecting operators from injury by securing the workpiece. | <SOH> BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION <EOH>The present invention overcomes the disadvantages and shortcomings in the art by adapting a radial arm saw with a safety top configured with cutting box enclosure adapted to contain for containing and collecting substantially all of the sawdust generated when in use. The safety top further includes spring biased push blocks that function to hold the work piece in place during the sawing process while maintaining the user's hands safely away from the saw blade. In accordance with the present invention, a radial arm saw is adapted with a safety top providing an improved work surface, a fully integrated structure that contains and captures substantially all of the sawdust and particles generated by the saw, and integrated push blocks that are mechanically biased to secure the workpiece in engagement with the fence. Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide an improved safety top for use with radial arm saws. Another object of the present invention is to provide an improved dust collection system for use with radial arm saws. Still another object of the present invention is to provide advancements in control systems for radial arm saws. In accordance with these and other objects, which will become apparent hereinafter, the instant invention will now be described with particular reference to the accompanying drawings. | 20040831 | 20060516 | 20060302 | 68622.0 | B23D4502 | 1 | DEXTER, CLARK F | RADIAL ARM SAW SAFETY TOP | SMALL | 0 | ACCEPTED | B23D | 2,004 |
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10,931,150 | ACCEPTED | System and method for aiming an optical code scanning device | A system and method are provided for performing a read operation including acquiring a series of frames of image data; processing a first frame of image data including an array of pixel data acquired while an aiming pattern was generated for determining a location L of at least one pixel of the array of pixel data that corresponds to the aiming pattern; and processing a second frame of image data acquired while the aiming pattern was not generated. The processing of the second frame of image data includes the steps of selecting at least one optical code acquired in the second frame of image data that is located at a respective location; wherein the respective location meets a predetermined condition relative to the determined location L; and providing the selected at least one optical code for further processing in accordance with the read operation. | 1. An optical code scanner system for reading at least one optical code comprising: an imager module for acquiring a series of at least one frame of image data, image data of respective frames including an array of pixel data corresponding to imaging of a field of view of the imager module; an aiming assembly having at least one light source for generating at least one beam forming an aiming pattern visible in the field of view; an aiming controller for controlling the aiming assembly for controlling generation of the aiming pattern during acquisition of at least one frame of image data in response to receipt of an actuation signal indicating initiation of a read operation; and an optical code selector module executable on at least one processor for performing in accordance with a read operation processing of at least a portion of a first frame of image data acquired while the aiming pattern was generated for determining a location L of at least one pixel of the array of pixel data that corresponds to the aiming pattern; processing of at least a portion of a second frame of image data of the at least one frame of image data acquired while the aiming pattern was not generated, including selecting at least one optical code acquired in the acquired image data that is located at a respective location, wherein the respective location meets a predetermined condition relative to the determined location L, and providing the selected at least one optical code for further processing in accordance with the read operation. 2. The system according to claim 1, wherein the second frame is acquired after the first frame. 3. The system according to claim 1, wherein the system further comprises a decoder module executable on the processor assembly for performing a decode operation for decoding the selected at least one optical code. 4. The system according to claim 1, wherein for a respective at least one read operation the determined location L is stored; and the optical code selector module retrieves at least one stored location L and calculates a position CL in accordance with at least one function of the retrieved at least one stored location L. 5. The system according to claim 4, wherein the at least one function includes averaging the at least one stored location L. 6. The system according to claim 4, wherein for a subsequent read operation the optical code selector module: processes at least a portion of a first frame of image data acquired while the aiming pattern was generated and determines that the position of the aiming pattern cannot be recovered in the processing of the at least a portion of the first frame of image data; processes at least a portion of a second frame of image data acquired while the aiming pattern was not generated including selecting at least one optical code acquired in the acquired image data that is located at a respective location, wherein the respective location meets a predetermined condition relative to the calculated location CL; and provides the selected at least one optical code for further processing in accordance with the read operation. 7. The system according to claim 4, wherein during a subsequent read operation the optical code selector module processes a frame of image data acquired while the aiming pattern was not generated using the calculated location CL without processing a frame of image data acquired while the aiming pattern was generated, including selecting at least one optical code acquired in the acquired image data that is located at a respective location, wherein the respective location meets a predetermined condition relative to the calculated location CL. 8. The system according to claim 7, wherein during the subsequent read operation: the optical code selector module determines if the calculated location CL is well established; the frame of image data is processed using the calculated location CL only when the calculated location CL is determined to be well established, in which case the selected at least one optical code is provided for further processing in accordance with the subsequent read operation; and when the calculated location CL is not determined to be well established, during the subsequent read operation a first frame of image data acquired while the aiming pattern was generated is processed for determining a location L of at least one pixel of the array of pixel data that corresponds to the aiming pattern; and a second frame of image data acquired while the aiming pattern was not generated is processed, including selecting at least one optical code acquired in the acquired image data that is located at a respective location, wherein the respective location meets a predetermined condition relative to the determined location L, and provides the selected at least one optical code for further processing in accordance with the subsequent read operation. 9. The system according to claim 8, wherein determination if the calculated location CL is well established includes determining if a difference between a recently calculated location CL and a previously calculated location CL are below a predetermined threshold level. 10. The system according to claim 7, wherein during the subsequent read operation the aiming controller immediately controls the aiming assembly to disable generation of the aiming pattern in response to receipt of the actuation signal for acquiring the frame of image data. 11. The system according to claim 7, wherein during the subsequent read operation following acquisition of the frame of image data: the aiming controller controls the aiming assembly to generate the aiming pattern to acquire a second frame of image data; the optical code selector module processes at least a portion of the second frame of image data for determining a location L of at least one pixel of the array of pixel data that corresponds to the aiming pattern acquired in the second frame of image data; the optical code selector module compares the L determined for the second frame of image data with the calculated location CL, and if the difference between the compared values is below a threshold value provides the selected at least one optical code for further processing in accordance with the subsequent read operation; and otherwise selects at least one optical code acquired in the second frame of image data that is located at a respective location, wherein the respective location for the second frame of image data meets a predetermined condition relative to the determined location L, and provides the selected at least one optical code for further processing in accordance with the subsequent read operation. 12. The system according to claim 1, wherein: the system further comprises a parallax range module which determines a range of locations L of at least one pixel of the array of pixel data that corresponds to the aiming pattern in accordance with a range of operational distance values associated with the scanner system; and for a subsequent read operation the optical code selector module processes at least a portion of a frame of image data acquired while the aiming pattern was not generated and determines a cluster of pixels of the image data acquired during the subsequent read operation that corresponds to the range of locations L, including selecting at least one optical code acquired with the image data acquired during the subsequent read operation that is located at a respective location, wherein the respective location meets a predetermined condition relative to the range of locations L, and provides the selected at least one optical code for further processing in accordance with the subsequent read operation. 13. An optical code scanner system for reading at least one optical code comprising: an imager module for acquiring a series of at least one frame of image data, image data of respective frames including an array of pixel data corresponding to imaging of a field of view of the imager module; an aiming assembly having at least one light source for generating at least one beam forming an aiming pattern visible in the field of view; a range finder module for determining a distance between the scanner system and at least one optical code being imaged; a parallax range module for determining a location L of at least one pixel of the array of pixel data that corresponds to the aiming pattern in accordance with the distance determined by the range finder module; and an optical code selector module executable on at least one processor for processing at least a portion of a frame of image data acquired during a read operation while the aiming pattern was generated including selecting at least one optical code acquired in the acquired image data that is located at a respective location, wherein the respective location determined during the read operation meets a predetermined condition relative to the location L, and providing the selected at least one optical code for further processing in accordance with the read operation. 14. A method for reading at least one optical code comprising the steps of: imaging a field of view including acquiring a series of at least one frame of image data, image data of respective frames including an array of pixel data corresponding to a field of view of the imaging; generating at least one beam forming an aiming pattern visible in the field of view; controlling generation of the aiming pattern during acquisition of at least one frame of image data in response to receipt of an actuation signal indicating initiation of a read operation; and performing a read operation comprising the steps of: processing at least a portion of a first frame of image data acquired while the aiming pattern was generated for determining a location L of at least one pixel of the array of pixel data that corresponds to the aiming pattern; and processing at least a portion of a second frame of image data of the at least one frame of image data acquired while the aiming pattern was not generated, comprising the steps of: selecting at least one optical code acquired in the acquired image data that is located at a respective location; wherein the respective location meets a predetermined condition relative to the determined location L; and providing the selected at least one optical code for further processing in accordance with the read operation. 15. The method according to claim 14, further comprising the steps of: storing the determined location L for a respective at least one read operation; retrieving at least one stored location L; and calculating a position CL in accordance with at least one function of the retrieved at least one stored location L. 16. The method according to claim 15, wherein the at least one function includes averaging the at least one stored location L. 17. The method according to claim 15, further comprising the steps of: processing a frame of image data acquired while the aiming pattern was not generated during a subsequent read operation using the calculated location CL without processing a frame of image data acquired while the aiming pattern was generated, comprising the step of: selecting at least one optical code acquired in the acquired image data that is located at a respective location, wherein the respective location meets a predetermined condition relative to the calculated location CL. 18. The method according to claim 17, further comprising the steps of: determining if the calculated location CL is well established; when the calculated location CL is determined to be well established: processing the frame of image data during the subsequent read operation using the calculated location CL; and; providing the selected at least one optical code for further processing in accordance with the subsequent read operation; and when the calculated location CL is not determined to be well established: processing a first frame of image data acquired while the aiming pattern was generated during the subsequent read operation comprising the steps of: determining a location L of at least one pixel of the array of pixel data that corresponds to the aiming pattern; and processing a second frame of image data acquired while the aiming pattern was not generated, comprising the steps of: selecting at least one optical code acquired in the acquired image data that is located at a respective location, wherein the respective location meets a predetermined condition relative to the determined location L; and providing the selected at least one optical code for further processing in accordance with the subsequent read operation. 19. The method according to claim 15, further comprising the steps of: determining the location L for respective subsequent read operations; storing the respective determined locations L as they are determined; and updating CL using the most recently stored location L. 20. The method according to claim 14, further comprising the steps of: determining a range of locations L L of at least one pixel of the array of pixel data that corresponds to the aiming pattern in accordance with a range of operational distance values associated with the imaging; and processing at least a portion of a frame of image data acquired while the aiming pattern was not generated during a subsequent read operation for determining a cluster of pixels of the image data acquired during the subsequent read operation that corresponds to the range of locations L, comprising the steps of: selecting at least one optical code acquired in the image data acquired during the subsequent read operation that is located at a respective location, wherein the respective location meets a predetermined condition relative to the range of locations L; and providing the selected at least one optical code for further processing in accordance with the subsequent read operation. 21. A method for reading at least one optical code comprising the steps of: imaging with a scanning system a field of view including acquiring a series of at least one frame of image data, image data of respective frames including an array of pixel data corresponding to a field of view of the imaging; generating at least one beam forming an aiming pattern visible in the field of view; determining a distance between the scanner system and at least one optical code being imaged; determining a location L of at least one pixel of the array of pixel data that corresponds to the aiming pattern in accordance with the distance determined; and processing at least a portion of a frame of image data acquired during a read operation while the aiming pattern was generated comprising the steps of: selecting at least one optical code acquired in the acquired image data that is located at a respective location, wherein the respective location determined during the read operation meets a predetermined condition relative to the location L; and providing the selected at least one optical code for further processing in accordance with the read operation. | BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention This invention relates to optical code readers. In particular, this invention relates to a system and method for aiming an optical code scanning device at a selected optical code. 2. Description of the Prior Art Optical code scanner systems have been developed heretofore for reading optical codes such as bar code symbols appearing on a label or on a surface of an article. The symbol itself is a coded pattern of indicia comprised of, for example, a series of bars of various widths spaced apart from one another to bound spaces of various widths, where the bars and spaces having different light reflecting characteristics. The scanning devices in scanning systems electro-optically transform the graphic indicia into electrical signals, which are decoded into alphanumeric characters that are intended to be descriptive of the article or some characteristic thereof. Such characters are typically represented in digital form and utilized as an input to a data processing system for applications in point-of-sale processing, inventory control and the like. Optical code scanning devices are used in both fixed and portable installations in many diverse environments, such as in stores for check-out services, in manufacturing locations for work flow and inventory control, and in transport vehicles for tracking package handling. The scanning device can be used for rapid data entry, such as by scanning a target barcode from a printed listing of many barcodes. In some uses, the optical code scanning device is connected to a portable data processing device or a data collection and transmission device. Frequently, the optical code scanning device is a handheld scanning device including a handheld sensor which is manually directed at a target code. Often an individual scanning device is a component of a much larger system including other scanning devices, computers, cabling, data terminals, etc. Such systems are frequently designed and constructed on the basis of mechanical and optical specifications for the scanning engine, sometimes called “form factors”. One such form factor is the SE1200 form factor designed by Symbol Technologies, Inc. One type of optical code scanning device is an array optical imager scanning device, which includes an image sensor having a one- or two-dimensional array of cells or photo sensors, such as an area charge coupled device (CCD). The imager scanning device images a target, including sensing light reflected off a target being imaged and generating a plurality of electrical signals corresponding to the sensing which correspond to a two-dimensional array of pixel information describing the field of view of the scanning device. The electrical signals are then processed and provided to decode circuitry for decoding thereof. The imager sensor includes associated circuitry for generating and processing the electrical signals. In addition, a lens assembly may be provided for focusing light incident on the image sensor. When multiple optical codes are in the field of view (FOV) of the scanning device, the scanning device typically determines which optical code is the easiest to capture and/or read, and that optical code is decoded first. The user does not control which optical code the system should try to decode, and accordingly may have difficulty scanning a desired optical code. Scanning devices are often equipped with an aiming assembly which generates a visible aiming pattern, such as a “cross hair” pattern, which a user may train on a target object to be imaged in order to aim the scanning device at the target image. In commercially available imaging devices it is common for the center of the aiming pattern to not coincide with the center of the field of view of the scanning device due to mechanical or manufacturing inconsistencies, including the displacement between a light source of the aiming assembly and a focal point of optics for focusing light onto the image sensor. The user may use the aiming pattern to scan a desired code that is presented together with multiple optical codes, such as on a page having one or more columns of optical codes. The user may try to align the center of the aiming pattern to coincide with or be nearest to the desired code and then activate a scanning operation, such as by pulling a trigger. Upon activation of the scanning operation, the scanning device temporarily disables generation of the aiming pattern so that the aiming pattern is not incorporated into the image being acquired in order not to obstruct a target being imaged. The actual position of the aiming pattern in the acquired image is not necessarily in the center of the acquired image. In fact, the actual position of the aiming pattern is not known. The desired optical code is not necessarily the acquired optical code that is closest to the center of the acquired image. Accordingly, there is not a reliable way to determine which optical code of the multiple optical codes lying within the field of view of the scanning device is the desired optical code. Accordingly, there is a need for a system and method for aiming an optical code scanning device at a desired optical code of multiple optical codes in the field of view of the scanning device for decoding the desired optical code. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In accordance with the present invention, an optical code scanning device system is provided for reading at least one optical code, the system including an imager module for acquiring a series of at least one frame of image data, image data of respective frames including an array of pixel data corresponding to imaging of a field of view of the imager module; an aiming assembly having at least one light source for generating at least one beam forming an aiming pattern visible in the field of view; and an aiming controller for controlling the aiming assembly for controlling generation of the aiming pattern during acquisition of at least one frame of image data in response to receipt of an actuation signal indicating initiation of a read operation. The system further includes an optical code selector module executable on at least one processor for processing of at least a portion of a first frame of image data acquired while the aiming pattern was generated in accordance with a read operation for determining a location L of at least one pixel of the array of pixel data that corresponds to the aiming pattern. The optical code selector module further processes at least a portion of a second frame of image data of the at least one frame of image data acquired while the aiming pattern was not generated, including selecting at least one optical code acquired in the acquired image data that is located at a respective location, wherein the respective location meets a predetermined condition relative to the determined location L. The optical code selector module further provides the selected at least one optical code for further processing in accordance with the read operation. In another embodiment of the invention an optical code scanner system is provided including an imager module; an aiming assembly; a range finder module for determining a distance between the scanner system and at least one optical code being imaged; and a parallax range module for determining a location L of at least one pixel of the array of pixel data that corresponds to the aiming pattern in accordance with the distance determined by the range finder module. The system further includes an optical code selector module executable on at least one processor for processing at least a portion of a frame of image data acquired during a read operation while the aiming pattern was generated including selecting at least one optical code acquired in the acquired image data that is located at a respective location, wherein the respective location determined during the read operation meets a predetermined condition relative to the location L. The optical code selector module further, provides the selected at least one optical code for further processing in accordance with the read operation. In an alternate embodiment of the invention, a method is provided for reading at least one optical code including the steps of: imaging a field of view including acquiring a series of at least one frame of image data, image data of respective frames including an array of pixel data corresponding to a field of view of the imaging; generating at least one beam forming an aiming pattern visible in the field of view; controlling generation of the aiming pattern during acquisition of at least one frame of image data in response to receipt of an actuation signal indicating initiation of a read operation; and performing a read operation. The performance of the read operation includes the steps of: processing at least a portion of a first frame of image data acquired while the aiming pattern was generated for determining a location L of at least one pixel of the array of pixel data that corresponds to the aiming pattern; and processing at least a portion of a second frame of image data of the at least one frame of image data acquired while the aiming pattern was not generated. Performance of the read operation further includes the steps of selecting at least one optical code acquired in the acquired image data that is located at a respective location; wherein the respective location meets a predetermined condition relative to the determined location L; and providing the selected at least one optical code for further processing in accordance with the read operation. In yet another embodiment of the invention a method is provided for reading at least one optical code including the steps of: imaging with a scanning system a field of view including acquiring a series of at least one frame of image data, image data of respective frames including an array of pixel data corresponding to a field of view of the imaging; generating at least one beam forming an aiming pattern visible in the field of view; determining a distance between the scanner system and at least one optical code being imaged; determining a location L of at least one pixel of the array of pixel data that corresponds to the aiming pattern in accordance with the distance determined; and processing at least a portion of a frame of image data acquired during a read operation while the aiming pattern was generated. The processing includes the steps of selecting at least one optical code acquired in the acquired image data that is located at a respective location, wherein the respective location determined during the read operation meets a predetermined condition relative to the location L; and providing the selected at least one optical code for further processing in accordance with the read operation. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS These and other features, aspects, and advantages of the present invention will become better understood with reference to the below listed drawings, and detailed description of the invention: FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an optical scanner system in accordance with the present invention; FIG. 2A is a diagram of an exemplary first frame of image data imaged in which an aiming pattern is acquired in accordance with the present invention; FIG. 2B is a diagram of an exemplary second frame of image data imaged in which an aiming pattern is not acquired in accordance with the present invention; FIG. 3 is flowchart of steps of a method of processing an optical code aimed at by an imager scanning device in accordance with an embodiment of the invention; and FIG. 4 is a flowchart of steps of a method of processing an optical aimed at by an imager scanning device in accordance with another embodiment of the invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS In FIG. 1 an optical code scanner system 10 for reading an optical code is shown, where the optical code scanner system 10 includes an imager scanning device 12 for reading an optical code, including imaging optical codes, where more than one optical code may be imaged at a time. The optical code may be for example, a barcode, a UPC/EAN, a one-dimensional or multi-dimensional code, a textual code, etc. “Read” or “Read operation” refers to imaging and decoding an optical code, but may further be understood as imaging and processing an optical code, such as for performing character recognition on the imaged optical code, transmitting or further processing the imaged optical code. The scanning device 12 includes an imager module 14, an actuator assembly 16, an aiming assembly 18, an aiming controller 20, and a processor assembly 22. The scanning device 12 may be in communication with one or more peripheral devices 24 such as a keyboard, display device, printer device, data storage medium, e.g., including storage for application software and/or databases, at least one remote processing device, e.g., a host processor, and/or another system or a network. Executable on the processor assembly 20 are a decoder module 30, an optical code selector module 32, a parallax range module 34 and range finder module 36. The optical code selector module selects an optical code from one or more imaged optical codes and provides the selected optical code to the decoder module 30 for decoding thereof and/or for other further processing. Selection of the optical code is made in accordance with the location of the optical code relative to an aiming pattern generated by the aiming assembly 16, as described further below. It is envisioned that the scanning device 12 may operate in a variety of modes, where respective modes use a different method for selecting the optical code(s) to be decoded or otherwise further processed, and where one of the modes uses the method described in accordance with the present invention. The scanning device 12 may be configured as a handheld or portable device or as a stationary device such as provided in a fixed location, in a rotating turret. Furthermore, the scanning device 12 may be incorporated into a system, such as a local area, cellular or wide area network or a video phone system. Additionally, the scanning device 12 may further be incorporated into another device, such as a PDA or cellular phone. A coupling 26 is provided for connecting the scanning device 12 to the peripheral device 24. Coupling 26 may include wired or wireless couplings, such as a flexible electrical cable; a radio frequency, optical and/or cellular communication telephone exchange network, either through a modem or an ISDN interface; an infrared data interface (IRDA); a multi-contact shoe; or a docking device. Data transmitted by the coupling 26 may include compressed data. The peripheral device 24 preferably includes a host processor having at least one data processor, where the at least one data processor may be connected to one or more peripherals or computing devices, such as a video monitor, and/or a network. Analog and/or digital devices may be provided in the host processor and/or the scanning device 12 for processing signals corresponding to sensing of light reflected from a target being imaged or scanned by the scanning device 12. The decoder module 30 may be provided in the peripheral device 24, such as the host processor and/or in the scanning device 12. The imager module 14 constantly acquires an image corresponding to a field of view (FOV) of the imager module 14, and provides corresponding image data as a series of frames to the processor assembly 22. Included with the imager module 14 is a photo sensor array (not shown) for sensing light reflected from objects lying within the field of view (FOV) of the scanning device 12, and generating an array of electrical signals representing an image which correspond to the sensing. Optics (not shown) may be provided for focusing the light onto the photo sensor array. The photo sensor array may include a CCD or other similar device, such as such as CMOS, a charge modulated device (CMD) or charge injection device (CID) sensors. The imager module 14 may further include circuitry, such as video circuitry, signal processing circuitry, etc., (not shown) for processing (e.g., filtering, buffering, amplifying, digitizing, etc.) the electrical signals for generating image data and interfacing with the processor assembly 22. The processed electrical signals are output periodically (synchronously or asynchronously) as a frame of image data including an array of pixels which correspond to the electrical signals. Accordingly, the imager module 14 outputs a series of frames of image data that correspond to the continual sensing by the photo sensor array. The series of frames are provided to the processor assembly 22, where the frames of image data may be immediately processed and/or stored in order to be available for future processing. The actuator assembly 16 includes an actuator, such as a trigger or switch (hardware or software), which may be activated by a user, a sensor, a processor, a host processor, etc., for generating an actuation signal upon activation thereof in order to initiate a read operation. The actuation signal may be generated by the host processor and received by the scanning device 12, such as in the form of a command. The aiming assembly 18 includes at least one light source, such as a laser light source and/or a non-laser light source, e.g., a LED, for generating at least one beam forming an aiming pattern, such as a crosshair, which is visibly projected in an area that corresponds to the field of view of the scanning device 12. The user may aim the scanning device 12 (which may include positioning the target optical code) so that the aiming pattern is situated to coincide with or be close to the target optical code to be imaged. The user aims the scanning device 12 at the target optical code, and then actuates the actuator assembly 16 for initiating a read operation. For example, once the user aims the imaging device by situating the aiming pattern to coincide with or be close to the target optical code. U.S. Pat. No. 5,801,371 describes operation of a scanning device, including generation of an aiming pattern and aiming the scanning device using the aiming pattern, and is incorporated by reference herein in its entirety. The aiming controller 20 includes circuitry and/or software instructions executable on the processor assembly 22 and/or a data processor of the at least one peripheral device 24 for controlling enablement of the aiming assembly 18 for controlling generation of the aiming pattern during acquisition of at least one frame in response to receipt of the actuation signal. The circuitry may include digital, logic and/or analog devices. The aiming controller 20 may control the aiming assembly 18 so that a frame of image data that was captured while the user was aimed at the target optical code while the aiming pattern was visible is available, as well as a frame of image data that was captured while the user was aimed at the target optical code while the aiming pattern was not visible. The timing of controlling the aiming assembly 18 by the aiming controller 20 is discussed further below. The processor assembly 22 may include a microprocessor(s), a field programmable gate array (FPGA) and/or other processing device(s), and may further include at least one storage component, such as a flash memory device and/or a DRAM memory device. Further, the processor assembly 22 may communicate with the at least one peripheral device 24, such as the host processor. The processor assembly 22, or portions thereof, may alternatively be provided externally from the imager module 14, such as on another circuit board separate from that which the imager module 14 is provided on, and/or in the host processor. The processor assembly 22 receives the actuation signal when a read operation is initiated, and receives or retrieves respective frames of data of the series of frames upon receipt of the actuation signal for processing thereof. The decoder module 30, the optical code selector module 32, the parallax range module 34 and at least portions of the aiming controller 20 and the range finder module 36, respectively, include a series of programmable instructions executable on the processor assembly 22 and or another processor external to the scanning device 12, such as the host processor. The series of programmable instructions can be stored on a computer-readable medium, such as RAM, a hard drive, CD, smart card, 3.5″ diskette, etc., or transmitted via propagated signals for being executed by the processor assembly 22 for performing the functions disclosed herein and to achieve a technical effect in accordance with the invention. The processor assembly 22 is not limited to the software modules described. The functions of the respective software modules may be combined into one module or distributed among a different combination of modules. The decoder module 30 receives optical codes or portions thereof and performs a decode operation on the respective codes and outputs a corresponding decoded code. It is contemplated that when receiving a partial code, the decoder module 30 may retrieve another portion of the code as needed for decoding thereof. The decode operation may include decoding a barcode or other type of symbol, such as a text code including alphanumeric characters. The decoding process may include character recognition processing. In one embodiment of the invention the optical code selector module 32, in response to receipt of the actuation signal, processes at least a portion of at least a first and second frame of image data. Exemplary first and second frames 200 and 202 are shown in FIGS. 2A and 2B, respectively. During the imaging process the user aims the aiming pattern 204 at the target optical code 212. The first frame of image data 200 is acquired while the aiming pattern 204 is generated and visible, so that the aiming pattern 204 was captured during acquisition of the first frame of image data. In the example shown, several optical codes 210 are acquired, but optical code 212 is the optical code that the user wants decoded. A determination is made of the location L of at least one pixel 206a of the array of pixels of the first frame that corresponds to the aiming pattern 204, e.g., the center of the aiming pattern 204. The pixel that corresponds to the center of the array of pixels associated with the FOV of the imaging device 14 is shown as point 208. In the exemplary image acquisition, the pixel 206a at the center of the aiming pattern 204 does not coincide with the pixel located at point 208. In commercially available scanning devices it is common for the center of the aiming pattern to not coincide with the center of the FOV of the scanning device 12 due to mechanical or manufacturing inconsistencies, such as manufacturing process variations and mechanical tolerances. FIG. 2B shows a second frame of image data 202 acquired while the aiming pattern is not generated and is not visible. As the user aims the imaging device and pulls the trigger, frames 200 and 202 are acquired in rapid sequence, preferably with frame 200 acquired immediately prior to frame 202, but not limited thereto. For image acquisition having a conventional rate of 30 frames/sec, frames 200 and 202 may be acquired approximately 33 msec apart from each other. Due to the rapid successive acquisitions of frames 200 and 202 as the user aims the scanning device 12, the FOV captured for frames 200 and 202 is substantially the same. The aiming pattern 204 was not captured during acquisition of the second frame of image data 202, but the location of the aiming pattern, specifically the center of the aiming pattern can be determined based on the location L of pixel 206a in the first frame 200. The pixel 206b of the array of pixels of frame 202 is determined which is located at location L, i.e., the location of pixel 206a as determined from the first frame 200. The target optical code 212 is selected from the other optical codes 210, where optical code 210 that is located nearest to pixel 206b. Optical code 212 is provided to the decoder module 30 for decoding thereof. Alternatively, optical codes, or portions thereof, that were found within a vicinity of (e.g., within a predetermined distance from) pixel 206b are further processed, such as for decoding thereof. Where a portion of an optical code lies within the vicinity of pixel 206b, the portion may be processed and/or remaining portions of the optical code may be processed, which may depend, for example, upon how significant a portion of the optical code was located within the vicinity. With reference to FIGS. 1, 2 and 3, an embodiment of a method in accordance with the present invention is shown. The scanning device 12 is in an aiming state, where the aiming pattern is generated and visible, so that the user may use the aiming pattern to aim the imager device so that the aiming pattern may be trained to coincide with a target optical code or be near the target optical code. A user of the scanning device 12 aims the scanning device 12 at the target optical code and activates the actuator assembly 16. As the actuator assembly 16 is activated the imager module 14 is acquiring a series of frames. At step 302, the processor assembly 22 receives the actuation signal during acquisition of a frame N. At step 304, image data of frame N+1 is acquired with the aiming pattern generated, so that the aiming pattern is acquired in the image data. At step 306, at least a portion of the acquired image data of frame N+1 is processed by the optical code selector module 32 for determining the location L of the pixel 206a that corresponds to the center of the aiming pattern. The location L may be described by coordinates, e.g., (x,y). At step 307, the generation of the aiming pattern is disabled. At step 308, the image data of frame N+2 is acquired with the aiming pattern disabled (not generated), so that the aiming pattern is not acquired in the image data. At step 312, at least a portion of the image data of frame N+2 is processed by the optical code selector module 32 for determining and selecting the optical code 212 located closest to a pixel 206b located at location L. Alternatively, optical codes are selected when the respective optical codes or a portion thereof, are found within a vicinity of (e.g., within a predetermined distance from) pixel 206b. At step 314, the selected optical code(s) or portions thereof (e.g., optical code 212) are processed, e.g., decoded by the decoder module 30. At step 316, the processed, e.g., decoded, code is transmitted, such as to the at least one peripheral device 24, e.g., the host processor and/or a display device. In the embodiment shown, as described above, step 302 occurs at frame N. Preferably, step 304 is performed during acquisition of frame N+1. Step 306 is performed during acquisition of frame N+1 and/or during acquisition of frame N+2. Steps 308 and 312 are performed during acquisition of frame N+2, and step 314 is performed at the beginning of acquisition of frame N+3. Steps 306, 312 and/or 314 may be performed at substantially the same time that image data is being acquired. It is contemplated that one or more combination of the steps described may be performed in parallel. In another embodiment, with reference to FIGS. 1, 2 and 4, a method in accordance with the present invention is shown. The scanning device 12 is in an aiming state. The user aims the scanning device 12 at a target optical code and activates the actuator assembly 16. At step 402, the processor assembly 22 receives the actuation signal during acquisition of a frame N. At step 404, at least a portion of the image data of frame N−1 is retrieved from a storage medium where previously acquired frames of image data are stored. Frame N−1 is the frame which occurred prior to activation of the actuator assembly 16. Since frame N−1 occurred prior to activation of the actuator assembly 16, it is likely that the user was aimed at the target optical code and preparing to activate the actuator assembly 16. The aiming pattern was generated during acquisition of frame N−1, and accordingly the aiming pattern is acquired in the image data. At step 406, at least a portion of the acquired image data of frame N−1 is processed by the optical code selector module 32 for determining the location L of the pixel 206a that corresponds to the center of the aiming pattern. At step 407, the generation of the aiming pattern is disabled. At step 408, the image data of frame N+1 is acquired with the aiming pattern disabled (not generated), so that the aiming pattern is not acquired in the image data. At step 412, at least a portion of the image data of frame N+2 is processed by the optical code selector module 32 for determining and selecting the optical code 212 located closest to a pixel 206b located at location L. Alternatively, optical codes are selected when the respective optical codes or a portion thereof, are found within a vicinity of (e.g., within a predetermined distance from) pixel 206b. At step 414, the selected optical code(s) or portions thereof (e.g., optical code 212) are processed, e.g., decoded by the decoder module 30. At step 416, the processed, e.g., decoded, code is transmitted, such as to the at least one peripheral device 24, e.g., the host processor and/or a display device. In the embodiment shown, as described above, step 402 occurs during acquisition of frame N, and steps 404, 406 and 407 are performed during acquisition of frame N. Steps 408 and 412 are performed during acquisition of frame N+1, and step 414 is performed at the beginning of acquisition of frame N+2. Steps 406, 412 and/or 414 may be performed at substantially the same time that image data is being acquired. It is contemplated that one or more combination of the steps described may be performed in parallel. It is contemplated that at steps 304, 306, 308, 312 with reference to FIG. 3, and steps 404, 406, 408, 412 with reference to FIG. 4, the image data acquired or processed includes a portion of image data corresponding to the particular frame, and that several iterations may be performed for acquiring and/or processing respective successive portions of image data corresponding to the particular frame and attempting to locate the location L, the target optical code 212 and/or perform a decode operation on the selected target optical code 212, until a condition is met, such as a successful completion of the step being performed, a sufficient number of processing attempts are performed on the particular frame, or a timeout condition occurs. Processing of the successive portions may be in accordance with availability of image data as it is acquired or the portions of the image data may be selected in accordance with design choice. Retrieval of image data acquired in a frame prior to activation of an actuator is described in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/901,623 filed Jul. 29, 2004, the entirety of which is incorporated herein by reference. In accordance with the methods shown with respect to FIG. 3 or 4, a dynamic calibration is performed upon respective activations of the actuation assembly 16 for properly determining the optical code that the scanning device 12 was aimed at. The dynamic calibration overcomes variations due to any tolerances or variances, such as those associated with manufacturing. In another embodiment of the invention, the location L of the pixel associated with the center of the aiming pattern is stored for respective determinations of location L, e.g., for respective read operations. The optical code selector module retrieves at least one stored location L and calculates a location CL in accordance with at least one function of the retrieved at least one stored location L. Preferably the at least one function includes calculating an average of the respective retrieved at least one stored location L. Calculated location CL is calculated and updated as new determinations of location L are determined and stored. Storage of newly determined locations L and/or updating of the calculated location CL may be performed for each read operation or may be performed at regular or irregular intervals. The storage medium used for storing values for L and CL is nonvolatile and may be included with the processing assembly 22 or accessible by the processing assembly 22. It is further contemplated that the processing, and storing of L and CL may be performed by the host processor. The calculated location CL may be used in lieu of determining L, such as for a read operation in which the aiming pattern was generated during image acquisition, but the optical code selector module 32 determines that the position of the aiming pattern cannot be recovered in the processing of the acquired image data, e.g., the optical code selector module 32 doesn't succeed in sufficiently finding or processing the aiming pattern while processing the acquired image data This may occur when the aiming pattern is not detectable within the image data or was not sufficiently acquired. An exemplary situation in which the aiming pattern may not be detectable or sufficiently acquired is when the read operation is performed in bright ambient light conditions. In another embodiment of the invention, once the calculated location CL has been established, the calculated location CL is used for selecting the optical code that is being aimed at. A method for determining whether the calculated location CL has been established or not is described further below. If it is determined that the calculated location CL has not been established, then L must be determined, such as by using the method in accordance with FIG. 3 or FIG. 4. When the calculated location CL has been established, a read operation is performed by immediately disabling generation of the aiming pattern by the aiming controller 20 in response to receipt of the actuation signal. A first frame of image data is acquired with the aiming pattern disabled. The optical code selector module 32 processes the image data using the calculated location CL as the center of the aiming pattern in lieu of determining the location of the pixel that corresponds to the center of the aiming pattern and selects the optical code(s) that are located at a respective location, where the respective location relative to the calculated location CL meets a predetermined condition. The selected data may be transmitted for further processing, e.g., decoding, or the calculated location CL may be verified as follows. After acquiring image data with the aiming pattern disabled, generation of the aiming pattern is enabled by the aiming controller 20, and a second frame of image data is acquired with the aiming pattern generated so that the aiming pattern is acquired with the second frame of image data. The second frame of image data is processed by the optical code selector module 32 for determining the location L of the pixel that corresponds to the center of the aiming pattern. When the newly determined L is sufficiently close to the calculated location CL, e.g., any difference between CL and L is less than a predetermined threshold value it is not necessary to acquire the full second frame of image data, since processing, e.g., decoding, of optical codes is performed on image data from the first frame of data. Otherwise, the image data of the second frame is processed for selecting and processing the optical code that is located at a respective location, where the respective location relative to the determined location L meets a predetermined condition. As mentioned above, determination of whether CL is established or not, may be performed during previous read operations, such as by comparing a recently determined value for CL or L with a previously determined value for CL or L. CL may be determined to be established if the difference between the compared values is less than a predetermined threshold value. In another embodiment of the invention, a parallax range module 34 is provided which processes previously determined values for L, including tracking changes in L attributed to factors such as parallax, where the position of the aiming pattern depends on the distance between the target being imaged and the scanner system 10, and more particularly the scanning device 12. A range of possible values for L is established. Outside values for the range of possible L values correspond to outside values for a range of operational distances, where an operational distance is a distance between the scanning system, and more particularly the scanning device 12 (e.g., the photo sensor array thereof) and the target at which a successful read operation is attainable. As the outside values for the range of operational distances are established the outside values for the range of possible L values may be determined either empirically and/or by calculations, as described below. There are a variety of ways that the outside values for the range of operational distances may be established. For example, the outside values for the range of operational distances may be established empirically where only operational distances associated with successful read operations are used for determining outside values thereof. Furthermore, the outside values for the range of operational distances for the scanning device 12 may be known for the particular model being used, or may be calculated based on specifications and geometries of the scanner system 10, and more particularly the scanning device 12. Similarly, there are a variety of ways that the outside values of the range of possible values of L may be established. For example, maximum and minimum values of historical values of L based on normal use of the scanning device 12 may be determined. Furthermore, the scanning device 12 may be operated by a user to test the outside limits of the scanning device 12, such as by scanning targets that are located at minimum and maximum operational distances from the scanning device 12 and storing the corresponding values of L. The historical values for L may include only values of L that were determined in association with a successful read operation. Furthermore, outside values for the range of possible values of L may also (or alternatively) be established based on calculations, which may include using knowledge about the specifications and geometries of the scanner system, and more particularly the scanning device 12. During a read operation, a frame of image data is acquired without the aiming pattern being generated so that the aiming pattern is not captured with the image data. Pixels associated with the range of possible values of L are located and established as a cluster of center pixels corresponding to the range of possible values of L. A neighborhood of pixels located within a pre-established threshold distance from the cluster of center pixels are processed for finding optical codes. Optical codes, or portions thereof, that were found within the neighborhood of pixels are further processed, such as for decoding thereof. Where a portion of an optical code lies within the neighborhood of pixels, the portion may be processed and/or remaining portions of the optical code may be processed, which may depend upon how significant a portion of the optical code was located within the neighborhood of pixels. In another embodiment of the invention, the system 10 further includes range finder module 36 including circuitry and/or executable instructions for determining the distance between the scanning device 12, e.g., the photo sensor array of the scanning device 12, and the target being imaged. A variety of systems and methods for determining a distance between a target being imaged and a scanning device are known. For example, such a system is described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,340,114 B1 and copending U.S. application Ser. No. 10/425,499, filed Apr. 29, 2003, both of which are assigned to Symbol Technologies, Inc., and both of which are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety. During a read operation, a frame of image data is acquired without the aiming pattern being generated so that the aiming pattern is not captured with the image data. The parallax range module 34 calculates the position L of the center of the aiming pattern using the distance determined by the range finder module 36 and the specific geometry of the scanning device 12, e.g., the geometry of the imager module 14. Optical codes, or portions thereof, that were found within a vicinity of (e.g., within a predetermined distance from) the pixel that corresponds to the calculated position L are further processed, such as for decoding thereof. Where a portion of an optical code lies within the vicinity of the pixel corresponding to position L, the portion may be processed and/or remaining portions of the optical code may be processed, which may depend upon how significant a portion of the optical code was located within the vicinity. It is contemplated that the target being imaged may not be an optical code, but may be a non-code entity positioned near other entities that may be in the field of view. The described aiming technique helps to select the desired entity from the others for further processing thereof, which may be other than decoding, such as transmission, character recognition, image processing, etc. The described embodiments of the present invention are intended to be illustrative rather than restrictive, and are not intended to represent every embodiment of the present invention. Various modifications and variations can be made without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention as set forth in the following claims both literally and in equivalents recognized in law. | <SOH> BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION <EOH>1. Field of the Invention This invention relates to optical code readers. In particular, this invention relates to a system and method for aiming an optical code scanning device at a selected optical code. 2. Description of the Prior Art Optical code scanner systems have been developed heretofore for reading optical codes such as bar code symbols appearing on a label or on a surface of an article. The symbol itself is a coded pattern of indicia comprised of, for example, a series of bars of various widths spaced apart from one another to bound spaces of various widths, where the bars and spaces having different light reflecting characteristics. The scanning devices in scanning systems electro-optically transform the graphic indicia into electrical signals, which are decoded into alphanumeric characters that are intended to be descriptive of the article or some characteristic thereof. Such characters are typically represented in digital form and utilized as an input to a data processing system for applications in point-of-sale processing, inventory control and the like. Optical code scanning devices are used in both fixed and portable installations in many diverse environments, such as in stores for check-out services, in manufacturing locations for work flow and inventory control, and in transport vehicles for tracking package handling. The scanning device can be used for rapid data entry, such as by scanning a target barcode from a printed listing of many barcodes. In some uses, the optical code scanning device is connected to a portable data processing device or a data collection and transmission device. Frequently, the optical code scanning device is a handheld scanning device including a handheld sensor which is manually directed at a target code. Often an individual scanning device is a component of a much larger system including other scanning devices, computers, cabling, data terminals, etc. Such systems are frequently designed and constructed on the basis of mechanical and optical specifications for the scanning engine, sometimes called “form factors”. One such form factor is the SE1200 form factor designed by Symbol Technologies, Inc. One type of optical code scanning device is an array optical imager scanning device, which includes an image sensor having a one- or two-dimensional array of cells or photo sensors, such as an area charge coupled device (CCD). The imager scanning device images a target, including sensing light reflected off a target being imaged and generating a plurality of electrical signals corresponding to the sensing which correspond to a two-dimensional array of pixel information describing the field of view of the scanning device. The electrical signals are then processed and provided to decode circuitry for decoding thereof. The imager sensor includes associated circuitry for generating and processing the electrical signals. In addition, a lens assembly may be provided for focusing light incident on the image sensor. When multiple optical codes are in the field of view (FOV) of the scanning device, the scanning device typically determines which optical code is the easiest to capture and/or read, and that optical code is decoded first. The user does not control which optical code the system should try to decode, and accordingly may have difficulty scanning a desired optical code. Scanning devices are often equipped with an aiming assembly which generates a visible aiming pattern, such as a “cross hair” pattern, which a user may train on a target object to be imaged in order to aim the scanning device at the target image. In commercially available imaging devices it is common for the center of the aiming pattern to not coincide with the center of the field of view of the scanning device due to mechanical or manufacturing inconsistencies, including the displacement between a light source of the aiming assembly and a focal point of optics for focusing light onto the image sensor. The user may use the aiming pattern to scan a desired code that is presented together with multiple optical codes, such as on a page having one or more columns of optical codes. The user may try to align the center of the aiming pattern to coincide with or be nearest to the desired code and then activate a scanning operation, such as by pulling a trigger. Upon activation of the scanning operation, the scanning device temporarily disables generation of the aiming pattern so that the aiming pattern is not incorporated into the image being acquired in order not to obstruct a target being imaged. The actual position of the aiming pattern in the acquired image is not necessarily in the center of the acquired image. In fact, the actual position of the aiming pattern is not known. The desired optical code is not necessarily the acquired optical code that is closest to the center of the acquired image. Accordingly, there is not a reliable way to determine which optical code of the multiple optical codes lying within the field of view of the scanning device is the desired optical code. Accordingly, there is a need for a system and method for aiming an optical code scanning device at a desired optical code of multiple optical codes in the field of view of the scanning device for decoding the desired optical code. | <SOH> SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION <EOH>In accordance with the present invention, an optical code scanning device system is provided for reading at least one optical code, the system including an imager module for acquiring a series of at least one frame of image data, image data of respective frames including an array of pixel data corresponding to imaging of a field of view of the imager module; an aiming assembly having at least one light source for generating at least one beam forming an aiming pattern visible in the field of view; and an aiming controller for controlling the aiming assembly for controlling generation of the aiming pattern during acquisition of at least one frame of image data in response to receipt of an actuation signal indicating initiation of a read operation. The system further includes an optical code selector module executable on at least one processor for processing of at least a portion of a first frame of image data acquired while the aiming pattern was generated in accordance with a read operation for determining a location L of at least one pixel of the array of pixel data that corresponds to the aiming pattern. The optical code selector module further processes at least a portion of a second frame of image data of the at least one frame of image data acquired while the aiming pattern was not generated, including selecting at least one optical code acquired in the acquired image data that is located at a respective location, wherein the respective location meets a predetermined condition relative to the determined location L. The optical code selector module further provides the selected at least one optical code for further processing in accordance with the read operation. In another embodiment of the invention an optical code scanner system is provided including an imager module; an aiming assembly; a range finder module for determining a distance between the scanner system and at least one optical code being imaged; and a parallax range module for determining a location L of at least one pixel of the array of pixel data that corresponds to the aiming pattern in accordance with the distance determined by the range finder module. The system further includes an optical code selector module executable on at least one processor for processing at least a portion of a frame of image data acquired during a read operation while the aiming pattern was generated including selecting at least one optical code acquired in the acquired image data that is located at a respective location, wherein the respective location determined during the read operation meets a predetermined condition relative to the location L. The optical code selector module further, provides the selected at least one optical code for further processing in accordance with the read operation. In an alternate embodiment of the invention, a method is provided for reading at least one optical code including the steps of: imaging a field of view including acquiring a series of at least one frame of image data, image data of respective frames including an array of pixel data corresponding to a field of view of the imaging; generating at least one beam forming an aiming pattern visible in the field of view; controlling generation of the aiming pattern during acquisition of at least one frame of image data in response to receipt of an actuation signal indicating initiation of a read operation; and performing a read operation. The performance of the read operation includes the steps of: processing at least a portion of a first frame of image data acquired while the aiming pattern was generated for determining a location L of at least one pixel of the array of pixel data that corresponds to the aiming pattern; and processing at least a portion of a second frame of image data of the at least one frame of image data acquired while the aiming pattern was not generated. Performance of the read operation further includes the steps of selecting at least one optical code acquired in the acquired image data that is located at a respective location; wherein the respective location meets a predetermined condition relative to the determined location L; and providing the selected at least one optical code for further processing in accordance with the read operation. In yet another embodiment of the invention a method is provided for reading at least one optical code including the steps of: imaging with a scanning system a field of view including acquiring a series of at least one frame of image data, image data of respective frames including an array of pixel data corresponding to a field of view of the imaging; generating at least one beam forming an aiming pattern visible in the field of view; determining a distance between the scanner system and at least one optical code being imaged; determining a location L of at least one pixel of the array of pixel data that corresponds to the aiming pattern in accordance with the distance determined; and processing at least a portion of a frame of image data acquired during a read operation while the aiming pattern was generated. The processing includes the steps of selecting at least one optical code acquired in the acquired image data that is located at a respective location, wherein the respective location determined during the read operation meets a predetermined condition relative to the location L; and providing the selected at least one optical code for further processing in accordance with the read operation. | 20040831 | 20090120 | 20060302 | 95128.0 | G06K710 | 1 | KOYAMA, KUMIKO C | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR AIMING AN OPTICAL CODE SCANNING DEVICE | UNDISCOUNTED | 0 | ACCEPTED | G06K | 2,004 |
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10,931,246 | ACCEPTED | Nucleotide sequence encoding the enzyme I-SceI and the uses thereof | An isolated DNA encoding the enzyme I-SceI is provided. The DNA sequence can be incorporated in cloning and expression vectors, transformed cell lines and transgenic animals. The vectors are useful in gene mapping and site-directed insertion of genes. | 1. A method of inducing at least one site-directed double-strand break in DNA of a cell, said method comprising (a) providing cells containing double-stranded DNA, wherein said DNA comprises at least one I-SceI restriction site; (b) transfecting said cells with at least a plasmid comprising DNA encoding the I-SceI meganuclease; and (c) selecting cells in which at least one double-strand break has been induced. 2-22. (Canceled) | CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION This is a continuation-in-part of application Ser. No. 07/971,160, filed Nov. 5, 1992, which is a continuation-in-part of application Ser. No. 07/879,689, filed May 5, 1992. The entire disclosures of the prior applications are relied upon and incorporated herein by reference. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to a nucleotide sequence that encodes the restriction endonuclease I-SceI. This invention also relates to vectors containing the nucleotide sequence, cells transformed with the vectors, transgenic animals based on the vectors, and cell lines derived from cells in the animals. This invention also relates to the use of I-SceI for mapping eukaryotic genomes and for in vivo site directed genetic recombination. The ability to introduce genes into the germ line of mammals is of great interest in biology. The propensity of mammalian cells to take up exogenously added DNA and to express genes included in the DNA has been known for many years. The results of gene manipulation are inherited by the offspring of these animals. All cells of these offspring inherit the introduced gene as part of their genetic make-up. Such animals are said to be transgenic. Transgenic mammals have provided a means for studying gene regulation during embryogenesis and in differentiation, for studying the action of genes, and for studying the intricate interaction of cells in the immune system. The whole animal is the ultimate assay system for manipulated genes, which direct complex biological processes. Transgenic animals can provide a general assay for functionally dissecting DNA sequences responsible for tissue specific or developmental regulation of a variety of genes. In addition, transgenic animals provide useful vehicles for expressing recombinant proteins and for generating precise animal models of human genetic disorders. For a general discussion of gene cloning and expression in animals and animal cells, see Old and Primrose, “Principles of Gene Manipulation,” Blackwell Scientific Publications, London (1989), page 255 et seq. Transgenic lines, which have a predisposition to specific diseases and genetic disorders, are of great value in the investigation of the events leading to these states. It is well known that the efficacy of treatment of a genetic disorder may be dependent on identification of the gene defect that is the primary cause of the disorder. The discovery of effective treatments can be expedited by providing an animal model that will lead to the disease or disorder, which will enable the study of the efficacy, safety, and mode of action of treatment protocols, such as genetic recombination. One of the key issues in understanding genetic recombination is the nature of the initiation step. Studies of homologous recombination in bacteria and fungi have led to the proposal of two types of initiation mechanisms. In the first model, a single-strand nick initiates strand assimilation and branch migration (Meselson and Radding 1975). Alternatively, a double-strand break may occur, followed by a repair mechanism that uses an uncleaved homologous sequence as a template (Resnick and Martin 1976). This latter model has gained support from the fact that integrative transformation in yeast is dramatically increased when the transforming plasmid is linearized in the region of chromosomal homology (Orr-Weaver, Szostak and Rothstein 1981) and from the direct observation of a double-strand break during mating type interconversion of yeast (Strathern et al. 1982). Recently, double-strand breaks have also been characterized during normal yeast meiotic recombination (Sun et al. 1989; Alani, Padmore and Kleckner 1990). Several double-strand endonuclease activities have been characterized in yeast: HO and intron encoded endonucleases are associated with homologous recombination functions, while others still have unknown genetic functions (Endo-SceI, Endo-SceII) (Shibata et al. 1984; Morishima et al. 1990). The HO site-specific endonuclease initiates mating-type interconversion by making a double-strand break near the YZ junction of MAT (Kostriken et al. 1983). The break is subsequently repaired using the intact HML or HMR sequences and resulting in ectopic gene conversion. The HO recognition site is a degenerate 24 bp non-symmetrical sequence (Nickoloff, Chen, and Heffron 1986; Nickoloff, Singer and Heffron 1990). This sequence has been used as a “recombinator” in artificial constructs to promote intra- and intermolecular mitotic and meiotic recombination (Nickoloff, Chen and Heffron, 1986; Kolodkin, Klar and Stahl 1986; Ray et al. 1988, Rudin and Haber, 1988; Rudin, Sugarman, and Haber 1989). The two-site specific endonucleases, I-SceI (Jacquier and Dujon 1985) and I-SceII (Delahodde et al. 1989; Wenzlau et al. 1989), that are responsible for intron mobility in mitochondria, initiate a gene conversion that resembles the HO-induced conversion (see Dujon 1989 for review). I-SceI, which is encoded by the optional intron Sc LSU.1 of the 21S rRNA gene, initiates a double-strand break at the intron insertion site (Macreadie et al. 1985; Dujon et al. 1985; Colleaux et al. 1986). The recognition site of I-SceI extends over an 18 bp non-symmetrical sequence (Colleaux et al. 1988). Although the two proteins are not obviously related by their structure (HO is 586 amino acids long while I-SceI is 235 amino acids long), they both generate 4 bp staggered cuts with 3′ OH overhangs within their respective recognition sites. It has been found that a mitochondrial intron-encoded endonuclease, transcribed in the nucleus and translated in the cytoplasm, generates a double-strand break at a nuclear site. The repair events induced by I-SceI are identical to those initiated by HO. In summary, there exists a need in the art for reagents and methods for providing transgenic animal models of human diseases and genetic disorders. The reagents can be based on the restriction enzyme I-SceI and the gene encoding this enzyme. In particular, there exists a need for reagents and methods for replacing a natural gene with another gene that is capable of alleviating the disease or genetic disorder. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Accordingly, this invention aids in fulfilling these needs in the art. Specifically, this invention relates to an isolated DNA encoding the enzyme I-SceI. The DNA has the following nucleotide sequence: ATG CAT ATG AAA AAC ATC AAA AAA AAC CAG GTA ATG 2670 M H M K N I K K N Q V M 12 2671 AAC CTC GGT CCG AAC TCT AAA CTG CTG AAA GAA TAC AAA TCC CAG CTG ATC GAA CTG AAC 2730 13 N L G P N S K L L K E Y K S Q L I E L N 32 2731 ATC GAA CAG TTC GAA GCA GGT ATC GGT CTG ATC CTG GGT GAT GCT TAC ATC CGT TCT CGT 2790 33 I E Q F E A G I G L I L G D A Y I R S R 52 2791 GAT GAA GGT AAA ACC TAC TGT ATG CAG TTC GAG TGG AAA AAC AAA GCA TAC ATG GAC CAC 2850 53 D E G K T Y C M Q F E W K N K A Y M D H 72 2851 GTA TGT CTG CTG TAC GAT CAG TGG GTA CTG CTG TCC CCG CAC AAA AAA GAA CGT GTT AAC 2910 73 V C L L Y D Q W V L S P P H K K E R V N 92 2911 CAC TCG GGT AAC CTG GTA ATC ACC TGG GGC GCC CAG ACT TTC AAA CAC CAA GCT TTC AAC 2970 93 H L G N L V I T W G A Q T F K H Q A F N 112 2971 AAA CTG GCT AAC CTG TTC ATC GTT AAC AAC AAA AAA ACC ATC CCG AAC AAC CTG GTT GAA 3030 113 K L A N L F I V N N K K T I P N N L V E 132 3031 AAC TAC CTG ACC CCG ATG TCT CTG GCA TAC TGG TTC ATG GAT GAT GGT GGT AAA TGG GAT 3090 133 N Y L T P M S L A Y W F M D D G G K W D 152 3091 TAC AAC AAA AAC TCT ACC AAC AAA TCG ATC GTA CTG AAC ACC CAG TCT TTC ACT TTC GAA 3150 153 Y N K N S T N K S I V L N T Q S F T F E 172 3151 GAA GTA GAA TAC CTG GTT AAG GGT CTG CGT AAC AAA TTC CAA CTG AAC TGT TAC GTA AAA 3210 173 E V E Y L V K G L R N K F Q L N C Y V K 192 3211 ATC AAC AAA AAC AAA CCG ATC ATC TAC ATC GAT TCT ATG TCT TAC CTG ATC TTC TAC AAC 3270 193 I N K N K P I I Y I D S M S Y L I F Y N 212 3271 CTG ATC AAA CCG TAC CTG ATC CCG CAG ATG ATG TAC AAA CTG CCG AAC ACT ATC TCC TCC 3330 213 L I K P Y L I P Q M M Y K L P N T I S S 232 3331 GAA ACT TTC CTG AAA TAA 233 E T F L K * This invention also relates to a DNA sequence comprising a promoter operatively linked to the DNA sequence of the invention encoding the enzyme I-SceI. This invention further relates to an isolated RNA complementary to the DNA sequence of the invention encoding the enzyme I-SceI and to the other DNA sequences described herein. In another embodiment of the invention, a vector is provided. The vector comprises a plasmid, bacteriophage, or cosmid vector containing the DNA sequence of the invention encoding the enzyme I-SceI. In addition, this invention relates to E. coli or eukaryotic cells transformed with a vector of the invention. Also, this invention relates to transgenic animals containing the DNA sequence encoding the enzyme I-SceI and cell lines cultured from cells of the transgenic animals. In addition, this invention relates to a transgenic organism in which at least one restriction site for the enzyme I-SceI has been inserted in a chromosome of the organism. Further, this invention relates to a method of genetically mapping a eukaryotic genome using the enzyme I-SceI. This invention also relates to a method for in vivo site directed recombination in an organism using the enzyme I-SceI. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS This invention will be more fully described with reference to the drawings in which: FIG. 1 depicts the universal code equivalent of the mitochondrial I-SceI gene. FIG. 2 depicts the nucleotide sequence of the invention encoding the enzyme I-SceI and the amino acid sequence of the natural I-SceI enzyme. FIG. 3 depicts the I-SceI recognition sequence and indicates possible base mutations in the recognition site and the effect of such mutations on stringency of recognition. FIG. 4 is the nucleotide sequence and deduced amino acid sequence of a region of plasmid pSCM525. The nucleotide sequence of the invention encoding the enzyme I-SceI is enclosed in the box. FIG. 5 depicts variations around the amino acid sequence of the enzyme I-SceI. FIG. 6 shows Group I intron encoding endonucleases and related endonucleases. FIG. 7 depicts yeast expression vectors containing the synthetic gene for I-SceI. FIG. 8 depicts the mammalian expression vector PRSV I-SceI. FIG. 9 is a restriction map of the plasmid pAF100. (See also YEAST, 6:521-534, 1990, which is relied upon and incorporated by reference herein). FIGS. 10A and 10B show the nucleotide sequence and restriction sites of regions of the plasmid pAF100. FIG. 11 depicts an insertion vector pTSMω, pTKMω, and pTTcω containing the I-SceI site for E. coli and other bacteria. FIG. 12 depicts an insertion vector pTYW6 containing the I-SceI site for yeast. FIG. 13 depicts an insertion vector PMLV LTR SAPLZ containing the I-SceI site for mammalian cells. FIG. 14 depicts a set of seven transgenic yeast strains cleaved by I-SceI. Chromosomes from FY1679 (control) and from seven transgenic yeast strains with I-SceI sites inserted at various positions along chromosome XI were treated with I-SceI. DNA was electrophoresed on 1% agarose (SeaKem) gel in 0.25×TBE buffer at 130 V and 12° C. on a Rotaphor apparatus (Biometra) for 70 hrs using 100 sec to 40 sec decreasing pulse times. (A) DNA was stained with ethidium bromide (0.2 μg/ml) and transferred to a Hybond N (Amersham) membrane for hybridization. (B) 32P labelled cosmid pUKG040 which hybridizes with the shortest fragment of the set was used as a probe. Positions of chromosome XI and shorter chromosomes are indicated. FIG. 15 depicts the rationale of the nested chromosomal fragmentation strategy for genetic mapping. (A) Positions of I-SceI sites are placed on the map, irrespective of the left/right orientation (shorter fragments are arbitrarily placed on the left). Fragment sizes as measured from PFGE (FIG. 14A) are indicated in kb (note that the sum of the two fragment sizes varies slightly due to the limit of precision of each measurement). (B) Hybridization with the probe that hybridizes the shortest fragment of the set determines the orientation of each fragment (see FIG. 14B). Fragments that hybridize with the probe (full lines) have been placed arbitrarily to the left. (C) Transgenic yeast strains have been ordered with increasing sizes of hybridizing chromosome fragments. (D) Deduced I-SceI map with minimal and maximal size of intervals indicated in kb (variations in some intervals are due to limitations of PFGE measurements). (E) Chromosome subfragments are used as probes to assign each cosmid clone to a given map interval or across a given I-SceI site. FIG. 16 depicts mapping of the I-SceI sites of transgenic yeast strains by hybridization with left end and right end probes of chromosome XI. Chromosomes from FY1679 (control) and the seven transgenic yeast strains were digested with I-SceI. Transgenic strains were placed in order as explained in FIG. 15. Electrophoresis conditions were as in FIG. 14. 32P labelled cosmids pUKG040 and pUKG066 were used as left end and right end probes, respectively. FIG. 17 depicts mapping of a cosmid collection using the nested chromosomal fragments as probes. Cosmid DNAs were digested with EcoRI and electrophoresed on 0.9% agarose (SeaKem) gel at 1.5 V/cm for 14 hrs, stained with ethidium bromide and transferred to a Hybond N membrane. Cosmids were placed in order from previous hybridizations to help visualize the strategy. Hybridizations were carried out serially on three identical membranes using left end nested chromosome fragments purified on PFGE (see FIG. 16) as probes. A: ethidium bromide staining (ladder is the BRL “1 kb ladder”) B: membrane #1, probe: Left tel to A302 site, C: membrane #1, probe: Left tel to M57 site, D: membrane #2, probe: Left tel to H81 site, E: membrane #2, probe: Left tel to T62 site, F: membrane #3, probe: Left tel to G41 site, G: membrane #3, probe: Left tel to D304 site, H: membrane #3, probe: entire chromosome XI. FIG. 18 depicts a map of the yeast chromosome XI as determined from the nested chromosomal fragmentation strategy. The chromosome is divided into eight intervals (with sizes indicated in kb, see FIG. 15D) separated by seven I-SceI sites (E40, A302 . . . ). Cosmid clones falling either within intervals or across a given I-SceI site are listed below intervals or below interval boundaries, respectively. Cosmid clones that hybridize with selected genes used as probes are indicated by letters (a-i). They localize the gene with respect to the I-SceI map and allow comparison with the genetic map (top). FIG. 19 depicts diagrams of successful site directed homologous recombination experiments performed in yeast. FIG. 20. Experimental design for the detection of HR induced by I-Sce I. a) Maps of the 7.5 kb tk-PhleoLacZ retrovirus (G-MtkPL) and of the 6.0 kb PhleoLacZ retrovirus (G-MPL), SA is splice acceptor site. G-MtkPL sequences (from G-MtkPL virus) contains PhleoLacZ fusion gene for positive selection of infected cells (in phleomycin-containing medium) and tk gene for negative selection (in gancyclovir-containing medium). G-MPL sequences (from G-MPL virus) contains only PhleoLacZ sequences. b) Maps of proviral structures following retroviral integration of G-MtkPL and G-MPL. I-Sce I PhleoLacZ LTR duplicates, placing I-Sce I PhleoLacZ sequences in the 5′ LTR. The virus vector (which functions as a promoter trap) is transcribed (arrow) by a flanking cellular promoter, P. c) I-Sce I creates two double strand breaks (DSBs) in host DNA liberating the central segment and leaving broken chromosome ends that can pair with the donor plasmid, pVRneo (d). e) Expected recombinant locus following HR. FIG. 21. A. Scheme of pG-MPL. SD and SA are splice donor and splice acceptor sites. The structure of the unspliced 5.8 kb (genomic) and spliced 4.2 kb transcripts is shown below. Heavy bar is 32P radiolabelled LacZ probe (P). B. RNA Northern blot analysis of a pG MLP transformed ψ-2 producer clone using polyadenylated RNA. Note that the genomic and the spliced mRNA are produced at the same high level. FIG. 22. A. Introduction of duplicated I-Sce I recognition sites into the genome of mammalian cells by retrovirus integration. Scheme of G-MPL and G-MtkPL proviruses which illustrates positions of the two LTRs and pertinent restriction sites. The size of Bcl I fragments and of I-SceI fragments are indicated. Heavy bar is 32P radiolabelled LacZ probe (P). B. Southern blot analysis of cellular DNA from NIH3T3 fibroblasts cells infected by G-MtkPL and PCC7-S multipotent cells infected by G-MPL. Bcl I digests demonstrating LTR mediated PhleoLacZ duplication; I-Sce I digests demonstrating faithful duplication of I-Sce I sites. FIG. 23. Verification of recombination by Southern. A.: Expected fragment sizes in kilobase pairs (kb) of provirus at the recombinant locus. 1) the parental proviral locus. Heavy bar (P) is 32P radioactively labelled probe used for hybridization. 2) a recombinant derived after cleavage at the two I-Sce I sites followed by gap repair using pVR neo (double-site homologous recombination, DsHR). 3) a recombination event initiated by the cleavage at the I-Sce I sites in the left LTR (single-site homologous recombination, SsHR). B.: Southern analysis of DNA from NIH3T3/G-MtkPL clones 1 and 2, PCC7-S/G-MPL clones 3 and 4 and transformants derived from cotransfection with pCMV(I-SceI+) and pVRneo (1a, 1b, 2a, 3a, 3b and 4a). Kpn I digestion of the parental DNA generates a 4.2 kb fragment containing LacZ fragment. Recombinants 1a and 3a are examples of DsHR Recombinants 1b, 2a, 3b and 4a are examples of SsHR. FIG. 24. Verification of recombination by Northern blot analyses. A.: Expected structure and sizes (in kb) of RNA from PCC7-S/G-MPL clone 3 cells before (top) and after (bottom) I-Sce I induced HR with pVRneo.1 Heavy bars P1 and P2 are 32P radioactively labelled probes. B.: Northern blot analysis of the PCC7-S/G-MPL clone 3 recombinant (total RNA). Lane 3 is parental cells, lane 3a recombinant cells. Two first lanes were probed with LacZ P1, two last lanes are probed with neo P2. parental PCC7-S/G-MPL clone 3 cells express a 7.0 kb LacZ RNA as expected of trapping of a cellular promoter leading to expression of a cellular-viral fusion RNA. The recombinant clone does not express this Lacz RNA but expresses a neo RNA of 5.0 kb, corresponding to the size expected for an accurate replacement of PhleoLacZ by neo gene. FIG. 25. Types of recombination events induced by I-Sce I DSBs, a) Schematic drawing of the structure of the recombination substrate. The G-MtkPL has provirus two LTRs, each containing an I-Sce I recognition site and a PhleoLacZ gene. The LTRs are separated by viral sequences containing the tk gene. The phenotype of G-MtkPL containing cells is PhleoR, GIss, β-Gal± b) Possible modes of intra-chromosomal recombination. 1) The I-Sce I endonuclease cuts the I-Sce I site in the 5′LTR. The 5′ part of U3 of the 5′LTR can pair and recombine with it homologous sequence in the 3′LTR (by SSA). 2). The I-Sce I endonuclease cuts the I-Sce I site in the 3′LTR. The 3′ part of U3 of the 3′LTR can pair and recombine with its homologous sequence in the 5′LTR (by SSA). 3) The I-Sce I endonuclease cuts I-Sce I sites in the two LTRs. The two free ends can relegate (by an end-joining mechanism). The resulting recombination product in each of the three models is a solitary LTR, (see right side). No modification would occur in the cellular sequences flanking the integration site. c) The I-Sce I endonuclease cuts the I-Sce I sites in the two LTRs. The two free ends can be repaired (by a gap repair mechanism) using the homologous chromosome. On the right, the resulting recombination product is the deletion of the proviral integration locus. FIG. 26. Southern blot analysis of DNA from NIH3T3/G-MtkPL 1 and 2, and PhleoLacZ− recombinants derived from transfections with pCMV(I-Sce I+) selected in Gancyclovir containing medium. a) Expected fragment sizes in kilobase pair (kbp) of parental provirus after digestion with Pst I endonuclease. Pst I digestion of the parental DNA NH3T3/G-MtkPL 1 generates two fragments of 10 kbp and of the parental NIH3T3/G-MtkPL 2 two fragments of 7 kbp and 9 kbp. b) Southern blot analysis of DNA digested by Pst I from NIH3T3/G-MtkPL 1, and recombinants derived from transfection with pCMV(I-Sce I+) (1.1 to 1.5). c) Southern blot analysis of DNA digested by Pst I from NIH3T3/G-MtkPL 2, and recombinants derived from transfection with pCMV(I-Sce I+) (2.1 to 2.6). Heavy bar is 32P radiolabelled LacZ probe (P). FIG. 27. Southern blot analysis of DNA from NIH3T3/G-MtkPL 1 and 2, and PhleoLacZ+ recombinants derived from transfections with pCMV(I-Sce I+) and pCMV(I-Sce I−) and selection in Phleomycin and Gancyclovir containing medium. a) Expected fragment sizes in kbp of parental provirus after digestion with Pst I or Bcl I endonuclease. Pst I digestion of the parental DNA NIH3T3/G-MtkPL 1 generates two fragments of 10 kbp. Bcl I digestion of the parental DNA NIH3T3/G-MtkPL 2 generates three fragments of 9.2 kbp, 7.2 kbp and 6.0 kbp. a2) Expected fragment sizes in kbp of recombinants after digestion with Pst I or Bcl I endonuclease. Pst I digestion of DNA of the recombinant derived from NIH3T3/G-MtkPL 1 generates one fragment of 13.6 kbp. Bcl I digestion of the DNA of the recombinants derived from NIH3T3/G-MtkPL 2 generates two fragments of 9.2 kbp and 6.0 kbp. b) Southern blot analysis of DNA from NIH3T3/G-MtkPL 1, and recombinants derived from transfection with pCMV(I-Sce I− and pCMV(I-Sce I+) (1c, 1d). c) Southern analysis of DNA from NIH3T3/G-MtkPL 2, and transformants derived from transfection with pCMV(I-Sce I−) (2a, 2b) and pCMV(I-Sce I+) (2c to 2h). Heavy bar is 32P radiolabelled LacZ probe (P). FIG. 28. FIG. 28 is a diagram illustrating the loss of heterozygosity by the insertion or presence of an I-Sce I site, expression of the enzyme I-Sce I, cleavage at the site, and repair of the double strand break at the site with the corresponding chromatid. FIG. 29. FIG. 29 is a diagram illustrating conditional activation of a gene. An I-Sce I site is integrated between tandem repeats, and the enzyme I-Sce I is expressed. The enzyme cleaves the double stranded DNA at the I-Sce I site. The double strand break is repaired by single stand annealing, yielding an active gene. FIG. 30. FIG. 30 is a diagram illustrating one step rearrangement of a gene by integration of an I-Sce I site or by use of an I-Sce I site present in the gene. A plasmid having either one I-Sce-I site within an inactive gene, or two I-Sce I sites at either end of an active gene without a promoter, is introduced into the cell. The cell contains an inactive form of the corresponding gene. The enzyme I-Sce I cuts the plasmid at the I-Sce I sites, and recombination between the chromosome and the plasmid yields an active gene replacing the inactive gene. FIG. 31. FIG. 31 is a diagram illustrating the duplication of a locus. An I-Sce I site and a distal part of the locus are inserted into the gene by classical gene replacement. The I-Sce I site is cleaved by I-Sce I enzyme, and the break is repaired by homologous sequences. This results in duplication of the entire locus. FIG. 32. FIG. 30 is a diagram illustrating the deletion of a locus. Two I-Sce I sites are added to flank the locus to be deleted. The I-Sce I enzyme is expressed, and the sites are cleaved. The two remaining ends recombine, deleting the locus between the two I-Sce I sites. FIG. 33. FIG. 33 is a diagram of plasmid pG-MtkΔPAPL showing the restriction sites. The plasmid is constructed by deletion of the polyadenylation region of the tk gene from the pGMtkPL plasmid. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The genuine mitochondrial gene (ref. 8) cannot be expressed in E. coli, yeast or other organisms due to the peculiarities of the mitochondrial genetic code. A “universal code equivalent” has been constructed by in vitro site-directed mutagenesis. Its sequence is given in FIG. 1. Note that all non-universal codons (except two CTN) have been replaced together with some codons extremely rare in E. coli. The universal code equivalent has been successfully expressed in E. coli and determines the synthesis of an active enzyme. However, expression levels remained low due to the large number of codons that are extremely rare in E. coli. Expression of the “universal code equivalent” has been detected in yeast. To optimize gene expression in heterologous systems, a synthetic gene has been designed to encode a protein with the genuine amino acid sequence of I-SceI using, for each codon, that most frequently used in E. coli. The sequence of the synthetic gene is given in FIG. 2. The synthetic gene was constructed in vitro from eight synthetic oligonucleotides with partial overlaps. Oligonucleotides were designed to allow mutual priming for second strand synthesis by Klenow polymerase when annealed by pairs. The elongated pairs were then ligated into plasmids. Appropriately placed restriction sites within the designed sequence allowed final assembly of the synthetic gene by in vitro ligation. The synthetic gene has been successfully expressed in both E. coli and yeast. 1. I-SceI Gene Sequence This invention relates to an isolated DNA sequence encoding the enzyme I-SceI. The enzyme I-SceI is an endonuclease. The properties of the enzyme (ref. 14) are as follows: I-SceI is a double-stranded endonuclease that cleaves DNA within its recognition site. I-SceI generates a 4 bp staggered cut with 3′OH overhangs. Substrate: Acts only on double-stranded DNA. Substrate DNA can be relaxed or negatively supercoiled. Cations: Enzymatic activity requires Mg++ (8 mM is optimum). Mn++ can replace Mg++, but this reduces the stringency of recognition. Optimum conditions for activity: high pH (9 to 10), temperature 20-40° C., no monovalent cations. Enzyme stability: I-SceI is unstable at room temperature. The enzyme-substrate complex is more stable than the enzyme alone (presence of recognition sites stabilizes the enzyme.) The enzyme I-SceI has a known recognition site. (ref. 14.) The recognition site of I-SceI is a non-symmetrical sequence that extends over 18 bp as determined by systematic, mutational analysis. The sequence reads: (arrows indicate cuts) 5′ TAGGGATAACAGGGTAAT 3′ 3′ ATCCCTATTGTCCCATTA 5′ The recognition site corresponds, in part, to the upstream exon and, in part, to the downstream exon of the intron plus form of the gene. The recognition site is partially degenerate: single base substitutions within the 18 bp long sequence result in either complete insensitivity or reduced sensitivity to the enzyme, depending upon position and nature of the substitution. The stringency of recognition has been measured on: 1—mutants of the site. 2—the total yeast genome (Saccharomyces cerevisiae, genome complexity is 1.4×107 bp). Data are unpublished. Results are: 1—Mutants of the site: As shown in FIG. 3, there is a general shifting of stringency, i.e., mutants severely affected in Mg++ become partially affected in Mn++, mutants partially affected in Mg++ become unaffected in Mn++. 2—Yeast: In magnesium conditions, no cleavage is observed in normal yeast. In the same condition, DNA from transgenic yeasts is cleaved to completion at the artificially inserted I-SceI site and no other cleavage site can be detected. If magnesium is replaced by manganese, five additional cleavage sites are revealed in the entire yeast genome, none of which is cleaved to completion. Therefore, in manganese the enzyme reveals an average of 1 site for ca. 3 millions based pairs (5/1.4×107 bp). Definition of the recognition site: important bases are indicated in FIG. 3. They correspond to bases for which severely affected mutants exist. Notice however that: 1—All possible mutations at each position have not been determined; therefore a base that does not correspond to a severely affected mutant may still be important if another mutant was examined at this very same position. 2—There is no clear-cut limit between a very important base (all mutants are severely affected) and a moderately important base (some of the mutants are severely affected). There is a continuum between excellent substrates and poor substrates for the enzyme. The expected frequency of natural I-SceI sites in a random DNA sequence is, therefore, equal to (0.25)−18 or (1.5×10−11). In other words, one should expect one natural site for the equivalent of ca. 20 human genomes, but the frequency of degenerate sites is more difficult to predict. I-SceI belongs to a “degenerate” subfamily of the two-dodecapeptide family. Conserved amino acids of the dodecapeptide motifs are required for activity. In particular, the aspartic residues at positions 9 of the two dodecapeptides cannot be replaced, even with glutamic residues. It is likely that the dodecapeptides form the catalytic site or part of it. Consistent with the recognition site being non-symmetrical, it is likely that the endonucleolytic activity of I-SceI requires two successive recognition steps: binding of the enzyme to the downstream half of the site (corresponding to the downstream exon) followed by binding of the enzyme to the upstream half of the site (corresponding to the upstream exon). The first binding is strong, the second is weaker, but the two are necessary for cleavage of DNA. In vitro, the enzyme can bind the downstream exon alone as well as the intron-exon junction sequence, but no cleavage results. The evolutionarily conserved dodecapeptide motifs of intron-encoded I-SceI are essential for endonuclease activity. It has been proposed that the role of these motifs is to properly position the acidic amino acids with respect to the DNA sequence recognition domains of the enzyme for the catalysis of phosphodiester bond hydrolysis (ref. P3). The nucleotide sequence of the invention, which encodes the natural I-SceI enzyme is shown in FIG. 2. The nucleotide sequence of the gene of the invention was derived by dideoxynucleotide sequencing. The base sequences of the nucleotides are written in the 5′----->3′ direction. Each of the letters shown is a conventional designation for the following nucleotides: A Adenine G Guanine T Thymine C Cytosine. It is preferred that the DNA sequence encoding the enzyme I-SceI be in a purified form. For instance, the sequence can be free of human blood-derived proteins, human serum proteins, viral proteins, nucleotide sequences encoding these proteins, human tissue, human tissue components, or combinations of these substances. In addition, it is preferred that the DNA sequence of the invention is free of extraneous proteins and lipids, and adventitious microorganisms, such as bacteria and viruses. The essentially purified and isolated DNA sequence encoding I-SceI is especially useful for preparing expression vectors. Plasmid pSCM525 is a pUC12 derivative, containing an artificial sequence encoding the DNA sequence of the invention. The nucleotide sequence and deduced amino acid sequence of a region of plasmid pSCM525 is shown in FIG. 4. The nucleotide sequence of the invention encoding I-SceI is enclosed in the box. The artificial gene is a BamHI-SalI piece of DNA sequence of 723 base pairs, chemically synthesized and assembled. It is placed under tac promoter control. The DNA sequence of the artificial gene differs from the natural coding sequence or its universal code equivalent described in Cell (1986), Vol. 44, pages 521-533. However, the translation product of the artificial gene is identical in sequence to the genuine omega-endonuclease except for the addition of a Met-His at the N-terminus. It will be understood that this modified endonuclease is within the scope of this invention. Plasmid pSCM525 can be used to transform any suitable E. coli strain and transformed cells become ampicillin-resistant. Synthesis of the omega-endonuclease is obtained by addition of I.P.T.G. or an equivalent inducer of the lactose operon system. A plasmid identified as pSCM525 containing the enzyme I-SceI was deposited in E. coli strain TG1 with the Collection Nationale de Cultures de Microorganismes (C.N.C.M.) of Institut Pasteur in Paris, France on Nov. 22, 1990, under culture collection deposit Accession No. I-1014. The nucleotide sequence of the invention is thus available from this deposit. The gene of the invention can also be prepared by the formation of 3′----->5′ phosphate linkages between nucleoside units using conventional chemical synthesis techniques. For example, the well-known phosphodiester, phosphotriester, and phosphite triester techniques, as well as known modifications of these approaches, can be employed. Deoxyribonucleotides can be prepared with automatic synthesis machines, such as those based on the phosphoramidite approach. Oligo- and polyribonucleotides can also be obtained with the aid of RNA ligase using conventional techniques. This invention of course includes variants of the DNA sequence of the invention exhibiting substantially the same properties as the sequence of the invention. By this it is meant that DNA sequences need not be identical to the sequence disclosed herein. Variations can be attributable to single or multiple base substitutions, deletions, or insertions or local mutations involving one or more nucleotides not substantially detracting from the properties of the DNA sequence as encoding an enzyme having the cleavage properties of the enzyme I-SceI. FIG. 5 depicts some of the variations that can be made around the I-SceI amino acid sequence. It has been demonstrated that the following positions can be changed without affecting enzyme activity: positions −1 and −2 are not natural. The two amino acids are added due to cloning strategies. positions 1 to 10: can be deleted. position 36: G is tolerated. position 40: M or V are tolerated. position 41: S or N are tolerated. position 43: A is tolerated. position 46: V or N are tolerated. position 91: A is tolerated. positions 123 and 156: L is tolerated. position 223: A and S are tolerated. It will be understood that enzymes containing these modifications are within the scope of this invention. Changes to the amino acid sequence in FIG. 5 that have been demonstrated to affect enzyme activity are as follows: position 19: L to S position 38: I to S or N position 39: G to D or R position 40: L to Q position 42: L to R position 44: D to E, G or H position 45: A to E or D position 46: Y to D position 47: I to R or N position 80: L to S position 144: D to E position 145: D to E position 146: G to E position 147: G to S It will also be understood that the present invention is intended to encompass fragments of the DNA sequence of the invention in purified form, where the fragments are capable of encoding enzymatically active. I-SceI. The DNA sequence of the invention coding for the enzyme I-SceI can be amplified in the well known polymerase chain reaction (PCR), which is useful for amplifying all or specific regions of the gene. See e.g., S. Kwok et al., J. Virol., 61:1690-1694 (1987); U.S. Pat. No. 4,683,202; and U.S. Pat. No. 4,683,195. More particularly, DNA primer pairs of known sequence positioned 10-300 base pairs apart that are complementary to the plus and minus strands of the DNA to be amplified can be prepared by well known techniques for the synthesis of oligonucleotides. One end of each primer can be extended and modified to create restriction endonuclease sites when the primer is annealed to the DNA. The PCR reaction mixture can contain the DNA, the DNA primer pairs, four deoxyribonucleoside triphosphates, MgCl2, DNA polymerase, and conventional buffers. The DNA can be amplified for a number of cycles. It is generally possible to increase the sensitivity of detection by using a multiplicity of cycles, each cycle consisting of a short period of denaturation of the DNA at an elevated temperature, cooling of the redaction mixture, and polymerization with the DNA polymerase. Amplified sequences can be detected by the use of a technique termed oligomer restriction (OR). See, R. K. Saiki et al., Bio/Technology 3:1008-1012 (1985). The enzyme I-SceI is one of a number of endonucleases with similar properties. Following is a listing of related enzymes and their sources. Group I intron encoded endonucleases and related enzymes are listed below with references. Recognition sites are shown in FIG. 6. Enzyme Encoded by Ref I-SceI Sc LSU-1 intron this work I-SceII Sc cox1-4 intron Sargueil et al., NAR (1990) 18, 5659-5665 I-SceIII Sc cox1-3 intron Sargueil et al., MGG (1991) 225, 340-341 I-SceIV Sc cox1-5a intron Seraphin et al. (1992) in press I-CeuI Ce LSU-5 intron Marshall, Lemieux Gene (1991) 104, 241-245 I-CreI Cr LSU-1 intron Rochaix (unpublished) I-PpoI Pp LSU-3 intron Muscarella et al., MCB (1990) 10, 3386-3396 I-TevI T4 td-1 intron Chu et al., PNAS (1990) 87, 3574-3578 and Bell- Pedersen et al. NAR (1990) 18, 3763-3770. I-TevII T4 sunY intron Bell-Pedersen et al. NAR (1990) 18, 3763-3770. I-TevIII RB3 nrdB-1 intron Eddy, Gold, Genes Dev. (1991) 5, 1032-1041 HO HO yeast gene Nickoloff et al., MCB (1990) 10, 1174-1179 Endo SceI RF3 yeast mito. gene Kawasaki. et al., JBC (1991) 266, 5342-5347 Putative new enzymes (genetic evidence but no activity as yet) are I-CsmI from cytochrome b intron 1 of Chlamydomonas smithii mitochondria (ref. 15), I-PanI from cytochrome b intron 3 of Podospora anserina mitochondria (Jill Salvo), and probably enzymes encoded by introns Nc nd1{dot over ( )}1 and Nc cob{dot over ( )}! from Neurospora crassa. The I-endonucleases can be classified as follows: Class I: Two dodecapeptide motifs, 4 bp staggered cut with 3′ OH overhangs, cut internal to recognition site Subclass “I-SceI” Other subclasses I-SceI I-SceII I-SceIV I-SceIII I-CsmI I-CeuI (only one dodecapeptide motif) I-PanI I-CreI (only one dodecapeptide motif) HO TFP1-408 (HO homolog) Endo SceI Class II: GIY-(N10-11) YIG motif, 2 bp staggered cut with 3′ OH overhangs, cut external to recognition site: I-TevI Class III: no typical structural motifs, 4 bp staggered cut with 3′ OH overhangs, cut internal to recognition site: I-PpoI Class IV: no typical structural motifs, 2 bp staggered cut with 3′ OH overhangs, cut external to recognition site: I-TevII Class V: no typical structural motifs, 2 bp staggered cut with 5′ OH overhangs: I-TevIII. 2. Nucleotide Probes Containing the I-SceI Gene of the Invention The DNA sequence of the invention coding for the enzyme I-SceI can also be used as a probe for the detection of a nucleotide sequence in a biological material, such as tissue or body fluids. The probe can be labeled with an atom or inorganic radical, most commonly using a radionuclide, but also perhaps with a heavy metal. Radioactive labels include 32P, 3H, 14C, or the like. Any radioactive label can be employed, which provides for an adequate signal and has sufficient half-life. Other labels include ligands that can serve as a specific binding member to a labeled antibody, fluorescers, chemiluminescers, enzymes, antibodies which can serve as a specific binding pair member for a labeled ligand, and the like. The choice of the label will be governed by the effect of the label on the rate of hybridization and binding of the probe to the DNA or RNA. It will be necessary that the label provide sufficient sensitivity to detect the amount of DNA or RNA available for hybridization. When the nucleotide sequence of the invention is used as a probe for hybridizing to a gene, the nucleotide sequence is preferably affixed to a water insoluble solid, porous support, such as nitrocellulose paper. Hybridization can be carried out using labeled polynucleotides of the invention and conventional hybridization reagents. The particular hybridization technique is not essential to the invention. The amount of labeled probe present in the hybridization solution will vary widely, depending upon the nature of the label, the amount of the labeled probe which can reasonably bind to the support, and the stringency of the hybridization. Generally, substantial excesses of the probe over stoichiometric will be employed to enhance the rate of binding of the probe to the fixed DNA. Various degrees of stringency of hybridization can be employed. The more severe the conditions, the greater the complementarity that is required for hybridization between the probe and the polynucleotide for duplex formation. Severity can be controlled by temperature, probe concentration, probe length, ionic strength, time, and the like. Conveniently, the stringency of hybridization is varied by changing the polarity of the reactant solution. Temperatures to be employed can be empirically determined or determined from well known formulas developed for this purpose. 3. Nucleotide Sequences Containing the Nucleotide Sequence Encoding I-SceI This invention also relates to the DNA sequence of the invention encoding the enzyme I-SceI, wherein the nucleotide sequence is linked to other nucleic acids. The nucleic acid can be obtained from any source, for example, from plasmids, from cloned DNA or RNA, or from natural DNA or RNA from any source, including prokaryotic and eukaryotic organisms. DNA or RNA can be extracted from a biological material, such as biological fluids or tissue, by a variety of techniques including those described by Maniatis et al., Molecular Cloning: A Laboratory Manual, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, New York (1982). The nucleic acid will generally be obtained from a bacteria, yeast, virus, or a higher organism, such as a plant or animal. The nucleic acid can be a fraction of a more complex mixture, such as a portion of a gene contained in whole human DNA or a portion of a nucleic acid sequence of a particular microorganism. The nucleic acid can be a fraction of a larger molecule or the nucleic acid can constitute an entire gene or assembly of genes. The DNA can be in a single-stranded or double-stranded form. If the fragment is in single-stranded form, it can be converted to double-stranded form using DNA polymerase according to conventional techniques. The DNA sequence of the invention can be linked to a structural gene. As used herein, the term “structural gene” refers to a DNA sequence that encodes through its template or messenger mRNA a sequence of amino acids characteristic of a specific protein or polypeptide. The nucleotide sequence of the invention can function with an expression control sequence, that is, a DNA sequence that controls and regulates expression of the gene when operatively linked to the gene. 4. Vectors Containing the Nucleotide Sequence of the Invention This invention also relates to cloning and expression vectors containing the DNA sequence of the invention-coding for the enzyme I-SceI. More particularly, the DNA sequence encoding the enzyme can be ligated to a vehicle for cloning the sequence. The major steps involved in gene cloning comprise procedures for separating DNA containing the gene of interest from prokaryotes or eukaryotes, cutting the resulting DNA fragment and the DNA from a cloning vehicle at specific sites, mixing the two DNA fragments together, and ligating the fragments to yield a recombinant DNA molecule. The recombinant molecule can then be transferred into a host cell, and the cells allowed to replicate to produce identical cells containing clones of the original DNA sequence. The vehicle employed in this invention can be any double-stranded DNA molecule capable of transporting the nucleotide sequence of the invention into a host cell and capable of replicating within the cell. More particularly, the vehicle must contain at least one DNA sequence that can act as the origin of replication in the host cell. In addition, the vehicle must contain two or more sites for insertion of the DNA sequence encoding the gene of the invention. These sites will ordinarily correspond to restriction enzyme sites at which cohesive ends can be formed, and which are complementary to the cohesive ends on the promoter sequence to be ligated to the vehicle. In general, this invention can be carried out with plasmid, bacteriophage, or cosmid vehicles having these characteristics. The nucleotide sequence of the invention can have cohesive ends compatible with any combination of sites in the vehicle. Alternatively, the sequence can have one or more blunt ends that can-be ligated to corresponding blunt ends in the cloning sites of the vehicle. The nucleotide sequence to be ligated can be further processed, if desired, by successive exonuclease deletion, such as with the enzyme Bal 31. In the event that the nucleotide sequence of the invention does not contain a desired combination of cohesive ends, the sequence can be modified by adding a linker, an adaptor, or homopolymer tailing. It is preferred that plasmids used for cloning nucleotide sequences of the invention carry one or more genes responsible for a useful characteristic, such as a selectable marker, displayed by the host cell. In a preferred strategy, plasmids having genes for resistance to two different drugs are chosen. For example, insertion of the DNA sequence into a gene for an antibiotic inactivates the gene and destroys drug resistance. The second drug resistance gene is not affected when cells are transformed with the recombinants, and colonies containing the gene of interest can be selected by resistance to the second drug and susceptibility to the first drug. Preferred antibiotic markers are genes imparting chloramphenicol, ampicillin, or tetracycline resistance to the host cell. A variety of restriction enzymes can be used to cut the vehicle. The identity of the restriction enzyme will generally depend upon the identity of the ends on the DNA sequence to be ligated and the restriction sites in the vehicle. The restriction enzyme is matched to the restriction sites in the vehicle, which in turn is matched to the ends on the nucleic acid fragment being ligated. The ligation reaction can be set up using well known techniques and conventional reagents. Ligation is carried out with a DNA ligase that catalyzes the formation of phosphodiester bonds between adjacent 5′-phosphate and the free 3′-hydroxy groups in DNA duplexes. The DNA ligase can be derived from a variety of microorganisms. The preferred DNA ligases are enzymes from E. coli and bacteriophage T4. T4 DNA ligase can ligate DNA fragments with blunt or sticky ends, such as those generated by restriction enzyme digestion. E. coli DNA ligase can be used to catalyze the formation of phosphodiester bonds between the termini of duplex DNA molecules containing cohesive ends. Cloning can be carried out in prokaryotic or eukaryotic cells. The host for replicating the cloning vehicle will of course be one that is compatible with the vehicle and in which the vehicle can replicate. When a plasmid is employed, the plasmid can be derived from bacteria or some other organism or the plasmid can be synthetically prepared. The plasmid can replicate independently of the host cell chromosome or an integrative plasmid (episome) can be employed. The plasmid can make use of the DNA replicative enzymes of the host cell in order to replicate or the plasmid can carry genes that code for the enzymes required for plasmid replication. A number of different plasmids can be employed in practicing this invention. The DNA sequence of the invention encoding the enzyme I-SceI can also be ligated to a vehicle to form an expression vector. The vehicle employed in this case is one in which it is possible to express the gene operatively linked to a promoter in an appropriate host cell. It is preferable to employ a vehicle known for use in expressing genes in E. coli, yeast, or mammalian cells. These vehicles include, for example, the following E. coli expression vectors: pSCM525, which is an E. coli expression vector derived from pUC12 by insertion of a tac promoter and the synthetic gene for I-SceI. Expression is induced by IPTG. pGEXω6, which is an E. coli expression vector derived from pGEX in which the synthetic gene from pSCM525 for I-SceI is fused with the glutathione S transferase gene, producing a hybrid protein. The hybrid protein possesses the endonuclease activity. pDIC73, which is an E. coli expression vector derived from pET-3C by insertion of the synthetic gene for I-SceI (NdeI-BamHI fragment of pSCM525) under T7 promoter control. This vector is used in strain BL21 (DE3) which expresses the T7 RNA polymerase under IPTG induction. pSCM351, which is an E. coli expression vector derived from pUR291 in which the synthetic gene for I-SceI is fused with the Lac Z gene, producing a hybrid protein. pSCM353, which is an E. coli expression vector derived from pEX1 in which the synthetic gene for I-SceI is fused with the Cro/Lac Z gene, producing a hybrid protein. Examples of yeast expression vectors are: pPEX7, which is a yeast expression vector derived from pRP51-Bam O (a LEU2d derivative of pLG-SD5) by insertion of the synthetic gene under the control of the galactose promoter. Expression is induced by galactose. pPEX408, which is a yeast expression vector derived from pLG-SD5 by insertion of the synthetic gene under the control of the galactose promoter. Expression is induced by galactose. Several yeast expression vectors are depicted in FIG. 7. Typical mammalian expression vectors are: pRSV I-SceI, which is a pRSV derivative in which the synthetic gene (BamHI-PstI fragment from pSCM525) is under the control of the LTR promoter of Rous Sarcoma Virus. This expression vector is depicted in FIG. 8. Vectors for expression in Chinese Hamster Ovary (CHO) cells can also be employed. 5. Cells Transformed with Vectors of the Invention The vectors of the invention can be inserted into host organisms using conventional techniques. For example, the vectors can be inserted by transformation, transfection, electroporation, microinjection, or by means of liposomes (lipofection). Cloning can be carried out in prokaryotic or eukaryotic cells. The host for replicating the cloning vehicle will of course be one that is compatible with the vehicle and in which the vehicle can replicate. Cloning is preferably carried out in bacterial or yeast cells, although cells of fungal, animal, and plant origin can also be employed. The preferred host cells for conducting cloning work are bacterial cells, such as E. coli. The use of E. coli cells is particularly preferred because most cloning vehicles, such as bacterial plasmids and bacteriophages, replicate in these cells. In a preferred embodiment of this invention, an expression vector containing the DNA sequence encoding the nucleotide sequence of the invention operatively linked to a promoter is inserted into a mammalian cell using conventional techniques. Application of I-SceI for Large Scale Mapping 1. Occurrence of Natural Sites in Various Genomes Using the purified I-SceI enzyme, the occurrence of natural or degenerate sites has been examined on the complete genomes of several species. No natural site was found in Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Bacillus anthracis, Borrelia burgdorferi, Leptospira biflexa and L. interrogans. One degenerate site was found on T7 phage DNA. 2. Insertion of Artificial Sites Given the absence of natural I-SceI sites, artificial sites can be introduced by transformation or transfection. Two cases need to be distinguished: site-directed integration by homologous recombination and random integration by non-homologous recombination, transposon movement or retroviral infection. The first is easy in the case of yeast and a few bacterial species, more difficult for higher eucaryotes. The second is possible in all systems. 3. Insertion Vectors Two types can be distinguished: 1—Site specific cassettes that introduce the I-SceI site together with a selectable marker. For yeast: all are pAF100 derivatives (Thierry et al. (1990) YEAST 6:521-534) containing the following marker genes: pAF101: URA3 (inserted in the HindIII site) pAF103: NeoR (inserted in BglII site) pAF104: HIS3 (inserted in BglII site) pAF105: KanR (inserted in BglII site) pAF106: KanR (inserted in BglII site) pAF107: LYS2 (inserted between HindIII and EcoR V) A restriction map of the plasmid pAF100 is shown in FIG. 9. The nucleotide sequence and restriction sites of regions of plasmid pAF100 are shown in FIGS. 10A and 10B. Many transgenic yeast strains with the I-SceI site at various and known places along chromosomes are available. 2—Vectors derived from transposable elements or retroviruses. For E. coli and other bacteria: mini Tn5 derivatives containing the I-SceI site and pTSm ω StrR pTKm ω KanR (See FIG. 11) pTTc ω TetR For yeast: pTyω6 is a pD123 derivative in which the I-SceI site has been inserted in the LTR of the Ty element. (FIG. 12) For mammalian cells: PMLV LTR SAPLZ: containing the I-SceI site in the LTR of MLV and Phleo-LacZ (FIG. 13). This vector is first grown in ψ2 cells (3T3 derivative, from R. Mulligan). Two transgenic cell lines with the I-SceI site at undetermined locations in the genome are available: 1009 (pluripotent nerve cells, J. F. Nicolas) and D3 (ES cells able to generate transgenic animals). 4. The Nested Chromosomal Fragmentation Strategy The nested chromosomal fragmentation strategy for genetically mapping a eukaryotic genome exploits the unique properties of the restriction endonuclease I-SceI, such as an 18 bp long recognition site. The absence of natural I-SceI recognition sites in most eukaryotic genomes is also exploited in this mapping strategy. First, one or more I-SceI recognition sites are artificially inserted at various positions in a genome, by homologous recombination using specific cassettes containing selectable markers or by random insertion, as discussed supra. The genome of the resulting transgenic strain is then cleaved completely at the artificially inserted I-SceI site(s) upon incubation with the I-SceI restriction enzyme. The cleavage produces nested chromosomal fragments. The chromosomal fragments are then purified and separated by pulsed field gel (PFG) electrophoresis, allowing one to “map” the position of the inserted site in the chromosome. If total DNA is cleaved with the restriction enzyme, each artificially introduced I-SceI site provides a unique “molecular milestone” in the genome. Thus, a set of transgenic strains, each carrying a single I-SceI site, can be created which defines physical genomic intervals between the milestones. Consequently, an entire genome, a chromosome or any segment of interest can be mapped using artificially introduced I-SceI restriction sites. The nested chromosomal fragments may be transferred to a solid membrane and hybridized to a labelled probe containing DNA complementary to the DNA of the fragments. Based on the hybridization banding patterns that are observed, the eukaryotic genome may be mapped. The set of transgenic strains with appropriate “milestones” is used as a reference to map any new gene or clone by direct hybridization. EXAMPLE 1 Application of the Nested Chromosomal Fragmentation Strategy to the Mapping of Yeast Chromosome XI This strategy has been applied to the mapping of yeast chromosome XI of Saccharamyces cerevisiae. The I-SceI site was inserted at 7 different locations along chromosome XI of the diploid strain FY1679, hence defining eight physical intervals in that chromosome. Sites were inserted from a URA3-I-I-SceI cassette by homologous recombination. Two sites were inserted within genetically defined genes, TIF1 and FAS1, the others were inserted at unknown positions in the chromosome from five non-overlapping cosmids of our library, taken at random. Agarose embedded DNA of each of the seven transgenic strains was then digested with I-SceI and analyzed by pulsed field gel electrophoresis (FIG. 14A). The position of the I-SceI site of each transgenic strain in chromosome XI is first deduced from the fragment sizes without consideration of the left/right orientation of the fragments. Orientation was determined as follows. The most telomere proximal I-SceI site from this set of strains is in the transgenic E40 because the 50 kb fragment is the shortest of all fragments (FIG. 15A). Therefore, the cosmid clone pUKG040, which was used to insert the I-SceI site in the transgenic E40, is now used as a probe against all chromosome fragments (FIG. 14B). As expected, pUKG040 lights up the two fragments from strain E40 (50 kb and 630 kb, respectively). The large fragment is close to the entire chromosome XI and shows a weak hybridization signal due to the fact that the insert of pUKG040, which is 38 kb long, contains less than 4 kb within the large chromosome fragment. Note that the entire chromosome XI remains visible after I-SceI digestion, due to the fact that the transgenic strains are diploids in which the I-SceI site is inserted in only one of the two homologs. Now, the pUKG040 probe hybridizes to only one fragment of all other transgenic strains allowing unambiguous left/right orientation of I-SceI sites (See FIG. 15B). No significant cross hybridization between the cosmid vector and the chromosome subfragment containing the I-SceI site insertion vector is visible. Transgenic strains can now be ordered such that I-SceI sites are located at increasing distances from the hybridizing end of the chromosome (FIG. 15C) and the I-SceI map can be deduced (FIG. 15D). Precision of the mapping depends upon PFGE resolution and optimal calibration. Note that actual left/right orientation of the chromosome with respect to the genetic map is not known at this step. To help visualize our strategy and to obtain more precise measurements of the interval sizes between I-SceI sites between I-SceI, a new pulsed field gel electrophoresis with the same transgenic strains now placed in order was made (FIG. 16). After transfer, the fragments were hybridized successively with cosmids pUKG040 and pUKG066 which light up, respectively, all fragments from the opposite ends of the chromosome (clone pUKG066 defines the right end of the chromosome as defined from the genetic map because it contains the SIR1 gene. A regular stepwise progression of chromosome fragment sizes is observed. Note some cross hybridization between the probe pUKG066 and chromosome III, probably due to some repetitive DNA sequences. All chromosome fragments, taken together, now define physical intervals as indicated in FIG. 15d. The I-SceI map obtained has an 80 kb average resolution. EXAMPLE 2 Application of the Nested Chromosomal Fragmentation Strategy to the Mapping of Yeast Artificial Chromosome (YAC) Clones This strategy can be applied to YAC mapping with two possibilities. 1—insertion of the I-SceI site within the gene of interest using homologous recombination in yeast. This permits mapping of that gene in the YAC insert by I-SceI digestion in vitro. This has been done and works. 2—random integration of I-SceI sites along the YAC insert by homologous recombination in yeast using highly repetitive sequences (e.g., B2 in mouse or Alu in human). Transgenic strains are then used as described in ref. P1 to sort libraries or map genes. The procedure has now been extended to YAC containing 450 kb of Mouse DNA. To this end, a repeated sequence of mouse DNA (called B2) has been inserted in a plasmid containing the I-SceI site and a selectable yeast marker (LYS2). Transformation of the yeast cells containing the recombinant YAC with the plasmid linearized within the B2 sequence resulted in the integration of the I-SceI site at five different locations distributed along the mouse DNA insert. Cleavage at the inserted I-SceI sites using the enzyme has been successful, producing nested fragments that can be purified after electrophoresis. Subsequent steps of the protocol exactly parallels the procedure described in Example 1. EXAMPLE 3 Application of Nested Chromosomal Fragments to the Direct Sorting of Cosmid Libraries The nested, chromosomal fragments can be purified from preparative PFG and used as probes against clones from a chromosome X1 specific sublibrary. This sublibrary is composed of 138 cosmid clones (corresponding to eight times coverage) which have been previously sorted from our complete yeast genomic libraries by colony hybridization with PFG purified chromosome X1. This collection of unordered clones has been sequentially hybridized with chromosome fragments taken in order of increasing sizes from the left end of the chromosome. Localization of each cosmid clone on the I-SceI map could be unambiguously determined from such hybridizations. To further verify the results and to provide a more precise map, a subset of all cosmid clones, now placed in order, have been digested with EcoRI, electrophoresed and hybridized with the nested series of chromosome fragments in order of increasing sizes from the left end of the chromosome. Results are given in FIG. 17. For a given probe, two cases can be distinguished: cosmid clones in which all EcoRI fragments hybridize with the probe and cosmid clones in which only some of the EcoRI fragments hybridize (i.e., compare pEKG100 to pEKG098 in FIG. 17b). The first category corresponds to clones in which the insert is entirely included in one of the two chromosome fragments, the second to clones in which the insert overlaps an I-SceI site. Note that, for clones of the pEKG series, the EcoRI fragment of 8 kb is entirely composed of vector sequences (pWE15) that do not hybridize with the chromosome fragments. In the case where the chromosome fragment possesses the integration vector, a weak cross hybridization with the cosmid is observed (FIG. 17e). Examination of FIG. 17 shows that the cosmid clones can unambiguously be ordered with respect to the I-SceI map (FIG. 13E), each clone falling either in a defined interval or across an I-SceI site. In addition, clones from the second category allow us to place some EcoRI fragments on the I-SceI maps, while others remain unordered. The complete set of chromosome XI-specific cosmid clones, covering altogether eight times the equivalent of the chromosome, has been sorted with respect to the I-SceI map, as shown in FIG. 18. 5. Partial Restriction Mapping Using I-SceI In this embodiment, complete digestion of the DNA at the artificially inserted I-SceI site is followed by partial digestion with bacterial restriction endonucleases of choice. The restriction fragments are then separated by electrophoresis and blotted. Indirect end labelling is accomplished using left or right I-Sce half sites. This technique has been successful with yeast chromosomes and should be applicable without difficulty for YAC. Partial restriction mapping has been done on yeast DNA and on mammalian cell DNA using the commercial enzyme I-SceI. DNA from cells containing an artificially inserted I-SceI site is first cleaved to completion by I-SceI. The DNA is then treated under partial cleavage conditions with bacterial restriction endonucleases of interest (e.g., BamHI) and electrophoresed along with size calibration markers. The DNA is transferred to a membrane and hybridized successively using the short sequences flanking the I-SceI sites on either side (these sequences are known because they are part of the original insertion vector that was used to introduce the I-SceI site). Autoradiography (or other equivalent detection system using non radioactive probes) permit the visualization of ladders, which directly represent the succession of the bacterial restriction endonuclease sites from the I-SceI site. The size of each band of the ladder is used to calculate the physical distance between the successive bacterial restriction endonuclease sites. Application of I-SceI for In Vivo Site Directed Recombination 1. Expression of I-SceI in Yeast The synthetic I-SceI gene has been placed under the control of a galactose inducible promoter on multicopy plasmids pPEX7 and pPEX408. Expression is correct and induces effects on site as indicated below. A transgenic yeast with the I-SceI synthetic gene inserted in a chromosome under the control of an inducible promoter can be constructed. 2. Effects of Site Specific Double Strand Breaks in Yeast (Refs. 18 and P4) Effects on Plasmid-Borne I-SceI Sites: Intramolecular effects are described in detail in Ref. 18. Intermolecular (plasmid to chromosome) recombination can be predicted. Effects on Chromosome Integrated I-SceI Sites In a haploid cell, a single break within a chromosome at an artificial I-SceI site results in cell division arrest followed by death (only a few % of survival). Presence of an intact sequence homologous to the cut site results in repair and 100% cell survival. In a diploid cell, a single break within a chromosome at an artificial I-SceI site results in repair using the chromosome homolog and 100% cell survival. In both cases, repair of the induced double strand break results in loss of heterozygosity with deletion of the non homologous sequences flanking the cut and insertion of the non homologous sequences from the donor DNA molecule. 3. Application for In Vivo Recombination YACs in Yeast Construction of a YAC vector with the I-SceI restriction site next to the cloning site should permit one to induce homologous recombination with another YAC if inserts are partially overlapping. This is useful for the construction of contigs. 4. Prospects for Other Organisms Insertion of an I-SceI restriction site has been done for bacteria (E. coli, Yersinia entorocolitica, Y. pestis, Y. pseudotuberculosis), and mouse cells. Cleavage at the artificial I-SceI site in vitro has been successful with DNA from the transgenic mouse cells. Expression of I-SceI from the synthetic gene in mammalian or plant cells should be successful. The I-SceI site has been introduced in mouse cells and bacterial cells as follows: 1—Mouse Cells: a—Mouse cells (ψ2) were transfected with the DNA of the vector pMLV LTR SAPLZ containing the I-SceI site using standard calcium phosphate transfection technique. b—Transfected cells were selected in DMEM medium containing phleomycin with 5% fetal calf serum and grown under 12% CO2, 100% humidity at 37° C. until they form colonies. c—Phleomycin resistant colonies were subcloned once in the same medium. d—Clone MLOP014, which gave a titer of 105 virus particles per ml, was chosen. This clone was deposited at C.N.C.M. on May 5, 1992 under culture collection accession No. I-1207. e—The supernatant of this clone was used to infect other mouse cells (1009) by spreading 105 virus particles on 105 cells in DMEM medium with 10% fetal calf serum and 5 mg/ml of “polybrain”. Medium was replaced 6 hours after infection by the same fresh medium. f—24 hours after infection, phleomycin resistant cells were selected in the same medium as above. g—phleomycin resistant colonies were subcloned once in the same medium. h—one clone was picked and analyzed. DNA was purified with standard procedures and digested with I-SceI under optimal conditions. 2—Bacterial Cells: Mini Tn 5 transposons containing the I-SceI recognition site were constructed in E. coli by standard recombinant DNA procedures. The mini Tn 5 transposons are carried on a conjugative plasmid. Bacterial conjugation between E. coli and. Yersinia is used to integrate the mini Tn 5 transposon in Yersinia. Yersinia cells resistant to Kanamycin, Streptomycin or tetracycline are selected (vectors pTKM-ω, pTSM-ω and pTTc-ω, respectively). Several strategies can be attempted for the site specific insertion of a DNA fragment from a plasmid into a chromosome. This will make it possible to insert transgenes at predetermined sites without laborious screening steps. Strategies are: 1—Construction of a transgenic cell in which the I-SceI recognition site is inserted at a unique location in a chromosome. Cotransformation of the transgenic cell with the expression vector and a plasmid containing the gene of interest and a segment homologous to the sequence in which the I-SceI site is inserted. 2—Insertion of the I-SceI recognition site next to or within the gene of interest carried on a plasmid. Cotransformation of a normal cell with the expression vector carrying the synthetic I-SceI gene and the plasmid containing the I-SceI recognition site. 3—Construction of a stable transgenic cell line in which the I-SceI gene has been integrated in the genome under the control of an inducible or constitutive cellular promoter. Transformation of the cell line by a plasmid containing the I-SceI site next to or within the gene of interest. Site directed homologous recombination: diagrams of successful experiments performed in yeast are given in FIG. 19. PUBLICATIONS CITED IN APPLICATION 1. B. Dujon, Sequence of the intron and flanking exons of the mitochondrial 21 S rRNA gene of yeast strains having different alleles at the w and RIB 1 loci. Cell (1980) 20, 185-187. 2. F. Michel, A. Jacquier and B. Dujon, Comparison of fungal mitochondrial introns reveals extensive homologies in RNA secondary structure. Biochimie, 1982, 64, 867-881. 3. F. Michel and B. Dujon, Conservation of RNA secondary structures in two intron families including mitochondrial-, chloroplast-, and nuclear-encoded members. The EMBO Journal, 1983, 2, 33-38. 4. A. Jacquier and B. Dujon, The intron of the mitochondrial 21S rRNA gene: distribution in different yeast species and sequence comparison between Kluyveromyces thermotolerans and Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Mol. Gen. Gent. (1983) 192, 487-499. 5. B. Dujon and A. 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Gene (1989), 82, 115-118. 14. C. Monteilhet, A. Perrin, A. Thierry, L. Colleaux, B. Dujon, Purification and Characterization of the in vitro activity of I-SceI, a novel and highly specific endonuclease encoded by a group I intron. Nucleic Acid Research (1990), 18, 1407-1413. 15. L. Colleaux, M-R. Michel-Wolwertz, R. F. Matagne, B. Dujon—The apocytochrome b gene of Chlamydomonas smithii contains a mobile intron related to both Saccharomyces and Neurospora introns. Mol. Gen. Genet. (1990) 223, 288-296. 16. B. Dujon Des introns autonomes et mobiles. Annales de I'Institut Pasteur/Actualites (1990) 1.181-194. 17. A. Thierry, A. Perrin, J. Boyer, C. Fairhead, B. Dujon, B. Frey, G. Schmitz. Cleavage of yeast and bacteriophage 17 genomes at a single site using the rare cutter endonuclease I-Sce. I Nuc. Ac. Res. (1991) 19, 189-190. 18. A. Plessis, A. Perrin, J. E. Haber, B. Dujon, Site specific recombination determined by I-SceI, a mitochondrial intron-encoded endonuclease expressed in the yeast nucleus. GENETICS (1992) 130, 451-460. ABSTRACTS A1. A. Jacquier, B. Dujon. Intron recombinational insertion at the DNA level: Nature of a specific receptor site and direct role of an intron encoded protein. Cold Spring Harbor Symposium 1984. A2. I. Colleaux, L. D'Auriol, M. Demariaux, B. Dujon, F. Galibert, and A. Jacquier, Construction of a universal code equivalent from a mitochondrial intron encoded transposase gene using oligonucleotide directed multiple mutagenesis. Colloque International de DNRS “oligonucleotids et Genetique Moleculaire” Aussois (Savoie) 8-12 Jan. 1985. A3. L. Colleaux, D'Auriol, M. Demariaux, B. Dujon, F. Galibert, and A. Jacquier, Expression in E. coli of a universal code equivalent of a yeast mitochondrial intron reading frame involved in the integration of an intron within a gene. Cold Spring Harbor Meeting on “Molecular Biology of Yeast”, Aug. 13-19, 1985. A4. B. Dujon, G. Cottarel, L. Colleaux, M. Demariaux, A. Jacquier, L. D'Auriol, and F. Galibert, Mechanism of integration of an intron within a mitochondrial gene: a double strand break and the “transposase” function of an intron encoded protein as revealed by in vivo and in vitro assays. International symposium on “Achievements and Perspectives in Mitochondrial Research”, Selva de Fasono (Brindisi, Italy) 26 Sep. 1985. A5. L. Colleaux, G. Cottarel, M. Betermier, A. Jacquier, B. Dujon, L. D'auriol, and F. Galibert, Mise en evidence de l'activite endonuclease double brin d'unc protein codee par un intron mitochondrial de levure. Forum sur la Biologie Moleculaire de la levure, Bonbannes, France 2-4 Oct. 1985. A6. B. Dujon, L. Colleaux, F. Michel and A. Jacquier, Mitochondrial introns as mobile genetic elements. In “Extrachromosomal elements in lower eucaryotes”, Urbana, Ill., 1-5 Jun. 1986. A7. L. Colleaux and B. Dujon, Activity of a mitochondrial intron encoded transposase. Yeast Genetics and Molecular Biology Meeting, Urbana, Ill. 3-6 Jun. 1986. A8. L. Colleaux and B. Dujon, The role of a mitochondrial intron encoded protein. XIIIth International Conference on Yeast Genetics and Molecular Biology, Banff, Alberta (Canada) 31 Aug.-5 Sep. 1986. A9. L. Colleaux, L. D'Aurio, F. Galibert and and B. Dujon, Recognition and cleavage specificity of an intron encoded transposase. 1987 Meeting on Yeast Genetics and Molecular Biology. San Francisco, Calif. 16-21 Jun. 1987. A10. A. Perrin, C. Monteilhet, L. Colleaux and B. Dujon, Biochemical activity of an intron encoded transposase of. Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Cold Spring. Harbor Meeting on “Molecular Biology of Mitochondria and chloroplasts” 25-30 Aug. 1987 Cold Spring Harbor, N.Y. A11. B. Dujon, A. Jacquier, L. Colleaux, C. Monteilhet, A. Perrin, “Les Introns autoepissables et leurs proteins” Colloque “Biologie Moleculaire de la levure: expression genetique chez Saccharomyces” organise par la Societe francaise de Microbiologie 18 Jan. 1988 Institut Pasteur, Paris. A12. L. Colleaux, L. D'Auriol, C. Monteilhet, F. Galibert and B. Dujon, Characterization of the biochemical activity of an intron encoded transposase. 14th International Conference on Yeast Genetics and Molecular Biology. Espoo, Finland, 7-13 Aug. 1988. A13. B. Dujon, A goup I intron as a mobile genetic element, Albany Conference sur “RNA: catalysis, splicing, evolution”, Albany, N.Y., 22-25 Sep. 1988. A14. B. Dujon, L. Colleaux, C. Monteilhet, A. Perrin, L. D'Auriol, F. Galibert, Group I introns as mobile genetic elements: the role of intron encoded proteins and the nature of the target site. 14th Annual EMBO Symposium “Organelle genomes and the nucleus” Heidelberg, 26-29 Sep. 1988. A15. L. Colleaux, R. Matagne, B. Dujon, A new mobile mitochondrial intron provides evidence for genetic exchange between Neurospora and Chlamydomonas species. Cold Spring Harbor, May 1989. A16. L. Colleaux; M. R. Michel-Wolwertz, R. F. Matagne, B. Dujon, The apoxytochrome b gene of Chlamydomonas smithii contains a mobile intron related to both Saccharomyces and Neurospora introns. Fourth International Conference on Cell and Molecular Biology of Chlamydomonas. Madison, Wis., April 1990. A17. B. Dujon, L. Colleaux, E. Luzi, C. Monteilhet, A. Perrin, A. Plessis, I. Stroke, A. Thierry, Mobile Introns, EMBO Workshop on “Molecular Mechanisms of transposition and its control, Roscoff (France) June 1990. A18. A. Perrin, C. Monteilhet, A. Thierry, E. Luzi, I. Stroke, L. Colleaux, B. Dujon. I-SceI, a novel double strand site specific endonuclease, encoded by a mobile group I intron in Yeast. Workshop on “RecA and Related Proteins” Sacly, France 17-21 Sep. 1990. A19. A. Plessis, A. Perrin, B. Dujon, Site specific recombination induced by double strand endonucleases, HO and I-SceI in yeast. Workshop on “RecA and Related Proteins” Saclay, France 17-21 Sep. 1990. A20. B. Dujon, The genetic propagation of introns 20th FEBS Meeting, Budapest, Hungary, August 1990. A21. E. Luzi, B. Dujon, Analysis of the intron encoded site specific endonuclease I-SceI by mutagenesis, Third European Congress on Cell Biology, Florence, Italy, September 1990. A22. B. Dujon, Self splicing introns as contagious genetic elements. Journees Franco-Beiges de Pont a Mousson. October 1990. A23. B. Frey, H. Dubler, G. Schmitz, A. Thierry, A. Perrin, J. Boyer, C. Fairhead, B. Dujon, Specific cleavage of the yeast genome at a single site using the rare cutter endonuclease I-SceI Human Genome, Frankfurt, Germany, November 1990. A24. B. Dujon, A. Perrin, I. Stroke, E. Luzi, L. Colleaux, A. Plessis, A. Thierry, The genetic mobility of group I introns at the DNA level. Keystone Symposia Meeting on “Molecular Evolution of Introns and Other RNA elements”, Taos, N. Mex., 2-8 Feb. 1991. A25. B. Dujon, J. Boyer, C. Fairhead, A. Perrin, A Thierry, Cartographie chez la levure. Reunion “Strategies d'etablissement des cartes geniques” Toulouse 30-31 Mai 1991. A26. B. Dujon, A. Thierry, Nested chromosomal fragmentation using the meganuclease I-SceI: a new method for the rapid mapping of the yeast genome. Elounda, Crete 15-17 Mail 1991. A27. A. Thierry, L. Gaillon, F. Galibert, B. Dujon. The chromosome XI library: what has been accomplished, what is left. Brugge meeting 22-24 Sep. 1991. A28. B. Dujon, A. Thierry, Nested chromosomal fragmentation using the meganuclease I-SceI: a new method for the rapid physical mapping of the eukaryotic genomes. Cold Spring Harbor 6-10 May 1992. A29. A. Thierry, L. Gaillon, F. Galibert, B. Dujon. Yeast chromosome XI: construction of a cosmid contig. a high resolution map and sequencing progress. Cold Spring Harbor 6-10 May 1992. IN PREPARATION P1. A. Thierry and B. Dujon, Nested Chromosomal Fragmentation Using the Meganuclease I-SceI: Application to the physical mapping of a yeast chromosome and the direct sorting of cosmid libraries. Probably Submission to GENOMICS or EMBO J. P2. A. Thierry, L. Colleaux and B. Dujon: Construction and Expression of a synthetic gene coding for the meganuclease I-SceI. Possible submission: NAR, EMBO J. P3. I. Stroke, V. Pelicic and B. Dujon: The evolutionarily conserved dodecapeptide motifs of intron-encoded I-SceI are essential for endonuclease function. Submission to EMBO J. P4. C. Fairhead and B. Dujon: Consequences of a double strand break induced in vivo in yeast at specific artificial sites, using the meganuclease I-SceI. Possible submission to GENETICS, NATURE. P5 A. Perrin, and B. Dujon: Asymetrical recognition by the I-SceI endonuclease on exon and intron sequences reveals a new step in intron mobility. Possible submission: NATURE The entire disclosure of all publications and abstracts cited herein is incorporated by reference herein. Induction of Homologous Recombination in Mammalian Chromosomes Using the I-Sce I System of Saccharomyces cerevisiae EXAMPLE 4 Introduction Homologous recombination (HR) between chromosomal and exogenous DNA is at the basis of methods for introducing genetic changes into the genome (5B, 20B). Parameters of the recombination mechanism have been determined by studying plasmid sequences introduced into cells (1B, 4B, 10B, 12B) and in in vitro system (8B). HR is inefficient in mammalian cells but is promoted by double-strand breaks in DNA. So far, it has not been possible to cleave a specific chromosomal target efficiently, thus limiting our understanding of recombination and its exploitation. Among endonucleases, the Saccharomyces cerevisiae mitochondrial endonuclease I-Sce I (6B) has characteristics which can be exploited as a tool for cleaving a specific chromosomal target and, therefore, manipulating the chromosome in living organisms. I-Sce I protein is an endonuclease responsible for intron homing in mitochondria of yeast, a non-reciprocal mechanism by which a predetermined sequence becomes inserted at a predetermined site. It has been established that endonuclease I-Sce I can catalyze recombination in the nucleus of yeast by initiating a double-strand break (17B). The recognition site of endonuclease I-Sce I is 18 bp long, therefore, the I-Sce I protein is a very rare cutting restriction endonuclease in genomes (22B). In addition, as the I-Sce I protein is not a recombinase, its potential for chromosome engineering is larger than that of systems with target sites requirement on both host and donor molecules (9B). We demonstrate here that the yeast I-Sce I endonuclease can efficiently induce double-strand breaks in chromosomal target in mammalian cells and that the breaks can be repaired using a donor molecule that shares homology with the regions flanking the break. The enzyme catalyzes recombination at a high efficiency. This demonstrates that recombination between chromosomal DNA and exogenous DNA can occur in mammalian cells by the double-strand break repair pathway (21B). Materials and Methods Plasmid Construction pG-MPL was obtained in four steps: (I) insertion of the 0.3 kb Bgl II-Sma I fragment (treated with Klenow enzyme) of the Moloney Murine Leukemia Virus (MoMuLV) env gene (25B) containing SA between the Nhe I and Xba I sites (treated with Klenow enzyme), in the U3 sequence of the 3′LTR of MoMuLV, in an intermediate plasmid. (II) insertion in this modified LTR with linkers adaptors of the 3.5 kb Nco I-Xho I fragment containing the PhleoLacZ fusion gene (15B) (from pUT65 from Cayla laboratory) at the Xba I site next to SA. (III) insertion of this 3′LTR (containing SA and PhleoLacZ), recovered by Sal I-EcoR I double digestion in p5′LTR plasmid (a plasmid containing the 5′LTR to the nucleotide number 563 of MoMuLV (26B) between the Xho I and the EcoR I sites, and (VI) insertion of a synthetic I-Sce I recognition site into the Nco I site in the 3′LTR (between SA and PhleoLacZ). pG-MtkPl was obtained by the insertion (antisense to the retroviral genome) of the 1.6 kb tk gene with its promoter with linker adaptators at the Pst I site of pG-MPL. pVRneo was obtained in two steps (I) insertion into pSP65 (from Promega) linearized by Pst I-EcoR I double digestion of the 4.5 kb Pst I to EcoR I fragment of pG-MPL containing the 3′LTR with the SA and PhleoLacZ, (II) insertion of the 2.0 kb Bgl II-BamH I fragment. (treated with Klenow enzyme) containing neoPolyA from pRSVneo into the Nco I restriction site (treated with Klenow enzyme) of pSP65 containing part of the 3′LTR of G-MPL (between SA and PhleoLacZ). pCMV(I-Sce I+) was obtained in two steps: (I) insertion of the 0.73 kb BamH I-Sal I, I-Sce I containing fragment (from pSCM525, A. Thierry, personal gift) into the phCMV1 (F. Meyer, personal gift) plasmid cleaved at the BamH I and the Sal I sites, (II) insertion of a 1.6 kb (nucleotide number 3204 to 1988 in SV40) fragment containing the polyadenylation signal of SV40 into the Pst I site of phCMV1. pCMV(I-Sce I−) contains the I-Sce I ORF in reverse orientation in the pCMV(I-Sce I+) plasmid. It has been obtained by inserting the BamHI-Pst I I-Sce I ORF fragment (treated with Klenow enzyme) into the phCMV PolyA vector linearized by Nsi I and Sal I double-digestion and treated with Klenow enzyme. Plasmids pG-MPL, pG-MtkPl, pG-MtkΔPAPL have been described. In addition to the plasmids described above, any kind of plasmid vector can be constructed containing various promoters, genes, polyA site, I-Sce I site. Cell Culture and Selection 3T3, PCC7 S, ψ 2 are referenced in (7B) and (13B). Cell selection medium: gancyclovir (14B, 23B) was added into the tissue culture medium at the concentration of 2 μM. Gancyclovir selection was maintained on cells during 6 days. G418 was added into the appropriate medium at a concentration of 1 mg/ml for PCC7-S and 400 μg/ml for 3T3. The selection was maintained during all the cell culture. Phleomycin was used at a concentration of 10 μg/ml. Cell Lines ψ cell line was transfected with plasmids containing a proviral recombinant vector that contain I-Sce I recognition site: pG-MPL, pG-MtkPL, pG-MtkΔPAPL NIH 3T3 Fibroblastic cell line is infected with: G-MPL. Multiple (more than 30) clones were recovered. The presence of 1 to 14 proviral integrations and the multiplicity of the different points of integration were verified by molecular analysis. G-MtkPL. 4 clones were recovered (3 of them have one normal proviral integration and 1 of them have a recombination between the two LTR so present only one I-Sce I recognition site). Embryonal carcinoma PCC7-S cell line is infected with: G-MPL. 14 clones were recovered, normal proviral integration. Embryonic stem cell line D3 is infected with: G-MPL. 4 clones were recovered (3 have normal proviral integration, 1 has 4 proviral integrations). “Prepared” Mouse Cells: Insertion of the retrovirus (proviral integration) induces duplication of LTR containing the I-Sce I site. The cell is heterozygotic for the site. Transfection, Infection, Cell Staining and Nucleic Acids Blot Analysis These procedures were performed as described in (2B, 3B). Results To detect I-Sce I HR we have designed the experimental system shown in FIG. 20. Defective recombinant retroviruses (24B) were constructed with the I-Sce I recognition site and a PhleoLacZ (15B) fusion gene inserted in their 3′LTR (FIG. 20a). Retroviral integration results in two I-Sce I sites distant of 5.8 kb or 7.2 kb from each other into the cell genome (FIG. 20b). We hypothesized that I-Sce I-induced double-strand breaks (DSB) at these sites (FIG. 20c) could initiate HR with a donor plasmid (pVRneo, FIG. 20d) containing sequences homologous to the flanking regions of the DSBs and that non-homologous sequences, carried by the donor plasmid, could be copied during this recombination (FIG. 20e). Introduction of Duplicated I-Sce I Recognition Sites into the Genome of Mammalian Cells by Retrovirus Integration More specifically, two proviral sequences were used in these studies. The G-MtkPL proviral sequences (from G-MtkPL virus) contain the PhleoLacZ fusion gene for positive selection of transduced cells (in phleomycine-containing medium) and the tk gene for negative selection (in gancyclovir-containing medium). The G-MPL proviral sequences (from G-MPL virus) contain only the PhleoLacZ sequences. G-MtkPL and G-MPL are defective recombinant retroviruses (16B) constructed from an enhancerless Moloney murine leukemia provirus. The virus vector functions as a promoter trap and therefore is activated by flanking cellular promoters. Virus-producing cell lines were generated by transfecting pG-MtkPL or G-MPL into the ψ-2 package cell line (13B). Northern blot analysis of viral transcripts shows (FIG. 21) that the ψ-2-G-MPL line expresses 4.2 and 5.8 kb transcripts that hybridized with LacZ probes. These transcripts probably initiate in the 5′LTR and terminate in the 3′LTR. The 4.5 kb transcript corresponds to the spliced message and the 5.8 kb transcripts to the unspliced genomic message (FIG. 21.A). This verified the functionality of the 5′LTR and of the splice donor and acceptor in the virus. Similar results have been obtained with ψ-2G-MtkPL. Virus was prepared from the culture medium of ψ-2 cell lines. NIH3T3 fibroblasts and PCC7-S multipotent mouse cell lines (7B) were next infected by G-MtkPL and G-MPL respectively, and clones were isolated. Southern blot analysis of the DNA prepared from the clones demonstrated LTR-mediated duplication of I-Sce I PhleoLacZ sequences (FIG. 22.a). Bcl I digestion generated the expected 5.8 kb (G-MPL) or 7.2 kb (G-MtkPL) fragments. The presence of two additional fragments corresponding to Bcl I sites in the flanking chromosomal DNA demonstrates a single proviral target in each clone isolated. Their variable size from clone to clone indicates integration of retroviruses at distinct loci. That I-Sce I recognition sites have been faithfully duplicated was shown by I-Sce I digests which generated 5.8 kb (G-MPL) fragments or 7.2 kb (G-MtkPL). (FIG. 22.b) Induction by I-Sce I of Recombination Leading to DNA Exchange The phenotype conferred to the NIH3T3 cells by G-MtkPL virus is phleoR β-gal+ glsS and to PCC7-S by G-MPL is phleoR β-gal+ (FIG. 20b). To allow for direct selection of recombination events induced by I-Sce I we constructed pVRneo donor plasmid. In pVRneo the neo gene is flanked by 300 bp homologous to sequences 5′ to the left chromosomal break and 2.5 kb homologous to sequences 3′ to the right break (FIG. 20d). A polyadenylation signal was positioned 3′ to the neo gene to interrupt the PhleoLacZ message following recombination. If an induced recombination between the provirus and the plasmid occurs, the resulting phenotype will be neoR and due to the presence of a polyadenylation signal in the donor plasmid the PhleoLacZ gene should not be expressed, resulting in a phleoS β-gal− phenotype. With G-MtkPL and G-MtkDPQPL, it is possible to select simultaneously for the gap by negative selection with the tk gene (with gancyclovir) and for the exchange of the donor plasmid with positive selection with the neo gene (with geneticine). With G-MPL only the positive selection can be applied in medium containing geneticine. Therefore, we expected to select for both the HR and for an integration event of the donor plasmid near an active endogenous promoter. These two events can be distinguished as an induced HR results in a neoR β-gal− phenotype and a random integration of the donor plasmid results in a neoR β-gal+ phenotype. Two different NIH3T3/G-MtkPL and three different PCC7S/G-MPL clones were then co-transfected with an expression vector for I-Sce I, pCMV(I-Sce I+), and the donor plasmid, pVRneo. Transient expression of I-Sce I may result in DSBs at I-Sce I sites, therefore promoting HR with pVRneo. The control is the co-transfection with a plasmid which does not express I-Sce I, pCMV(I-Sce I−), and pVRneo. NIH3T3/G-MtkPL clones were selected either for loss of proviral sequences and acquisition of the neoR phenotype (with gancyclovir and geneticine) or for neoR phenotype only (Table 1). In the first case, neoRglsR colonies were recovered with a frequency of 10−4 in experimental series, and no colonies were recovered in the control series. In addition, all neoRglsR colonies were β-gal−, consistent with their resulting from HR at the proviral site. In the second case, neoR colonies were recovered with a frequency of 10−3 in experimental series, and with a 10 to 100 fold lower frequency in the control series. In addition, 90% of the neoR colonies were found to be β-gal− (in series with pCMV(I-Sce I+)). This shows that expression of I-Sce I induces HR between pVR neo and the proviral site and that site directed HR is ten times more frequent than random integration of pVR neo near a cellular promoter, and at least 500 times more frequent than spontaneous HR. TABLE 1 Induced homologous recombination with I-Sce I Selection G418 + Gls G418 I-Sce I expression + − + − β-gal phenotype + − + − + − + − (A) Cell line NIH 3T3/G-MtkPL Clone 1 0 66 0 0 69 581 93 0 Clone 2 0 120 0 0 15 742 30 0 PCC7-S/G-MPL Clone 3 54 777 7 0 Clone 4 2 91 1 0 Clone 5 7 338 3 0 (B) Molecular event RI 0 8 1 6 DsHR 15 0 19 0 SsHR 0 0 4 0 Del 0 0 1 0 TABLE 1: Effect of I-Sce I mediated double-strand cleavage. A. 106 cells of NIH3T3/G-MtkPL clones 1 and 2 and 5 · 106 cells of PCC7-S/G-MPL clones 3 to 5 were co-transfected with pVRneo and either pCMV(I-Sce I+) or pCMV(I-Sce I−). Cells were selected in the indicated medium: # Geneticin (G418) or geneticin + gancyclovir (G418_Gls). The β-gal expression phenotype was determined by X-gal histochemical staining. If an induced recombination between the provirus and pVRneo occurs, the cells acquire a neoR β-gal− phenotype. B. Molecular # analysis of a sample of recombinant clones. RI: random integration of pVRneo, parental proviral structure. DsHR: double site HR. SsHR: single site HR. Del: deletion of the provirus (see also FIG. 20 and 23). Verification of Recombination by Southern and Northern Blot Analysis The molecular structure of neoR recombinants has been examined by Southern blot analysis (FIG. 23 and Table 1). HR at I-Sce I sites predicts that digestion of recombinant DNA generates a 6.4 kb LacZ fragment instead of the 4.2 kb parental fragment. All 15 neoR glsR β-gal− recombinants from NIH3T3 cells exhibited only the 6.4 kb Kpn I fragment. Therefore, the double selection procedure leads to only the expected recombinants created by gene replacement (Double Site Homologous Recombinants, DsHR). The 25 β-gal− recombinants generated from the single selection fell into four classes: (a). DsHR induced by I-Sce I as above (19 clones); (b) integration of pVRneo in the left LTR as proven by the presence of a 4.2 Kpn I fragment (corresponding to PhleoLacZ in the remaining LTR), in addition to the 6.4 kb fragment (FIG. 23, Table 1, Single site Homologous Recombinants, SsHR; 3 independent β-gal− recombinants from clone 3). These clones correspond to I-Sce I-IHR in left DSB only or (less likely) to double crossing over between LTR and pVRneo; (c) random pVRneo integrations (Table 1, Random Integrations, IR) and simultaneous HR (Table 1, Deletion, Del) (1 β-gal− recombinant); and (d) Random pVRneo integration and simultaneous deletion of provirus (1β-gal− recombinant). We suggest that this fourth class corresponds to repair of DSBs with the homologous chromosome. As expected, all β-gal+ recombinants from geneticin selection alone, correspond to random pVRneo integrations, whether they originate from the experimental series (eight clones analyzed) or from the control series (six clones analyzed). We obtained additional evidence that recombination had occurred at the I-Sce I site of PCC7-S/G-MPL 1 by analyzing the RNAs produced in the parental cells and in the recombinant (FIG. 24). Parental PCC7-S/G-MPL 1 cells express a 7.0 kb LacZ RNA indicative of trapping of a cellular promoter leading to expression of a cellular-viral fusion RNA. The recombinant clone does not express this LacZ RNA but expresses a neo RNA of 5.0 kb. The size of the neo RNA corresponds to the exact size expected for an accurate exchange of PhleoLacZ by neo gene and uses of the same cellular and viral splice site (viral PhleoLacZ RNA in the LTR is 3.7 kb and neo RNA in pVRneo is 1.7 kb). Discussion The results presented here demonstrate that double-strand breaks can be induced by the I-Sce I system of Saccharomyces cerevisiae in mammalian cells, and that the breaks in the target chromosomal sequence induce site-specific recombination with input plasmidic donor DNA. To operate in mammalian cells, the system requires endogenous I-Sce I like activity to be absent from mammalian cells and I-Sce I protein to be neutral for mammalian cells. It is unlikely that endogenous I-Sce I-like actively operates in mammalian cells as the introduction of I-Sce I recognition sites do not appear to lead to rearrangement or mutation in the input DNA sequences. For instance, all NIH3T3 and PCC7-S clones infected with a retroviruses containing the I-Sce I restriction site stably propagated the virus. To test for the toxicity of: I-Sce I gene product, an I-Sce I expressing plasmid was introduced into the NIH3T3 cells line (data not shown). A very high percentage of cotransfer of a functional I-Sce I gene was found, suggesting no selection against this gene. Functionality of I-Sce I gene was demonstrated by analysis of transcription, by immunofluorescence detection of the gene product and biological function (Choulika et al. in preparation). We next-tested whether the endonuclease would cleave a recognition site placed on a chromosome. This was accomplished by placing two I-Sce I recognition sites separated by 5.8 or 7.2 kb on a chromosome in each LTR of proviral structures and by analyzing the products of a recombination reaction with a targeting vector in the presence of the I-Sce I gene product. Our results indicate that in presence of I-Sce I, the donor vector recombines very efficiently with sequences within the two LTRs to produce a functional neo gene. This suggests that I-Sce I induced very efficiently double strand breaks in both I-Sce I sites. In addition, as double strand breaks were obtained with at least five distinct proviral insertions, the ability of I-Sce I protein to digest an I-Sce I recognition site is not highly dependent on surrounding structures. The demonstration of the ability of the I-Sce I meganuclease to have biological function on chromosomal sites in mammalian cell paves the route for a number of manipulations of the genome in living organisms. In comparison with site-specific recombinases (9B, 18B), the I-Sce I system is non-reversible. Site specific recombinases locate not only the sites for cutting the DNA, but also for rejoining by bringing together the two partners. In contrast, the only requirement with the I-Sce I system is homology of the donor molecule with the region flanking the break induced by I-Sce I protein. The results indicate for the first time that double strand DNA breaks in chromosomal targets stimulate HR with introduced DNA in mammalian cells. Because we used a combination of double strand breaks (DSB) in chromosomal recipient DNA and super-coiled donor DNA, we explored the stimulation by I-Sce I endonuclease of recombination by the double strand break repair pathway (21B). Therefore, the induced break is probably repaired by a gene conversion event involving the concerted participation of both broken ends which, after creation of single-stranded region by 5′ to 3′ exonucleolytic digestion, invade and copy DNA from the donor copy. However, a number of studies of recombination in mammalian cells and in yeast (10B, 11B, 19B) suggest that there is an alternative pathway of recombination termed single-strand annealing (SSA). In the SSA pathway, double-strand breaks are substrates in the action of an exonuclease that exposes homologous complementary single-strand DNA on the recipient and donor DNA. Annealing of the complementary strand is then followed by a repair process that generates recombinants. The I-Sce I system can be used to evaluate the relative importance of the two pathways. EXAMPLE 5 This example describes the use of the I-Sce I meganuclease (involved in intron homing of mitochondria of the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae) (6B, 28B) to induce DSB and mediate recombination in mammalian cells. I-Sce I is a very rare-cutting restriction endonuclease, with an 18 bp long recognition site (29B, 22B). In viva, I-Sce I endonuclease can induce recombination in a modified yeast nucleus by initiating a specific DBS leading to gap repair by the cell (30B, 17B, 21B). Therefore, this approach can potentially be used as a means of introducing specific DSB in chromosomal target DNA with a view to manipulate chromosomes in living cells. The I-Sce I-mediated recombination is superior to recombinase system [11] for chromosome engineering since the latter requires the presence of target sites on both host and donor DNA molecules, leading to reaction that is reversible. The I-Sce I endonuclease expression includes recombination events. Thus, I-Sce I activity can provoke site-directed double strand breaks (DSBs) in a mammalian chromosome. At least two types of events occur in the repair of the DSBs, one leading to intra-chromosomal homologous recombination and the other to the deletion of the transgene. These I-Sce I-mediated recombinations occur at a frequency significantly higher than background. Materials and Methods Plasmid Construction pG-MtkPL was obtained in five steps: (I) insertion of the 0.3 kbp Bgl II-Sma I fragment (treated with Klenow enzyme) of the Moloney Murine Leukemia Virus (MoMuLV) env gene (25B) containing a splice acceptor (SA) between the Nhe I and Xba I sites (treated with Klenow enzyme), in the U3 sequence of the 3′LTR of MoMuLV, in an intermediate plasmid. (II) Insertion in this modified LTR of a 3.5 kbp Nco I-Xho I fragment containing the PhleoLacZ fusion gene [13] (from pUT65; Cayla Laboratory, Zone Commerciale du Gros, Toulouse, France) at the Xba I site next to SA. (III) Insertion of this 3′LTR (containing SA and PhleoLacZ), recovered by Sal I-EcoR I double, digestion in the p5′LTR plasmid (a plasmid containing the 5′LTR up to the nucleotide no. 563 of MoMuLV [12]) between the Xho I and the EcoR I site. (IV) Insertion of a synthetic I-Sce I recognition site into the Nco I site in the 3′LTR (between SA and PhleoLacZ), and (V) insertion (antisense to the retroviral genome) of the 1.6 kbp tk gene with its promoter with linker adaptators at the Pst I site of pG-MPL. pCMV(I-Sce I+) was obtained in two steps: (I) insertion of the 0.73 kbp BamH I-Sal I, I-Sce I-containing fragment (from pSCM525, donated by A. Thierry) into the phCMV1 (donated by F. Meyer) plasmid cleaved with BamH I and Sal I, (II) insertion of a 1.6 kbp fragment (nucleotide no. 3204 to 1988 in SV40) containing the polyadenylation signal of SV40 at the Pst I site of phCMV1. pCMV(I-Sce I−) contains the I-Sce I ORF in reverse orientation in the pCMV(I-Sce I+) plasmid. It was obtained by inserting the BamH I-Pst I I-Sce I ORF fragment (treated with Klenow enzyme) into the phCMV PolyA vector linearized by Nsi I and Sal I double-digestion and treated with Klenow enzyme. Cell Culture and Selection T3 and ψ2 are referenced in (7B) and (13B). Cell selection medium: gancyclovir (14B, 23B) was added into the tissue culture medium at the concentration of 2 μM. Gancyclovir selection was maintained for 6 days. Phleomycine was used at a concentration of 10 μg/ml. Double selections were performed in the same conditions. Transfection, Infection, Cell Staining and Nucleic Acids Blot Analysis These protocols were performed as described in (2B, 3B) Virus-Producing Cell Lines The virus-producing cell line is generated by transfecting pG-MtkPL into the ψ-2 packaging cell line. Virus was prepared from the filtered culture medium of transfected ψ-2 cell lines. NIH3T3 fibroblasts were infected by G-MtkPL, and clones were isolated in a Phleomycin-containing medium. Results To assay for I-Sce I endonuclease activity in mammalian cells, NIH3T3 cells containing the G-MtkPL provirus were used. The G-MtkPL provirus (FIG. 25a) contains the tk gene (in place of the gag, pol and env viral genes), for negative selection in gancyclovir-containing medium and, in the two LTRs, an I-Sce I recognition site and the PhleoLacZ fusion gene. The PhleoLacZ gene can be used for positive selection of transduced cells in phleomycine-containing medium. We hypothesized that the expression of I-Sce I endonuclease in these cells would induce double-strand breaks (DSB) at the I-Sce I recognition sites that would be repaired by one, of the following mechanisms (illustrated in FIG. 25): a) if the I-Sce I endonuclease induces a cut in only one of the two LTRs (FIG. 1-b 1 and 2), sequences that are homologous between the two LTRs could pair and recombine leading to an intra-chromosomal homologous recombination (i.e. by single strand annealing (SSA) (12B, 10B) or crossing-over); b) If the I-Sce I endonuclease induces a cut in each of the two LTRs, the two free ends can religate (end joining mechanism (31B) leading to an intra-chromosomal recombination (FIG. 25-b 3); or alternatively c) the gap created by the two DSBs can be repaired by a gap repair mechanism using sequences either on the homologous chromosome or on other chromosomal segments, leading to the loss of the proviral sequences (32B) (FIG. 25-c). The phenotype conferred to the NIH3T3 cells by the G-MtkPL provirus is PhleoR β-Gal+ Gls-s. In a first series of experiments, we searched for recombination by selecting for the loss of the tk gene. NIH3T3/G-MtkPL 1 and 2 (two independent clones with a different proviral integration site) were transfected with the I-Sce I expression vector pCMV(I-Sce I+) or with the control plasmid pCMV(I-Sce-) which does not express the I-Sce I endonuclease. The cells were then propagated in Gancyclovir-containing medium to select for the loss of tk activity. The resulting GlsR clones were also assayed for β-galactosidase activity by histochemical staining (with X-gal) (Table 1). TABLE 1 Number and nature of Gls resistant clones pCMV pCMV I-Sce I expression (I-SceI+) (I > SceI−) β-Gal activity + − + − NIH3T3/G-MtkPL 1 11 154 0 0 NIH3T3/G-MtkPL 2 16 196 2 0 TABLE 1: Effect of I-Sce I expression on recombination frequency. 1 × 106 cells of NIH3T3/G-MtkPL 1 and 2 × 106 cells of NIH3T3/G-MtkPL 1 were transfected with either pCMV(I-Sce I+) or pCMV(I-Sce I−). Cells were cultivated in medium containing gancyclovir. # β-Galactosidase phenotype of the GlsR clones was determined by X-Gal histochemical staining. In the control series transfected with pCMV(I-SceI−), GlSR resistant clones were found at a low frequency (2 clones for 3×10−6 treated cells) and the two were β-Gal+. In the experimental series transfected with pCMV(I-SceI+), expression of the I-Sce I gene increased the frequency of GlsR clones 100 fold. These clones were either β-Gal− (93%1 or β-Gal+ (7%). Five β-Gal− clones from the NIH3T3/G-MtkPL 1 and six from the NIH3T3/G-MtkPL 2 were analyzed by Southern blotting using, Pst I (FIG. 26). In the parental DNA, Pst I endonuclease cuts twice in the tk gene of the provirus (FIG. 26a). The sizes of the two PhleoLacZ containing fragments are determined by the position of the Pst I sites in the flanking cellular DNA. In NIH3T3/G-MtkPL 1, these two PhleoLacZ fragments are 10 kbp long and in NIH3T3/G-MtkPL 2 they are 7 and 9 kbp long. The five GlsR β-Gal− resistant clones from NIH3T3/G-MtkPL 1 and the six clones from th NIH3T3/G-MtkPL 2 all showed an absence of the tk gene and of the two PhleoLacZ sequences (FIGS. 26b and c). In the experimental series the number of GlsR β-Gal+ clones is increased about 10 fold by I-Sce I expression in comparison to the control series. These were not analyzed further. In order to increase the number of GlsR β-Gal+ clones recovered, in a second set of experiments, the cells were grown in a medium containing both Gancyclovir and Phleomycin. Gancyclovir selects for cells that have lost tk activity and Phleomycin for cells that maintained the PhleoLacZ gene. We transfected NIH3T3/G-MtkPLs 1 and 2 with pCMV(I-SceI+) or pCMV(I-SceI−) (Table 2). TABLE 2 Number of Phleo and Gls resistant clones I-Sce I expression pCMV(I-SceI+) pCMV(I-SceI−) NIH3T3/G-MtkPL 1 74 2 NIH3T3/G-MtkPL 2 207 9 TABLE 2: Effect of I-Sce I expression on the intra-chromosomal recombination frequency. 2 × 106 cells of NIH3T3/G-MtkPL 1 and 9 × 106 cells of NIH3T3/G-MtkPL 2 were transfected with either pCMV(I-sce I+) or pCMV(I-sce I−). Cells were cultured in Phleomycin and # gancyclovir containing medium. In the control series, the frequency of recovery of PhleoR GlsR resistant clones was 1×10−6. This result reflects cells that have spontaneously lost tk activity, while still maintaining the PhleoLacZ gene active. In the experimental series, this frequency was raised about 20 to 30 fold, in agreement with the first set of experiments (Table 1). The molecular structure of the PhleoR β-Gal+ GlsR clones was analyzed by Southern blotting (FIG. 27). Four clones from NIH3T3, G-MtkPL I were analyzed, two from the experimental series and two from the control. Their DNA was digested with Pst I endonuclease. If an intra-chromosomal event had occurred, we expected a single Pst I fragment of 13.6 kbp (that is the sum of the three Pst I fragments of the parental DNA minus the I-Sce I fragment, see FIG. 27a). All four PhleoRGlsR resistant clones exhibited this 13.6 kbp Pst I fragment, suggesting a faithful intra-molecular recombination (FIG. 27b). DNA from eight clones from NIH3T3/G-MtkPL 2 cells were analyzed by Southern blotting using Bcl I digestion (six from the experimental series and two from the control). Bcl I digestion of the parental DNA results in one 7.2 kbp fragment containing the proviral sequences and in two flanking fragments of 6 kbp and 9.2 kbp. An intra-chromosomal recombination should result in the loss of the 7.2 kbp fragment leaving the two other bands of 6 kbp and 9.2 kbp unchanged (FIG. 27a). The eight clones (2.7 to 2.16) showed the disappearance of the tk containing 7.2 kbp fragment indicative of an intra-chromosomal recombination between the two. LTRs (FIG. 27c). Discussion The results presented here demonstrate that the yeast I-Sce I endonuclease induces chromosomal recombination in mammalian cells. This strongly suggests that I-Sce I is able to cut in vivo a chromosome at a predetermined target. Double-strand breaks in genomic sequences of various species stimulate recombination (21B, 19B). In the diploid yeast, a chromosomal DSB can lead to the use of the homo-allelic locus as a repair matrix. This results in a gene conversion event, the locus then becoming homozygous (30B). The chromosomal DSBs can also be repaired by using homologous sequences of an ectopic locus as matrix (32B). This result is observed at a significant level as a consequence of a DSB gap repair mechanism. If the DSB occurs between two direct-repeated chromosomal sequences, the mechanism of recombination uses the single strand annealing (SSA) pathway (11B, 10B). The SSA pathway involves three steps: 1) an exonucleolysis initiated at the point of the break leaving 3′ protruding single-strand DNAs; 2) a pairing of the two single strand DNAs by their homologous sequences, 3) a repair of the DNA by repairs complexes and mutator genes which resolve the non-homologous sequences (33B). A special case concerns the haploid yeast for which it has been showed that DSBs induced by HO or I-Sce I endonucleases in a chromosome leads to the repair of the break by end joining (34B). This occurs, but at a low efficiency (30B; 35B). Our results show that the presence of two I-Sce I sites in a proviral target and the expression of the I-Sce I endonuclease lead to an increase in the deletion of a thymidine kinase gene at a frequency at least 100 fold greater than that occurring spontaneously. Two types of tk deleted clones arise from I-Sce I mediated recombination: clones that have kept (7%) and clones that have lost (93%) the PhleoLacZ sequences. The generation of tk−PhleoLacZ+ cells is probably the consequence of intra-chromosomal recombination. Studies have shown that in a recombinant provirus with an I-Sce I recognition site in the LTRs, the I-Sce I endonuclease leads in 20% of the cases to the cleavage of only one proviral I-Sce I site and in 80% to the cleavage of the two proviral I-Sce I sites. If only one of the two I-Sce I sites is cut by the endonuclease, an intra-chromosomal recombination can occur by the SSA pathway. If the two I-Sce I sites are cut, the tk−phleoLacC+ cells can be generated by end joining, allowing intra-chromosomal recombination (see FIG. 1). Although, in the diploid yeast, this pathway is not favorable (the break is repaired using homologous chromosomal sequences) (2B), it remains possible that this pathway is used in mammalian cells. The generation of tk−/PhleoLacZ− cells is probably a consequence of either a homo-allelic and/or an ectopic gene conversion event (36B). Isolation and detailed molecular analysis of the proviral integration sites will provide information on the relative frequency of each of these events for the resolution of chromosomal DSBs by the cell. This quantitative information is important as, in mammalian cells, the high redundancy of genomic sequences raises the possibility of a repair of DSBs by ectopic homologous sequences. Ectopic recombination for repair of DSBs may be involved in genome shaping and diversity in evolution [29]. The ability to digest specifically a chromosome at a predetermined genomic location has several potential applications for genome manipulation. The protocol of gene replacement described herein can be varied as follows: Variety of Donor Vectors Size and sequence of flanking regions of I-Sce-I site in the donor plasmid (done with 300 pb left and 2.5 kb right): Different constructions exist with various size of flanking regions up to a total of 11 kb left and right from I-Sce I site. The sequences depend from the construction (LTR, gene). Any sequence comprising between 3 00 bp to 11 kb can be used. Inserts (neo, phleo, phleo-LacZ and Pvtk-neo have been constructed). Antibiotic resistance: neomycin, phleomycin; reporter gene (LacZ); HSV1 thymidine kinase gene: sensitivity to gancyclovir. It is impossible to insert any kind of gene sequence up to 10 kb or to replace it. The gene can be expressed under an inducible or constitutive promoter of the retrovirus, or by gene trap and homologous recombination (i.e. Insulin, Hbs, ILs and various proteins). Various methods can be used to express the enzyme I-Sce I: transient transfection (plasmid) or direct injection of protein (in embryo nucleus); stable transfection (various promoters like: CMV, RSV and MoMuLV); defective recombinant retroviruses (integration of ORF in chromosome under MoMuLV promoter); and episomes. Variation of Host Range to Integrate I-Sce I Site: Recombinant retroviruses carrying I-Sce I site (i.e. pG-MPL, pG-MtkPL, pG-MtkΔPAPL) may be produced in various packaging cell lines (amphotropic or xenotropic). Construction of Stable Cell Lines Expressing I-Sce I and Cell Protection Against Retroviral Infection Stable cell line expressing I-Sce I are protected against infection by a retroviral vector containing I-Sce I site (i.e. NIH3T3 cell line producing I-Sce I endonuclease under the control of the CMV promoter is resistant to infection by a pG-MPL or pGMtkPL or I-Sce I under MoMuLV promoter in ψ2 cells). Construction of Cell Lines and Transgenic Animals Containing the I-Sce I Site Insertion of the I-Sce I site is carried out by a classical gene replacement at the desired locus and at the appropriate position. It is then possible to screen the expression of different genes at the same location in the cell (insertion of the donor gene at the artificially inserted I-Sce I site) or in a transgenic animal. The effect of multiple drugs, ligands, medical protein, etc., can be tested in a tissue specific manner. The gene will consistently be inserted at the same location in the chromosome. For “Unprepared” mouse cells, and all eucaryotic cells, a one step gene replacement/integration procedure is carried out as follows: Vectors (various donor plasmids) with I-Sce I site: one site within the gene (or flanking) or two sites flanking the donor gene. Method to express the enzyme Transient expression: ORF on the same plasmid or another (cotransfection). Specific details regarding the methods used are described above. The following additional details allow the construction of the following: a cell line able to produce high titer of a variety of infective retroviral particles; plasmid containing a defective retrovirus with I-Sce I sites, reporter-selector gene, active LTRs and other essential retroviral sequences; a plasmid containing sequences homologous to flanking regions of I-Sce I sites in above engineered retrovirus and containing a multiple cloning site; and a vector allowing expression of I-Sce I endonuclease and adapted to the specific applications. Mouse fibroblast ψ2 cell line was used to produce ectopic defective recombinant retroviral vectors containing I-Sce I sites. Cell lines producing plasmids as pG-MPL, pG-MtkPL, PG-MtkΔPAPL are also available. In addition, any cells, like mouse amphotropic cells lines (such as PA12) or xenotropic cells lines, that produce high titer infectious particles can be used for the production of recombinant retroviruses carrying I-Sce I site (i.e., pG-MPL, pG-MtkPL, pG-MtkΔPAPL) in various packaging cell lines. (amphotropic, ectropic or xenotropic). A variety of plasmids containing I-Sce I can be used in retroviral construction, including pG-MPL, pG-MtkPL, and pG-MtkΔPAPL. Others kind of plasmid vector can be constructed containing various promoters, genes, polyA site, and I-Sce I site. A variety of plasmid containing sequences homologs to flanking regions of I-Sce I can be constructed. The size and sequence of flanking regions of I-Sce I site in the donor plasmid are prepared such that 300 kb are to the left and 2.5 kb are to the right). Other constructions can be used with various sizes of flanking regions of up to about 11 kb to the left and right of the I-Sce I recognition site. Inserts containing neomycin, phleomycin and phleo-LacZ have been constructed. Other sequences can be inserted such as drug resistance or reporter genes, including LacZ, HSV1 or thymidine kinase gene (sensibility to gancyclovir), insulin, CFTR, IL2 and various proteins. It is normally possible to insert any kind of sequence up to 12 kb, wherein the size depends on the virus capacity of encapsidation). The gene can be expressed under inducible or constitutive promoter of the retrovirus, or by gene trap after homologous recombination. A variety of plasmids containing I-Sce I producing the endonuclease can be constructed. Expression vectors such as pCMVI-SceI(+) or similar constructs containing the ORF, can be introduced in cells by transient transfection, electroporation or lipofection. The protein can also be introduced directly into the cell by injection of liposomes. Variety of cells lines with integrated I-Sce I sites can be produced. Preferably, insertion of the retrovirus (proviral integration) induce duplication of LTR containing the I-Sce I site. The cell will be hemizygote for the site. Appropriate cell lines include: 1. Mouse Fibroblastic cell line, NIH 3T3 with 1 to 14 proviral integration of G-MPL. Multiple (more than 30) clones were recovered. The presence of and the multiplicity of the different genomic integrations (uncharacterized) were verified by molecular analysis. 2: Mouse Fibroblastic cell line, NIH 3T3 with 1 copy of G-MtkPL integrated in the genome. 4 clones were covered. 3. Mouse Embryonal Carcinoma cell line, PCC7-S with 1 to 4 copies of G-MPL proviral integration in the genome. 14 clones were covered. 4. Mouse Embryonal Carcinoma cell line, PCC4 with 1 copy of G-MtkPL integrated in the genome. 5. Mouse Embryonic Stem cell line D3 with 1 to 4 copies of G-MPL at a variety of genomic localisation (uncharacterized). 4 clones were recovered. Construction of other cell lines and transgenic animals containing the I-Sce I site can be done by insertion of the I-Sce I site by a classical gene replacement at the desired locus and at the appropriate position. Any kind of animal or plant cell lines could a priori be used to integrate I-Sce I sites at a variety of genomic localisation with cell lines adapted. The invention can be used as follows: 1. Site Specific Gene Insertion The methods allow the production of an unlimited number of cell lines in which various genes or mutants of a given gene can be inserted at the predetermined location defined by the previous integration of the I-Sce I site. Such cell lines are thus useful for screening procedures, for phenotypes, ligands, drugs and for reproducible expression at a very high level of recombinant retroviral vectors if the cell line is a transcomplementing cell line for retrovirus production. Above mouse cells or equivalents from other vertebrates, including man, can be used. Any plant cells that can be maintained in culture can also be used independently of whether they have ability to regenerate or not, or whether or not they have given rise to fertile plants. The methods can also-be used with transgenic animals. 2. Site Specific Gene Expression Similar cell lines can also be used to produce proteins, metabolites or other compounds of biological or biotechnological interest using a transgene, a variety of promoters, regulators and/or structural genes. The gene will be always inserted at the same localisation in the chromosome. In transgenic animals, it makes possible to test the effect of multiple drugs, ligands, or medical proteins in a tissue-specific manner. 3. Insertion of the I-Sce I recognition site in the CFTR locus using homologous sequences flanking the CFTR gene in the genomic, DNA. The I-Sce I site can be inserted by spontaneous gene replacement by double-crossing over (Le Mouellic et al. PNAS, 1990, Vol. 87, 4712-4716). 4. Biomedical Applications A. In gene therapy, cells from a patient can be infected with a I-Sce I containing retrovirus, screened for integration of the defective retrovirus and then co-transformed with the I-Sce I producing vector and the donor sequence. Examples of appropriate cells include hematopoeitic tissue, hepatocytes, skin cells, endothelial cells of blood vessels or any stem cells. I-Sce I containing retroviruses include pG-MPL, pG-MtkPL or any kind of retroviral vector containing at least one I-Sce I site. I-Sce I producing vectors include pCMVI-Sce I(+) or any plasmid allowing transient expression of I-Sce I endonuclease. Donor sequences include (a) Genomic sequences containing the complete IL2 gene; (b) Genomic sequences containing the pre-ProInsulin gene; (c) A large fragment of vertebrate, including human, genomic sequence containing cis-acting element for gene expression. Modified cells are then reintroduced into the patient according to established protocols for gene therapy. B. Insertion of a promoter (i.e., CMV) with the I-Sce I site, in a stem cell (i.e., lymphoid). A gap repair molecule containing a linker (multicloning site) can be inserted between the CMV promoter and the downstream sequence. The insertion of a gene (i.e., IL-2 gene), present in the donor plasmids, can be done efficiently by expression of the I-Sce I meganuclease (i.e., Co-transfection with a I-Sce I meganuclease expression vector). The direct insertion of IL-2 gene under the CMV promoter lead to the direct selection of a stem cell over-expressing IL-2. For constructing transgenic cell lines, a retroviral infection is used in presently available systems. Other method to introduce I-Sce I sites within genomes can be used, including micro-injection of DNA, Ca-Phosphate induced transfection, electroporation, lipofection, protoplast or cell fusion, and bacterial-cell conjugation. Loss of heterozygosity is demonstrated as follows: The I-Sce I site is introduced in a locus (with or without foreign sequences), creating a heterozygous insertion in the cell. In the absence of repair DNA, the induced double-strand break will be extend by non-specific exonucleases, and the gap repaired by the intact sequence of the sister chromatide, thus the cell become homozygotic at this locus. Specific examples of gene therapy include immunomodulation (i.e. changing range or expression of IL genes); replacement of defective genes; and excretion of proteins (i.e. expression of various secretory protein in organelles). It is possible to activate a specific gene in vivo by I-Sce I induced recombination. The I-Sce I cleavage site is introduced between a duplication of a gene in tandem repeats, creating a loss of function. Expression of the endonuclease I-Sce I induces the cleavage between the two copies. The reparation by recombination is stimulated and results in a functional gene. 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Neonatal Lethality and Lymphopenia in Mice with a Homozygous Disruption of the c-abl Proto-Oncogene., Cell 65: 1153-1163 24. Varmus, H. and Brown, P. 1989. Retroviruses 25; Weiss, R., Teich, N., Varmus, H. and Coffin, J. 1985. RNA tumor viruses. Molecular Biology of tumor viruses. Second Edition. 2) Supplements and appendixes. Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory. 1-1222. 26. Weiss, R., Teich, N., Varmus, H. and Coffin, J. 1985. RNA tumor viruses. Molecular Biology of tumor viruses. Second Edition. 2). Supplements and appendixes. Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory. 1-1222. 27. Phillips J. and Morgan W. 1994. Illegitimate recombination induced by DNA double-strand breaks in mammalian chromosomes. Molecular and Cellular Biology 0.14:5794-5803. 28. Dujon B. 1989. Group I introns are mobile genetic elements: facts and mechanistic speculations a review. Gene 82:91-114. 29. Colleaux L., D'Aurio L., Galibert F. and Dujon B. 1988. Recognition and cleavage site of the intron-encoded omega transposase. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA. 85:6022-6. 30. Fairchild C. and Dujon B. Consequences of unique double-stranded breaks in yeast chromosomes: death or homozygosis. Molecular general genetics 240:170-180. 31. Pfeiffer P., Thode S., Hancke J. and Vielmetter W. 1994. Mechanism of overlap information in nonhomologous DNA end joining. Molecular and Cellular Biology 14:888-895. 32. Mezard C. and Nicholas A. 1994. Homologous, homeologous, and illegitimate repair of double-strand breaks during transformation of a wild-type strain and a rad52 Mutant strain of Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Molecular and Cellular Biology 14:1278-1292. 33. Feaver W. J., Svejstrup J. Q., Bradwell L., Bradwell A. J., Buratowski S., Gulyas K., Donahue T. F., Friedberg E. C. and Kornberg R. D. 1993. Dual Roles of a Multiprotein Complex from S. cerevisiae in transcription and DNA Repair. Cell 75:1379-1387. 34. Kramer K., Brock J., Bloom K., Moore K. and Haber J. 1994. Two different types of double-strand breaks in Saccharomyces ceerevisiae are repaired by similar RAD52 independent, nonhomolgous recombination events. Molecular and Cellular Biology 14:1293-1301. 35. Weiffenbach B. and Haber J. 1981. Homothallelic mating type switching generates lethal chromosomes breaks in rad52 strains of Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Molecular and Cellular Biology 1:522-534. 36. Nassif N., Penney J., Pal S., Engels W. and Gloor G. 1994. Efficient copying of nonhomologous sequences from ectopic sites via P-element-induced gap repair. Molecular and cellular biology 14:1643-1625. 37. Charlesworth B., Sniegowski P. and Stephan W. 1994. The evolutionary dynamics of repetitive DNA in eucaryotes. Nature 371:215-220. | <SOH> BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION <EOH>This invention relates to a nucleotide sequence that encodes the restriction endonuclease I-SceI. This invention also relates to vectors containing the nucleotide sequence, cells transformed with the vectors, transgenic animals based on the vectors, and cell lines derived from cells in the animals. This invention also relates to the use of I-SceI for mapping eukaryotic genomes and for in vivo site directed genetic recombination. The ability to introduce genes into the germ line of mammals is of great interest in biology. The propensity of mammalian cells to take up exogenously added DNA and to express genes included in the DNA has been known for many years. The results of gene manipulation are inherited by the offspring of these animals. All cells of these offspring inherit the introduced gene as part of their genetic make-up. Such animals are said to be transgenic. Transgenic mammals have provided a means for studying gene regulation during embryogenesis and in differentiation, for studying the action of genes, and for studying the intricate interaction of cells in the immune system. The whole animal is the ultimate assay system for manipulated genes, which direct complex biological processes. Transgenic animals can provide a general assay for functionally dissecting DNA sequences responsible for tissue specific or developmental regulation of a variety of genes. In addition, transgenic animals provide useful vehicles for expressing recombinant proteins and for generating precise animal models of human genetic disorders. For a general discussion of gene cloning and expression in animals and animal cells, see Old and Primrose, “Principles of Gene Manipulation,” Blackwell Scientific Publications, London (1989), page 255 et seq. Transgenic lines, which have a predisposition to specific diseases and genetic disorders, are of great value in the investigation of the events leading to these states. It is well known that the efficacy of treatment of a genetic disorder may be dependent on identification of the gene defect that is the primary cause of the disorder. The discovery of effective treatments can be expedited by providing an animal model that will lead to the disease or disorder, which will enable the study of the efficacy, safety, and mode of action of treatment protocols, such as genetic recombination. One of the key issues in understanding genetic recombination is the nature of the initiation step. Studies of homologous recombination in bacteria and fungi have led to the proposal of two types of initiation mechanisms. In the first model, a single-strand nick initiates strand assimilation and branch migration (Meselson and Radding 1975). Alternatively, a double-strand break may occur, followed by a repair mechanism that uses an uncleaved homologous sequence as a template (Resnick and Martin 1976). This latter model has gained support from the fact that integrative transformation in yeast is dramatically increased when the transforming plasmid is linearized in the region of chromosomal homology (Orr-Weaver, Szostak and Rothstein 1981) and from the direct observation of a double-strand break during mating type interconversion of yeast (Strathern et al. 1982). Recently, double-strand breaks have also been characterized during normal yeast meiotic recombination (Sun et al. 1989; Alani, Padmore and Kleckner 1990). Several double-strand endonuclease activities have been characterized in yeast: HO and intron encoded endonucleases are associated with homologous recombination functions, while others still have unknown genetic functions (Endo-SceI, Endo-SceII) (Shibata et al. 1984; Morishima et al. 1990). The HO site-specific endonuclease initiates mating-type interconversion by making a double-strand break near the YZ junction of MAT (Kostriken et al. 1983). The break is subsequently repaired using the intact HML or HMR sequences and resulting in ectopic gene conversion. The HO recognition site is a degenerate 24 bp non-symmetrical sequence (Nickoloff, Chen, and Heffron 1986; Nickoloff, Singer and Heffron 1990). This sequence has been used as a “recombinator” in artificial constructs to promote intra- and intermolecular mitotic and meiotic recombination (Nickoloff, Chen and Heffron, 1986; Kolodkin, Klar and Stahl 1986; Ray et al. 1988, Rudin and Haber, 1988; Rudin, Sugarman, and Haber 1989). The two-site specific endonucleases, I-SceI (Jacquier and Dujon 1985) and I-SceII (Delahodde et al. 1989; Wenzlau et al. 1989), that are responsible for intron mobility in mitochondria, initiate a gene conversion that resembles the HO-induced conversion (see Dujon 1989 for review). I-SceI, which is encoded by the optional intron Sc LSU.1 of the 21S rRNA gene, initiates a double-strand break at the intron insertion site (Macreadie et al. 1985; Dujon et al. 1985; Colleaux et al. 1986). The recognition site of I-SceI extends over an 18 bp non-symmetrical sequence (Colleaux et al. 1988). Although the two proteins are not obviously related by their structure (HO is 586 amino acids long while I-SceI is 235 amino acids long), they both generate 4 bp staggered cuts with 3′ OH overhangs within their respective recognition sites. It has been found that a mitochondrial intron-encoded endonuclease, transcribed in the nucleus and translated in the cytoplasm, generates a double-strand break at a nuclear site. The repair events induced by I-SceI are identical to those initiated by HO. In summary, there exists a need in the art for reagents and methods for providing transgenic animal models of human diseases and genetic disorders. The reagents can be based on the restriction enzyme I-SceI and the gene encoding this enzyme. In particular, there exists a need for reagents and methods for replacing a natural gene with another gene that is capable of alleviating the disease or genetic disorder. | <SOH> SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION <EOH>Accordingly, this invention aids in fulfilling these needs in the art. Specifically, this invention relates to an isolated DNA encoding the enzyme I-SceI. The DNA has the following nucleotide sequence: ATG CAT ATG AAA AAC ATC AAA AAA AAC CAG GTA ATG 2670 M H M K N I K K N Q V M 12 2671 AAC CTC GGT CCG AAC TCT AAA CTG CTG AAA GAA TAC AAA TCC CAG CTG ATC GAA CTG AAC 2730 13 N L G P N S K L L K E Y K S Q L I E L N 32 2731 ATC GAA CAG TTC GAA GCA GGT ATC GGT CTG ATC CTG GGT GAT GCT TAC ATC CGT TCT CGT 2790 33 I E Q F E A G I G L I L G D A Y I R S R 52 2791 GAT GAA GGT AAA ACC TAC TGT ATG CAG TTC GAG TGG AAA AAC AAA GCA TAC ATG GAC CAC 2850 53 D E G K T Y C M Q F E W K N K A Y M D H 72 2851 GTA TGT CTG CTG TAC GAT CAG TGG GTA CTG CTG TCC CCG CAC AAA AAA GAA CGT GTT AAC 2910 73 V C L L Y D Q W V L S P P H K K E R V N 92 2911 CAC TCG GGT AAC CTG GTA ATC ACC TGG GGC GCC CAG ACT TTC AAA CAC CAA GCT TTC AAC 2970 93 H L G N L V I T W G A Q T F K H Q A F N 112 2971 AAA CTG GCT AAC CTG TTC ATC GTT AAC AAC AAA AAA ACC ATC CCG AAC AAC CTG GTT GAA 3030 113 K L A N L F I V N N K K T I P N N L V E 132 3031 AAC TAC CTG ACC CCG ATG TCT CTG GCA TAC TGG TTC ATG GAT GAT GGT GGT AAA TGG GAT 3090 133 N Y L T P M S L A Y W F M D D G G K W D 152 3091 TAC AAC AAA AAC TCT ACC AAC AAA TCG ATC GTA CTG AAC ACC CAG TCT TTC ACT TTC GAA 3150 153 Y N K N S T N K S I V L N T Q S F T F E 172 3151 GAA GTA GAA TAC CTG GTT AAG GGT CTG CGT AAC AAA TTC CAA CTG AAC TGT TAC GTA AAA 3210 173 E V E Y L V K G L R N K F Q L N C Y V K 192 3211 ATC AAC AAA AAC AAA CCG ATC ATC TAC ATC GAT TCT ATG TCT TAC CTG ATC TTC TAC AAC 3270 193 I N K N K P I I Y I D S M S Y L I F Y N 212 3271 CTG ATC AAA CCG TAC CTG ATC CCG CAG ATG ATG TAC AAA CTG CCG AAC ACT ATC TCC TCC 3330 213 L I K P Y L I P Q M M Y K L P N T I S S 232 3331 GAA ACT TTC CTG AAA TAA 233 E T F L K * This invention also relates to a DNA sequence comprising a promoter operatively linked to the DNA sequence of the invention encoding the enzyme I-SceI. This invention further relates to an isolated RNA complementary to the DNA sequence of the invention encoding the enzyme I-SceI and to the other DNA sequences described herein. In another embodiment of the invention, a vector is provided. The vector comprises a plasmid, bacteriophage, or cosmid vector containing the DNA sequence of the invention encoding the enzyme I-SceI. In addition, this invention relates to E. coli or eukaryotic cells transformed with a vector of the invention. Also, this invention relates to transgenic animals containing the DNA sequence encoding the enzyme I-SceI and cell lines cultured from cells of the transgenic animals. In addition, this invention relates to a transgenic organism in which at least one restriction site for the enzyme I-SceI has been inserted in a chromosome of the organism. Further, this invention relates to a method of genetically mapping a eukaryotic genome using the enzyme I-SceI. This invention also relates to a method for in vivo site directed recombination in an organism using the enzyme I-SceI. | 20040901 | 20070508 | 20050210 | 95404.0 | 1 | KAUSHAL, SUMESH | NUCLEOTIDE SEQUENCE ENCODING THE ENZYME I-SCEI AND THE USES THEREOF | UNDISCOUNTED | 1 | CONT-ACCEPTED | 2,004 |
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10,931,294 | ACCEPTED | Void-maintaining synthetic drainable base courses in landfills and other large structures, and methods for controlling the flow and evacuation of fluids from landifills | Numerous embodiments of one or more layers of void-maintaining synthetic drainable base courses (“VMSDBC's”) are provided as incorporated into landfills and other waste containment facilities. Key advantages of landfills and methods according to the invention include a substantial decrease in the necessity for conventional gravel and sand layers, and an increase in the effective volume of a landfill or similar facility. Moreover, the invention decreases the cost attendant to locating, transporting, and forming conventional rock, sand and gravel materials into discreet layers. | 1. A drainable landfill or other large structure comprising I. a base layer formed at least partially of one or more of native soil components and non-native soil components, II. a synthetic drainable base course element disposed above said base layer, said drainable base course element comprising A) a void-maintaining geocomposite, said geocomposite including i) a geocomposite core element having a plurality of ribs constructed and arranged to form a plurality of interconnected voids, said core element having an upper surface and a lower surface, a no-load thickness and a thickness under load, wherein said thicknesses are measured substantially perpendicular to said surfaces, and ii) at least one fluid-transmissible layer attached adjacent said upper surface, wherein said layers and said core element are constructed and arranged so that, under a load of at least 500 lbs/foot2 for a period of at least 100 hours, said geocomposite maintains voids of sufficient dimension that fluid from said landfill or other large structure can move freely through portions of said drainage element at a transmissivity of at least 19 gallons/minute/foot at a slope gradient of 33% and at least 33 gallons/minute at a slope gradient of 10%, and III. above said synthetic drainable base course, fill suitable to be drained, said fill comprising one or more layers, sections or quantities of refuse materials, or materials to be processed at least partially within said landfill, wherein at least a portion of said synthetic drainable base course is sloped downwardly in a gradient from a first portion to a second portion of said landfill or other large structure. 2. The drainable landfill or other large structure of claim 1, wherein said layers and said core element are constructed and arranged so that, under a load of at least 1,000 lbs/foot2 for a period of at least 100 hours, said geocomposite maintains voids of sufficient dimension that fluid from said landfill or other large structure can move freely through portions of said drainage element at a transmissivity of at least 19 gallons/minute/foot at a slope gradient of 33% and at least 33 gallons/minute at a slope gradient of 10%. 3. The drainable landfill or other large structure of claim 1, wherein said layers and said core element are constructed and arranged so that, under a load of at least 15,000 lbs/foot2 for a period of at least 100 hours, said geocomposite maintains voids of sufficient dimension that fluid from said landfill or other large structure can move freely through portions of said drainage element at a transmissivity of at least 8.5 gallons/minute/foot at a slope gradient of 10%. 4. The drainable landfill or other large structure of claim 1, wherein said layers and said core element are constructed and arranged so that, under a load of at least 25,000 lbs/foot2 for a period of at least 100 hours, said geocomposite maintains voids of sufficient dimension that fluid from said landfill or other large structure can move freely through portions of said drainage element at a transmissivity of at least 3.5 gallons/minute/foot at a slope gradient of 10%. 5. The drainable landfill or other large structure of claim 1, wherein said core element comprises ribs constructed and arranged in a bi-planar configuration. 6. The drainable landfill or other large structure of claim 1, wherein said core element comprises ribs constructed and arranged in a tri-planar configuration. 7. The drainable landfill or other large structure of claim 1, wherein said core element comprises ribs constructed and arranged in a uniplanar configuration. 8. The drainable landfill or other large structure of claim 1, wherein said non-native soil components are one or more selected from the group consisting of refuse from highway excavations, refuse from building foundation excavations, mining refuse, manufacturing refuse, geologic refuse, gypsum refuse, quarry refuse, refuse from road-building activities, and refuse from dredging operations. 9. The drainable landfill or other large structure of claim 1, wherein said base layer of said drainable structure comprises at least one slope. 10. The drainable landfill or other large structure of claim 1, wherein said base layer of said drainable structure comprises a plurality of sloping surfaces. 11. The drainable landfill or other large structure of claim 1, wherein said plurality of surfaces form at least one container. 12. The drainable landfill or other large structure of claim 1, wherein said landfill or other large structure comprises a plurality of containers. 13. The drainable landfill or other large structure of claim 12, wherein said plurality of containers are constructed and arranged such that at least portions of one container can drain via gravitational means into one or more of other containers of said plurality of containers. 14. The drainable landfill or other large structure of claim 1, wherein said drainage element further comprises iii) at least one frictional layer attached adjacent said lower surface of said geocomposite. 15. The drainable landfill or other large structure of claim 1, wherein said drainage element further comprises iii) at least one cushion layer adjacent said lower surface of said geocomposite. 16. The drainable landfill or other large structure of claim 1, wherein said landfill is layered. 17. The synthetic drainable base course of claim 1, wherein said ribs of said core are provided in a first set and a second set, and a) said ribs of said first set are disposed substantially parallel to one another and substantially in a first plane, and b) said ribs of said second set being disposed substantially parallel to one another and substantially in a second plane, and wherein said first and second planes are disposed adjacent one another. 18. The synthetic drainable base course of claim 17, wherein further ribs are provided in at least a third set wherein said ribs of said third set are disposed substantially parallel to one another and said third set of ribs is disposed in a third plane adjacent and non-parallel to the ribs of said first or second sets. 19. The synthetic drainable base course of claim 17, wherein the cross-section of any one of said ribs approximates one or more shapes from the group consisting of a square, a rectangle, an oval, a star shape, a crenulation, and a trapezoid. 20. The synthetic drainable base course of claim 19, wherein said square has a width and a height approximately equal to one another, and said width and height have dimensions of from 1.0 to 10.0 mm. 21. The synthetic drainable base course of claim 19, wherein said rectangle has a width and a height, and said width has dimensions of from 2.0 to 15.0 mm and said height has dimensions of from 1.0 to 10.0 mm. 22. The synthetic drainable base course of claim 19, wherein said trapezoid has a major width, a minor width and a height, and said major width has dimensions of from 2.0 to 15.0 mm, said minor width has dimensions of from 1.0 to 10.0 mm and said height has dimensions of from 1.0 to 10.0 mm. 23. The synthetic drainable base course of claim 1, wherein at least some of said ribs comprise crenulations and said crenulations are disposed longitudinally along the surfaces of said ribs. 24. The synthetic drainable base course of claim 1, wherein all of said ribs are crenulated and said crenulations are disposed longitudinally along the surfaces of said ribs. 25. The synthetic drainable base course of claim 1, wherein under a normal load of 1,200 kPa for at least 10,000 hours at 20 degrees Celsius, said thickness under load is at least 65% of said no-load thickness. 26. The synthetic drainable base course of claim 1, wherein under a normal load of 720 kPa for at least 5,000 hours at 40 degrees Celsius, said thickness under load is at least 65% of said no-load thickness. 27. The synthetic drainable base course of claim 1, wherein under a normal load of 1,200 kPa for at least 10,000 hours at 20 degrees Celsius, said thickness under load is at least 60% of said no-load thickness. 28. The synthetic drainable base course of claim 1, wherein under a normal load of 720 kPa for at least 5,000 hours at 40 degrees Celsius, said thickness under load is at least 60% of said no-load thickness. 29. The synthetic drainable base course of claim 1, wherein under a normal load of 1,200 kPa for at least 10,000 hours at 20 degrees Celsius, said thickness under load is at least 50% of said no-load thickness. 30. The synthetic drainable base course of claim 1, wherein under a normal load of 720 kPa for at least 5,000 hours at 40 degrees Celsius, said thickness under load is at least 50% of said no-load thickness. 31. The synthetic drainable base course of claim 1, wherein under a normal load of 720 kPa and a shear load of 240 kPa for at least 5,000 hours at 40 degrees Celsius, said thickness under load is at least 50% of said no-load thickness. 32. The synthetic drainable base course of claim 1, wherein under a normal load of 720 kPa and a shear load of 240 kPa for at least 5,000 hours at 40 degrees Celsius, said thickness under load is at least 45% of said no-load thickness. 33. The synthetic drainable base course of claim 1, wherein under a normal load of 720 kPa and a shear load of 240 kPa for at least 5,000 hours at 40 degrees Celsius, said thickness under load is at least 40% of said no-load thickness. 34. The synthetic drainable base course of claim 1, wherein said no-load thickness is in the range of from 0.20 inches to 1.00 inches. 35. The synthetic drainable base course of claim 1, wherein said no-load thickness is in the range of from 0.20 inches to 0.75 inches. 36. The synthetic drainable base course of claim 1, wherein said no-load thickness is in the range of from 0.25 inches to 0.35 inches. 37. The synthetic drainable base course of claim 1, wherein said core element has a tensile strength of at least 400 lbs per foot in the machine direction. 38. The synthetic drainable base course of claim 1, wherein said core element has a tensile strength of at least 500 lbs per foot in the machine direction. 39. The synthetic drainable base course of claim 1, wherein said gradient is at least 1% in a direction away from said portion of said landfill. 40. The synthetic drainable base course of claim 1, wherein said portion of said landfill is the centerline. 41. The synthetic drainable base course of claim 1, wherein under a load of 720 kPa for at least 100 hours, said voids maintain an average width of at least 2.0 mm and an average height of at least 10.0 mm. 42. The synthetic drainable base course of claim 1, wherein under a load of 720 kPa for at least 100 hours, said voids maintain an average width of from 2.0 mm to 10.0 mm. 43. The synthetic drainable base course of claim 1, wherein under a load of 720 kPa for at least 100 hours, said voids maintain an average width of from 3.0 mm to 8.0 mm. 44. The synthetic drainable base course of claim 1, wherein under a load of 1,200 kPa for at least 100 hours, said voids maintain an average width of from 2.0 mm to 10.0 mm. 45. The synthetic drainable base course of claim 1, wherein under a load of 1,200 kPa for at least 100 hours, said voids maintain an average width of from 3.0 mm to 8.0 mm. 46. The synthetic drainable base course of claim 1, wherein under a load of 1,200 kPa for at least 100 hours, said voids maintain an average height of from 2.0 mm to 10.0 mm. 47. The synthetic drainable base course of claim 1, wherein under a load of 1,200 kPa for at least 100 hours, said voids maintain an average height of from 3.0 mm to 8.0 mm. 48. The synthetic drainable base course of claim 1, wherein under a load of 720 kPa for at least 100 hours, said voids maintain an average width of at least 3.0 mm and an average height of at least 10.0 mm. 49. The synthetic drainable base course of claim 1, wherein under a load of 1,200 kPa for at least 100 hours, said voids maintain an average width of at least 2.0 mm and an average height of at least 8.0 mm. 50. The synthetic drainable base course of claim 1, wherein under a load of 720 kPa for at least 100 hours, said voids maintain an average width of at least 6.0 mm and an average height of at least 8.0 mm. 51. The synthetic drainable base course of claim 1, wherein under a load of 1,200 kPa for at least 1,000 hours, said voids maintain an average width of at least 2.0 mm and an average height of at least 8.0 mm. 52. The synthetic drainable base course of claim 1, wherein under a load of 720 kPa for at least 1,000 hours, said voids maintain an average width of at least 6.0 mm and an average height of at least 8.0 mm. 53. The synthetic drainable base course of claim 1, wherein said ribs are constructed and arranged to form preferential flow paths and non-preferential flow paths in a sloped portion of said landfill. 54. The synthetic drainable base course of claim 53, wherein said preferential flow paths and said non-preferential flow paths are not parallel to one another and are formed by said ribs. 55. The synthetic drainable base course of claim 53, disposed in a landfill or other large structure such that said preferential flow paths are substantially perpendicular to said portion of said landfill. 56. The synthetic drainable base course of claim 53, disposed in a landfill or other large structure such that said preferential flow paths are substantially parallel to said portion of said landfill. 57. The synthetic drainable base course of claim 53, wherein at least 35% of the volume of fluid moving through said SDBC does so by way of said preferential flow paths. 58. The synthetic drainable base course of claim 53, wherein at least 50% of the volume of fluid moving through said SDBC does so by way of said preferential flow paths. 59. The synthetic drainable base course of claim 53, wherein at least 65% of the volume of fluid moving through said SDBC does so by way of said preferential flow paths. 60. The synthetic drainable base course of claim 53, wherein said portion of said landfill is the centerline or axis of at least one portion of said landfill. 61. The synthetic drainable base course of claim 1, wherein said geocomposite core comprises at least one margin constructed and arranged to transmit fluids from said base course away from said landfill or other large structure. 62. The synthetic drainable base course of claim 61, wherein said at least one margin is constructed and arranged to connect with one or more selected from the group consisting of perforated pipes, non-perforated pipes, drainage ditches, sumps, canals, re-circulating manifolds, drainage manifolds and facilities for further processing of said leachate and of said waste. 63. A method of forming drainable landfill or other large structure, comprising the steps of I. providing a base layer formed at least partially of one or more of native soil components and non-native soil components, II. providing a synthetic drainable base course element disposed above said base layer, said drainage element comprising A) a void-maintaining geocomposite, said geocomposite including i) a geocomposite core element having a plurality of ribs constructed and arranged to form a plurality of interconnected voids, said core element having an upper surface and a lower surface, a no-load thickness and a thickness under load, wherein said thicknesses are measured substantially perpendicular to said surfaces, and ii) at least one fluid-transmissible layer attached adjacent said upper surface, wherein said layers and said core element are constructed and arranged so that, under a load of at least 500 lbs/foot2 for a period of at least 100 hours, said geocomposite maintains voids of sufficient dimension that fluid from said landfill or other large structure can move freely through portions of said drainage element at a transmissivity of at least 19 gallons/minute/foot at a slope gradient of 33% and at least 33 gallons/minute at a slope gradient of 10%, and III. providing above said synthetic drainable base course, fill suitable to be drained, said fill comprising one or more layers, sections or quantities of refuse materials, or materials to be processed at least partially within said landfill, wherein at least a portion of said synthetic drainable base course is sloped downwardly in a gradient from a first portion to a second portion of said landfill or other large structure. 64. The method of claim 63, wherein said non-native soil components are one or more selected from the group consisting of refuse from highway excavations, refuse from building foundation excavations, mining refuse, manufacturing refuse, geologic refuse, gypsum refuse, quarry refuse, refuse from road-building activities, and refuse from dredging operations. 65. The method of claim 63, wherein said base layer of said drainable structure comprises at least one slope. 66. The method of claim 63, wherein said drainage element of said drainable landfill or other large structure further comprises iii) at least one frictional layer attached adjacent said lower surface of said geocomposite. 67. The method of claim 63, wherein said drainage element of said drainable landfill or other large structure further comprises iii) at least one cushion layer adjacent said lower surface of said geocomposite. 68. The method of claim 63, wherein said landfill or other large structure is layered. 69. The method of claim 63, wherein said ribs of said core are provided in a first set and a second set, and a) said ribs of said first set are disposed substantially parallel to one another and substantially in a first plane, and b) said ribs of said second set being disposed substantially parallel to one another and substantially in a second plane, and wherein said first and second planes are disposed adjacent one another. 70. The method of claim 63, wherein further ribs are provided in at least a third set wherein said ribs of said third set are disposed substantially parallel to one another and said third set of ribs is disposed in a third plane adjacent and non-parallel to the ribs of said first or second sets. 71. The method of claim 63, wherein the cross-section of any one of said ribs approximates one or more shapes from the group consisting of squares, rectangles, ovals, star shapes, crenulations, and trapezoids. 72. The method of claim 63, wherein said layers and said core element are constructed and arranged so that, under a load of at least 1,000 lbs/foot2 for a period of at least 100 hours, said geocomposite maintains voids of sufficient dimension that fluid from said landfill or other large structure can move freely through portions of said drainage element at a transmissivity of at least 19 gallons/minute/foot at a slope gradient of 33% and at least 33 gallons/minute at a slope gradient of 10%. 73. The method of claim 63, wherein said layers and said core element are constructed and arranged so that, under a load of at least 15,000 lbs/foot2 for a period of at least 100 hours, said geocomposite maintains voids of sufficient dimension that fluid from said landfill or other large structure can move freely through portions of said drainage element at a transmissivity of at least 8.5 gallons/minute/foot at a slope gradient of 10%. 74. The method of claim 63, wherein said layers and said core element are constructed and arranged so that, under a load of at least 25,000 lbs/foot2 for a period of at least 100 hours, said geocomposite maintains voids of sufficient dimension that fluid from said landfill or other large structure can move freely through portions of said drainage element at a transmissivity of at least 3.5 gallons/minute/foot at a slope gradient of 10%. 75. A synthetic drainable base course composite element suitable for providing drainage when positioned within a landfill or other large structure, said base course element comprising a void-maintaining geocomposite, said geocomposite including a) a geocomposite core element having a plurality of ribs constructed and arranged to form a plurality of interconnected voids, said core element having an upper surface and a lower surface, a no-load thickness and a thickness under load, wherein said thicknesses are measured substantially perpendicular to said surfaces, and b) at least one fluid-transmissible layer attached adjacent said upper surface, wherein said layers and said core element are constructed and arranged so that, under a load of at least 1,000 lbs/foot2 for a period of at least 100 hours, said geocomposite maintains voids of sufficient dimension that fluid from said landfill or other large structure can move freely through portions of said drainage element at a transmissivity of at least 19 gallons/minute/foot at a slope gradient of 33% and at least 33 gallons/minute at a slope gradient of 10%, and wherein said geocomposite is constructed and arranged so that said transmissivity is maintained within said landfill or other large structure when, fill comprising one or more layers, sections or quantities of waste or refuse materials, or waste or materials to be processed at least partially within said landfill, is disposed above said geocomposite, wherein at least a portion of said synthetic drainable base course is sloped downwardly in a gradient from a first portion to a second portion of said landfill or other large structure. | RELATED APPLICATIONS The present application is a Continuation-In-Part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/232,811, filed Sep. 3, 2002 (now allowed). The present application also claims priority to U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/501,324, filed Feb. 10, 2000, to U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/501,318, filed Feb. 10, 2000, and U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/316,036, filed Aug. 31, 2001. The cited Applications are hereby incorporated by reference in their entireties. FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention pertains to means and methods for controlling the flow of fluids, such as gases and aqueous liquids through, and for evacuating fluids from, landfills and other large structures. The invention provides improved and novel drainage elements and systems of geosynthetic void-maintaining synthetic drainable base courses (“SDBC”) which can be installed economically as substitutes for all or portions of conventional drainage components and systems. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Leachate, an aqueous solution created by the passage of fluids through waste piles, is a principal environmental concern. Since passage of the Clean Water Act, waste containment systems must be engineered to prevent migration of leachate into the groundwater underlying landfill sites. Conventionally, the containment and flow control of such leachate has been achieved by the use of one or more of compacted clay liners, various types of synthetic geomembranes, and synthetic clay liners. It is well established that leachate can cause distress and damage to synthetic liner systems, causing leaks, and thereby polluting groundwater and the local environment. Therefore, the effective engineering and design of a containment system for a landfill or other similar structure requires drainage systems to be constructed above geomembrane liners which are disposed to remove these fluids. In fact, the USEPA regulatory guidance states that no more then a one-foot liquid head is allowable above a geomembrane in such an installation. In some conventional drainage systems, engineers specify that stone of uniform gradation be utilized as the leachate drainage layer at the base of a landfill. Stones are often specified to obtain a certain “diameter” and are measured in sieves that have specific diameters. This is because spheres touch at points of tangentiality. In some other drainage systems, engineers specify that processed tire chip aggregate of uniform sizes be utilized as the leachate drainage layer at the base of a landfill. Engineers skilled in the art of landfill design utilize the principle of tangentiality and require aggregate producers to manufacture stone particles that are relatively spherical. They achieve this by specifying uniform gradations of stone. A gradation refers to the distribution of stones with different “diameters.” Thus, leachate collection systems are highly engineered layered structures and require engineered materials that are selected based upon factors such as their density, particle or aggregate size, compressibility, chemical compatibility, and other engineering parameters of the soil, stone and aggregate-based products. Stone is highly non-compressible. Therefore, even when stones are subjected to compressive forces, voids exist in those spaces where the stones do not touch. Therefore, even under significant loading conditions, void spaces, or porosity may be obtained. The more open void space volume created, the greater the porosity. Typically, the more porous an installation or layer, the higher the resulting cost. For example, a stone with an effective size of ¼″ and a coefficient of uniformity of 2.5, typically costs much more then sand. This type of gradation is often classified as AASHTO 57 and is often utilized to create open-graded base course in landfills, roadways, and other installations needing a specified drainage capacity. Aggregate classifications are standardized for FHWA and DOT Transportation applications. In contrast, this degree of classification typically does not exist for environmental markets. For example, while a landfill in California may specify a stone of uniform gradation of average ½″, such specifications may not refer to the stone as an AASHTO 57 stone. This is so even though the transportation department or company that constructed the road to the landfill may have utilized the same exact stone and classified it as AASHTO 57. AASHTO 57 is often used as an open-graded base course (OGBC). An open graded base course (OGBC) can be utilized as a means to convey fluids to leachate collection laterals and pipes. Still, in other systems engineers will specify sand as a natural material that offers both vertical permeability and horizontal transmissivity. As one skilled in the art of landfill design can appreciate, not all landfills require sand nor do they all require stone. Therefore, design of particular landfills is often site-specific. For example, engineers may require a stone drainage layer to achieve the regulatory requirements but the local geological conditions do not offer stone. When this occurs, contractors are required to purchase stone and have it transported over long distances. Such transportation costs significantly drives up the cost of construction of the landfill. In fact, engineers and other design personnel who procure construction aggregates typically estimate that the cost of aggregate supply doubles for every 25 miles of transport distance to the landfill site. In conventional landfill construction, an OGBC may be placed to form a leachate collection system. These OGBC systems are typically used above primary geomembranes. Leachate collection systems are highly engineered layered structures and require engineered materials that are selected based upon factors such as their density, particle or aggregate size, compressibility, chemical compatibility, or other engineering parameters of the soil, stone and aggregate-based products. Other engineering parameters reflect the importance of sufficient drainage in landfills. In fact, bioreactors and/or leachate recalculation facilities require high flowing materials. For example, theses types of structures collect all leachate and recirculate the fluids to help further consolidate the waste mass. This re-circulation results in increased void or air-space which results in more capacity and, consequently, more potential revenue for a site. Thus, the rate at which leachate and other fluids are transported away from the various layers of a landfill is a critical element in its useful life. Leakage rates that are excessive require the landfill to be closed and the leak to be corrected. Thus, inadequate drainage can be an extremely serious and costly problem affecting a landfill. In one conventional method of approaching these drainage problems, an OGBC drainable layer formed of natural stone and aggregate materials is included above or beneath a geomembrane in an attempt to positively control fluids and dissipate pore pressures which commonly accumulate within these structures. Typically, an OGBC-drainable permeable layer also utilizes a geotextile for membrane protection and/or filtration. An OGBC is intended to be a porous drainage media that is capable of receiving fluids from the points of entry and then transporting them to designated discharge points in a timely manner. These systems often utilize AASHTO 57 stone. According to the FHWA, an AASHTO 57 stone has a permeability of 6,800 linear feet per day and any OGBC drainage layer should have a minimum permeability of 1,000 linear feet per day. An OGBC is typically produced from stone that has been mined from quarries. A main distinguishing characteristic of OGBC materials is that they are usually delivered to work sites having a fairly uniform gradation per the specifications of the project engineer. Typically, project engineers use published standards for OGBC available from AASHTO, the Federal Highway Administration, or their resident state's department of transportation. Theoretically, the uniform gradation of OGBC materials typically creates voids of desired and predictable dimension between the pieces of stone when they are in place. Thus, desired flow rates through both vertical and horizontal planes of the OGBC can be increased or decreased somewhat predictably by selecting appropriate size distributions of the stone particulate material. An OGBC can be costly to install and maintain, and can be difficult to control and predict with respect to quality. Although such gradations of stone typically create interconnecting void spaces or holes among and between the aggregate useful to facilitate the reception and transmission of fluid, an OGBC can take up a considerable volume of valuable space of the installation. An additional problem relates to the longevity of the chosen stone. Stone is made of different minerals, some of which minerals are soluble in water or in the harsh chemical environments which often exist in landfills. In fact, in Kentucky, certain OGBC leachate collection systems constructed of limestone have completely dissolved because of the chemical nature of the fluids passing through them. Other disadvantages of OGBC's pertain to the additional elements that are required in an OGBC installation. Typically, a well graded granular or geotextile filter layer is needed above the OGBC in order to prevent contamination of the OGBC from the migration of fines. This extra filter layer further increases the construction costs of the landfill. Yet another problem with the use of OGBC's is that aggregate of sufficient quality is not always available or, if available, it's cost is uneconomical or prohibitively high. There is therefore a need for landfills and for landfill drainage systems that utilize components which can be engineered and manufactured offsite, and easily transported to the site and integrated economically into the landfill or other large structure, and to provide equivalent or superior flow to that of a conventional OGBC. There is a similar need for drainage elements suitable for integration into landfills and other large structures which take up much less space than conventional OGBC's. The present geosynthetic drainage elements offer a solution to these problems. In general, geosynthetics are manufactured from polymeric materials, typically by extrusion, as substantially planar, sheet-like, or cuspidated products. Geosynthetics are usually made in large scale, e.g., several meters in width and many meters in length, so that they are easily adaptable to large-scale construction and landscaping uses. Many geosynthetics are formed to initially have a substantially planar configuration. Some geosynthetics, even though they are initially planar, are flexible or fabric-like and therefore conform easily to uneven or rolling surfaces. Some geosynthetics are manufactured to be less flexible, but to possess great tensile strength and resistance to stretching or great resistance to compression. Certain types of geosynthetic materials are used to reinforce large manmade structures, particularly those made of earthen materials such as gravel, sand and soil. In such uses, one purpose of the geosynthetic is to hold the earthen components together by providing a latticework or meshwork whose elements have a high resistance to stretching. By positioning a particular geosynthetic integral to gravel, sand and soil, that is with the gravel, sand and soil resident within the interstices of the geosynthetic, unwanted movement of the earthen components is minimized or eliminated. Most geosynthetic materials, whether of the latticework type or of the fabric type, allow water to pass through them to some extent and thus into or through the material within which the geosynthetic is integrally positioned. Thus, geosynthetic materials and related geotechnical engineering materials are used as integral parts of manmade structures or systems in order to stabilize their salient dimensions. Before the present invention, the only geosynthetic materials available for landfill drainage were exclusively limited to drains at the edge or shoulder of a landfill. These edge-drain systems are commonly located within a covered trench originally dug along the shoulder of the landfill. Conventional edge drain geosynthetics, however, cannot withstand the repeated dynamic loads that are present directly beneath heavy overburdens, such as those typically found in land fills and other large structures. Geosynthetic drainage materials have been utilized also on side slopes of landfills in order to ameliorate stability difficulties associated with construction of granular material drains. Geosynthetic drainage materials of dimensions up to 275 mils thick have been utilized to complement sand or to substitute for sand as a natural material at the floor of landfill. However, such geosynthetic products have never been engineered to achieve flow rates and void-maintaining capabilities sufficient to replace stone. The present invention relates generally to synthetic void-maintaining structures with high permittivity and high transmissivity that are capable of partially or fully replacing stone in landfills and other large structures by maintaining voids of sufficient dimensions to permit the timely egress of undesirable fluids. The present invention provides a series of Void-Maintaining Synthetic Drainable Base Courses (“VMSDBC's”) of polymeric material, and related methods, for designing and constructing leachate collection systems and drainage systems. The present VMSDBC's and methods thereby eliminate or minimize the amount of conventional open-graded stone that might otherwise be required. Until the present invention, no geosynthetic material had been designed or implemented that could provide a drainage system of equivalent or superior drainage to those of an OGBC as utilized to convey fluids in a conventional landfill. Similarly, until the present invention, no geosynthetic material had ever been designed that could maintain voids of defined and sufficient dimensions while undergoing the repeated dynamic cycles of fluid infiltration and exposure demanded of bioreactors and re-circulation facilities. The present VMSDBC void-maintaining system is the first such synthetic material that allows those skilled in the art of landfill design to replace stone. Water migrates and enters the VMSDBC system and then travels through the VMSDBC to locations or areas where the fluid is then conveyed for discharge in a timely manner in designated areas of a landfill, or outside of it. The present invention thus offers a synthetic product that overcomes the many deficiencies of the conventional OGBC. Thus, the present invention relates generally to synthetic void-maintaining structures with high permittivity and high transmissivity that are capable of extending the life of a landfill. The present invention thus overcomes stability concerns of other geosynthetics which are not truly suitable for use as void-maintaining drainage structures in landfills and other large structures. Numerous embodiments of the present VMSDBC and methods overcome the disadvantages of the conventional OGBC systems by providing a plurality of interconnected voids of great mechanical and dimensional stability while simultaneously providing sufficient horizontal flow to perform in accordance with “Good to Excellent” drainage performance when assessed with respect to AASHTO definitions. These performance attributes are unique to the present VMSDBC drainage elements and landfills, which eliminate many of the problems associated with fluids underlying large structures that are not resolved by conventional OGBC systems or any conventional geosynthetic product. By eliminating these problems, VMSDBC's of the present invention extend the useful life of the landfill by increasing the effective amount of airspace. In accordance with other aspects of the present invention, the VMSDBC's of the invention can be positioned in a landfill to maximize their effectiveness. For example, a VMSDBC can be positioned directly above a geomembrane or beneath a geomembrane. Moreover, a VMSDBC of the invention can be made in large pieces, for example, in pieces several meters wide and many meters long. For convenience and installation, however, a VMSDBC and its components may be installed in portions which are interconnected such that the interconnecting voids are of sufficient dimension that the leachate can move freely through the SDBC and be connected to drain means such as a perforated pipe, drainage ditch, or culvert adjacent to the landfill. In an important aspect, VMSDBC's of the invention, maintain the preferred void dimensions even under substantial loads. For example, typically the lower surface of the super stratum, that is, the upper fluid-transmissible layer, and the upper surface of the substratum, that is, the lower fluid-transmissible layer, are prevented from having contact with one another when the upper surface of the substratum and the lower surface of the super stratum are placed under sustained loads above 10,000 psf and the lower surface of the substratum and upper surface of the super stratum are in contact with a soil environment for a duration of not less than 100 hours. Other advantages of the present VMSDBC's can be seen with respect to their fluid-transmitting capacity. For example, in some embodiments, a VMSDBC of the present invention typically exhibits a fluid transmitting capacity of at least 4,000 ft.3/day/ft when tested under a normal load of 15,000 psf, and at a gradient of 2% per ASTM D 4716. Thus, the present VMSDBC's exhibit superior fluid-transmitting characteristics and meet the specifications for classification as “Excellent to Good” performance under AASHTO's definitions. Advantageously, a VMSDBC according to the present invention is superior to conventional drainage elements, inter alia, because it is capable of resisting long-term compressive stress to the extent that it resists creep deformation and structural catastrophic collapse under load by retaining 60% of its external dimensional thickness after 10,000 hours under a sustained normal load of 10,000 pounds per square foot. Preferably, a VMSDBC according to the invention, comprises an upper fluid-transmissible surface, and the core is pervious to the vertical migration of fluids. Furthermore SDBCs are preferably constructed and arranged to transmit fluids to discharge points within or at the perimeter of a landfill whereby the piping or other collection means is designed to receive fluids transported from within the landfill by means of the SDBC. Void-maintaining synthetic drainable base courses (“VMSDBC's”) of the present invention can be fabricated into panels of various lengths and widths by using conventional means to weld, adhere, tie or sew SDBC sections to one another to form a continuous SDBC underneath construction soils, landfill materials, or waste. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide economical means and methods for providing drainage to landfills and other large structures. It is also an object of the invention to provide void-maintaining synthetic drainable base courses that may be used in place of stone and other forms of open graded base courses in landfills and other large structures. It is a further object of the invention to provide synthetic drainable base course elements that may be positioned in landfills with the use of conventional earth-moving and similar equipment. In accordance with these and other objects of the invention, a series of landfills are provided having synthetic drainable base courses for controlling the flow of fluids such as liquids and gases within landfills and other large structures, and for draining landfills and other large structures, are provided. In one preferred embodiment, a landfill or other large structure according to the invention preferably comprises a base layer formed at least partially of one or more of native soil components and non-native soil components, a synthetic drainable base course element disposed above the base layer, wherein the drainable base course element comprises a void-maintaining geocomposite, the geocomposite including a geocomposite core element having a plurality of ribs constructed and arranged to form a plurality of interconnected voids, the core element having an upper surface and a lower surface, a no-load thickness and a thickness under load, wherein the thicknesses are measured substantially perpendicular to the surfaces, and at least one fluid-transmissible layer attached adjacent the upper surface, wherein the layers and the core element are constructed and arranged so that, under a load of at least 500 lbs/foot2 for a period of at least 100 hours, the geocomposite maintains voids of sufficient dimension that fluid from the landfill or other large structure can move freely through portions of the drainage element at a transmissivity of at least 19 gallons/minute/foot at a slope gradient of 33% and at least 33 gallons/minute at a slope gradient of 10%, and, above the synthetic drainable base course, fill suitable to be drained, the fill comprising one or more layers, sections or quantities of refuse materials, or materials to be processed at least partially within the landfill, wherein at least a portion of the synthetic drainable base course is sloped downwardly in a gradient from a first portion to a second portion of the landfill or other large structure. Advantageously, a drainable landfill or other large structure of the invention include wherein the layers and the core element are constructed and arranged so that, under a load of at least 1,000 lbs/foot2 for a period of at least 100 hours, the geocomposite maintains voids of sufficient dimension that fluid from the landfill or other large structure can move freely through portions of the drainage element at a transmissivity of at least 19 gallons/minute/foot at a slope gradient of 33% and at least 33 gallons/minute at a slope gradient of 10%. In other preferred embodiments, other capacities are achieved. For example, in one preferred embodiment the layers and the core element are constructed and arranged so that, under a load of at least 15,000 lbs/foot2 for a period of at least 100 hours, the geocomposite maintains voids of sufficient dimension that fluid from the landfill or other large structure can move freely through portions of the drainage element at a transmissivity of at least 8.5 gallons/minute/foot at a slope gradient of 10%. In still other preferred embodiments, the layers and the core element are constructed and arranged so that, under a load of at least 25,000 lbs/foot2 for a period of at least 100 hours, the geocomposite maintains voids of sufficient dimension that fluid from the landfill or other large structure can move freely through portions of the drainage element at a transmissivity of at least 3.5 gallons/ minute/foot at a slope gradient of 10%. In accordance with additional objects of the invention, the geocomposite core element preferably comprises a plurality ribs constructed and arranged in one or more of uniplanar, bi-planar, and triplanar configurations. Numerous permutations of such layers of ribs are possible within the scope of the present invention. For example, in one preferred embodiment, the ribs of the core are provided in a first set and a second set, and the ribs of the first set are disposed substantially parallel to one another and substantially in a first plane, and the ribs of the second set being disposed substantially parallel to one another and substantially in a second plane, and wherein the first and second planes are disposed adjacent one another. Thus, ribs of the respective adjacent layers may cross one another at an angle of between 90 degrees and 20 degrees. In other preferred embodiments, further ribs are provided in at least a third set wherein the ribs of the third set are disposed substantially parallel to one another and the third set of ribs is disposed in a third plane adjacent and non-parallel to the ribs of the first or second sets. As a further advantage, ribs of the geocomposite can be provided in whatever numerous cross-sectional shape and length variations which are necessary to achieve the drainage capacities of a particular landfill or other large structure, such as an airport runway, a runway runoff zone, a parking lot, a temporary runway, a building, or a buried antenna site. Included in such cross-sectional shapes are those where the ribs approximate one or more shapes from the group consisting of squares, rectangles, ovals, star shapes, crenulations, and trapezoids. Dimensions of the ribs can be tailored to provide desired capacities, economies, and installation characteristics. For example, in one preferred embodiment, a square rib of a geocomposite according to the invention has a width and a height approximately equal to one another, and the width and height have dimensions of from 1.0 to 10.0 mm. In other preferred embodiments, a rectangular rib of the invention has a width and a height, and the width has dimensions of from 2.0 to 15.0 mm and the height has dimensions of from 1.0 to 10.0 mm. In still other preferred embodiments, a trapezoid-shaped rib of the invention has a major width, a minor width and a height, and the major width has dimensions of from 2.0 to 15.0 mm, the minor width has dimensions of from 1.0 to 10.0 mm and the height has dimensions of from 1.0 to 10.0 mm. The ribbed layers of a geocomposite of the invention can be provided in shapes and forms which take advantage of conventional plastic extruders known to the industry, and of the various extrusion methods known for plastics in order to produce geocomposite core elements for use with the invention. For example, in some embodiments of core element ribs of the invention, at some or all of the ribs comprise crenulations and the crenulations are disposed either longitudinally along the surfaces of the ribs or cross-wise along the rib surfaces. Landfills of the inventions include those where the non-native soil components of the base are one or more selected from the group consisting of refuse from highway excavations, refuse from building foundation excavations, mining refuse, manufacturing refuse, geologic refuse, gypsum refuse, quarry refuse, refuse from road-building activities, and refuse from dredging operations. In order to provide for desired drainage characteristics, the base layer of the drainable structure comprises at least one, or a plurality of, slopes or sloping surfaces. In some preferred embodiments, such sloping surfaces form at least one, or a plurality of containers. The containers can be separate from one another or can be interconnected. For instance, a plurality of containers according to the invention can be constructed and arranged such that at least portions of one container can drain via gravitational means into one or more of other containers of the plurality of containers. Thus, in some facilities, some containers can drain into other containers by gravitation means. As yet another advantage, the drainage element may further comprise at least one frictional layer attached adjacent the lower surface of the geocomposite, or at least one cushion layer adjacent the lower surface of the geocomposite. In some preferred embodiments, the drainable landfill or other large structure of the invention is layered. Preferably, the slope gradient is at least 1% in a direction away from the portion of the landfill to be drained, and more preferably is at least 2% or 3% but can be as high as 40%. Also preferably, the portion of the landfill to be drained includes the centerline. Other significant aspects of the present invention relate to the capacities and conditions under which those capacities can be attained. Examples of these capacities and conditions include those where the synthetic drainable base course element, under a normal load of 1,200 kPa for at least 10,000 hours at 20 degrees Celsius, maintains its thickness under load of at least 65% of its no-load thickness, and those where, under a normal load of 720 kPa for at least 5,000 hours at 40 degrees Celsius, the thickness under load is maintained to at least 50% of the no-load thickness. Additional capacities include those wherein, under a normal load of 1,200 kPa for at least 10,000 hours at 20 degrees Celsius, the thickness under load is maintained at least 60% of the no-load thickness, or at least 50% of the no-load thickness, at least 45% of the no-load thickness, or at least 40% of the no-load thickness. Yet other advantageous capacities include those wherein, under a normal load of 720 kPa for at least 5,000 hours at 40 degrees Celsius, the thickness under load is maintained at least 65% of the no-load thickness, or at least 60% of the no-load thickness, at least 45% of the no-load thickness, or at least 40% of the no-load thickness. Landfills and base course elements of the present invention include also those embodiments that are resistance to shear forces in situ. For instance, the invention includes landfills and synthetic drainable base course drainage elements which, under a normal load of 720 kPa and a shear load of 240 kPa for at least 5,000 hours at 40 degrees Celsius, maintain the thickness of the geocomposite under load of at least 50% of its no-load thickness. Other capacities include those wherein, under a normal load of 720 kPa and a shear load of 240 kPa for at least 5,000 hours at 40 degrees Celsius, the thickness under load remains at least 45% of the no-load thickness of the geocomposite, and embodiments wherein, under a normal load of 720 kPa and a shear load of 240 kPa for at least 5,000 hours at 40 degrees Celsius, the thickness under load is at least 40% of the no-load thickness. Typical no-load thicknesses of base course drainage elements of the invention include those wherein the no-load thickness is in the range of from 0.20 inches to 1.00 inches, or in the range of from 0.20 inches to 0.75 inches, or in the range of from 0.25 inches to 0.35 inches. Preferably, a core element has a tensile strength of at least 400 lbs per foot in the machine direction and, more preferably, of at least 500 lbs per foot in the machine direction. Another parameter for measuring the capacities and performance of the present base courses pertains to the size and capacities of voids that are maintained under a particular load for a particular period of time. In general, a void is any space created near the intersection of at least two ribs, or the intersection between at least one rib and the fabric overlying it, or underlying it. The width and height of such voids can be considered together or as independent dimensions to be measured. For example, embodiments of the invention are provided wherein, under a load of 720 kPa for at least 100 hours, the voids of the base course maintain an average width of at least 2.0 mm and an average height of at least 10.0 mm, and the voids maintain an average width of from 2.0 mm to 10.0 mm. In other embodiments, under a load of 720 kPa for at least 100 hours, the voids maintain an average width of from 3.0 mm to 8.0 mm. In still other embodiments under higher pressures, for instance, in a synthetic drainable base course of the invention under a load of 1,200 kPa for at least 100 hours, or at least 1,000 hours, the voids maintain an average width of from 2.0 mm to 10.0 mm and an average height of from 3.0 mm to 8.0 mm, or an average width of from 2.0 mm to 10.0 mm, an average height of from 3.0 mm to 8.0 mm, an average width of at least 2.0 mm and an average height of at least 8.0 mm, an average width of at least 2.0 mm and an average height of at least 8.0 mm. In yet additional embodiments, the synthetic drainable base course element of the invention, under a load of 720 kPa for at least 100 hours, or for at least 1,000 hours, the voids maintain an average width of at least 3.0 mm and an average height of at least 10.0 mm, or an average width of at least 6.0 mm and an average height of at least 8.0 mm. Advantageously, the ribs of the present synthetic drainable base courses can be constructed and arranged to form preferential flow paths and non-preferential flow paths in sloped or non-sloped portions of the landfill. Preferably, the preferential flow paths and the non-preferential flow paths are not parallel to one another. Flow paths of the invention are formed by the relative placement of the rib elements and are advantageous in that they direct the flow of water or other fluids in a preferred direction. In some embodiments of drainage elements and landfills of the invention, they are disposed in the landfill such that the preferential flow path is substantially perpendicular to a portion of the landfill such as the centerline or axis. In such a configuration, the shortest flow path distance between the centerline and an area, sump, or margin of the landfill is achieved. In other embodiments, the preferential flow path is substantially parallel to the slope of the portion of the landfill so that fluids flow in the most direct path to a desired point or area. Preferably, the proportion of fluid that follows by way of preferential pathways is at least 35% of the volume of fluid moving through any given portion of the drainage element, or at least 50% or at least 65%. In some embodiments, the core or the core along with the overlying and underlying geomembrane layers, includes at least one margin constructed and arranged to transmit fluids from the synthetic base course away from the landfill or other large structure. The margin can be at the side of the landfill or other large structure, and preferably is constructed and arranged to connect with other means for carrying the drained fluid away such as perforated pipes, non-perforated pipes, drainage ditches, sumps, canals, re-circulating manifolds, drainage manifolds and other facilities for further processing of the leachate and of the waste. In accordance with additional advantageous aspects, the present invention provides a method of forming drainable landfill or other large structure, the method comprising the steps of A) providing a base layer formed at least partially of one or more of native soil components and non-native soil components, B) providing a synthetic drainable base course element disposed above the base layer, the drainage element comprising a void-maintaining geocomposite, the geocomposite including a geocomposite core element having a plurality of ribs constructed and arranged to form a plurality of interconnected voids, the core element having an upper surface and a lower surface, a no-load thickness and a thickness under load, wherein the thicknesses are measured substantially perpendicular to the surfaces, and at least one fluid-transmissible layer attached adjacent the upper surface, wherein the layers and the core element are constructed and arranged so that, under a load of at least 500 lbs/foot2 for a period of at least 100 hours, the geocomposite maintains voids of sufficient dimension that fluid from the landfill or other large structure can move freely through portions of the drainage element at a transmissivity of at least 19 gallons/minute/foot at a slope gradient of 33% and at least 33 gallons/minute at a slope gradient of 10%, and C) providing above the synthetic drainable base course, fill suitable to be drained, the fill comprising one or more layers, sections or quantities of refuse materials, or materials to be processed at least partially within the landfill, wherein at least a portion of the synthetic drainable base course is sloped downwardly in a gradient from a first portion to a second portion of the landfill or other large structure. Methods of the invention incorporate the materials, elements and capacities disclosed herein, and are adaptable to many different applications. The invention includes also a number of synthetic drainable base course composite elements suitable for providing drainage when positioned within a landfill or other large structure, each of the base course element comprising a void-maintaining geocomposite, the geocomposite including a) a geocomposite core element having a plurality of ribs constructed and arranged to form a plurality of interconnected voids, the core element having an upper surface and a lower surface, a no-load thickness and a thickness under load, wherein the thicknesses are measured substantially perpendicular to the surfaces, and b) at least one fluid-transmissible layer attached adjacent the upper surface, wherein the layers and the core element are constructed and arranged so that, under a load of at least 1,000 lbs/foot2 for a period of at least 100 hours, the geocomposite maintains voids of sufficient dimension that fluid from the landfill or other large structure can move freely through portions of the drainage element at a transmissivity of at least 19 gallons/ minute/foot at a slope gradient of 33% and at least 33 gallons/minute at a slope gradient of 10%, and wherein the geocomposite is constructed and arranged so that the transmissivity is maintained within the landfill or other large structure when, fill comprising one or more layers, sections or quantities of waste or refuse materials, or waste or materials to be processed at least partially within the landfill, is disposed above the geocomposite, wherein at least a portion of the synthetic drainable base course is sloped downwardly in a gradient from a first portion to a second portion of the landfill or other large structure. BRIEF DESCRIPTIONS OF THE FIGURES FIG. 1(a) shows an idealized cross-section of a conventional design of a municipal solid waste system with a conventional minimum liner system. FIG. 1(b) shows an idealized cross-section of a municipal solid waste system according to the present invention including a void-maintaining geocomposite/geomembrane layer. FIG. 2(a) shows an idealized cross-section of a conventional hazardous waste landfill minimum liner system comprising conventional primary and secondary geomembrane liners. FIG. 2(b) shows an idealized cross-section of a hazardous waste landfill minimum liner system of the present invention including primary and secondary geocomposite/geomembrane liners. FIG. 3(a) shows an idealized cross-section of a typical conventional landfill cover system including gravel, cover soil, and top soil layers and conventional geotextiles. FIG. 3(b) shows an idealized cross-section of a typical landfill cover system of the present invention including geocomposite elements for drainage and void-maintaining geocomposite elements for gas venting. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION AND OF CONVENTIONAL DESIGNS The present invention may be understood with respect to the following figures which are exemplary and not exclusive. As one of skill in the arts will appreciate, numerous embodiments of the present invention are within the scope and spirit of the present disclosure. FIG. 1(a) shows an idealized cross-section of a conventional design of a municipal solid waste system with conventional minimum liner system. With reference to FIG. 1(a), municipal solid waste system 101 comprises clay liner or base 105, of thickness CL, which is typically a minimum of 600 millimeters (“mm”). Base 105 is topped by conventional geomembrane 141. In turn, conventional geomembrane 141 is covered with gravel layer 130, of thickness GR, typically a minimum of 300 mm. Gravel layer 130 is covered with conventional sand layer 121, of thickness S, typically a minimum of 150 millimeters. Sand layer 121 is covered with waste overburden 113, of thickness W, and typically from several meters to several dozens of meters in thickness. A conventional completed solid waste system typically includes a capping structure, such as that shown in FIG. 3(a). FIG. 1(b) shows an idealized cross-section of a municipal solid waste system according to the present invention including a void-maintaining geocomposite/geomembrane layer. A municipal solid waste system exemplary of the present invention includes system 201 as shown in FIG. 1(b), where clay liner or base 105, of thickness CL2, and typically from 300 millimeters to 1,000 millimeters in thickness. Clay liner 105 is covered with geomembrane 263 and void-maintaining geocomposite 269. In total, the combined thickness of geomembrane 263 and void-maintaining geocomposite 269 is typically less than two inches, and more preferably, less than one inch. Geocomposite layer 269 is provided with upper geotextile filter layer 273 preferably attached to layer 269 at a plurality of attachment points or areas (not shown) and, on the lower, or bottom, surface of layer 269, geocomposite contacting elements (not shown) disposed on top of, or adjacent to, geomembrane 263. Interposed between geomembrane 263 and geocomposite layer 269 is optional layer 274, which can be a friction layer or a cushion layer, for example. Waste overburden 113, of thickness W, and typically several meters to several dozen meters in thickness, is shown on top of geocomposite/geotextile layer 269/273. FIG. 2(a) shows an idealized cross section of a conventional hazardous waste landfill minimum liner system comprising conventional primary and secondary geomembrane liners. With reference to FIG. 2(a), clay base or liner 115, of thickness CL3, which is typically a minimum of 900 mm, is covered with conventional secondary geomembrane 143 as a secondary liner. Conventional secondary geomembrane 143 is covered with gravel layer 130, of thickness GRS, typically a minimum of 300 mm. Gravel layer 130 is in turn covered with primary geomembrane liner 133. Primary geomembrane liner 133 has gravel layer 139 disposed above it, of thickness GRP, typically a minimum of 300 millimeters. Conventional gravel layer 139 is covered with conventional sand layer 121, typically a minimum of 150 mm in thickness. On top of sand layer 121 is waste overburden 213, of thickness W, and typically of several meters to several dozen meters in thickness. FIG. 2(b) shows an idealized cross-section of a hazardous waste landfill minimum liner system of the present invention including primary and secondary geocomposite/geomembrane liners. With respect to FIG. 2(b), an exemplary hazardous waste landfill minimum liner system 202 of the present invention shows how conventional sand and gravel layers, and conventional geomembrane liner layers, can be efficiently replaced with the present invention. Clay liner or base layer 115, of thickness CL4, and typically a minimum of 900 millimeters in thickness, is shown covered with secondary geomembrane liner 363, which is substantially impervious to fluids. On top of secondary liner 363 is void-maintaining geocomposite 369 which is constructed and arranged to provide egress of fluids draining through or from waste 213 and upwardly from clay liner 115 and the foundation beneath clay liner 115 (not shown). Void-maintaining geocomposite 369 also provides for the detection of leaks through membrane 263. Geocomposite 369 has fluid-impermeable geomembrane layer 263 on top of it. In turn, geomembrane primary liner 263 is provided with geocomposite layer 269 having upper geotextile layer 280. Geotextile layer 280 is permeable to fluids, that is, gases or liquids draining from or through waste layer 213. Thus, primary geocomposite layer 269, primary geomembrane liner 263, secondary geocomposite layer 369 and secondary geomembrane liner 363 provide drainage and other egress of fluids attendant to waste layer 213. In total, the thickness Q of the combined thicknesses of geomembrane 363, void-maintaining geocomposite 369, membrane 263, geocomposite 269, and geotextile 200, is typically less than two inches, and more preferably, less than one inch. FIG. 3(a) shows an idealized cross-section of a typical conventional landfill cover, or capping, system including gravel, cover soil, top soil layers and conventional geotextiles. With reference to FIG. 3(a), typical landfill cover system 103 is shown on top of waste layer 213, of thickness W, which is typically a few meters or a few dozen meters in thickness. On top of waste layer 213 is provided gas venting layer 320, of thickness V, and typically of from 300 to 600 mm in thickness, capping clay layer 315, of thickness CA, and typically a minimum of 450 millimeters for hazardous waste landfills. Capping clay layer 315 is shown covered with conventional fluid-impermeable geomembrane layer 309. In turn, geomembrane layer 309 is covered with conventional gravel layer 339, of thickness GR9, and typically of from 100 to 300 millimeters in thickness, and typically covered by a conventional fluid-permeable geotextile, such as geotextile 308. Geotextile layer 308 is shown beneath cover soil layer 161. Cover soil layer 161 is of thickness SO, and is typically in the thickness range of from 200 to 1500 millimeters thick. Top soil layer 160 is provided above cover soils layer SO. Top soil layer 160, of thickness CVR, is typically of a minimum of 150 mm, and is provided with plants 155. FIG. 3(b) shows an idealized cross-section of a typical landfill cover system of the present invention, including void-maintaining geocomposite elements for drainage and void-maintaining geocomposite elements for gas venting. With reference to FIG. 3(b), exemplary landfill cover system 203 according to the invention is shown as a capping structure for waste layer 213 of thickness W, and typically of several to several dozen meters thick. Above waste layer 213 is provided fluid-permeable bottom geotextile layer 356. On top of geotextile layer 356 is void-maintaining geocomposite gas venting element 355. Above void-maintaining geocomposite gas venting layer 355 is provided fluid-impermeable geomembrane 340 and void-maintaining geocomposite layer 369. On top of void-maintaining geocomposite layer 369 is shown fluid-permeable geotextile top layer 357 attached to geocomposite 369 at a plurality of points or areas. Cover soil layer 161 is shown above geotextile top layer 357. Cover soil layer 161 is of thickness SO, and typically of a thickness in the range of from 200 to 1500 millimeters. Top soil layer 160 is provided above cover soil layer SO. Top soil layer 160, of thickness CVR, and typically of a minimum of 150 millimeters, is provided with plants 155. Thus, fluids draining through top soil layer 160 and cover soil layer 161 can drain through geotextile layer 357 into void-maintaining layer 369 and thus be substantially prevented from accumulating hydraulic pressure build-up. Such limitation of hydraulic pressure build-up is advantageous in that it restricts liquids from entering waste layer 213. Moreover, gases and other fluids which might make their way to the top of waste layer 213 are provided with paths for egress through geocomposite gas venting layer 355. On top of cover soil layer 161 is top soil layer 160, which is typically in a minimum thickness of 150 millimeters, and is preferably provided with plant overgrowth layer 155. As one of skill in the art can appreciate, numerous permutations and variations of landfills, void-maintaining drainage elements, and combinations thereof are within the scope and spirit of the invention. | <SOH> BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION <EOH>Leachate, an aqueous solution created by the passage of fluids through waste piles, is a principal environmental concern. Since passage of the Clean Water Act, waste containment systems must be engineered to prevent migration of leachate into the groundwater underlying landfill sites. Conventionally, the containment and flow control of such leachate has been achieved by the use of one or more of compacted clay liners, various types of synthetic geomembranes, and synthetic clay liners. It is well established that leachate can cause distress and damage to synthetic liner systems, causing leaks, and thereby polluting groundwater and the local environment. Therefore, the effective engineering and design of a containment system for a landfill or other similar structure requires drainage systems to be constructed above geomembrane liners which are disposed to remove these fluids. In fact, the USEPA regulatory guidance states that no more then a one-foot liquid head is allowable above a geomembrane in such an installation. In some conventional drainage systems, engineers specify that stone of uniform gradation be utilized as the leachate drainage layer at the base of a landfill. Stones are often specified to obtain a certain “diameter” and are measured in sieves that have specific diameters. This is because spheres touch at points of tangentiality. In some other drainage systems, engineers specify that processed tire chip aggregate of uniform sizes be utilized as the leachate drainage layer at the base of a landfill. Engineers skilled in the art of landfill design utilize the principle of tangentiality and require aggregate producers to manufacture stone particles that are relatively spherical. They achieve this by specifying uniform gradations of stone. A gradation refers to the distribution of stones with different “diameters.” Thus, leachate collection systems are highly engineered layered structures and require engineered materials that are selected based upon factors such as their density, particle or aggregate size, compressibility, chemical compatibility, and other engineering parameters of the soil, stone and aggregate-based products. Stone is highly non-compressible. Therefore, even when stones are subjected to compressive forces, voids exist in those spaces where the stones do not touch. Therefore, even under significant loading conditions, void spaces, or porosity may be obtained. The more open void space volume created, the greater the porosity. Typically, the more porous an installation or layer, the higher the resulting cost. For example, a stone with an effective size of ¼″ and a coefficient of uniformity of 2.5, typically costs much more then sand. This type of gradation is often classified as AASHTO 57 and is often utilized to create open-graded base course in landfills, roadways, and other installations needing a specified drainage capacity. Aggregate classifications are standardized for FHWA and DOT Transportation applications. In contrast, this degree of classification typically does not exist for environmental markets. For example, while a landfill in California may specify a stone of uniform gradation of average ½″, such specifications may not refer to the stone as an AASHTO 57 stone. This is so even though the transportation department or company that constructed the road to the landfill may have utilized the same exact stone and classified it as AASHTO 57. AASHTO 57 is often used as an open-graded base course (OGBC). An open graded base course (OGBC) can be utilized as a means to convey fluids to leachate collection laterals and pipes. Still, in other systems engineers will specify sand as a natural material that offers both vertical permeability and horizontal transmissivity. As one skilled in the art of landfill design can appreciate, not all landfills require sand nor do they all require stone. Therefore, design of particular landfills is often site-specific. For example, engineers may require a stone drainage layer to achieve the regulatory requirements but the local geological conditions do not offer stone. When this occurs, contractors are required to purchase stone and have it transported over long distances. Such transportation costs significantly drives up the cost of construction of the landfill. In fact, engineers and other design personnel who procure construction aggregates typically estimate that the cost of aggregate supply doubles for every 25 miles of transport distance to the landfill site. In conventional landfill construction, an OGBC may be placed to form a leachate collection system. These OGBC systems are typically used above primary geomembranes. Leachate collection systems are highly engineered layered structures and require engineered materials that are selected based upon factors such as their density, particle or aggregate size, compressibility, chemical compatibility, or other engineering parameters of the soil, stone and aggregate-based products. Other engineering parameters reflect the importance of sufficient drainage in landfills. In fact, bioreactors and/or leachate recalculation facilities require high flowing materials. For example, theses types of structures collect all leachate and recirculate the fluids to help further consolidate the waste mass. This re-circulation results in increased void or air-space which results in more capacity and, consequently, more potential revenue for a site. Thus, the rate at which leachate and other fluids are transported away from the various layers of a landfill is a critical element in its useful life. Leakage rates that are excessive require the landfill to be closed and the leak to be corrected. Thus, inadequate drainage can be an extremely serious and costly problem affecting a landfill. In one conventional method of approaching these drainage problems, an OGBC drainable layer formed of natural stone and aggregate materials is included above or beneath a geomembrane in an attempt to positively control fluids and dissipate pore pressures which commonly accumulate within these structures. Typically, an OGBC-drainable permeable layer also utilizes a geotextile for membrane protection and/or filtration. An OGBC is intended to be a porous drainage media that is capable of receiving fluids from the points of entry and then transporting them to designated discharge points in a timely manner. These systems often utilize AASHTO 57 stone. According to the FHWA, an AASHTO 57 stone has a permeability of 6,800 linear feet per day and any OGBC drainage layer should have a minimum permeability of 1,000 linear feet per day. An OGBC is typically produced from stone that has been mined from quarries. A main distinguishing characteristic of OGBC materials is that they are usually delivered to work sites having a fairly uniform gradation per the specifications of the project engineer. Typically, project engineers use published standards for OGBC available from AASHTO, the Federal Highway Administration, or their resident state's department of transportation. Theoretically, the uniform gradation of OGBC materials typically creates voids of desired and predictable dimension between the pieces of stone when they are in place. Thus, desired flow rates through both vertical and horizontal planes of the OGBC can be increased or decreased somewhat predictably by selecting appropriate size distributions of the stone particulate material. An OGBC can be costly to install and maintain, and can be difficult to control and predict with respect to quality. Although such gradations of stone typically create interconnecting void spaces or holes among and between the aggregate useful to facilitate the reception and transmission of fluid, an OGBC can take up a considerable volume of valuable space of the installation. An additional problem relates to the longevity of the chosen stone. Stone is made of different minerals, some of which minerals are soluble in water or in the harsh chemical environments which often exist in landfills. In fact, in Kentucky, certain OGBC leachate collection systems constructed of limestone have completely dissolved because of the chemical nature of the fluids passing through them. Other disadvantages of OGBC's pertain to the additional elements that are required in an OGBC installation. Typically, a well graded granular or geotextile filter layer is needed above the OGBC in order to prevent contamination of the OGBC from the migration of fines. This extra filter layer further increases the construction costs of the landfill. Yet another problem with the use of OGBC's is that aggregate of sufficient quality is not always available or, if available, it's cost is uneconomical or prohibitively high. There is therefore a need for landfills and for landfill drainage systems that utilize components which can be engineered and manufactured offsite, and easily transported to the site and integrated economically into the landfill or other large structure, and to provide equivalent or superior flow to that of a conventional OGBC. There is a similar need for drainage elements suitable for integration into landfills and other large structures which take up much less space than conventional OGBC's. The present geosynthetic drainage elements offer a solution to these problems. In general, geosynthetics are manufactured from polymeric materials, typically by extrusion, as substantially planar, sheet-like, or cuspidated products. Geosynthetics are usually made in large scale, e.g., several meters in width and many meters in length, so that they are easily adaptable to large-scale construction and landscaping uses. Many geosynthetics are formed to initially have a substantially planar configuration. Some geosynthetics, even though they are initially planar, are flexible or fabric-like and therefore conform easily to uneven or rolling surfaces. Some geosynthetics are manufactured to be less flexible, but to possess great tensile strength and resistance to stretching or great resistance to compression. Certain types of geosynthetic materials are used to reinforce large manmade structures, particularly those made of earthen materials such as gravel, sand and soil. In such uses, one purpose of the geosynthetic is to hold the earthen components together by providing a latticework or meshwork whose elements have a high resistance to stretching. By positioning a particular geosynthetic integral to gravel, sand and soil, that is with the gravel, sand and soil resident within the interstices of the geosynthetic, unwanted movement of the earthen components is minimized or eliminated. Most geosynthetic materials, whether of the latticework type or of the fabric type, allow water to pass through them to some extent and thus into or through the material within which the geosynthetic is integrally positioned. Thus, geosynthetic materials and related geotechnical engineering materials are used as integral parts of manmade structures or systems in order to stabilize their salient dimensions. Before the present invention, the only geosynthetic materials available for landfill drainage were exclusively limited to drains at the edge or shoulder of a landfill. These edge-drain systems are commonly located within a covered trench originally dug along the shoulder of the landfill. Conventional edge drain geosynthetics, however, cannot withstand the repeated dynamic loads that are present directly beneath heavy overburdens, such as those typically found in land fills and other large structures. Geosynthetic drainage materials have been utilized also on side slopes of landfills in order to ameliorate stability difficulties associated with construction of granular material drains. Geosynthetic drainage materials of dimensions up to 275 mils thick have been utilized to complement sand or to substitute for sand as a natural material at the floor of landfill. However, such geosynthetic products have never been engineered to achieve flow rates and void-maintaining capabilities sufficient to replace stone. The present invention relates generally to synthetic void-maintaining structures with high permittivity and high transmissivity that are capable of partially or fully replacing stone in landfills and other large structures by maintaining voids of sufficient dimensions to permit the timely egress of undesirable fluids. The present invention provides a series of Void-Maintaining Synthetic Drainable Base Courses (“VMSDBC's”) of polymeric material, and related methods, for designing and constructing leachate collection systems and drainage systems. The present VMSDBC's and methods thereby eliminate or minimize the amount of conventional open-graded stone that might otherwise be required. Until the present invention, no geosynthetic material had been designed or implemented that could provide a drainage system of equivalent or superior drainage to those of an OGBC as utilized to convey fluids in a conventional landfill. Similarly, until the present invention, no geosynthetic material had ever been designed that could maintain voids of defined and sufficient dimensions while undergoing the repeated dynamic cycles of fluid infiltration and exposure demanded of bioreactors and re-circulation facilities. The present VMSDBC void-maintaining system is the first such synthetic material that allows those skilled in the art of landfill design to replace stone. Water migrates and enters the VMSDBC system and then travels through the VMSDBC to locations or areas where the fluid is then conveyed for discharge in a timely manner in designated areas of a landfill, or outside of it. The present invention thus offers a synthetic product that overcomes the many deficiencies of the conventional OGBC. Thus, the present invention relates generally to synthetic void-maintaining structures with high permittivity and high transmissivity that are capable of extending the life of a landfill. The present invention thus overcomes stability concerns of other geosynthetics which are not truly suitable for use as void-maintaining drainage structures in landfills and other large structures. Numerous embodiments of the present VMSDBC and methods overcome the disadvantages of the conventional OGBC systems by providing a plurality of interconnected voids of great mechanical and dimensional stability while simultaneously providing sufficient horizontal flow to perform in accordance with “Good to Excellent” drainage performance when assessed with respect to AASHTO definitions. These performance attributes are unique to the present VMSDBC drainage elements and landfills, which eliminate many of the problems associated with fluids underlying large structures that are not resolved by conventional OGBC systems or any conventional geosynthetic product. By eliminating these problems, VMSDBC's of the present invention extend the useful life of the landfill by increasing the effective amount of airspace. In accordance with other aspects of the present invention, the VMSDBC's of the invention can be positioned in a landfill to maximize their effectiveness. For example, a VMSDBC can be positioned directly above a geomembrane or beneath a geomembrane. Moreover, a VMSDBC of the invention can be made in large pieces, for example, in pieces several meters wide and many meters long. For convenience and installation, however, a VMSDBC and its components may be installed in portions which are interconnected such that the interconnecting voids are of sufficient dimension that the leachate can move freely through the SDBC and be connected to drain means such as a perforated pipe, drainage ditch, or culvert adjacent to the landfill. In an important aspect, VMSDBC's of the invention, maintain the preferred void dimensions even under substantial loads. For example, typically the lower surface of the super stratum, that is, the upper fluid-transmissible layer, and the upper surface of the substratum, that is, the lower fluid-transmissible layer, are prevented from having contact with one another when the upper surface of the substratum and the lower surface of the super stratum are placed under sustained loads above 10,000 psf and the lower surface of the substratum and upper surface of the super stratum are in contact with a soil environment for a duration of not less than 100 hours. Other advantages of the present VMSDBC's can be seen with respect to their fluid-transmitting capacity. For example, in some embodiments, a VMSDBC of the present invention typically exhibits a fluid transmitting capacity of at least 4,000 ft. 3 /day/ft when tested under a normal load of 15,000 psf, and at a gradient of 2% per ASTM D 4716. Thus, the present VMSDBC's exhibit superior fluid-transmitting characteristics and meet the specifications for classification as “Excellent to Good” performance under AASHTO's definitions. Advantageously, a VMSDBC according to the present invention is superior to conventional drainage elements, inter alia, because it is capable of resisting long-term compressive stress to the extent that it resists creep deformation and structural catastrophic collapse under load by retaining 60% of its external dimensional thickness after 10,000 hours under a sustained normal load of 10,000 pounds per square foot. Preferably, a VMSDBC according to the invention, comprises an upper fluid-transmissible surface, and the core is pervious to the vertical migration of fluids. Furthermore SDBCs are preferably constructed and arranged to transmit fluids to discharge points within or at the perimeter of a landfill whereby the piping or other collection means is designed to receive fluids transported from within the landfill by means of the SDBC. Void-maintaining synthetic drainable base courses (“VMSDBC's”) of the present invention can be fabricated into panels of various lengths and widths by using conventional means to weld, adhere, tie or sew SDBC sections to one another to form a continuous SDBC underneath construction soils, landfill materials, or waste. | <SOH> SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION <EOH>It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide economical means and methods for providing drainage to landfills and other large structures. It is also an object of the invention to provide void-maintaining synthetic drainable base courses that may be used in place of stone and other forms of open graded base courses in landfills and other large structures. It is a further object of the invention to provide synthetic drainable base course elements that may be positioned in landfills with the use of conventional earth-moving and similar equipment. In accordance with these and other objects of the invention, a series of landfills are provided having synthetic drainable base courses for controlling the flow of fluids such as liquids and gases within landfills and other large structures, and for draining landfills and other large structures, are provided. In one preferred embodiment, a landfill or other large structure according to the invention preferably comprises a base layer formed at least partially of one or more of native soil components and non-native soil components, a synthetic drainable base course element disposed above the base layer, wherein the drainable base course element comprises a void-maintaining geocomposite, the geocomposite including a geocomposite core element having a plurality of ribs constructed and arranged to form a plurality of interconnected voids, the core element having an upper surface and a lower surface, a no-load thickness and a thickness under load, wherein the thicknesses are measured substantially perpendicular to the surfaces, and at least one fluid-transmissible layer attached adjacent the upper surface, wherein the layers and the core element are constructed and arranged so that, under a load of at least 500 lbs/foot 2 for a period of at least 100 hours, the geocomposite maintains voids of sufficient dimension that fluid from the landfill or other large structure can move freely through portions of the drainage element at a transmissivity of at least 19 gallons/minute/foot at a slope gradient of 33% and at least 33 gallons/minute at a slope gradient of 10%, and, above the synthetic drainable base course, fill suitable to be drained, the fill comprising one or more layers, sections or quantities of refuse materials, or materials to be processed at least partially within the landfill, wherein at least a portion of the synthetic drainable base course is sloped downwardly in a gradient from a first portion to a second portion of the landfill or other large structure. Advantageously, a drainable landfill or other large structure of the invention include wherein the layers and the core element are constructed and arranged so that, under a load of at least 1,000 lbs/foot 2 for a period of at least 100 hours, the geocomposite maintains voids of sufficient dimension that fluid from the landfill or other large structure can move freely through portions of the drainage element at a transmissivity of at least 19 gallons/minute/foot at a slope gradient of 33% and at least 33 gallons/minute at a slope gradient of 10%. In other preferred embodiments, other capacities are achieved. For example, in one preferred embodiment the layers and the core element are constructed and arranged so that, under a load of at least 15,000 lbs/foot 2 for a period of at least 100 hours, the geocomposite maintains voids of sufficient dimension that fluid from the landfill or other large structure can move freely through portions of the drainage element at a transmissivity of at least 8.5 gallons/minute/foot at a slope gradient of 10%. In still other preferred embodiments, the layers and the core element are constructed and arranged so that, under a load of at least 25,000 lbs/foot 2 for a period of at least 100 hours, the geocomposite maintains voids of sufficient dimension that fluid from the landfill or other large structure can move freely through portions of the drainage element at a transmissivity of at least 3.5 gallons/ minute/foot at a slope gradient of 10%. In accordance with additional objects of the invention, the geocomposite core element preferably comprises a plurality ribs constructed and arranged in one or more of uniplanar, bi-planar, and triplanar configurations. Numerous permutations of such layers of ribs are possible within the scope of the present invention. For example, in one preferred embodiment, the ribs of the core are provided in a first set and a second set, and the ribs of the first set are disposed substantially parallel to one another and substantially in a first plane, and the ribs of the second set being disposed substantially parallel to one another and substantially in a second plane, and wherein the first and second planes are disposed adjacent one another. Thus, ribs of the respective adjacent layers may cross one another at an angle of between 90 degrees and 20 degrees. In other preferred embodiments, further ribs are provided in at least a third set wherein the ribs of the third set are disposed substantially parallel to one another and the third set of ribs is disposed in a third plane adjacent and non-parallel to the ribs of the first or second sets. As a further advantage, ribs of the geocomposite can be provided in whatever numerous cross-sectional shape and length variations which are necessary to achieve the drainage capacities of a particular landfill or other large structure, such as an airport runway, a runway runoff zone, a parking lot, a temporary runway, a building, or a buried antenna site. Included in such cross-sectional shapes are those where the ribs approximate one or more shapes from the group consisting of squares, rectangles, ovals, star shapes, crenulations, and trapezoids. Dimensions of the ribs can be tailored to provide desired capacities, economies, and installation characteristics. For example, in one preferred embodiment, a square rib of a geocomposite according to the invention has a width and a height approximately equal to one another, and the width and height have dimensions of from 1.0 to 10.0 mm. In other preferred embodiments, a rectangular rib of the invention has a width and a height, and the width has dimensions of from 2.0 to 15.0 mm and the height has dimensions of from 1.0 to 10.0 mm. In still other preferred embodiments, a trapezoid-shaped rib of the invention has a major width, a minor width and a height, and the major width has dimensions of from 2.0 to 15.0 mm, the minor width has dimensions of from 1.0 to 10.0 mm and the height has dimensions of from 1.0 to 10.0 mm. The ribbed layers of a geocomposite of the invention can be provided in shapes and forms which take advantage of conventional plastic extruders known to the industry, and of the various extrusion methods known for plastics in order to produce geocomposite core elements for use with the invention. For example, in some embodiments of core element ribs of the invention, at some or all of the ribs comprise crenulations and the crenulations are disposed either longitudinally along the surfaces of the ribs or cross-wise along the rib surfaces. Landfills of the inventions include those where the non-native soil components of the base are one or more selected from the group consisting of refuse from highway excavations, refuse from building foundation excavations, mining refuse, manufacturing refuse, geologic refuse, gypsum refuse, quarry refuse, refuse from road-building activities, and refuse from dredging operations. In order to provide for desired drainage characteristics, the base layer of the drainable structure comprises at least one, or a plurality of, slopes or sloping surfaces. In some preferred embodiments, such sloping surfaces form at least one, or a plurality of containers. The containers can be separate from one another or can be interconnected. For instance, a plurality of containers according to the invention can be constructed and arranged such that at least portions of one container can drain via gravitational means into one or more of other containers of the plurality of containers. Thus, in some facilities, some containers can drain into other containers by gravitation means. As yet another advantage, the drainage element may further comprise at least one frictional layer attached adjacent the lower surface of the geocomposite, or at least one cushion layer adjacent the lower surface of the geocomposite. In some preferred embodiments, the drainable landfill or other large structure of the invention is layered. Preferably, the slope gradient is at least 1% in a direction away from the portion of the landfill to be drained, and more preferably is at least 2% or 3% but can be as high as 40%. Also preferably, the portion of the landfill to be drained includes the centerline. Other significant aspects of the present invention relate to the capacities and conditions under which those capacities can be attained. Examples of these capacities and conditions include those where the synthetic drainable base course element, under a normal load of 1,200 kPa for at least 10,000 hours at 20 degrees Celsius, maintains its thickness under load of at least 65% of its no-load thickness, and those where, under a normal load of 720 kPa for at least 5,000 hours at 40 degrees Celsius, the thickness under load is maintained to at least 50% of the no-load thickness. Additional capacities include those wherein, under a normal load of 1,200 kPa for at least 10,000 hours at 20 degrees Celsius, the thickness under load is maintained at least 60% of the no-load thickness, or at least 50% of the no-load thickness, at least 45% of the no-load thickness, or at least 40% of the no-load thickness. Yet other advantageous capacities include those wherein, under a normal load of 720 kPa for at least 5,000 hours at 40 degrees Celsius, the thickness under load is maintained at least 65% of the no-load thickness, or at least 60% of the no-load thickness, at least 45% of the no-load thickness, or at least 40% of the no-load thickness. Landfills and base course elements of the present invention include also those embodiments that are resistance to shear forces in situ. For instance, the invention includes landfills and synthetic drainable base course drainage elements which, under a normal load of 720 kPa and a shear load of 240 kPa for at least 5,000 hours at 40 degrees Celsius, maintain the thickness of the geocomposite under load of at least 50% of its no-load thickness. Other capacities include those wherein, under a normal load of 720 kPa and a shear load of 240 kPa for at least 5,000 hours at 40 degrees Celsius, the thickness under load remains at least 45% of the no-load thickness of the geocomposite, and embodiments wherein, under a normal load of 720 kPa and a shear load of 240 kPa for at least 5,000 hours at 40 degrees Celsius, the thickness under load is at least 40% of the no-load thickness. Typical no-load thicknesses of base course drainage elements of the invention include those wherein the no-load thickness is in the range of from 0.20 inches to 1.00 inches, or in the range of from 0.20 inches to 0.75 inches, or in the range of from 0.25 inches to 0.35 inches. Preferably, a core element has a tensile strength of at least 400 lbs per foot in the machine direction and, more preferably, of at least 500 lbs per foot in the machine direction. Another parameter for measuring the capacities and performance of the present base courses pertains to the size and capacities of voids that are maintained under a particular load for a particular period of time. In general, a void is any space created near the intersection of at least two ribs, or the intersection between at least one rib and the fabric overlying it, or underlying it. The width and height of such voids can be considered together or as independent dimensions to be measured. For example, embodiments of the invention are provided wherein, under a load of 720 kPa for at least 100 hours, the voids of the base course maintain an average width of at least 2.0 mm and an average height of at least 10.0 mm, and the voids maintain an average width of from 2.0 mm to 10.0 mm. In other embodiments, under a load of 720 kPa for at least 100 hours, the voids maintain an average width of from 3.0 mm to 8.0 mm. In still other embodiments under higher pressures, for instance, in a synthetic drainable base course of the invention under a load of 1,200 kPa for at least 100 hours, or at least 1,000 hours, the voids maintain an average width of from 2.0 mm to 10.0 mm and an average height of from 3.0 mm to 8.0 mm, or an average width of from 2.0 mm to 10.0 mm, an average height of from 3.0 mm to 8.0 mm, an average width of at least 2.0 mm and an average height of at least 8.0 mm, an average width of at least 2.0 mm and an average height of at least 8.0 mm. In yet additional embodiments, the synthetic drainable base course element of the invention, under a load of 720 kPa for at least 100 hours, or for at least 1,000 hours, the voids maintain an average width of at least 3.0 mm and an average height of at least 10.0 mm, or an average width of at least 6.0 mm and an average height of at least 8.0 mm. Advantageously, the ribs of the present synthetic drainable base courses can be constructed and arranged to form preferential flow paths and non-preferential flow paths in sloped or non-sloped portions of the landfill. Preferably, the preferential flow paths and the non-preferential flow paths are not parallel to one another. Flow paths of the invention are formed by the relative placement of the rib elements and are advantageous in that they direct the flow of water or other fluids in a preferred direction. In some embodiments of drainage elements and landfills of the invention, they are disposed in the landfill such that the preferential flow path is substantially perpendicular to a portion of the landfill such as the centerline or axis. In such a configuration, the shortest flow path distance between the centerline and an area, sump, or margin of the landfill is achieved. In other embodiments, the preferential flow path is substantially parallel to the slope of the portion of the landfill so that fluids flow in the most direct path to a desired point or area. Preferably, the proportion of fluid that follows by way of preferential pathways is at least 35% of the volume of fluid moving through any given portion of the drainage element, or at least 50% or at least 65%. In some embodiments, the core or the core along with the overlying and underlying geomembrane layers, includes at least one margin constructed and arranged to transmit fluids from the synthetic base course away from the landfill or other large structure. The margin can be at the side of the landfill or other large structure, and preferably is constructed and arranged to connect with other means for carrying the drained fluid away such as perforated pipes, non-perforated pipes, drainage ditches, sumps, canals, re-circulating manifolds, drainage manifolds and other facilities for further processing of the leachate and of the waste. In accordance with additional advantageous aspects, the present invention provides a method of forming drainable landfill or other large structure, the method comprising the steps of A) providing a base layer formed at least partially of one or more of native soil components and non-native soil components, B) providing a synthetic drainable base course element disposed above the base layer, the drainage element comprising a void-maintaining geocomposite, the geocomposite including a geocomposite core element having a plurality of ribs constructed and arranged to form a plurality of interconnected voids, the core element having an upper surface and a lower surface, a no-load thickness and a thickness under load, wherein the thicknesses are measured substantially perpendicular to the surfaces, and at least one fluid-transmissible layer attached adjacent the upper surface, wherein the layers and the core element are constructed and arranged so that, under a load of at least 500 lbs/foot 2 for a period of at least 100 hours, the geocomposite maintains voids of sufficient dimension that fluid from the landfill or other large structure can move freely through portions of the drainage element at a transmissivity of at least 19 gallons/minute/foot at a slope gradient of 33% and at least 33 gallons/minute at a slope gradient of 10%, and C) providing above the synthetic drainable base course, fill suitable to be drained, the fill comprising one or more layers, sections or quantities of refuse materials, or materials to be processed at least partially within the landfill, wherein at least a portion of the synthetic drainable base course is sloped downwardly in a gradient from a first portion to a second portion of the landfill or other large structure. Methods of the invention incorporate the materials, elements and capacities disclosed herein, and are adaptable to many different applications. The invention includes also a number of synthetic drainable base course composite elements suitable for providing drainage when positioned within a landfill or other large structure, each of the base course element comprising a void-maintaining geocomposite, the geocomposite including a) a geocomposite core element having a plurality of ribs constructed and arranged to form a plurality of interconnected voids, the core element having an upper surface and a lower surface, a no-load thickness and a thickness under load, wherein the thicknesses are measured substantially perpendicular to the surfaces, and b) at least one fluid-transmissible layer attached adjacent the upper surface, wherein the layers and the core element are constructed and arranged so that, under a load of at least 1,000 lbs/foot 2 for a period of at least 100 hours, the geocomposite maintains voids of sufficient dimension that fluid from the landfill or other large structure can move freely through portions of the drainage element at a transmissivity of at least 19 gallons/ minute/foot at a slope gradient of 33% and at least 33 gallons/minute at a slope gradient of 10%, and wherein the geocomposite is constructed and arranged so that the transmissivity is maintained within the landfill or other large structure when, fill comprising one or more layers, sections or quantities of waste or refuse materials, or waste or materials to be processed at least partially within the landfill, is disposed above the geocomposite, wherein at least a portion of the synthetic drainable base course is sloped downwardly in a gradient from a first portion to a second portion of the landfill or other large structure. | 20040901 | 20071218 | 20050721 | 75981.0 | 1 | MAYO-PINNOCK, TARA LEIGH | DRAINABLE BASE COURSE FOR A LANDFILL AND METHOD OF FORMING THE SAME | SMALL | 1 | CONT-ACCEPTED | 2,004 |
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10,931,562 | ACCEPTED | Skid plate for concrete saw | A skid plate for a concrete saw is integrally cast having two end mounting portions and a middle portion with a slot in the middle portion. A horizontal slot in a leading end mounting portion cooperates and a vertical slot in the trailing end portion releasably engage pins on the saw to allow the skid plate to be easily fastened to and removed from the saw. A spring loaded latch mechanism holds the pins in the slots. | 1. A skid plate for a concrete cutting saw, the saw having a rotating blade with sides and rotating about a rotational axis to cut a groove in a concrete surface during use of the saw, comprising: an elongated support portion having a longitudinal slot therein sized to fit within about ⅛ inch or less of the sides of the concrete cutting blade during use of the skid plate, the elongated support being slightly bowed an amount selected to substantially counteract bowing of the skid plate that occurs when the elongated support is urged against the concrete surface during cutting of the concrete; at least one saw mounting portion, wherein the elongated support and at least one saw mounting portion are integrally cast. 2. The skid plate of claim 1, wherein the at least one saw mounting portion extends in front of a front mount on the saw and extends a distance sufficient to abut the concrete surface directly below the location of the front mount on the saw during cutting. 3. The skid plate of claim 1, wherein the saw has a front and rear mounting portion on opposing ends of the cutting blade and to which the skid plate is fastened, and wherein the skid plate has a front and rear mounting portion each configured to abut the concrete below the location of the front and rear mounts during cutting. 4. The skid plate of claim 1, wherein there are two mounting portions forming a front and rear mounting portion, one each at an opposing end of the elongated support portion, with the front mounting portion having a front mounting yoke, and the rear mounting portion having a rear yoke. 5. The skid plate of claim 1, where the elongated portion and at least one mounting portion are cast of metal. 6. The skid plate of claim 1, where the elongated portion and at least one mounting portion are cast of a polymer. 7. The skid plate of claim 1, where the elongated portion and at least one mounting portion are cast of a metal the dominant portion of which is other than iron. 8. The skid plate of claim 1, wherein there are two mounting portions, one of which comprises a slot extending along an axis toward and away from the elongated support portion and configured to receive a pin orientated generally parallel to the rotational axis and the other of which comprises a slot that is generally parallel to the concrete surface during cutting. 9. The skid plate of claim 4, wherein the skid plate has a leading and trailing end and the leading end of the skid plate is angled relative to the longitudinal slot. 10. The skid plate of claim 4, wherein the skid plate has a leading and trailing end and the leading end of the skid plate has a V shaped configuration in the plane of the elongated portion with the point of the V oriented away from a trailing end and toward the leading end. 11. The skid plate of claim 1, wherein there are two mounting portions, with one mounting portion having a C-shaped mount forming a slot configured to receive between opposing legs of the C-shaped slot a pin that is generally parallel to the rotational axis, and one mounting portion having a generally vertical slot opening away from the support portion in a direction perpendicular to the support portion and configured to receive a pin that is parallel to the rotational axis. 12. The skid plate of claim 11, further comprising a lock mechanism adjacent the vertical slot to releasably hold the pin in the slot during use of the skid plate. 13. The skid plate of claim 1, further comprising a plate configured to abut a bottom of the skid plate and means for releasably fastening the plate to the skid plate. 14. The skid plate of claim 13, further comprising a slot in the plate located to coincide with the slot in the skid plate. 15. The skid plate of claim 1, wherein the support portion is formed by two separate parts each of which has a separate saw mount portion, and each of which has a slot therein which slot extends along a portion of the cutting blade during use of the saw. 16. The skid plate of claim 1, wherein the mounting portion is located to one side of the cutting blade and forward of the rotational axis of the cutting blade. 17. A skid plate for use on a concrete cutting saw having a cutting blade that rotates about a first axis and extends through a slot in the skid plate to cut a groove in a concrete surface along a second axis that is orthogonal to the first axis, the saw having front and rear mounts on opposing ends of the cutting blade to fasten to the skid plate, the skid plate comprising: two saw mounting portions on the skid plate located to correspond to the front and rear saw mounts and an elongated support portion, the two mounting portions and support portion being integrally cast of metal, and an elongated slot either cut into the support portion or integrally cast with the support portion, the slot sized relative to the cutting blade to support the concrete surface during cutting so it does not produce unacceptable raveling of the cut groove during use of the skid plate. 18. The skid plate of claim 17, where the elongated portion and mounting portions are cast of a metal the dominant portion of which is other than iron. 19. The skid plate of claim 17, where the elongated portion and mounting portions are cast of a metal the dominant portion of which is a ferrous based metal. 20. The skid plate of claim 17, where the elongated portion and mounting portions are formed of a polymer. 21. The skid plate of claim 17, wherein the skid plate abuts the concrete below the location of the front and rear saw mounts during use of the skid plate. 22. The skid plate of claim 17, wherein a leading end of the skid plate has an angled end. 23. The skid plate of claim 17, wherein a leading end of the skid plate has an angled end forming a V with the apex of the V facing forward and in the same plane as the slot. 24. The skid plate of claim 17, wherein the support portion is curved about an axis generally parallel to the first axis by an amount selected to at least partially offset the deformation of the skid plate occurring when the saw urges the skid plate against the concrete surface during cutting. 25. A skid plate for use on a concrete cutting saw having a cutting blade that rotates about a first axis and extends through a slot in the skid plate to cut a groove in a concrete surface along a second axis that is orthogonal to the first axis, the skid plate comprising: first means for mounting the skid plate to the concrete saw and second means for supporting the concrete surface during, the first and second means being simultaneously and integrally cast. 26. The skid plate of claim 25, wherein the first and second means are formed of cast metal. 27. The skid plate of claim 25, where the first and second means are cast of a metal the dominant portion of which is other than iron. 28. The skid plate of claim 25, where the first and second means are cast of a polymer. 29. The skid plate of 25, wherein the second means comprises a slot that is cut in the elongated portion after the elongated support skid plate and mounting portion are cast. 30. The skid plate of 25, wherein the second means comprises a slot that is cast in the elongated portion. 31. The skid plate of 25, further comprising an angled front end on the support portion. 32. The skid plate of claim 25, further comprising a plate configured to abut a bottom of the skid plate and means for releasably fastening the plate to the skid plate. 33. The skid plate of claim 32, further comprising a slot in the plate located to coincide with the slot in the skid plate. 34. A skid plate for a concrete cutting saw having an elongated support portion with a slot therein through which a cutting blade extends during cutting and having a front and rear mounting portion each for connecting to the saw using one of first and second pins, comprising: one of the mounting portions having a C-shaped mount forming a first slot configured to receive between opposing legs of the C-shaped slot the first pin, and the other mounting portion having a generally vertical second slot opening away from the support portion in a direction perpendicular to the support portion and configured to receive the second pin. 35. The skid plate of claim 34, further comprising a lock mechanism adjacent the vertical slot to releasably hold the pin in the slot during use of the skid plate. 36. The skid plate of claim 34, further comprising a locking means adjacent the vertical slot for releasably holding the pin in the slot during use of the skid plate. 37. The skid plate of claim 34, wherein the first pin is parallel to the rotational axis and associated with the mounting portion on the leading end of the skid plate. 38. The skid plate of claim 35, wherein the lock mechanism comprises a spring extending across at least a portion of the second slot and resiliently movable out of the second slot a distance sufficient to allow passage of the pin into the second slot. 39. The skid plate of claim 34, wherein the first slot is generally parallel to the support portion of the skid plate and is located on a leading end of the skid plate. 40. The skid plate of claim 39, wherein the skid plate further comprises a protrusion extending from the trailing end of the skid plate and of sufficient size to allow a user's shoe to engage the protrusion and cause relative movement between the saw relative and skid plate, and wherein the first pin is parallel to the rotational axis. 41. The skid plate of claim 34, further comprising a protective sheath abutting an exterior surface of the support portion and interposed between the support portion and the concrete surface during cutting. 42. The skid plate of claim 1, further comprising a protective sheath abutting an exterior surface of the support portion and interposed between the support portion and the concrete surface during cutting. 43. The skid plate of claim 17, further comprising a protective sheath abutting an exterior surface of the support portion and interposed between the support portion and the concrete surface during cutting. 44. The skid plate of claim 34, further comprising a protective sheath abutting an exterior surface of the support portion and interposed between the support portion and the concrete surface during cutting. 45. A method for connecting a skid plate to a concrete cutting saw, the skid plate having an elongated support portion with a slot therein through which a cutting blade extends during cutting and having a front and rear mounting portion each for connecting to the saw using first and second pins, the method comprising: placing the first pin in a first slot on the skid plate with the first slot having one open end and being oriented to restrain movement of the first pin in a direction perpendicular to the support portion of the skid plate; placing the second pin in a second slot on the skid plate with the second slot having one open end and being oriented to restrain movement of the second pin in a direction parallel to the support portion of the skid plate; and restraining removal of the second pin from the second slot. 46. The method of claim 45, further comprising resiliently fastening the second pin in the second slot. 47. The method of claim 45, further comprising urging the skid plate toward the concrete surface while moving the second pin away from the concrete surface and out of the open end of the second slot and away from the skid plate. 48. The method of claim 45, wherein the second slot is vertical and located at a trailing end of the skid plate, and further comprising stepping on a protrusion of the skid plate surface while moving the second pin out of the open end of the second slot and away from the skid plate. 49. The method of claim 45, wherein first pin is generally parallel to the rotational axis of the cutting blade. 50. The method of claim 49, wherein second pin is generally parallel to the rotational axis of the cutting blade. | RELATED APPLICATIONS This application claims the benefit under 35 U.S.C. § 119(e) of provisional applications Ser. No. 60/576,476, filed Jun. 3, 2004, the complete contents of which is incorporated herein by reference. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Slotted skid plates are used with concrete saws to cut concrete before it is hardened to the green stage. This is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,769,201. But the concrete is very abrasive. Thus, the skid plates are made of steel to resist the wear from sliding over the concrete surface and to resist the wear from the abrasive concrete carried by the blade at the cutting edge and which widens the slot in the skid plate. The skid plates were made of sheet steel and bent to the desired shape. But the steel skid plates warp during manufacture and use and that causes raveling as the cut concrete grooves ravel unless the skid plates are flat against the concrete during cutting. There is thus a need for an improved skid plate that remains flat against the concrete after manufacture and during use. One patent addresses this problem of the non-flat skid plates by using a truss to warp the skid plate into a desired configuration, as described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,507,273. But adjusting the truss and fixing the truss to lock in the desire distortion is complex and time consuming. Indeed, it is so difficult that special equipment and methods are used, as described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,689,072. There is thus a need for a better way to achieve a flat skid plate during cutting. A less expensive way to make skid plates is also desirable. The skid plates are fastened to the saw by inserting pins through holes in the distal ends of spring loaded pistons The pistons resiliently urge the skid plate against the concrete surface during cutting. Because the alignment of the skid plate with the saw blade affects the quality of the groove cut in the concrete, the pins holding the skid plate to the saw have a very tight fit with the mating holes in the pistons. But removing the pins is difficult because the pins often freeze in place. The skid plates thus become difficult to remove and that encourages workers to leave them as long as possible, and often too long. Unfortunately, the skid plates wear, sometimes after as little as 1200 feet of cutting and the quality of the cut groove deteriorates with the wear. There is thus a need for a better way to fasten the skid plate to the saw and to make it easy to remove a used skid plate from the saw and to fasten a replacement skid plate to the saw. BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION A cast skid plate for a concrete cutting saw is provided. The saw has a rotating blade with sides and rotating about a rotational axis to cut a groove in a concrete surface during use of the saw. The skid plate has an elongated support portion having a longitudinal slot therein sized to fit within about 1/8 inch or less of the sides of the concrete cutting blade during use of the skid plate. The elongated support is slightly bowed an amount selected to substantially counteract bowing of the skid plate that occurs when the elongated support is urged against the concrete surface during cutting of the concrete. The bow is cast into the skid plate. At least one saw mounting portion is provided, and is offset from the elongated support. The elongated support and at least one saw mounting portion are also integrally cast with the skid plate. Further variations of the cast skid plate cause the curvature of a bottom surface of the skid plate to extend beyond leading and trailing end portions of the skid plate by about 1/8 inch or less. The skid plate bows toward the concrete. Preferably there are two mounting portions forming a front and rear mounting portion, one each at an opposing end of the elongated support portion. Advantageously, but optionally, there is a front mounting portion having a front mounting yoke, and there is a rear mounting portion having a rear yoke. The elongated portion and at least one mounting portion are preferably cast of metal other than iron, preferably aluminum, but could be cast of a polymer or of a ferrous alloy. In a further variation the cast skid plate has two mounting portions, one of which comprises a slot extending along an axis toward and away from the elongated support portion and configured to receive a pin orientated generally parallel to the rotational axis. The other mounting portion comprises a slot that is generally parallel to the concrete surface during cutting. Preferably, but optionally, a snap lock or spring loaded clip holds a mating portion of the saw engaged in the vertical slot in order to provide for a quick-release connection with the skid plate. In a further variation the skid plate has a leading and trailing end and the leading end of the skid plate has an end that is angled relative to the longitudinal slot. Moreover, the leading end of the skid plate preferably has a V shaped configuration in the plane of the elongated portion with the point of the V oriented away from a trailing end and toward the leading end and that helps shove concrete debris from cutting out of the way of the skid plate so the debris is not run over by the skid plate. The skid plate preferably comprises a single part connected to the saw at opposing ends. But in a further embodiment the skid plate is formed by two separate segments each of which has a separate saw mount portion, and each of which has a slot therein which slot extends along a portion of the cutting blade during use of the saw. There is also advantageously provided a skid plate having two saw mounting portions on the skid plate and an elongated support portion which are integrally cast of metal. The saw mounting portions are offset from the support portion a predetermined distance. An elongated slot is either cut into the support portion or integrally cast with the support portion. The slot is sized relative to the cutting blade to support the concrete surface during cutting so cutting does not produce unacceptable raveling of the cut groove during use of the skid plate. The skid plate is preferably cast of non-ferrous metal, but an iron based metal could be used, as could polymers. The leading end of the skid plate preferably, but optionally also has an angled end forming a V with the apex of the V facing forward and in the same plane as the slot. The support portion is also preferably, but optionally curved about an axis generally parallel to the first axis by an amount selected to at least partially offset the deformation of the skid plate occurring when the saw urges the skid plate against the concrete surface during cutting. There is also provided a further skid plate having first means for mounting the skid plate to the concrete saw and second means for supporting the concrete surface during cutting. The first and second means are simultaneously and integrally cast. The first and second means are preferably formed of cast metal, and more preferably cast of a metal the dominant portion of which is other than iron. The first and second means could be cast of a polymer. The second means preferably, but optionally comprises a slot that is cut in the elongated portion after the elongated support skid plate and mounting portion are cast, but the second means could comprise a slot that is cast in the elongated portion. As with the prior embodiments, there is preferably an angled front end on the support portion. A further embodiment uses a replaceable plate that removably fastens to the skid plate and abuts the bottom of the skid plate. Various fastening mechanisms can be used, including snap locks that cooperate with the sides or flanges on the skid plate, threaded fasteners that engage the skid plate at various locations, resilient prongs that engage the edges around holes or slots in the skid plate, and adhesives. The mechanisms for fastening the plate to the skid plate restrain the plate and skid plate from longitudinal movement, and lateral movement, so that a slot in the plate aligns with the blade extending through the slot in the skid plate, in order to prevent raveling of the concrete surface during cutting. The slot can be formed in the plate, or cut by the blade. The slot can end internally to the plate, or can extend to a trailing edge of the plate. A partial slot or widened slot can be used at the trailing end of the plate in order to avoid having the plate trowel over the cut groove. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a saw with a cast skid plate; FIG. 2 is a top perspective view of the cast skid plate of FIG. 1; FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the cast skid plate of FIG. 2 from the other end of the skid plate; FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the bottom of the skid plate of FIG. 1; FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a further embodiment of a skid plate with a side mounting portion; FIG. 6 is a side view of the skid plate of FIG. 2; FIG. 7 is a sectional view taken along section 7-7 of FIG. 6; FIG. 8 is an exploded perspective view of a saw blade mounting block and the skid plate of FIG. 1; FIG. 9 is a perspective view of the clip of FIG. 2; FIG. 10 is a partial side view of a rear mount taken from FIG. 2; FIG. 11 is a perspective view of a further embodiment of the skid plate of FIG. 1; FIG. 12 is a side view of a further embodiment of a one or two-part skid plate; FIG. 13 is an exploded perspective view of a further embodiment showing a front segment of a skid plate; FIG. 14 is a perspective view of the skid plate of FIG. 13 with a portion cut-away to show the connection to a mounting shaft or piston of a saw; FIG. 15 is a partial view of a front mount with a motion limit stop; FIG. 16 is an exploded perspective view of a further embodiment of a cast skid plate showing a removable plate held by a releasable fastener; FIG. 17 is a perspective view of the skid plate of FIG. 16; FIG. 18 is a further embodiment of the skid plate of FIG. 16; FIG. 19 is an exploded perspective view of a further embodiment of a cast skid plate showing a removable plate held by a further releasable fastener; FIG. 20 is a perspective view of the further releasable fastener of FIG. 19; FIG. 21 is a perspective view of the skid plate of FIG. 19; FIG. 22 is an exploded perspective view of a further embodiment of a cast skid plate showing a removable plate held by a releasable fastener; FIG. 23 is a perspective view of the skid plate of FIG. 22; FIG. 24 is an exploded perspective view of a further embodiment of a cast skid plate showing a removable plate held by a releasable fastener; FIG. 25 is a perspective view of the skid plate of FIG. 24; FIG. 26 is an exploded perspective view of a further embodiment of a cast skid plate showing a removable plate held by a releasable fastener; FIG. 27 is a perspective view of the skid plate of FIG. 26; FIG. 28 is an exploded perspective view of a further embodiment of a cast skid plate showing a removable plate held by a releasable fastener; FIG. 29 is a perspective view of the skid plate of FIG. 28; FIG. 30 is an exploded perspective view of a further embodiment of a cast skid plate showing a removable plate held by a releasable fastener; FIG. 31 is a perspective view of the skid plate of FIG. 30; FIG. 32 is an exploded perspective view of a further embodiment of a cast skid plate showing a removable plate held by a releasable fastener; and FIG. 33 is a perspective view of the skid plate of FIG. 32. DETAILED DESCRIPTION Referring to FIGS. 1-8, a cast skid plate 10 is shown having a leading or front end 12, a rear or trailing end 14 and a middle portion or support portion 16. The skid plate is preferably cast of metal, but polymers could be used, especially if cast with metal inserts as described later. A slot 18 extends through the middle portion 16 so cutting blade 20 rotating about drive axis 21 can cut the concrete surface 22 on which the skid plate 10 moves during cutting. A lower surface 24 (FIG. 4) of the skid plate 10 abuts the concrete during cutting and forms an elongated support portion which supports the concrete surface 22 along the cutting blade 20 during cutting. In the depicted configuration the lower surface 24 extends across all of the middle portion 16 and parts of the front 12 and rear 14 portions of the skid plate. During use, a wheeled saw (FIG. 1) rotates the cutting blade 20, preferably but optionally, in an up-cutting direction to cut grooves 25 in the concrete surface 22. Front and rear, spring loaded mounts 32, 36, (FIG. 8) resiliently urge the skid plate 10 against the concrete surface 22 during cutting. A groove, slot or tunnel 23 (FIG. 4) is formed in the lower surface 24 at the trailing end of the slot 18 in order to avoid troweling over and possibly closing the groove cut by the blade 20 that extends through the groove 18 to cut groove 25 in the concrete. As used herein the term front or forward or leading refers to the direction in which the saw normally moves when doing the majority of cutting on the concrete surface 22. The concrete saw could be pulled backwards and it would cut a groove in the concrete, but the saw is not designed to go that way for any substantial distance. The term rear or trailing refers to the direction opposite front or forward or leading. The term up or upward or above refers to a direction away from the concrete during cutting. The term down or downward or below refers to a direction toward the concrete surface during cutting. Referring to FIGS. 2 and 8, front mounting yokes 30 are on the top of the front end 12 and releasably connect to the front mount 32 on the saw. The front mount is shown as spring loaded pistons 32 but need not be so. Rear mounting yokes 34 are on the rear 14 and releasably connect to the rear mount 36 on the saw. The mounting yokes 30, 34 are integrally cast with the front and rear ends 12, 14, respectively, and form front and rear mounting portions. Various configurations can be used for the mounting portions 30, 34. The mounting portions 30, 34 are offset relative to the bottom surface 24 of the skid plate 10. In the depicted embodiment, the front mounting portion 30 comprise a pair of spaced-apart mounts 30L, 30R, with one mount on each side of the longitudinal axis 64. Each front yoke mount 30 has a slot 38 opening rearward with a slightly downwardly inclined lower side 40 on the wall forming the slot. The opposing, upper side of each slot 38 is generally horizontal. The downwardly inclined side 40 forms a wider opening to the slot 38 which makes it easier to insert a mating front projection 42 (FIG. 8) extending from the front piston 32 on the saw. Preferably, but optionally, the projection 42 comprises a steel pin or roller passed through a distal end of the front piston 32, with the distal end of the piston fitting between the front yokes 30. The use of horizontal slots in front yokes of a skid plate, located to engage a front pin through the front piston 32 are found on prior art saws. The rear mounting yoke 34 also preferably has two spaced apart mounts 34L, 34R, each located on opposing sides of the longitudinal axis 64. Each rear mount 34 has a rear slot 44 opening upward to receive a rear projection 46 fastened to the rear piston 36 on the saw. In this embodiment the rear yokes 34 are located on opposing sides of the longitudinal axis 64, and each individual yoke further has a slot 44 opening upward with the slot 44 preferably being wider at the top than the bottom which makes it easier to insert the mating projection 46 (FIG. 8) extending from the rear piston 36 on the saw. Preferably, but optionally, the projection 46 comprises a steel pin or roller passed through a hole in the distal end of the rear piston 36, with the distal end of the piston fitting between the rear yokes 34. The front pin 42 on front piston 32 is slid horizontally into the slot 38 on the front yoke 30. The spacing between the front and rear pins 42, 46 is such that when the front pin 42 is near to or abuts the end of the front slot 38 then the rear pin 46 aligns with the rear slot 44 so the rear piston 36 is then slid between rear yokes 34 with the rear pin 46 engaging the bottom of slot 44 in rear yoke 34. The relative movement can be achieved by moving the skid plate and its rear slot 44 toward the rear pin 46 or moving the saw and rear pin toward the skid plate. Preferably, the front pin 42 does not abut the end of the front slot, but is near the middle of the front slot 38. Referring to FIGS. 2 and 8-10, clip 48 (FIG. 2) on the rear portion 14 or other fastening mechanism holds the rear pin 46 in the slot 44 and prevents unintentional disengagement of the rear pin 46 from the rear slot 44. The clip 48 is preferably, but optionally a spring steel strip of shaped metal fastened to the rear end 14 of the skid plate 10. A fastener passing through the clip 48 and into a hole in a land formed in the rear 14 can hold the clip, with such a hole and land shown in FIG. 3. The clip 48 has a flat base 50 which joins a curved portion the distal part of which forms a locking portion as it abuts the rear projection 46. The distal end 54 of the clip forms a tang or handle to engage a user's finger to move the clip locking portion 54 to disengage the clip and allow the rear projection 46 to be removed from the rear slot 44. Further, during insertion the rear pin 46 abuts the tang 54 at a downwardly inclined angle to move the tang 54 laterally out of the way so the pin 46 can readily enter the slot 44 without manually touching the clip 48. After the pin 46 passes the juncture of the tang 54 and the engaging portion 52, then the clip 48 resiliently urges the pin 46 toward the bottom of the slot 44. The clip 48 can be rotated 180° and function the same way. Preferably a user need not manually engage the tang 54 to release the rear pin 46 from the rear yoke 34. A rear tab 56 extends rearward from rear 14. The rear tab 56 preferably, but optionally has an alignment indicator 58, such as a point, notch, hole or slot located in the same plane as the slot 18 and blade 20 so a user can align the alignment 58 with the groove 25 to help guide the saw during cutting. Such alignment indicators are known in the art. But the rear tab 56 is preferably large enough that a user can step on it and lift up on the saw, causing the rear pin 46 to overcome the retention force exerted by spring clip 48 in order to disengage the rear pin 46 from the yoke 34. The clip 48 thus provides releasable means for retaining the rear pin 46 in the rear slot 44 of rear yoke 34. Other releasable snap locks are known and can be used here, including over-centered locks. Other releasable locking mechanisms can also be used, including slidable locks. The rear yoke 34 has a front projection 34a and a rear projection 34b (FIG. 10) with the space between them forming slot 44. The bottom of the slot is curved to accommodate rear pin 46 and is preferably semi-circular in shape of a radius slightly larger than that of the rear pin 46. The side of projection 34b forming the slot 44 is straight and preferably vertical. The opposing side of the slot 44 formed by projection 34a is inclined forward at an angle θ of about 2-10° from the vertical beginning at about the radius of the curved bottom of the slot 44, or slightly above that radius. The inclined side of slot 34a provides a wider opening to the slot 44 and makes it easier to insert the rear pin 46 into the slot. By inclining the side of the slot 44 formed by projection 34a forward, the pin 46 urges the skid plate 10 forward relative to the pin 44 and the saw, with the front pin 42 being held in a generally horizontal slot 38 to float in that front slot 38. Thus, the position of the skid plate 10 is determined by the sides of the rear slot 44 engaging the rear pin 36 while the front end of the skid plate floats in the horizontal slot 38. There is always some risk the front pin 42 can hit the end of the front slot 38 before the rear pin 46 is positioned in the bottom of slot 44, and if only a slight interference is caused it will be accommodated by movement of the pistons 32, 36 and pins 42, 46, but it will result in a snug engagement of the front pin 42 with the front end of front slot 38. That will result in little misalignment of the skid plate 10 relative to the mounting portions 32, 36 of the saw. If it were reversed so that the side of the slot 44 formed by the rear projection 34b was inclined rearward to form a wider opening of the slot 44 (FIG. 6), then when the rear pin 46 hit the yoke 34 and moves toward the bottom of slot 44 the pin 46 will push the skid plate 10 rearward but the front end of the skid plate would still float or be accommodated by the permissible movement allowed from horizontal slot 38. But there would be slightly more permissible movement between the front pin 42 and the front slot 38 and thus slightly more possible misalignment of the skid plate 10 relative to the mounting portions 32, 36 and relative to the saw. The clip 48 provides a spring force to resiliently urge the rear pin 46 into the rear slot 44 and if the front slot 38 is not long enough, the front pin 42 is also resiliently urged against the front end of front slot 38. The upward opening slot 44 in the rear yokes 34 cooperates with the clip 48 to provide a means for releasably fastening the rear of the skid plate 10 to the saw. This releasable connection is believed to be easier to achieve than the prior art which inserted a pin horizontally through aligned holes in one or two yokes to mate with a close-tolerance hole through the rear piston 36. The rear pin 46 snaps into the slot 44 and is resiliently held there by the resilient clip(s) 48. The connection is also believed to be easier to release than the prior art connections as the pin 46 is not believed to adhere to the slot 44 and rear yoke 34 during use. Further, the finger or foot activated disengagement of the clip(s) 48 is believed to be considerably easier than the prior art disconnection of a curved spring from opposing ends of the fastening pin. Moreover, because the rear yoke 34 and slot 44 are cast along with the skid plate 10, the location and alignment of the skid plate relative to the mounting slot 44 are believed to be cheaper to make while more accurate. The prior art required not only making a rear yoke accurately, but required aligning it to a flexible platform on a strip of metal and then fastening it to the strip of metal without shifting position. The one-piece cast skid plate 10 provides more consistently located surfaces, and the casting can be more accurately machined, ground or cut to further increase the accurate location of the mounting surfaces (e.g., slots 38, 44) relative to other features of the cast skid plate 10. Referring to FIGS. 1, 3, 4 and 6, the leading end 12 of the cast skid plate 10 is preferably, but optionally, angled relative to the direction of travel along groove 25 rather than perpendicular to the groove and to the direction of travel as in the prior art. This angled leading end of the skid plate which is in contact with the concrete surface is referred to as angled leading end 60. Preferably, but optionally, two angled ends 60, 62 are used to form a V-shape on the bottom surface 24 of front end 12 of the skid plate 10, with the apex of the V shaped end located to align with the groove 25 cut in the concrete. Thus, the intersection of angled ends 60, 62 is preferably in the plane containing cutting blade 20. That location also usually corresponds with the center of the skid plate 10 along which the longitudinal axis 64 of the skid plate 10 extends. The angled front end helps the skid plate to avoid running over concrete that is removed during cutting. The blade 20 preferably rotates in an up-cut direction and if the concrete debris removed to form the cut groove 25 get in front of the skid plate then the skid plate 10 can ride over the debris. That can not only push the concrete debris into the concrete surface 22 and damage the finish on the surface, but the debris can tilt the skid plate causing the blade 20 to cut and weaken or widen the slot 18 in the skid plate, or it can tilt the saw and rotating blade 20 causing raveling of the cut groove 25. The inclined angle of ends 60 and/or 62 on the front end 12 urges any concrete debris to one side of the skid plate. A single inclined end 60 could be used, with the incline being constant (i.e., straight) or variable (i.e., curved). But a single inclined end could have to move concrete debris across the entire width of the skid plate, whereas two inclined ends 60, 60 forming a V-shaped end centered on the middle of the skid plate, need only move debris along half the width of the skid plate 10. Thus, two inclined ends 60, 62 are preferred. The angle of inclination will vary, but is advantageously about 100° or more measured on either side of the longitudinal axis 64 of the skid plate, and preferably about 110-40°. The front end 12 is also preferably, but optionally inclined relative to the concrete surface 22 so that a portion of the front end 12 extends in front of and over the angled end(s) 60, 62, to form one, and preferably two inclined surfaces 66, 68. The inclined surfaces 66, 68 are inclined from the leading end of the front end 12 toward the bottom surface 24 of the skid plate 10. While it might appear that inclined surfaces 66, 68 would make it easier for the skid plate 10 to ride over concrete debris, it is believed that inclining the surfaces 66, 68 toward the concrete surface 22 and toward the bottom 24 will cause the larger concrete debris to roll aside easier or to break up easier and move aside easier. The front ends 60, 62 and inclined surfaces 66, 68 are integrally cast with the skid plate 10. As desired, further grinding or machining or cutting of the cast skid plate can more accurately define these ends 60, 62 and inclined surfaces 66, 68. Likewise, the tunnel, groove or slot 23 is also integrally cast with the skid plate 10, but could be further defined by grinding, cutting or machining if desired. The front and rear ends 12, 14 are advantageously solid in order to provide increased stiffness. But they could be made of a rib-stiffened structure which would still be suitable for even metal casting. A high stiffness is desired in order to avoid undesirable flexing and to help maintain the bottom 24 of skid plate 10 in contact with and supporting the concrete surface 22 during cutting. Support is especially important at the location where the up-cutting edge of the blade 20 leaves the concrete surface 22. Insufficient support causes raveling of the cut groove, as shown by undesirable spalling and roughness adjacent the cut. The skid plate 10 can be cast with a pre-selected flexibility and thus avoid the cost, complexity and variability in the prior art strip-metal skid plates. Advantageously the cast skid plate 10 is cast with a slight bow in a direction selected to offset the bowing caused when the weight of the saw is placed on one or both of the mounting yokes 30, 34. When the weight of the saw presses the skid plate 10 against the concrete surface 22, then the skid plate bottom 24 is flat against the concrete surface. This cast-in curvature generally causes the bottom portion 24 to bow convexly usually about an axis parallel to rotational axis 21, but it could vary with the mounting configuration of the saw, and could cause the bottom portion 24 to be concave. The curvature usually results in the middle of the skid middle portion 18 being less than about 0.25 inches (about 63 mm) from the distal ends 12, 14, and more often less than about ⅛ of an inch less. Depending on the particular design of the skid plate the stiffness can vary and thus the amount of curvature that is cast into the bottom 24 will vary. Longer skid plates 10 accommodate larger cutting blades 20, and the amount of desired flexibility can vary. But for a given weight of saw and a given configuration of skid plate 10, the deformation of the skid plate 10 can be predetermined, and the appropriate curve can be cast in the bottom surface 24 of skid plate 10. Die cast aluminum is believed suitable for achieving tolerances of 0.002-0.003 inches. If further accuracy is desired beyond the tolerances and accuracy achieved by the casting method employed, then the bottom surface can be further machined, cut or ground to achieve a desired accuracy. If a softer metal is used like aluminum, the surface is preferably anodized or otherwise hardened or coated with a harder material to better resist abrasion from the concrete surface 22 during cutting. Referring to FIGS. 2-3 and 6-7, the stiffness of the skid plate 10 can be varied as desired either along the longitudinal axis 64, or laterally or perpendicular to that axis in a plane parallel to the bottom 24. The particular configuration will vary with the material used to cast the skid plate and the size of blade 20 and the weight of the saw. The ends 12, 14 are relatively rigid to avoid localized deformation where the yokes 30, 34 transfer the weight of the saw to the skid plate 10. A central stiffening rib 70 runs along the longitudinal axis 64 of the skid plate 10 with the blade slot 18 being cut or formed in this rib. The front end 12 preferably, but optionally has a boss 66 (FIG. 2) extending toward the trailing end and preferably ending before the leading end of the slot 18. The boss 66 stiffens and stabilizes the skid plate 10 adjacent the leading end of the slot 18 where the up-cutting blade exits the concrete. The boss 66 is preferably, but optionally, angled so concrete debris removed by the blade 20 are urged toward either side of the skid plate 10. Opposing side ribs 72, 74 extend along each opposing side of the skid plate parallel to the central rib 72 and the longitudinal axis 64. The ribs 72, 74 have a constant height along their length, except immediately adjacent the front end 12 as discussed later. The side ribs 72, 74 preferably, but optionally, help reduce torsion and bending, especially when coupled to the stiff ends 12, 14. A shallow concave groove which is aligned with the longitudinal axis 64 extends on either side of the center rib 70, between the center rib 70 and each adjacent side rib 72 and 74. The concave groove reduces material used to cast the skid plate 10, and thus reduces cost while providing the desired stiffness. The concave grooves also collect concrete debris removed by the blade 20 when the cut groove 25 is formed. The side ribs 72, 74 preferably extend continuously from the front end 12 to the rear end 14 and join those ends. At the front end 12, the side ribs 72, 74 preferably, but optionally increase in height to form a pair of side shields 76, on each side. The side shields help prevent concrete debris from falling off the skid plate at the front where there is a greater possibility of being run over by the skid plate. The trailing end 14 could have these side shields 76, but advantageously does not have them as it is desirable for the concrete debris to fall off the trailing end of the skid plate. Thus, it is advantageous to have the side ribs 72, 74 slightly lower toward the trailing end 14. Further, one or more recesses 78 are preferably, but optionally formed in the rear 14 of the skid plate to accumulate concrete debris. The concrete saw encloses the cutting blade 20 in a blade housing 76 (FIG. 1) and often also has a splash shield at the end of the cutting blade 20 where the saw blade exits the concrete and sometimes also at the end of the cutting blade where the blade enters the concrete. The splash shield(s) help prevent concrete debris from being thrown by the cutting blade. When an up-cutting rotation is used on blade 20 the splash shield prevents concrete from being thrown in front of the skid plate where it could be run over by the skid plate. The front 12 and rear 14 of the skid plate 10 are configured to accommodate the splash shields. The splash shields are typically located within an inch or less of the ends of the cutting blade 20, and the front end 12 must thus end before it hits the splash shield. The same applies to the rear end 14 if a rear splash shield is used. Further, the splash shield may move toward and away from the concrete as the resiliently mounted pistons 32, 36 allow the cutting blade to move relative to the concrete surface 22. Thus, the height of the middle portion 16 of the skid plate and the height of the ends 12, 14 must accommodate the potential motion of the shield. The skid plate 10 is preferably cast of metal, such as zinc, aluminum or other alloys. A cast aluminum alloy, 380 series, with a hard anodized coating is believed preferable. Die casting is believed suitable, but sand casting, metal injection, investment casting, powdered metal, centrifugal casting or rotary casting are also believed usable and all are referred to herein as “casting.” A forged metal skid plate is also believed suitable, and the skid plate can be machined out of a block of material, preferably metal. The specific casting method used will vary with the tolerances desired and will likely change with improvements in casting technology. These casting metals are softer than the strip steel previously used, and thus the skid plates 10 are usually much thicker in order to provide the desired stiffness and wear resistance. A thickness of about ¼ to ⅜ inches at the center rib 70 is believed suitable when the skid plate 10 is made of aluminum. The thickness used will vary with the materials used and with the wear life that is sought to be achieved. It is believed to be possible to mill the skid plate 10 out of a billet of steel and then optionally heat treat the steel or harden the bottom surface 24 to achieve a hardened, steel skid plate having the features described herein. This is not as desirable because of the difficulty and cost in machining the steel. The same machining could be done with a billet of metal other than steel, such as aluminum, with a hardening formed on the bottom surface 24. The skid plate 10 could be cast of iron based alloys. The iron based alloys are less desirable as they melt at higher temperatures, are heavier, and are more difficult and expensive to cast. But preferably the skid plate 10 is cast of a metal the dominant portion of which is other than iron. It is also believed that polymers could be used to cast the skid plate 10, especially high density polymers such as high density polyurethane, glass filled plastics or carbon fibers. Polyacrylate is also believed suitable. Polymers are not believed to be as desirable as metal because of potential excessive wear at the up-cutting edge of the blade, and because the harder concrete debris can embed in the softer polymers and thus be dragged along the concrete surface by the skid plate to scratch the surface. Polymer skid plates with metal inserts at the location of the up-cutting edge of the blade 20 are believed suitable. The inserts preferably extend to the surface abutting the concrete and may extend to an upper surface of the polymer, or may be embedded in the polymer. Further, a polymer could be cast over a thin steel skid plate to add further thickness and support and to further define the shape of the skid plate 10. The harder metal skid plate would be located to abut the concrete. The metal skid plate preferably has tangs or protrusions embedded in the skid plate so the metal is not removable, but the metal could be removably fastened to the skid plate. Removable connections are shown in U.S. Pat. No. 6,736,126, the complete contents of which are incorporated herein by reference. In that patent a polymer sheet is an overlay on a metal skid plate and the polymer abuts the concrete. While that configuration is usable with the present embodiments, preferably a metal sheet overlays a polymer base which is connected to the saw, with the polymer base connected to the metal skid plate using the embodiments of that patent. Referring to FIG. 11, a further embodiment is shown. In this embodiment the front yoke 30 is as previously described but the rear yoke 34 lacks the slot 40 (FIG. 2) and instead has a generally horizontal hole 86 through each of the yokes 34, with the hole sized to receive a pin 88 which extends through mating holes in the rear piston 36. This is the traditional pinned connection used in the prior art, and has the disadvantage of difficulties in removing and reinserting the pin 88. A C-clip spring (not shown) fastens to opposing ends of the pin to prevent it from falling out of the piston. The rear end 14 has a boss 90 extending forward and ending shortly before the trailing end of slot 18. This provides localized stiffness at the center of the skid plate, and that is especially useful if the cutting blade 20 exits at the trailing end of the slot 18, but the boss 90 could be used even if that were not the cast. The boss is angled and inclined so that it urges concrete debris on the skid plate toward either side of the skid plate. In this embodiment, the side ribs 72, 74 are not of uniform height as the front and rear ends of the ribs are higher and taper to a lower rib height at about the middle of the length of the skid plate 10. This provides more torsional movement of the skid plate and allows bending toward the middle of the skid plate. The trailing end of the side ribs 72, 74 preferably, but optionally have openings 92 formed in them in order to allow concrete debris to more easily fall of the skid plate 10. The central rib 70 is less pronounced in this embodiment and thus not as high or thick as in the first embodiment. But the exact height of central rib 70, and other parts of the skid plate 10, will vary with the desired stiffness and length of the skid plate. The front end 12 has a generally flat end perpendicular to the concrete surface 22 and perpendicular to the slot 18 in the skid plate. Other than those differences, the front end 12, and the other parts of the skid plate 10, are as described in the previous embodiment. The slot 18 is within about ⅛ of an inch of the sides of the cutting blade 20, preferably along the entire length of the blade, advantageously along a majority of the length of the blade, and minimally along the sides of the cutting segments where the blade leaves the concrete surface. Closer spacing between the sides of the slot 18 and the adjacent sides of the cutting blade and the cutting segments on the cutting blade are preferred, including spacings of 1/16 inch and less. The close spacing reduces raveling that occurs when the concrete surface 22 is cut before the surface has reached its typical rock-like hardness. What constitutes acceptable raveling can vary, but as used herein acceptable raveling is that which is less than would occur with a down-cut, water lubricated saw cutting the next day on the same concrete surface. The leading end of the slot 18 is preferably about ¼ of an inch from the cutting segments but the blade 20 moves relative to the concrete surface 22 during cutting, so the distance between the leading end of the skid plate and the cutting blade will vary. Details are found in U.S. Pat. No. 4,769,201, the complete contents of which are incorporated herein by reference. The slot 18 is preferably cast into the skid plate 10. But depending on the material used to make the middle portion 16 the slot could be cut by the blade 20. Indeed, the skid plate could be cast without slot 18 and the user could plunge the cutting blade through the middle portion 16 to form the slot 18. This is possible because the concrete cutting blades 20 are so durable, but using the cutting blade to form the slot 18 is undesirable if the skid plate is a ferrous based alloy because of the resulting wear on the cutting blade in forming the cut. If the skid plate is of a material other than steel or an iron based alloy then it is more practical to have the user form the slot 18 by plunging the blade 20 through the middle portion 16. Alternatively, a post casting step of manufacturing could include mounting the cast skid plate on a fixture and cutting the groove 18 in a middle portion 16 that was cast without the slot, by plunging a cutting blade through the skid plate to form the slot. This slot formation could be performed by the user, but is less desirable if the skid plate 10 is formed of a ferrous based material because it will cause wear on the concrete cutting blade. The skid plate 10 is shown with two mounting yokes 30, 34 and extending along the entire length of the blade 20. A skid plate made of stamped steel strip had been previously used which mounted only at the front of the saw and extended about half the length of the cutting blade 20. That configuration did not work nearly as well as the skid plate with two mounting portions. A cast skid plate 10 having only one mount 30, or 34 is nevertheless, believed suitable for use, but less preferable. A cast skid plate with only one mounting portion is believed to have advantages in performance, accuracy of manufacture, ease of manufacturing and cost above and beyond those of the prior art bent-metal skid plates. Further, referring to FIG. 12, it is believed possible to use a skid plate 18 cast of two parts, a front and rear segment 98, 100, respectively, each segment having only one mounting yoke 30, 34 and each segment extending for less than the full length of the cutting blade 20 measured along the concrete surface 22. Only the front segment 98 could be used, but is less desirable than using both segments 98 and 100. The rear segment 100 would be used by itself only if the blade 20 exited the concrete within the slot contained in the rear segment 100 and then only it was the leading end which initially cut the groove in the concrete. Preferably the front skid plate segment extends from about ¼ to ½ the length of the blade 20 measured at the concrete surface 22. But the relative proportions of each segment 98, 100 of the two-piece skid plate 10 can vary. Preferably each skid plate segment 98, 100 has a leading end inclined away from the concrete in order to avoid digging into the concrete surface 22, and a trailing end that is also inclined away from the concrete. Inclined surfaces that are curved are preferred. A leading end that is also angled relative to the direction of travel, like angles 60, 62, are also preferred on each segment 98, 100. Because the slot 18 adjacent the up-cutting edge of the blade 20 wears fastest, this partial-length skid plate offers the possibility of physically replacing an entire portion of the skid plate 10 which is worn and reusing the portion which is not completely unsuitable for use. The skid plate portions 98, 100 can be fastened to the saw by passing two pins or threaded fasteners 102 through the mounting portions 30, 34 into a mating portion of the saw. For the front portion 98, the front mounting portion can be modified to form a vertical flange which is bolted to the saw with two bolts. The same mounting could be used on the rear portion 100. Alternatively, a bracket could be placed on front and rear pistons 32, 36 to allow two pins or fasteners to fasten to the movable pistons, as shown on the rear portion 100. The prior art includes a partial skid plate made of bent, slotted sheet metal that was bolted to the front of a saw using two bolts. The cast skid plate parts 98, 100 are believed to be more accurately formed to the desired shape than these prior art bent strips of metal. Referring to FIGS. 13-14, a further embodiment is shown which uses a single connection to the saw. The skid plate 10 has only the front segment 98 with the front 12 having the angled surfaces 60, 62, but with the middle portion 16 ending rather than being connected to end 14. The slot 18 extends through the middle portion 16, with a tunnel 23 formed in the lower surface 24. This embodiment of the skid plate 10 has a single connection to the saw, through the front mounting shaft or piston 32 in cooperation with the front yoke 30, each of which are modified from the prior embodiments. The front yoke 30 has a left and right yoke 30L, 30R each of which has an aligned hole 104 therthrough through which a shaft of a snap pin 106 removably extends. The snap pin 106 has a spring lock 108 which is permanently fastened to one end of the snap pin and releasably fastened to the opposing end of the snap pin to releasably lock the snap pin 106 to the skid plate and saw during use, as described later. Between the left and right yokes 30L, 30R the front portion 12 has a recess into which the distal end of the front piston 32 fits. In this recess a resilient member 110 is placed. The resilient member 110 is shown as a bent leaf spring having a first end fastened to the front mount 12 and having the opposing, second end bent generally into a C-shape relative to the first end. The second end preferably extends at an angle of about 45° relative to the horizontal. A flat strip of metal is believed suitable for the resilient member 110, but other types of springs and resilient members could be used, including coil springs, torsion springs, resilient elastomeric materials or rubber. The distal end of the front mounting portion, shown as piston shaft 32, has a hole 112 sized and aligned to receive the shaft of the snap pin 106 passing through the front mounting yokes 30. The distal end of the front mount 32 abuts the resilient member 110 causing the skid plate 10 to rotate toward the concrete surface 22 during cutting. The resilient member 110 helps maintain the bottom surface 24 of the skid plate against the concrete during cutting in order to reduce or prevent raveling. To limit the rotation of the skid plate 10 relative to the saw, a portion of the skid plate abuts a portion of the saw. This can be achieved various ways, including fastening a flexible member to both the saw and skid plate to limit the relative rotation of the skid plate about pin 106. But preferably a portion of the skid plate 10 abuts the front mount 32, or vice versa. Advantageously, but optionally, the distal end of shaft 32 has an outwardly extending protrusion 114, which can take various forms such as a boss, a post, a flange, etc, but which preferably comprises ridge 114 located to engage the distal or top end of mounting yokes 30 or some other projection extending from the skid plate 10. The ridge 114 is shown as formed by flats 116 on the cylindrically shaped distal end of the front piston 32, which leave a portion of the cylindrical piston 32 extending outward from the flats to form a ridge 114 on each opposing side of the front piston 32. The ridges 114 are located relative to the top of the yokes 30 so that as the skid plate 10 pivots about the shaft of snap pin 106, the ridges 114 will hit the tops of the yokes 30 to limit the rotation. Alternatively, the recess in the front end 12 which is located between the yokes 30L and 30R could have a front ridge sized to hit the distal end of the shaft 32 to limit the rotation of the skid plate 10 about shaft 30, or a post or protrusion on the end of the shaft 32 could hit a portion of the front end 12 to limit motion of the skid plate. Likewise, referring to FIG. 15, a protrusion 114 on opposing sides of the shaft 32 could abut shaped ends of the yokes 30L and 30R to limit rotation. Various other ways to limit the rotation will be apparent to one skilled in the art given the present disclosure. In use, the distal end of front mount 32 presses against the resilient member or spring 110 urges causing the spring to urge the skid plate 10 toward and against the concrete while the blade 20 extends through the slot 18 to cut the concrete surface. The spring is selected to provide sufficient force to maintain the skid plate against the concrete during cutting so as to reduce, and preferably to prevent raveling. The restraint system, such as the motion limit formed when ridge 114 hits the top of the mounting yokes 30, restrains movement of the skid plate so that when the blade and skid plate are withdrawn out of the concrete, the lower end of the skid plate does not drag on the concrete surface 22 so as to mark that surface. The snapper pin 106 allows for removal and replacement of the skid plate 10. The snapper pin 106 and its releasable spring lock 108 could take various forms, including pins with spring loaded detents. The skid plate 10 preferably extends at least past the cutting segments of the up-cutting portion of the cutting blade, and can extend for any length of the blade. Preferably the skid plate 10 extends for the entire length of the blade 20 measured along the concrete surface 22 (FIG. 1). The skid plate 10 is shown mounted to the leading end of the saw through the front mount 32, and then extending rearward. But it could be revised for mounting at the trailing end to rear mount 36, and extend forward. Whichever orientation is used, the leading end is preferably rounded or inclined in order to avoid digging into the concrete surface 22. Referring to FIGS. 16-17, a further embodiment is shown in which a plate 120 is releasably fastened to the cast skid plate 10. The plate 120 comprises a sheet of material having a flat lower surface to smoothly abut the concrete surface 22 (FIG. 1) during cutting. The plate 120 can have various shapes, but preferably is shaped to conform to the bottom surface 24 (FIG. 4) of the skid plate 10, and the shape of the bottom can vary. The depicted plate 120 preferably, but optionally has two inclined leading ends 60a, 62a, and a slot 18a. The slot 18a is shown ending in the plate 120. The slot can be preformed in the plate 120, or it can be cut by the cutting blade 20 (FIG. 8) after the plate is fastened to the skid plate 10. The plate has an upward-extending flange 122 along at least a portion of one side of the skid plate 10, with mounting tabs 124 at opposing ends. Preferably, but optionally, the tabs which are located to correspond with fasteners 126 extending from the skid plate 10. The front and rear portions 12, 14 are sufficiently thick that a threaded hole can be formed to accommodate a threaded fastener 126, and thus the tabs 124 preferably align with holes and fasteners 126 placed in the front and rear portions 12, 14. The fasteners 126 extend through holes in the tabs 124, with threaded knobs 128 fastening the tabs 124 and plate 120 to the skid plate 10. The plate 120 can be cast of metal or other material, or extruded from a polymer material, or punched and formed from strip metal such as steel or aluminum. In use, the plate 120 is releasably fastened to the skid plate 10 by manually fastening the knobs 128 and fasteners 126 to the plate 120 and skid plate 10. The skid plate 10 provides support for the plate to prevent it from deforming and allowing raveling. The fasteners 126 and knobs 128 should cooperate with the tabs 124 sufficiently to hold the plate 120 flat against the bottom 24 of skid plate 10. If the plate 120 is angled relative to the skid plate 20 the cutting blade 20 may cut and widen the slot 18a, and that could increase raveling of the concrete surface 22 during cutting. The plate 120 can be used to reduce wear of the skid plate 10, or it can be used after the slot 18 in skid plate 10 has become too wide to prevent raveling of the concrete during cutting. The flange 122 helps align and stiffen the plate 120, but could be omitted if desired. A flange on the opposing side of the plate 120 could be provided if desired, as could additional fasteners 126 and knobs 128. Further, one or both of the fasteners 126 could comprise pins and a different type of releasable lock could be used instead of the knob 128 (e.g., cotter keys, snap rings, etc.). If the slot 18a is preformed in the plate 120, it is preferably aligned and located to coincide with the slot 18 in skid plate 10, when mounted to the skid plate 10. The fasteners 126 preferably fasten to the ends 12, 14, but could fasten to the side ribs 72 and/or 74, or to one or more of the shields 76. As the skid plate 10 is cast rather than formed of strip metal, suitably strengthened bosses can be readily located to accommodate various types of fasteners 126. Referring to FIGS. 16 and 18, the slot 18, 18a preferably extends to the trailing end of the skid plate 10 and the plate 120 in order to avoid having the plate 120 trowel over the cut groove. The slot 120 could be formed to extend until it opens onto the trailing end of the plate 120. Alternatively, as shown in FIG. 18, a shorter, and preferably wider rear slot 130 could be formed in the plate 120 and extend from the trailing end forward. If so, the plate 120 is preferably made without a pre-formed slot 18a. When the slot 18a is cut by a user plunging the blade 20 (FIG. 1) through the plate 120, the cut slot 18a joins the rear slot 130 to prevent troweling of the concrete. Having the blade 20 form the slot 18a in plate 20 reduces the required accuracy with which the plate 120 is aligned with the skid plate 10, as the slot 18a is preferably close to the cutting segments of the blade 20 during use. This rearwardly located slot 130 is usable with the various embodiments discussed herein. Referring to FIGS. 19-21, a further embodiment is shown in which the plate 20 is as generally described above, but in which the fastener 126 takes the form of a pin with a spring loaded detent, as shown in FIG. 20. In this embodiment the fastener 126 has one end threaded to engage mating threads on the skid plate 10. The opposing end of the fastener has a spring loaded detent 132 adjacent a distal end that is tapered to better fit through mating holes in the tabs 124. The detent 132 extends through the mounting tab 124 and expands to prevent removal of the tab until the detent 132 is depressed. The spring loaded detents 132 are known in the art and not described in detail. But the detents 132 allow quick removal and replacement of the plate 120, while the pins 126 are believed suitable to provide the alignment of the plate 120 with the skid plate 10. Referring to FIGS. 22-23, a further embodiment is shown for removably fastening a version of plate 120 to the skid plate. The plate 120 has a flange 122 along each opposing longitudinal side of the plate with the flanges spaced far enough apart that a skid plate 10 can fit between them. Preferably there is a snug fit between the skid plate and the flanges 122 to restrain movement of the plate 120. The opposing flanges have a plurality of tab 124 on each flange. The tabs 124 on one flange 122 are aligned with the tabs on the opposing flange, so that a threaded fastener 126 can pass through aligned holes in the opposing tabs. The fastener 126 preferably has an enlarged head on one end, and threads engaging a nut on the opposing end. The tabs 124 are located adjacent the ends 12, 14 so that when the fastener passes through the holes in the tabs, the fasteners abut the front and rear ends 12, 14 to keep the plate 120 from substantial movement along the longitudinal axis 64. The rear fastener 126 pushes against the rear end 14 to push the plate 120 when the saw moves forward during cutting. The front fastener 126 pushes against the front end 12 when the saw is pulled backwards, in order to move the plate 120. Preferably the fasteners 126 are located relative to the skid plate 10 so that the plate 120 is snugly held against the skid plate to help prevent movement of the plate 120 relative to the skid plate 10. The fasteners 126 cooperate with the plate 120 to encircle narrower portions of the skid plate 10 and hold the plate 120 so it moves with the skid plate to maintain sufficient alignment of the slots 18, 18a to support the concrete adjacent the cutting blade 20 and reduce or prevent raveling. The plate 120 preferably, but optionally, has a shape that matches the shape of the bottom 224 of the skid plate 10, and this is shown with inclined front ends 60a, 62a. Instead of threaded fasteners 126, detent pins, pins with spring clip fasteners, or other removable, elongated fasteners could be used. Further, the tabs could extend from the bottom plate 120 rather than forming a portion of the side flanges 122. Further, the tabs 122 could be omitted and the two fasteners 126 could pass through a hole on the skid plate. For example, a boss could be formed on the upper surface of the skid plate with a hole in the boss through which one of the fasteners 126 extends. Two such bosses to hold a forward and rearward fastener 126 are believed sufficient. To attach the plate 120, it is pressed against the bottom 24 of the skid plate 10 so the holes in the tabs 124 project above the side ribs 72, 74. The fasteners 126 are passed through a pair of aligned, opposing holes in the tabs 124 so they abut opposing ends 12, 14. To remove and replace the plate 120, the process is reversed. Some vertical movement between the plate 120 and skid plate 10 is permissible in the plane of the cutting blade 20, but any such movement is preferably kept small to enhance the protection against raveling. Referring to FIGS. 24-25, a clip-on plate 120 is shown having at least one clip 136 on each opposing side of the plate 120. The clip 136 preferably comprises a portion of the plate 120 which is bent upwards and inwards to form a resilient member of sufficient length that a distal end of the clip can extend over a mating edge of the skid plate 10. The clips 136 are preferably located to extend over the side ribs 72, 74 adjacent the juncture of the side ribs with the ends 12, 14 so the clips 136 abut the ends 12, 14 to restrain longitudinal movement of the plate 120 relative to the skid plate 10. Engagement of the side ribs 72, 74 by the clips 136 restrains lateral movement of the plate 120 relative to the skid plate 10. Preferably the distal end of each clip 136 has an outwardly extending portion 138, such as a finger tab, sufficiently sized to allow a person's finger to engage the portion 138 and bend the clip 136 sufficiently to allow the engagement and disengagement of the clips 136 with the side ribs 72, 74. The clips 136 resiliently engage the skid plate 10 to allow easy attachment and detachment of the plate 120 on the skid plate. If desired, notches could be formed on the side ribs 72, 74, or other portions of the skid plate 10, specifically configured to engage the clips 136. Four clips 136 are shown, but the number, size and location can vary. In this embodiment the plate 120 is shown with a square leading end rather than an inclined end. The particular shape will vary. Preferably the leading end is curved or inclined away from the concrete surface 22 (FIG. 1) to prevent marking the surface, or alternatively the plate 120 is made of material which will cause the leading end to soon take a curved or rounded shape. To attach the plate 120, it is positioned along the bottom 24 of the skid plate 10 and the tabs 136 along one side are engaged with one of the side ribs 72, 74. The plate 120 is then rotated so the other clips 136 engage the opposing side rib 72, 74, with the clips 136 bending to allow the engagement. To disengage the plate 120, the finger tab 138 is used to bend the clip 136 away from the skid plate 10 and allow removal of the plate 120. Referring to FIGS. 26-27, a further embodiment is shown in which the plate 120 has flanges 122 extending a substantial length of the plate 120, and preferably along the entire length. More than half is a substantial length. The flanges 122 have a distal end which is shaped to extend laterally over the side ribs 72, 74 to engage the ribs and hold the plate 120 to the skid plate. Preferably, but optionally, the distal ends of the flanges 122 have a C-shape to hook over the ribs 72, 74 and extend back toward the bottom of the plate 10. The side flanges 122 form resilient members which urge the distal ends of the flanges 122 into releasable engagement with the side ribs 72, 74. The flanges 122 preferably extend between the ends 12, 14 so that the distal ends of the flanges 122 abut the ends 12, 14 to limit longitudinal motion of the plate 120 relative to the skid plate 10. The flanges 122 are spaced apart so they abut the ribs 72, 74 and thus also limit the lateral movement of the plate 120 relative to the skid plate 10. The ribs 72, 74, or ends 12, 14 could be specially configured to engage a portion of the flange 74 and limit longitudinal motion between the parts. In use, one of the flanges 122 is placed so its distal end engages one of the side ribs 72, 74, between the ends 12, 14. The plate 120 is then rotated and pressed so that the flanges 122 bend to allow the distal end of the un-engaged flange 122 to engage the other side rib 72, 74. The flanges 122 snap-lock the plate 120 to the skid plate. To remove the plate 120 from the skid plate 10, one or both of the flanges 122 are bent away from the side ribs 72, 74 and the plate is removed. If desired, one or more outwardly extending finger engaging protrusions or tabs 138 (as described in FIGS. 24-24) could be placed on the flanges 122 to make it easier to bend the flanges 122 and engage or disengage the plate 120 from the skid plate 10. Referring to FIGS. 28-29, a further embodiment is shown in which a plate 120 is removably fastened to the bottom 24 of the skid plate 10 by a fastener 140. The plate 120 is shaped to conform to the shape of the bottom 24. A plurality of holes is formed through the plate 120 and fasteners 140 extend through the holes to fasten the plate 120 to the skid plate 10. Two fasteners 140 are shown, at opposing ends of the plate 120 and at opposing ends of the skid plate 10. The fasteners 140 are shown as screws, one engaging the front 12 and one engaging the rear 14 of the skid plate. In the depicted embodiment the plate 120 has a slot 18a which ends internally to the plate 120 so the trailing end of the plate 120 trowels over the groove cut in the concrete surface, with one of the fasteners 140 being on the longitudinal axis 64 in which the slot 18a and blade 20 (FIG. 1) are located. It is preferable that the fastener 140 be located off the longitudinal axis 64 so that the groove 18a could be extended to the distal end of plate 120, as by the use of a partial slot 130 described in FIG. 18. Referring to FIGS. 30-31, a further embodiment is shown in which an adhesive 143 is placed over at least a portion, and preferably over all of the upper surface of the plate 120. The adhesive 143 abuts the bottom 24 of the skid plate 10 to hold the parts together. A removable backing paper is preferably placed over the adhesive 140, to protect the adhesive during non-use. The backing paper is removed shortly before the plate 120 is fastened to the bottom of the skid plate. The plate 120 is pried off the skid plate 10 by using a screwdriver or putty knife inserted between the plate 120 and bottom 24. Referring to FIGS. 32-33, a further embodiment is shown in which plate 120 has a resilient locking tab 142 extending therefrom to engage a mating recess in the skid plate 10. Preferably, there are front and rear locking tabs 142a, 142b, respectively. Further, the front locking tab 142a is preferably, but optionally, formed by upsetting material from the slot 18a so the tab 142a extends upward from the plate 120 and forms a resilient member with a distal end 144 shaped to hook over and engage a mating surface. The location and shape of the resilient locking member 142 and locking end 144 can vary to form a snap-lock releasably holding the parts together. Ideally, the locking tab 142a extends through slot 18 and the distal end 144 engages the upper surface of the skid plate 10 adjacent the leading end of the slot 18, either on one of the sides of the slot or on the leading end of the slot. The resilient locking tab 142a can be viewed as a resilient prong that engages the edges around a hole or slot through which the tab 142a extends in order to form a releasable snap-lock. Various configurations of such resilient snap-locks can be devised using the disclosure herein, including snap locks that extend through circular holes through the skid plate rather than extending through the slot 18. The trailing locking tab 142b could have the same construction as the front locking tab 142a, but preferably the rear locking tab is a protrusion formed from upsetting material from the slot 18a into a shape that fits in the slot 18 and engages the trailing end of the slot 18. The front locking tab 142a releasably holds the plate 120 to the skid plate 10, while the rear locking tab 142b prevents the plate 120 from moving rearward along longitudinal axis 64. Both locking tabs 142a, 142b cooperate to prevent lateral movement of the plate 120 relative to the skid plate 10. In use, the plate 120 is aligned with the skid plate 10 and the rear locking tab 142b is placed into and abutting the rear of slot 18 in the skid plate 10. The front locking tab 142a is then bent into the front of the slot 18 and the plate 120 is rotated so the front tab 142a passes through the slot 18 and the distal end 144 engages the upper surface of the skid plate. For removal, the distal end 144 is manually engaged with a user's finger and bent toward the distal end 14, to release the plate 120. Alternatively, the plate 120 could be manually pulled away from the skid plate 10 and thus manually overcome the retention force of the locking tab(s) 142 by pulling on the plate 120. The various embodiments of FIGS. 16-33 provide means for removably fastening a plate 120 to the skid plate 10, through the use of various fasteners 126, 140 and releasable mechanisms 136, 141, 142. The plate is preferably, but optionally shaped to conform to the shape of the bottom 24 of the skid plate, but the shape can vary. The leading end is preferably curved or inclined away from the concrete surface 24 (FIG. 1) to prevent marking the surface. The edges of the plate 120 are often square edges, but they could also be curved away from the concrete surface, and could form short flanges that engage any or all of the various sides, ends and edges defining the bottom surface 24 of the skid plate, to better position the plate 120 relative to the skid plate 10 and to help reduce marking of the concrete surface during cutting. The plate 120 can be injection molded of plastic, or bent into shape from sheet metal stock or coiled metal. Or the plate 120 could also be cast of metal, or formed of composites, or powdered metal or sintered metal, as could skid plate 10. The slot 18a can be formed in the plate 120, or cut into the plate by the first user of the plate shortly before cutting the concrete surface. The trailing slot 130 in plate 120 is preferably used with these various embodiments, but can be omitted. A further advantage of the skid plate is seen in FIGS. 4 and 6. The pistons 32 are located on opposite ends of the cutting blade and extend toward the concrete surface. During cutting these pistons 32 push against opposing ends of the skid plate. The distal ends of these pistons 32 are fastened to the skid plate at a location that is vertically offset from the plane of the concrete, in part because of size and space limitations. The mounting yokes 30, 34 are likewise vertically offset from the middle or support portion 16 of the skid plate. In the prior art these mounting portions overhung the middle support portion 16, and that caused bending of the middle portion 16. In the present skid plate, the front and rear ends of the skid plate advantageously extend to the concrete surface below the pistons 32 so the skid plate is interposed between the concrete surface and the mounts 32 to the saw. Further, the front and rear ends 12, 14 of the skid plate preferably abut the concrete below the pistons 32, so the force from the pistons can pass directly through the front and rear ends 12, 14 and onto the concrete in order to greatly reduce, and preferably eliminate the bending of the skid plate middle portion 16. The ends 12, 14 are preferably configured to be large enough that the weight of the saw pushing on the ends does not mark the concrete. By interposing the ends 12, 14 between the mounts to the saw and the concrete, the forces tending to bend and bow the middle portion 16 of the skid plate are significantly reduced. That reduction in bowing allows the use of less curvature in the skid plate to offset the bowing that occurs during use. By extending the ends 12, 14 in front or and behind each piston 32 a sufficient distance (depending on the mounting configuration), it is believed possible to effectively eliminate the bowing of the skid plate and thus remove the need to curve the skid plate to counteract any bowing. The configuration used to mount the skid plate to the saw, such as yokes 30, 34 allows variation in the location of the forces that tend to bend the skid plate. But by making the front end 12 extend in front or behind the piston 32 a distance sufficient to effectively remove a bending moment on the skid plate, the ability to use a segmented or partial length skid plate is enhanced. Most of the wear on the skid plate occurs at the leading end of the skid plate where the leading end of the up-cutting saw blade exits the concrete surface. A segmented skid plate having a front portion that extends past that up-cutting edge of the cutting blade but not the entire length of the blade can reduce raveling, and can allow replacement of that front segment more often at a lower cost than replacing an entire, full length skid plate. A rear segment of the skid plate can support the concrete at the trailing end of the blade, and need not be replaced as often as the front segment. While it is simpler to have the skid plate connect to the distal ends of pistons 32 and extend directly to the concrete surface directly below those distal ends, it is possible to cast the skid plate ends 12, 14 to form an inverted U shape that contacts the surface in front of and behind the location of the distal ends 32. A solid end 12, 14 is desired below the connections to the saw, such as yokes 30, 34, because it reduces the uncertainties of deformation of shaped parts. Referring to FIG. 5, a further embodiment is shown which uses a side mounting yoke 150 fastened to the skid plate 10. The side mounting yoke is shown with a flange extending toward the saw and fastened to the middle portion 14 of the skid plate 10. As shown, the mounting yoke 150 is braced to the front and rear portions 12, 14 of the skid plate. The side mounting yoke 150 can be mechanically or chemically (e.g., adhesives) fastened to at least one side of the skid plate 10, but is preferably molded or cast integrally with the skid plate. The side mounting yoke 150 preferably fastens to, and could form, one of the side ribs 72, 74 and extends away from the concrete surface 22 toward the saw. A hole 152 extends through the mounting yoke 150 so that a pinned connection can be used similar to that described in FIGS. 13-14. The description of that pinned connection is not repeated. The use of a centrally located mounting yoke requires locating a movable piston at the location of the mounting yoke, or extending a mounting support between front and rear pistons 32, 36 to connect to the side mounting yoke 150. The side mounting yoke 150 is preferably located slightly forward of the center of gravity of the skid plate 10 so that the skid plate rotates about an axis through the hole 152, with the rear end 14 downward, when the skid plate is not in contact with the concrete surface. That helps prevent the front 12 from digging into the concrete surface as the skid plate is lowered toward the concrete surface 22. Further, it is undesirable to locate the mounting yoke 150 so the hole 152 is in line with the rotational axis of the cutting blade 20 because of the drive shaft rotating that cutting blade and because of the access needed to fasten the blade to the drive shaft. Thus, the yoke 150 is offset forward of the drive shaft rotating the blade 20, or is offset forward of the rotational axis of the cutting blade 20. The side mounting yoke 150 allows the weight of the saw to be supported more toward the middle of the skid plate 10, and that reduces bowing of the ends 12, 14 relative to the concrete surface 22. A single side mounting yoke 150 could be used, or two side mounting yokes could be used, one on each opposing side rib 72, 74. If two side mounting yokes 150 are used, the second one is preferably, but optionally, a mirror image of the yoke 150 shown in FIG. 5. This allows a single piston to be used if only one side mounting portion 150 is used. Alternatively, two pistons, one on each side of the cutting blade 20 could be used, each pinned to a separate side mount 150 on opposing sides of the cutting blade. Locating the mounting yoke 150 to only one side of the slot 18 can cause twisting of the skid plate 10 about the single side mount and fastening the saw to two side mounts can cause twisting of the skid plate 10 about the slit 18. But the offset is relatively small (0.5-2 inches) and the skid plate is relatively stiff along the axis needed to oppose that bending, in order to minimize the effects of deformation from the side offset. The ability to eliminate the prior art truss used to curve the skid plate offers further advantages to the concrete saw. The truss extended generally parallel to the middle portion 16, but vertically offset toward the saw and away from the concrete. The presence of the truss limited the size of the flange which helps clamp or fasten the cutting blade 20 to a rotating arbor. By eliminating the truss the flange can be made larger and can extend closer to the middle portion 16 of the skid plate. This increased diameter support not only helps support the cutting segments of the blade 20 and make the blade more rigid, but it places a greater surface of the flange in contact with the metal core of the cutting blade and that increases conduction and helps keep the cutting blade cooler. A cooler cutting blade is useful because the metal core (over which the abrasive cutting segments are formed) can overheat and soften, leading to premature failure of blade or excessive wear of the cutting segments. The elimination of the truss by using the cast skid plate thus helps the blade 20 run cooler and presumably last longer, and it allows a stiffer support which typically means a straighter cut and less wobble of the blade 20. A concrete cutting blade with a mounting flange closer to the periphery than previously achievable is thus believed possible. During use the mounting flange comes close to hitting, but does not abut the skid plate, with the closeness being determined by the depth of cut of the groove 25 formed in the concrete. As required, detailed embodiments of the present invention are disclosed herein; however, it is to be understood that the disclosed embodiments are merely exemplary of the invention, which may be embodied in various forms. Therefore, specific structural and functional details disclosed herein are not to be interpreted as limiting, but merely as a basis for the claims and as a representative basis for teaching one skilled in the art to variously employ the present invention in virtually any appropriately detailed structure. The above description is given by way of example, and not limitation. Given the above disclosure, one skilled in the art could devise variations that are within the scope and spirit of the invention, including various ways of fastening the skid plate to the saw. Further, the various features of this invention can be used alone, or in varying combinations with each other and are not intended to be limited to the specific combination described herein. Thus, the invention is not to be limited by the illustrated embodiments but is to be defined by the following claims when read in the broadest reasonable manner to preserve the validity of the claims. | <SOH> BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION <EOH>Slotted skid plates are used with concrete saws to cut concrete before it is hardened to the green stage. This is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,769,201. But the concrete is very abrasive. Thus, the skid plates are made of steel to resist the wear from sliding over the concrete surface and to resist the wear from the abrasive concrete carried by the blade at the cutting edge and which widens the slot in the skid plate. The skid plates were made of sheet steel and bent to the desired shape. But the steel skid plates warp during manufacture and use and that causes raveling as the cut concrete grooves ravel unless the skid plates are flat against the concrete during cutting. There is thus a need for an improved skid plate that remains flat against the concrete after manufacture and during use. One patent addresses this problem of the non-flat skid plates by using a truss to warp the skid plate into a desired configuration, as described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,507,273. But adjusting the truss and fixing the truss to lock in the desire distortion is complex and time consuming. Indeed, it is so difficult that special equipment and methods are used, as described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,689,072. There is thus a need for a better way to achieve a flat skid plate during cutting. A less expensive way to make skid plates is also desirable. The skid plates are fastened to the saw by inserting pins through holes in the distal ends of spring loaded pistons The pistons resiliently urge the skid plate against the concrete surface during cutting. Because the alignment of the skid plate with the saw blade affects the quality of the groove cut in the concrete, the pins holding the skid plate to the saw have a very tight fit with the mating holes in the pistons. But removing the pins is difficult because the pins often freeze in place. The skid plates thus become difficult to remove and that encourages workers to leave them as long as possible, and often too long. Unfortunately, the skid plates wear, sometimes after as little as 1200 feet of cutting and the quality of the cut groove deteriorates with the wear. There is thus a need for a better way to fasten the skid plate to the saw and to make it easy to remove a used skid plate from the saw and to fasten a replacement skid plate to the saw. | <SOH> BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION <EOH>A cast skid plate for a concrete cutting saw is provided. The saw has a rotating blade with sides and rotating about a rotational axis to cut a groove in a concrete surface during use of the saw. The skid plate has an elongated support portion having a longitudinal slot therein sized to fit within about 1/8 inch or less of the sides of the concrete cutting blade during use of the skid plate. The elongated support is slightly bowed an amount selected to substantially counteract bowing of the skid plate that occurs when the elongated support is urged against the concrete surface during cutting of the concrete. The bow is cast into the skid plate. At least one saw mounting portion is provided, and is offset from the elongated support. The elongated support and at least one saw mounting portion are also integrally cast with the skid plate. Further variations of the cast skid plate cause the curvature of a bottom surface of the skid plate to extend beyond leading and trailing end portions of the skid plate by about 1/8 inch or less. The skid plate bows toward the concrete. Preferably there are two mounting portions forming a front and rear mounting portion, one each at an opposing end of the elongated support portion. Advantageously, but optionally, there is a front mounting portion having a front mounting yoke, and there is a rear mounting portion having a rear yoke. The elongated portion and at least one mounting portion are preferably cast of metal other than iron, preferably aluminum, but could be cast of a polymer or of a ferrous alloy. In a further variation the cast skid plate has two mounting portions, one of which comprises a slot extending along an axis toward and away from the elongated support portion and configured to receive a pin orientated generally parallel to the rotational axis. The other mounting portion comprises a slot that is generally parallel to the concrete surface during cutting. Preferably, but optionally, a snap lock or spring loaded clip holds a mating portion of the saw engaged in the vertical slot in order to provide for a quick-release connection with the skid plate. In a further variation the skid plate has a leading and trailing end and the leading end of the skid plate has an end that is angled relative to the longitudinal slot. Moreover, the leading end of the skid plate preferably has a V shaped configuration in the plane of the elongated portion with the point of the V oriented away from a trailing end and toward the leading end and that helps shove concrete debris from cutting out of the way of the skid plate so the debris is not run over by the skid plate. The skid plate preferably comprises a single part connected to the saw at opposing ends. But in a further embodiment the skid plate is formed by two separate segments each of which has a separate saw mount portion, and each of which has a slot therein which slot extends along a portion of the cutting blade during use of the saw. There is also advantageously provided a skid plate having two saw mounting portions on the skid plate and an elongated support portion which are integrally cast of metal. The saw mounting portions are offset from the support portion a predetermined distance. An elongated slot is either cut into the support portion or integrally cast with the support portion. The slot is sized relative to the cutting blade to support the concrete surface during cutting so cutting does not produce unacceptable raveling of the cut groove during use of the skid plate. The skid plate is preferably cast of non-ferrous metal, but an iron based metal could be used, as could polymers. The leading end of the skid plate preferably, but optionally also has an angled end forming a V with the apex of the V facing forward and in the same plane as the slot. The support portion is also preferably, but optionally curved about an axis generally parallel to the first axis by an amount selected to at least partially offset the deformation of the skid plate occurring when the saw urges the skid plate against the concrete surface during cutting. There is also provided a further skid plate having first means for mounting the skid plate to the concrete saw and second means for supporting the concrete surface during cutting. The first and second means are simultaneously and integrally cast. The first and second means are preferably formed of cast metal, and more preferably cast of a metal the dominant portion of which is other than iron. The first and second means could be cast of a polymer. The second means preferably, but optionally comprises a slot that is cut in the elongated portion after the elongated support skid plate and mounting portion are cast, but the second means could comprise a slot that is cast in the elongated portion. As with the prior embodiments, there is preferably an angled front end on the support portion. A further embodiment uses a replaceable plate that removably fastens to the skid plate and abuts the bottom of the skid plate. Various fastening mechanisms can be used, including snap locks that cooperate with the sides or flanges on the skid plate, threaded fasteners that engage the skid plate at various locations, resilient prongs that engage the edges around holes or slots in the skid plate, and adhesives. The mechanisms for fastening the plate to the skid plate restrain the plate and skid plate from longitudinal movement, and lateral movement, so that a slot in the plate aligns with the blade extending through the slot in the skid plate, in order to prevent raveling of the concrete surface during cutting. The slot can be formed in the plate, or cut by the blade. The slot can end internally to the plate, or can extend to a trailing edge of the plate. A partial slot or widened slot can be used at the trailing end of the plate in order to avoid having the plate trowel over the cut groove. | 20040831 | 20070116 | 20051208 | 93508.0 | 1 | OJINI, EZIAMARA ANTHONY | SKID PLATE FOR CONCRETE SAW | SMALL | 0 | ACCEPTED | 2,004 |
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10,931,585 | ACCEPTED | Automated sniffer apparatus and method for monitoring computer systems for unauthorized access | An apparatus for wireless communication including an automated intrusion detection process is provided. The apparatus has a portable housing, which may have a length no greater than 1 meter, a width no greater than 1 meter, and a height of no greater than 1 meter. A processing unit (e.g., CPU) is within the housing. One or more wireless network interface devices are within the housing and are coupled to the processing unit. The apparatus has an Ethernet (or like) network interface device within the housing and coupled to the processing unit. A network connector is coupled to the Ethernet network device. One or more memories are coupled to the processing unit. A code is directed to perform a process for detection of a wireless activity within a selected local geographic region. According to a specific embodiment, the wireless activity is derived from at least one authorized device or at least an other device. A code is directed to receiving at least identity information associated with the wireless activity from the detection process in a classification process. A code is directed to labeling the identity information into at least one of a plurality of categories in the classification process. Depending upon the embodiment, other codes may exist to carry out the functionality described herein. | 1. Apparatus for wireless communication including an automated intrusion detection process, the apparatus comprising: a portable housing, the housing having a length no greater than 1 meter, a width no greater than 1 meter, and a height of no greater than 1 meter; a processing unit within the housing; one or more wireless network interface devices within the housing and coupled to the processing unit; at least one Ethernet network interface device within the housing and coupled to the processing unit; at least one network connector coupled to the Ethernet network interface device; and one or more memories within the housing and coupled to the processing unit, the one or more memories including: a code directed to perform a process for detection of a wireless activity within a selected local geographic region, the wireless activity being derived from at least one authorized device or at least an other device; a code directed to receiving at least identity information associated with the wireless activity from the detection process in a classification process; and a code directed to labeling the identity information into at least one of a plurality of categories in the classification process. 2. The apparatus of claim 1 further comprising at least one indicator provided on the housing, the indicator being coupled to the processing device, the indicator being able to output one or more indications based upon at least the identity information. 3. The apparatus of claim 2 further comprising a code directed to transferring an indication associated with the identify information to a prevention process, the code being in one or more of the memories. 4. The apparatus of claim 3 further comprising a code directed to performing the prevention process. 5. A wireless sniffer apparatus including an automated intrusion detection process, the apparatus comprising: a housing, the housing having a length no greater than a first dimension, a width no greater than a second dimension, and a height of no greater than a third dimension; a processing unit within the housing; one or more wireless network interface devices within the housing and coupled to the processing unit; one or more antennas coupled to the one or more wireless network interface devices, the one or more antennas being adapted to protrude outside of a portion of the housing or being adapted to be completely within the housing or a portion of the one or more antennas are within the housing and a portion of the one or more antennas are outside of the housing; at least one Ethernet network interface device within the housing and coupled to the processing unit; at least one network connector coupled to the Ethernet network interface device; and one or more memories within the housing and coupled to the processing unit, the one or more memories including: a code directed to perform a process for detection of a wireless activity within a selected local geographic region, the wireless activity being derived from at least one authorized device or at least an other device; a code directed to receiving at least identity information associated with the wireless activity from the detection process in a classification process; and a code directed to labeling the identity information into at least one of a plurality of categories in the classification process; and a code directed to testing connectivity of at least the other device associated with the detected wireless activity to a local area network within the selected local geographic region; a first output indication coupled to the housing, the first output indication being associated with a first device type; and a second output indication coupled to the housing, the second output indication being associated with a second device type. 6. Apparatus of claim 5 further comprising a third output indication coupled to the housing, the third output indication being associated with a third device type. 7. Apparatus of claim 5 wherein the processor having a clock speed of more than 10 MHz. 8. Apparatus of claim 5 wherein the one or more memories comprises at least a 8 Megabit Flash Memory. 9. Apparatus of claim 5 wherein the one or more memories comprises at least a 16 Megabit DRAM device. 10. Apparatus of claim 5 wherein the processing unit is operable with a Linux operating system or a real time operating system. 11. Apparatus of claim 5 wherein the first dimension is less than 40 centimeters, the second dimension is less than 25 centimeters, and the third dimension is less than 10 centimeters. 12. Apparatus of claim 5 wherein the one or more wireless interface devices comprise a first wireless interface device and a second wireless interface device, whereupon the first wireless device and the second wireless device are operable during a predetermined portion of time, each of the first wireless device and the second wireless device being under control of a software. 13. Apparatus of claim 5 wherein the housing is free from a hard disk drive unit. 14. Apparatus of claim 5 wherein the housing is free from any PC type keyboard interface device. 15. Apparatus of claim 5 wherein the sniffer is characterized as a sensor and is operable in a standalone manner. 16. A method for installing one or more security devices over a selected local geographic region, the method comprising: providing a wireless sniffer apparatus including an automated intrusion detection process, the apparatus comprising: a housing, the housing having a length no greater than a first dimension of about 40 centimeters, a width no greater than a second dimension of about 25 centimeters, and a height of no greater than a third dimension of about 10 centimeters; a processing unit within the housing; one or more wireless network interface devices within the housing and coupled to the processing unit; one or more antennas coupled the wireless network interface devices, the one or more antennas being adapted to protrude outside of a portion of the housing or being adapted to be completely within the housing or a portion of the one or more antennas are within the housing and a portion of the one or more antennas are outside of the housing; at least one Ethernet network interface device within the housing and coupled to the processing unit; at least one network connector coupled to the Ethernet network device; and one or more memories within the housing and coupled to the processing unit, the one or more memories including: a code directed to perform a process for detection of a wireless activity within a selected local geographic region, the wireless activity being derived from at least one authorized device or at least an other device; a code directed to receiving at least identity information associated with the wireless activity from the detection process in a classification process; a code directed to labeling the identity information into at least one of a plurality of categories in the classification process; and a code directed to testing connectivity of at least the other device associated with the detected wireless activity to a local area network within the selected location geographic region; a first output indication coupled to the housing, the first output indication being associated with a first device type; and a second output indication coupled to the housing, the second output indication being associated with a second device type; connecting the network connector to the local area network; executing at least a portion of the code directed to testing connectivity of at least the other device associated with the detected wireless activity to the local area network; and outputting either the first output indication or the second output indication based upon the detected wireless activity. 17. The method of claim 16 wherein the first output indication and the second output indication comprise respectively a first visual indication and a second visual indication. 18. The method of claim 16 wherein the first output indication and the second output indication comprise respectively a first audio indication and a second audio indication. 19. The method of claim 1 wherein the first device type is associated with a no active device detected state, the second device type is associated with at least one active device detected state; and further comprising outputting a third output indication associated with a third device type, the third device type being associated with an all authorized device state and/or outputting a fourth output indication associated with a fourth device type, the fourth device type being associated with an unauthorized device state and/or outputting a fifth output device indication associated with a fifth device type, the fifth device type being associated with an unauthorized device state actively communicating. 20. Apparatus for sniffing wireless communication including an automated intrusion detection process, the sniffer apparatus comprising: a movable housing, the housing having a length, a width, and a height; a processing unit within the housing; one or more wireless network interface devices within the housing and coupled to the processing unit; at least one Ethernet network interface device within the housing and coupled to the processing unit; at least one network connector coupled to the Ethernet network interface device; and one or more memories within the housing and coupled to the processing unit: wherein the processing unit adapted to direct a process for detection of a wireless activity within a selected local geographic region, the wireless activity being derived from at least one authorized device or at least an other device; wherein the processing unit adapted to receive at least identity information associated with the wireless activity from the detection process in a classification process; and wherein the processing unit adapted to label the identity information into at least one of a plurality of categories in the classification process. | CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS This present application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/543,632, titled “An Automated Method and an RF Sensor System for Wireless Unauthorized Transmission, Intrusion Detection and Prevention,” filed Feb. 10, 2004, commonly assigned, and hereby incorporated by reference for all purposes. This present application is also related to U.S. Ser. No. ______ (Attorney Docket Number 022384-000610US ______) filed on the same date, commonly assigned, and hereby incorporated by reference for all purposes, which claims priority to U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/543,632, titled “An Automated Method and an RF Sensor System for Wireless Unauthorized Transmission, Intrusion Detection and Prevention,” filed Feb. 10, 2004, commonly assigned, and hereby incorporated by reference for all purposes. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates generally to wireless computer networking techniques. More particularly, the invention provides a sniffer apparatus and method for providing intrusion detection for local area wireless networks according to a specific embodiment. Merely by way of example, the invention has been applied to a computer networking environment based upon the IEEE 802.11 family of standards, commonly called “WiFi.” But it would be recognized that the invention has a much broader range of applicability. For example, the invention can be applied to Ultra Wide Band (“UWB”), IEEE 802.16 commonly known as “WiMAX”, Bluetooth, and others. Computer systems proliferated from academic and specialized science applications to day to day business, commerce, information distribution and home applications. Such systems include personal computers, which are often called “PCs” for short, to large mainframe and server class computers. Powerful mainframe and server class computers run specialized applications for banks, small and large companies, e-commerce vendors and governments. Smaller personal computers can be found in many if not all offices, homes, and even local coffee shops. These computers interconnect with each other through computer communication networks based on packet switching technology such as the Internet protocol or IP. The computer systems located within a specific local geographic area such as office, home or other indoor and outdoor premises interconnect using a Local Area Network, commonly called, LAN. Ethernet is by far the most popular networking technology for LANs. The LANs interconnect with each other using a Wide Area Network called “WAN” such as the famous Internet. Although much progress occurred with computers and networking, we now face a variety of security threats on many computing environments from the hackers connected to the computer network. The application of wireless communication to computer networking further accentuates these threats. As merely an example, the conventional LAN is usually deployed using an Ethernet based infrastructure comprising cables, hubs switches, and other elements. A number of connection ports (e.g., Ethernet ports) are used to couple various computer systems to the LAN. A user can connect to the LAN by physically attaching a computing device such as laptop, desktop or handheld computer to one of the connection ports using physical wires or cables. Other computer systems such as database computers, server computers, routers and Internet gateways also connect to the LAN to provide specific functionalities and services. Once physically connected to the LAN, the user often accesses a variety of services such as file transfer, remote login, email, WWW, database access, and voice over IP. Security of the LAN often occurs by controlling access to the physical space where the LAN connection ports reside. Although conventional wired networks using Ethernet technology proliferated, wireless communication technologies are increasing in popularity. That is, wireless communication technologies wirelessly connect users to the computer communication networks. A typical application of these technologies provides wireless access to the local area network in the office, home, public hot-spots, and other geographical locations. As merely an example, the IEEE 802.11 family of standards, commonly called WiFi, is the common standard for such wireless application. Among WiFi, the 802.11b standard-based WiFi often operates at 2.4 GHz unlicensed radio frequency spectrum and offers wireless connectivity at speeds up to 11 Mbps. The 802.11g compliant WiFi offers even faster connectivity at about 54 Mbps and operates at 2.4 GHz unlicensed radio frequency spectrum. The 802.11a provides speeds up to 54 Mbps operating in the 5 GHz unlicensed radio frequency spectrum. The WiFi enables a quick and effective way of providing wireless extension to the existing LAN. In order to provide wireless extension of the LAN using WiFi, one or more WiFi access points (APs) connect to the LAN connection ports either directly or through intermediate equipment such as WiFi switch. A user now wirelessly connects to the LAN using a device equipped with WiFi radio, commonly called wireless station, that communicates with the AP. The connection is free from cable and other physical encumbrances and allows the user to “Surf the Web” or check e-mail in an easy and efficient manner. Unfortunately, certain limitations still exist with WiFi. That is, the radio waves often cannot be contained in the physical space bounded by physical structures such as the walls of a building. Hence, wireless signals often spill outside the area of interest. Unauthorized users can wirelessly connect to the AP and hence gain access to the LAN from the spillage areas such as the street, parking lot, and neighbor's premises. Consequently, the conventional security measure of controlling access to the physical space where the LAN connection ports are located is now inadequate. In order to prevent unauthorized access to the LAN over WiFi, the AP implements one or more of a variety of techniques. For example, the user is required to carry out authentication handshake with the AP (or a WiFi switch that resides between the AP and the existing LAN) before being able to connect to the LAN. Examples of such handshake are Wireless Equivalent Privacy (WEP) based shared key authentication, 802.1x based port access control, 802.11i based authentication. The AP can provide additional security measures such as encryption, firewall. Other techniques also exist to enhance security of the LAN over WiFi. Despite these measures, many limitations still exist. As merely an example, a threat of an unauthorized AP being connected to the LAN often remains with the LANs. The unauthorized AP creates a security vulnerability. The unauthorized AP allows wireless intruders to connect to the LAN through itself. That is, the intruder accesses the LAN and any proprietary information on computers and servers on the LAN without the knowledge of the owner of the LAN. Soft APs, ad hoc networks, and misconfigured APs connected to the LAN also pose similar threats. Appropriate security mechanisms are thus needed to protect the LAN resources from wireless intruders. Accordingly, techniques for improving security for local area network environments are highly desirable. BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION According to the present invention, techniques directed to wireless computer networking are provided. More particularly, the invention provides a sniffer apparatus and method for providing intrusion detection for local area wireless networks according to a specific embodiment. Merely by way of example, the invention has been applied to a computer networking environment based upon the IEEE 802.11 family of standards, commonly called “WiFi.” But it would be recognized that the invention has a much broader range of applicability. For example, the invention can be applied to UWB, WiMAX (802.16), Bluetooth, and others. In a specific embodiment, the present invention provides an apparatus for wireless communication including an automated intrusion detection process. The apparatus has a portable housing, which may have a length no greater than 1 meter, a width no greater than 1 meter, and a height of no greater than 1 meter. A processing unit (e.g., CPU) is within the housing. One or more wireless network interface devices are within the housing and are coupled to the processing unit. The apparatus has an Ethernet (or like) network interface device within the housing and coupled to the processing unit. A network connector (e.g., RJ-45 socket) is coupled to the Ethernet network device. One or more memories are coupled to the processing unit. A code is directed to perform a process for detection of a wireless activity within a selected local geographic region. According to a specific embodiment, the wireless activity is derived from at least one authorized device or at least an other device. A code is directed to receiving at least identity information associated with the wireless activity from the detection process in a classification process. A code is directed to labeling the identity information into at least one of a plurality of categories in the classification process. Depending upon the embodiment, other codes may exist to carry out the functionality described herein. In an alternative specific embodiment, the invention provides wireless sniffer apparatus including an automated intrusion detection process. The apparatus has housing, which is characterized by a length no greater than a first dimension, a width no greater than a second dimension, and a height of no greater than a third dimension. The apparatus has a processing unit within the housing and one or more wireless network interface devices within the housing and coupled to the processing unit. The apparatus has one or more antennas coupled to the one or more wireless network interface devices. Depending upon the embodiment, the one or more antennas are adapted to protrude outside of a portion of the housing or be within the housing or any combination of these. The apparatus has at least one Ethernet network interface device within the housing and coupled to the processing unit and a least one network connector (e.g., RJ-45 socket) coupled to the Ethernet network device. One or more memories are coupled to the processing unit. A code is directed to perform a process for detection of a wireless activity within a selected local geographic region. According to a specific embodiment, the wireless activity is derived from at least one authorized device or at least an other device. A code is directed to receiving at least identity information associated with the wireless activity from the detection process in a classification process. A code is directed to labeling the identity information into at least one of a plurality of categories in the classification process. The apparatus also has a code directed to testing connectivity of at least the other device associated with the detected wireless activity to a local area network within the selected local geographic region. A first output indication (e.g., light, speaker) is on the housing. The first output indication is associated with the authorized device. A second output indication (e.g., light, speaker) is on the housing. Preferably, the second output indication is associated with the other device. In yet an alternative specific embodiment, the present invention provides a method for installing one or more security devices over a selected local geographic region. The method includes providing a wireless sniffer apparatus including an automated intrusion detection process, such as those described herein. The method includes connecting the network connector of the sniffer apparatus to the local area network (e.g., using Ethernet cable). The method includes executing computer codes directed to testing connectivity of at least an other device associated with the detected wireless activity to the local area network and outputting either the first output indication or the second output indication based upon the detected wireless activity. Still further, in an alternative embodiment, the invention provides an apparatus for sniffing wireless communication including an automated intrusion detection process. The apparatus has a movable housing, which has a length, a width, and a height. Preferably, the housing is enclosed and portable. The apparatus has a processing unit within the housing and is preferably enclosed. The apparatus also has one or more wireless network interface devices within the housing and coupled to the processing unit. At least one Ethernet network interface device is within the housing and coupled to the processing unit. At least one network connector is coupled to the Ethernet network interface device and one or more memories is within the housing and coupled to the processing unit. The processing unit is adapted to direct a process for detection of a wireless activity within a selected local geographic region. The wireless activity is derived from at least one authorized device or at least an other device. The processing unit is adapted to receive at least identity information associated with the wireless activity from the detection process in a classification process. The processing unit is also adapted to label the identity information into at least one of a plurality of categories in the classification process. Other functions described herein may also be performed via the processing unit. Certain advantages and/or benefits may be achieved using the present invention. For example, the present technique provides an easy to use process that relies upon conventional computer hardware and software technologies. In some embodiments, the method and system are fully automated and can be used to prevent unauthorized wireless access of local area computer networks. The automated operation minimizes the human effort required during the system operation and improves the system response time and accuracy. In some embodiments, the method and system advantageously reduce or eliminate the false positives on intrusion events thereby eliminating the nuisance factor during the system operation. This is because the technique of the invention intelligently distinguishes between unauthorized APs and external APs, the latter usually being the source of false positives. According to specific embodiment, the invention provides for standalone appliance implementation of intrusion detection system thereby providing intrusion detection solution at a low cost and at a low or no other network management infrastructure requirement. This is particularly advantageous for smaller network installations such as those in small offices, coffee shops, house, apartment, etc. Additionally, the invention is compatible with conventional wireless and wired networking technologies without substantial modifications to conventional equipment and processes according to a specific embodiment. Depending upon the embodiment, one or more of these benefits may be achieved. These and other benefits will be described in more throughout the present specification and more particularly below. Other features and advantages of the invention will become apparent through the following detailed description, the drawings, and the claims. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 shows a simplified LAN architecture that supports wireless intrusion detection according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 1A illustrates a simplified flow diagram of an intrusion detection method according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 1B is a simplified illustration of a sniffer apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 1C is a simplified flow diagram illustrating a method for installing the sniffer apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 shows a simplified logical flow of steps according to a method of an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3 shows a simplified logical flow of steps for maintaining the list of active APs according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 4 shows a simplified logical flow of steps in an embodiment of the LAN connectivity test according to the present invention. FIG. 5 shows a simplified logical flow of steps in another embodiment of the LAN connectivity test according to the present invention. FIG. 6 shows a simplified logical flow of steps in another embodiment of the LAN connectivity test according to the present invention. FIG. 7 is a simplified system diagram according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 8 is a simplified system diagram according to an alternative embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 9 is a simplified system diagram of a standalone implementation according to an embodiment of the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION According to the present invention, techniques for wireless computer networking are provided. More particularly, the invention provides a sniffer apparatus and method for providing intrusion detection for local area wireless networks according to a specific embodiment. Merely by way of example, the invention has been applied to a computer networking environment based upon the IEEE 802.11 family of standards, commonly called “WiFi.” But it would be recognized that the invention has a much broader range of applicability. For example, the invention can be applied to UWB, WiMAX (802.16), Bluetooth, and others. FIG. 1 shows the LAN architecture that supports the intrusion detection according to one embodiment of the invention. This diagram is merely an example, which should not unduly limit the scope of the claims herein. One of ordinary skill in the art would recognize other variations, modifications, and alternatives. As shown in FIG. 1, the core transmission infrastructure 102 for the LAN 101 comprises of Ethernet cables, hubs and switches. Other devices may also be included. Plurality of connection ports (e.g., Ethernet ports) are provided for the various computer systems to be able to connect to the LAN. One or more end user devices 103 such as desktop computers, notebook computers, telemetry sensors etc. are connected to the LAN 101 via one or more connection ports 104 using wires (Ethernet cable) or other suitable devices. Other computer systems that provide specific functionalities and services are also connected to the LAN. For example, one or more database computers 105 may be connected to the LAN via one or more connection ports 108. Examples of information stored in database computers include customer accounts, inventory, employee accounts, financial information, etc. One or more server computers 106 may be connected to the LAN via one or more connection ports 109. Examples of services provided by server computers include database access, email storage, HTTP proxy service, DHCP service, SIP service, authentication, network management, etc. The router 107 is connected to the LAN via connection port 110 and it acts as a gateway between the LAN 101 and the Internet 111. The firewall/VPN gateway 112 protects computers in the LAN against hacking attacks from the Internet 111. It may additionally also enable remote secure access to the LAN. WiFi is used to provide wireless extension of the LAN. For this, one or more authorized WiFi APs 113A, 113B are connected to the LAN via WiFi switch 114. The WiFi switch is connected to the LAN connection port 115. The WiFi switch enables offloading from APs some of the complex procedures for authentication, encryption, QoS, mobility, etc., and also provides centralized management functionality for APs, making overall WiFi system scalable for large scale deployments. The WiFi switch may also provide additional functionalities such as firewall. One or more authorized WiFi AP 116 may also be directly connected to the LAN connection port 117. In this case AP 116 may itself perform necessary security procedures such as authentication, encryption, firewall, etc. One or more end user devices 118 such as desktop computers, laptop computers, PDAs equipped with WiFi radio can now wirelessly connect to the LAN via authorized APs 113A, 113B and 116. Although WiFi has been provided according to the present embodiment, there can also be other types of wireless network formats such as UWB, WiMax, Bluetooth, and others. One or more unauthorized APs can be connected to the LAN. The figure shows unauthorized AP 119 connected to the LAN connection port 120. The unauthorized AP may not employ the right security policies. Also traffic through this AP may bypass security policy enforcing elements such as WiFi switch 114 or firewall/VPN gateway 112. The AP 119 thus poses a security threat as intruders such as wireless station 126 can connect to the LAN and launch variety of attacks through this AP. According to a specific embodiment, the unauthorized AP can be a rogue AP, a misconfigured AP, a soft AP, and the like. A rougue AP can be a commodity AP such as the one available openly in the market that is brought in by the person having physical access to the facility and connected to the LAN via the LAN connection port without the permission of the network administrator. A misconfigured AP can be the AP otherwise allowed by the network administrator, but whose security parameters are, usually inadvertently, incorrectly configured. Such an AP can thus allow wireless intruders to connect to it. Soft AP is usually a “WiFi” enabled computer system connected to the LAN connection port that also functions as an AP under the control of software. The software is either deliberately run on the computer system or inadvertently in the form of a virus program. The figure also shows neighbor's AP 121 whose radio coverage spills into the area covered by LAN. The AP 121 is however not connected to the concerned LAN 101 and is harmless from the intrusion standpoint. According to a specific embodiment, the neighbor's AP can be an AP in the neighboring office, an AP is the laboratory not connected to the concerned LAN but used for standalone development and/or experimentation, an AP on the street providing free “WiFi” access to passersby and other APs, which co-exist with the LAN and share the airspace without any significant and/or harmful interferences. A WiFi AP delivers data packets between the wired LAN and the wireless transmission medium. Typically, the AP performs this function either by acting as a layer 2 bridge or as a network address translator (NAT). The layer 2 bridge type AP simply transmits the Ethernet packet received on its wired interface to the wireless link after translating it to 802.11 style packet and vice versa. The NAT AP on the other hand acts as a layer 3 (IP) router that routes IP packets received on its wired interface to the stations connected to its wireless interface and vice versa. The wired side and wireless side interfaces of the NAT AP thus usually reside on different subnets. The intrusion detection system according to the present invention is provided to protect the LAN 101 from unauthorized APs and/or wireless intruders. The system involves one or more sensor devices 122A, 122B (i.e., sniffers) placed throughout a geographic region or a portion of geographic region including the connection points to the LAN 101. The sniffer is able to monitor the wireless activity in the selected geographic region. For example, the sniffer listens to the radio channel and capture packets being transmitted on the channel. The sniffer cycles through the radio channels on which wireless communication can take place. On each radio channel, it waits and listens for any ongoing transmission. In one embodiment, the sniffer is able operate on plurality of radio channels simultaneously. Whenever transmission is detected, the relevant information about that transmission is collected and recorded. This information comprises of all or a subset of information that can be gathered from various fields in the captured packet such as 802.11 MAC (medium access control) header, 802.2 LLC (i.e., logical link control) header, IP header, transport protocol (e.g., TCP, UDP, HTTP, RTP etc.) headers, packet size, packet payload and other fields. Receive signal strength (i.e., RSSI) may also be recorded. Other information such as the day and the time of the day when said transmission was detected may also be recorded. According to a specific embodiment, the sniffer device can be any suitable receiving/transmitting device capable of detecting wireless activity. As merely an example, the sniffer often has a smaller form factor. The sniffer device has a processor, a flash memory (where the software code for sniffer functionality resides), a RAM, two 802.11a/b/g wireless network interface cards (NICs), one Ethernet port (with optional power over Ethernet or POE), a serial port, a power input port, a pair of dual-band (2.4 GHz and 5 GHz) antennas, and at least one status indicator light emitting diode. The sniffer can be built using the hardware platform similar to one used to built wireless access point, although functionality and software will be different for a sniffer device. Of course, one of ordinary skill in the art would recognize other variations, modifications, and alternatives. Further details of the sniffers are provided throughout the present specification and more particularly below. One or more sniffers 122A and 122B may also be provided with radio transmit interface which is useful to perform intrusion prevention procedures, i.e., to perform preventive action against detected intrusion. In one specific embodiment, the sniffer is a dual slot device which has two wireless NICs. These NICs can be used in a variety of combinations, for example both for monitoring, both form transmitting, one for monitoring and the other for transmitting etc., under the control of software. In another specific embodiment, the sniffer has only one wireless NIC. The same NIC is shared in a time division multiplexed fashion to carry out monitoring as well as defense against intrusion. The radio transmit interface of the sniffer is also used to perform certain other transmission procedures according to some embodiments of the method of invention, for example transmission of market packet in some embodiments of the LAN connectivity test, transmission of active probe packets, and the like. Each sniffer also has Ethernet NIC using which it is connected to the connection port 123 of the LAN. The sniffers can be spatially disposed at appropriate locations in the geographic area to be monitored for intrusion by using one or more of heuristics, strategy and calculated guess. Alternatively, a more systematic approach using an RF (radio frequency) planning tool is used to determine physical locations where said sniffers need to be deployed according to an alternative embodiment of the present invention. In a specific embodiment, the sniffer device captures wireless activity. Such wireless activity includes, among others, transmission of control, management or data packet between an AP and a wireless station or among wireless stations, and communication for establishing wireless connection between an AP and a wireless station often called association. Depending upon the embodiment, the invention also provides certain methods for monitoring wireless activity in selected geographic regions. According to a specific embodiment, the present invention provides a method for monitoring a wireless communication space (e.g., office space, home, apartments, government buildings, warehouses, hot-spots, commercial facilities etc.) occupied by one or more computer networks which may be outlined as follows. 1. Provide a geographic region; 2. Operate a local area network in a selected portion of the geographic region; 3. Monitor a selected local geographic region in the geographic region using one or more sniffer devices; 4. Detect a wireless activity from at least one authorized device, at least one unauthorized device, or at least one external device, within the selected local geographic region using at least one of the sniffer devices from the one or more sniffer devices; 5. Receive at least identity information (e.g., source information, destination information, MAC address) associated with the wireless activity in a classification process; 6. Label the identity information into at least one of a plurality of categories; 7. Transfer an indication associated with the identify information to a prevention process; and 8. Perform other steps, as desired. The above sequence of steps provides methods according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown, the method uses a combination of steps including a way of detecting for an intrusion using wireless computer networks. In preferred embodiments, the present invention also includes an automated method for transferring an indication of an intrusion to a prevention process, which would preferably stop the intruding device before any security problems or the like. Many other methods and system are also included. Of course, other alternatives can also be provided where steps are added, one or more steps are removed, or one or more steps are provided in a different sequence without departing from the scope of the claims herein. Additionally, the various methods can be implemented using a computer code or codes in software, firmware, hardware, or any combination of these. Depending upon the embodiment, there can be other variations, modifications, and alternatives. Further details of the present method can be found throughout the present specification and more particularly below. FIG. 1A illustrates a simplified flow diagram of an intrusion detection method according to an embodiment of the present invention. This diagram is merely an example, which should not unduly limit the scope of the claims herein. One of ordinary skill in the art would recognize other variations, modifications, and alternatives. As shown, the present invention provides a method for monitoring a wireless communication space (e.g., office space, home, apartments, government buildings, warehouses, hot-spots, commercial facilities etc.) occupied by one or more computer networks, e.g., wired, wireless. As shown, the method includes providing a geographic region, step 1. According to a specific embodiment, the geographic region can be within a building, outside of a building, or a combination of these. As an example, the region can be provided in an office space, home, apartments, government buildings, warehouses, hot-spots, commercial facilities, etc. The method includes operating a local area network in a selected portion of the geographic region. The local area network (step 2) is commonly an Ethernet based network for private use and may be for public use or any combination of these. In a specific embodiment, the method monitors (step 3) a selected local geographic region in the geographic region using one or more sniffer devices. The method includes detecting (step 4) a wireless activity from at least one authorized device, at least one unauthorized device, or at least one external device, within the selected local geographic region using at least one of the sniffer devices from the one or more sniffer devices. Preferably, the unauthorized device is one that is physically connected to the network but does not belong to the network. That is, the unauthorized device has intruded the network according to preferred embodiments. The method includes receiving (step 5) at least identity information (e.g., source information, destination information, MAC address) associated with the wireless activity in a classification process. The method also includes labeling (step 6) the identity information into at least one of a plurality of categories, e.g., authorized, not authorized, external, connected, not connected, and any combination of these. Of course, one of ordinary skill in the art would recognize variations, modifications, and alternatives. According to a specific embodiment, the method transfers (step 7) an indication associated with the identify information to a prevention process. As merely an example, once the unauthorized access point has been detected, the method sends an indication of the unauthorized access point to the prevention process. Preferably, the indication is sent almost immediately or before the transmission of one or few more packets by intruders, which is virtually instantaneously. Depending upon the embodiment, the method sends the indication via an inter process signal between various processes, which can be provided in computer codes. Alternatively, the method performs a selected function within the same process code to implement the prevention process. Certain details of the prevention process can be found throughout the present specification and more particularly below. Depending upon the embodiment, the method can perform other steps, as desired. The above sequence of steps provides methods according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown, the method uses a combination of steps including a way of detecting for an intrusion using wireless computer networks. In preferred embodiments, the present invention also includes an automated method for transferring an indication of an intrusion to a prevention process, which would preferably stop the intruding device before any security problems or the like. Many other methods and system are also included. Of course, other alternatives can also be provided where steps are added, one or more steps are removed, or one or more steps are provided in a different sequence without departing from the scope of the claims herein. Additionally, the various methods can be implemented using a computer code or codes in software, firmware, hardware, or any combination of these. Depending upon the embodiment, there can be other variations, modifications, and alternatives. FIG. 1B is a simplified illustration of a sniffer apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. This diagram is merely an illustration, which should not unduly limit the scope of the claims herein. One of ordinary skill in the art would recognize many variations, modifications, and alternatives. As shown, the invention provides a wireless sniffer apparatus including an automated intrusion detection process. The apparatus has housing 11, which is characterized by a length no greater than a first dimension, a width no greater than a second dimension, and a height of no greater than a third dimension. Preferably, the housing has a length no greater than a first dimension of about 40 centimeters, a width no greater than a second dimension of about 25 centimeters, and a height of no greater than a third dimension of about 10 centimeters. The housing may be made of metal or plastic, which is suitable in strength and durable. The housing encloses circuitry including chips, memory devices, wireless and wired network interface devices etc., which will be described in more detail below. In a specific embodiment, the apparatus has a processing unit (e.g., operable at a clock speed of more than 10 MHz) within the housing and one or more wireless network interface devices (e.g., transmitter/receiver) within the housing and coupled to the processing unit. The apparatus has one or more antennas 12 coupled to the one or more wireless network interface devices. Depending upon the embodiment, the one or more antennas are adapted to protrude outside of a portion of the housing or be within the housing or any combination of these. The apparatus has at least one Ethernet network interface device (or other like device) within the housing and coupled to the processing unit and a least one network connector 13 (e.g., RJ-45 socket) coupled to the Ethernet network device. One or more memories (e.g., ROM, Flash, DRAM) are coupled to the processing unit. A code is directed to perform a process for detection of a wireless activity within a selected local geographic region. According to a specific embodiment, the wireless activity is derived from at least one authorized device or at least an other device. A code is directed to receiving at least identity information associated with the wireless activity from the detection process in a classification process. A code is directed to labeling the identity information into at least one of a plurality of categories in the classification process. The apparatus also has a code directed to testing connectivity of at least the other device associated with the detected wireless activity to a local area network within the selected local geographic region. A first output indication (e.g., light, speaker) is on the housing. The first output indication is associated with the authorized device. A second output indication (e.g., light, speaker) is on the housing. Preferably, the second output indication is associated with the other device. In a specific preferred embodiment, the visual output indications are provided using one or more of light emitting diodes or LEDs 14A-14E provided on the housing. The apparatus also has serial (e.g., RS-232) connector 15 and power input point 16. Further details of the hardware and software functionality can be found throughout the present specification and more particularly below. Preferably, the sniffer device is easy to install on a given geographic region, as illustrated by the simplified diagram of FIG. 1C. Here, the method provides a method for installing one or more security devices over a selected local geographic region. As shown in step 21, the method includes providing a wireless sniffer apparatus including an automated intrusion detection process, such as those described herein. The method includes connecting the network connector of the sniffer apparatus to the local area network, step 22. The method includes executing computer codes directed to testing connectivity of at least an other device associated with the detected wireless activity to the local area network as shown in step 23 and outputting either the first output indication or the second output indication based upon the detected wireless activity as shown in step 24. Further details of various methods being carried out in the sniffer apparatus including a block diagram can be found throughout the present specification and more particularly below. FIG. 2 shows the logical flow of steps for wireless intrusion detection according to the method of the invention. This diagram is merely an example, which should not unduly limit the scope of the claims herein. One of ordinary skill in the art would recognize other variations, modifications, and alternatives. As shown, the first step 201 is to maintain the list of active APs called the Active_AP_List. An active AP is defined as the AP that was recently involved in the wireless transmission as the sender or the receiver. An active AP can be detected by analyzing the wireless transmission on the radio channel captured by the sniffer. For example, every AP in the WiFi network periodically transmits a beacon packet for the client wireless stations to be able to connect to it. The beacon packet contains information such as clock synchronization data, AP's MAC address (BSSID), supported data rates, service set identifiers (SSIDs), parameters for the contention and contention-free access to the wireless medium, capabilities as regards QoS, security policy, etc. In one embodiment, detection of beacon packet transmission from an AP is used to identify said AP to be an active AP. Beacon packet can be recognized from the type and subtype fields in the 802.11 MAC header of the beacon packet. In alternate embodiments, active AP can also be detected when any other wireless transmission (data, control or management packet) directed to or generating from it is observed by the sniffer. Whenever an active AP is detected, it is added to the Active_AP_List. If the Active_AP_List already contains entry for said AP, the corresponding entry is refreshed. Associated with each entry in the Active_AP_List are a short timeout and a long timeout values. After a short timeout, the corresponding entry is marked “inactive” and after a long timeout it is marked “historic”. The logical flow of steps for maintaining the Active_AP_List is shown in FIG. 3. This diagram is merely an example, which should not unduly limit the scope of the claims herein. One of ordinary skill in the art would recognize other variations, modifications, and alternatives. The second step 202 is to classify the APs in Active_AP_List into at least three categories, namely “authorized”, “unauthorized” and “external”. The authorized APs are defined to be the APs which are allowed to be connected to the LAN by the network administrator. The unauthorized APs are defined to be the APs that are not allowed to be connected to the LAN, but are still connected to the LAN. The unauthorized APs pose a security threat. The external APs are defined to be the APs whose active presence can be detected by the sniffers but they are not connected to the LAN. For example, these can be neighbor's APs whose radio coverage spills into the physical space of interest. The external APs do not pose a security threat. One or more tests are performed to classify APs in the Active_AP_List into these categories. The third step 203 is intrusion detection. When an unauthorized AP is detected, intrusion alert is generated. Whenever any wireless station attempting connection to or connected to unauthorized AP is detected, intrusion alert is generated. Once the intrusion alert is generated, the method sends an indication of the AP and/or intruding wireless station to a prevention process. Preferably, the indication is sent almost immediately or before the transmission of one or few more packets by intruders. Depending upon the embodiment, the method sends the indication via an inter process signal between various processes, which can be provided in computer codes. Alternatively, the method performs a selected function within the same process code to implement the prevention process. Further details of the prevention process can be found throughout the present specification and more particularly below. The fourth step 204 is intrusion prevention wherein subsequent to intrusion alert; action is taken to disable or disrupt any communication between unauthorized AP and intruding wireless station. One embodiment of this step works by preventing or breaking the “association” between unauthorized AP and intruding wireless station. Association is the procedure defined in 802.11 standard wherein the wireless station and the AP establish a wireless connection between them. Techniques for preventing or breaking the association include but are not limited to sending one or more spoofed “deauthentication” packets from one or more sniffers with AP's MAC address as source address with a reason code “Authentication Expired” to a particular intruding wireless station or to a broadcast address, sending one or more spoofed De-Authentication packets from one or more sniffers to unauthorized AP with intruding wireless station's MAC address as source address with reason code “Auth Leave”, sending one or more spoofed “disassociation” packets from one or more sniffers with AP's MAC address as source address to a particular intruding wireless station or to a broadcast address and sending one or more spoofed disassociation packets from one or more sniffers to unauthorized AP with intruding wireless station's MAC address as source address. Another embodiment of this step involves continuously sending frames from one or more sniffers with BSSID field containing MAC address of unauthorized AP and a high value in network allocation vector (NAV) field. All client wireless stations of said AP including said intruding wireless station then defer access to radio channel for the duration specified in NAV field. This causes disruption to the communication between said AP and said intruding wireless station. A number of other embodiments such as inflicting acknowledgement (ACK) or packet collisions via transmissions from the sniffer, destabilizing or desynchronizing the wireless stations within the BSS (basic service set) of unauthorized AP by sending confusing beacon frames from the sniffer can also be used. In the preferred embodiment of the method of invention, in step 202 a test called the “LAN connectivity test” is used to distinguish the APs in the Active_AP_List that are connected to the LAN (e.g., authorized or unauthorized) from those that are not connected to the LAN (e.g., external). The logical flow of steps according to an embodiment of the LAN connectivity test is shown in FIG. 4. This diagram is merely an example, which should not unduly limit the scope of the claims herein. One of ordinary skill in the art would recognize other variations, modifications, and alternatives. As shown in step 401, one or more marker packets are transmitted to the LAN by the originating device. The originating device can be a sniffer. For example, the sniffer can transmit the marker packet to the concerned LAN via the Ethernet port. The marker packet has a peculiar format using which it can later be identified by the intrusion detection system. The format can be different for different marker packets. The marker packet may contain a sequence number using which it can later be compared against the known marker packets. The marker packet may contain identity of the originating device. The marker packet is received by all or a subset of APs connected to the concerned LAN and transmitted by all or a subset of them on the wireless medium. In step 402, one or more sniffers listen to one or more radio channels on which wireless communication can take place. In step 403, at least one sniffer detects the transmission of at least one marker packet on the radio channel. The marker packet is detected by analyzing the format of the captured packet. If the AP transmits marker packet on the radio channel without modifying it via encryption procedure all the format information in the detected packet is available to the intrusion detection system for analysis for identifying marker packet. If the AP transmits marker packet on the radio channel after modifying it via encryption procedure the intrusion detection system may not be able to analyze all the format information in the detected packet. In this case, certain features of the packet format that are unaffected by encryption procedure are used for analysis. For example, the encryption procedure does not change the size of the data being encrypted. Thus the size of detected packets can be used as a format parameter to identify said packet as the marker packet. Then in step 404 the identity of the AP that transmits the marker packet is determined from the 802.11 MAC header (for example from the transmitter address or BSSID fields) of the packet transmitted on the radio channel. In step 405, the AP that transmits the marker packet is declared to be connected to the LAN. In a preferred embodiment, the corresponding entry in the Active AP List is marked as “connected to the LAN”. In one embodiment of the above method, the marker packet is an Ethernet style packet addressed to the broadcast address, i.e., the value of hexadecimal ff:ff:ff:ff:ff:ff in the destination address field of Ethernet MAC header. This packet will be received by all APs that are present in the LAN broadcast domain. The APs among these acting as layer 2 bridges then transmit this broadcast packet on the wireless medium after translating it to the 802.11 style packet. In alternate embodiment, the marker packet is an Ethernet style unicast packet addressed to the MAC address of a wireless station associated with an AP. Said MAC address is inferred by analyzing the prior communication between said wireless station and said AP captured by the sniffer. This packet will be received by said AP if it is connected to the concerned LAN. Said AP acting as layer 2 bridge then transmits the marker packet on the wireless medium after translating it to the 802.11 style packet. In another alternate embodiment, the marker packet is an IP packet addressed to the IP address of a wireless station associated with an AP. Said IP address is inferred by analyzing the prior communication between said wireless station and said AP that is captured by the sniffer. This packet will be received by said AP if it is connected to the concerned LAN and transmitted by said AP on the wireless medium after translating it to the 802.11 style packet. In yet an alternate embodiment, the marker packet is an IP packet addressed to the broadcast IP address of the LAN. In one embodiment, the marker packet is not actively injected in the LAN by the intrusion detection system. Rather, one or more broadcast/multicast/unicast packets from the data traffic on the LAN are used as marker packets. The logic being if an AP is connected to the same LAN as the sniffer, then at least the subset of the data traffic seen by the Ethernet port of the sniffer will be same as the data traffic captured by the sniffer on the radio channel. Thus the sniffer compares the packet captured on the radio channel with the packets transmitted over the wired LAN and captured by the sniffer's LAN connection port (Ethernet NIC) to identify a matching format. The sniffer can detect the appearance of the marker packet on a specific radio channel only if the sniffer is tuned to said radio channel during the interval of transmission of the marker packet on said radio channel. It may thus be necessary to send marker packets in the LAN periodically and preferably at randomized intervals, so as to maximize the probability that at least one sniffer gets an opportunity to detect at least one marker packet transmitted by each AP connected to the LAN. In a preferred embodiment, a sniffer originates a marker packet and the same sniffer monitors wireless medium to detect the transmission of the marker packet on the wireless medium from one or more APs. The logical flow of steps according to another embodiment of the LAN connectivity test is shown in FIG. 5. This diagram is merely an example, which should not unduly limit the scope of the claims herein. One of ordinary skill in the art would recognize other variations, modifications, and alternatives. This embodiment is particularly useful to detect unauthorized APs that implement NAT (i.e., network address translation) functionality unlike layer 2 bridge functionality though it is also useful for the latter. The test is also useful to detect unauthorized layer 2 bridge type APs (e.g., soft APs) that block forwarding of broadcast packets from the wired LAN onto the wireless medium so as to evade detection by previous embodiment of the LAN connectivity test. In step 501, the sniffer is tuned to the radio channel on which an AP operates. In step 502, the sniffer establishes wireless connection with said AP. This typically involves listening to AP's beacon packet and subsequently performing “association” procedure with said AP as described in IEEE 802.11 standard. Subsequent to association, the parameters for IP connection are assigned to the radio interface of the sniffer. A preferred method to assign IP connection parameters is for the sniffer to perform DHCP (i.e., dynamic host configuration protocol) request/response transactions over the wireless connection established with AP. These parameters comprise at least of the IP address for the radio interface of the sniffer. The DHCP is described in RFC 2131 standard of the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF). In an alternate embodiment, in step 502 rather than establishing a new association with the AP, the sniffer reuses an existing association between the AP and a wireless station associated with the AP. For this, the sniffer detects the parameters of an existing association between the AP and the wireless station associated with the AP. The parameters include, among others, the MAC address of the associated wireless station. The sniffer may also determine the IP address and the TCP or UDP port number of the wireless station by monitoring the packets transmitted or received by the station. In step 503, the sniffer sends one or more marker packets to the AP over the wireless connection newly established or already existing as applicable depending on the embodiment of step 502. Preferably, the marker packet is addressed to the sniffer itself. Various preferred embodiments for this step are now described. In one embodiment of step 503, the marker packet is UDP (i.e., user datagram protocol) packet. UDP is the transport layer protocol used by computers in the IP network to exchange data. It is described in RFC 768 standard of the IETF. In a preferred embodiment, UDP marker packet has source IP address as the IP address of the radio interface of the sniffer. In an alternative embodiment wherein step 502 reuses existing association, preferably the UDP marker packet has the source IP address and the source UDP port number same as the corresponding values detected in the packets transmitted by the wireless station whose association is being reused by the sniffer. The destination IP address in the UDP packet is the IP address of the wired (Ethernet) interface of the sniffer. In another embodiment of step 503, the marker packet is a TCP (i.e., transmission control protocol) packet. The TCP is a transport protocol described in RFC 793 standard of the IETF. It is used by computers in IP network for reliable exchange of data. In a preferred embodiment, TCP marker packet is TCP SYN packet. In alternate embodiment, it can be any packet in TCP format. In a preferred embodiment, TCP marker packet has source IP address as the IP address of the radio interface of the sniffer. In an alternative embodiment wherein step 502 reuses existing association, preferably the TCP marker packet has the source IP address and the source TCP port number same as the corresponding values detected in the packets transmitted by the wireless station whose association is being reused by the sniffer. The destination IP address in the TCP packet is the IP address of the wired (e.g., Ethernet) interface of the sniffer. In yet another embodiment of step 503, the marker packet is any layer 2 style frame. In a preferred embodiment, the source address in said layer 2 frame is the MAC address of the radio interface of the sniffer. In an alternative embodiment wherein step 502 reuses existing association, preferably the source address in the layer 2 frame is the MAC address of the wireless station whose association is being reused by the sniffer. The destination address in the layer 2 frame is the MAC address of the wired (e.g., Ethernet) interface of the sniffer. In yet another embodiment of step 503, the marker packet is addressed to the broadcast address. If the sniffer detects that the IP address assigned to its radio interface is in the domain of addresses assigned to the wired LAN, the marker packet can be addressed to IP broadcast address in said domain of addresses. The IP broadcast address is constructed by using all binary ones in the host address part and using the network number of said wired LAN in the network address part of the IP address. Alternatively, layer 2 format marker packet can be addressed to the MAC broadcast address, which is hexadecimal ff:ff:ff:ff:ff:ff. If said AP is indeed connected to the LAN, it will forward marker packet from the wireless connection to the LAN and thus the marker packet will be received at the sniffer in step 504. Subsequently, said AP is declared to be connected to the LAN in step 505. Alternatively, if the AP is not connected to the LAN, the marker packet will not be received at the sniffer and said AP is then declared unconnected to the LAN in step 506 according to a specific embodiment. The logical flow of steps according to another embodiment of the LAN connectivity test is shown in FIG. 6. This diagram is merely an example, which should not unduly limit the scope of the claims herein. One of ordinary skill in the art would recognize other variations, modifications, and alternatives. For this, in step 601 the sniffer is tuned to a radio channel. The sniffer listens to the radio channel to detect the transmission of one or more “trigger” packets. In a specific embodiment, the trigger packets indicate the current state of ongoing communication between an AP and a wireless station. Knowing this enables preparing and sending marker packet so that it is almost indistinguishable from the packets constituting the ongoing communication between the AP and the wireless station. This makes it difficult for certain APs, for example compromised, software controlled or non-standard, to evade detection by marker packet test. When the transmission of one or more trigger packets is detected in step 602, the identity of the AP that is the source or destination of the trigger packets is determined in step 603 from the transmitter address or the receiver address in the 802.11 MAC header of the trigger packets. Depending upon the type of trigger packets an optional step 604 is performed to determine if said AP is suspected to be not authorized (i.e. it can be unauthorized or external). For example an AP in the Active_AP_List that has not previously responded to any LAN connectivity test is suspected to be not authorized. Or, an AP whose behavior (contents of beacon frame, MAC address, authentication and encryption methods etc.) does not match the behavior known of the authorized APs is suspected to be not authorized. In step 605 one or more marker packets are constructed based on the type of trigger packets and information contained therein. The marker packets are transmitted in the LAN in step 606. The sniffer continues to listen to the same radio channel to detect the transmission of at least one marker packet on the radio channel by said AP. If the marker packet transmission is detected before a timeout occurs, said AP is declared to be connected to the LAN. Alternatively, the AP is declared unconnected to the LAN according to a specific embodiment. In one embodiment of the LAN connectivity test using trigger packets, the trigger packets and the marker packets are transmission TCP packets. TCP is used by computers in Internet Protocol (IP) network for reliable exchange of data. TCP provides acknowledgement-based data delivery wherein lost pieces of data are recovered via retransmissions. The TCP also uses window-based congestion control algorithm so as to dynamically adapt to the available bandwidth between the communicating computers. A number of desirable Internet applications such as HTTP, file transfer, email, remote login, etc., are performed using TCP as transport protocol. Suppose the sniffer detects transmission of a TCP packet from a wireless station to the AP (called uplink direction) that is suspected to be not authorized. TCP packet is identified by examining the header fields of detected packet transmission. Specifically, for the TCP packet the value of “Type” field in 802.2 frame header is hexadecimal 0800 and the value of “Protocol” field in the IP header is hexadecimal 06. Then the marker packet is constructed as a TCP packet and in one embodiment the various fields in the marker packet (step 605 above) are set as follows: Swap the source and destination addresses in the Ethernet, IP and TCP headers of trigger packet to get source and destination addresses in the corresponding headers of marker packet. Set the TCP payload in marker packet such that it can later be identified by the intrusion detection. Let L denote the size of payload in number of octets. Let x1 denote the value of “sequence number” field in the TCP header of trigger packet and x2 denote the number of octets of TCP payload in the trigger packet. Then set “acknowledgement number” field in the TCP header of marker packet equal to (x1+x2). Let x3 denote the value of “acknowledgement number” field and x4 denote the value of “window” field in the TCP header of trigger packet. Then set the value of “sequence number” field in the TCP header of marker packet to a value that is between (x3−1) and (x3+x4−L). Other fields in the marker packet are set according to standard practice used by various implementations of corresponding protocols. Among these, values for some of the fields can be more judiciously chosen if the sniffer has also recently captured a TCP packet of the same flow transmitted by said AP to said wireless station (downlink). For example, the value of “window” field in the marker packet can be set equal to or close to the value of “window” field in the recently captured downlink TCP packet. Similarly, the value of “Identification” field in the IP header of marker packet can be set greater than the value of “Identification” field in the recently captured downlink TCP packet. Suppose that the sniffer detects downlink TCP packet. Then the marker packet is constructed as a TCP packet and in one embodiment the various fields in the marker packet (step 605 above) are set as follows: a. Swap source and destination addresses in the Ethernet, IP and TCP headers of trigger packet to get source and destination addresses in the corresponding headers of marker packet. b. Set the TCP payload in marker packet such that it can later be identified by the intrusion detection. Let L denote the size of payload in number of octets. c. Let x1 denote the value of “sequence number” field in the TCP header of trigger packet and x2 denote the number of octets of TCP payload in the trigger packet. Then set sequence number field in the TCP header of marker packet to a value greater than (x1+x2−1). If the sniffer has recently captured uplink TCP packet of the same flow and thus the intrusion detection has the knowledge of value of “window” field in recent uplink packet, the value of “sequence number” field in marker packet should be chosen so that it is also less than (x1+window−L+1). d. Other fields in the marker packet are set according to standard practice used by various implementations of corresponding protocols. Among these, values for some of the fields such as “window” field in TCP header and “Identification field in IP header can be more judiciously chosen if the sniffer has also recently captured uplink TCP packet of the same flow. In another embodiment of the LAN connectivity test using trigger packets, the trigger packet is DHCP request packet and the marker packet is DHCP response packet. In the preferred embodiment of the method of invention, in step 202 one or more feature criteria are used distinguish the APs in the Active_AP_List that are authorized by the network administrator from those that are not authorized. The latter include unauthorized and external APs. The method of invention works by inferring one or more features of an AP via analysis of the packets captured by the sniffer and comparing them with the features of the authorized APs. If the discrepancy is detected, said AP is deemed to be not authorized. A number of features of an AP can be inferred by analyzing one or more beacon packets transmitted by the AP. These features include but not limited to the vendor information (indicated by the first three bytes of the MAC address of the AP), the observed beacon interval and values of various fields (according to basic 802.11 and its enhancements including 802.11e, 802.11i, 802.11k and others) in the beacon packet such as beacon interval, SSID, capabilities information, radio parameters, various information elements (IEs) etc. Some other features of an AP can be inferred by analyzing the sequence of packets flowing between the AP and a wireless station. Most notably, the flow of authentication and association procedure (WEP, WPA, TKIP, RSN etc.) can be monitored by the sniffer to determine if it is consistent with that of an authorized AP. The feature set of authorized APs can be provided to the intrusion detection system by the network administrator. Alternatively, the intrusion detection system can learn the authorized feature set by detecting APs and their associated feature set in the operational network or laboratory environment. In the former case, the network administrator merely indicates to the intrusion detection system as to which of the detected APs are authorized APs. The sniffer may perform active probing to infer the features of an AP. For example, the sniffer attempts to establish a wireless connection with the AP which typically involves authentication and association procedure. The sniffer is provided with the credentials to be used during the authentication procedure. For example, the credentials include but not limited to password, digital certificate, security key, etc. If the sniffer succeeds in establishing the wireless connection with the AP, the AP may be declared as authorized. This test is even more effective for the authentication schemes, such as extensible authentication protocol transport layer security (EAP TLS), which perform mutual authentication. Depending upon the embodiment, the present invention can implement the various methods using certain systems, which are described in more detail below. One embodiment of the intrusion detection system according to present invention is described with reference to FIG. 7. The system comprises a detection module 702, a classification module 704 and a prevention module 706, each of the modules comprising one or more computer executable codes. The various codes can be running in one or more computer processes. The detection module 702 is directed to performing tasks associated with detecting wireless activity. In a specific embodiment the detecting comprises capturing, decoding and processing the wireless activity. The detecting may further comprise filtering and summarizing the information associated with or derived from the wireless activity. The detection module is further directed to transferring at least identity information associated with the detected wireless activity to the classification module. In a specific embodiment the detection module transfers additional information associated with the detected activity such as information derived from beacon packet, marker packet, authentication packet and other packets to the classification module. The classification module 704 is directed to performing tasks associated with receiving and labeling the identity information associated with the wireless activity into at least one of a plurality of categories. In a specific embodiment, the classification module analyzes the additional information associated with the wireless activity received from the detection module for the sake of labeling the identity information. The classification module is further directed to performing tasks associated with transferring indication associated with the identity information to the prevention module 706. In one specific embodiment, the indication is an intrusion alert. In a specific embodiment, intrusion alert is generated when an unauthorized AP and/or intruding wireless station is detected by the classification process. Another embodiment of the intrusion prevention system according to present invention is described with reference to FIG. 8. The system comprises a providing module 801, a transferring module 802, an outputting module 803, a receiving module 804, a processing module 805 and an identifying module 806. Each of the modules comprises one or more computer executable codes. The providing module 801 prepares the marker packet with a given format. In a specific embodiment, the providing module resides within the originating device (e.g., sniffer). The transferring module 802 transmits the marker packet to one or more APs over the LAN. In a specific embodiment the transferring module resides within the originating device (e.g., sniffer). The outputting module 803 transmits the marker packet from the AP to the wireless medium. In a specific embodiment, the outputting module resides within the AP. The receiving module 804 is directed to receiving wireless activity associated with the marker packet using at least one sniffer. The processing module 805 is directed to processing the wireless activity information to identify the marker packet. In a specific embodiment, the processing module analyzes the format information in the received wireless activity to identify the marker packet. The identifying module 806 is directed to determining the identity information associated with the wireless activity associated with the marker packet. In a specific embodiment, the identifying module determines the source AP of the wireless activity associated with the marker packet. In another specific embodiment, the receiving module, the processing module and the identifying module are provided within the sniffer device. Another alternative embodiment of the intrusion detection system is described below with reference to FIG. 9. In this embodiment, the detection, classification and prevention modules are provided within the sniffer device. The sniffer also provides and transfers a maker packet. The sniffer further receives the wireless activity associated with the marker packet, processes said activity to identify the marker packet and identifies the AP that transmits marker packet on the wireless medium. This embodiment in particularly advantageous because it allows deployment of standalone sniffer devices (e.g., as appliances). Accordingly, the sniffer appliance device comprises a CPU 901 adapted to executing computer codes and a memory 902 that stores computer codes and data. The computer codes stored in the memory comprise at least the codes for detection, classification and prevention modules and the codes adapted to perform communication between said modules. The computer codes stored in the memory further comprise the codes for providing a marker packet, transferring a marker packet, receiving a wireless activity associated with the marker packet, processing said wireless activity to identify the marker packet and identifying the AP that transmits the marker packet on the wireless medium. The sniffer appliance device comprises one or more WiFi NICs 903 connected to one or more antennas 904. The WiFi NICs performs the tasks associated with receiving the wireless activity (e.g., listening to and capturing the packet transmissions occurring over the wireless medium in accordance with 802.11 standard) as well as initiating the wireless activity (e.g., transmitting packets in accordance with 802.11 standard). The Ethernet NIC 905 is also provided that enables connecting the sniffer appliance device to the LAN via Ethernet jack 06 (e.g., RJ-45 socket). The Ethernet jack 906 may alternatively and additionally be used to connect the sniffer appliance to a PC for configuration purposes. Alternatively, a serial communication interface (e.g., RS-232) 912 is used to connect the sniffer appliance to a PC for configuration purposes. The various electronic components are connected together using data transfer bus 907. The sniffer device can provide visual indication about detected wireless activity by means of one or more light bulbs or light emitting diodes 908 provided on the device panel 910. Optionally or in addition to, an electronic screen such as for example LCD screen 909 is provided on the device panel for providing visual indication and/or textual messages. In a specific preferred embodiment, the indication is associated with a device type selected from, but not limited to, a no active device type, at least one active device type, all authorized device type, at least one unauthorized device type, and at least one unauthorized device in active communication type. After the sniffer device is powered on, the light bulb 908 turns white in color if Active_AP_List is empty. The bulb turns yellow when at least one active AP is detected. After the sensor device is connected to the wired LAN (e.g., using Ethernet jack 906), it can start executing steps 202 and beyond shown in FIG. 2 according to the specific embodiment of the method of invention. If only authorized APs connected to the LAN are detected, the bulb turns green. If the unauthorized AP is detected in step 202, the light bulb turns red in color. If the wireless station attempting to connect or connected to the unauthorized AP is detected in step 203, the light bulb turns flashing red. Alternatively, the various visual indications are provided via combination of light bulbs from a plurality of light bulbs provided on the device panel (e.g., one for each event). Other indications may also be provided via one or more light bulbs. Yet alternately, such indications can also be given in audio form, for example via different types of alarm sounds from the speaker (not shown in FIG. 10). An on/off switch 911 may be provided on the sniffer device panel that enables turning the intrusion defense step 204 on or off. Alternatively, the on/off switch for activating and deactivating the intrusion defense is software controlled. Yet alternatively, the step 204 is executed automatically after intrusion detection. The above methods and systems are provided according to embodiments of the present invention. As shown, the method uses a combination of steps including a way of detecting for an intrusion using wireless computer networks using a sniffer apparatus. In preferred embodiments, the present invention also includes an apparatus having an automated method for transferring an indication of an intrusion to a prevention process, which would preferably stop the intruding device before any security problems or the like. Many other methods and system are also included. Of course, other alternatives can also be provided where steps are added, one or more steps are removed, or one or more steps are provided in a different sequence without departing from the scope of the claims herein. Additionally, the various methods can be implemented using a computer code or codes in software, firmware, hardware, or any combination of these. Depending upon the embodiment, there can be other variations, modifications, and alternatives. It is also understood that the examples and embodiments described herein are for illustrative purposes only and that various modifications or changes in light thereof will be suggested to persons skilled in the art and are to be included within the spirit and purview of this application and scope of the appended claims. | <SOH> BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION <EOH>The present invention relates generally to wireless computer networking techniques. More particularly, the invention provides a sniffer apparatus and method for providing intrusion detection for local area wireless networks according to a specific embodiment. Merely by way of example, the invention has been applied to a computer networking environment based upon the IEEE 802.11 family of standards, commonly called “WiFi.” But it would be recognized that the invention has a much broader range of applicability. For example, the invention can be applied to Ultra Wide Band (“UWB”), IEEE 802.16 commonly known as “WiMAX”, Bluetooth, and others. Computer systems proliferated from academic and specialized science applications to day to day business, commerce, information distribution and home applications. Such systems include personal computers, which are often called “PCs” for short, to large mainframe and server class computers. Powerful mainframe and server class computers run specialized applications for banks, small and large companies, e-commerce vendors and governments. Smaller personal computers can be found in many if not all offices, homes, and even local coffee shops. These computers interconnect with each other through computer communication networks based on packet switching technology such as the Internet protocol or IP. The computer systems located within a specific local geographic area such as office, home or other indoor and outdoor premises interconnect using a Local Area Network, commonly called, LAN. Ethernet is by far the most popular networking technology for LANs. The LANs interconnect with each other using a Wide Area Network called “WAN” such as the famous Internet. Although much progress occurred with computers and networking, we now face a variety of security threats on many computing environments from the hackers connected to the computer network. The application of wireless communication to computer networking further accentuates these threats. As merely an example, the conventional LAN is usually deployed using an Ethernet based infrastructure comprising cables, hubs switches, and other elements. A number of connection ports (e.g., Ethernet ports) are used to couple various computer systems to the LAN. A user can connect to the LAN by physically attaching a computing device such as laptop, desktop or handheld computer to one of the connection ports using physical wires or cables. Other computer systems such as database computers, server computers, routers and Internet gateways also connect to the LAN to provide specific functionalities and services. Once physically connected to the LAN, the user often accesses a variety of services such as file transfer, remote login, email, WWW, database access, and voice over IP. Security of the LAN often occurs by controlling access to the physical space where the LAN connection ports reside. Although conventional wired networks using Ethernet technology proliferated, wireless communication technologies are increasing in popularity. That is, wireless communication technologies wirelessly connect users to the computer communication networks. A typical application of these technologies provides wireless access to the local area network in the office, home, public hot-spots, and other geographical locations. As merely an example, the IEEE 802.11 family of standards, commonly called WiFi, is the common standard for such wireless application. Among WiFi, the 802.11b standard-based WiFi often operates at 2.4 GHz unlicensed radio frequency spectrum and offers wireless connectivity at speeds up to 11 Mbps. The 802.11g compliant WiFi offers even faster connectivity at about 54 Mbps and operates at 2.4 GHz unlicensed radio frequency spectrum. The 802.11a provides speeds up to 54 Mbps operating in the 5 GHz unlicensed radio frequency spectrum. The WiFi enables a quick and effective way of providing wireless extension to the existing LAN. In order to provide wireless extension of the LAN using WiFi, one or more WiFi access points (APs) connect to the LAN connection ports either directly or through intermediate equipment such as WiFi switch. A user now wirelessly connects to the LAN using a device equipped with WiFi radio, commonly called wireless station, that communicates with the AP. The connection is free from cable and other physical encumbrances and allows the user to “Surf the Web” or check e-mail in an easy and efficient manner. Unfortunately, certain limitations still exist with WiFi. That is, the radio waves often cannot be contained in the physical space bounded by physical structures such as the walls of a building. Hence, wireless signals often spill outside the area of interest. Unauthorized users can wirelessly connect to the AP and hence gain access to the LAN from the spillage areas such as the street, parking lot, and neighbor's premises. Consequently, the conventional security measure of controlling access to the physical space where the LAN connection ports are located is now inadequate. In order to prevent unauthorized access to the LAN over WiFi, the AP implements one or more of a variety of techniques. For example, the user is required to carry out authentication handshake with the AP (or a WiFi switch that resides between the AP and the existing LAN) before being able to connect to the LAN. Examples of such handshake are Wireless Equivalent Privacy (WEP) based shared key authentication, 802.1x based port access control, 802.11i based authentication. The AP can provide additional security measures such as encryption, firewall. Other techniques also exist to enhance security of the LAN over WiFi. Despite these measures, many limitations still exist. As merely an example, a threat of an unauthorized AP being connected to the LAN often remains with the LANs. The unauthorized AP creates a security vulnerability. The unauthorized AP allows wireless intruders to connect to the LAN through itself. That is, the intruder accesses the LAN and any proprietary information on computers and servers on the LAN without the knowledge of the owner of the LAN. Soft APs, ad hoc networks, and misconfigured APs connected to the LAN also pose similar threats. Appropriate security mechanisms are thus needed to protect the LAN resources from wireless intruders. Accordingly, techniques for improving security for local area network environments are highly desirable. | <SOH> BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION <EOH>According to the present invention, techniques directed to wireless computer networking are provided. More particularly, the invention provides a sniffer apparatus and method for providing intrusion detection for local area wireless networks according to a specific embodiment. Merely by way of example, the invention has been applied to a computer networking environment based upon the IEEE 802.11 family of standards, commonly called “WiFi.” But it would be recognized that the invention has a much broader range of applicability. For example, the invention can be applied to UWB, WiMAX (802.16), Bluetooth, and others. In a specific embodiment, the present invention provides an apparatus for wireless communication including an automated intrusion detection process. The apparatus has a portable housing, which may have a length no greater than 1 meter, a width no greater than 1 meter, and a height of no greater than 1 meter. A processing unit (e.g., CPU) is within the housing. One or more wireless network interface devices are within the housing and are coupled to the processing unit. The apparatus has an Ethernet (or like) network interface device within the housing and coupled to the processing unit. A network connector (e.g., RJ-45 socket) is coupled to the Ethernet network device. One or more memories are coupled to the processing unit. A code is directed to perform a process for detection of a wireless activity within a selected local geographic region. According to a specific embodiment, the wireless activity is derived from at least one authorized device or at least an other device. A code is directed to receiving at least identity information associated with the wireless activity from the detection process in a classification process. A code is directed to labeling the identity information into at least one of a plurality of categories in the classification process. Depending upon the embodiment, other codes may exist to carry out the functionality described herein. In an alternative specific embodiment, the invention provides wireless sniffer apparatus including an automated intrusion detection process. The apparatus has housing, which is characterized by a length no greater than a first dimension, a width no greater than a second dimension, and a height of no greater than a third dimension. The apparatus has a processing unit within the housing and one or more wireless network interface devices within the housing and coupled to the processing unit. The apparatus has one or more antennas coupled to the one or more wireless network interface devices. Depending upon the embodiment, the one or more antennas are adapted to protrude outside of a portion of the housing or be within the housing or any combination of these. The apparatus has at least one Ethernet network interface device within the housing and coupled to the processing unit and a least one network connector (e.g., RJ-45 socket) coupled to the Ethernet network device. One or more memories are coupled to the processing unit. A code is directed to perform a process for detection of a wireless activity within a selected local geographic region. According to a specific embodiment, the wireless activity is derived from at least one authorized device or at least an other device. A code is directed to receiving at least identity information associated with the wireless activity from the detection process in a classification process. A code is directed to labeling the identity information into at least one of a plurality of categories in the classification process. The apparatus also has a code directed to testing connectivity of at least the other device associated with the detected wireless activity to a local area network within the selected local geographic region. A first output indication (e.g., light, speaker) is on the housing. The first output indication is associated with the authorized device. A second output indication (e.g., light, speaker) is on the housing. Preferably, the second output indication is associated with the other device. In yet an alternative specific embodiment, the present invention provides a method for installing one or more security devices over a selected local geographic region. The method includes providing a wireless sniffer apparatus including an automated intrusion detection process, such as those described herein. The method includes connecting the network connector of the sniffer apparatus to the local area network (e.g., using Ethernet cable). The method includes executing computer codes directed to testing connectivity of at least an other device associated with the detected wireless activity to the local area network and outputting either the first output indication or the second output indication based upon the detected wireless activity. Still further, in an alternative embodiment, the invention provides an apparatus for sniffing wireless communication including an automated intrusion detection process. The apparatus has a movable housing, which has a length, a width, and a height. Preferably, the housing is enclosed and portable. The apparatus has a processing unit within the housing and is preferably enclosed. The apparatus also has one or more wireless network interface devices within the housing and coupled to the processing unit. At least one Ethernet network interface device is within the housing and coupled to the processing unit. At least one network connector is coupled to the Ethernet network interface device and one or more memories is within the housing and coupled to the processing unit. The processing unit is adapted to direct a process for detection of a wireless activity within a selected local geographic region. The wireless activity is derived from at least one authorized device or at least an other device. The processing unit is adapted to receive at least identity information associated with the wireless activity from the detection process in a classification process. The processing unit is also adapted to label the identity information into at least one of a plurality of categories in the classification process. Other functions described herein may also be performed via the processing unit. Certain advantages and/or benefits may be achieved using the present invention. For example, the present technique provides an easy to use process that relies upon conventional computer hardware and software technologies. In some embodiments, the method and system are fully automated and can be used to prevent unauthorized wireless access of local area computer networks. The automated operation minimizes the human effort required during the system operation and improves the system response time and accuracy. In some embodiments, the method and system advantageously reduce or eliminate the false positives on intrusion events thereby eliminating the nuisance factor during the system operation. This is because the technique of the invention intelligently distinguishes between unauthorized APs and external APs, the latter usually being the source of false positives. According to specific embodiment, the invention provides for standalone appliance implementation of intrusion detection system thereby providing intrusion detection solution at a low cost and at a low or no other network management infrastructure requirement. This is particularly advantageous for smaller network installations such as those in small offices, coffee shops, house, apartment, etc. Additionally, the invention is compatible with conventional wireless and wired networking technologies without substantial modifications to conventional equipment and processes according to a specific embodiment. Depending upon the embodiment, one or more of these benefits may be achieved. These and other benefits will be described in more throughout the present specification and more particularly below. Other features and advantages of the invention will become apparent through the following detailed description, the drawings, and the claims. | 20040831 | 20080304 | 20051124 | 94476.0 | 2 | BROOKS, SHANNON | AUTOMATED SNIFFER APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR MONITORING COMPUTER SYSTEMS FOR UNAUTHORIZED ACCESS | UNDISCOUNTED | 0 | ACCEPTED | 2,004 |
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10,931,785 | ACCEPTED | Licensing the use of software on a particular CPU | Software is licensed for use on a particular computing device, such as a gaming console or a multimedia console. An unlocking code is provided from a distribution service to the computing device (either directly or via a user), which in turn, unlocks the appropriate software or portion of software for use with the associated computing device. The software may reside on a computer-readable medium, such as a CD-ROM or DVD disk, that is being used in conjunction with the computing device. The unlocking code may be provided directly to the user in private (e.g., via email or a mobile phone) or in public (e.g., published on a website). Portions of the software that may be unlocked include a particular level of a game or other features (such as additional characters or weapons), or a working or more advanced version of an application that was otherwise provided as a demo or older version. The unlocking code may be based on a unique identifier of the computing device and an identifier associated with the software seeking to be accessed. Thus, the code may only be used by the computing device having that unique identifier. This prevents unauthorized or unlicensed computing devices from using the software. | 1. A method for providing access to an application, comprising: determining an activation code based on a unique identifier of a computing device on which the application is to be run and an application identifier associated with the application; and providing the activation code to the computing device. 2. The method of claim 1, further comprising determining if the application has already been activated on the computing device prior to determining the activation code, and only determining the activation code in the absence of the application having already been activated on the computing device. 3. The method of claim 1, further comprising collecting payment for the application prior to determining the activation code. 4. The method of claim 1, wherein determining the activation code comprises signing the unique identifier of the computing device and the application identifier with a private key. 5. The method of claim 4, further comprising activating the application on the computing device responsive to the activation code. 6. The method of claim 5, wherein activating the application comprises using a public key to verify the unique identifier and the application identifier and verifying that the retrieved unique identifier and the retrieved application identifier match the unique identifier of the computing device and the application identifier associated with the application. 7. The method of claim 1, wherein determining the activation code comprises determining a machine key corresponding to the unique identifier of the computing device. 8. The method of claim 7, further comprising determining a hash based on the machine key and the application identifier. 9. The method of claim 8, further comprising activating the application on the computing device responsive to the activation code. 10. The method of claim 9, wherein activating the application comprises receiving a fixed portion of the hash, determining a locally computed hash, and verifying that the same fixed portion of the locally computed hash matches the same portion of the received hash. 11. The method of claim 1, further comprising launching the application on the computing device prior to determining the activation code. 12. The method of claim 1, further comprising requesting the activation code at the computing device prior to determining the activation code. 13. The method of claim 1, further comprising storing the activation code in a memory device associated with the computing device. 14. A method for providing access to an application, comprising: launching an application on a computing device; receiving an activation code for the application, the activation code being based on a unique identifier of the computing device and an application identifier associated with the application; and activating the application based on the activation code. 15. The method of claim 14, further comprising providing payment for the activation code prior to receiving the activation code. 16. The method of claim 14, further comprising determining if the application has already been activated on the computing device prior to receiving the activation code, and only receiving the activation code in the absence of the application having already been activated on the computing device. 17. The method of claim 14, wherein activating the application comprises using a public key to verify a unique identifier and an application identifier from signed data and verifying that the retrieved unique identifier and the retrieved application identifier match a unique identifier of the computing device and an application identifier associated with the application. 18. The method of claim 14, wherein activating the application comprises receiving a fixed portion of a hash, determining a locally computed hash, and verifying that the same fixed portion of the locally computed hash matches the same portion of the received hash. 19. The method of claim 18, wherein the hash is based on a machine key of the computing device and an application identifier associated with the application. 20. The method of claim 14, further comprising storing the activation code in a memory device associated with the computing device. 21. An activation control system, comprising: an activation handler for receiving a request for an activation code for an application to run on a computing device; and an activation code generator for determining the activation code based on a unique identifier of the computing device on which the application is to be run and an application identifier associated with the application. 22. The system of claim 21, wherein the activation code generator provides the activation code to the computing device. 23. The system of claim 21, further comprising a payment system for collecting payment for the application. 24. The system of claim 21, wherein the activation code generator signs the unique identifier of the computing device and the application identifier with a private key. 25. The system of claim 21, wherein the activation code generator determines a machine key corresponding to the unique identifier of the computing device. 26. The system of claim 25, wherein the activation code generator determines a hash based on the machine key and the application identifier, and forwards the hash to the computing device. 27. A computing device, comprising: a central processing unit (CPU) for launching an application on the computing device, requesting and receiving an activation code for the application, and activating the application based on the activation code, the activation code being based on a unique identifier of the computing device and an application identifier associated with the application; and a memory device for storing the activation code. 28. The computing device of claim 27, wherein the CPU is adapted to receive payment instructions from an input device, and provide payment to a remote payment system. 29. The computing device of claim 27, wherein the CPU is adapted to determine if the application has already been activated on the computing device prior to requesting the activation code, and only requesting the activation code in the absence of the application having already been activated on the computing device. 30. The computing device of claim 27, wherein the CPU is adapted to activate the application by using a public key to verify a unique identifier and an application identifier from signed data and verifying that the retrieved unique identifier and the retrieved application identifier match a unique identifier of the computing device and an application identifier associated with the application. 31. The computing device of claim 27, wherein the CPU is adapted to activate the application by receiving a hash, determining a locally computed hash, and verifying that at least a portion of the locally computed hash matches at least a portion of the received hash. 32. The computing device of claim 31, wherein the hash is based on a machine key of the computing device and an application identifier associated with the application. | FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention is directed to controlling the distribution of software, and more particularly, to licensing the use of software. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Protecting rights of digital content, such as software, has become increasingly difficult in this digital age. Unauthorized copying and sharing of software is rampant. One popular approach for protecting rights of digital content is the use of a Digital Rights Management (DRM) system. Conventional DRM systems typically include at least two parties: a content provider and a rights entity. In operation, the user registers with the rights entity and obtains a decryption means. When the user requests digital content from the content provider, the digital content is sent to the user as an encrypted file. The digital content in the file can be accessed after the file has been decrypted using the decryption means. Conventional DRM systems work well for protecting digital content that is strictly data in nature. Digital data such as music files and video files can be protected using a variety of encryption schemes. However, encryption does not work well for protecting computer software. Unlike data, computer programs are designed to perform operations and often require installation. It is not efficient to use encryption to protect a computer program due to architectural complexity and extraneous operation overhead associated with the required decryption mechanisms. Currently, with respect to software that is stored on physical media, such as a disk, the license to use the software is implied to travel with the media itself. Because of this, many users who are not rightfully licensed to use the software may use the software, while being either unaware of the need for a license or willfully ignoring the need for a license. For example, in some high piracy regions, a user is able to purchase unauthorized disks containing copies of computer software. Because the user has purchased a disk containing the software, there is an implication, at least to the user, that the software is properly licensed, regardless of whether or not a proper license has actually been procured. This pirated software may be run on any appropriate computer without the user procuring a license to use that software. It would be desirable to prevent the use of software without a proper license and to separate the delivery of the license to use software from the delivery of the media containing the software. Some conventional methods prevent unauthorized distribution of a computer-executable program by encrypting the entire file containing the program. The encrypted file is then transmitted to an intended user who has been given the proper decryption means. After the file has been transmitted, the user has to decrypt the file before installing and using the program. However, once the program has been decrypted, the program is no longer protected from unauthorized use. An effective and efficient system and method for controlling illegal distribution and licensing of computer software eludes those skilled in the art. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention is directed to licensing the use of software on a particular central processing unit (CPU) residing on a computing device. A code is provided to the computing device (either directly or via a user), which in turn, unlocks the appropriate software (or features of software) residing on, or being used in conjunction with, the computing device. For example, the software may be resident on a computer-readable medium, such as a disk, that has been provided to the computing device. The unlocking code may be provided via a website, a kiosk, a vending machine, a phone, or any other publication method or means, for example. The unlocking code may be provided directly to the computing device running the software or may be entered manually by a user or may be provided via a storage device, such as a memory unit that is plugged into or otherwise attached to the computing device. The unlocking code may unlock the entire software application, or just particular features of the software, such as a higher level of a game or a working version of an application that was otherwise provided as a demo version. The code desirably may be based on a unique identifier of the computing device and an identifier associated with the software seeking to be accessed. The code may be provided after payment or another condition is satisfied. The code is only usable for the particular computing device. Therefore, the software that has been unlocked cannot be used on another computing device. It should be desirably hard to change the identifier for such a computing device. Additional features and advantages of the invention will be made apparent from the following detailed description of illustrative embodiments that proceeds with reference to the accompanying drawings. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The foregoing summary, as well as the following detailed description of preferred embodiments, is better understood when read in conjunction with the appended drawings. For the purpose of illustrating the invention, there is shown in the drawings exemplary constructions of the invention; however, the invention is not limited to the specific methods and instrumentalities disclosed. In the drawings: FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a multimedia console in which aspects of the present invention may be implemented; FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of an exemplary software activation control system in accordance with the present invention; FIG. 3 is a flow diagram of an exemplary method of providing a software license in accordance with the present invention; FIG. 4 is a flow diagram of another exemplary method of providing a software license in accordance with the present invention; FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of an exemplary software upgrade control system in accordance with the present invention; and FIG. 6 is a flow diagram of an exemplary method of upgrading a computer program in accordance with the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF ILLUSTRATIVE EMBODIMENTS Overview Software may be licensed for use on a particular computing device, or more particularly, a CPU on a computing device, such as a gaming console or a multimedia console. A code is provided from a distribution service to the computing device (either directly or via a user), which unlocks the appropriate software or portion of software for use with the associated computing device. The software may reside on a computer-readable medium, such as a CD-ROM or DVD, that is being used in conjunction with the computing device. The unlocking code may be provided directly to the user in private (e.g., via email or a mobile phone) or in public (e.g., published on a website). Portions of the software that may be unlocked include a particular level of a game or other features (such as additional characters or weapons), or a working or more advanced version of an application that was otherwise provided as a demo or older version. The unlocking code may be desirably based on a unique identifier of the computing device and an identifier associated with the software seeking to be accessed. Thus, the code may only be used by the computing device. This prevents unauthorized or unlicensed computing devices from using the software. Therefore, the delivery of the software bits is separated from the permission to run the software bits. The permission to run a certain software application does not have to be tied to physically owning a disk containing the software. Exemplary Computing Environment FIG. 1 illustrates the functional components of a multimedia console 100 in which certain aspects of the present invention may be implemented. The multimedia console 100 has a central processing unit (CPU) 101 having a level 1 cache 102, a level 2 cache 104, and a flash ROM (Read Only Memory) 106. The level 1 cache 102 and a level 2 cache 104 temporarily store data and hence reduce the number of memory access cycles, thereby improving processing speed and throughput. The CPU 101 may be provided having more than one core, and thus, additional level 1 and level 2 caches 102 and 104. The flash ROM 106 may store executable code that is loaded during an initial phase of a boot process when the multimedia console 100 is powered ON. A graphics processing unit (GPU) 108 and a video encoder/video codec (coder/decoder) 114 form a video processing pipeline for high speed and high resolution graphics processing. Data is carried from the graphics processing unit 108 to the video encoder/video codec 114 via a bus. The video processing pipeline outputs data to an A/V (audio/video) port 140 for transmission to a television or other display. A memory controller 110 is connected to the GPU 108 to facilitate processor access to various types of memory 112, such as, but not limited to, a RAM (Random Access Memory). The multimedia console 100 includes an I/O controller 120, a system management controller 122, an audio processing unit 123, a network interface controller 124, a first USB host controller 126, a second USB controller 128, and a front panel I/O subassembly 130 that are preferably implemented on a module 118. The USB controllers 126 and 128 serve as hosts for peripheral controllers 142(1)-142(2), a wireless adapter 148, and an external memory device 146 (e.g., flash memory, external CD/DVD ROM drive, removable media, etc.). The network interface 124 and/or wireless adapter 148 provide access to a network (e.g., the Internet, home network, etc.) and may be any of a wide variety of various wired or wireless interface components including an Ethernet card, a modem, a Bluetooth module, a cable modem, and the like. System memory 143 is provided to store application data that is loaded during the boot process. A media drive 144 is provided and may comprise a DVD/CD drive, hard drive, or other removable media drive, etc. The media drive 144 may be internal or external to the multimedia console 100. Application data may be accessed via the media drive 144 for execution, playback, etc. by the multimedia console 100. The media drive 144 is connected to the I/O controller 120 via a bus, such as a Serial ATA bus or other high speed connection (e.g., IEEE 1394). The system management controller 122 provides a variety of service functions related to assuring availability of the multimedia console 100. The audio processing unit 123 and an audio codec 132 form a corresponding audio processing pipeline with high fidelity and stereo processing. Audio data is carried between the audio processing unit 123 and the audio codec 132 via a communication link. The audio processing pipeline outputs data to the A/V port 140 for reproduction by an external audio player or device having audio capabilities. The front panel I/O subassembly 130 supports the functionality of the power button 150 and the eject button 152, as well as any LEDs (light emitting diodes) or other indicators exposed on the outer surface of the multimedia console 100. A system power supply module 136 provides power to the components of the multimedia console 100. A fan 138 cools the circuitry within the multimedia console 100. The CPU 101, GPU 108, memory controller 110, and various other components within the multimedia console 100 are interconnected via one or more buses, including serial and parallel buses, a memory bus, a peripheral bus, and a processor or local bus using any of a variety of bus architectures. When the multimedia console 100 is powered ON, application data may be loaded from the system memory 143 into memory 112 and/or caches 102, 104 and executed on the CPU 101. The application may present a graphical user interface that provides a consistent user experience when navigating to different media types available on the multimedia console 100. In operation, applications and/or other media contained within the media drive 144 may be launched or played from the media drive 144 to provide additional functionalities to the multimedia console 100. The multimedia console 100 may be operated as a standalone system by simply connecting the system to a television or other display. In this standalone mode, the multimedia console 100 allows one or more users to interact with the system, watch movies, or listen to music. However, with the integration of broadband connectivity made available through the network interface 124 or the wireless adapter 148, the multimedia console 100 may further be operated as a participant in a larger network community. When the multimedia console 100 is powered ON, a set amount of hardware resources are reserved for system use by the multimedia console operating system. These resources may include a reservation of memory (e.g., 16 MB), CPU and GPU cycles (e.g., 5%), networking bandwidth (e.g., 8 kbs), etc. Because these resources are reserved at system boot time, the reserved resources do not exist from the application's view. In particular, the memory reservation preferably is large enough to contain the launch kernel, concurrent system applications, and drivers. The CPU reservation is preferably maintained at a constant level. With regard to the GPU reservation, lightweight messages generated by the system applications (e.g., popups) are displayed by using a GPU interrupt to schedule code to render popup into an overlay. The amount of memory required for an overlay depends on the overlay area size and the overlay preferably scales with screen resolution. Where a full user interface is used by the concurrent system application, it is preferable to use a resolution independent of game resolution. A scaler may be used to set this resolution such that the need to change frequency and cause a TV resynch is eliminated. After the multimedia console 100 boots and system resources are reserved, concurrent system applications execute to provide system functionalities. The system functionalities are encapsulated in a set of system applications that execute within the reserved system resources described above. The operating system kernel identifies threads that are system application threads versus multimedia application threads. The system applications are preferably scheduled to run on the CPU 101 at predetermined times and intervals in order to provide a consistent system resource view to the application. The scheduling is to minimize cache disruption for the multimedia application running on the console. When a concurrent system application requires audio, audio processing is scheduled asynchronously to the multimedia application due to time sensitivity. A multimedia console application manager controls the multimedia application audio level (e.g., mute, attenuate) when system applications are active. Input devices (e.g., controllers 142(1) and 142(2)) are shared by multimedia applications and system applications. The input devices are not reserved resources, but are to be switched between system applications and the multimedia application such that each will have a focus of the device. The application manager preferably controls the switching of input stream, without knowledge the multimedia application's knowledge and a driver maintains state information regarding focus switches. Exemplary Embodiments FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of an exemplary software activation control system 250 in accordance with one embodiment of the invention. For illustrative purposes, software activation control system 250 is shown to include an activation handler 253 and a character code (also referred to as an unlocking code or activation code) generator 256. However, in practice, the activation handler 253 and the character code generator 256 may be combined into a single component. A payment system (not shown in FIG. 2) may also be used to receive payment from a user for a software program that is to be activated by the activation control system. Activation handler 253 is a computer-executable component that handles the activation of software for computing devices, such as computing device 200. Activation handler 253 is configured to process requests for software licenses and unlock authorization for use on computing devices. For each request for a software license or other authorization to use, activation handler 253 facilitates the activation of the software that is keyed to a particular computing device with a device identification that is unique to the device. When a request for software is received, activation handler 253 is configured to receive a device identification associated with the computing device 200 in which the software will be used. To do so, activation handler 253 may establish a communication link to the computing device 200 to receive the device identification, or may receive the device identification in an alternate manner not using a direct communication link to the computing device. Any type of wired or wireless network connection that enables activation handler 253 to obtain data from the computing device may be used to establish the communication link. For example, activation handler 253 may interact with the computing device through the Internet, a LAN, a wireless communication network, and the like. Alternately, the activation handler may receive the device identification via an alternate means (e.g., indirectly from the computing device), such as via a user provided memory unit with the device identification stored thereon or by a user manually entering the device identification into the activation control system. The computing device 200 preferably has a unique identifier. This identifier is used in the creation of a “license” for use of software on that particular computing device, as described further below. Character code generator 256 is a computer-executable component that creates a code for use on the computing device 200 that allows the particular software program to be used on the computing device 200. The character code generator 256 receives the unique device identification of the computing device and generates an unlocking code for use on the computing device 200. The unlocking code is then provided to the computing device 200, e.g., via the activation handler 253, either directly or via a user (e.g., the user receives a memory unit with the unlocking code stored thereon and then provides the memory unit to the computing device 200). Moreover, the unlocking code is only pertinent to the computing device having that particular device identification. Therefore, the unlocking code may be published, e.g., on a public website, without the risk of an unauthorized user using the code on another computing device. Desirably, machine identifiers contain checksums to prevent a user from buying a code for the wrong computing device (e.g., by entering the wrong console serial number (computing device unique identifier)). The unlocking code may be stored in the computing device so that the user is not burdened in the future with getting authorization to run the software program that has already been licensed to that particular computing device. Thus, the unlocking code may be checked each time the program is launched. The program will properly operate only if the unlocking code, or other indicator that the software program has been properly licensed, is provided. It is noted that the software program may be any application or portion of an application, such as a game, a level of a game, a feature of a game, etc. Further description is provided below. FIG. 3 is a flow diagram of an exemplary method of providing a software license in accordance with the present invention. In this exemplary embodiment, the computing device on which the software is to be licensed and run does not have to be connected to a network, such as the Internet. A user desires to run a software program or product on a computing device. At step 300, the product is launched on the computing device. At step 305, persistent memory (e.g., a memory device associated with the computing device, such as a ROM, a memory unit, or a hard drive, for example) associated with the product is checked for a signature or product information (that desirably cannot be forged) that indicates that the product has been activated for the computing device. If so, then depending on the nature of the stored information, processing continues either at step 360 if the signature is to be decoded with a public key, or at step 390 if the product is to be run directly. If the persistent memory does not contain previously stored information pertaining to the product sought to be run, then a user interface, for example, may be provided to the user with instructions on how to buy a license for the software product for the computing device, at step 310. Alternately, additional instructions on how to proceed may be provided to the user. At this point, it is assumed that the user has paid for the product, if payment is desired. At step 320, a unique identifier (e.g., serial number) of the computing device is provided to the activation control system, along with the product identifier (e.g., product code) of the software program or application that is desired to be activated. The user may provide the unique identifier and the product identifier to the activation control system either manually or via a telephone, kiosk, website, or other manual or electronic means. At step 330, the identifier of the computing device and the product identifier are signed with a private key (e.g., using RSA signing, DSA signing, or any other private/public key signing technique or system) at the activation control system (e.g., at the character code generator 256). The signed bits may be transformed into an activation code with a predetermined number of alpha-numeric characters (e.g., about 25 to 30 characters). The signed code or data is then provided to the user, either publicly or privately, at step 340. For example, the signed data can be posted on a website, or emailed, phoned, or otherwise provided to the user. Because the signed data is pertinent to only one computing device, it can be published anywhere and even made available to the general public. Only the computing device having the computing device's unique identifier will be able to activate the associated software program or application. At step 350, the user provides the signed data (e.g., a string of bits) to a computing device. (Alternately, if the computing device is connected via a network, for example, to the activation control system, the activation control system may provide the signed data to the computing device transparently.) The computing device uses the corresponding public key, at step 360, to retrieve and verify the unique identifier of the computing device and the product identifier. It is determined at step 370 if the retrieved unique identifier matches the unique identifier of the computing device, and if the retrieved product identifier matches the identifier of the product that the user is trying to run. If either of these comparisons fails, the activation process stops, at step 380, optionally with an error message or other indicator being displayed or otherwise provided to the user. Moreover, the software program may be disabled or aborted. The computing device may also be disabled, if desired. If the retrieved unique identifier matches the unique identifier of the computing device, and if the retrieved product identifier matches the identifier of the product that the user is trying to run, then at step 390, the product is activated and run. It may be desirable to store an indicator in persistent memory to remember that the product has been activated for this computing device, at step 385. In this manner, the computing device desirably needs no further contact or interaction with the activation control system to run the product in the future. The indicator can be the signed code or data itself, or the product identifier that identifies that the product can be used on the computing device, for example. Desirably, such a code would be encrypted and stored in a form that cannot be forged so that only the computing device (e.g., its CPU) could read it. FIG. 4 is a flow diagram of another exemplary method of providing a software license in accordance with the present invention. In this exemplary embodiment, a customer activation (unlocking) code is determined and provided to the user or machine. A machine key, which differs from the computing device's unique identifier, is desirably provided (e.g., by the computing device's manufacturer) and stored on the computing device (e.g., in ROM). For example, the key may be a random 128 bit key generated during manufacturing of the computing device. The machine key is not necessarily unique. Preferably, the machine key is stored such that the user cannot easily determine it. For example, the key may be encrypted on the computing device. An activation control system desirably maintains a database, lookup table, or other storage device that associates a computing device's unique identifier with its machine key. Similar to FIG. 3, a user desires to run a software program or product on a computing device. At step 400, the product is launched on the computing device. At step 405, persistent memory (e.g., a memory device associated with the computing device, such as a ROM, a memory unit, or a hard drive, for example) associated with the product is checked for an activation code or product information (that desirably cannot be forged) that indicates that the product has been activated for the computing device. If so, then depending on the nature of the stored information, processing continues either at step 450 if the data that was stored was the activation code, or at step 490 if the product identifier was stored. If the persistent memory does not contain previously stored information pertaining to the product sought to be run, then a user interface, for example, may be provided to the user with instructions on how to buy a license for the software product for the computing device, at step 410. Alternately, additional instructions on how to proceed may be provided to the user. At this point, it is assumed that the user has paid for the product, if payment is desired. At step 420, a unique identifier (e.g., serial number) of the computing device is provided to the activation control system, along with the product identifier (e.g., product code) of the software program or application that is desired to be activated. The user may provide the unique identifier and the product identifier to the activation control system either manually or via a telephone, kiosk, website, or other manual or electronic means. At step 430, the activation control system looks up the corresponding machine key (symmetric key) from a database (e.g., a database such as a lookup table having two columns, computing device identifier and corresponding machine key) for example, and computes a hash based on the machine key and the product identifier (e.g., a one-way hash such as SHA-1 (machine key|product code)). If the key was encrypted, then it is desirably decrypted prior to the hash determination. At step 435, an activation code is generated based on the hash. The hash, or some portion of the hash, is converted to user typeable characters. For example, the first 32 bits of the one-way hash can be converted into an 8 character activation code. The activation code is then provided to the user, at step 440. For example, the activation code can be posted on a website, or emailed, phoned, or otherwise provided to the user. At step 445, the user provides the activation code to a computing device. If the computing device is connected via a network, for example, to the activation control system, the activation control system may provide the activation code to the computing device transparently. At step 450, at the computing device, a separate hash is locally computed comprising the machine key and product code. Using the same technique as in step 435, the hash, or some portion of the hash, is converted to user typeable characters. It is determined at step 470 if the locally computed activation code matches the activation code determined and provided by the activation control system. If this comparison fails, the activation process stops, at step 480, optionally with an error message or other indicator being displayed or otherwise provided to the user. If the locally computed activation code matches the activation code determined and provided by the activation control system, then at step 490, the product is activated and run. Similar to that described with respect to FIG. 3, it may be desirable to store an indicator in persistent memory to remember that the product has been activated for this computing device, at step 485. The indicator can be the activation code determined by the activation control system itself (which would result in the block 405 to block 450 path being taken in the future), or the product identifier that identifies the product that can be used on the computing device (which would result in the block 405 to block 490 path being taken in the future). FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of an exemplary software upgrade control system 500 in accordance with another embodiment of the invention. Software upgrade control system 500 enables users to purchase software upgrades that are keyed to their particular computing devices. These software upgrades may be any type of computer-executable programs. For example, the software upgrades may include a new version of the software that is currently found (e.g., licensed for use) on a computing device 200, or the unlocking of additional levels, characters, or other features, on a game. In one configuration, software upgrade control system 500 includes an activation handler 505, a payment system 510, and an upgrade code generator 515. In practice, these components may be combined into a single component. A user, seeking access to an upgrade of some sort to a presently licensed software program on the computing device 200, contacts the upgrade control system 500 via a user interface, for example, tied to the activation handler 505. The activation handler 505 facilitates payment for the software upgrade via a payment system 510. After the appropriate payment has been made, the upgrade code generator 515 generates an upgrade code that is ultimately provided to the computing device 200. The upgrade code unlocks the additional features, etc. The payment system 510 may include one or more computing devices and may be configured to enable users to electronically purchase a software upgrade. It is contemplated that a payment system is not necessarily a monetary payment system. For example, registering one's name and address could be the “payment” that is used to access the additional features. To provide a software upgrade purchased by a user for the computing device, the upgrade control system 500 is configured to interact with and provide the computing device identification to the activation handler 505 and the upgrade code generator 515. Using the computing device identification information, the upgrade code generator 515 is configured to generate a software upgrade code and to key it with the device identification, and provide this upgrade code to the computing device 200 (or the user). For example, the upgrade code generator 515 may send the software upgrade code to the user by email, allow the user to download the software upgrade code through the Internet, or some other similar delivery methods. FIG. 6 is a flow diagram of an exemplary method of upgrading a computer program in accordance with the present invention. At step 600, the user is able to use part of a software program on a computing device, either because that part of the software program was already licensed for that computing device (e.g., using the methods described with respect to FIGS. 3 and 4) or because that part of the software program requires no license (i.e., it is free to use), for example. The remaining part of the software program is locked and unavailable to the user. At step 610, the user desires to upgrade the software program to gain access to additional features, etc., and thus provides payment (which may be monetary or something else such as a name and address) and a computing device identifier to the upgrade control system 500. The upgrade control system 500 processes the payment and generates an upgrade code, at step 620. The upgrade code is provided to the user and a computing device at step 630, which unlocks the additional feature. The upgrade code, or other indicator, is desirably stored in non-volatile memory associated with the computing device, at step 640, so that the computing device may access the additional feature in the upgrade without further contact with the upgrade control system 500. The upgrade code can also be provided as signed data or pursuant to a hash, as set forth above with respect to FIGS. 3 and 4, for example. As an example, assume a user goes to a retailer and purchases a demo disk of a software application. The user inserts the demo disk into a computing device and can play a demo level of the game. To play the rest of the game, the user is instructed to access a website or call a telephone number and provide the identifier (e.g., serial number) of a computing device. The user also pays a fee and responsive to the identifier and proper payment, the user receives an activation code to activate the software application. After this, an 8 character activation code tailored for running the particular software application on the particular computing device is provided. The user enters the activation code into the computing device. After this point, the computing device allows the user to play the full game forever without ever asking for the activation code again. A user may also download a copy of the software program from a website and then purchase an activation code using the program identifier and the computing device's unique identifier (e.g., serial number). The activation codes described herein may be provided to a memory device (e.g., pluggable USB flash memory) that attaches to the user's computing device. Thus, the user does not have to type in any activation code, as it is provided via the memory device. Alternately, the computing device itself may be connected to a website or system that provides the activation codes, so there is no need for manual entry of the activation code or attachment of a memory device. It is contemplated that a user may “rent” a software application, by purchasing a software license for a particular software program to run on a particular computing device for a particular amount of time (e.g., one week, one month, etc.). For example, the activation code that is generated and provided may have an expiration time or date associated with it. The expiration period may be checked against a value residing on the computing device, or the computing device may have to check in with, or be connected to, a website while the user is using the software program on the computing device. The control system, such as control system 250 or 500, can maintain a list of each application that is registered to an individual computing device. Thus, if a computing device breaks or is stolen, for example, the replacement computing device can be activated with the programs originally registered on the original device. It is contemplated that the user would contact the control system and provide the original computing device's identifier and the new computing device's identifier. The control system would retrieve the list of activated programs for the original computing device and generate new activation codes for the new computing device and provide the new activation codes to the user for use with the new computing device. Thus, a software activation check is performed before the application will be permitted to run. This allows a distribution service that controls the distribution and sale of the activation (unlock) code to get a larger percentage of the sale than in a traditional retail environment in which the game retailer or publisher may get more of the sale. The software activation is a marketing and game distribution mechanism for high piracy regions. The present invention allows new software to be distributed more quickly and easily. Revenue loss due to incorrectly calculating the number of physical disks to press during game launch can be reduced. A pit by pit DVD copying technique that may emerge to overcome conventional DVD copy protection will not affect the efficacy of the present invention. Application pricing adjustment is much easier and quicker, without the need for the price change to ripple through retail channels. Game demos can be distributed on a large scale without much extra cost. Consumers no longer need to worry about damaged, scratched, or even lost application disks. A website may be set up to allow a user to purchase the activation and/or upgrade codes for a software program for use on a particular computing device, and can show current unlock prices for the software programs. A website may also display the purchased codes for a particular computing device. This is useful if the console is ever reset (refurbished) or re-sold. A used computing device buyer will thus be able to access a list of the unlock codes for a computing device. An exemplary system that provides the unlock and/or upgrade codes can track sales, usage, etc., and thus can log statistics for the unlocked software programs, and provides an authoritative location for current pricing. This also allows the system to do royalty tracking/auditing for third party software publishers. As mentioned above, while exemplary embodiments of the present invention have been described in connection with various computing devices, the underlying concepts may be applied to any computing device or system. The various techniques described herein may be implemented in connection with hardware or software or, where appropriate, with a combination of both. Thus, the methods and apparatus of the present invention, or certain aspects or portions thereof, may take the form of program code (i.e., instructions) embodied in tangible media, such as floppy diskettes, CD-ROMs, hard drives, or any other machine-readable storage medium, wherein, when the program code is loaded into and executed by a machine, such as a computer, the machine becomes an apparatus for practicing the invention. In the case of program code execution on programmable computers, the computing device will generally include a processor, a storage medium readable by the processor (including volatile and non-volatile memory and/or storage elements), at least one input device, and at least one output device. The program(s) can be implemented in assembly or machine language, if desired. In any case, the language may be a compiled or interpreted language, and combined with hardware implementations. The methods and apparatus of the present invention may also be practiced via communications embodied in the form of program code that is transmitted over some transmission medium, such as over electrical wiring or cabling, through fiber optics, or via any other form of transmission, wherein, when the program code is received and loaded into and executed by a machine, such as an EPROM, a gate array, a programmable logic device (PLD), a client computer, or the like, the machine becomes an apparatus for practicing the invention. When implemented on a general-purpose processor, the program code combines with the processor to provide a unique apparatus that operates to invoke the functionality of the present invention. Additionally, any storage techniques used in connection with the present invention may invariably be a combination of hardware and software. While the present invention has been described in connection with the preferred embodiments of the various figures, it is to be understood that other similar embodiments may be used or modifications and additions may be made to the described embodiments for performing the same functions of the present invention without deviating therefrom. Therefore, the present invention should not be limited to any single embodiment, but rather should be construed in breadth and scope in accordance with the appended claims. | <SOH> BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION <EOH>Protecting rights of digital content, such as software, has become increasingly difficult in this digital age. Unauthorized copying and sharing of software is rampant. One popular approach for protecting rights of digital content is the use of a Digital Rights Management (DRM) system. Conventional DRM systems typically include at least two parties: a content provider and a rights entity. In operation, the user registers with the rights entity and obtains a decryption means. When the user requests digital content from the content provider, the digital content is sent to the user as an encrypted file. The digital content in the file can be accessed after the file has been decrypted using the decryption means. Conventional DRM systems work well for protecting digital content that is strictly data in nature. Digital data such as music files and video files can be protected using a variety of encryption schemes. However, encryption does not work well for protecting computer software. Unlike data, computer programs are designed to perform operations and often require installation. It is not efficient to use encryption to protect a computer program due to architectural complexity and extraneous operation overhead associated with the required decryption mechanisms. Currently, with respect to software that is stored on physical media, such as a disk, the license to use the software is implied to travel with the media itself. Because of this, many users who are not rightfully licensed to use the software may use the software, while being either unaware of the need for a license or willfully ignoring the need for a license. For example, in some high piracy regions, a user is able to purchase unauthorized disks containing copies of computer software. Because the user has purchased a disk containing the software, there is an implication, at least to the user, that the software is properly licensed, regardless of whether or not a proper license has actually been procured. This pirated software may be run on any appropriate computer without the user procuring a license to use that software. It would be desirable to prevent the use of software without a proper license and to separate the delivery of the license to use software from the delivery of the media containing the software. Some conventional methods prevent unauthorized distribution of a computer-executable program by encrypting the entire file containing the program. The encrypted file is then transmitted to an intended user who has been given the proper decryption means. After the file has been transmitted, the user has to decrypt the file before installing and using the program. However, once the program has been decrypted, the program is no longer protected from unauthorized use. An effective and efficient system and method for controlling illegal distribution and licensing of computer software eludes those skilled in the art. | <SOH> SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION <EOH>The present invention is directed to licensing the use of software on a particular central processing unit (CPU) residing on a computing device. A code is provided to the computing device (either directly or via a user), which in turn, unlocks the appropriate software (or features of software) residing on, or being used in conjunction with, the computing device. For example, the software may be resident on a computer-readable medium, such as a disk, that has been provided to the computing device. The unlocking code may be provided via a website, a kiosk, a vending machine, a phone, or any other publication method or means, for example. The unlocking code may be provided directly to the computing device running the software or may be entered manually by a user or may be provided via a storage device, such as a memory unit that is plugged into or otherwise attached to the computing device. The unlocking code may unlock the entire software application, or just particular features of the software, such as a higher level of a game or a working version of an application that was otherwise provided as a demo version. The code desirably may be based on a unique identifier of the computing device and an identifier associated with the software seeking to be accessed. The code may be provided after payment or another condition is satisfied. The code is only usable for the particular computing device. Therefore, the software that has been unlocked cannot be used on another computing device. It should be desirably hard to change the identifier for such a computing device. Additional features and advantages of the invention will be made apparent from the following detailed description of illustrative embodiments that proceeds with reference to the accompanying drawings. | 20040901 | 20090623 | 20060316 | 66890.0 | H04N716 | 0 | FIELDS, COURTNEY D | LICENSING THE USE OF SOFTWARE ON A PARTICULAR CPU | UNDISCOUNTED | 0 | ACCEPTED | H04N | 2,004 |
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10,931,920 | ACCEPTED | Data displaying apparatus and method | A data displaying apparatus that can efficiently display a plurality of data on a relatively small display screen. The data displaying apparatus includes a user input unit for outputting a data display request signal if there is a data display request from a user, a memory unit for storing a plurality of data and a plurality of identification information corresponding respectively thereto, a display unit, and a controller. The controller controls the display unit to display the plurality of data. Also, the controller controls the display unit to display the plurality of identification information if the data display request signal is inputted, display data corresponding to specific identification information via a first layer if the specific identification information is selected from among the plurality of identification information, and enlargedly display a specific area of the specific information via a second layer if the specific area is selected from the specific identification information via the first layer. | 1. A data displaying apparatus comprising: a user input unit for outputting a data-display request signal if there is a data-display request from a user; a memory unit for storing a plurality of data and a plurality of identification information corresponding to said plurality of data; a display unit for displaying the plurality of data; and a controller for controlling said display unit to display the plurality of identification information if said data display request signal is inputted by the user, display data corresponding to specific identification information via a first layer if the specific identification information is selected from among the plurality of identification information, and display a specific area of the specific information in an enlarged form via a second layer if the specific area is selected from the specific identification information of the first layer. 2. The data displaying apparatus as set forth in claim 1, wherein each of said plurality of identification information is an icon. 3. The data displaying apparatus as set forth in claim 1, wherein each of said plurality of identification information is a file name. 4. The data displaying apparatus as set forth in claim 1, wherein each of said plurality of identification information is a folder name. 5. The data displaying apparatus as set forth in claim 1, wherein the first layer translucently displays the data corresponding to the specific identification information. 6. The data displaying apparatus as set forth in claim 2, wherein the first layer translucently displays the data corresponding to the specific identification information. 7. The data displaying apparatus as set forth in claim 3, wherein the first layer translucently displays the data corresponding to the specific identification information. 8. The data displaying apparatus as set forth in claim 4, wherein the first layer translucently displays the data corresponding to the specific identification information. 9. A data displaying method comprising: displaying a plurality of identification information corresponding respectively to a plurality of data if a data-display request signal is inputted by a user; displaying specific data corresponding to a specific one of the plurality of identification information via a first layer if the specific identification information is selected from the plurality of identification information; and enlarging and displaying a specific area of the specific data of the first layer via a second layer if the specific area is selected from the specific data displayed via the first layer, wherein the second layer enlarges the specific area. 10. The data displaying method as set forth in claim 9, wherein each of the plurality of identification information is an icon. 11. The data displaying method as set forth in claim 9, wherein each of the plurality of identification information is a file name. 12. The data displaying method as set forth in claim 9, wherein each of the plurality of identification information is a folder name. 13. The data displaying method as set forth in claim 9, wherein the first layer translucently displays the data corresponding to the specific identification information. 14. The data displaying method as set forth in claim 10, wherein the first layer translucently displays the data corresponding to the specific identification information. 15. The data displaying method as set forth in claim 11, wherein the first layer translucently displays the data corresponding to the specific identification information. 16. The data displaying method as set forth in claim 12, wherein the first layer translucently displays the data corresponding to the specific identification information. 17. A data displaying apparatus comprising: a user input unit for outputting a data-display request signal if there is a data display request from a user; a memory unit for storing a plurality of data and a plurality of identification information corresponding to said plurality of data; a display unit for displaying the plurality of data; and a controller for controlling said display unit in response to the data-display request by the user to display the plurality of identification information, said display unit further displaying data corresponding to specific identification information via a first layer if the specific identification information is selected from among the plurality of identification information, and displaying a specific area of the specific information in an enlarged form via a second layer if the specific area is selected from the specific identification information of the first layer. | PRIORITY This application claims priority to an application entitled “DATA DISPLAYING APPARATUS AND METHOD”, filed in the Korean Intellectual Property Office on Mar. 3, 2004 and assigned Serial No. 2004-14436, the contents of which are hereby incorporated herein by reference. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a data-displaying apparatus and method, and more particularly to a data-displaying apparatus and method for efficiently displaying a plurality of data on a relatively small-sized display screen. 2. Description of the Related Art As science and technology advance, various kinds of personal terminals such as a mobile communication terminals, PDAs (Personal Digital Assistant) and the like (e.g., PALM™ PILOTS) have appeared on the market. Such personal terminals are relatively small so that users of the personal terminals can easily carry them and compute and send, and receive various information therethrough. The display screens of many existing personal terminals are necessarily small because the personal terminals are themselves small. Moreover, these small display screens are usually incapable of simultaneously displaying a plurality of data thereon, and, if they do, the display of the data is unduly compressed. Therefore, the prior art personal terminal having a small sized display screen has the disadvantage of not being able to efficiently display a plurality of data thereon. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide a data displaying apparatus and method for efficiently displaying a plurality of identification information data, such as, icons, filenames, file directories, pictures, etc. on a small display screen if there is a data-display request from a user, and providing information corresponding to the data-display request to the user therethrough. It is another object of the present invention to provide a data-display apparatus and method for displaying a plurality of identification information corresponding respectively to a plurality of data on a small display screen and if there is a data-display request from a user, translucently displaying data corresponding to a specific one of the plurality of identification information if the specific identification information is selected from among the plurality of identification information, enlarging a specific area of the translucently displayed data if the specific area is selected from among the translucently displayed data, and displaying the enlarged specific area, so that the user can easily see the plurality of data. In accordance with an aspect of the present invention, the above and other objects can be accomplished by the provision of a data displaying apparatus and method including a user input unit for outputting a data display request signal if there is a data-display request from a user, a memory unit for storing a plurality of data and a plurality of identification information corresponding respectively thereto, a display unit for displaying the plurality of data, and a controller for controlling the display unit to display the plurality of identification information if the data-display request signal is inputted by the user input unit at the request of the user, displaying data corresponding to specific identification information displayed via a first layer if the specific identification information is selected from among the plurality of identification information, and displaying in an enlarged form a specific area of the desired specific information of the first layer via a second layer if the specific area is selected from the specific identification information of the first layer.. In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a data displaying method including displaying a plurality of identification information corresponding respectively to a plurality of data if a data-display request signal is inputted by a user, displaying specific data corresponding to a specific one of the plurality of identification information via a first layer if the specific identification information is selected from the plurality of identification information, and displaying a specific area of the specific data via a second layer if the specific area is selected from the specific data displayed via the first layer, wherein the second layer enlarges the specific area. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The above and other objects, features and other advantages of the present invention will be more clearly understood from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which: FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a data displaying apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 2 is a flow chart illustrating a data displaying method according to an embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 3A is a view illustrating a base layer window showing specific identification information; FIGS. 3B and 3C are views illustrating first and second layers superimposed upon a base layer window showing specific identification information according to an embodiment of the present invention; and FIG. 4 is a view illustrating an exemplary data display screen shot according to the embodiment of the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the annexed drawings. In the following description, a detailed description of known functions and configurations incorporated herein will be omitted when it may make the subject matter of the present invention unclear. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a data displaying apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. The data displaying apparatus comprises a controller 102, a user input unit 104, a memory unit 106 and a display unit 108. The controller 102 controls each element of the data displaying apparatus. Namely, the controller 102 controls the display unit 108 to display a plurality of identification information corresponding respectively to a plurality of data if there is a data-display request signal from a user. Moreover, if specific identification information is selected from among the plurality of identification information, the controller 102 controls the display unit 108 to display data corresponding to the specific identification information via a first layer thereon. Additionally, if a specific area is selected by the user from among the data displayed in the first layer, the controller 102 controls the display unit 108 to display in an enlarged form the specific area via a second layer. The user input unit 104 may be implemented with, for example, a touch panel, a keypad, or other known user input system or methods to output a signal corresponding to a touch or key input from a user. For example, if there is a touch or key input from the user corresponding to a data display request, the user input unit 104 outputs a data-display request signal. The memory unit 106 includes a ROM (Read-Only Memory) for storing an operation program, an EEPROM (Electrically Erasable Programmable ROM) and a RAM (Random Access Memory). The memory unit 106 stores a plurality of data and a plurality of identification information corresponding respectively thereto. Here, each of the plurality of identification information may be visually displayed by an icon, picture, a file name, a folder name, or other visual element. The display unit 108 can be implemented with, for example, a LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) device or other suitable display device. The display unit displays a plurality of data as determined by the controller 102. For example, when commanded to do so by the controller 102, the display unit displays a plurality of identification information which corresponds respectively to the plurality of data which corresponds to specific identification information via a first layer and a specific area of the specific information displayed in the first layer via a second layer. Here, the specific area is displayed in enlarged form in the second layer. FIG. 2 is a flow chart illustrating a data displaying method according to an embodiment of the present invention. At step 10, the controller 102 determines whether there is a data-display request from a user. If there is the data-display request via the user input unit 104, the controller 102 controls the display unit 108 to display a plurality of identification information corresponding respectively to a plurality of data stored in the memory unit 106, at step 20. For example, with reference to FIG. 3A, the controller 102 controls the display unit 108 to display the plurality of identification information such as first to ninth identification information on a user interface screen 50 as shown in FIG. 4. Here, each of the plurality of identification information may be implemented with an icon, a file name, a folder name, etc. After the display unit displays the plurality of identification information (in the base layer 51), the controller 102 determines whether specific identification information is selected from the plurality of identification information, at step 30. If the specific identification information is selected, the controller 102 controls the display unit 108 to display data corresponding to the selected specific identification information via a first layer, at step 40. If first identification information 52, (as shown in FIG. 3A) is selected from among first to ninth identification information, the controller 102 controls the display unit 108 to display data corresponding thereto via a first layer 54, as shown in FIG. 3B. Here, the corresponding data is translucently displayed via the first layer 54 which is superimposed upon the base layer 51. After displaying the corresponding data, the controller 102, at step 53, determines whether a specific area of the first layer 54 is selected by the user. If the specific area is selected from the data displayed via the first layer 54, the controller 102 controls the display unit 108 to enlarge and display the selected specific area via a second layer 56, at step 60. For example, as shown in FIG. 3C, if a specific area of the first layer 54 is selected, the controller 102 controls the display unit 108 to display the second layer 56 enlarging the selected specific area, overlapping the first layer 54. FIG. 4 is a view illustrating an exemplary screen shot of the display according to an embodiment of the present invention. The data display screen shot is an example of a PDADB (Personal Digital Assistant Data Base) screen 50. As applied to a PDA, a data displaying method will be described in detailed below. If there is a data-display request from a user, the PDA displays folder names A to P on the (base layer) PDADB screen 50. Here, each of the folders 52, displayed with the letters A to P, indicates a plurality of identification information corresponding respectively to a plurality of data. For example, if folder F is selected from among the folders, the PDA displays data corresponding to identification information indicated by the folder F via a first layer 54. Here, the first layer 54 is translucently displayed upon the base layer. Also, if a specific area is selected among the corresponding data displayed via the first layer 54, the PDA displays a second layer 56 enlarging the selected specific area on the first layer 54. As described above, the data displaying apparatus and method according to the present invention can efficiently display a plurality of data on a relatively small-sized display screen if there is a data-display request from a user. More specifically, the data displaying apparatus and method according to the present invention can display a plurality of identification information corresponding respectively to a plurality of data on a relatively small-sized display screen if there is a data-display request from a user. Also, if specific identification information is selected from among the plurality of identification information, the data displaying apparatus translucently displays data corresponding to the selected specific identification information on the relatively small-sized display screen. Further, if a specific area is selected from the translucently displayed data which is displayed in the first layer, the data displaying apparatus enlarges the specific area and displays it on the relatively small-sized display screen (i.e., the second layer). Accordingly, the user can easily see and interact with the plurality of data on the relatively small display screen. Although the preferred embodiments of the present invention have been disclosed for illustrative purposes, those skilled in the art will appreciate that various modifications, additions and substitutions are possible, without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention as disclosed in the accompanying claims. | <SOH> BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION <EOH>1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a data-displaying apparatus and method, and more particularly to a data-displaying apparatus and method for efficiently displaying a plurality of data on a relatively small-sized display screen. 2. Description of the Related Art As science and technology advance, various kinds of personal terminals such as a mobile communication terminals, PDAs (Personal Digital Assistant) and the like (e.g., PALM™ PILOTS) have appeared on the market. Such personal terminals are relatively small so that users of the personal terminals can easily carry them and compute and send, and receive various information therethrough. The display screens of many existing personal terminals are necessarily small because the personal terminals are themselves small. Moreover, these small display screens are usually incapable of simultaneously displaying a plurality of data thereon, and, if they do, the display of the data is unduly compressed. Therefore, the prior art personal terminal having a small sized display screen has the disadvantage of not being able to efficiently display a plurality of data thereon. | <SOH> SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION <EOH>It is an object of the present invention to provide a data displaying apparatus and method for efficiently displaying a plurality of identification information data, such as, icons, filenames, file directories, pictures, etc. on a small display screen if there is a data-display request from a user, and providing information corresponding to the data-display request to the user therethrough. It is another object of the present invention to provide a data-display apparatus and method for displaying a plurality of identification information corresponding respectively to a plurality of data on a small display screen and if there is a data-display request from a user, translucently displaying data corresponding to a specific one of the plurality of identification information if the specific identification information is selected from among the plurality of identification information, enlarging a specific area of the translucently displayed data if the specific area is selected from among the translucently displayed data, and displaying the enlarged specific area, so that the user can easily see the plurality of data. In accordance with an aspect of the present invention, the above and other objects can be accomplished by the provision of a data displaying apparatus and method including a user input unit for outputting a data display request signal if there is a data-display request from a user, a memory unit for storing a plurality of data and a plurality of identification information corresponding respectively thereto, a display unit for displaying the plurality of data, and a controller for controlling the display unit to display the plurality of identification information if the data-display request signal is inputted by the user input unit at the request of the user, displaying data corresponding to specific identification information displayed via a first layer if the specific identification information is selected from among the plurality of identification information, and displaying in an enlarged form a specific area of the desired specific information of the first layer via a second layer if the specific area is selected from the specific identification information of the first layer.. In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a data displaying method including displaying a plurality of identification information corresponding respectively to a plurality of data if a data-display request signal is inputted by a user, displaying specific data corresponding to a specific one of the plurality of identification information via a first layer if the specific identification information is selected from the plurality of identification information, and displaying a specific area of the specific data via a second layer if the specific area is selected from the specific data displayed via the first layer, wherein the second layer enlarges the specific area. | 20040901 | 20070619 | 20050908 | 66771.0 | 1 | LABAZE, EDWYN | DATA DISPLAYING APPARATUS AND METHOD | UNDISCOUNTED | 0 | ACCEPTED | 2,004 |
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10,931,947 | ACCEPTED | Flagpole reflectors for laser range finders | A system and method are provided for determining a distance to a target. The method includes sending light, at a first time, to a light reflector mounted in a reflector device, receiving light reflected from the light reflector at a second time, and determining the distance to the reflector device using the difference between the first time and the second time. The reflector device has a first lateral surface, a second lateral surface parallel to the first lateral surface, and a rod surface extending from the first lateral surface to the second lateral surface. The reflector device includes sockets arranged in the rod surface with a light reflector mounted in each socket. The sockets may be arranged in a plurality of rows with possibly a plurality of sockets in each row. The reflector device may be mounted as an insert to or at the top of a target to determine the distance to the target. | 1. A method for determining a distance to a target, the method comprising: sending light at a first time from a device to a reflector device, the reflector device mounted to a pole, wherein the reflector device comprises: a first lateral surface having a first exterior peripheral edge; a second lateral surface having a second exterior peripheral edge; a rod surface extending from the first exterior peripheral edge to the second exterior peripheral edge; two to four sockets, the two to four sockets formed in the rod surface and arranged in a plurality of rows; and a light reflector mounted in one of the two to four sockets, the light reflector receiving a portion of the light and reflecting the received portion of the light back to the device; receiving light reflected from the light reflector at the device at a second time; and determining the distance from the device to the reflector device using the first time and the second time. 2. A device for reflecting laser light back to a laser range finder, the device comprising: a first lateral surface having a first exterior peripheral edge; a second lateral surface having a second exterior peripheral edge; a rod surface extending from the first exterior peripheral edge to the second exterior peripheral edge; two to four sockets, the two to four sockets formed in the rod surface and arranged in a plurality of rows; and a light reflector mounted in each of the two to four sockets, whereby a portion of light directed at the device from a laser is reflected back to the laser by at least one light reflector. 3. The device of claim 2, further comprising a first mounting socket, the first mounting socket extending from the first lateral surface, wherein a first stem at an end of a first pole is capable of insertion in the first mounting socket. 4. The device of claim 3, wherein an interior surface of the first mounting socket is threaded. 5. The device of claim 3, further comprising a second mounting socket, the second mounting socket extending from the second lateral surface, wherein a first stem at an end of a second pole is capable of insertion in the second mounting socket. 6. The device of claim 5, wherein an interior surface of the second mounting socket is threaded. 7. The device of claim 2, further comprising a first stem, the first stem extending from the first lateral surface in a direction opposite the rod surface, wherein the first stem is capable of insertion in a first socket at an end of a first pole. 8. The device of claim 7, wherein an exterior surface of the first stem is threaded. 9. The device of claim 7, further comprising a second stem, the second stem extending from the second lateral surface in a direction opposite the rod surface, wherein the second stem is capable of insertion in a first socket at an end of a second pole. 10. The device of claim 9, wherein an exterior surface of the second stem is threaded. 11. A device for reflecting laser light back to a laser range finder, the device comprising: a pole; and a reflector device, the reflector device mounted to the pole and comprising: a first lateral surface having a first exterior peripheral edge; a second lateral surface having a second exterior peripheral edge; a rod surface extending from the first exterior peripheral edge to the second exterior peripheral edge; two to four sockets, the two to four sockets formed in the rod surface and arranged in a plurality of rows; and a light reflector mounted in each of the two to four sockets, whereby a portion of light directed at the device from a laser is reflected back to the laser by at least one light reflector. 12. A system for determining a distance to a target, the system comprising: a laser range finder, the laser range finder configured to: send light at a first time to a reflector device; receive a portion of the light reflected from the reflector device at a second time; and determine the distance from the laser range finder to the reflector device using the first time and the second time; a pole; and the reflector device mounted to the pole and comprising: a first lateral surface having a first exterior peripheral edge; a second lateral surface having a second exterior peripheral edge; a rod surface extending from the first exterior peripheral edge to the second exterior peripheral edge; two to four sockets, the two to four sockets formed in the rod surface and arranged in a plurality of rows; and a light reflector mounted in each of the two to four sockets, whereby a portion of the light directed at the reflector device from the laser range finder is reflected back to the laser range finder by at least one light reflector. 13. A method for determining a distance to a target, the method comprising: sending light at a first time from a device to a reflector device, the reflector device mounted to a pole, wherein the reflector device comprises: a first lateral surface having a first exterior peripheral edge; a second lateral surface having a second exterior peripheral edge; a rod surface extending from the first exterior peripheral edge to the second exterior peripheral edge; a plurality of sockets, the plurality of sockets formed in the rod surface and arranged in a plurality of rows, wherein two or more sockets are arranged in at least one row of the plurality of rows; and a light reflector mounted in one of the plurality of sockets, the light reflector receiving a portion of the light and reflecting the received portion of the light back to the device; receiving light reflected from the light reflector at the device at a second time; and determining the distance from the device to the reflector device using the first time and the second time. 14. A device for reflecting laser light back to a laser range finder, the device comprising: a first lateral surface having a first exterior peripheral edge; a second lateral surface having a second exterior peripheral edge; a rod surface extending from the first exterior peripheral edge to the second exterior peripheral edge; a plurality of sockets, the plurality of sockets formed in the rod surface and arranged in a plurality of rows, wherein two or more sockets are arranged in at least one row of the plurality of rows; and a light reflector mounted in each of the plurality of sockets, whereby a portion of light directed at the device from a laser is reflected back to the laser by at least one light reflector. 15. The device of claim 14, further comprising a first mounting socket, the first mounting socket extending from the first lateral surface, wherein a first stem at an end of a first pole is capable of insertion in the first mounting socket. 16. The device of claim 15, wherein an interior surface of the first mounting socket is threaded. 17. The device of claim 15, further comprising a second mounting socket, the second mounting socket extending from the second lateral surface, wherein a first stem at an end of a second pole is capable of insertion in the second mounting socket. 18. The device of claim 17, wherein an interior surface of the second mounting socket is threaded. 19. The device of claim 14, further comprising a first stem, the first stem extending from the first lateral surface in a direction opposite the rod surface, wherein the first stem is capable of insertion in a first socket at an end of a first pole. 20. The device of claim 19, wherein an exterior surface of the first stem is threaded. 21. The device of claim 19, further comprising a second stem, the second stem extending from the second lateral surface in a direction opposite the rod surface, wherein the second stem is capable of insertion in a first socket at an end of a second pole. 22. The device of claim 21, wherein an exterior surface of the second stem is threaded. 23. A device for reflecting laser light back to a laser range finder, the device comprising: a pole; and a reflector device, the reflector device mounted to the pole and comprising: a first lateral surface having a first exterior peripheral edge; a second lateral surface having a second exterior peripheral edge; a rod surface extending from the first exterior peripheral edge to the second exterior peripheral edge; a plurality of sockets, the plurality of sockets formed in the rod surface and arranged in a plurality of rows, wherein two or more sockets are arranged in at least one row of the plurality of rows; and a light reflector mounted in each of the plurality of sockets, whereby a portion of light directed at the device from a laser is reflected back to the laser by at least one light reflector. 24. A system for determining a distance to a device, the system comprising: a laser range finder, the laser range finder configured to: send light at a first time to a reflector device; receive a portion of the light reflected from the reflector device at a second time; and determine the distance from the laser range finder to the reflector device using the first time and the second time; a pole; and the reflector device mounted to the pole and comprising: a first lateral surface having a first exterior peripheral edge; a second lateral surface having a second exterior peripheral edge; a rod surface extending from the first exterior peripheral edge to the second exterior peripheral edge; a plurality of sockets, the plurality of sockets formed in the rod surface and arranged in a plurality of rows, wherein two or more sockets are arranged in at least one row of the plurality of rows; and a light reflector mounted in one of the plurality of sockets, whereby a portion of the light directed at the reflector device from the laser range finder is reflected back to the laser range finder by at least one light reflector. | FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention is related to systems for determining a distance to an object. More specifically, the present invention relates to a reflector placed at a desired location, and the use of laser light to calculate a distance from a laser light source to the reflector location. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Laser light can be used to measure the distance from the laser light source to a target object. Powerful lasers can measure distances of hundreds of millions of miles. Much less powerful lasers, however, are useful in measuring much shorter distances. Short range lasers can measure distances up to 300 yards and are much smaller in size, relatively inexpensive, and less hazardous. To measure distance, a laser transmits several pulses of light toward an intended target. The light is reflected from the target and is received by a receptor. A calculation is made to determine the distance to the target based on the elapsed travel time between the transmission of the pulse of light and the reception of the reflected pulse of light. When the target does not reflect sufficient laser light back to the receptor, errors in the distance measurement may result or a complete failure to measure any distance to the target may result. Thus, there is a need for an improved method and a system for accurately and for reliably measuring the distance to a known target. Further, there is a need for an improved method and system for measuring the distance to a known target that is simple to use. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An exemplary embodiment of the invention relates to a method for determining a distance to a target. The method includes, but is not limited to, sending light at a first time from a device to a reflector device, receiving light reflected from a light reflector at the device at a second time, and determining the distance from the device to the reflector device using the first time and the second time. The reflector device mounts to a pole. The reflector device includes, but is not limited to, a first lateral surface having a first exterior peripheral edge, a second lateral surface having a second exterior peripheral edge, a rod surface extending from the first exterior peripheral edge to the second exterior peripheral edge, two to four sockets, and the light reflector mounted in one of the two to four sockets. The two to four sockets are formed in the rod surface and arranged in a plurality of rows. The light reflector receives a portion of the light and reflects the received portion of the light back to the device. An exemplary embodiment of the invention relates to a device for reflecting laser light back to a laser range finder. The device includes, but is not limited to, a first lateral surface having a first exterior peripheral edge, a second lateral surface having a second exterior peripheral edge, a rod surface extending from the first exterior peripheral edge to the second exterior peripheral edge, two to four sockets, and a light reflector mounted in each of the two to four sockets. The two to four sockets are formed in the rod surface and arranged in a plurality of rows. A portion of light directed at the device from a laser is reflected back to the laser by at least one light reflector. Another exemplary embodiment of the invention relates to a device for reflecting laser light back to a laser range finder. The device includes, but is not limited to, a pole and a reflector device. The reflector device mounts to the pole. The reflector device includes, but is not limited to, a first lateral surface having a first exterior peripheral edge, a second lateral surface having a second exterior peripheral edge, a rod surface extending from the first exterior peripheral edge to the second exterior peripheral edge, two to four sockets, and a light reflector mounted in each of the two to four sockets. The two to four sockets are formed in the rod surface and arranged in a plurality of rows. A portion of light directed at the device from a laser is reflected back to the laser by at least one light reflector. Still another exemplary embodiment of the invention relates to a system for determining a distance to a target. The system includes, but is not limited to, a laser range finder, a pole, and a reflector device. The laser range finder is configured to send light at a first time to the reflector device, to receive a portion of the light reflected from the reflector device at a second time, and to determine the distance from the laser range finder to the reflector device using the first time and the second time. The reflector device mounts to the pole. The reflector device includes, but is not limited to, a first lateral surface having a first exterior peripheral edge, a second lateral surface having a second exterior peripheral edge, a rod surface extending from the first exterior peripheral edge to the second exterior peripheral edge, two to four sockets, and a light reflector mounted in each of the two to four sockets. The two to four sockets are formed in the rod surface and arranged in a plurality of rows. A portion of the light directed at the reflector device from the laser range finder is reflected back to the laser range finder by at least one light reflector. An exemplary embodiment of the invention relates to a method for determining a distance to a target. The method includes, but is not limited to, sending light at a first time from a device to a reflector device, receiving light reflected from a light reflector at the device at a second time, and determining the distance from the device to the reflector device using the first time and the second time. The reflector device mounts to a pole. The reflector device includes, but is not limited to, a first lateral surface having a first exterior peripheral edge, a second lateral surface having a second exterior peripheral edge, a rod surface extending from the first exterior peripheral edge to the second exterior peripheral edge, a plurality of sockets, and the light reflector mounted in one of the plurality of sockets. The plurality of sockets are formed in the rod surface and arranged in a plurality of rows. Two or more sockets are arranged in at least one row of the plurality of rows. The light reflector receives a portion of the light and reflects the received portion of the light back to the device. An exemplary embodiment of the invention relates to a device for reflecting laser light back to a laser range finder. The device includes, but is not limited to, a first lateral surface having a first exterior peripheral edge, a second lateral surface having a second exterior peripheral edge, a rod surface extending from the first exterior peripheral edge to the second exterior peripheral edge, a plurality of sockets, and a light reflector mounted in each of the plurality of sockets. The plurality of sockets are formed in the rod surface and arranged in a plurality of rows. Two or more sockets are arranged in at least one row of the plurality of rows. A portion of light directed at the device from a laser is reflected back to the laser by at least one light reflector. Another exemplary embodiment of the invention relates to a device for reflecting laser light back to a laser range finder. The device includes, but is not limited to, a pole and a reflector device. The reflector device mounts to the pole. The reflector device includes, but is not limited to, a first lateral surface having a first exterior peripheral edge, a second lateral surface having a second exterior peripheral edge, a rod surface extending from the first exterior peripheral edge to the second exterior peripheral edge, a plurality of sockets, and a light reflector mounted in each of the plurality of sockets. The plurality of sockets are formed in the rod surface and arranged in a plurality of rows. Two or more sockets are arranged in at least one row of the plurality of rows. A portion of light directed at the device from a laser is reflected back to the laser by at least one light reflector. Still another exemplary embodiment of the invention relates to a system for determining a distance to a target. The system includes, but is not limited to, a laser range finder, a pole, and a reflector device. The laser range finder is configured to send light at a first time to the reflector device, to receive a portion of the light reflected from the reflector device at a second time, and to determine the distance from the laser range finder to the reflector device using the first time and the second time. The reflector device mounts to the pole. The reflector device includes, but is not limited to, a first lateral surface having a first exterior peripheral edge, a second lateral surface having a second exterior peripheral edge, a rod surface extending from the first exterior peripheral edge to the second exterior peripheral edge, a plurality of sockets, and a light reflector mounted in each of the plurality of sockets. The plurality of sockets are formed in the rod surface and arranged in a plurality of rows. Two or more sockets are arranged in at least one row of the plurality of rows. A portion of the light directed at the reflector device from the laser range finder is reflected back to the laser range finder by at least one light reflector. Other principal features and advantages of the invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon review of the following drawings, the detailed description, and the appended claims. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The exemplary embodiments will hereafter be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein like numerals will denote like elements. The objects shown in the figures may not be drawn to the same scale. FIG. 1 is an overview diagram of a distance measuring system in accordance with an exemplary embodiment including a first example reflector device. FIG. 2 is a functional flow diagram of operations performed in the distance measuring system of FIG. 1 in accordance with an exemplary embodiment. FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating the structure of an example reflector of the distance measuring system of FIG. 1. FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a laser light reception and reflection path for the example reflector of the distance measuring system of FIG. 3. FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a first example reflector device of the distance measuring system of FIG. 1. FIG. 6 is a top view of the first example reflector device of FIG. 5. FIG. 7 is a bottom view of the first example reflector device of FIG. 5. FIG. 8 is a side view of the first example reflector device of FIG. 5. FIG. 9 is a side view of an example pole for mounting the first example reflector device of FIG. 5. FIG. 10 is a side view of a second example reflector device mounted to the example pole of FIG. 9. FIG. 11 is a first side view of the first example reflector device of FIG. 5. FIG. 12 is a second side view of the first example reflector device of FIG. 11 with the first example device rotated approximately 90 degrees in a counter clockwise direction as viewed from the top of the first example reflector device of FIG. 11. FIG. 13 is a third side view of the first example reflector device of FIG. 11 with the first example device rotated approximately 180 degrees in a counter clockwise direction as viewed from the top of the first example reflector device of FIG. 11. FIG. 14 is a fourth side view of the first example reflector device of FIG. 11 with the first example device rotated approximately 270 degrees in a counter clockwise direction as viewed from the top of the first example reflector device of FIG. 11. FIG. 15 is a perspective view of the second example reflector device of FIG. 10 for mounting as an insert in a pole as depicted in FIG. 1. FIG. 16 is a bottom view of the insert of FIG. 15. FIG. 17 is a top view of the insert of FIG. 15. FIG. 18 is a perspective view of a third example reflector device. FIG. 19 is a side view of the third example reflector device of FIG. 18. FIG. 20 is a side view of the third example reflector device of FIG. 19 with the third example reflector device rotated approximately 72 degrees in a clockwise direction as viewed from the top of the third example reflector device of FIG. 19. FIG. 21 is a side view of the third example reflector device of FIG. 19 with the third example reflector device rotated approximately 144 degrees in a clockwise direction as viewed from the top of the third example reflector device of FIG. 19 and mounted as an insert. FIG. 22 is a side view of the third example reflector device of FIG. 19 with the third example reflector device rotated approximately 216 degrees in a clockwise direction as viewed from the top of the third example reflector device of FIG. 19 and mounted as an insert. FIG. 23 is a side view of the third example reflector device of FIG. 19 with the third example reflector device rotated approximately 288 degrees in a clockwise direction as viewed from the top of the third example reflector device of FIG. 19 and mounted as an insert. FIG. 24 is a side view of a fourth example reflector device mounted as an insert. FIG. 25 is a side view of the fourth example reflector device of FIG. 24 with the fourth example reflector device rotated approximately 72 degrees in a clockwise direction as viewed from the top of the fourth example reflector device of FIG. 24 and mounted as an insert. FIG. 26 is a side view of the fourth example reflector device of FIG. 24 with the fourth example reflector device rotated approximately 144 degrees in a clockwise direction as viewed from the top of the fourth example reflector device of FIG. 24 and mounted as an insert. FIG. 27 is a side view of the fourth example reflector device of FIG. 24 with the fourth example reflector device rotated approximately 216 degrees in a clockwise direction as viewed from the top of the fourth example reflector device of FIG. 24 and mounted as an insert. FIG. 28 is a side view of the fourth example reflector device of FIG. 24 with the fourth example reflector device rotated approximately 288 degrees in a clockwise direction as viewed from the top of the fourth example reflector device of FIG. 24 and mounted as an insert. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS With reference to FIG. 1, a distance measuring system 50 that includes, but is not limited to, a handheld laser range finder 52, a pole 54, and a reflector device 56 is shown in an exemplary embodiment. The laser range finder 52 includes, but is not limited to, an aiming light source 58, a laser light source 60, a laser light receptor 62, a measurement button 64, and a handle 66. The aiming light source 58 transmits a light, for example a red light, toward a current aiming point so that the user can visually identify where the laser range finder 52 is currently aimed. The laser light source 60 transmits laser light toward the current aiming point when the measurement button 64 is depressed by the user. The laser light may be transmitted in a series of laser light pulses. The laser light source 60 may be a Class 1 laser as known to those skilled in the art. A Class 1 laser is considered safe based upon current medical knowledge. The laser light receptor 62 receives laser light reflected back toward the laser range finder 52 from the current aiming point. The handle 66 provides the user with a grasping point for the laser range finder 52 and provides access to the measurement button 64 while keeping the hands of the user away from the laser light source 60 and the laser light receptor 62. The handle 66 may be held in the palm of the user's hand. In the exemplary embodiment of FIG. 1, the reflector pole 54 includes, but is not limited to, a first end 70, a second end 72, a first pole 74, a second pole 76, and an upright nut 78. The first end 70 provides a surface to support the reflector pole 54 upright, for example, in a flagpole stand placed at the bottom of a golf hole. The upright nut 78 may be placed near the first end 70 to provide additional support for the reflector pole 54, for example, when the first end 70 of the reflector pole 54 is placed in the golf hole. The second end 72 is opposite the first end 70. The first pole 74 extends from the first end 70 to a first mounting end 80. The second pole 76 extends from a second mounting end 82 to the second end 72. In the exemplary embodiment of FIG. 1, the reflector device 56 is mounted to the reflector pole 54 between the first mounting end 80 of the first pole 74 and the second mounting end 82 of the second pole 76. As used in this disclosure, the term “mount” includes join, unite, connect, associate, insert, hang, hold, affix, attach, fasten, bind, paste, secure, bolt, screw, rivet, solder, weld, and other like terms. The reflector device 56 may be mounted in the reflector pole 54 as shown in FIG. 1 or may be mounted to the second end 72 of the reflector pole 54 as described with reference to FIG. 10. The reflector device 56 generally should be mounted a sufficient distance above the first end 70 to allow a laser range finder 52 to aim at the reflector device 56 from the desired distance without obstruction from the ground. Additionally, the reflector device 56 should be mounted a sufficient distance above or below any other obstructions that may be attached to the reflector pole 54. For example, the reflector pole 54 may have a flag attached near the second end 72. If so, the reflector device 56 should be mounted such that the flag will not cover the reflector device 56. The reflector device 56 may include, but is not limited to, a first socket 94, a second socket 96, a third socket 98, a fourth socket 100 (not shown in FIG. 1), a first light reflector 102, a second light reflector 104, a third light reflector 106, and a fourth light reflector 108 (not shown in FIG. 1). The first socket 94, the second socket 96, the third socket 98, and the fourth socket 100 have a size and shape sufficient to hold the first light reflector 102, the second light reflector 104, the third light reflector 106, and the fourth light reflector 108, respectively. The first light reflector 102 is mounted in the first socket 94. The second light reflector 104 is mounted in the second socket 96. The third light reflector 106 is mounted in the third socket 98. The fourth light reflector 108 is mounted in the fourth socket 100. With reference to the functional flow diagram of FIG. 2, the operations of the distance measuring system 50 are described. Additional, fewer, or different operations may be performed depending on the embodiment. A user aims the laser range finder 52 at the reflector device 56 mounted in the reflector pole 54 using the aiming light source 58. The user depresses the measurement button 64 to determine the distance from the laser range finder 52 to the reflector device 56. In response and at operation 110, the laser light source 60 transmits pulses of laser light toward the reflector device 56 at a first time. At least one of the light reflectors 102,104, 106, 108 of the reflector device 56 receives the transmitted laser light pulses. The light reflector receiving the transmitted laser light pulses reflects the laser light back toward the laser light receptor 62. The laser light receptor 62 receives the reflected laser light from the light reflector at operation 112 at a second time. At operation 114, the laser range finder 52 determines the distance from the laser range finder 52 to the reflector device 56 based on the time difference between the first time and the second time. The distance equals the time difference between the first time and the second time divided by two and further divided by the speed of light. With reference to FIG. 3, a corner cube reflector 130 is shown. The corner cube reflector 130 is cut from a corner 132 of a cube of glass 134. The corner cube reflector 130 has three mutually orthogonal reflecting faces 136, 138, 140 and an entrance/exit face 142. With reference to FIG. 4, a ray of light 144 entering the entrance/exit face 142 undergoes three internal reflections, one reflection from each of the three mutually orthogonal reflecting faces 136, 138, 140. After the third reflection, a ray of light 146 exits the entrance/exit face 142 in the opposite direction of the original incoming ray of light 144. The retro-reflective behavior of the corner cube reflector 130 is independent of the orientation angle between the corner cube reflector and the ray of light incident on the entrance/exit face 142. The retro-reflective behavior depends only on the accuracy of the squareness of the corner 132. As known to those skilled in the art, corner cube reflectors may also be known as a corner cube, a trihedral retro-reflector, a trihedral prism, a corner cube prism, and/or a corner cube retro-reflector. The light reflectors 102, 104, 106, 108 may be corner cube reflectors formed from glass or other similarly reflective material. Use of the corner cube reflector 130 for the light reflectors 102, 104, 106, 108 increases the amount of laser light that is reflected back toward the laser light receptor 62 by reducing the amount of laser light that would otherwise be scattered in directions other than back toward the laser range finder 52. As a result, the laser range finder provides a more accurate and reliable measurement of the distance. With reference to FIG. 5, a perspective view of the reflector device 56 is shown. The reflector device 56 may further include, a first lateral surface 90, a rod surface 91, and a second lateral surface 92 (not shown in FIG. 5). The first lateral surface 90 has a first exterior peripheral edge 93. The first exterior peripheral edge 93 defines a shape having a first center 108 shown in FIG. 6. The shape may be any shape including, but not limited to, circular, square, triangular, rectangular, hexagonal, etc. The second lateral surface 92 has a second exterior peripheral edge 95. The second exterior peripheral edge 95 defines a shape having a second center 109 shown in FIG. 7. The shape may be any shape including, but not limited to, circular, square, triangular, rectangular, hexagonal, etc. The rod surface 91 extends from the first exterior peripheral edge 93 to the second exterior peripheral edge 95. The first socket 94, the second socket 96, the third socket 98, and the fourth socket 100 are formed in the rod surface 91 and arranged in a plurality of rows. In the exemplary embodiment, sockets in a row have a common distance from the first center 108 to a center of the socket 94, 96, 98, 100. Sockets in a row may also have a common vertical distance from the first exterior peripheral edge 93 and/or from the second exterior peripheral edge 95. As a result, the reflectors 102, 104, 106, 108 are mounted in the reflector device 56 in a vertical stack and arranged to point in a direction rotated 90 degrees from an adjacent reflector thereby providing 360 degrees of coverage relative to a center axis extending from the first center 108 to the second center 109. Thus, the laser light transmitted from the laser range finder 52 reflects from at least one reflector 102, 104, 106, 108 regardless of the pointing direction from the laser range finder 52 to the pole 54. Where a different number of light reflectors is used, the light reflectors may be separated by a different number of degrees to provide the 360 degrees of coverage. FIG. 6 shows a top view of the reflector device 56. FIG. 7 shows a bottom view of the reflector device 56. In the exemplary embodiment of FIG. 7, the second lateral surface 92 includes, but is not limited to, a mounting socket 150. The mounting socket 150 92 includes, but is not limited to, an interior surface 151 and a third lateral surface 152. The interior surface 151 extends in a generally perpendicular direction from an interior peripheral edge 154 of the second lateral surface 92 to a peripheral edge 156 of the third lateral surface 152. The mounting socket 150 may vary in depth. In an exemplary embodiment, the depth of the mounting socket 150 is approximately 0.875 inches. The interior surface 151 of the socket 150 may be threaded. The number of threads of the interior surface 151 may vary. In an exemplary embodiment, the number of threads is 24. In an alternative embodiment, the number of threads is 16. The third lateral surface 152 extends from the interior surface 151 toward the second center 109. The third lateral surface 152 may vary in size and shape. In an exemplary embodiment the third lateral surface 152 may be circular in shape and have a diameter of approximately 0.375 inches. In an alternative embodiment, the third lateral surface 152 may be conical to accommodate the second end 72 of the reflector pole 54 as shown in FIG. 1. The interior surface 151 may slope from the interior peripheral edge 154 of the second lateral surface 92 to the peripheral edge 156 at an angle less than 90 degrees as measured relative to the second lateral surface 92 pointed toward the second center 109. The reflector device 56 may be formed of aluminum or any other material capable of holding the light reflectors 102, 104, 106, 108. The reflector device 56 may be painted various colors, for example, white, yellow, black, etc. The reflector device 56 may be coated in reflective material. The dimensions of the reflector device 56 may be adjusted based on the size of the light reflectors 102, 104, 106, 108. In an exemplary embodiment, the diameter of the first lateral surface 90 is approximately 0.625 inches, and the length of the rod surface 91 is approximately 3.375 inches. The entrance/exit face 142 of the light reflectors 102, 104, 106, 108, in an exemplary embodiment, may be 12 millimeters in diameter. With reference to FIG. 8, a side view of the reflector device 56 is shown. FIG. 9 depicts a side view of a reflector pole 160 in an alternative embodiment to the reflector pole 54. The reflector pole 160 includes, but is not limited to, a first pole 162, a first end 164, a second end 166, and a stem 168. The first end 164 provides a surface to support the reflector pole 160 upright, for example, in a flagpole stand placed at the bottom of a golf hole. The second end 166 is opposite the first end 164. The first pole 162 extends from the first end 164 to the second end 166. The stem 168 extends from the second end 166 in a generally perpendicular direction. The socket 150 of the reflector device 56 may be mounted to the stem 168 of the reflector pole 160. For example, FIG. 10 depicts a reflector device 182 mounted to the stem 168 of the reflector pole 160. In an alternative embodiment, the stem 168 may have a diameter that is greater than or equal to a diameter of the second end 166. The surface of the stem 168 may be threaded. If the interior surface 151 of the socket 150 is threaded, the surface of the stem 168 generally also is threaded, and the thread of the stem 168 cooperates with the thread of the interior surface 151 of the socket 150. The stem 168 at the first end 166 of the reflector pole 160 may screw into the socket 150 of the reflector device 56. If the interior surface 151 of the socket 150 is not threaded, the reflector device 56 may slide onto the stem 168 at the first end 166 of the reflector pole 160. In an alternative embodiment, the second lateral surface 92 may include a stem that extends from the second lateral surface 92. The second end 166 of the reflector pole 160 may include a socket that accommodates the stem. The reflector device 56 may slide into the socket at the first end 166 of the reflector pole 160. The stem and the socket may be threaded. If the interior surface of the socket is threaded, the reflector device may screw into the socket at the first end 166 of the reflector pole 160. With reference to FIG. 10, the reflector device 182 may include, but is not limited to, a first exterior peripheral edge 188, a second exterior peripheral edge 190, a rod surface 191, a first socket 192, a second socket 194, a third socket 196, a fourth socket 198 (not shown in FIG. 10), a first light reflector 200, a second light reflector 202, a third light reflector 204, and a fourth light reflector 206 (not shown in FIG. 10). The first socket 192, the second socket 194, the third socket 196, and the fourth socket 198 have a size and shape sufficient to hold the first light reflector 200, the second light reflector 202, the third light reflector 204, and the fourth light reflector 206, respectively. The first light reflector 200 is mounted in the first socket 192. The second light reflector 202 is mounted in the second socket 194. The third light reflector 204 is mounted in the third socket 196. The fourth light reflector 206 is mounted in the fourth socket 198. The reflector device 182 shows an alternative arrangement of the light reflectors. FIGS. 11-14 show side views of the reflector device 56 successively rotated in 90 degree increments to show the arrangement of the first socket 94, the second socket 96, the third socket 98, and the fourth socket 100 and the first light reflector 102, the second light reflector 104, the third light reflector 106, and the fourth light reflector 108 mounted in the corresponding socket 94, 96, 98, 100 in an exemplary embodiment. FIG. 12 shows the reflector device 56 of FIG. 11 rotated 90 degrees relative to a center axis extending from the first center 108 to the second center 109 in a counter clockwise direction as viewed from the first lateral surface 90. FIG. 13 shows the reflector device 56 of FIG. 12 rotated an additional 90 degrees in the same direction. FIG. 14 shows the reflector device 56 of FIG. 13 rotated an additional 90 degrees in the same direction. In an alternative embodiment, a reflector insert 180 may be used as an insert in a reflector pole 54 in the manner depicted in FIG. 1. With reference to FIG. 15, a perspective view of the reflector insert 180 is shown. The reflector insert 180 may include, but is not limited to, the reflector device 182, a first stem 184, and a second stem 186. The reflector device 182 may further include a first lateral surface 187 and a second lateral surface 189. FIG. 16 shows a bottom view of the reflector insert 180. The first stem 184 may include, but is not limited to, a first lateral surface 210 and a first rod surface 212. The first rod surface 212 extends from the first lateral surface 187 of the reflector device 182 in a generally perpendicular direction. The first lateral surface 210 extends from the first rod surface 212 forming a closed stem that may be solid. In an alternative embodiment, the first stem 184 may further include a socket extending into the first lateral surface 210 thereby forming an open stem. FIG. 17 shows a top view of the reflector insert 180. The second stem 186 may include, but is not limited to, a second lateral surface 214 and a second rod surface 216. The second rod surface 216 extends from the second lateral surface 189 of the reflector device 182 in a generally perpendicular direction. The second lateral surface 214 extends from the second rod surface 216 forming a closed stem that may be solid. In an alternative embodiment, the second stem 186 may further include a socket extending into the second lateral surface 214 thereby forming an open stem. The reflector device 182 may be formed of aluminum or any other sufficiently rigid material. The reflector device 182 may be painted various colors, for example, white, yellow, black, etc. The reflector device 182 may be coated in reflective material. The dimensions of the reflector device 182 may be adjusted based on the size of the light reflectors 200, 202, 204, 206. The light reflectors 200, 202, 204, 206 may be corner cube reflectors. In an exemplary embodiment, the diameter of the first lateral surface 187 may be the same as the diameter of the second lateral surface 189 and may be approximately 0.625 inches. The diameter of the first lateral surface 187 may be different from the diameter of the second lateral surface 189. In an exemplary embodiment, the length of the reflector device 182 along the rod surface 191 is approximately 3.375 inches. The entrance/exit face 142 of the light reflectors 200, 202, 204, 206, in an exemplary embodiment, may be 12 millimeters in diameter. In an alternative embodiment, the diameter of the first lateral surface 210 of the first stem 184 may be greater than or equal to the diameter of the first lateral surface 187 of the reflector device 182. In an alternative embodiment, the diameter of the second lateral surface 214 of the second stem 186 may be greater than or equal to the diameter of the second lateral surface 189 of the reflector device 182. In another alternative embodiment, a reflector insert 220 may be used as an insert in a reflector pole 54 in the manner depicted in FIG. 1. With reference to FIG. 18, a perspective view of the reflector insert 220 is shown. The reflector insert 220 may include, but is not limited to, a reflector device 222, a first stem 224, and a second stem 226. The reflector device 222 may include, but is not limited to, a first lateral surface 228, a rod surface 223, a second lateral surface 230, a first socket 232 (not shown in FIG. 18), a second socket 234, a third socket 236, a fourth socket 238 (not shown in FIG. 18), a fifth socket 239 (not shown in FIG. 15), a first light reflector 240 (not shown in FIG. 18), a second light reflector 242, a third light reflector 244, a fourth light reflector 246 (not shown in FIG. 18), and a fifth light reflector 247 (not shown in FIG. 18). The first lateral surface 228 has a first exterior peripheral edge 229. The first exterior peripheral edge 229 defines a shape having a first center. The shape may be any shape including, but not limited to, circular, square, triangular, rectangular, hexagonal, etc. The second lateral surface 230 has a second exterior peripheral edge 231. The second exterior peripheral edge 231 defines a shape having a second center. The shape may be any shape including, but not limited to, circular, square, triangular, rectangular, hexagonal, etc. The rod surface 223 extends from the first exterior peripheral edge 229 to the second exterior peripheral edge 231. The first socket 232, the second socket 234, the third socket 236, the fourth socket 238, and the fifth socket 239 have a size and shape sufficient to hold the first light reflector 240, the second light reflector 242, the third light reflector 244, the fourth light reflector 246, and the fifth light reflector 247, respectively. The first light reflector 240 is mounted in the first socket 232. The second light reflector 242 is mounted in the second socket 234. The third light reflector 244 is mounted in the third socket 236. The fourth light reflector 246 is mounted in the fourth socket 238. The fifth light reflector 247 is mounted in the fifth socket 239. The first socket 232, the second socket 234, the third socket 236, the fourth socket 238, and the fifth socket 239 are formed in the rod surface 223 and arranged in a plurality of rows. Sockets in a row have a common distance from the first center to a center of the socket 232, 234, 236, 238, 239. Sockets in a row may also have a common vertical distance from the first exterior peripheral edge 229 and/or from the second exterior peripheral edge 231. A plurality of sockets may be arranged in a single row. For example, sockets 232 and 238 are shown mounted in a single row and sockets 234 and 239 are shown mounted in a single row. The number of sockets mountable in a single row generally is constrained by the width of the reflector device in a radial direction parallel to the first lateral surface 230. The light reflectors 232, 234, 236, 238, 239 are arranged to point in a direction rotated 72 degrees from an adjacent reflector thereby providing 360 degrees of coverage relative to a center axis extending from the first center to the second center. Thus, the laser light transmitted from the laser range finder 52 reflects from at least one reflector 232, 234, 236, 238, 239 regardless of the pointing direction from the laser range finder 52 to the pole 54. Where a different number of light reflectors is used, the light reflectors may be separated by a different number of degrees to provide the 360 degrees of coverage. FIGS. 19-23 show side views of the reflector insert 220 successively rotated in 72 degree increments to show the arrangement of the first socket 232, the second socket 234, the third socket 236, the fourth socket 238, the fifth socket 239, and thus, the arrangement of the first light reflector 240, the second light reflector 242, the third light reflector 244, the fourth light reflector 246, and the fifth light reflector 247 mounted in the corresponding sockets 232, 234, 236, 238, 239. Thus, FIG. 20 shows the reflector insert 220 of FIG. 19 rotated 72 degrees about a center axis 248 in a clockwise direction as viewed from the second lateral surface 230. FIG. 21 shows the reflector insert 220 of FIG. 20 rotated 72 degrees in the same direction. FIG. 22 shows the reflector insert 220 of FIG. 21 rotated 72 degrees in the same direction. FIG. 23 shows the reflector insert 220 of FIG. 22 rotated 72 degrees in the same direction. FIGS. 21, 22, and 23 depict the reflector insert 220 mounted in the reflector pole 54. The reflector device 222 may be formed of aluminum or any other sufficiently rigid material. The reflector device 222 may be painted various colors, for example, white, yellow, black, etc. The reflector device 222 may be coated in reflective material. The dimensions of the reflector device 222 may be adjusted based on the size of the light reflectors 240, 242, 244, 246, 247. The light reflectors 240, 242, 244, 246, 247 may be corner cube reflectors. In an exemplary embodiment, the diameter of the first lateral surface 228 may be the same as the diameter of the second lateral surface 230 and may be approximately one inch. In an alternative embodiment, the diameter of the first lateral surface 228 may be different from the diameter of the second lateral surface 230. In an exemplary embodiment, the length of the reflector device 222 along the center axis 248 is approximately two inches. The entrance/exit face 142 of the reflectors 240, 242, 244, 246, 247 in an exemplary embodiment, may be 9 millimeters in diameter. In an exemplary embodiment, the length of the first stem 224 is equal to the length of the second stem 226 and is 1.25 inches. In an exemplary embodiment, the diameter of the first lateral surface 250 of the first stem 224 is equal to the diameter of the first lateral surface 254 of the second stem 226 and is 0.875 inches. In an alternative embodiment, the diameter of the first lateral surface 250 of the first stem 224 may be greater than or equal to the diameter of the first lateral surface 228 of the reflector device 222. In an alternative embodiment, the diameter of the second lateral surface 254 of the second stem 226 may be greater than or equal to the diameter of the second lateral surface 230 of the reflector device 222. In an alternative embodiment, a reflector device 262 may be used as an insert mounted in the reflector pole 54. With reference to FIGS. 24-28, the reflector device 262 may include, but is not limited to, a first lateral surface 268, a rod surface 263, a second lateral surface 270, a first socket 272, a second socket 274, a third socket 276, a fourth socket 278, a fifth socket 279, a first light reflector 280, a second light reflector 282, a third light reflector 284, a fourth light reflector 286, and a fifth light reflector 287. The first socket 272, the second socket 274, the third socket 276, the fourth socket 278, and the fifth socket 279 have a size and shape sufficient to hold the first light reflector 280, the second light reflector 282, the third light reflector 284, the fourth light reflector 286, and the fifth light reflector 287, respectively. The first light reflector 280 is mounted in the first socket 272. The second light reflector 282 is mounted in the second socket 274. The third light reflector 284 is mounted in the third socket 276. The fourth light reflector 286 is mounted in the fourth socket 278. The fifth light reflector 287 is mounted in the fifth socket 279. FIGS. 24-28 show the reflector device 262 mounted in the reflector pole 54 and successively rotated in 72 degree increments to show the arrangement of sockets 272, 274, 276, 278, 279. Thus, FIG. 25 shows the reflector device 262 of FIG. 24 rotated 72 degrees about a center axis in a clockwise direction as viewed from the second lateral surface 270. FIG. 21 shows the reflector device 262 of FIG. 20 rotated 72 degrees in the same direction. FIG. 22 shows the reflector device 262 of FIG. 21 rotated 72 degrees in the same direction. FIG. 23 shows the reflector device 262 of FIG. 22 rotated 72 degrees in the same direction. The reflector device 262 may be formed of aluminum or any other sufficiently rigid material. The reflector device 262 may be painted various colors, for example, white, yellow, black, etc. The reflector device 262 may be coated in reflective material. The dimensions of the reflector device 262 may be adjusted based on the size of the light reflectors 280, 282, 284, 286, 287. The light reflectors 280, 282, 284, 286, 287 may be corner cube reflectors. In an exemplary embodiment, the diameter of the first lateral surface 268 may be the same as the diameter of the second lateral surface 270 and may be approximately one inch. In an alternative embodiment, the diameter of the first lateral surface 268 may be different from the diameter of the second lateral surface 270. In an exemplary embodiment, the length of the reflector device 262 along the center axis is approximately two inches. The entrance/exit face 142 of the light reflectors 280, 282, 284, 286, 287 in an exemplary embodiment, may be 9 millimeters in diameter. The components of the example reflector devices are described above with reference to a generally circular or cylindrical geometry. It is understood, however, that the invention may take the form of various other geometrical shapes, e.g., square, polygon, rectangle, triangle, etc. Additionally, the reflector device may include a stem and/or a socket for mounting to the reflector pole either at the top or within the pole as an insert. Thus, for example, the first lateral surface of the reflector device may include a stem while the second lateral surface may include a socket and vice versa. The invention just described provides for the simple, accurate, and reliable determination of the distance from a laser range finder to a reflector device mounted at a desired target location. In an example use case, the reflector device may be mounted in a flagstick standing upright in a golf hole. Placement of the reflector device in the flagstick improves the accuracy and reliability of distance measurements determined in the laser range finder carried by the golfer by increasing the amount of laser light reflected back toward the laser range finder. It is understood that the invention is not confined to the particular embodiments set forth herein as illustrative, but embraces all such modifications, combinations, and permutations as come within the scope of the following claims. Thus, the description of the exemplary embodiments is for purposes of illustration and not limitation. | <SOH> BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION <EOH>Laser light can be used to measure the distance from the laser light source to a target object. Powerful lasers can measure distances of hundreds of millions of miles. Much less powerful lasers, however, are useful in measuring much shorter distances. Short range lasers can measure distances up to 300 yards and are much smaller in size, relatively inexpensive, and less hazardous. To measure distance, a laser transmits several pulses of light toward an intended target. The light is reflected from the target and is received by a receptor. A calculation is made to determine the distance to the target based on the elapsed travel time between the transmission of the pulse of light and the reception of the reflected pulse of light. When the target does not reflect sufficient laser light back to the receptor, errors in the distance measurement may result or a complete failure to measure any distance to the target may result. Thus, there is a need for an improved method and a system for accurately and for reliably measuring the distance to a known target. Further, there is a need for an improved method and system for measuring the distance to a known target that is simple to use. | <SOH> SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION <EOH>An exemplary embodiment of the invention relates to a method for determining a distance to a target. The method includes, but is not limited to, sending light at a first time from a device to a reflector device, receiving light reflected from a light reflector at the device at a second time, and determining the distance from the device to the reflector device using the first time and the second time. The reflector device mounts to a pole. The reflector device includes, but is not limited to, a first lateral surface having a first exterior peripheral edge, a second lateral surface having a second exterior peripheral edge, a rod surface extending from the first exterior peripheral edge to the second exterior peripheral edge, two to four sockets, and the light reflector mounted in one of the two to four sockets. The two to four sockets are formed in the rod surface and arranged in a plurality of rows. The light reflector receives a portion of the light and reflects the received portion of the light back to the device. An exemplary embodiment of the invention relates to a device for reflecting laser light back to a laser range finder. The device includes, but is not limited to, a first lateral surface having a first exterior peripheral edge, a second lateral surface having a second exterior peripheral edge, a rod surface extending from the first exterior peripheral edge to the second exterior peripheral edge, two to four sockets, and a light reflector mounted in each of the two to four sockets. The two to four sockets are formed in the rod surface and arranged in a plurality of rows. A portion of light directed at the device from a laser is reflected back to the laser by at least one light reflector. Another exemplary embodiment of the invention relates to a device for reflecting laser light back to a laser range finder. The device includes, but is not limited to, a pole and a reflector device. The reflector device mounts to the pole. The reflector device includes, but is not limited to, a first lateral surface having a first exterior peripheral edge, a second lateral surface having a second exterior peripheral edge, a rod surface extending from the first exterior peripheral edge to the second exterior peripheral edge, two to four sockets, and a light reflector mounted in each of the two to four sockets. The two to four sockets are formed in the rod surface and arranged in a plurality of rows. A portion of light directed at the device from a laser is reflected back to the laser by at least one light reflector. Still another exemplary embodiment of the invention relates to a system for determining a distance to a target. The system includes, but is not limited to, a laser range finder, a pole, and a reflector device. The laser range finder is configured to send light at a first time to the reflector device, to receive a portion of the light reflected from the reflector device at a second time, and to determine the distance from the laser range finder to the reflector device using the first time and the second time. The reflector device mounts to the pole. The reflector device includes, but is not limited to, a first lateral surface having a first exterior peripheral edge, a second lateral surface having a second exterior peripheral edge, a rod surface extending from the first exterior peripheral edge to the second exterior peripheral edge, two to four sockets, and a light reflector mounted in each of the two to four sockets. The two to four sockets are formed in the rod surface and arranged in a plurality of rows. A portion of the light directed at the reflector device from the laser range finder is reflected back to the laser range finder by at least one light reflector. An exemplary embodiment of the invention relates to a method for determining a distance to a target. The method includes, but is not limited to, sending light at a first time from a device to a reflector device, receiving light reflected from a light reflector at the device at a second time, and determining the distance from the device to the reflector device using the first time and the second time. The reflector device mounts to a pole. The reflector device includes, but is not limited to, a first lateral surface having a first exterior peripheral edge, a second lateral surface having a second exterior peripheral edge, a rod surface extending from the first exterior peripheral edge to the second exterior peripheral edge, a plurality of sockets, and the light reflector mounted in one of the plurality of sockets. The plurality of sockets are formed in the rod surface and arranged in a plurality of rows. Two or more sockets are arranged in at least one row of the plurality of rows. The light reflector receives a portion of the light and reflects the received portion of the light back to the device. An exemplary embodiment of the invention relates to a device for reflecting laser light back to a laser range finder. The device includes, but is not limited to, a first lateral surface having a first exterior peripheral edge, a second lateral surface having a second exterior peripheral edge, a rod surface extending from the first exterior peripheral edge to the second exterior peripheral edge, a plurality of sockets, and a light reflector mounted in each of the plurality of sockets. The plurality of sockets are formed in the rod surface and arranged in a plurality of rows. Two or more sockets are arranged in at least one row of the plurality of rows. A portion of light directed at the device from a laser is reflected back to the laser by at least one light reflector. Another exemplary embodiment of the invention relates to a device for reflecting laser light back to a laser range finder. The device includes, but is not limited to, a pole and a reflector device. The reflector device mounts to the pole. The reflector device includes, but is not limited to, a first lateral surface having a first exterior peripheral edge, a second lateral surface having a second exterior peripheral edge, a rod surface extending from the first exterior peripheral edge to the second exterior peripheral edge, a plurality of sockets, and a light reflector mounted in each of the plurality of sockets. The plurality of sockets are formed in the rod surface and arranged in a plurality of rows. Two or more sockets are arranged in at least one row of the plurality of rows. A portion of light directed at the device from a laser is reflected back to the laser by at least one light reflector. Still another exemplary embodiment of the invention relates to a system for determining a distance to a target. The system includes, but is not limited to, a laser range finder, a pole, and a reflector device. The laser range finder is configured to send light at a first time to the reflector device, to receive a portion of the light reflected from the reflector device at a second time, and to determine the distance from the laser range finder to the reflector device using the first time and the second time. The reflector device mounts to the pole. The reflector device includes, but is not limited to, a first lateral surface having a first exterior peripheral edge, a second lateral surface having a second exterior peripheral edge, a rod surface extending from the first exterior peripheral edge to the second exterior peripheral edge, a plurality of sockets, and a light reflector mounted in each of the plurality of sockets. The plurality of sockets are formed in the rod surface and arranged in a plurality of rows. Two or more sockets are arranged in at least one row of the plurality of rows. A portion of the light directed at the reflector device from the laser range finder is reflected back to the laser range finder by at least one light reflector. Other principal features and advantages of the invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon review of the following drawings, the detailed description, and the appended claims. | 20040901 | 20070508 | 20060302 | 71196.0 | G01C308 | 2 | RATCLIFFE, LUKE D | FLAGPOLE REFLECTORS FOR LASER RANGE FINDERS | SMALL | 0 | ACCEPTED | G01C | 2,004 |
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10,932,251 | ACCEPTED | Method and system for flexible clock gating control | Distributing clock signals within an electronic device may comprise determining a status of at least one gate that controls flow of a clock signal to at least one device coupled to the gate. One or more of the gates may be controlled based on this determined status and it may be determined whether the devices coupled to the gate are active or inactive. One or more gates that control the flow of the clock signal to the device may be turned OFF if the device is inactive. The status of one or more of the gates may be read from one or more registers mapped to the gates. One or more gates that control one or more active devices may be prevented from being deactivated based on the determined status of the gates. A current hardware setting of a gate may be overridden via software control. | 1. A method for distributing clock signals within an electronic device, the method comprising: determining a status of at least one gate that controls flow of a clock signal to at least one device coupled to said at least one gate; and controlling said at least one gate based on said determined status. 2. The method according to claim 1, further comprising determining whether said at least one device coupled to said at least one gate is active or inactive. 3. The method according to claim 1, further comprising turning OFF said at least one gate that controls said flow of said clock signal to said at least one device if said at least one device is inactive. 4. The method according to claim 1, further comprising reading said status from at least a portion of at least one register. 5. The method according to claim 1, further comprising preventing at least one gate controlling at least one active device from being deactivated based on said determined status of said at least one gate. 6. The method according to claim 1, further comprising changing a current status of said at least one gate that controls flow of said clock signal. 7. The method according to claim 1, further comprising asserting or de-asserting at least one register location of said at least one gate that controls flow of said clock signal. 8. The method according to claim 1, further comprising overriding a current hardware setting of said at least one gate that controls flow of said clock signal. 9. A machine-readable storage having stored thereon, a computer program having at least one code section for distributing clock signals within an electronic device, the at least one code section being executable by a machine for causing the machine to perform steps comprising: determining a status of at least one gate that controls flow of a clock signal to at least one device coupled to said at least one gate; and controlling said at least one gate based on said determined status. 10. The machine-readable storage according to claim 9, further comprising code for determining whether said at least one device coupled to said at least one gate is active or inactive. 11. The machine-readable storage according to claim 9, further comprising code for turning OFF said at least one gate that controls said flow of said clock signal to said at least one device if said at least one device is inactive. 12. The machine-readable storage according to claim 9, further comprising code for reading said status from at least a portion of at least one register. 13. The machine-readable storage according to claim 9, further comprising code for preventing at least one gate controlling at least one active device from being deactivated based on said determined status of said at least one gate. 14. The machine-readable storage according to claim 9, further comprising code for changing a current status of said at least one gate that controls flow of said clock signal. 15. The machine-readable storage according to claim 9, further comprising code for asserting or de-asserting at least one register location of said at least one gate that controls flow of said clock signal. 16. The machine-readable storage according to claim 9, further comprising code for overriding a current hardware setting of said at least one gate that controls flow of said clock signal. 17. A system for distributing clock signals within an electronic device, the system comprising: at least one processor that determines a status of at least one gate that controls flow of a clock signal to at least one device coupled to said at least one gate; and said at least one processor controls said at least one gate based on said determined status. 18. The system according to claim 17, wherein said at least one processor determines whether said at least one device coupled to said at least one gate is active or inactive. 19. The system according to claim 17, wherein said at least one processor turns OFF said at least one gate that controls said flow of said clock signal to said at least one device if said at least one device is inactive. 20. The system according to claim 17, wherein said at least one processor reads said status from at least a portion of at least one register. 21. The system according to claim 17, wherein said at least one processor prevents at least one gate controlling at least one active device from being deactivated based on said determined status of said at least one gate. 22. The system according to claim 17, wherein said at least one processor changes a current status of said at least one gate that controls flow of said clock signal. 23. The system according to claim 17, wherein said at least one processor asserts or de-asserts at least one register location of said at least one gate that controls flow of said clock signal. 24. The system according to claim 17, wherein said at least one processor overrides a current hardware setting of said at least one gate that controls flow of said clock signal. 25. A system for distributing clock signals within an electronic device, the system comprising: a clock tree having a plurality of gates; a hardware control logic block coupled to said clock tree that controls at least a portion of said plurality of gates; at least one register that is controlled by a clock tree driver; and at least one processor that overwrites a status of at least a portion of said plurality of gates which is controlled by said hardware control logic block. 26. The system according to claim 25, wherein said processor via said clock tree driver asserts or de-asserts a current value of said at least one register. | CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS/INCORPORATION BY REFERENCE This application makes reference to, claims priority to and claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/577,005 (Attorney Docket No. 15605US01, filed on Jun. 4, 2004). The above referenced application is hereby incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. FIELD OF THE INVENTION Certain embodiments of the invention relate to clock signals for electronic circuits. More specifically, certain embodiments of the invention relate to a method and system for flexible clock gating control. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Mobile communication devices such as cellular telephones, personal digital assistants (PDAs), and handheld devices are now required to perform more sophisticated communication functions, as well as time management functions. Although some of these communication functions and time management function have been tightly integrated into single chip solutions such as a system-on-chip (SoC), thereby resulting in significantly reduced form factors, power consumption requirements still remain a cause for concern. In general, the greater the number of transistors or devices with transistors that are utilized within an integrated circuit (IC), the greater the number of amount of power or electrical energy that is consumed. Although a large amount of electrical power or energy is consumed by transistors within an integrated circuit (IC), an even larger amount of power is consumed by the wires that route clock signals, because clock signals are constantly switching. Therefore extensive clock gating is often used to confine the wires that load the clock network. FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a conventional integrated circuit design illustrating a clock tree. Referring to FIG. 1, there is shown a phase lock loop (PLL) 102, gate control block 134, devices D1, D2, D3, D4, D5, D6, D7 referenced as 104, 106, 108, 110, 112, 114, 136 respectively, and gates G1, G2, G3, G4, G5, G6, G7, G8, G9 referenced as 116, 118, 120, 122, 124, 126, 128, 130, 132, respectively. In operation, the gate control block 134 controls gates (G1-G9) 116, 118, 120, 122, 124, 126, 128, 130, 132. If the gate G1 116 is ON, then a clock signal generated by the PLL 102 passes to gates G2 118, G6 126 and G9 132. In this regard, gate G1 116 may be regarded as the main gate. While gate G1 116 is ON, gate G2 118 is ON, then the clock signal generated by the PLL 102 passes to gates G3 124, G4 122, and G5 124. If gate G3 120 is ON, then the clock signal passes to device D1 104. If gate G4 122 is ON, then the clock signal passes to device D2 106. If gate G5 124 is ON, then the clock signal passes to device D3 104. If any of gates G3 120, G4 122 and G5 124 is OFF, then the device coupled to the corresponding gate will not receive the clock signal generated by PLL 102. For example, if gate G4 122 is off then device D2 106 will not receive the clock signal generated by PLL 102. If the gate G1 116 is ON and gate G6 126 is ON, then the clock signal generated by the PLL 102 passes to gates G7 128 and G8 130. If gate G7 128 is ON, then the clock signal passes to device D4 110. If gate G8 130 is ON, then the clock signal passes to device D5 112. If any of gates G7 128, and G8 130 is OFF, then the device coupled to the corresponding gate will not receive the clock signal generated by PLL 102. For example, if gate G8 130 is off then device D5 112 will not receive the clock signal generated by PLL 102. A major drawback with the conventional clock tree illustrated in FIG. 1 is that the gate control block 134 and gates G1-G9 116-132 are configured when the integrated circuit is fabricated and a customer, based on a specific circuit design, does not have the flexibility to disable or enable certain clocks when the customer has application scenarios that are not covered in the design phase. A device, which is never utilized in the customer application can still receive clock signals from the PLL 102, consumes precious and limited power resources. For example, if gates G1 and G2 are both ON, then the clock signal generated by the PLL 102 passes to gates G3, G4 and G5. However, there may be instances where gate G4 is ON and device D2 106 is consuming power even thought it is never in use in the customer application. In another example, if gates G1 and G6 are both ON, then the clock signal generated by the PLL 102 passes to gates G7 and G8. However, there may be instances where gate G8 should be ON at situations different from what configured in the gate control block 134 because the customer uses device D5 112 in a way different from what the integrated circuit designer anticipated. Further limitations and disadvantages of conventional and traditional approaches will become apparent to one of skill in the art, through comparison of such systems with some aspects of the present invention as set forth in the remainder of the present application with reference to the drawings. BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Certain embodiments of the invention provide a method and system for distributing clock signals within an electronic device. The method may comprise determining a status of at least one gate that controls flow of a clock signal to at least one device coupled to the gate. One or more of the gates may be controlled based on this determined status. A determination may be made as to whether one or more of the devices coupled to the gate is active or inactive. One or more gates that control the flow of the clock signal to the device may be turned OFF if it is determined that the device is inactive. The status of one or more of the gates may be read from one or more registers that are mapped to the gates. One or more gates that control one or more active devices may be prevented from being deactivated based on the determined status of the gates. A current status of one or more gates that control flow of the clock signal may be changed, for example, by asserting or de-asserting one or more register locations. A current hardware setting of one or more of the gates that control flow of the clock signal may be overridden by changing a register setting. Another embodiment of the invention may provide a machine-readable storage, having stored thereon, a computer program having at least one code section executable by a machine, thereby causing the machine to perform the steps as described above for distributing clock signals within an electronic device. The system for distributing clock signals within an electronic device may comprise at least one processor that determines a status of at least one gate that controls flow of a clock signal to at least one device coupled to the at least one gate. The processor may be adapted to control one or more gates based on the determined status and may determine whether one or more devices coupled to one or more of the gates may be active or inactive. If it is determined that a device is inactive, the processor may be configured to turn OFF one or more gates that control the flow of the clock signal to the device. The status of one or more gates may be read from one or more registers by the processor. The processor may prevent one or more gates that controls one or more active devices from being deactivated based on the determined status of the gates. The processor may change a current status of one or more gates that controls flow of the clock signal by asserting or de-asserting at least one register location mapped to one or more gates that control flow of the clock signal. The processor may override a current hardware setting of one or more gates that control flow of the clock signal. Another embodiment of the invention provides a system for distributing clock signals within an electronic device. The system may comprise a clock tree having a plurality of gates and a hardware control logic block coupled to the clock tree that controls at least a portion of the gates. A processor, under control of the clock tree driver, may be adapted to control at least one register, which may be utilized to overwrite a status of at least some of the gates that are controlled by the hardware control block. Under control of the clock tree driver, the processor may be adapted to assert or de-assert a current value of one or more registers. These and other advantages, aspects and novel features of the present invention, as well as details of an illustrated embodiment thereof, will be more fully understood from the following description and drawings. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a conventional integrated circuit design illustrating a clock tree. FIG. 2a is a high-level block diagram of an exemplary system for flexibly controlling a clock tree, in accordance with an embodiment of the invention. FIG. 2b is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary register mapping that may be utilized for controlling the gates in the clock tree of FIG. 2a, in accordance with an embodiment of the invention. FIG. 3 is a block diagram of an exemplary system that may be utilized to flexibly control a clock tree, in accordance with an embodiment of the invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Certain embodiments of the invention provide a method and system for distributing clock signals within an electronic device. Distributing clock signals within an electronic device may comprise determining a status of at least one gate that controls flow of a clock signal to at least one device coupled to the gate. One or more of the gates may be controlled based on this determined status and it may be determined whether the devices coupled to the gate are active or inactive. One or more gates that control the flow of the clock signal to the device may be turned OFF if the device is inactive. The status of one or more of the gates may be read from one or more registers mapped to the gates. One or more gates that control one or more active devices may be prevented from being deactivated based on the determined status of the gates. A current hardware setting of a gate may be overridden via software control. FIG. 2a is a high-level block diagram of an exemplary system for flexibly controlling a clock tree, in accordance with an embodiment of the invention. Referring to FIG. 2a, there is shown a processor 202, a clock tree driver block 204, a hardware control logic block 206, a register block 208, and a clock tree block 210. The processor 202 may be an on-chip or off-chip processor that may be adapted to execute code for the clock tree driver block 204, which may be utilized to control the operation of gates within the clock tree block 210. The clock tree driver block 204 may comprise suitable logic and/or code that may be adapted to determine and/or change a status of the gates in the clock tree 210. The clock tree driver block 204 may also be adapted to determine whether a device coupled to a gate may be active or inactive. Accordingly, the clock tree driver block 204 may be adapted to read one or more register locations in the register block 208 in order to determine a status of a gate and/or a device coupled to a gate. The clock tree driver block 204 may also be adapted to set one or more register locations in the register block 208 in order to activate and/or deactivate one or more gates in the clock tree 210. The hardware control logic block 206 may comprise suitable logic circuitry and/or code that may be adapted to control the operation of gates within the clock tree 210. The hardware control logic block 206 may also be adapted to control operation of the devices that may be coupled to the gates. In this regard, the hardware control block and/or the clock tree driver block 204 may be utilized to determine whether a device is active and/or inactive. In an aspect of the invention, the system status may also be utilized to let hardware implicitly determine whether a gate is ON or OFF. The register block 208 may comprise a plurality of registers that may be adapted to control and provide status of the gates within the clock tree 210. In accordance with an embodiment of the invention, one or more register locations of the register block 208 may be mapped to a gate. In an aspect of the invention, registers may also be utilized to let software explicitly determine whether a gate is ON or OFF. FIG. 2b is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary register mapping that may be utilized for controlling the gates in the clock tree of FIG. 2a, in accordance with an embodiment of the invention. Referring to FIG. 2b, there is shown a register block 220 and a clock tree block 222. The register block 220 comprises a plurality of register locations, namely register locations 220a, 220b, 220c, 220d, 220e, 220f, 220g, 220h and 220i. The clock tree block 222 comprises a plurality of gates G1 222a, G2 222b, G3 222c, G4 222d, G5 222e, G6 222f, G7 222g, G8 222h and G9 222i. The following table illustrates an exemplary mapping of the register locations 220a through 220i to the gates G1 through G9 222a-222i. In this regard, if a bit in a particular register location is read and found to be asserted, then this may indicate that the corresponding gate may be turned ON. Similarly, if a bit in that particular register location is read and found to be de-asserted, then this may indicate the corresponding gate may be turned OFF. To turn off a gate that is ON, the corresponding register location may be de-asserted by writing an appropriate logic value that causes de-assertion. Similarly, to turn ON a gate that is off, the corresponding register location may be asserted by writing an appropriate logic value that causes assertion. Returning to FIG. 2a, the clock tree block 210 may comprise a plurality of gates that may be controlled by the hardware control logic block 210 and/or the clock tree driver block via the register block 208. FIG. 3 is a block diagram of an exemplary system that may be utilized to flexibly control a clock tree, in accordance with an embodiment of the invention. Referring to FIG. 3, there is shown phase lock loop (PLL) 302, devices D1, D2, D3, D4, D5, D6, D7 referenced as 304, 306, 308, 310, 312, 314, 336 respectively, and gates G1, G2, G3, G4, G5, G6, G7, G8, G9 referenced as 316, 318, 320, 322, 324, 326, 328, 330, 332, respectively. FIG. 3 further comprises processor 338, clock tree driver block 340, hardware control logic block 334, and register block 342. In operation, the hardware control logic block 334 may be utilized to turn the gates G1-G9 ON or OFF. However, under control of the processor via the clock tree driver 340 and the register block 342, the gates G1-G9 may be more flexibly controlled in order to cover scenarios that were not anticipated when hardware control logic 334 was designed. In this regard, in instances where the hardware control logic block 334 may have a gate turned ON and that gate is supplying a clock signal to a device that is not being utilized, then the processor may intercede by turning OFF the gate that is supplying the clock signal to the device. In other instances where the hardware control logic block 334 may have a gate turned OFF and that gate is supplying a clock signal to a device that the customer wants to utilize in that situation, then the processor may intercede by turning ON the gate that is supplying the clock signal to the device. In an aspect of the invention, the processor 338 and hardware control logic block 334 may determine whether a gate is turned ON and supplying a clock signal to a device that is not actively being used. If it is determined that the device is not being actively utilized, then the processor may determine whether a branch in the clock tree may be totally deactivated or partially deactivated. For example, if it is determined that device D6 314 is active and device D7 336 is inactive, then the processor may determine whether gate G9 may be turned OFF while allowing the clock signal to be supplied to the active device D6 314. In this case, since device D6 314 and device D7 336 are both directly coupled to gate G9, then gate G9 may not be turned OFF, while at the same time, supplying a clock signal to the active device D6 314. As a result, the processor 338 and clock tree driver 340 will take no action. However, consider a case where it is determined that device D4 310 is active and device D5 312 is inactive. In this case, the processor may determine whether gate G8 may be turned OFF while allowing the clock signal to be supplied to the active device D4 310. In this case, since the active device D4 310 and the inactive device D5 312 are both independently coupled to gate G6 via gates G7 and G8 respectively, and then gate G8 may be turned OFF, while at the same time, supplying a clock signal to the active device D4 314 via gates G1, G6 and G7. As a result, the processor 338 and clock tree driver block 340 may turn OFF gate G8. In order to turn OFF gate G8, the processor 338 and clock tree driver block 340 may de-assert the corresponding register locations that are mapped to the gate G8. Consider a case where it is determined that devices D1 304 and D2 306 are active and device D3 308 is inactive. In this case, the processor may determine whether gate G5 may be turned OFF while allowing the clock signal to be supplied to the active devices D1 304 and D2 306. In this case, since the active devices D1 304 and D2 306 and the inactive device D3 308 are independently coupled to gate G2 via gates G3, G4, and G5 respectively, then gate G5 may be turned OFF, while at the same time supplying a clock signal to the active devices D1 304 and D2 306 via gates G1, G2 G3, and G4. As a result, the processor 338 and clock tree driver block 340 may turn OFF gate G5. In order to turn OFF gate G5, the processor 338 and clock tree driver block 340 may de-assert the corresponding register locations that are mapped to the gate G5. In a scenario where all of devices D1 304, D2 306 and D3 308 are inactive, then the processor 338 and clock tree driver block 340 may de-assert the mapped register locations corresponding to gates G3, G4 and G5. Additionally, since gates G3, G4 and G5 are coupled to gate G2, which are all coupled on an independent branch, then the register location corresponding to gate G2 may also be de-asserted. In a somewhat similar manner, if devices D4 310 and D5 312 are inactive, then the corresponding register locations that are mapped to gates G6, G7 and G8 may be de-asserted. Accordingly, the present invention may be realized in hardware, software, or a combination of hardware and software. The present invention may be realized in a centralized fashion in at least one computer system, or in a distributed fashion where different elements are spread across several interconnected computer systems. Any kind of computer system or other apparatus adapted for carrying out the methods described herein is suited. A typical combination of hardware and software may be a general-purpose computer system with a computer program that, when being loaded and executed, controls the computer system such that it carries out the methods described herein. The present invention may also be embedded in a computer program product, which comprises all the features enabling the implementation of the methods described herein, and which when loaded in a computer system is able to carry out these methods. Computer program in the present context means any expression, in any language, code or notation, of a set of instructions intended to cause a system having an information processing capability to perform a particular function either directly or after either or both of the following: a) conversion to another language, code or notation; b) reproduction in a different material form. While the present invention has been described with reference to certain embodiments, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes may be made and equivalents may be substituted without departing from the scope of the present invention. In addition, many modifications may be made to adapt a particular situation or material to the teachings of the present invention without departing from its scope. Therefore, it is intended that the present invention not be limited to the particular embodiment disclosed, but that the present invention will include all embodiments falling within the scope of the appended claims. | <SOH> BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION <EOH>Mobile communication devices such as cellular telephones, personal digital assistants (PDAs), and handheld devices are now required to perform more sophisticated communication functions, as well as time management functions. Although some of these communication functions and time management function have been tightly integrated into single chip solutions such as a system-on-chip (SoC), thereby resulting in significantly reduced form factors, power consumption requirements still remain a cause for concern. In general, the greater the number of transistors or devices with transistors that are utilized within an integrated circuit (IC), the greater the number of amount of power or electrical energy that is consumed. Although a large amount of electrical power or energy is consumed by transistors within an integrated circuit (IC), an even larger amount of power is consumed by the wires that route clock signals, because clock signals are constantly switching. Therefore extensive clock gating is often used to confine the wires that load the clock network. FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a conventional integrated circuit design illustrating a clock tree. Referring to FIG. 1 , there is shown a phase lock loop (PLL) 102 , gate control block 134 , devices D 1 , D 2 , D 3 , D 4 , D 5 , D 6 , D 7 referenced as 104 , 106 , 108 , 110 , 112 , 114 , 136 respectively, and gates G 1 , G 2 , G 3 , G 4 , G 5 , G 6 , G 7 , G 8 , G 9 referenced as 116 , 118 , 120 , 122 , 124 , 126 , 128 , 130 , 132 , respectively. In operation, the gate control block 134 controls gates (G 1 -G 9 ) 116 , 118 , 120 , 122 , 124 , 126 , 128 , 130 , 132 . If the gate G 1 116 is ON, then a clock signal generated by the PLL 102 passes to gates G 2 118 , G 6 126 and G 9 132 . In this regard, gate G 1 116 may be regarded as the main gate. While gate G 1 116 is ON, gate G 2 118 is ON, then the clock signal generated by the PLL 102 passes to gates G 3 124 , G 4 122 , and G 5 124 . If gate G 3 120 is ON, then the clock signal passes to device D 1 104 . If gate G 4 122 is ON, then the clock signal passes to device D 2 106 . If gate G 5 124 is ON, then the clock signal passes to device D 3 104 . If any of gates G 3 120 , G 4 122 and G 5 124 is OFF, then the device coupled to the corresponding gate will not receive the clock signal generated by PLL 102 . For example, if gate G 4 122 is off then device D 2 106 will not receive the clock signal generated by PLL 102 . If the gate G 1 116 is ON and gate G 6 126 is ON, then the clock signal generated by the PLL 102 passes to gates G 7 128 and G 8 130 . If gate G 7 128 is ON, then the clock signal passes to device D 4 110 . If gate G 8 130 is ON, then the clock signal passes to device D 5 112 . If any of gates G 7 128 , and G 8 130 is OFF, then the device coupled to the corresponding gate will not receive the clock signal generated by PLL 102 . For example, if gate G 8 130 is off then device D 5 112 will not receive the clock signal generated by PLL 102 . A major drawback with the conventional clock tree illustrated in FIG. 1 is that the gate control block 134 and gates G 1 -G 9 116 - 132 are configured when the integrated circuit is fabricated and a customer, based on a specific circuit design, does not have the flexibility to disable or enable certain clocks when the customer has application scenarios that are not covered in the design phase. A device, which is never utilized in the customer application can still receive clock signals from the PLL 102 , consumes precious and limited power resources. For example, if gates G 1 and G 2 are both ON, then the clock signal generated by the PLL 102 passes to gates G 3 , G 4 and G 5 . However, there may be instances where gate G 4 is ON and device D 2 106 is consuming power even thought it is never in use in the customer application. In another example, if gates G 1 and G 6 are both ON, then the clock signal generated by the PLL 102 passes to gates G 7 and G 8 . However, there may be instances where gate G 8 should be ON at situations different from what configured in the gate control block 134 because the customer uses device D 5 112 in a way different from what the integrated circuit designer anticipated. Further limitations and disadvantages of conventional and traditional approaches will become apparent to one of skill in the art, through comparison of such systems with some aspects of the present invention as set forth in the remainder of the present application with reference to the drawings. | <SOH> BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION <EOH>Certain embodiments of the invention provide a method and system for distributing clock signals within an electronic device. The method may comprise determining a status of at least one gate that controls flow of a clock signal to at least one device coupled to the gate. One or more of the gates may be controlled based on this determined status. A determination may be made as to whether one or more of the devices coupled to the gate is active or inactive. One or more gates that control the flow of the clock signal to the device may be turned OFF if it is determined that the device is inactive. The status of one or more of the gates may be read from one or more registers that are mapped to the gates. One or more gates that control one or more active devices may be prevented from being deactivated based on the determined status of the gates. A current status of one or more gates that control flow of the clock signal may be changed, for example, by asserting or de-asserting one or more register locations. A current hardware setting of one or more of the gates that control flow of the clock signal may be overridden by changing a register setting. Another embodiment of the invention may provide a machine-readable storage, having stored thereon, a computer program having at least one code section executable by a machine, thereby causing the machine to perform the steps as described above for distributing clock signals within an electronic device. The system for distributing clock signals within an electronic device may comprise at least one processor that determines a status of at least one gate that controls flow of a clock signal to at least one device coupled to the at least one gate. The processor may be adapted to control one or more gates based on the determined status and may determine whether one or more devices coupled to one or more of the gates may be active or inactive. If it is determined that a device is inactive, the processor may be configured to turn OFF one or more gates that control the flow of the clock signal to the device. The status of one or more gates may be read from one or more registers by the processor. The processor may prevent one or more gates that controls one or more active devices from being deactivated based on the determined status of the gates. The processor may change a current status of one or more gates that controls flow of the clock signal by asserting or de-asserting at least one register location mapped to one or more gates that control flow of the clock signal. The processor may override a current hardware setting of one or more gates that control flow of the clock signal. Another embodiment of the invention provides a system for distributing clock signals within an electronic device. The system may comprise a clock tree having a plurality of gates and a hardware control logic block coupled to the clock tree that controls at least a portion of the gates. A processor, under control of the clock tree driver, may be adapted to control at least one register, which may be utilized to overwrite a status of at least some of the gates that are controlled by the hardware control block. Under control of the clock tree driver, the processor may be adapted to assert or de-assert a current value of one or more registers. These and other advantages, aspects and novel features of the present invention, as well as details of an illustrated embodiment thereof, will be more fully understood from the following description and drawings. | 20040901 | 20081014 | 20051208 | 70696.0 | 1 | CHANG, ERIC | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR FLEXIBLE CLOCK GATING CONTROL | UNDISCOUNTED | 0 | ACCEPTED | 2,004 |
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10,932,602 | ACCEPTED | Trigger latch assembly | A trigger latch assembly for releasably securing a latch by pivotal rotation comprising a latch trigger pivotally joined to a rotatable latch cover. The trigger latch assembly may be attached to a variety of devices including luggage type transport cases. A latch trigger biasing member is attached to the latch trigger and also engages the latch cover. The latch trigger has a perpendicularly extending member having a detent which pivotally engages a retaining lip on a device to be latched when downward force is applied to the latch cover which pivotally rotates the latch trigger in cooperation with the biasing member, thereby latching closed the device. The latch is released by pivotably rotating the trigger latch towards the latch cover to displace the detent from engagement with the lip to thereby unlatch the device. | 1. A trigger latch assembly comprising: a latch cover adapted for pivotal movement about a fixed pivot rod; a latch trigger having forward and rear portions, said latch trigger being pivotally attached to said latch cover and adapted for pivotal movement between at least first and second positions about a fixed pivot pin; a latch trigger biasing member attached to said pivot pin and engaging both said latch trigger and said latch cover and biasing the forward portion of said latch trigger away from said latch cover; and said latch trigger further comprising a generally perpendicularly extending trigger engagement member having a detent for releasable engagement with a catch on a device to be latched, said trigger engagement member and detent privotably movable away from the catch when the forward portion of the latch trigger is moved towards the latch cover by compression of the latch trigger biasing member. 2. A trigger latch assembly for releasably securing closed a transport case comprising: a latch cover pivotably secured to a transport case, said latch cover having a top surface and an underside surface; a latch trigger pivotally attached to the underside surface of said latch cover and having a forward portion and a rear portion, and further having a perpendicularly extending latch member; a latch trigger biasing member attached to said latch trigger and engaging said latch cover and said latch trigger, said biasing member biasing the forward portion of the latch trigger away from the latch cover; and a detent formed on said latch member for releasable engagement with a lip of the transport case, said detent movable into latching engagement with the lip when force is applied to the top surface of the latch cover and said detent being further biased into releasable latching engagement with the lip by the biasing member. 3. A transport case comprising first and second portions, and a trigger latch assembly attached to the first portion of the transport case, said trigger latch assembly comprising: a latch cover pivotably secured to the first portion of the transport case, said latch cover having a top surface and an underside surface; a latch trigger pivotally attached to the underside surface of said latch cover and having a forward portion and a rear portion, and further having a perpendicularly extending latch member; a latch trigger biasing member attached to said latch trigger and engaging said latch cover and said latch trigger, said biasing member biasing the forward portion of the latch trigger away from the latch cover; and a detent formed on said latch member for releasable engagement with a lip on the second portion of the transport case, said detent being movable into latching engagement with the lip when force is applied to the top surface of the latch cover and being further biased into latching engagement with the lip by the biasing member, and said detent being movable away from engagement with the lip when the forward portion of the latch trigger is pivotably moved towards the latch cover. 4. The transport case of claim 3 wherein at least two trigger latch assemblies are attached to the transport case. 5. The transport case of claim 3 wherein the first and second portions of the case are attached together on one side of the case by a hinge, and two or more trigger latch assemblies are attached to the case on one or more of the unhinged sides of the case. | BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention is directed to a trigger latch assembly for releasably latching various items, including transport cases. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION This trigger latch assembly of this invention incorporates a trigger mechanism for easily latching and unlatching various items, including transport or shipping cases. The trigger latch assembly includes a rotatable latch cover privotably attached to a latch trigger in combination with a latch trigger biasing member, and the latch trigger has a detent adapted for securely and releasably engaging a retaining lip on the transport case or other device to be latched. The latch trigger is urged into and out of latching engagement by pivotal rotation of the latch trigger in relation to the latch cover. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a top perspective view of the trigger latch assembly of this invention attached to a transport case and in an open position. FIG. 2 is a top perspective view of the trigger latch assembly of this invention attached to a transport case and in the latched position. FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional side view of the trigger latch assembly of this invention attached to a transport case in the open position. FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional side view of the trigger latch assembly attached to a transport case in an unlatched position. FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional side view of the trigger latch assembly attached to a transport case in a partially unlatched position. FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional side view of the trigger latch assembly attached to a transport case in the latched position. FIG. 7 is a bottom view of the trigger latch assembly. FIG. 8 is an exploded bottom view of the components of the trigger latch assembly. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Turning now in detail to the drawings, FIGS. 1 and 2 generally show the trigger latch assembly 1 of this invention in a preferred embodiment attached to a luggage style transport case 50. The case 50 has a hinged cover portion 52 and a bottom portion 53. The trigger latch assembly 1 is shown in FIG. 1 in an unlatched and open position which allows the hinged cover 52 of the transport case 50 to be opened. In FIG. 2 the trigger latch assembly 1 is shown in the latched position which securely latches together the two portions of the case and prevents the cover 52 of the transport case from being opened. Referring specifically to FIG. 3, a preferred embodiment of the trigger latch assembly 1 is shown, including latch cover 3 adapted for pivotal movement about a fixed latch cover pivot rod 5, and latch trigger 7. Latch cover pivot rod 5 is secured to the cover 52 of transport case 50, thereby attaching the trigger latch assembly 1 to the case. Latch trigger 7 is adapted to pivot about a fixed latch trigger pivot pin 11, which is secured to latch cover 3, as shown in FIGS. 3 and 8. A latch trigger biasing member 9, preferably a torsional coil spring, is positioned and preferably coiled about pivot pin 11. As shown in FIG. 3, the latch trigger biasing member 9 bears against both latch cover 3 and latch trigger 7. Biasing member 9 urges the forward portion 31 of latch trigger 7 to pivot away from latch cover 3, and urges the rear portion 33 of the latch trigger 7 toward latch cover 3. As shown in FIG. 8, the underside surface 28 of latch cover 3 may optionally include one or more channels 24 into which may be inserted the portion of biasing member 9 that bears against latch cover 3. Latch trigger 7 includes a trigger engagement member 13 extending generally perpendicularly from the bottom surface 8 of latch trigger 7 forward of the location of pivot pin 11. The terminating end of trigger engagement member 13 includes a detent 21 comprised of an outwardly protruding sloped surface 15 culminating in latch protrusion 17, as shown in cross-section in FIG. 3. Latch cover 3 is adapted to pivot between a first predetermined position shown in FIGS. 1 and 3 where the latch assembly is fully open, and a second predetermined position shown in FIGS. 2 and 6 where the trigger latch assembly is engaged and latched closed. In addition, latch cover 3 and latch trigger 7 are adapted to be pivotally attached to each other in the predetermined positions generally shown in FIGS. 3-6. In a preferred embodiment, the trigger latch assembly 1 is attached to transport case 50 so that when latch cover 3 is pivoted forward to the position shown in FIG. 4, the sloped surface 15 of detent 21 on latch trigger engagement member 13 impacts a catch member such as retaining lip 51 on the bottom portion 53 of transport case 50. One or more surface protuberances or cams 22 may be provided on the rotational end 27 of latch cover 3, as shown in FIG. 7. Upon pivotal rotation of latch cover 3, these cams engage the surface of the cover 52 of transport case 50 and provide a degree of resistance to further rotation, thereby holding latch cover 3 at a given position until further rotation is desired. Further rotation of latch cover 3 can be achieved by exerting sufficient force on it to overcome the resistance exerted by cam 22 against the surface of transport case 50 and to thereby rotate latch cover 3 so that cam 22 no longer engages the surface of transport case 50. The trigger latch assembly of the current invention can be made of any suitable materials including plastics and metals. In a preferred embodiment the latch cover 3 and latch trigger 7 are made of a molded plastic such as polyethylene, and pivot rod 5, pivot pin 11, and biasing member 9 are made of suitable metals. In a further preferred embodiment, the latch cover 3 and latch trigger 7 components of the trigger latch assembly 1 are molded from the same type of plastic material as the transport case to which the trigger latch assembly is attached. The configuration of the trigger latch assembly having been described, the operation of this invention will now be set out. When it is desired to latch closed the device to which trigger latch assembly 1 is attached, latch cover 3 is pivoted forward to the position shown in FIG. 4 such that a catch member, such as retaining lip 51 on the bottom portion 53 of case 50, contacts detent 21 on trigger engagement member 13. As force is exerted on the top forward surface 26 of latch cover 3, preferably by a person's fingers, the resulting pressure of retaining lip 51 against sloped surface 15 of detent 21 forces trigger engagement member 13 to pivot away slightly from lip 51 by compressing latch trigger biasing member 9, and thereby causes the forward portion 31 of latch trigger 7 to pivot towards latch cover 3 and reduces the acute angle between them, as shown in FIG. 5. The pivoting of trigger engagement member 13 away from lip 51 as pressure is applied to the top forward surface 26 of latch cover 3 permits lip 51 to slide along sloped surface 15 of detent 21, as illustrated in FIGS. 4 and 5. As additional force is exerted against the top forward surface 26 of latch cover 3, trigger engagement member 13 continues to pivot away from lip 51 and lip 51 continues to slide along sloped surface 15 of detent 21 until lip 51 moves past all of sloped surface 15 and passes latch protrusion 17, at which point lip 51 moves into the recess 19 above latch protrusion 17. The movement of the forward portion of lip 51 into recess 19 permits biasing member 9 to pivot latch trigger 7 downward away from the forward portion of latch cover 3 and moves trigger engagement member 13 towards lip 51 to force latch protrusion 17 securely under lip 51, as shown in FIG. 6, thereby closing the latch and securing case 50 closed. Preferably, an audible “click” can be heard when latch protrusion 17 is secured under lip 51, confirming that the latch has been fully engaged. In a preferred embodiment, the cover 52 of transport case 50 has a flexible gasket 54 along its open edge, as shown in cross-section in FIG. 3. Flexible gasket 54 provides a seal for the case and also provides flexible resistance to the latching and closure of the case. In a further preferred embodiment, when the trigger latch assembly is latched, the top surface of latch cover 3 is flush with the exterior surfaces of the transport case, as shown in FIG. 6. To disengage the trigger latch, forward portion 31 of latch trigger 7 is moved upward towards latch cover 3, such as by grasping the underside of forward portion 31 of latch trigger 7 with the fingers and grasping the top forward surface 26 of latch cover 3 with the thumb and pivotably compressing them together. As the forward portion 31 of latch trigger 7 pivots towards latch cover 3, the latch trigger 7 compresses biasing member 9 and pivots trigger engagement member 13 forward and away from retaining lip 51, thereby moving latch protrusion 17 out from under lip 51 and releasing the trigger latch to the unlatched position shown in FIGS. 4 and 5. The trigger latch assembly 1 can then be rotated to the fully open position shown in FIG. 3. Since direct action is required to move the forward portion of latch trigger 7 towards latch cover 3 in order to unlatch the trigger latch assembly, the risk of unintentional unlatching of the device is minimized while providing a latching device that is easy to latch and unlatch as desired. While a preferred embodiment of this invention has been shown and described, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that other modifications and embodiments can be constructed without departing from the inventive concepts herein. The invention, therefore, is not to be restricted except by the scope of claims that follow. | <SOH> BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION <EOH>This invention is directed to a trigger latch assembly for releasably latching various items, including transport cases. | <SOH> SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION <EOH>This trigger latch assembly of this invention incorporates a trigger mechanism for easily latching and unlatching various items, including transport or shipping cases. The trigger latch assembly includes a rotatable latch cover privotably attached to a latch trigger in combination with a latch trigger biasing member, and the latch trigger has a detent adapted for securely and releasably engaging a retaining lip on the transport case or other device to be latched. The latch trigger is urged into and out of latching engagement by pivotal rotation of the latch trigger in relation to the latch cover. | 20040901 | 20090602 | 20060302 | 75358.0 | B65D4516 | 1 | WEAVER, SUE A | TRIGGER LATCH ASSEMBLY | SMALL | 0 | ACCEPTED | B65D | 2,004 |
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10,932,758 | ACCEPTED | Injection-molded plastic guide rail | A window shade arrangement for motor vehicles that includes plastic injection molded guide rails designed such that they may be formed with injection tools that do not require moveable cores for forming guide grooves therein. In one embodiment, the guide rail includes an outer part (41) formed with a guide groove and a support part (42) made from less deformable material than the outer part for preventing widening of and deforming of the guide groove during usage. In another embodiment, the first and second molded parts are interconnectable to define the guide groove. | 1. A guide rail arrangement (16) for window shades (14) and the like in motor vehicles comprising an outer part (41) in the form of an elongated injection-molded part made of an elastically deformable material, said outer part (41) having a first connecting portion (51,53) and an undercut guide groove (27) that extends over at least part of the length of the outer part (41), and a support part (42) formed from a less deformable material than the outer part (41), said support part (42) having a second connecting portion (59,61) that is connectable to the first connecting portion (51,53) of the outer part (41). 2. The guide rail arrangement of claim 1in which the outer part (41) has a substantially constant wall thickness along its length. 3. The guide rail arrangement of claim 1 in which the outer part (41) has a narrow, oblong shaped section that substantially surrounds the guide groove (27). 4. The guide rail arrangement of claim 1in which the outer part (41) has a width transverse to the groove substantially greater than a transverse width of the groove. 5. The guide rail arrangement of claim 1 in which the outer part (41) forms part of an inside lining (6) of a motor vehicle. 6. The guide rail arrangement of claim 1 in which said guide groove (27) has a cross section that defines a narrow section (44) and a wider section (43), said narrow section (44) forming a groove slot (28) communicating with the wider section (43). 7. The guide rail arrangement of claim 6 in which said narrow section (44) of said guide groove (27) has parallel flanks. 8. The guide rail arrangement of claim 6 in which said wider section (43) of said guide groove (27) has shoulders adjacent the narrow section (44), said shoulders transforming into the narrow section (44) at an obtuse angle. 9. The guide rail arrangement of claim 6 in which said wider section (43) has a circular configuration. 10. The guide rail arrangement of claim 6 in which said guide groove 27 is configured such that the outer part can be removed from a core that is immovably arranged in a mold cavity of an injection molding machine in which the outer part (41) is formed. 11. The guide rail arrangement of claim 1 in which said first connecting portion (51, 53) is adapted for snap in engagement with said second connecting portion. 12. The guide rail arrangement of claim 1 in which said first connecting portion (51, 53) comprises at least one hook. 13. The guide rail arrangement of claim 1 in which said first connecting portion(51, 53) comprises at least one undercut tab that extends in the direction of the support part (52) when engaged with the second connecting portion. 14. The guide rail arrangement of claim 1 in which the outer part (41) is made of a material selected from a group of thermoplastics that include PVC, polypropylene, polyethylene and polyamide. 15. The guide rail arrangement of claim 1 in which said support part (42) has a region that laterally supports sections of the first part (41) for preventing widening of the guide groove (27). 16. The guide rail arrangement of claim 6, in which said support part (42) has a support portion that supports sections of the outer part (41) that defines the guide groove (27), said support portion extending in a direction parallel to a plane that extends through said slot (28) and into said guide groove (27). 17. The guide rail arrangement of claim 16 in which said support portion of said support part (42) includes a web. 18. The guide rail arrangement of claim 1 in which said support part (42) has a constant cross section over its length. 19. The guide rail arrangement of claim 1 in which said support part (42) is essentially rigid. 20. The guide rail arrangement of claim 1 in which said support part (42) has limbs (57) with hooks at their free ends that are connectible with the outer part (41). 21. The guide rail arrangement of claim 1in which said support part (42) is an injection-molded part. 22. The guide rail arrangement of claim 1 in which said outer part (41) is free of undercuts that boarder on a mold joint of an injection molding tool in which said outer part is formed such that the mold tool does not require drawable cores. 23. The guide rail arrangement of claim 1 in which said support part (42) is an extruded part. 24. A guide rail arrangement (16) for window shades (14) and the like in motor vehicles comprising an first part (63) in the form of an elongated molded part, said first part (63) including a first connecting portion (68) and an elongated section formed with a groove that is essentially free of undercuts and extends continuously over at least a part of the length of the guide rail arrangement, a second part (64) in the form of an elongated molded part, said second part (64) having a second connecting portion (71) and an elongated section formed with a groove that is essentially free of undercuts and extends continuously over at least a part of the length of said guide rail arrangement (16); and said connecting parts (68, 71) of said first and second parts (63, 64) being interconnectable to position and retain the first and second parts (63, 64) relative to one another with said grooves of said first and second parts (63, 64) defining an undercut guide groove (27). 25. The guide rail arrangement of claim 24 in which one of said first and second connecting portions (68, 71) is in the form of a web. 26. The guide rail arrangement of claim 25 in which one of said first and second connecting portions (68, 71) includes a groove. 27. The guide rail arrangement of claim 26 in which said web (68) is formed with extensions (72). 28. The guide rail arrangement of claim 27 in which said groove (71) is formed with separate openings (73) for receiving said extensions (72). 29. The guide rail arrangement of claim 25 in which said first and second elongated sections of said first and second parts (63, 64) define a slot (28) communicating with said guide groove (27), and said web (68) defines a plane that forms an angle other than 90° with a plane extending through said slot (28) into said guide groove (27). 30. The guide rail arrangement of claim 24 including a support part (75) made of a less deformable material than said first and second parts (63, 64), said support part (75) being connectable to both said first and second part (63, 64) for stabilizing and preventing widening of said guide groove (27). 31. The guide rail arrangement of claim 24 in which one of said first and second parts is made of a thermoplastic material. 32. The guide rail arrangement of claim 24 in which said first and second parts (63, 64) are integrally connected together. 33. The guide rail arrangement of claim 32 in which said first and second parts are connected together by laser welding, ultrasonic welding, or bonding. 34. The guide rail arrangement of claim 24 in which one of said first and second parts (63, 64) forms an integral component of a section of an inside lining (6) of a motor vehicle. 35. A window shade (14) for motor vehicles comprising a rotatably supported window shade shaft (19), a strip-shaped shade (15) having one edge fixed to said window shade shaft (19), a guide (23, 24) connected to an edge (22) of the window shade strip (15) distant from said window shade shaft (19), at least one guide rail (16) for receiving and guiding one end of said window shade guide (23, 24) for relative movement, said guide rail including an outer part (41) in the form of an injection molded elongated part made of an elastically deformable material, said outer part (41) having a first connecting portion (51, 53) and being formed with an undercut guide groove (27) that extends over at least a part of the length of the outer part (41), and a support part (42) made from a less deformable material than said outer part (41) and having a second connecting portion (59, 61) that can be connected to the first connecting portion (51, 53) of the outer part (41) for securing the first and outer parts together. 36. The guide rail arrangement of claim 35 in which the outer part (41) forms part of an inside lining (6) of a motor vehicle. 37. The guide rail arrangement of claim 35 in which said guide groove (27) has a cross section that defines a narrow section (44) and a wider section (43), said narrow section (44) forming a groove slot (28) communicating with the wider section (43). 38. The guide rail arrangement of claim 35 in which said first connecting portion (51, 53) is adapted for snap in engagement with said second connecting portion. 39. The guide rail arrangement of claim 35 in which said support part (42) has a region that laterally supports sections of the first part (41) for preventing widening of the guide groove (27). 40. A window shade (14) for motor vehicles comprising a rotatably supported window shade shaft (19), a strip-shaped shade (15) having one edge fixed to said window shade shaft (19), a guide (23, 24) connected to an edge (22) of the window shade strip (15) distant from said window shade shaft (19), at least one guide rail (16) for receiving and guiding one end of said window shade guide (23, 24) for relative movement, said guide rail (16) including a first part (63) in the form of an elongated molded part having a first connecting portion (68) and an elongated section formed with a groove that is essentially free of undercuts and extends continuously over at least a part of the length of said guide rail arrangement, a second part (64) in the form of an elongated molded part that includes a second connecting portion (71) and a elongated section formed with a groove that is essentially free of undercuts and extends continuously over at least a part of the length of the guide rail arrangement, and said connecting portions (68, 71) of said first and second parts (63, 64) being interconnectable to hold the longitudinal sections of the first and second parts (63, 64) together such that the grooves therein forming a guide groove (27) for said window shade guide (23, 24). 41. The guide rail arrangement of claim 40 in which one of said first and second connecting portions (68, 71) is in the form of a web, and in which one of said first and second connecting portions (68, 71) includes a groove. 42. The guide rail arrangement of claim 41 in which said web (68) is formed with extensions (72) and said groove (71) is formed with separate openings (73) for receiving said extensions (72). 43. The guide rail arrangement of claim 41 in which said first and second elongated sections of said first and second parts (63, 64) define a slot (28) communicating with said guide groove (27), and said web (68) defines a plane that forms an angle other than 90° with a plane extending through said slot (28) into said guide groove (27). 44. The guide rail arrangement of claim 40 including a support part (75) made of a less deformable material than said first and second parts (63, 64), said support part (75) being connectable to both said first and second part (63, 64) for stabilizing and preventing widening of said guide groove (27). 45. The guide rail arrangement of claim 40 in which one of said first and second parts (63, 64) forms an integral component of a section of an inside lining (6) of a motor vehicle | BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION DE 100 57 759 A1 describes a rear window shade for motor vehicles. This rear window shade comprises a winding shaft that is rotatably supported underneath a rear window shelf, wherein one edge of the strip-shaped shade is fixed the winding shaft. The strip-shaped shade is cut into an approximately trapezoidal shape with its other end distant to the winding shaft fixed to a draw-out rod Movement of the draw-out rod is laterally guided in two guide rails that are either bonded to the inner side of the rear window or hidden in the car body behind the lining of a C-column. Elastically bendable thrust elements for moving the draw-out rod are guided in the guide rails in a buckle-proof fashion. The guide rails consist of an extruded aluminum profile with a continuous undercut groove. The groove is composed of a section with a circular cross section and a section with a rectangular cross section, wherein the section with a rectangular cross section is narrower than the diameter of the circle. The rectangular section forms a slot that opens the guide groove in the outward direction. Sliding or guiding elements move in the guide rails the sliding or guiding elements have a head, the cross section of which is adapted to the circular section of the guide rail profile. This head has the shape of a ball or a short cylindrical section, with dimensions such that it cannot become jammed in the curved sections of the guide rails. A diameter of a neck of the sliding or guiding elements is chosen such that it fits through the slot of the guide groove without getting stuck. The head of the guiding element usually is an injection-molded plastic part. Long-term usage has revealed that the combination of the plastic part and an aluminum rail is not rattle-free under all conditions. The friction between the plastic guide elements and the aluminum guide rail is not suited for optimal relative movement. In addition, certain difficulties can occur when integrating the guide rail into the inside lining. OBJECTS AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide an improved guide rail arrangement for motor vehicle window shades that eliminates the foregoing disadvantages of the prior art. According to one embodiment of the invention, the guide rail arrangement is composed of two parts. One part forms an outer part that is manufactured from an elastically deformable material. The other part serves as a support and is made of a less deformable material in order to ensure that the outer part containing an undercut groove is always stabilized and the slot width of the guide groove does not changed over time. The significant advantage of this arrangement can be seen, among other things, in that injection-molding tools with a drawable core are not required for manufacturing various designs of the outer part. Since the material of the outer part can be elastically deformed, the injection-molded part can simply be removed from the core that produces the undercut groove during the injection-molding process. This significantly reduces the costs of the manufacturing method. It is possible, in particular, to integrate the outer part into a section of the inside lining of the motor vehicle. The support part itself does not contain undercut grooves so that its manufacture does not require injection-molding tools with movable cores. The outer part may have a narrow, oblong shape that essentially follows the progression of the guide groove. The connecting means between the support part and the outer part may consist of snap-in means. These snap-in means comprise, for example, a hook that is in the form of an undercut tab. Complimentary connecting means are provided on the support part. It also is possible to utilize an undercut web in this case. An undercut web represents a simple solution on the support part because it can be manufactured, for example, in the form of an extruded profile that is subsequently bent into the desired shape. The material of the outer part preferably is selected from a group of thermoplastics. This makes it possible to achieve the desired resilience, wherein the support part counteracts a possible deformation over time. For this purpose, the support part, which may be manufactured from a light metal, contains a region that laterally supports, at least sectionally, the guide groove on flanks in the installed condition. In the simplest design, the support part contains a groove that is U-shaped and has parallel flanks. In another embodiment, the guide rail arrangement consists of a first part and a second part, both of which are molded. In this case, the joint between the two interconnected parts extends in the longitudinal direction of the guide groove. Due to this design, neither part needs to have undercuts. The undercut guide groove for the window shade is formed after the two parts are joined together. Since neither part contains undercuts, it also is possible to make one of the two parts integrally with a section of the inside lining, for example, of the C-column. In other words, this part of the guide rail arrangement is injection-molded integrally with the plate-shaped part of the lateral lining. Connecting means are provided on both parts in order to position the two parts relative to one another. The connecting means also may extend over the entire length of both parts. For example, one of the connecting means may consist of a web that cooperates with another connecting means in the form of a groove. The web may contain pins that engage into additional openings in the groove in order to effect proper positioning in the longitudinal direction of the guide groove. In order to achieve a favorable force gradient that does not exert a disadvantageous bursting effect upon the two parts when the guide element of the window shade moves through the guide groove, it is advantageous if the web extends at an acute angle relative to a plane that is defined by the slot and extends through the slot. In addition to the two interconnected parts, a support part of a less deformable material may be provided, wherein this support part is attached to the two interconnected parts. The support part serves to prevent the molded plastic parts from distorting. Such a distortion may be caused by aging or age-related shrinkage. The support parts stabilize the groove and ensure that the slot of the guide groove maintains a constant width over its entire length. The two parts may at least sectionally be integrally connected to one another. Such an integral connection can be produced by means of laser welding, ultrasonic welding, bonding or other connecting techniques. Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent upon reading the following detailed description and upon reference to the drawings, in which: BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a partially open perspective of a motor vehicle showing an inner side of a rear window having a window shade according to the invention; FIG. 2 is an enlarged depiction of the window shade of the motor vehicle shown in FIG. 1; FIG. 3 is an enlarged section of a window shade guide rail arrangement according to the invention, taken transversely to a longitudinal direction of a guide groove thereof; FIG. 4 is a section of an alternative embodiment of guide rail arrangement in accordance with the invention; FIG. 5 is a transverse section of the guide rail shown in FIG. 4, taken at a different elevation; and FIG. 6 is a transverse section of an embodiment of a guide rail arrangement according to the invention similar to that shown in FIG. 4, but inserted into the groove of a lateral lining. While the invention is susceptible of various modifications and alternative constructions, certain illustrated embodiments thereof have been shown in the drawings and will be described below in detail. It should be understood, however, that there is no intention to limit the invention to the specific forms disclosed, but on the contrary, the intention is to cover all modifications, alternative constructions and equivalents falling within the spirit and scope of the invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Referring now more particularly to FIG. 1 of the drawings, there is shown the inside of a passenger car having a rear window shade in accordance with the invention The passenger car includes a body section 1 that includes a roof 2, from which a B-column 3 laterally extends downward to a floor group, not shown. The roof 2 transforms into a rear window 4 on its rear edge. The rear window 4 laterally ends on a C-column 5 that is spaced apart from the B-column 3. The C-column 5 carries the inside lining 6. As will be understood by persons skilled in the art, between the B-column 3 and the C-column 5, a right rear door 7 is conventionally hinged to the B-column 3. A rear bench 8 consisting of a seat 9 and a back rest 11 is arranged at the height of the right rear door 7. The rear seat 9 lies on a base surface 12 that forms part of the floor group, wherein a certain leg room 13 is created in this floor group in front of the rear seat 9. A rear window shade 14 is mounted on the inner side of the rear window 4. The window shade 14 is a strip-shaped shade mounted for movement between lateral guide rails 16, being depicted in FIG. 1 in a partially extended position. The guide rails 16 begins at a rear window shelf 17 arranged behind the back rest 11 and extend adjacent to the lateral window edge. The strip-shaped shade 15 extends out of a continuous slot 18 arranged in the rear window shelf 17. The window shade 14, the basic design of which is shown in FIG. 2, has a winding shaft 19 rotatably supported underneath the rear window shelf 17, with one edge of the strip-shaped shade 15 being fixed to this winding shaft. The winding shaft 19 is prestressed in the wind-up direction of the strip-shaped shade 15 on the winding shaft 19 with the aid of an appropriate spring drive 21. The spring drive 21 in this case is a coil spring, one end of which is rigidly anchored on the car body and the other end of which is fixed in the winding shaft 19. The strip-shaped shade 15 has an approximately trapezoidal shape and is formed with a tubular loop 22 on an end opposite the winding shaft 19. A draw-out profile or hoop extends through the tubular loop 22 and telescopically supports guide pieces 23, 24 in its interior. The guide pieces 23, 24 contain a neck part 25 of smaller diameter than an adjacent guide element 26 that has the shape of a short cylindrical section. The guide pieces 26 move in the guide rails 16 arranged adjacent opposite lateral edges of the rear window 4. Each guide rail 16, as depicted in FIGS. 3 and 4, has a guide groove 27 that opens in the direction of the strip-shaped shade 15 in a guide slot 28. The lower end of each guide rail 16 is connected to a guide tube 29, 30, in which two bendable thrust elements 31, 32 are guided in a buckle-proof fashion. The bendable thrust elements 31, 32 comprise so-called Suflex shafts. They include a cylindrical core that is surrounded by a helically extending rib, which defines a flexible toothed rack with peripheral gearing. The guide tubes 29 and 30 connect the guide rails 16 to a gear motor 33. The gear motor 33 comprises a permanently excited D.C. motor 34 which is part of a drive 35 having an output shaft 36 onto which a cylindrical gear 37 in the form of a toothed wheel is fixed. The toothed wheel 37 positively meshes with both thrust elements 31, 32. These thrust elements 31, 32 tangentially extend past the cylindrical gear 37 on diametrically opposite sides and are guided in corresponding bores 38, 39 for this purpose. When the drive motor 33 is actuated, the thrust elements 31, 32 are selectively extended or retracted, with the guide pieces 23, 24 following the movement of the thrust elements 31, 32. These guide pieces are held against the free ends of the thrust elements 31, 32 in the guide grooves 27 with the aid of a spring 21. The guide rails 16, as depicted in FIG. 3, include an outer part 41 and a support part 42. The outer part 41 consists of a thermoplastic material and integrally transforms into the inside lining 6 of the C-column 5. The outer part 41 defines the undercut guide groove 27 that opens outwardly through the slot 28. The guide groove 27 basically consists of a circular section 43 and a rectangular section 44. The diameter of the circular section 43 is adapted to the diameter of the guide pieces 26. The outer part 41 has an outer or visual side 45 that extends approximately parallel to a rear side 46 thereof. The outer side 45 is divided into a section 45a and a section 45b by the slot 28. In addition to the slot 28, the outer part 41 forms a wall section 47 that protrudes from the rear side 46 and transforms into a wall region 48 on its a free end. This wall region 48 extends along a segment of a circle and is followed by a straight wall section 49 that lies parallel to the wall section 47 and ends in the wall section 45b. Accordingly, the structure on the rear side 46 in this case is free of undercuts, i.e., the two wall sections 47, 49 are limited by two parallel side walls on the outer side. A first hook-shaped tab 51 extends adjacent to the wall section 47, namely parallel to the longitudinal direction of the slot 48. This first hook-shaped tab forms a groove 52 on the inner corner together with the wall section 47. A second hook-shaped tab 53 is arranged in the form of a mirror image of the first hook-shaped tab and is situated adjacent to the outer side of the wall section 49. This second hook-shaped tab forms a groove 54 together with the outer side of the wall section 49. The dimensions of both hook-shaped tabs 51, 53 are chosen such that the outer part 41 can be easily removed from the complementary mold cavity of the injection mold after an injection-molding process is completed, namely by utilizing the elasticity of the hook-shaped tabs 51 and 53. Hence, complicated tools with moving cores are not required for producing the undercuts. In addition, the wall thickness in the region of the wall section 48 surrounding the cylindrical region 43 has a cross-sectional profile chosen, in relation to the width of the slot 28, such that the finished injection-molded outer part 41 can be removed from the mold core for producing the cross section 43 and the cross section 44, namely in a direction perpendicular to the plane formed by the outer side 45a or 45b, respectively. During the removal from the injection-molding tool, the outer part 41 is widened in the region of the guide groove until the corresponding part of the mold core is able to slide through the slot 28. The outer part 41 subsequently springs back into the originally desired shape due to its inherent elasticity. The support part 42 is provided because the structure alone could, under certain circumstances, be excessively resilient for reliably guiding the guide elements 26 and preventing their release from the guide groove 27. The support part 42 in this case is rigidly arranged on an inner side of a car body section 55. The illustrated support part 42 consists of a mounting plate 56 with two projecting limbs 57, 58. The limbs 57, 58 define an interior suitable for accommodating the rear side of the outer part 41 in the region of the guide groove 27 without play. This U-shaped opening is composed, in particular, of an arc-shaped portion that receives and is adjoined by the wall section 48, as well as two parallel surfaces that receive and are adjoined by the outer sides of the wall sections 47, 49. The free ends of both limbs 57 and 58 are provided with flat hook-shaped tabs 59, 61 that are complementary to the hook-shaped tabs 51, 53. The support part 42 consists of a relatively rigid and inelastic material that is able to generate a sufficient resistance to forces acting in the widening direction of the slot 28 during the operation of the window shade. The support part 42 consists, for example, of an extruded aluminum profile that can be subsequently bent, if so required, in accordance with the desired configuration. In the installed condition, the two free limbs 57, 58 enter into and interlockingly engage the grooves 52, 54. This simultaneously results in an anchoring of the inside lining 6 in the region of the guide rail 16. According to the invention, it is possible to manufacture a plastic guide rail 16, which may be of considerable length, wherein no movable core is required in the injection-molding tool. Otherwise the mold would be extremely difficult and expensive to manufacture, namely because it is very difficult to hold a movable core in proper position over a length of approximately 50 cm of the circular part 43 of the guide groove 27, which has a diameter of approximately 8 mm. The design of the guide rail 16 in accordance with the invention eliminates the necessity for such a movable core because the core can be rigidly fixed on a web that molds the slot 28. Another advantage of the invention can be seen in the fact that the color in the visible regions of the guide rail 16 can be made to correspond exactly to the color of the inside lining 6. This eliminates the customary measures for concealing a shiny aluminum rail. The thermoplastic material also has superior sliding properties for the guide member 26. If the guide rail consisted of an aluminum profile, it would be necessary to manufacture the guide member 26 from plastic or to provide the guide member with a plastic coating in order to achieve suitable sliding properties. The invention eliminates these requirements. Due to its resilience, the plastic surface of the guide rail has a much lower tendency to generate rattling noises than a hard metal surface. Only the support part 42 consists of metal. The rigid support part 42 ensures that the guide groove 27 maintains its shape over an extended period of time. Another embodiment of a plastic guide rail 16 is shown in FIGS. 4 and 5. In this embodiment, structural elements that are identical or equivalent to those described above with reference to FIG. 3 are identified by the same reference symbols and not described in detail anew. The guide rail 16 in this case has a guide groove 27 configured similar to the above-described shape, i.e., it is composed of a circular section and a rectangular section that corresponds to the slot 28. The guide rail 16 in this instance, as depicted in FIG. 4, consists of two parts, wherein a first part 63 is integrally connected to the section 45a and another part 64 is integrally connected to the section 45b. The visual side section 45a forms part of a flange 65 that extends as far as the slot 28 and transforms into a wall section 66 at this location. The wall section 66a ends on a surface 67 that extends at an angle of approximately 30-60 degrees referred to the visual side 45a. The flange 65 and the wall section 66 form an approximately rectangular profiled rail that, in turn, forms a section of the wall that corresponds to the section 43 with a circular cross section, as well as a wall section that limits the section 44 with a rectangular cross section on the outer side of the wall section or limb 66 that extends away from the inner corner, as shown in FIG. 4. The wall 67 ends approximately at the height of a plane that corresponds to the upper limiting wall of the slot 28. Beginning at this location, the wall or the limb 66 transforms into a narrow web 68 that protrudes, as shown in FIG. 4, over a plane defined by the center of the circular section 43 and the center of the slot 28. Considering the circular section 43 as a clock, the point of transition between the wall 67 and the web 68 that has a smooth outer surface that lies between 10 o'clock and 11 o'clock. The other part 64 of the guide rail 16 forms an integral component of the inside lining 6 and has, in principle, a shape that is about complementary to that of the part 63. The visual side section 45b is adjoined by a limb 69 that lies parallel to the limb 66. The side of the limb 69 facing the limb 66 has an outside contour that supplements the outside contour of the limb 66 such that the complete guide groove 67 is formed. On the opposite side of the slot 68, the limb 69 protrudes upwardly over the slot 28 by a certain distance and is provided with a groove 71 that accommodates the web 68 in the mounted condition as shown. The web 68 and the groove 71 extend over the entire length of the guide rail 16. In order to hold the two parts 63 and 64 in the correct position in the longitudinal direction of the guide rail 16, the web 68 carries tabs 72 that are spaced apart by distances of approximately 5 cm-10 centimeter, as shown in FIG. 5. In the installed condition the tabs 72 are inserted into rectangular openings 73 provided in the base of the groove 71, namely in an extension thereof. Ribs 74 may be provided on the tabs 72, as shown in FIG. 5. These ribs make it possible to locally weld the respective wall of the opening 73 to the rib 74. This can be effected by means of ultrasonic welding, namely by pressing corresponding sonotrodes at these locations, or alternatively, the parts may be welded to one another by means of laser welding. If it is questionable whether or not the thermoplastic parts 63 and 64 can maintain their dimensional stability over an extended period of time, wherein the width of the gap 28 could conceivably change, an additional stabilizing element 75 can be used, as depicted in broken lines in FIG. 5. The illustrated stabilizing element 75 is shorter than the guide rail 16 and essentially has a U-shaped design. On its free ends, the stabilizing element 75 is provided with upwardly directed hook-shaped tabs 76, 77 that cooperate with hook-shaped tabs 51, 53 in a manner similar to that described above with reference to FIG. 3. Since the stabilizing element 75 adjoins the outer side of the limbs 66, 69 with the inner sides of its limbs, the slot 28 is prevented from widening, as well as from reducing its width. Several stabilizing elements 75 of this type may be provided and spaced apart from one another by a certain distance. In the embodiments of FIGS. 4 and 5, respectively, the two parts 63, and 64 also are practically free of undercuts. The hook-shaped tabs 51, 53, if provided at all, have such small undercuts that the inherent elasticity of tabs 51, 53 would suffice for their removal from the injection-molding tool. This eliminates the need for a drawable core. Hence, the illustrated structure also makes it possible to injection-mold the guide rail from plastic by utilizing very cost-efficient injection-molding tools. The guide rails 16 according to FIGS. 3 and 4 are shown and described as forming, at least sectionally, part of the inside lining, for example, of the C-column. However, it will be understood that the guide rails 16 also could be made separately thereof and connected to snap-in elements of the lateral lining or the car body, such as by means complementary tabs or snap-in elements. The visual side section 45b then would end approximately at the location at which the arc-shaped progression begins in the structure. The tabs for interlocking the guide rail 16 would be arranged, for example, on the limb 69 in an extension of the slot 28 in the embodiment shown in FIGS. 4 and 5. FIG. 6 shows an embodiment of the guide rail arrangement 16 that corresponds, in principle, to the embodiment shown in FIGS. 4 and 5. However, the guide rail arrangement 16 is inserted into a groove 78 provided in the lateral lining part 6. Consequently, the lateral lining part 6 integrally extends beyond the groove 78. The groove 78 is laterally limited by two walls 79, 81. The groove 78 has parallel flanks in this region. The two side walls 81, 79 are integrally connected to one another by a base 82. As indicated above, the guide rail arrangement 16 corresponds to the guide rail arrangement 16 shown in FIGS. 4 and 5 and is composed of the two parts 64 and 65. They form short tab-like flanges 83, 84 on the outer side of the lateral lining part, wherein said flanges are sunk in a flush fashion into corresponding depressions 85, 86 of the lateral lining part 6. In order to positively hold the guide rail arrangement 16 in the groove 78, flutings 87, 88 with a sawtooth-shaped profile are provided on the outer side of the limb 66 and on the outer side of the limb 69, wherein said flutings are complementary to flutings on the inner side of the walls 81, 79. From the foregoing, it can be seen that the motor vehicle window shade of the present invention comprises guide rails that consist of plastic. The guide rails are designed, in particular, such that the injection-molding tools used form the guide rails need not contain movable cores in order to produce the guide groove. Hence, they are subject to much more economical manufacture. | <SOH> BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION <EOH>DE 100 57 759 A1 describes a rear window shade for motor vehicles. This rear window shade comprises a winding shaft that is rotatably supported underneath a rear window shelf, wherein one edge of the strip-shaped shade is fixed the winding shaft. The strip-shaped shade is cut into an approximately trapezoidal shape with its other end distant to the winding shaft fixed to a draw-out rod Movement of the draw-out rod is laterally guided in two guide rails that are either bonded to the inner side of the rear window or hidden in the car body behind the lining of a C-column. Elastically bendable thrust elements for moving the draw-out rod are guided in the guide rails in a buckle-proof fashion. The guide rails consist of an extruded aluminum profile with a continuous undercut groove. The groove is composed of a section with a circular cross section and a section with a rectangular cross section, wherein the section with a rectangular cross section is narrower than the diameter of the circle. The rectangular section forms a slot that opens the guide groove in the outward direction. Sliding or guiding elements move in the guide rails the sliding or guiding elements have a head, the cross section of which is adapted to the circular section of the guide rail profile. This head has the shape of a ball or a short cylindrical section, with dimensions such that it cannot become jammed in the curved sections of the guide rails. A diameter of a neck of the sliding or guiding elements is chosen such that it fits through the slot of the guide groove without getting stuck. The head of the guiding element usually is an injection-molded plastic part. Long-term usage has revealed that the combination of the plastic part and an aluminum rail is not rattle-free under all conditions. The friction between the plastic guide elements and the aluminum guide rail is not suited for optimal relative movement. In addition, certain difficulties can occur when integrating the guide rail into the inside lining. | <SOH> OBJECTS AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION <EOH>It is an object of the present invention to provide an improved guide rail arrangement for motor vehicle window shades that eliminates the foregoing disadvantages of the prior art. According to one embodiment of the invention, the guide rail arrangement is composed of two parts. One part forms an outer part that is manufactured from an elastically deformable material. The other part serves as a support and is made of a less deformable material in order to ensure that the outer part containing an undercut groove is always stabilized and the slot width of the guide groove does not changed over time. The significant advantage of this arrangement can be seen, among other things, in that injection-molding tools with a drawable core are not required for manufacturing various designs of the outer part. Since the material of the outer part can be elastically deformed, the injection-molded part can simply be removed from the core that produces the undercut groove during the injection-molding process. This significantly reduces the costs of the manufacturing method. It is possible, in particular, to integrate the outer part into a section of the inside lining of the motor vehicle. The support part itself does not contain undercut grooves so that its manufacture does not require injection-molding tools with movable cores. The outer part may have a narrow, oblong shape that essentially follows the progression of the guide groove. The connecting means between the support part and the outer part may consist of snap-in means. These snap-in means comprise, for example, a hook that is in the form of an undercut tab. Complimentary connecting means are provided on the support part. It also is possible to utilize an undercut web in this case. An undercut web represents a simple solution on the support part because it can be manufactured, for example, in the form of an extruded profile that is subsequently bent into the desired shape. The material of the outer part preferably is selected from a group of thermoplastics. This makes it possible to achieve the desired resilience, wherein the support part counteracts a possible deformation over time. For this purpose, the support part, which may be manufactured from a light metal, contains a region that laterally supports, at least sectionally, the guide groove on flanks in the installed condition. In the simplest design, the support part contains a groove that is U-shaped and has parallel flanks. In another embodiment, the guide rail arrangement consists of a first part and a second part, both of which are molded. In this case, the joint between the two interconnected parts extends in the longitudinal direction of the guide groove. Due to this design, neither part needs to have undercuts. The undercut guide groove for the window shade is formed after the two parts are joined together. Since neither part contains undercuts, it also is possible to make one of the two parts integrally with a section of the inside lining, for example, of the C-column. In other words, this part of the guide rail arrangement is injection-molded integrally with the plate-shaped part of the lateral lining. Connecting means are provided on both parts in order to position the two parts relative to one another. The connecting means also may extend over the entire length of both parts. For example, one of the connecting means may consist of a web that cooperates with another connecting means in the form of a groove. The web may contain pins that engage into additional openings in the groove in order to effect proper positioning in the longitudinal direction of the guide groove. In order to achieve a favorable force gradient that does not exert a disadvantageous bursting effect upon the two parts when the guide element of the window shade moves through the guide groove, it is advantageous if the web extends at an acute angle relative to a plane that is defined by the slot and extends through the slot. In addition to the two interconnected parts, a support part of a less deformable material may be provided, wherein this support part is attached to the two interconnected parts. The support part serves to prevent the molded plastic parts from distorting. Such a distortion may be caused by aging or age-related shrinkage. The support parts stabilize the groove and ensure that the slot of the guide groove maintains a constant width over its entire length. The two parts may at least sectionally be integrally connected to one another. Such an integral connection can be produced by means of laser welding, ultrasonic welding, bonding or other connecting techniques. Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent upon reading the following detailed description and upon reference to the drawings, in which: | 20040902 | 20070313 | 20050303 | 79124.0 | 1 | PUROL, DAVID M | INJECTION-MOLDED PLASTIC GUIDE RAIL | UNDISCOUNTED | 0 | ACCEPTED | 2,004 |
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10,932,899 | ACCEPTED | Home network name displaying methods and apparatus for multiple home networks | Home network name displaying methods and apparatus for multiple home networks are disclosed. A mobile station scans to receive a plurality of Mobile Country Code (MCC) and Mobile Network Code (MNC) pairs corresponding to a plurality of communication networks within a coverage area. The mobile station selects and registers with a communication network associated with one of the received MCC and MNC pairs for communication. After the network is selected, the received MCC and MNC pair is compared with a plurality of home network MCC and MNC pairs which are associated with a single home network display name. Based on identifying a match between the received MCC and MNC pair and any one of the home network MCC and MNC pairs, the home network display name is visually displayed in a display of the mobile station. If no match exists, an alternate name is selected for display. The plurality of home network MCC and MNC pairs may be stored in memory of the mobile station or, alternatively, on a Subscriber Identify Module (SIM). Advantageously, a single home network name is displayed when a network associated with any of the home network MCC and MNC pairs is selected for communication. | 1. A network name displaying method in a mobile station, the method comprising: scanning to receive a plurality of Mobile Country Code (MCC) and Mobile Network Code (MNC) pairs corresponding to a plurality of wireless communication networks within a coverage area; selecting and registering with a wireless communication network associated with one of the received MCC and MNC pairs; comparing the MCC and MNC pair of the selected network with a plurality of home network MCC and MNC pairs; for the step of comparing: using a plurality of home network MCC and MNC pairs stored on a Subscriber Identify Module (SIM) based on identifying that the plurality of home network MCC and MNC pairs are stored on the SIM otherwise using a plurality of home network MCC and MNC pairs stored in memory of the mobile station: and causing a home network display name to be visually displayed in a visual display of the mobile station based on identifying a match between the MCC and MNC pair of the selected network and one of the home network MCC and MNC pairs. 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the plurality of home network MCC and MNC pairs are stored in the SIM. 3. The method of claim 1, wherein the plurality of home network MCC and MNC pairs are stored in the memory of the mobile station. 4. The method of claim 1, wherein the home network display name is the same for all of the home network MCC and MNC pairs. 5. The method of claim 1, wherein a Location Area Code (LAC) is used in addition to the MCC and the MNC in the acts of comparing and identifying. 6. The method of claim 1, further comprising: causing an alternate display name to be visually displayed in the visual display based on identifying no match between the MCC and MNC pair of the selected network and one of the home network MCC and MNC pairs. 7. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of identifying that the plurality of home network MCC and MNC pairs are stored on the SIM comprises the further step of testing a predetermined designated area of memory on the SIM. 8. A mobile station, comprising: a transceiver being operative to scan to receive a plurality of Mobile Country Code (MCC) and Mobile Network Code (MNC) pairs corresponding to a plurality of wireless communication networks within a coverage area; a Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) interface for receiving a SIM; a processor being operative to: select and register with a wireless communication network associated with one of the received MCC and MNC pairs; compare the MCC and MNC pair of the selected network with the a plurality of home network MCC and MNC pairs associated with a home network display name; for the comparison: using a plurality of home network MCC and MNC pairs stored on the SIM based on identifying that the plurality of home network MCC and MNC pairs are stored on the SIM, otherwise using a plurality of home network MCC and MNC pairs stored in memory of the mobile station; and cause the home network display name to be visually displayed in a visual display of the mobile station based on identifying a match between the MCC and MNC pair of the selected network and one of the home network MCC and MNC pairs. 9. The mobile station of claim 8, wherein the plurality of home network MCC and MNC pairs are stored on the SIM. 10. The mobile station of claim 8, wherein the memory is separate and apart from the SIM in the mobile station. 11. The mobile station of claim 8, wherein the home network display name is the same for all of the home network MCC and MNC pairs. 12. The mobile station of claim 8, wherein a Location Area Code (LAC) is used in addition to the MCC and the MNC in the acts of comparing and identifying. 13. The mobile station of claim 8, wherein the processor is further operative to: cause an alternate display name to be visually displayed in the visual display based on identifying no match between the MCC and MNC pair of the selected network and one of the home network MCC and MNC pairs. 14. The mobile station of claim 8, wherein the processor is further operative to: identify that the plurality of home network MCC and MNC pairs are stored on the SIM by testing a predetermined designated area of memory on the SIM. 15. A computer program product, comprising: a computer storage medium; computer instructions stored on the computer storage medium; the computer instructions being executable by a processor for executing the steps of: causing a scanning process to receive a plurality of Mobile Country Code (MCC) and Mobile Network Code (MNC) pairs corresponding to a plurality of wireless communication networks within a coverage area; selecting and registering with a wireless communication network associated with one of the received MCC and MNC pairs; comparing the MCC and MNC pair of the selected network with a plurality of home network MCC and MNC pairs associated with a home network display name; for the comparing: using a plurality of home network MCC and MNC pairs stored on a Subscriber Identify Module (SIM) based on identifying that the plurality of home network MCC and MNC pairs are stored on the SIM, otherwise using a plurality of home network MCC and MNC pairs stored in memory of the mobile station; and causing a the home network display name to be visually displayed in a visual display of the mobile station based on identifying a match between the MCC and MNC pair of the selected network and one of the home network MCC and MNC pairs. 16. The computer program product of claim 15, wherein the plurality of home network MCC and MNC pairs are stored in the SIM. 17. The computer program product of claim 15, wherein the plurality of home network MCC and MNC pairs are stored in the memory of the mobile station. 18. The computer program product of claim 15, wherein the home network display name is the same for all of the home network MCC and MNC pairs. 19. The computer program product of claim 15, wherein a Location Area Code (LAC) is used in addition to the MCC and the MNC in the acts of comparing and identifying. 20. The computer program product of claim 15, wherein the computer instructions are further executable for: causing an alternate display name to be visually displayed in the visual display based on identifying no match between the MCC and MNC pair of the selected network and one of the home network MCC and MNC pairs. 21. The computer program product of claim 15, wherein the computer instructions are further executable for identifying that the plurality of home network MCC and MNC pairs are stored on the SIM by testing a predetermined designated area of memory on the SIM. 22. The computer program product of claim 15, wherein the computer instructions are further executable for identifying that the plurality of home network MCC and MNC pairs are stored on the SIM by testing a version number of the SIM. 23. The computer program product of claim 15, wherein the plurality of home network MCC and MNC pairs correspond to networks of a Home Public Land Mobile Network (HPLMN) list. 24. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of identifying that the plurality of home network MCC and MNC pairs are stored on the SIM comprises the further step of testing a version number of the SIM. 25. The method of claim 1, wherein the plurality of home network MCC and MNC pairs correspond to networks of a Home Public Land Mobile Network (HPLMN) list. 26. The mobile station of claim 8 wherein, to identify that the plurality of home network MCC and MNC pairs are stored on the SIM, the processor is further operative to test a version number of the SIM. 27. The mobile station of claim 8, wherein the plurality of home network MCC and MNC pairs correspond to networks of a Home Public Land Mobile Network (HPLMN) list. | BACKGROUND 1. Field of the Technology The present application relates generally to mobile stations and home network name displaying methods employed thereby. 2. Description of the Related Art Wireless communication devices, such as mobile- stations, have the ability to communicate with other devices (e.g. telephones, servers, personal computers (PCs), etc.) through wireless communication networks. A wireless communication network includes a plurality of base stations, each of which provides near-exclusive communication coverage within a given geographic area. However, more than one wireless network is typically available in many, if not most, geographic regions in a competing fashion. Typically, an end user contracts with and pays to receive communication services exclusively from a single “service provider” for a limited period of time (e.g. one year). Although different networks are available, a mobile station automatically selects and registers with its home communication network (i.e. the network of the contracted service provider) for operation. Typically, the mobile station receives a Mobile Country Code (MCC) and a Mobile Network Code (MNC) from each network and operates with a preference towards choosing that network having the MCC/MNC pair uniquely associated with the home network The MCC/MNC pair of the home network is stored on a Subscriber Identify Module (SIM) in a home public land mobile network (HPLMN) file. Other networks are stored in a prioritized fashion in a “preferred” PLMN list on the SIM. After selecting and registering with a particular network (e.g. the home network), the mobile station retrieves and displays a service provider name (e.g. “T-Mobile” or “AT&T Wireless”) from the SIM which corresponds to the unique MCC and MNC combination of the selected network. This name may be obtained and displayed in accordance with what is known as an “Operator Named String” (ONS) procedure. Although exclusive service agreements typically exist between the subscriber and the home network, otherwise competing wireless networks have established relationships whereby mobile stations can receive services through the other's network when necessary or desired. When a mobile station is located in a geographic region where service provider has not established any network infrastructure, for example, the mobile station may receive services and communicate through a different network associated with an MCC/MNC pair different from that of the home network. In a competitive network relationship, the subscriber is likely to incur additional service charges (e.g. “roaming” charges) and the name of the competitor's network service may be displayed in the visual display. In a more cooperative network relationship, the subscriber might incur only standard charges (i.e. no roaming charges) using the alternative network. Per the ONS naming procedure, however, a service provider name different from that of the home network is displayed on the mobile station. This may be confusing to a subscriber who may believe that, for example, roaming charges are being incurred due to use of the alternative network when in fact they are not. Fortunately, there has been a recent shift to provide an alternative naming technique referred to as “Enhanced Operator Named String” (EONS) procedure. EONS is described in, for example, 3GPP 51.001 Specifications of the SIM-ME Interface R4 (v4.2.0 or later). One purpose of EONS is to reduce the naming confusion created in scenarios like the one described above. In particular, instead of displaying a name that is different from that of the home network in the above-scenario, the same or substantially similar “home network” name may be displayed even though a different network is actually being used. Subscribers often prefer such transparency and simplification of operation and desire to understand when additional service charges may be incurred. Another situation has been encountered where the service provider becomes the new owner of one or more networks which have MCC/MNC pairs different from that of the primary home network's. A mobile station might be provided with multiple MCC/MNC pairs corresponding to all of these “home” networks, and operate to preferentially select and register with these networks over others. However, the name displayed on the mobile station may not correspond to the home network if the selected network has a different MCC/MNC pair from that of the primary home network's. If steps were taken to provide the mobile station with special home network name displaying capabilities, compatibility issues may arise between previous, current, and future versions mobile stations and SIMs. Accordingly, there is a resulting need for improved home network name displaying methods and apparatus for multiple home networks. SUMMARY Home network name displaying methods and apparatus for multiple home networks are described herein. A mobile station scans to receive a plurality of Mobile Country Code (MCC) and Mobile Network Code (MNC) pairs corresponding to a plurality of communication networks within a coverage area. The mobile station selects and registers with a communication network associated with one of the received MCC and MNC pairs for communication. After the network is selected, the received MCC and MNC pair is compared with a plurality of home network MCC and MNC pairs which are associated with a single home network display name. Based on identifying a match between the received MCC and MNC pair and any one of the home network MCC and MNC pairs, the home network display name is visually displayed in a display of the mobile station. If no match exists, an alternate name is selected for display. The plurality of home network MCC and MNC pairs may be stored in memory of the mobile station or, alternatively, on a Subscriber Identify Module (SIM). Advantageously, a single home network name is displayed when a network associated with any of the home network MCC and MNC pairs is selected for communication. Preferably, a Location Area Code (LAC) is also utilized along with the MCC and MNC pairs for these purposes. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Embodiments of present invention will now be described by way of example with reference to attached figures, wherein: FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a communication system which includes a mobile station for communicating in a wireless communication network which may be its home communication network; FIG. 2 is a more detailed example of a mobile station for use in the wireless communication network; FIG. 3 is a particular structure of the system for communicating with the mobile station; FIG. 4 is a simplified illustration of the mobile station and a plurality of wireless communication networks, each of which is associated with a unique Mobile Country Code (MCC) and Mobile Network Code (MNC) pair, FIG. 5 shows a list of home network MCC and MNC pairs stored in association with a home network display name from a home network name file; FIG. 6 is an illustration of a visual display of the mobile station which may visually display a network or service provider name with which the mobile station has registered; and FIG. 7 is a flowchart for describing a home network name displaying method for multiple home networks. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Home network name displaying methods and apparatus for multiple home networks are described herein. A mobile station scans to receive a plurality of Mobile Country Code (MCC) and Mobile Network Code (MNC) pairs corresponding to a plurality of communication networks within a coverage area. The mobile station selects a communication network associated with one of the received MCC and MNC pairs for communication. After the network is selected, the received MCC and MNC pair is compared with a plurality of home network MCC and MNC pairs which are associated with a single home network display name. Based on identifying a match between the received MCC and MNC pair and any one of the home network MCC and MNC pairs, the home network display name is visually displayed in a display of the mobile station. If no match exists, an alternate name is selected for display. The plurality of home network MCC and MNC pairs may be stored in memory of the mobile station or, alternatively, on a Subscriber Identify Module (SIM). Advantageously, a single home network name is displayed when a network associated with any of the home network MCC and MNC pairs is selected for communication. FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a communication system 100 which includes a wireless communication device 102 which communicates through a wireless communication network 104. In the preferred embodiment, wireless communication device 102 is a mobile station and therefore this term is used throughout this text. Mobile station 102 preferably includes a visual display 112, a keyboard 114, and perhaps one or more auxiliary user interfaces (UI) 116, each of which are coupled to a controller 106. Controller 106 is also coupled to radio frequency (RF) transceiver circuitry 108 and an antenna 110. In most modern communication devices, controller 106 is embodied as a central processing unit (CPU) which runs operating system software in a memory component (not shown). Controller 106 will normally control overall operation of mobile station 102, whereas signal processing operations associated with communication functions are typically performed in RF transceiver circuitry 108. Controller 106 interfaces with device display 112 to display received information, stored information, user inputs, and the like. Keyboard 114, which may be a telephone type keypad or full alphanumeric keyboard, is normally provided for entering data for storage in mobile station 102, information for transmission to network 104, a telephone number to place a telephone call, commands to be executed on mobile station 102, and possibly other or different user inputs. Mobile station 102 sends communication signals to and receives communication signals from network 104 over a wireless link via antenna 110. RF transceiver circuitry 108 performs functions similar to those of base station 120, including for example modulation/demodulation and possibly encoding/decoding and encryption/decryption. It is also contemplated that RF transceiver circuitry 108 may perform certain functions in addition to those performed by base station 120. It will be apparent to those skilled in art that RF transceiver circuitry 108 will be adapted to particular wireless network or networks in which mobile station 102 is intended to operate. Mobile station 102 includes a battery interface 134 for receiving one or more rechargeable batteries 132. Battery 132 provides electrical power to (most if not all) electrical circuitry in mobile station 102, and battery interface 132 provides for a mechanical and electrical connection for battery 132. Battery interface 132 is coupled to a regulator 136 which regulates power for the device. When mobile station 102 is fully operational, an RF transmitter of RF transceiver circuitry 108 is typically keyed or turned on only when it is sending to network, and is otherwise turned off to conserve resources. Such intermittent operation of transmitter has a dramatic effect on power consumption of mobile station 102. Similarly, an RF receiver of RF transceiver circuitry 108 is typically periodically turned off to conserve power until it is needed to receive signals or information (if at all) during designated time periods. Mobile station 102 may consist of a single unit, such as a data communication device, a cellular telephone, a multiple-function communication device with data and voice communication capabilities, a personal digital assistant (PDA) enabled for wireless communication, or a computer incorporating an internal modem. Alternatively, mobile station 102 may be a multiple-module unit comprising a plurality of separate components, including but in no way limited to a computer or other device connected to a wireless modem. In particular, for example, in the mobile station block diagram of FIG. 1, RF transceiver circuitry 108 and antenna 110 may be implemented as a radio modem unit that may be inserted into a port on a laptop computer. In this case, the laptop computer would include display 112, keyboard 114, one or more auxiliary Uls 116, and controller 106 embodied as the computer's CPU. It is also contemplated that a computer or other equipment not normally capable of wireless communication may be adapted to connect to and effectively assume control of RF transceiver circuitry 108 and antenna 110 of a single-unit device such as one of those described above. Mobile station 102 operates using a Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) 140 which is connected to or inserted in mobile station 102 at a SIM interface 142. SIM 140 is one type of a conventional “smart card” used to identify an end user (or subscriber) of mobile station 102 and to personalize the device, among other things. Without SIM 140, the wireless terminal is not fully operational for communication through wireless network 104. By inserting SIM 140 into the wireless terminal, an end user can have access to any and all of his/her subscribed services. In order to identify the subscriber, SIM 140 contains some user parameters such as an International Mobile Subscriber Identity (IMSI). In addition, SIM 140 is typically protected by a four-digit Personal Identification Number (PIN) which is stored therein and known only by the end user. An advantage of using SIM 140 is that end users are not necessarily bound by any single physical wireless device. Typically, the only element that personalizes a wireless terminal is a SIM card. Therefore, the user can access subscribed services using any wireless terminal equipped to operate with the user's SIM. In general, SIM 140 includes a processor and memory for storing information. Information may be transferred between controller 106 and SIM 140 through data and control lines 144. SIM and its interfacing standards are well known. For interfacing with a standard GSM device having SIM interface 142, a conventional SIM 140 has six (6) connections. A typical SIM 140 may store the following information: (1) an International Mobile Subscriber Identity (IMSI); (2) an individual subscriber's authentication key (Ki); (3) a ciphering key generating algorithm (A8)—with Ki and RAND it generates a 64-bit key (Kc); (4) an authentication algorithm (A3)—with Ki and RAND it generates a 32-bit signed response (SRED); and (5) a user PIN code (1 & 2); and (6) a PUK code (1 & 2) (this is also referred to as the SPIN). SIM 140 may also store user-specific information as well, including a user phone book, Short Message Service (SMS) messages, datebook (or calendar) information, and recent call information. SIM 140 also stores a list of MCC and MNC pairs associated with a plurality of communication networks which are part of the “home network”. The list may be referred to as a Home Public Land Mobile Network (HPLMN) list. In addition, SIM 140 stores a list of MCC and MNC pairs associated with a plurality of “preferred” communication networks. This list may be referred to as a Preferred PLMN (PPLMN) list. Typically, networks identified in the PPLMN list are not associated with the home network and their use may impart “roaming” status to mobile station 102. In FIG. 1, mobile station 102 communicates through wireless communication network 104. In the embodiment of FIG. 1, wireless network 104 is a Global Systems for Mobile (GSM) and General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) network. Wireless network 104 includes a base station 120 with an associated antenna tower 118, a Mobile Switching Center (MSC) 122, a Home Location Register (HLR) 132, a Serving General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) Support Node (SGSN) 126, and a Gateway GPRS Support Node (GGSN) 128. MSC 122 is coupled to base station 120 and to a landline network, such as a Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) 124. SGSN 126 is coupled to base station 120 and to GGSN 128, which is in turn coupled to a public or private data network 130 (such as the Internet). HLR 132 is coupled to MSC 122, SGSN 126, and GGSN 128. Base station 120, including its associated controller and antenna tower 118, provides wireless network coverage for a particular coverage area commonly referred to as a “cell”. Base station 120 transmits communication signals to and receives communication signals from mobile stations within its cell via antenna tower 118. Base station 120 normally performs such functions as modulation and possibly encoding and/or encryption of signals to be transmitted to the mobile station in accordance with particular, usually predetermined, communication protocols and parameters, under control of its controller. Base station 120 similarly demodulates and possibly decodes and decrypts, if necessary, any communication signals received from mobile station 102 within its cell. Communication protocols and parameters may vary between different networks. For example, one network may employ a different modulation scheme and operate at different frequencies than other networks. The wireless link shown in communication system 100 of FIG. 1 represents one or more different channels, typically different radio frequency (RF) channels, and associated protocols used between wireless network 104 and mobile station 102. An RF channel is a limited resource that must be conserved, typically due to limits in overall bandwidth and a limited battery power of mobile station 102. Those skilled in art will appreciate that a wireless network in actual practice may include hundreds of cells, each served by a distinct base station 120 and transceiver, depending upon desired overall expanse of network coverage. All base station controllers and base stations may be connected by multiple switches and routers (not shown), controlled by multiple network controllers. For all mobile station's 102 registered with a network operator, permanent data (such as mobile station 102 user's profile) as well as temporary data (such as mobile station's 102 current location) are stored in HLR 132. In case of a voice call to mobile station 102, HLR 132 is queried to determine the current location of mobile station 102. A Visitor Location Register (VLR) of MSC 122 is responsible for a group of location areas and stores the data of those mobile stations that are currently in its area of responsibility. This includes parts of the permanent mobile station data that have been transmitted from HLR 132 to the VLR for faster access. However, the VLR of MSC 122 may also assign and store local data, such as temporary identifications. Optionally, the VLR of MSC 122 can be enhanced for more efficient co-ordination of GPRS and non-GPRS services and functionality (e.g. paging for circuit-switched calls which can be performed more efficiently via SGSN 126, and combined GPRS and non-GPRS location updates). Being part of the GPRS network, Serving GPRS Support Node (SGSN) 126 is at the same hierarchical level as MSC 122 and keeps track of the individual locations of mobile stations. SGSN 126 also performs security functions and access control. Gateway GPRS Support Node (GGSN) 128 provides interworking with external packet-switched networks and is connected with SGSNs (such as SGSN 126) via an IP-based GPRS backbone network. SGSN 126 performs authentication and cipher setting procedures based on the same algorithms, keys, and criteria as in existing GSM. In conventional operation, cell selection may be performed autonomously by mobile station 102 or by base station 120 instructing mobile station 102 to select a particular cell. Mobile station 102 informs wireless network 104 when it reselects another cell or group of cells, known as a routing area. In order to access GPRS services, mobile station 102 first makes its presence known to wireless network 104 by performing what is known as a GPRS “attach”. This operation establishes a logical link between mobile station 102 and SGSN 126 and makes mobile station 102 available to receive, for example, pages via SGSN, notifications of incoming GPRS data, or SMS messages over GPRS. In order to send and receive GPRS data, mobile station 102 assists in activating the packet data address that it wants to use. This operation makes mobile station 102 known to GGSN 128; interworking with external data networks can thereafter commence. User data may be transferred transparently between mobile station 102 and the external data networks using, for example, encapsulation and tunneling. Data packets are equipped with GPRS-specific protocol information and transferred between mobile station 102 and GGSN 128. As apparent from the above, the wireless network includes fixed network components including RF transceivers, amplifiers, base station controllers, network servers, and servers connected to network. Those skilled in art will appreciate that a wireless network may be connected to other systems, possibly including other networks, not explicitly shown in FIG. 1. A network will normally be transmitting at very least some sort of paging and system information on an ongoing basis, even if there is no actual packet data exchanged. Although the network consists of many parts, these parts all work together to result in certain behaviours at the wireless link. FIG. 2 is a detailed block diagram of a preferred mobile station 202 which may be utilized in system 100 of FIG. 1. Mobile station 202 is a two-way communication device having at least voice and data communication capabilities, including the capability to communicate with other computer systems. Depending on the functionality provided by mobile station 202, it may be referred to as a data messaging device, a two-way pager, a cellular telephone with data messaging capabilities, a wireless Internet appliance, or a data communication device (with or without telephony capabilities). Mobile station 202 includes a battery interface 254 for receiving one or more rechargeable batteries 256. Such a battery 256 provides electrical power to most if not all electrical circuitry in mobile station 202, and battery interface 254 provides for a mechanical and electrical connection for it. Battery interface 254 is coupled to a regulator (not shown in FIG. 2) which regulates power to all of the circuitry. Mobile station 202 will normally incorporate a communication subsystem 211, which includes a receiver 212, a transmitter 214, and associated components, such as one or more (preferably embedded or internal) antenna elements 216 and 218, local oscillators (LOs) 213, and a processing module such as a digital signal processor (DSP) 220. Communication subsystem 211 is analogous to RF transceiver circuitry 108 and antenna 110 shown in FIG. 1. As will be apparent to those skilled in field of communications, particular design of communication subsystem 211 depends on the communication network in which mobile station 202 is intended to operate. Network access requirements will also vary depending upon type of network utilized. In GPRS networks, for example, network access is associated with a subscriber or user of mobile station 202. A GPRS device therefore requires a Subscriber Identity Module, commonly referred to as a SIM card (i.e. SIM 262 of FIG. 2), in order to operate on the GPRS network. Without such a SIM 262, a GPRS device will not be fully functional. Local or non-network communication functions (if any) may be operable, but mobile station 202 will be unable to carry out any functions involving communications over the network. SIM 262 includes those features described in relation to FIG. 1 (i.e. those described for SIM 140 of FIG. 1), such as the HPLMN list and the PPLMN list. Mobile station 202 may send and receive communication signals over the network after required network registration or activation procedures have been completed. Signals received by antenna 216 through the network are input to receiver 212, which may perform such common receiver functions as signal amplification, frequency down conversion, filtering, channel selection, and like, and in example shown in FIG. 2, analog-to-digital (A/D) conversion. A/D conversion of a received signal allows more complex communication functions such as demodulation and decoding to be performed in DSP 220. In a similar manner, signals to be transmitted are processed, including modulation and encoding, for example, by DSP 220. These DSP-processed signals are input to transmitter 214 for digital-to-analog (D/A) conversion, frequency up conversion, filtering, amplification and transmission over communication network via antenna 218. DSP 220 not only processes communication signals, but also provides for receiver and transmitter control. For example, the gains applied to communication signals in receiver 212 and transmitter 214 may be adaptively controlled through automatic gain control algorithms implemented in DSP 220. Mobile station 202 includes a microprocessor 238 (which is one implementation of controller 106 of FIG. 1) which controls overall operation of mobile station 202. This control includes network selection and network name displaying techniques of the present application. Communication functions, including at least data and voice communications, are performed through communication subsystem 211. Microprocessor 238 also interacts with additional device subsystems such as a display 222, a flash memory 224, a random access memory (RAM) 226, auxiliary input/output (I/O) subsystems 228, a serial port 230, a keyboard 232, a speaker 234, a microphone 236, a short-range communications subsystem 240, and any other device subsystems generally designated at 242. Data and control lines extend between a SIM interface 264 and microprocessor 238 for communicating data therebetween and for control. Some of the subsystems shown in FIG. 2 perform communication-related functions, whereas other subsystems may provide “resident” or on-device functions. Notably, some subsystems, such as keyboard 232 and display 222, for example, may be used for both communication-related functions, such as entering a text message for transmission over a communication network, and device-resident functions such as a calculator or task list. Operating system software used by microprocessor 238 is preferably stored in a persistent store such as flash memory 224, which may alternatively be a read-only memory (ROM) or similar storage element (not shown). Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the operating system, specific device applications, or parts thereof, may be temporarily loaded into a volatile store such as RAM 226. Microprocessor 238, in addition to its operating system functions, preferably enables execution of software applications on mobile station 202. A predetermined set of applications which control basic device operations, including at least data and voice communication applications, will normally be installed on mobile station 202 during its manufacture. A preferred application that may be loaded onto mobile station 202 may be a personal information manager (PIM) application having the ability to organize and manage data items relating to user such as, but not limited to, e-mail, calendar events, voice mails, appointments, and task items. Naturally, one or more memory stores are available on mobile station 202 and SIM 256 to facilitate storage of PIM data items and other information. The PIM application preferably has the ability to send and receive data items via the wireless network. In a preferred embodiment, PIM data items are seamlessly integrated, synchronized, and updated via the wireless network, with the mobile station user's corresponding data items stored and/or associated with a host computer system thereby creating a mirrored host computer on mobile station 202 with respect to such items. This is especially advantageous where the host computer system is the mobile station user's office computer system. Additional applications may also be loaded onto mobile station 202 through network, an auxiliary I/O subsystem 228, serial port 230, short-range communications subsystem 240, or any other suitable subsystem 242, and installed by a user in RAM 226 or preferably a non-volatile store (not shown) for execution by microprocessor 238. Such flexibility in application installation increases the functionality of mobile station 202 and may provide enhanced on-device functions, communication-related functions, or both. For example, secure communication applications may enable electronic commerce functions and other such financial transactions to be performed using mobile station 202. In a data communication mode, a received signal such as a text message or web page download will be processed by communication subsystem 211 and input to microprocessor 238. Microprocessor 238 will preferably further process the signal for output to display 222 or alternatively to auxiliary I/O device 228. A user of mobile station 202 may also compose data items, such as e-mail messages or short message service (SMS) messages, for example, using keyboard 232 in conjunction with display 222 and possibly auxiliary I/O device 228. Keyboard 232 is preferably a complete alphanumeric keyboard and/or telephone-type keypad. These composed items may be transmitted over a communication network through communication subsystem 21 1. For voice communications, the overall operation of mobile station 202 is substantially similar, except that the received signals would be output to speaker 234 and signals for transmission would be generated by microphone 236. Alternative voice or audio I/O subsystems, such as a voice message recording subsystem, may also be implemented on mobile station 202. Although voice or audio signal output is preferably accomplished primarily through speaker 234, display 222 may also be used to provide an indication of the identity of a calling party, duration of a voice call, or other voice call related information, as some examples. Serial port 230 in FIG. 2 is normally implemented in a personal digital assistant (PDA)-type communication device for which synchronization with a user's desktop computer is a desirable, albeit optional, component. Serial port 230 enables a user to set preferences through an external device or software application and extends the capabilities of mobile station 202 by providing for information or software downloads to mobile station 202 other than through a wireless communication network. The alternate download path may, for example, be used to load an encryption key onto mobile station 202 through a direct and thus reliable and trusted connection to thereby provide secure device communication. Short-range communications subsystem 240 of FIG. 2 is an additional optional component which provides for communication between mobile station 202 and different systems or devices, which need not necessarily be similar devices. For example, subsystem 240 may include an infrared device and associated circuits and components, or a Bluetooth™ communication module to provide for communication with similarly-enabled systems and devices. Bluetooth™ is a registered trademark of Bluetooth SIG, Inc. FIG. 3 shows a particular system structure for communicating with mobile station 202. In particular, FIG. 3 shows basic components of an IP-based wireless data network, such as a GPRS network. Mobile station 202 of FIG. 3 communicates with a wireless packet data network 145, and may also be capable of communicating with a wireless voice network (not shown). The voice network may be associated with IP-based wireless network 145 similar to, for example, GSM and GPRS networks, or alternatively may be a completely separate network. The GPRS IP-based data network is unique in that it is effectively an overlay on the GSM voice network. As such, GPRS components will either extend existing GSM components, such as base stations 320, or require additional components to be added, such as an advanced Gateway GPRS Service Node (GGSN) as a network entry point 305. As shown in FIG. 3, a gateway 140 may be coupled to an internal or external address resolution component 335 and one or more network entry points 305. Data packets are transmitted from gateway 140, which is source of information to be transmitted to mobile station 202, through network 145 by setting up a wireless network tunnel 325 from gateway 140 to mobile station 202. In order to create this wireless tunnel 325, a unique network address is associated with mobile station 202. In an IP-based wireless network, however, network addresses are typically not permanently assigned to a particular mobile station 202 but instead are dynamically allocated on an as-needed basis. It is thus preferable for mobile station 202 to acquire a network address and for gateway 140 to determine this address so as to establish wireless tunnel 325. Network entry point 305 is generally used to multiplex and demultiplex amongst many gateways, corporate servers, and bulk connections such as the Internet, for example. There are normally very few of these network entry points 305, since they are also intended to centralize externally available wireless network services. Network entry points 305 often use some form of an address resolution component 335 that assists in address assignment and lookup between gateways and mobile stations. In this example, address resolution component 335 is shown as a dynamic host configuration protocol (DHCP) as one method for providing an address resolution mechanism. A central internal component of wireless data network 145 is a network router 315. Normally, network routers 315 are proprietary to the particular network, but they could alternatively be constructed from standard commercially available hardware. The purpose of network routers 315 is to centralize thousands of base stations 320 normally implemented in a relatively large network into a central location for a long-haul connection back to network entry point 305. In some networks there may be multiple tiers of network routers 315 and cases where there are master and slave network routers 315, but in all such cases the functions are similar. Often network router 315 will access a name server 307, in this case shown as a dynamic name server (DNS) 307 as used in the Internet, to look up destinations for routing data messages. Base stations 320, as described above, provide wireless links to mobile stations such as mobile station 202. Wireless network tunnels such as a wireless tunnel 325 are opened across wireless network 345 in order to allocate necessary memory, routing, and address resources to deliver IP packets. In GPRS, such tunnels 325 are established as part of what are referred to as “PDP contexts” (i.e. data sessions). To open wireless tunnel 325, mobile station 202 must use a specific technique associated with wireless network 345. The step of opening such a wireless tunnel 325 may require mobile station 202 to indicate the domain, or network entry point 305 with which it wishes to open wireless tunnel 325. In this example, the tunnel first reaches network router 315 which uses name server 307 to determine which network entry point 305 matches the domain provided. Multiple wireless tunnels can be opened from one mobile station 202 for redundancy, or to access different gateways and services on the network. Once the domain name is found, the tunnel is then extended to network entry point 305 and necessary resources are allocated at each of the nodes along the way. Network entry point 305 then uses the address resolution (or DHCP 335) component to allocate an IP address for mobile station 202. When an IP address has been allocated to mobile station 202 and communicated to gateway 140, information can then be forwarded from gateway 140 to mobile station 202. Wireless tunnel 325 typically has a limited life, depending on mobile station's 202 coverage profile and activity. Wireless network 145 will tear down wireless tunnel 325 after a certain period of inactivity or out-of-coverage period, in order to recapture resources held by this wireless tunnel 325 for other users. The main reason for this is to reclaim the IP address temporarily reserved for mobile station 202 when wireless tunnel 325 was first opened. Once the IP address is lost and wireless tunnel 325 is torn down, gateway 140 loses all ability to initiate IP data packets to mobile station 202, whether over Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) or over User Datagram Protocol (UDP). In this application, an “IP-based wireless network” (one specific type of wireless communication network) may include but is not limited to: (1) a Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) network that has been developed and operated by Qualcomm; (2) a General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) network for use in conjunction with Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) network both developed by standards committee of European Conference of Postal and Telecommunications Administrations (CEPT); and (3) future third-generation (3G) networks like Enhanced Data rates for GSM Evolution (EDGE) and Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS). It is to be understood that although particular IP-based wireless networks have been described, the network selection schemes of the present application could be utilized in any similar type of wireless network. The infrastructure shown and described in relation to FIG. 3 may be representative of each one of a number of different networks which are provided and available in the same geographic region. One of these communication networks will be selected by the mobile station for communications at any given time. FIG. 4 is a simplified illustration a plurality of wireless communication networks 402 which may be available to mobile station 202 for communication. The plurality of networks 402 shown in FIG. 4 include different networks such as network “ABC” 104 (initially described in relation to FIG. 1 and 3), a network “DEF” 404, a network “GHI” 406, a network “JKL” 408, and a network “MNO” 410. In the following description, network ABC 104 is the home communication network and may be referred to as “home network ABC” 104. Since home network ABC 104 is the home network, mobile station 202 prioritizes the selection and operation with home network ABC 104 over other networks. Each network 402 of FIG. 4 is associated with a unique Mobile Country Code (MCC) and Mobile Network Code (MNC) combination. The unique MCC/MNC combination corresponding to home network ABC 104 is stored as a home network. Traditionally, mobile station's 202 use of networks other than the home network ABC 104 will impart a “roaming” status to mobile station 202. However, some additional networks other than home network ABC 104 are associated with or designated as part of the “home network” as well. In FIG. 4, for example, it is indicated that network GHI 406 and network JKL 408 are owned by the service provider of home network ABC 104. Thus, mobile station's 202 registration and operation with networks GHI 406 and JKL 408 will not impart the roaming status to mobile station 102, even though networks GHI 406 and JKL 408 have MCC and MNC pairs different from that of home network ABC 104. Thus, the unique MCC/MNC combinations corresponding to networks GHI 406 and JKL 408 are also stored as home networks. The remaining networks, namely, networks DEF 404 and MNO 410, are not associated with the home network and their use will indeed impart roaming status to mobile station 102. Referring now to FIG. 6 in combination with FIG. 4, display 222 of the mobile station will visually display the same service provider name 602 of home network ABC 104 regardless of whether network ABC 104, network GHI 406, or network JKL 408 is selected by the mobile station. As shown in FIG. 6, the displayed name “PROVIDER ABC” may correspond to use of network ABC 104, network GHI 406 (which is owned by ABC), or network JKL 408 (which is also owned by ABC). Note that no “roaming” status indicator is enabled or activated in display 222, since the mobile station is not roaming when registered with network ABC 104, network GHI 406, or network JKL 408. A network name different from “PROVIDER ABC” will be displayed when networks DEF 404 and MNO 410 are utilized. Referring now to FIG. 5, what is shown is relevant information stored in memory 502 of mobile station 202 and/or in memory 504 of SIM 262 to help achieve the advantages described above in relation to FIGS. 4 and 6. The discussion of FIG. 5 will begin with a description related to memory 502 of mobile station 202. Memory 502, which may be a permanently-installed memory of mobile station 202, such as a Read-Only Memory (ROM), an Electrically Erasable/Programmable ROM (EEPROM), flash memory, etc., is a separate memory component from memory 504 of SIM 262. As shown in FIG. 5, memory 502 may store a list 510 of home network MCC/MNC pairs which are associated with a home network display name 530. This list 510 of home network MCC/MNC pairs are prestored in memory 502 in a (semi-) permanent fashion during the manufacturing process of mobile station 202. In FIG. 5, it is shown that the example list 510 includes four (4) home network MCC/MNC pairs, namely, home network MCC/MNC pairs 512, 514, 516, and 518. Only a relatively small number of MCC/MNC pairs in list 510 are shown for illustrative clarity; any suitable number of pairs may be utilized, such as between 5-50 pairs. As an example, MCC/MNC pair 512 may correspond to home network ABC 104 of FIG. 4, MCC/MNC pair 514 may correspond to network GHI 406 of FIG. 4, MCC/MNC pair 516 may correspond to network JKL 408 of FIG. 4, and MCC/MNC pair 518 may correspond to another home network not shown. Home network display name 530 (e.g. “T-Mobile” or “AT&T Wireless”), the name string used for mobile station's display for all home-related networks, is associated and used with all of MCC/MNC pairs in list 510. In general, mobile station 202 operates to preferentially select and register with home networks over non-home networks. If no home network is available, mobile station 202 operates to preferentially select and register with one of the networks its PPLMN list. In any case, after mobile station 202 selects and registers with a communication network, it first consults with list 510 of MCC/MNC pairs to assist in determining what network name should be displayed in its visual display. Specifically, mobile station 202 compares the MCC/MNC pair of the selected network with the MCC/MNC pairs in list 510. If mobile station 202 identifies a match between the MCC/MNC pair and any one of the MCC/MNC pairs in list 510, it reads and causes the home network display name 530 to be displayed in its visual display. Otherwise, it selects an alternate network name for visual display. Advantageously, a single home network name is displayed when any of the networks associated with the home network MCC and MNC pairs in list 510 is selected for communication. Preferably, although the technique described focuses on the use of only an MCC and MNC pair, the technique may include the use of a Location Area Code (LAC) in addition to the MCC and MNC (i.e. the tuplet MCC/MNC/LAC is used to identify the home network display name). In an alternative embodiment, the SIM 262 utilized with mobile station 202 may include the same or similar information. As shown in FIG. 5, memory 504 of SIM 262 may alternatively store a list 520 of home network MCC/MNC pairs in association with home network display name 530. This list 520 of home network MCC/MNC pairs are prestored in memory 504 in a (semi-) permanent fashion during the initial programming of SIM 262. In FIG. 5, it is shown that the example list 520 includes four (4) home network MCC/MNC pairs, namely, home network MCC/MNC pairs 522, 524, 526, and 528. Only a relatively small number of MCC/MNC pairs in list 520 are shown for illustrative clarity; any suitable number of pairs may be utilized, such as between 5-50. As an example, MCC/MNC pair 522 may correspond to home network ABC 104 of FIG. 4, MCC/MNC pair 524 may correspond to network GHI 406 of FIG. 4, MCC/MNC pair 526 may correspond to network JKL 408 of FIG. 4, and MCC/MNC pair 528 may correspond to another home network not shown. Home network display name 530 (e.g. “T-Mobile” or “AT&T Wireless”), the name string used for mobile station's display for all home-related networks, is associated and used with all of MCC/MNC pairs in list 520. In this alternative example, mobile station 202 operates in the same manner in relation to the information in memory 504 of SIM 262 as was described above in relation to the information in memory 502 of mobile station 202. Preferably, although this technique describes focuses on the use of only an MCC and MNC pair, the technique may include the use of a Location Area Code (LAC) in addition to the MCC and MNC (i.e. it uses this tuplet to identify the home network display name). FIG. 7 is a flowchart for describing a home network name displaying method for multiple home networks. Such a method may be employed in connection with components shown and described above in relation to FIGS. 1-6. Beginning with a start block 702, a mobile station scans to receive a plurality of Mobile Country Code (MCC) and Mobile Network Code (MNC) pairs which correspond to a plurality of wireless communication networks within a given coverage area (step 704). Next, the mobile station compares a received MCC/MNC pair with multiple MCC/MNC pairs associated with a home communication network (step 706). These multiple MCC/MNC pairs may be stored in a Home Public Land Mobile Network (HPLMN) list on a Subscriber Identity Module (SIM). Alternatively, the multiple MCC/MNC pairs may be stored in memory of the mobile station. If there is a match at step 708 with one of the MCC/MNC pairs, the mobile station selects this “home” network which is associated with the MCC/MNC pair for communication (step 712). Otherwise, if there is no match, the mobile station selects a preferred network or other non-home network for communication (step 710). In any case, the mobile station tunes to the appropriate channel and initiates registration onto the network associated with the selected MCC/MNC pair (step 714). Next, the mobile station compares the received MCC and MNC pair associated with the selected network with each one of the multiple home network MCC/MNC pairs (step 716). Based on a match at step 718, the mobile station reads and causes a home network name associated with the home network MCC/MNC pairs to be displayed in its visual display (step 722). Thus, the same network name will be displayed for any MCC and MNC pair found in the home network list. If there is no match in the list at step 718 (i.e. no match), however, then the mobile station visually displays an alternate non-home network name in the visual display (step 720). Preferably, although the method of FIG. 7 focuses on the use of only an MCC and MNC pair, the method may include the use of a Location Area Code (LAC) in addition to the MCC and MNC (i.e. a tuplet MCC/MNC/LAC is used for selection). In a slight variation of the method of FIG. 7, the mobile station utilizes a multiple home network list on the SIM if it is stored on the SIM but, if such a list is not stored on the SIM the mobile station utilizes a multiple home network list stored in its own memory. The mobile station may identify or detect whether there is a multiple home network list on the SIM by testing if a predetermined designated area of memory on the SIM includes this list or associated data. Alternatively, the mobile station may perform this identification by-testing if a version number of the SIM corresponds to having such a multiple home network list (e.g. a less recent version number of SIM may not specify such list whereas a more recent predetermined version number may do so). This test may be performed every time the mobile station goes through the network name displaying technique or, alternatively, only once during or shortly after a SIM initialization procedure performed by the mobile station. Advantageously, issues arising from a service provider becoming the new owner of one or more networks which have MCC/MNC pairs different from that of the home network's are alleviated. All home network MCC/MNC pairs are appropriately stored in memory of the mobile station or SIM which is updated when new networks are added to the home network. Visually displaying the (same) service provider name for these networks is suitably performed based on the present techniques. In one implementation, compatibility is provided between previous, current, and future versions mobile stations and SIMs by providing a test to identify the availability of such a list on the SIM and a similar backup list on the mobile station. Final Comments. Home network name displaying methods and apparatus for multiple home networks are described herein. A mobile station scans to receive a plurality of Mobile Country Code (MCC) and Mobile Network Code (MNC) pairs corresponding to a plurality of communication networks within a coverage area. The mobile station selects and registers with a communication network associated with one of the received MCC and MNC pairs for communication. After the network is selected, the received MCC and MNC pair is compared with a plurality of home network MCC and MNC pairs which are associated with a single home network display name. Based on identifying a match between the received MCC and MNC pair and any one of the home network MCC and MNC pairs, the home network display name is visually displayed in a display of the mobile station. If no match exists, an alternate name is selected for display. The plurality of home network MCC and MNC pairs may be stored in memory of the mobile station or, alternatively, on a Subscriber Identify Module (SM). Advantageously, a single home network name is displayed when a network associated with any of the home network MCC and MNC pairs is selected for communication. A computer program product of the present application includes a computer storage medium as well as computer instructions stored on the computer storage medium. The computer storage medium may be any memory in mobile station 202 or even a floppy disk or CD-ROM, as examples; detailed computer instructions are written in accordance with the methods and logic described in the present application. Specifically, the computer instructions are executable by a processor (e.g. a microprocessor) to perform the steps of scanning to receive a plurality of Mobile Country Code (MCC) and Mobile Network Code (MNC) pairs corresponding to a plurality of wireless communication networks within a coverage area; scanning to receive a plurality of Mobile Country Code (MCC) and Mobile Network Code (MNC) pairs corresponding to a plurality of wireless communication networks within a coverage area; selecting and registering with a wireless communication network associated with one of the received MCC and MNC pairs; comparing the MCC and MNC pair of the selected network with a plurality of home network MCC and MNC pairs; and causing a home network display name to be visually displayed in a visual display of the mobile station based on identifying a match between the MCC and MNC pair of the selected network and one of the home network MCC and MNC pairs. A mobile station of the present application includes a transceiver which is operative to scan to receive a plurality of Mobile Country Code (MCC) and Mobile Network Code (MNC) pairs corresponding to a plurality of wireless communication networks within a coverage area; memory which stores a plurality of home network MCC and MNC pairs which are associated with a home network display name; and a processor which is operative select and register with a wireless communication network associated with one of the received MCC and MNC pairs; compare the MCC and MNC pair of the selected network with the plurality of home network MCC and MNC pairs; and cause the home network display name to be visually displayed in a visual display of the mobile station based on identifying a match between the MCC and MNC pair of the selected network and one of the home network MCC and MNC pairs. The above-described embodiments of invention are intended to be examples only. Alterations, modifications, and variations may be effected to particular embodiments by those of skill in art without departing from scope of invention, which is defined solely by claims appended hereto. | <SOH> BACKGROUND <EOH>1. Field of the Technology The present application relates generally to mobile stations and home network name displaying methods employed thereby. 2. Description of the Related Art Wireless communication devices, such as mobile- stations, have the ability to communicate with other devices (e.g. telephones, servers, personal computers (PCs), etc.) through wireless communication networks. A wireless communication network includes a plurality of base stations, each of which provides near-exclusive communication coverage within a given geographic area. However, more than one wireless network is typically available in many, if not most, geographic regions in a competing fashion. Typically, an end user contracts with and pays to receive communication services exclusively from a single “service provider” for a limited period of time (e.g. one year). Although different networks are available, a mobile station automatically selects and registers with its home communication network (i.e. the network of the contracted service provider) for operation. Typically, the mobile station receives a Mobile Country Code (MCC) and a Mobile Network Code (MNC) from each network and operates with a preference towards choosing that network having the MCC/MNC pair uniquely associated with the home network The MCC/MNC pair of the home network is stored on a Subscriber Identify Module (SIM) in a home public land mobile network (HPLMN) file. Other networks are stored in a prioritized fashion in a “preferred” PLMN list on the SIM. After selecting and registering with a particular network (e.g. the home network), the mobile station retrieves and displays a service provider name (e.g. “T-Mobile” or “AT&T Wireless”) from the SIM which corresponds to the unique MCC and MNC combination of the selected network. This name may be obtained and displayed in accordance with what is known as an “Operator Named String” (ONS) procedure. Although exclusive service agreements typically exist between the subscriber and the home network, otherwise competing wireless networks have established relationships whereby mobile stations can receive services through the other's network when necessary or desired. When a mobile station is located in a geographic region where service provider has not established any network infrastructure, for example, the mobile station may receive services and communicate through a different network associated with an MCC/MNC pair different from that of the home network. In a competitive network relationship, the subscriber is likely to incur additional service charges (e.g. “roaming” charges) and the name of the competitor's network service may be displayed in the visual display. In a more cooperative network relationship, the subscriber might incur only standard charges (i.e. no roaming charges) using the alternative network. Per the ONS naming procedure, however, a service provider name different from that of the home network is displayed on the mobile station. This may be confusing to a subscriber who may believe that, for example, roaming charges are being incurred due to use of the alternative network when in fact they are not. Fortunately, there has been a recent shift to provide an alternative naming technique referred to as “Enhanced Operator Named String” (EONS) procedure. EONS is described in, for example, 3GPP 51.001 Specifications of the SIM-ME Interface R4 (v4.2.0 or later). One purpose of EONS is to reduce the naming confusion created in scenarios like the one described above. In particular, instead of displaying a name that is different from that of the home network in the above-scenario, the same or substantially similar “home network” name may be displayed even though a different network is actually being used. Subscribers often prefer such transparency and simplification of operation and desire to understand when additional service charges may be incurred. Another situation has been encountered where the service provider becomes the new owner of one or more networks which have MCC/MNC pairs different from that of the primary home network's. A mobile station might be provided with multiple MCC/MNC pairs corresponding to all of these “home” networks, and operate to preferentially select and register with these networks over others. However, the name displayed on the mobile station may not correspond to the home network if the selected network has a different MCC/MNC pair from that of the primary home network's. If steps were taken to provide the mobile station with special home network name displaying capabilities, compatibility issues may arise between previous, current, and future versions mobile stations and SIMs. Accordingly, there is a resulting need for improved home network name displaying methods and apparatus for multiple home networks. | <SOH> SUMMARY <EOH>Home network name displaying methods and apparatus for multiple home networks are described herein. A mobile station scans to receive a plurality of Mobile Country Code (MCC) and Mobile Network Code (MNC) pairs corresponding to a plurality of communication networks within a coverage area. The mobile station selects and registers with a communication network associated with one of the received MCC and MNC pairs for communication. After the network is selected, the received MCC and MNC pair is compared with a plurality of home network MCC and MNC pairs which are associated with a single home network display name. Based on identifying a match between the received MCC and MNC pair and any one of the home network MCC and MNC pairs, the home network display name is visually displayed in a display of the mobile station. If no match exists, an alternate name is selected for display. The plurality of home network MCC and MNC pairs may be stored in memory of the mobile station or, alternatively, on a Subscriber Identify Module (SIM). Advantageously, a single home network name is displayed when a network associated with any of the home network MCC and MNC pairs is selected for communication. Preferably, a Location Area Code (LAC) is also utilized along with the MCC and MNC pairs for these purposes. | 20040902 | 20070925 | 20050526 | 59128.0 | 9 | SHEDRICK, CHARLES TERRELL | HOME NETWORK NAME DISPLAYING METHODS AND APPARATUS FOR MULTIPLE HOME NETWORKS | UNDISCOUNTED | 0 | ACCEPTED | 2,004 |
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10,932,901 | ACCEPTED | Packaging device and method for shipping furniture | A method for shipping a piece of furniture having a base section removably secured to a seat section that involves removing the seat section from the base section and inserting the seat section and the base section into a shipping container. A packaging apparatus suitable for overnight delivery which includes a shipping container and at least one shipping sleeve capable of receiving an edge portion of the seat section of the furniture with the at least one shipping sleeve positionable within the shipping container to abut a side wall of the shipping container is also disclosed. | 1. A method comprising the steps of: providing an office chair including a seat section, a back section, and a base section, the base section including a central axis, and a plurality of leg members extending in a radial direction relative to the central axis and wherein each of the plurality of leg members is adapted to accept wheels; providing a single shipping container including a DIM of no greater than 130 inches; arranging the base section, the seat section and the back section inside the single shipping container so that the single shipping container is capable of closing; closing the single shipping container; and sending the single shipping container via an overnight delivery service. 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the arranging step includes positioning the back section between the base section and a sidewall of the shipping container in a non-parallel relationship to the base section. 3. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of positioning a shipping sleeve over an edge of the back section. 4. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of covering at least a portion of the office chair with a protective material. 5. The method of claim 1, wherein the protective material is bubble wrap. 6. The method of claim 1, wherein the seat section, the back section and the base section are in a separated condition. 7. The method of claim 1, wherein the sending step comprises sending the single shipping container via overnight delivery. 8. A method comprising the steps of: providing an office chair including a seat section, a back section, and a base section including a central axis, wherein the base section comprises a plurality of leg members extending in a radial direction relative to the central axis; providing a single shipping container including a DIM of no greater than 130 inches; arranging the seat section, the back section and the base section inside the single shipping container so that the single shipping container is capable of closing; closing the single shipping container; and sending the single shipping container via an overnight delivery service. 9. The method of claim 8, wherein the arranging step includes positioning the back section between the base section and a sidewall of the shipping container in a non-parallel relationship to the base section. 10. The method of claim 8, further comprising the step of positioning a shipping sleeve over an edge of the back section. 11. The method of claim 8, wherein the sending step comprises sending the single shipping container via overnight delivery. 12. The method of claim 11, wherein the single shipping container. 13. The method of claim 8 wherein the seat section, the back section and the base section are in a separated condition. 14. A method comprising the steps of: providing an office chair including a seat section, a back section, and a base section including a central axis, wherein the base section comprises a plurality of leg members extending in a radial direction relative to the central axis; providing a single shipping container including a DIM of no greater than 150 inches; arranging the seat section, the back section and the base section inside the single shipping container so that the single shipping container is capable of closing; closing the single shipping container; and sending the single shipping container from a first location to a second location 15. The method of claim 14, further comprising the step of covering at least a portion of the office chair with a protective material. 16. The method of claim 14, wherein the protective material is bubble wrap. 17. The method of claim 14, wherein the seat section, the back section and the base section are in a separated condition. 18. The method of claim 14, wherein the delivery service is an overnight delivery service. | CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS This application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 10/004,383 filed on Oct. 31, 2001 and claims priority to U.S. application Ser. No. 09/841,337 filed on Apr. 24, 2001. FIELD OF THE INVENTION The invention relates generally to the shipment of goods and, more particularly, to a method and apparatus for packaging furniture for overnight delivery. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION In any retail business one of the factors that effects the purchase price charged to the consumer is the shipping or distribution cost. This cost which varies depending upon, among other things, the method of transportation used and the speed of delivery can have an impact not only on the purchase price but also on the ability to make the sale and the degree of customer satisfaction. In the era of “just-in-time” inventory and delivery, it has become imperative that goods be shipped as quickly and economically as possible. This has resulted in a highly competitive overnight delivery industry that allows retailers to deliver goods to the consumer in one or two days. A limitation imposed by overnight delivery companies, however, involves the size of the containers in which goods can be shipped overnight. This size constraint, although necessary to allow container handling by one person, creates a problem for sellers of goods such as furniture that do not fit in a container that satisfies the requirements for overnight delivery. Given the container size limitation imposed by overnight deliver companies, a packaging method and apparatus that would allow shippers of goods such as furniture to take advantage of the cost savings and customer satisfaction generated by being able to ship overnight would be an important improvement in the art. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The invention involves a method for shipping a piece of furniture having a seat 'section removably secured to a base section. The method is comprised of the steps of removing the seat section from the base section and inserting the seat section and the base section into a shipping container. The invention also involves a packaging apparatus for packing a piece of furniture having a base section removable from a seat section. This packaging apparatus is comprised of a shipping container and at least one shipping sleeve capable of receiving an edge of the seat section where the shipping sleeve is capable of being positioned within the shipping container so as to abut and support at least one side wall of the shipping container. The purpose of the invention is to provide a new method and apparatus for packaging and shipping furniture that overcomes some of the problems and shortcomings of the prior art. This is accomplished by providing a new method and apparatus for packaging and shipping furniture that allows the furniture to be shipped via an overnight delivery service. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a piece of furniture used in one embodiment of the invention. FIG. 2 is a perspective exploded view of the furniture shown in FIG. 1 with the back section removed from the seat section and shipping sleeves aligned for positioning over opposing edge portions of the back and seat sections in which one shipping sleeve is partially cut-away. FIG. 3 is a partial cut-away perspective view of a shipping container showing the seat and back sections wrapped in a protective wrap and packaged diagonally within the container as well as the center post and base section positioned inside of the container. FIG. 4 is a partial cut-away perspective view of a shipping container showing the edges of the seat and back sections contained in shipping sleeves and the seat and back sections packaged against opposing side walls of the container. FIG. 5 is a partial cut-away perspective view of a shipping container showing the edges of the seat and back sections contained in shipping sleeves and the seat and back sections stacked vertically on top of the base. FIG. 6 is a partial cut-away perspective view of a shipping container showing the edges of the seat and back sections contained in shipping sleeves and the seat section packaged on top of the base with the back section packaged between the seat section and one of the side walls. FIG. 7 is a partial cut-away perspective view of a shipping container showing the back section secured to the seat section wrapped in a packaging material and placed in a shipping container with the base and center post packaged on top of the seat section. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION As shown in FIGS. 1-7, the invention involves a method and an apparatus for shipping a piece of furniture 10 having a seat section 12 removably secured to a base section 14. The method is comprised of the steps of removing the seat section 12 from the base section 14 and inserting the seat section 12 and the base section 14 into a shipping container 20. In one embodiment of the invention, the furniture 10 is a chair, however, any suitable piece of furniture utilizing a base section could be used without departing from the spirit of the invention. In another embodiment of the invention, the furniture 10 is shipped via an overnight delivery service. In such embodiment, the shipping container 20 may have outside dimensions of 26 inches in width, 26 inches in depth, and 25 inches in height, however, other dimensions suitable for overnight delivery may also be used without departing from the spirit of the invention. For purposes of this invention, an overnight delivery container 20 is defined as a container having a DIM measurement of 130 inches or less. The use, however, of containers suitable for overnight delivery having DIM measurements no greater than 150 inches is also contemplated as being within the scope of the invention. The DIM measurement is calculated by adding the length of the four sides of a container 20 to its height. In the above example, the DIM would be 129 inches (i.e., 26+26+26+26+25). The container 20 is constructed of any suitable material, including a regular slotted, 500 lb double wall corrugated container. As shown in FIGS. 3, 4 and 7, any or all portions of the furniture 10 may be wrapped in protective material 22 prior to being inserted into the shipping carton 20. This material may, for example, be placed around all the base section 14 to prevent it from scraping against the seat section 12 when it is positioned in the container 20 along with the base 14, as shown in FIG. 4. The seat section 12 may also be covered, however, such covering is not a requirement of the invention. The protective covering 22 may be constructed of bubble wrap, fiber-filled wrap, an air-filled wrap or other suitable material. Furniture 10 may also include accessory parts 30, as seen in FIGS. 1 and 3, which are necessary for reassembly. These parts, which may include attachment screws for a seat and back sections 12 and 16 as well as assembly tools, are attached to the furniture 10. In a specific version of such embodiment the accessory parts 30 are secured in an accessory bag 32 which is attached to the furniture 10 in any suitable manner including, for example, by securing the accessory bag 32 to the furniture 10. Such accessory parts 30 may be attached to any of the packaging material, including shipping sleeves 36 without departing from the spirit of the invention. In practicing the invention, the seat section 12 of the furniture 10 is removed from the base 14 using appropriate tools such as an Allen wrench or the like. In one embodiment of the invention, a center post 18 is used to connect the seat section 12 to the base section 14. This center post 18 which may be an elevation piston is also removed from both the seat section 12 and the base section 14 prior to those parts being placed in a shipping container 20. In yet another embodiment of the invention, as shown in FIG. 1, the furniture 10 includes a back section 16 secured to the seat section 12. In a specific version of such embodiment, the back section 16 is removably secured to the seat section 12, however, the furniture 10 may be packaged in a shipping container 20 with the back section 16 attached to the seat section 12 as shown in FIG. 7. When the back section 16 is removed from the seat section 12, the inventive method for shipping the furniture 10 is further comprised of the steps of removing the back section 16 from the seat section 12 and inserting both the back section 16 and the seat section 12 into the shipping container 20. The back section 16 may be positioned: (1) generally parallel to the seat section 12 generally along the diagonal of the container 20, as shown in FIG. 3; (2) between the seat section 12 and a side wall 34 of the shipping container 20 and generally transverse to the seat section 12 which is vertically stacked on the base 14, as shown in FIG. 6; (3) along a side wall 34 opposite of the seat section 12 as shown in FIG. 4; (4) to overlie the seat section 12 in a vertical stack, as shown in FIG. 5; or (5) so as to be nested between arms (not shown) that may be connected to the seat section 12. In practicing this specific version of the invention, the seat section 12 of the furniture 10 is removed from the base 14 using appropriate tools such as an Allen wrench or the like. In the same manner, the back section 16 is removed from the seat section 12. Once removed, a protective wrapping 22 is placed around the seat and back sections 12 and 16 and such sections are placed generally parallel with one another and generally along a diagonal of the container 20 as shown in FIG. 3. Any remaining furniture parts including, for example, the center piston 18 are placed in container 20 on either side of the seat and back section 12, 16. In another embodiment of the invention, at least one protective shipping sleeve 36 is placed over or in contact with the edge 38 of the back section 16. The shipping sleeve 36 may measures 25.5 inches wide by 7 inches deep by 2 inches high, however, the invention does not preclude the use of sleeves 36 of other dimensions. Shipping sleeves 36 are preferably made out of perforated single wall 275 psi corrugated cardboard, however, other suitable materials such as Styrofoam® ( may also be used. Additionally, other types of packaging material such as pillows filled with air or fiber may also be used as shipping sleeves 36 when such materials are placed in contact with the edge 38 of the back section 16. If necessary for shipment, a shipping sleeve 36 may also be placed in contact with or over an edge portion 40 of the seat section 12, as shown in FIG. 2. In one version of the embodiment, at least one of the shipping sleeves 36 supports at least one side wall 34 of the shipping container 20. In a more specific version of this embodiment, as shown in FIGS. 4-6, more than one shipping sleeve 36 is used, and each shipping sleeve 36 supports at least one side wall 34 of the shipping container 20. As stated above, such shipping sleeve 36 can be made of any suitable packaging material including, for example, corrugated cardboard or Styrofoam®. Shipping sleeve 36 is a structure which encases or contacts at least a portion of the edge 38, 40 of the back section 16 or the seat section 12. The sleeve 36, as seen in more detail in FIG. 2, may be constructed to take on a generally rectangular shape having top and bottom wall members 17, side wall members 19, and at least one opening 21 for receiving an edge portion 38, 40 of back section 16 or seat section 12. The sleeve 36 is positionable between a side wall 34 of the container 20 and the edge 38 and provides a surface for abutting the side wall 34 of the container 20. It should be well understood that sleeve 36 can take on many shapes that will satisfy the requirements of the present invention including a U-shaped construction having multiple side openings or a pillow abutting an edge portion 38,40 of the back or seat section 16, 12. A U-shaped sleeve 16 would be wrapped around such edge portion 38, 40. In another version of the embodiment, arms (not shown) are connected to the seat section 12, and the back section 16 when removed may be positioned to overlie the arms when the base 14, seat 12 and back section 16 are packaged in a vertical stack. In such an embodiment, a piece of cardboard or the like may be placed between the base 14 and the seat section 12. Moreover, the back section 16, when removed from the seat section 12, may be nested between the arms and overlie seat section 12. The insertion of the furniture 10 into the shipping container 20 includes positioning at least one shipping sleeve 36 to abut opposing side walls 34 of the container 20. As shown in FIGS. 4-6, shipping sleeve 36, when positioned within the shipping container 20, has side wall members 19 positioned to abut at least one side wall 34 of container 20 so as to support the side walls 34. The insertion of the furniture 10 into the shipping container 20 may, as shown in FIGS. 4-6 also involve positioning two shipping sleeves 36 such that a first sleeve 36 is placed over the edge portion 38, 40 of the back or seat section 16, 12 and a second sleeve 36 is placed over an opposing edge portion 38, 40 of the back or seat section 16, 12. Insertion of the furniture 10 into the container 20 may, as shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, also include abutting the first shipping sleeve 36 against a first side wall 34 of the container 20 adjacent an edge 40, 38 of the seat 12 or back section 16, and abutting the second shipping sleeve 36 against an opposing second side wall 34 of the container 20, where the second side wall 34 of the container 20 is adjacent an opposing edge 40, 38 of the seat 12 or back section 16 thereby providing support to side walls 34. FIG. 2 shows the inventive method in which a first protective shipping sleeve 36 and a second protective shipping sleeve 36 are placed on a first and second edge portion 40, 38 of the seat 12 or back section 16, respectively and the back section 16 is positioned so as to overlie seat section 12, as seen in FIG. 5. Once this is accomplished and prior to insertion into the container 20, all of the furniture 10 is enclosed in protective bag (not shown), and the protective bag is placed in a shipping container 20, in such a manner that each of the protective shipping sleeves 36 abut at least one side wall 34 of the shipping container 20. In still another embodiment of the invention, the back section 16 of the furniture 10 is positioned between the seat section 12 and a side wall 34 of the packaging container 20, as shown in FIG. 6. In this embodiment, side wall members 19 of shipping sleeves 36 abut opposing side walls 34 of container 20 thereby providing additional support to container 20. The invention also involves a packaging apparatus for packing a piece of furniture 10 having a base section 14 removable from a seat section 12. The above description of the packaging used with the inventive method is herein incorporated in the description of the packaging apparatus. The packaging apparatus is comprised of shipping container 20 and at least one shipping sleeve 36 capable of receiving an edge portion 40 of the seat section 12 of the furniture 10, whereby the shipping sleeve 36 abuts a side wall 34 of the shipping container 20. At least two shipping sleeves 36 may be placed on the edge portion 40 of the seat section 12 and each of these shipping sleeves 36 abuts at least one side wall 34 of the shipping container 20. Such shipping sleeves 36 may be made of any suitable packaging material including, for example, corrugated cardboard or Styrofoam®. Furthermore, at least a portion of one shipping sleeve 36 abuts at least one side wall 34 of the shipping container 20 when the sleeve 36 is positioned within the shipping container 20. Additionally, the shipping sleeve 36 may abut opposing side walls 34 of the shipping container 20. As shown in FIGS. 2, and 4-6, the packaging apparatus may also have a first and second shipping sleeve 36 in which the first shipping sleeve 36 is positionable over the edge portion 38 of the back section 16 and the second shipping sleeve 36 is positionable over an opposing edge 38 of the back section 16. In the configuration shown in FIG. 5, the first sleeve 36 abuts a side wall 34 of the container 20 adjacent an edge 38 of the back section 16 and the second sleeve 36 abuts a second side wall 34 of the container 20 where the second side wall 34 is adjacent the opposing edge 38 of the back section 16, thereby supporting side walls of container 20. The shipping container 20 which is part of the packaging apparatus, is suitable for use by an overnight delivery service. The discussions with regard to the dimensions and dimension restrictions associated with container 20 have been set forth above. While a detailed description of various embodiments of the invention have been given, it should be appreciated that many variations can be made thereto without departing from the scope of the invention as set forth in the appended claims. | <SOH> BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION <EOH>In any retail business one of the factors that effects the purchase price charged to the consumer is the shipping or distribution cost. This cost which varies depending upon, among other things, the method of transportation used and the speed of delivery can have an impact not only on the purchase price but also on the ability to make the sale and the degree of customer satisfaction. In the era of “just-in-time” inventory and delivery, it has become imperative that goods be shipped as quickly and economically as possible. This has resulted in a highly competitive overnight delivery industry that allows retailers to deliver goods to the consumer in one or two days. A limitation imposed by overnight delivery companies, however, involves the size of the containers in which goods can be shipped overnight. This size constraint, although necessary to allow container handling by one person, creates a problem for sellers of goods such as furniture that do not fit in a container that satisfies the requirements for overnight delivery. Given the container size limitation imposed by overnight deliver companies, a packaging method and apparatus that would allow shippers of goods such as furniture to take advantage of the cost savings and customer satisfaction generated by being able to ship overnight would be an important improvement in the art. | <SOH> SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION <EOH>The invention involves a method for shipping a piece of furniture having a seat 'section removably secured to a base section. The method is comprised of the steps of removing the seat section from the base section and inserting the seat section and the base section into a shipping container. The invention also involves a packaging apparatus for packing a piece of furniture having a base section removable from a seat section. This packaging apparatus is comprised of a shipping container and at least one shipping sleeve capable of receiving an edge of the seat section where the shipping sleeve is capable of being positioned within the shipping container so as to abut and support at least one side wall of the shipping container. The purpose of the invention is to provide a new method and apparatus for packaging and shipping furniture that overcomes some of the problems and shortcomings of the prior art. This is accomplished by providing a new method and apparatus for packaging and shipping furniture that allows the furniture to be shipped via an overnight delivery service. | 20040902 | 20051011 | 20050203 | 69246.0 | 1 | HUYNH, LOUIS K | PACKAGING DEVICE AND METHOD FOR SHIPPING FURNITURE | SMALL | 1 | CONT-ACCEPTED | 2,004 |
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10,933,088 | ACCEPTED | Cardiac valve, system, and method | A cardiac valve with a support frame having a first end member and a second end member opposing the first end member in a substantially fixed distance relationship, and a cover extending over the support frame to allow for unidirectional flow of a liquid through the valve. | 1. A cardiac valve, comprising: a support frame having a first end member and a second end member opposing the first end member in a substantially fixed distance relationship, the first end member and the second end member defining a sequence of convex curves and concave curves; and a cover extending between convex curves of the second end member to form a first valve leaflet and a second valve leaflet, wherein a portion of the first valve leaflet and the second valve leaflet join to form a reversibly sealable opening for unidirectional flow of a liquid through the cardiac valve. 2. The cardiac valve of claim 1, wherein the second end member includes a first convex curve and a second convex curve; and the cover extending between the first convex curve and the second convex curve to form the first valve leaflet and the second valve leaflet of a bi-leaflet cardiac valve. 3. The cardiac valve of claim 2, wherein the cover extends over an outer surface of the support frame to form the bi-leaflet cardiac valve. 4. The cardiac valve of claim 3, wherein the cover extends over both an inner surface and the outer surface of the support frame to form the bi-leaflet cardiac valve. 5. The cardiac valve of claim 4, further including a layer of material positioned between the cover extending over the inner surface and the outer surface of the support frame. 6. The cardiac valve of claim 1, wherein the cover extending between convex curves of the second end member forms a third valve leaflet of a tri-leaflet cardiac valve; and wherein a portion of the first valve leaflet, the second valve leaflet and the third valve leaflet join to form the reversibly sealable opening for unidirectional flow of the liquid through the cardiac valve. 7. The cardiac valve of claim 6, wherein the cover extends over an outer surface of the support frame to form the tri-leaflet cardiac valve. 8. The cardiac valve of claim 7, wherein the cover extends over both an inner surface and the outer surface of the support frame to form the tri-leaflet cardiac valve. 9. The cardiac valve of claim 8, further including a layer of material positioned between the cover extending over the inner surface and the outer surface of the support frame. 10. The cardiac valve of claim 1, wherein the first end member defines an open area between the sequence of convex curves and concave curves. 11. The cardiac valve of claim 1, wherein the cover further including a surface defining an opening and a tubular member having a predetermined length extending from and in fluid tight communication with the opening. 12. A cardiac valve, comprising: a support frame including an outer surface, an inner surface, a first end member and a second end member opposite the first end member, the first end member and the second end member in a substantially fixed distance relationship, wherein the first end member and the second end member define a sequence of convex curves and concave curves; and a cover over the outer surface of the support frame and extending between the convex curves of the second end member to form a first valve leaflet and a second valve leaflet, wherein a portion of the first valve leaflet and the second valve leaflet join to form a reversibly sealable opening for unidirectional flow of a liquid through the cardiac valve. 13. The cardiac valve of claim 12, wherein the sequence of convex curves and concave curves and the cover form a bi-leaflet cardiac valve that includes: a first convex curve and a second convex curve; and the cover extending around the outer surface of the first convex curve and the second convex curve to form the first valve leaflet and the second valve leaflet. 14. The cardiac valve of claim 12, wherein the sequence of convex curves and concave curves and the cover form a tri-leaflet cardiac valve that includes: a first convex curve, a second convex curve, and a third convex curve; the cover extending around the outer surface of the first convex curve, the second convex curve, and the third convex curve to form the first valve leaflet, the second valve leaflet, and a third valve leaflet; and wherein a portion of the first valve leaflet, the second valve leaflet, and the third valve leaflet join to form the reversibly sealable opening. 15. The cardiac valve of claim 12, wherein the cover further extends over the inner surface of the support frame and extends between the convex curves of the second end member to form at least a portion of the first valve leaflet and the second valve leaflet. 16. The cardiac valve of claim 15, further including a layer of material positioned between the cover extending over the inner surface and the outer surface of the support frame. 17. The cardiac valve of claim 12, wherein the cover further including a surface defining an opening and a tubular member having a predetermined length extending from and in fluid tight communication with the opening. 18. A system, comprising: a cardiac valve, wherein the cardiac valve includes: a support frame having a first end member and a second end member opposing the first end member in a substantially fixed distance relationship, the first end member and the second end member defining a sequence of convex curves and concave curves; and a cover extending between convex curves of the second end member to form a first valve leaflet and a second valve leaflet, wherein a portion of the first valve leaflet and the second valve leaflet join to form a reversibly sealable opening for unidirectional flow of a liquid through the cardiac valve; and a catheter including a proximal end and a distal end, the cardiac valve located between the proximal end and distal end of the catheter. 19. The system of claim 18, wherein the catheter includes an elongate body having a lumen longitudinally extending to the distal end, a deployment shaft positioned within the lumen, and a sheath positioned adjacent the distal end, the cardiac valve positioned at least partially within the sheath and adjacent the deployment shaft, wherein the deployment shaft moves within the lumen to deploy the cardiac valve. 20. The system of claim 18, wherein the catheter includes an elongate body and a retractable sheath over at least a portion of the elongate body, the cardiac valve positioned at least partially within the retractable sheath, wherein the retractable sheath moves along the elongate body to deploy the cardiac valve. 21. The system of claim 18, wherein the catheter includes an inflatable balloon positioned adjacent the distal end and a lumen longitudinally extending in an elongate body of the catheter from the inflatable balloon to the distal end, the inflatable balloon at least partially positioned within the lumen of the cardiac valve, where the inflatable balloon inflates to deploy the cardiac valve. 22. The system of claim 18, wherein the second end member includes a first convex curve and a second convex curve; and the cover extending between the first convex curve and the second convex curve to form the first valve leaflet and the second valve leaflet of a bi-leaflet cardiac valve. 23. The system of claim 18, wherein the cover extending between convex curves of the second end member forms a third valve leaflet of a tri-leaflet cardiac valve; and wherein a portion of the first valve leaflet, the second valve leaflet and the third valve leaflet join to form the reversibly sealable opening for unidirectional flow of the liquid through the cardiac valve. 24. The system of claim 18, wherein the first end member defines an open area between the sequence of convex curves and concave curves. 25. The system of claim 18, wherein the cover further including a surface defining an opening and a tubular member having a predetermined length extending from and in fluid tight communication with the opening. 26. A method, comprising: providing a support frame, where the support frame includes a first end member and a second end member opposing the first end member in a substantially fixed distance relationship, the first end member and the second end member defining a sequence of convex curves and concave curves; and providing a cover, wherein the cover extends between convex curves of the second end member to form a first valve leaflet and a second valve leaflet of a cardiac valve, a portion of the first valve leaflet and the second valve leaflet joining to form a reversibly sealable opening for unidirectional flow of a liquid through the cardiac valve. 27. The method of claim 26, wherein the second end member includes a first convex curve and a second convex curve; and providing the cover includes providing the cover between the first convex curve and the second convex curve to form the first valve leaflet and the second valve leaflet of a bi-leaflet cardiac valve. 28. The method of claim 26, wherein the second end member includes a first convex curve, a second convex curve, and a third convex curve; and providing the cover includes providing the cover between the first convex curve, the second convex curve, and the third convex curve to form the first valve leaflet, the second valve leaflet and a third valve leaflet of a tri-leaflet cardiac valve, a portion of the first valve leaflet, the second valve leaflet and the third valve leaflet join to form the reversibly sealable opening for unidirectional flow of the liquid through the cardiac valve. 29. The method of claim 26, including defining an open area between the sequence of convex curves and concave curves at the first end member. 30. The method of claim 26, including providing a surface defining an opening; and coupling a tubular member having a predetermined length to the cover to provide fluid communication with the opening. 31. The method of claim 26, including reversibly joining the cardiac valve to a delivery catheter. 32. The method of claim 31, wherein reversibly joining the cardiac valve and the catheter includes positioning the cardiac valve at least partially within a sheath of the catheter. 33. The method of claim 32, wherein positioning the cardiac valve at least partially within a sheath of the catheter include positioning the cardiac valve adjacent a deployment shaft of the catheter. 34. The method of claim 32, wherein the sheath includes a retractable sheath of the catheter. 35. The method of claim 32, wherein the catheter includes an inflatable balloon, the inflatable balloon at least partially positioned within the lumen of the cardiac valve; and inflating the balloon to deploy the cardiac valve. | FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates generally to apparatus, systems, and methods for use in a lumen; and more particularly to cardiac valves, systems, and methods for use in the vasculature system. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Diseases of the heart valves are grouped according to which valve(s) are involved and the way that blood flow is disrupted. The most common valve problems occur in the mitral and aortic valves. Diseases of the tricuspid and pulmonary valves are fairly rare. The aortic valve regulates the blood flow from the heart's left ventricle into the aorta. The aorta is the main vessel that supplies oxygenated blood to the rest of the body. Diseases of the aorta can have a significant impact on an individual. Examples of such diseases include aortic regurgitation and aortic stenosis. Aortic regurgitation is also called aortic insufficiency or aortic incompetence. It is a condition in which blood flows backward from a widened or weakened aortic valve into the left ventricle of the heart. In its most serious form, aortic regurgitation is caused by an infection that leaves holes in the valve leaflets. Symptoms of aortic regurgitation may not appear for years. When symptoms do appear, it is because the left ventricle must work harder as compared to an uncompromised ventricle to make up for the backflow of blood. The ventricle eventually gets larger and fluid backs up. Aortic stenosis is a narrowing or blockage of the aortic valve. Aortic stenosis occurs when the valve leaflets of the aorta become coated with deposits. The deposits change the shape of the leaflets and reduce blood flow through the valve. The left ventricle has to work harder as compared to an uncompromised ventricle to make up for the reduced blood flow. Over time, the extra work can weaken the heart muscle. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIGS. 1A-1D illustrate an embodiment of a valve in perspective view. FIGS. 2A-2B illustrate another embodiment of a valve in perspective view. FIGS. 3A and 3B illustrate another embodiment of a valve in perspective view. FIGS. 4A and 4B illustrate another embodiment of a valve in perspective view. FIG. 5 illustrates an embodiment of a system that includes a valve. FIG. 6 illustrates an embodiment of a system that includes a valve. FIG. 7 illustrates an embodiment of a system that includes a valve. DETAILED DESCRIPTION Embodiments of the present invention are directed to an apparatus, system, and method for cardiac valve replacement and/or augmentation. For example, the apparatus can include a cardiac valve that can be used to replace an incompetent valve in a body lumen. Embodiments of the cardiac valve can include a support frame and cover that can be implanted through minimally-invasive techniques into a body lumen, such as an artery or a vein. In one example, embodiments of the present invention may help to augment or replace the function of a cardiac valve of individuals having heart valve disease. The Figures herein follow a numbering convention in which the first digit or digits correspond to the drawing Figure number and the remaining digits identify an element or component in the drawing. Similar elements or components between different Figures may be identified by the use of similar digits. For example, 110 may reference element “10” in FIG. 1, and a similar element may be referenced as 210 in FIG. 2. As will be appreciated, elements shown in the various embodiments herein can be added, exchanged, and/or eliminated so as to provide any number of additional embodiments of valve. Various embodiments of the invention are illustrated in the figures. Generally, the cardiac valve can be implanted within the fluid passageway of a body lumen, such as for replacement of a cardiac valve structure within the body lumen (e.g., an aortic valve at the aortic root), to regulate the flow of a bodily fluid through the body lumen in a single direction. FIGS. 1A and 1B illustrate one embodiment of a cardiac valve 100. FIGS. 1A and 1B provide a perspective illustration of valve 100 in an open configuration (FIG. 1A) and a closed configuration (FIG. 1B). FIGS. 1C and 1D provide a sectional view of FIGS. 1A and 1B, respectively, to more clearly illustrate the embodiment of the cardiac valve 100. Cardiac valve 100 includes a support frame 102 and a cover 104. The support frame 102 includes an outer surface 106 and an inner surface 108. The support frame 102 further includes a first end member 110 and a second end member 112 opposing the first end member 110. In one embodiment, the first end member 110 and the second end member 112 are in a substantially fixed distance relationship 114. As used herein, a substantially fixed distance relationship 114 indicates a fixed distance between the members 110 and 112 that may include variations of the fixed distance relationship inherently resulting from the manufacture of the articles of the present invention. In addition, the substantially fixed distance relationship 114 need not be consistent around the circumference of the cardiac valve 100. For example, the substantially fixed distance relationship 114 can be varied up to a predetermined percentage of an average valve diameter of the substantially fixed distance relationship 114. In one embodiment, the predetermined percentage can be up to seventy (70) percent (%). The support frame 102 further includes an open frame configuration in which the first end member 110 and the second end member 112 define a sequence of convex curves 116 and concave curves 118. In one embodiment, the sequence of convex curves 116 and concave curves 118 are arranged such that the first end member 110 and the second end member 112 provide mirror images of each other set apart by the substantially fixed distance relationship 114. In another embodiment, the sequence of convex curves 116 and concave curves 118 are arranged such that the first end member 110 and the second end member 112 are substantially parallel. In an alternative embodiment, the sequence of convex curves 116 and concave curves 118 are arranged such that the relative position of the first end member 110 and the second end member 112 can have a variation from about zero (0) percent to about two hundred (200) percent variation as compared to an average distance or a preselected distance between the members 110 and 112. In one embodiment, the valve can be about twenty (20) to eighty (80) percent. As will be appreciated, the selection of these percentage values can be based on the anatomical location into which the valve is to be placed. As illustrated in FIGS. 1A and 1B, the sequence of convex curves 116 and concave curves 118 of the first and second end members 110 and 112 can transition between each other with a uniform radius of curvature for each of the convex curves 116 and concave curves 118. Alternatively, the sequence of convex curves 116 and concave curves 118 transition between each other in a non-uniform manner. For example, the convex curves 116 can have a radius of curvature that is different (e.g., smaller) than the radius of curvature for the concave curves 118 (FIGS. 2A and 2B). Further, the shape and relationship of the convex curves 116 and concave curves 118 for each of the first end member 110 and the second end member 112 need not be symmetrical relative to each other, rather they may provide for a non-symmetrical relationship, which may vary around the circumference. The support frame 102 can further include cross-members 120 coupled to the first end member 110 and the second end member 112. In one embodiment, cross-members 120 help to maintain the first end member 110 and the second end member 112 in the substantially fixed distance relationship 114. In one embodiment, the cross-members 120 can include a cross-sectional shape and can be formed from the same or similar materials as the end members 110 and 112, as discussed herein. In addition, the cross-members 120 can include any number of configurations, including linear configurations in which cross member 120 are arranged in parallel relative to other cross-members 120. Other configurations include, but are not limited to, curved configurations, configurations including one or more bends in the cross member 120, and configurations that include coil configurations. Other configurations are also possible. In addition, the cross-members 120 can further include additional members spanning between the cross-members 120 and/or the end members 110 and 112, as will be discussed herein. The support frame 102 can be formed from a wide variety of materials and in a wide variety of configurations. Generally, support frame 102 can have a unitary structure with an open frame configuration. For example, the open frame configuration can include frame members (e.g., first end member 110 and a second end member 112, cross-members 120) that define openings 124 through the support frame 102. The support frame 102 can also be self-expanding. Examples of self-expanding frames include those formed from temperature-sensitive memory alloy which changes shape at a designated temperature or temperature range. Alternatively, the self-expanding frames can include those having a spring-bias. In addition, the support frame 102 can have a configuration that allows the frame 102 to be radially expandable through the use of a balloon catheter. While the support frame 102 illustrated herein is shown having a circular configuration, other configurations are also possible. For example, the support frame 102 can also include an elliptical configuration, or other configurations that can accommodate the physiological structure in which the support frame 102 is to be placed. In addition, the support frame 102 is illustrated as having linear or long curved members, it will be appreciated that the support frame 102 and/or the cross-members 120 can have a configuration that allows the support frame 102 and/or the cross-members 120 to be flexible. Examples of such configurations include those that are zigzag and/or serpentine so as to allow the frame to be radially compressible. As such, the present invention should not be limited to the illustration of the support frame 102. The support frame 102 can also provide sufficient contact and expansion force with the surface of a body lumen wall to encourage fixation of the valve 100 and to prevent retrograde flow within the body lumen. Anchoring elements (e.g., barbs) can also be included with valve 100, as will be discussed herein. The members (e.g., first end member 110 and a second end member 112, cross-members 120) forming support frame 102 can include a variety of cross-sectional shapes and dimensions. For example, cross-sectional shapes for the members 122 can include, but are not limited to, circular, tubular, I-shaped, τ-shaped, oval, and triangular. The members can also have a single cross-sectional shape (e.g., all members of support frame 102 can have a circular cross-sectional shape). In an additional embodiment, the members of the support frame 102 can include two or more cross-sectional shapes (e.g., a first cross-sectional shape for both the first end member 110 and a second end member 112, and a second cross-sectional shape for the cross-members 120). The support frame 102 can be formed from any number of materials. For example, the support frame 102 can be formed from a biocompatible metal, metal alloy, polymeric material, or combination thereof. As discussed herein, the support frame 102 can be self-expanding or balloon expandable. Examples of suitable materials for the support frame 102 include, but are not limited to, medical grade stainless steel (e.g., 316L), titanium, tantalum, platinum alloys, niobium alloys, cobalt alloys, alginate, or combinations thereof. In an additional embodiment, the support frame 102 may be formed from a shape-memory material, such as shape memory plastics, polymers, and thermoplastic materials which are inert in the body. Shaped memory alloys having superelastic properties generally made from specific ratios of nickel and titanium, commonly known as nitinol, are also possible materials. Other materials are also possible. Members (e.g., first end member 110 and a second end member 112, cross-members 120) of the support frame 102 can be shaped and joined in any number of ways. For example, a single contiguous member can be bent around an elongate tubular mandrel to form the end members 110 and 112 of the support frame 102. The free ends of the single contiguous member can then be welded, fused, crimped, or otherwise joined together to form the support frame 102. In an additional embodiment, the cross-members 120 can be joined to the end members 110 and 112 in a similar manner. Alternatively, the support frame 102 can be derived (e.g., laser cut, water cut) from a single tubular segment. The support frame 102 can be heat set by a method as is typically known for the material which forms the support frame 102. Support frame 102 and cover 104 can be expanded to provide lumen 126 having any number of sizes. For example, the size of lumen 126 can be determined based upon the type of body lumen and the body lumen size in which the valve 100 is to be placed. In an additional example, there can also be a minimum value for the width 128 for the support frame 102 that ensures that the support frame 102 will have an appropriate expansion force against the inner wall of the body lumen in which the valve 100 is being placed. The support frame 102 can also include a longitudinal length 130. In one embodiment, the support frame 102 can further include one or more anchoring elements. For example, the one or more anchoring elements can include, but are not limited to, one or more barbs 132 projecting from the outer surface 106 of the support frame 102. The valve 100 can further include one or more radiopaque markers (e.g., tabs, sleeves, welds). For example, one or more portions of the valve frame 102 can be formed from a radiopaque material. Radiopaque markers can be attached to and/or coated onto one or more locations along the support frame 102. Examples of radiopaque material include, but are not limited to, gold, tantalum, and platinum. The position of the one or more radiopaque markers can be selected so as to provide information on the position, location and orientation of the valve 100 during its implantation. As discussed herein, the cover 104 of the cardiac valve 100 forms valve leaflets 133 having surfaces defining a reversibly sealable opening 134 for unidirectional flow of a liquid through the valve 100. For example, the cover 104 can extend across an area between the convex curves 116 and the concave curves 118 of the second end member 112 to form valve leaflets 133 of the cardiac valve 100. The position and number of the convex and concave curves 116 and 118 in the second end member 112 determine the number of valve leaflets 133 of the cardiac valve 100. For example, FIGS. 1A and 1B provide a bi-leaflet cardiac valve according to an embodiment of the present invention. As illustrated in FIGS. 1A and 1B, cover 104 extends across the area between a first convex curve 136 and a second convex curve 138 and down to the concave curves 118 of the second end member 112 to form a first valve leaflet 140 and a second valve leaflet 142. In one embodiment, the first convex curve 136 and the second convex curve 138 of the second end member 112 are positioned opposite each other along a common axis 144. In this example, the common axis 144 bisects support frame 102 into symmetrical portions. As a result, the first valve leaflet 140 and the second valve leaflet 142 each display substantially the same shape, size and configuration as each other. In an alternative embodiment, the first convex curve 136 and the second convex curve 138 can be positioned so that the common axis 144 divides the support frame 102 into non-symmetrical portions. In this embodiment, the first valve leaflet 140 and the second valve leaflet 142 can have different shapes, sizes and configurations relative to each other. In an additional embodiment, the cover 104 also extends over the first end member 110. In contrast to the second end member 112, however, the cover 104 terminates along the convex and concave curves 116 and 118 of the first end member 110 so as to define an open area 146 between the sequence of convex curves 116 and concave curves 118. As will be more fully discussed below, providing the open area 146 allows the valve 100 to accommodate the anatomical structures of the autologous valve being replaced so as to reduce any potential interference with anatomical structures adjacent the autologous valve (e.g., the coronary ostia located adjacent aortic valve). Although the embodiments in FIGS. 1A-1D illustrate and describe a bi-leaflet configuration for the valve 100 of the present invention, designs employing a different number of valve leaflets are possible. For example, the second end member 112 can include additional convex curves 116 and the concave curves 118 so as to provide support structures for additional valve leaflets 133 (e.g., a tri-leaflet valve). The cover 104 in conjunction with the support frame 102 defines the lumen 126 of the cardiac valve 100 for passing fluid (e.g., blood) there-through. The cover 104 further includes surfaces defining a reversibly sealable opening 134 for unidirectional flow of a liquid through the lumen 126. For example, a portion of the first valve leaflet 140 and the second valve leaflet 142 can join to form the reversibly sealable opening 134 for unidirectional flow of a liquid through the cardiac valve 100. FIGS. 1A and 1B illustrate embodiments in which the surfaces of the cover 104 can be deflectable between a closed configuration (FIG. 1B) in which fluid flow through the lumen 126 can be restricted and an open configuration (FIG. 1A) in which fluid flow through the lumen 126 can be permitted. The first valve leaflet 140 and the second valve leaflet 142 can move relative the support frame 102 (i.e., the first valve leaflet 140 and the second valve leaflet 142 are attached to and pivot along the support frame 102). In one embodiment, the cover 104 provides sufficient excess material spanning support frame 102 to allow the first valve leaflet 140 and the second valve leaflet 142 to join sealing surfaces 148 at the reversibly sealable opening 134. The reversibly sealable opening 134 formed by the first and second valve leaflets 140 and 142 opens and closes in response to the fluid pressure differential across the valve leaflets 140 and 142. That is, antegrade blood flow causes the valve leaflets to open, thereby providing for unidirectional blood flow through the reversibly sealable opening. In contrast, retrograde blood flow causes the valve leaflets close, thereby preventing blood flow from passing through the reversibly sealable opening. The first valve leaflet 140 and the second valve leaflet 142 further include arcuate edges 150 and 152 that are positioned adjacent each other along a substantially catenary curve between the first convex curve 136 and the second convex curve 138 of the second end member 112 in the closed configuration (FIG. 1B) of valve 100. Similarly, arcuate edges 150 and 152 can form the reversibly sealable opening 134 when the valve 100 is in the open configuration (FIG. 1A). For example, under antegrade fluid flow (i.e., positive fluid pressure) moving from the first end member 110 towards the second end member 112 of the valve 100, the first and second valve leaflets 140 and 142 can expand toward the support frame 102 to create an opening through which fluid is permitted to move. In one embodiment, the first valve leaflet 140 and the second valve leaflet 142 can each expand to form a semi-tubular structure when fluid opens the reversibly sealable opening 134. In an additional embodiment, arcuate edge 150 and 152 of valve 100 can open to approximately the full inner diameter of a body lumen. An example of the open configuration for the valve is shown in FIG. 1A. Under a retrograde fluid flow (i.e., negative fluid pressure) moving from the second end member 112 towards the first end member 110, the first and second valve leaflets 140 and 142 move away from the support frame 102 as the valve leaflets 140 and 142 begin to close. In one embodiment, the valve leaflets 140 and 142 include a predefined shape that allows for the retrograde fluid flow to develop pressure on a major surface 154 of the first and second valve leaflets 140 and 142. For example, the major surface 154 can have a concave shape 156 to better collect retrograde fluid flow to urge the first valve leaflet 140 and the second valve leaflet 142 towards the closed configuration. As fluid pressure builds, the first and second valve leaflets 140 and 142 move towards each other eventually forming the reversibly sealable opening 134 (i.e., closing the valve 100), thereby restricting retrograde fluid flow through the valve 100. In an additional embodiment, the first valve leaflet 140 and the second valve leaflet 142 can include one or more support structures, where the support structures can be integrated into and/or onto the valve leaflets 140 and 142. For example, the first valve leaflet 140 and the second valve leaflet 142 can include one or more support ribs having a predetermined shape. In one embodiment, the predetermined shape of the support ribs can include a curved bias so as to provide the first valve leaflet 140 and the second valve leaflet 142 with a curved configuration. Support ribs can be constructed of a flexible material and have dimensions (e.g., thickness, width and length) and cross-sectional shape that allows the support ribs to be flexible when the first valve leaflet 140 and the second valve leaflet 142 are urged into an open position upon experiencing sufficient blood flow pressure from the direction upstream from the valve, e.g., antegrade blood flow, and stiff when the first valve leaflet 140 and the second valve leaflet 142 are urged into a closed position upon experiencing sufficient back flow pressure from the direction downstream from the valve, e.g., retrograde blood flow. In an additional embodiment, support ribs can also be attached to support frame 102 so as to impart a spring bias to the valve leaflets 133 in either the open or the closed configuration. In one embodiment, cover 104 used to form the valve leaflets 140 and 142 can be constructed of a material sufficiently thin and pliable so as to permit radially-collapsing of the valve leaflets for delivery by catheter to a location within a body lumen. The cover 104 can be constructed of a biocompatible material that can be either synthetic or biologic or a combination of synthetic and biologic biocompatible material. Possible synthetic materials include, but are not limited to, expanded polytetrafluoroethylene (ePTFE), polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE), polystyrene-polyisobutylene-polystyrene (SIBS), polyurethane, segmented poly(carbonate-urethane), polyester, polyethlylene (PE), polyethylene terephthalate (PET), silk, urethane, Rayon, Silicone, or the like. In an additional embodiment, the synthetic material can also include metals, such as stainless steel (e.g., 316L) and nitinol. These synthetic materials can be in a woven, a knit, a cast or other known physical fluid-impermeable or permeable configurations. Possible biologic materials include, but are not limited to, autologous, allogeneic or xenograft material. These include explanted veins, pericardium, facia lata, harvested cardiac valves, bladder, vein wall, various collagen types, elastin, intestinal submucosa, and decellularized basement membrane materials, such as small intestine submucosa (SIS), amniotic tissue, or umbilical vein. As discussed herein, the cover 104 can be located over at least the outer surface 106 of the support frame 102. FIGS. 1A-1D provide one illustration of this embodiment. In an additional embodiment, the cover 104 can be located over at least the inner surface 108 of the support frame 102. FIGS. 2A-2B provide a cross-sectional perspective view of cover 204 extending over both an inner surface 208 and the outer surface 206 of the support frame 202 to form the bi-leaflet cardiac valve. In one example, the cover 204 can further be located over the openings 224 defined by the members of the support frame 202. The cover 204 can also be joined to itself through the openings 224 so as to fully or partially encase the support frame 202. Numerous techniques may be employed to laminate or bond the cover 204 on the outer surface 206 and/or the inner surface 208 of the support frame 202, including heat setting, adhesive welding, interlocking, application of uniform force and other bonding techniques. Additionally, the cover 204 may be folded over the first end member 210 of the support frame 202 to provide the cover 204 on both the outer surface 206 and the inner surface 208. Cover 204 can also be joined to itself and/or the members according to the methods described in U.S. patent application Publication US 2002/0178570 to Sogard et al. The valve 200 can further include a layer of material 258 positioned between the cover 204 extending over the inner surface 208 and the outer surface 206 of the support frame 202. The layer of material 258 can be formed from the biocompatible material used for the cover 204. The layer of material 258, however, can be structurally different than the material of cover 204. For example, cover 204 can include a fluid permeable open woven, or knit, physical configuration to allow for tissue in-growth and stabilization, whereas the layer of material 258 can have a fluid impermeable physical configuration. Examples of the material 258 include, but are not limited to, the synthetic materials described herein. Other combinations of physical configurations for the cover 204 and the layer of material 258 are also possible. Referring again to FIGS. 1A-1D, the support frame 102 and/or the cover 104, including the valve leaflets 140 and 142, may also be treated and/or coated with any number of surface or material treatments. For example, suitable bioactive agents which may be incorporated with or utilized together with the present invention may be selected from silver antimicrobial agents, metallic antimicrobial materials, growth factors, cellular migration agents, cellular proliferation agents, anti-coagulant substances, stenosis inhibitors, thrombo-resistant agents, antibiotic agents, anti-tumor agents, anti-proliferative agents, growth hormones, antiviral agents, anti-angiogenic agents, angiogenic agents, cholesterol-lowering agents, vasodilating agents, agents that interfere with endogenous vasoactive mechanisms, hormones, their homologs, derivatives, fragments, pharmaceutical salts and combinations thereof. In the various embodiments of the present invention, the most useful bioactive agents can include those that modulate thrombosis, those that encourage cellular ingrowth, throughgrowth, and endothelialization, those that resist infection, and those that reduce calcification. For example, coating treatments can include one or more biologically active compounds and/or materials that may promote and/or inhibit endothelial, smooth muscle, fibroblast, and/or other cellular growth onto or into the support frame 102 and/or the cover 104, including the valve leaflets 140 and 142. Examples of such coatings include, but are not limited to, polyglactic acid, poly-L-lactic acid, glycol-compounds, and lipid compounds. Additionally, coatings can include medications, genetic agents, chemical agents, and/or other materials and additives. In addition, in embodiments having tubular members such as the tubular member 482 illustrated in FIGS. 4A-4B, agents that limit or decrease cellular proliferation can be useful. Similarly, the support frame 102 and/or the cover 104 may be seeded and covered with cultured tissue cells (e.g., endothelial cells) derived from a either a donor or the host patient which are attached to the valve leaflets 140 and 142. The cultured tissue cells may be initially positioned to extend either partially or fully over the valve leaflets 140 and 142. Cover 104, in addition to forming valve leaflets 140 and 142, can also be capable of inhibiting thrombus formation, as discussed herein. Additionally, cover 104 may either prevent or facilitate tissue ingrowth there-through, as the particular application for the valve 100 may dictate. For example, cover 104 on the outer surface 106 may be formed from a porous material to facilitate tissue ingrowth there-through, while cover 104 on the inner surface 108 may be formed from a material or a treated material which inhibits tissue ingrowth. Cells can be associated with the present invention. For example, cells that have been genetically engineered to deliver bioactive proteins, such as the growth factors or antibodies mentioned herein, to the implant site can be associated with the present invention. Cells can be of human origin (autologous or allogenic) or from an animal source (xenogenic). Cells can be pre-treated with medication or pre-processed such as by sorting or encapsulation. The delivery media can be formulated as needed to maintain cell function and viability. Thrombo-resistant agents associated with the valve may be selected from, but not limited to, heparin, heparin sulfate, hirudin, hyaluronic acid, chondroitin sulfate, dermatan sulfate, keratin sulfate, PPack (detropyenylalanine praline arginine chloromethylketone), lytic agents, including urokinase and streptokinase, their homologs, analogs, fragments, derivatives and pharmaceutical salts thereof. Anti-coagulants can include, but are not limited to, D-Phe-Pro-Arg chloromethyl ketone, an RGD peptide-containing compound, heparain, antithrombin compounds, platelet receptor antagonists, anti-thrombin antibodies, anti-platelet receptor antibodies, aspirin, prostaglandin inhibitors, platelet inhibitors, tick antiplatelet peptides and combinations thereof. Antibiotic agents can include, but are not limited to, penicillins, cephalosportins, vancomycins, aminoglycosides, quinolonges, polymyxins, erythromycins, tetracyclines, chloraphenicols, clindamycins, lincomycins, sulfonamides, their homologs, analogs, derivatives, pharmaceutical salts and combinations thereof. Anti-proliferative agents for use in the present invention can include, but are not limited to, the following: paclitaxel, sirolimus, everolimus, or monoclonal antibodies capable of blocking smooth muscle cell proliferation, related compounds, derivatives, and combinations thereof. Vascular cell growth inhibitors can include, but are not limited to, growth factor inhibitors, growth factor receptor antagonists, transcriptional repressors, translational repressors, replication inhibitors, inhibitory antibodies, antibodies directed against growth factors, bifunctional molecules consisting of a growth factor and a cytotoxin, bifunctional molecules consisting of a an antibody and a cytotoxin. Vascular cell growth promoters include, but are not limited to, transcriptional activators and transcriptional promoters. Anti-inflammatory agents can include, but are not limited to, dexametbasone, prednisolone, corticosterone, budesonide, estrogen, sulfasalazinemesalamne, and combinations thereof. FIGS. 3A and 3B illustrate an additional embodiment of a cardiac valve 300. FIGS. 3A and 3B provide a perspective illustration of valve 300 having three valve leaflets 333 in an open configuration (FIG. 3A) and a closed configuration (FIG. 3B). As discussed herein, cardiac valve 300 includes the support frame 302 having the first end member 310 and the second end member 312 opposing the first end member 310 in the substantially fixed distance relationship 314. In the present example, the cover 304 of the cardiac valve 300 forms a tri-leaflet valve having surfaces defining the reversibly sealable opening 334 for unidirectional flow of a liquid through the valve 300. As illustrated, FIGS. 3A and 3B provide a tri-leaflet cardiac valve in which cover 304 extends across the area between the first convex curve 336, the second convex curve 338, and a third convex curve 364, and down to the concave curves 118 of the second end member 112 to form the first valve leaflet 340, the second valve leaflet 342, and a third valve leaflet 366 In one embodiment, the convex curves 336, 338, and 364 can lay on a common plane 368, as illustrated in FIGS. 3A and 3B. However, the convex curves 336, 338, and 364 can lay need not all lay on the common plane 368. It is possible that one or more of the convex curves 336, 338, and 364 can lie above and/or below the common plane 368. In addition, the convex curves 336, 338, and 364 can be positioned at equal distances around the second end member 312. As a result, the valve leaflets 336, 338, and 364 each display substantially the same shape, size and configuration as each other. In an alternative embodiment, the convex curves 336, 338, and 364 can be positioned at one or more unequal distances around the second end member 312. In this embodiment, the valve leaflets 336, 338, and 364 can each have different shapes, sizes and configurations relative to each other. The cover 304 in conjunction with the support frame 302 defines the lumen 326 of the cardiac valve 300 for passing fluid (e.g., blood) there-through. The cover 304 can further include surfaces defining the reversibly sealable opening 334 for unidirectional flow of a liquid through the lumen 326. For example, a portion of the first valve leaflet 340, the second valve leaflet 342, and the third valve leaflet 366 can join to form the reversibly sealable opening 334 for unidirectional flow of a liquid through the cardiac valve 300. FIGS. 3A and 3B illustrate embodiments in which the valve leaflets 340, 342, and 366 can deflect between a closed configuration (FIG. 3B) in which fluid flow through the lumen 326 can be restricted and an open configuration (FIG. 3A) in which fluid flow through the lumen 326 can be permitted. The first valve leaflet 340, the second valve leaflet 342, and the third valve leaflet 366 can move relative the support frame 302 between the open configuration and the closed configuration. As discussed, the cover 304 provides sufficient excess material spanning support frame 302 to allow the valve leaflets 340, 342, and 366 to join sealing surfaces 348 at a reversibly sealable opening 334. The reversibly sealable opening 334 formed by the first, second, and third valve leaflets 340, 342, and 366 opens and closes in response to the fluid pressure differential across the valve leaflets. The valve leaflets 340, 342, and 366 each include concave surfaces 370 projecting from the support frame 302 towards an arcuate edge 372 projecting into the lumen 326. As discussed, the valve leaflets 340, 342, and 366 can have approximately the same size and shape. The arcuate edge 372 of the valve leaflets 340, 342, and 366 can each further include a nodular interruption 374 at approximately the center 376 of the arcuate edge 372 to allow the edges of the leaflets 340, 342, and 366 to properly meet as the valve closes. During retrograde flow (i.e., negative fluid pressure), the valve leaflets 340, 342, and 366 can fall into the lumen to close the reversibly sealable opening 334 and support the column of fluid (e.g., blood). During antegrade fluid flow (i.e., positive fluid pressure) the valve leaflets 340, 342, and 366 can expand or move toward the support frame 302 to create an opening through which fluid is permitted to move. In one embodiment, the valve leaflets 340, 342, and 366 can each expand or move to form a semi-tubular structure when fluid opens the reversibly sealable opening 334. In an additional embodiment, the valve leaflets 340, 342, and 366 can include one or more support structures (e.g., support ribs), as discussed herein. Cover 304 can extend over at least the outer surface 306 of the support frame 302 to form the valve leaflets of the tri-leaflet cardiac valve. Alternatively, cover 304 can also be located over at least the inner surface 308 of the support frame 302 to form the valve leaflets of the tri-leaflet cardiac valve. The cover 304 can be joined to the support frame 302 and itself as discussed herein. In addition, the valve 300 can further include a layer of material 358 positioned between the cover 304 extending over the inner surface 308 and the outer surface 306 of the support frame 302. The cover 304, including the valve leaflets 340, 342, and 366, may also be treated and/or coated with any number of surface or material treatments, as discussed herein. FIGS. 4A and 4B illustrate a further embodiment of a cardiac valve 400. FIGS. 4A and 4B provide a perspective illustration of valve 400 in an open configuration (FIG. 4A) and a closed configuration (FIG. 4B). As discussed herein, the valve 400 the support frame 402 and the cover 404 that forms valve leaflets having surfaces defining a reversibly sealable opening 434 for unidirectional flow of a liquid through the valve 400. In addition, the present embodiment further includes an elongate tubular member 482 having a first end 484 and a second end 486. As illustrated, the elongate tubular member 482 can be positioned relative the support frame 402 to allow the first end 484 of the member 482 to be on a first side of the valve leaflets and the second end 486 on a second side of the valve leaflets. In one embodiment, the tubular member 482 can pass through an opening in a valve leaflet, where the tubular member 482 and the valve leaflet form a fluid tight seal. Alternatively, the tubular member 482 passes through a region of the reversibly sealable opening 434, where the leaflets seal around the tubular member 482 when they are in their closed position. As illustrated in FIG. 4A and 4B, the tubular member 482 can be positioned within the opening defined by the support frame 402. In an alternative embodiment, the tubular member 482 can be positioned outside of the support frame 402. The tubular member 482 can allow fluid communication across the valve 400 when the valve leaflet 433 are in their closed position. In one embodiment, the tubular member 482 can allow for blood at an arterial pressure to be supplied from a region distal to the valve 400 to vessels located proximal the valve 400. In one embodiment, the tubular member 482 can allow the valve 400 to be positioned at a more convenient and/or less-diseased location in the vasculature (e.g., the aorta) while still allowing blood at arterial pressure to be supplied to the appropriate coronary arteries (e.g., via the coronary ostium). The tubular member 482 can include any number of physical configurations. For example, as shown in FIG. 4A, the tubular member 482 can include a predetermined length and a predetermined bend 483 to allow the second end 486 of the tubular member 482 to be implanted in a desired location. Examples of such locations include, but are not limited to, a coronary ostium. The predetermined length of the tubular member 482 can be in a range from 10 mm to 50 mm, where the length of the tubular member 482 will be determined based on where the valve 400 is being implanted along with the patient's individual physiological parameters and measurements. As will be appreciated, the valve 400 can include more than one tubular member 482. For example, the valve 400 can include two or more tubular members 482, each tubular member supplying a coronary artery of the patient's vasculature. In addition, each of the tubular members 482 can have similar or distinct physical characteristics (e.g., length, inner/outer diameter, predetermined shape). In one embodiment, each of the tubular members 482 can further include one or more radiopaque marks to allow each tubular member 482 to be uniquely identified. The tubular member 482 can further include a predetermined shape. In one embodiment, the predetermined shape can be determined by the anatomical location in which the valve 400 is being placed along with the anatomical location in which the second end 486 of the tubular member 482 is to be placed. As illustrated in FIGS. 4A and 4B, the tubular member 482 can include combinations of linear and bend portions imparted into the tubular member 484 (e.g., the predetermined bend 483 illustrated in FIG. 4B.). The tubular member 482 can be constructed of a material having sufficient flexibility so as to permit the second end 486 of the tubular member 482 to remain positioned in its proper anatomical location within the patient, while also being flexible enough to allow the first end 484 to move radially with the valve leaflet. The tubular member 482 can be constructed of a biocompatible material that can be either synthetic or biologic. Examples of these materials include those discussed herein for the cover 404. In addition, the material used in the construction of the tubular member 484 can be the same or a different material used for the construction of the cover 404. The tubular member 482 can also include a stent support structure to help maintain a predetermined shape of the tubular member 482. The tubular member 482 further includes an inner diameter 488 and outer diameter 490. The inner diameter 488 can be in a range of 2.0 mm to 5.5 mm. Alternatively, the inner diameter 488 can be in a range of 3.0 mm to 4.5 mm. In one embodiment, the dimension of the inner diameter 488 will typically be a function of the volume of fluid flow that is desired to move through the tubular member 484. The dimension for the outer diameter 490 will be dependent upon the wall thickness of the tubular member 482 required to provide proper flexibility and rigidity to maintain its position once placed in the patient. The embodiments of the valve of the present invention can be formed in any number of ways. For example, a support frame and a cover are both provided for forming the cardiac valve. In the present example, the cover can have a cylindrical shape of essentially uniform inner diameter, where the inner diameter of the cover is approximately the same size as an outer diameter of the support frame. The cover can be positioned over the outer surface of the support frame. For example, the cover can be stretched slightly to allow the support frame to be placed within the cover. Alternatively, the outer diameter of the tubular frame could be enlarged so as to place the cover around the outer surface of the support frame. Other ways of placing the cover around the outer surface of the support frame are also possible, including placing the cover around both the inside and the outside of the frame. In one embodiment, the cover can be positioned over and attached to the support frame so that the cover extends between the convex curves of the second end member to form the valve leaflets. For example, the support frame includes the first convex curve and the second convex curve along the second end member. Providing cover over the support frame then forms the first valve leaflet and the second valve leaflet of the cardiac valve. As discussed herein, the cover can also be trimmed along the first end member so as to define the open area between the sequence of convex curves and concave curves along the first end member. Alternatively, the cover can include a first end having a series of convex and concave curves that correspond to those of the first end member so as to provide the open area. In an additional embodiment, the cardiac valve can be formed by providing support frame and cover, where the second end member of support frame includes the first convex curve, the second convex curve, and the third convex curve. Cover can include cylindrical shape that has a second end having a predetermined shape that allows for the formation of the valve leaflets of the tri-leaflet cardiac valve. The second end can also include arcuate edges each having the optional nodular interruption. The cover further includes concave surfaces, as described herein, which can be imparted into the cover through any number of manufacturing processes, including, but not limited to, thermo-molding, heat setting, and chemical cross-linking. As discussed herein, this example of the cover permits the valve leaflets to be created once the cover is properly positioned on the support frame. As discussed herein, the cover can also be positioned over both the outer surface and the inner surface of the support frame. For example, two covers can be positioned on the support frame to provide an embodiment of the cardiac valve, or a longer cover can be used over the support frame. In addition, additional material can be positioned between the two covers at least in the area between the convex and concave curves of the second end member. In addition, one or more flexible support ribs having a predetermined shape could also be incorporated into the cover in forming the concave surfaces. As discussed herein, the cover configuration having the arcuate edges, nodular interruptions, and the concave surfaces permits the valve leaflets to be created once the cover is properly positioned over the support frame. The cover can then be affixed to the support frame and itself as discussed herein. The cover can also be trimmed along the first end member so as to define the open area between the sequence of convex curves and concave curves along the first end member. Alternatively, the first end of cover can include a series of convex and concave curves that correspond to those of the first end member so as to provide the open area. In an additional embodiment, surfaces defining the opening through or around the cover can also be provided on the cardiac valve. The tubular member can then be coupled in fluid tight communication to the opening to provide fluid communication with the opening around or through the cover. In one embodiment, the first end of the tubular member can be coupled to the support frame with the opening and the lumen of the tubular member aligned so that fluid can move through the opening and the tubular member once the valve has been implanted in a patient. Alternatively, the tubular member can be positioned in the patient, independent of the valve and then subsequently coupled to the valve once the valve has been implanted in the patient. As discussed herein, the tubular member allows for the valve to be positioned in any number of locations within the vasculature while still allowing fluid communication with adjacent physiological structures. For example, valve could be implanted in the aorta of a patient downstream of the coronary ostia. In order to provide sufficient blood supply to the coronary ostia, the tubular member can be positioned with the second end of the tubular member in the coronary ostia so as to supply arterial blood at arterial pressures to the coronary arteries. FIG. 5 illustrates one embodiment of a system 509. System 509 includes valve 500, as described herein, reversibly joined to a delivery catheter 511. The delivery catheter 511 includes an elongate body 513 having a proximal end 515 and a distal end 517, where valve 500 can be located between the proximal end 515 and distal end 517. The delivery catheter 511 can further include a lumen 519 longitudinally extending to the distal end 517. In one embodiment, lumen 519 extends between proximal end 515 and distal end 517 of catheter 511. The catheter 511 can further include a guidewire lumen 521 that extends within the elongate body 513, were the guidewire lumen 521 can receive a guidewire for positioning the catheter 511 and the valve 500 within a body lumen (e.g., the aorta of a patient). The system 509 can further include a deployment shaft 523 positioned within lumen 519, and a sheath 525 positioned adjacent the distal end 517. In one embodiment, the valve 500 can be positioned at least partially within the sheath 525 and adjacent the deployment shaft 523. The deployment shaft 523 can be moved within the lumen 519 to deploy valve 500. For example, deployment shaft 523 can be used to push valve 500 from sheath 525 in deploying valve 500. FIG. 6 illustrates an additional embodiment of the system 609. The catheter 611 includes elongate body 613, lumen 619, a retraction system 627 and a retractable sheath 629. The retractable sheath 629 can be positioned over at least a portion of the elongate body 613, where the retractable sheath 629 can move longitudinally along the elongate body 613. The valve 600 can be positioned at least partially within the retractable sheath 629, where the retractable sheath 629 moves along the elongate body 613 to deploy the valve 600. In one embodiment, retraction system 627 includes one or more wires 699 coupled to the retractable sheath 627, where the wires 699 are positioned at least partially within and extend through lumen 619 in the elongate body 613. Wires 699 of the retraction system 627 can then be used to retract the retractable sheath 629 in deploying valve 600. FIG. 7 illustrates an additional embodiment of the system 709. The catheter 711 includes elongate body 713, an inflatable balloon 731 positioned adjacent the distal end 717, and a lumen 735 longitudinally extending in the elongate body 713 of the catheter 711 from the inflatable balloon 731 to the distal end 717. In the present example, the inflatable balloon 731 can be at least partially positioned within the lumen 726 of the valve 700. The inflatable balloon 731 can be inflated through the lumen 735 to deploy the valve 700. The embodiments of the present invention further include methods for forming the valve of the present invention, as discussed herein. For example, the valve can be formed from the support frame and the cover over at least the outer surface of the support frame, where the cover includes surfaces defining the reversibly sealable opening for unidirectional flow of a liquid through the lumen. In an additional example, the valve can be reversibly joined to the catheter, which can include a process of altering the shape of the valve from a first shape, for example an expanded state, to the compressed state, as described herein. For example, the valve can be reversibly joined with the catheter by positioning valve in the compressed state at least partially within the sheath of the catheter. In one embodiment, positioning the valve at least partially within the sheath of the catheter includes positioning the valve in the compressed state adjacent the deployment shaft of the catheter. In another embodiment, the sheath of the catheter functions as a retractable sheath, where the valve in the compressed state can be reversibly joined with the catheter by positioning the valve at least partially within the reversible sheath of the catheter. In a further embodiment, the catheter can include an inflatable balloon, where the balloon can be positioned at least partially within the lumen of the valve, for example, in its compressed state. The embodiments of the valve described herein may be used to replace, supplement, or augment valve structures within one or more lumens of the body. For example, embodiments of the present invention may be used to replace an incompetent cardiac valve of the heart, such as the aortic, pulmonary and/or mitral valves of the heart. In one embodiment, the method of replacing, supplementing, and/or augmenting a valve structure can include positioning at least part of the catheter including the valve at a predetermined location within an artery of a patient, such as in the aorta adjacent the root of the aortic valve. In positioning the valve of the present invention within the aorta, particular physiological structures need to be taken into consideration. For example, the valve of the present invention works in conjunction with the coronary artery ostia much in the same way as the native aortic valve. This is accomplished due to the configuration of both the support frame and the cover of the valve as described herein. For example, the configuration of the valve of the present invention permits the valve to be implanted such that the support frame can be positioned between the native aortic valve and the coronary artery ostia. As discussed herein, the open area defined by the support frame allows the valve to be seated adjacent the native aortic valve. In addition, the valve leaflets of the present invention can be in the same relative position as the native valve leaflets. This allows the valve leaflets of the present invention to interact with the coronary ostia positioned in the aortic sinuses (sinuses of Valsalva) adjacent the aortic valve in the similar manner as the native valve leaflets. So, the valve of the present invention can properly accommodate both the aortic valve and the coronary ostia. In one embodiment, positioning the catheter including the valve within the body lumen includes introducing the catheter into the cardiovascular system of the patient using minimally invasive percutaneous, transluminal catheter based delivery system, as is known in the art. For example, a guidewire can be positioned within the cardiovascular system of a patient that includes the predetermined location. The catheter, including valve, as described herein, can be positioned over the guidewire and the catheter advanced so as to position the valve at or adjacent the predetermined location. In one embodiment, radiopaque markers on the catheter and/or the valve, as described herein, can be used to help locate and position the valve. The valve can be deployed from the catheter at the predetermined location in any number of ways, as described herein. In one embodiment, valve of the present invention can be deployed and placed in any number of cardiovascular locations. For example, valve can be deployed and placed within a major artery of a patient. In one embodiment, major arteries include, but are not limited to, the aorta. In addition, valves of the present invention can be deployed and placed within other major arteries of the heart and/or within the heart itself, such as in the pulmonary artery for replacement and/or augmentation of the pulmonary valve and between the left atrium and the left ventricle for replacement and/or augmentation of the mitral valve. Other locations are also possible. As discussed herein, the valve can be deployed from the catheter in any number of ways. For example, the catheter can include the retractable sheath in which valve can be at least partially housed, as discussed herein. Valve can be deployed by retracting the retractable sheath of the catheter, where the valve self-expands to be positioned at the predetermined location. In an additional example, the catheter can include a deployment shaft and sheath in which valve can be at least partially housed adjacent the deployment shaft, as discussed herein. Valve can be deployed by moving the deployment shaft through the catheter to deploy valve from the sheath, where the valve self-expands to be positioned at the predetermined location. In an additional embodiment, the valve can be deployed through the use of an inflatable balloon. In a further embodiment, the valve can partially self-expand upon retracting a sheath in which the valve is located, and then deployed through the use of an inflatable balloon. Once implanted, the valve can provide sufficient contact and expansion force against the body lumen wall to prevent retrograde flow between the valve and the body lumen wall, and to securely located the valve and prevent migration of the valve. For example, the valve can be selected to have a larger expansion diameter than the diameter of the inner wall of the body lumen. This can then allow valve to exert a force on the body lumen wall and accommodate changes in the body lumen diameter, while maintaining the proper placement of valve. As described herein, the valve can engage the lumen so as to reduce the volume of retrograde flow through and around valve. It is, however, understood that some leaking or fluid flow may occur between the valve and the body lumen and/or through valve leaflets. While the present invention has been shown and described in detail above, it will be clear to the person skilled in the art that changes and modifications may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. As such, that which is set forth in the foregoing description and accompanying drawings is offered by way of illustration only and not as a limitation. The actual scope of the invention is intended to be defined by the following claims, along with the full range of equivalents to which such claims are entitled. In addition, one of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate upon reading and understanding this disclosure that other variations for the invention described herein can be included within the scope of the present invention. For example, the support frame 102 and/or the cover 104 can be coated with a non-thrombogenic biocompatible material, as are known or will be known. Other biologically active agents or cells may also be utilized. In the foregoing Detailed Description, various features are grouped together in several embodiments for the purpose of streamlining the disclosure. This method of disclosure is not to be interpreted as reflecting an intention that the embodiments of the invention require more features than are expressly recited in each claim. Rather, as the following claims reflect, inventive subject matter lies in less than all features of a single disclosed embodiment. Thus, the following claims are hereby incorporated into the Detailed Description, with each claim standing on its own as a separate embodiment. | <SOH> BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION <EOH>Diseases of the heart valves are grouped according to which valve(s) are involved and the way that blood flow is disrupted. The most common valve problems occur in the mitral and aortic valves. Diseases of the tricuspid and pulmonary valves are fairly rare. The aortic valve regulates the blood flow from the heart's left ventricle into the aorta. The aorta is the main vessel that supplies oxygenated blood to the rest of the body. Diseases of the aorta can have a significant impact on an individual. Examples of such diseases include aortic regurgitation and aortic stenosis. Aortic regurgitation is also called aortic insufficiency or aortic incompetence. It is a condition in which blood flows backward from a widened or weakened aortic valve into the left ventricle of the heart. In its most serious form, aortic regurgitation is caused by an infection that leaves holes in the valve leaflets. Symptoms of aortic regurgitation may not appear for years. When symptoms do appear, it is because the left ventricle must work harder as compared to an uncompromised ventricle to make up for the backflow of blood. The ventricle eventually gets larger and fluid backs up. Aortic stenosis is a narrowing or blockage of the aortic valve. Aortic stenosis occurs when the valve leaflets of the aorta become coated with deposits. The deposits change the shape of the leaflets and reduce blood flow through the valve. The left ventricle has to work harder as compared to an uncompromised ventricle to make up for the reduced blood flow. Over time, the extra work can weaken the heart muscle. | <SOH> BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS <EOH>FIGS. 1A-1D illustrate an embodiment of a valve in perspective view. FIGS. 2A-2B illustrate another embodiment of a valve in perspective view. FIGS. 3A and 3B illustrate another embodiment of a valve in perspective view. FIGS. 4A and 4B illustrate another embodiment of a valve in perspective view. FIG. 5 illustrates an embodiment of a system that includes a valve. FIG. 6 illustrates an embodiment of a system that includes a valve. FIG. 7 illustrates an embodiment of a system that includes a valve. detailed-description description="Detailed Description" end="lead"? | 20040902 | 20090728 | 20060302 | 76076.0 | A61F224 | 0 | SNOW, BRUCE EDWARD | CARDIAC VALVE, SYSTEM, AND METHOD | UNDISCOUNTED | 0 | ACCEPTED | A61F | 2,004 |
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10,933,096 | ACCEPTED | Light emitting diodes packaged for high temperature operation | In accordance with the invention, an LED packaged for high temperature operation comprises a metal base including an underlying thermal connection pad and a pair of electrical connection pads, an overlying ceramic layer, and a LED die mounted overlying the metal base. The LED is thermally coupled through the metal base to the thermal connection pad, and the electrodes are electrically connected to the underlying electrical connection pads. A low thermal resistance insulating layer can electrically insulate other areas of die from the base while permitting heat passage. Heat flow can be enhanced by thermal vias to the thermal connector pad. Ceramic layers formed overlying the base can add circuitry and assist in distributing emitted light. The novel package can operate at temperatures as high as 250° C. | 1-10. (Cancelled) 11. A low temperature co-fired on metal (LTCC-M) light emitting diode (LED) assembly for high temperature operation comprising: a metal base, the metal base including a thermal connection surface; at least one LED die, the LED die having a pair of electrodes overlying and electrically insulated from the metal base, the die thermally coupled through the metal base to the thermal connection surface; a layer of ceramic overlying the metal base, the layer of ceramic having at least one opening to house the LED die; and a plurality of conductive traces insulated from the metal base, the LED electrodes electrically connected to the conductive traces. 12. The LED assembly of claim 11 further comprising a plurality of edge connector fingers, wherein the fingers are connected to the LED electrodes. 13. The LED assembly of claim 11 further comprising a plurality of edge connector fingers, wherein the fingers are connected to decoder/driver electronics that control the LED electrodes. 14. The LED assembly of claim 13 wherein the decoder/driver electronics that control the LED electrodes is embedded in the LTCC-M package. 15. The LED assembly of claim 11 further comprising an additional metal block on which the LED assembly is mounted to further improve heat dissipation. 16. The LED assembly of claim 11 wherein the LED die is a flip-chip. 17. The LED assembly of claim 16 wherein the flip-chip is bonded to the traces by conductive balls comprising solder or gold. 18. The LED assembly of claim 11 further comprising isolated terminals formed on the metal base, the isolated terminals electrically connected to the LED electrodes. 19. The LED assembly of claim 11 further comprising isolated terminals formed on the metal base, the isolated terminals electrically connected to decoder/driver electronics, the electronics mounted within the LTCC-M assembly. 20. The LED assembly of claims 18 or 19 further comprising vias in the insulating layer, the vias electrically connecting traces to the isolated terminals. | CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 60/467,857, “Light Emitting Diodes Packaged for High Temperature Operation”, filed May 5, 2003. The 60/467,857 application is incorporated by reference herein. FIELD OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to light emitting diodes and, in particular, to light emitting diodes packaged for high temperature operation. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Light emitting diodes (LEDs) are being used as light sources in an increasing variety of applications extending from communications and instrumentation to household, automotive and visual display. Many of these applications require higher levels of power or subject the LEDs to higher temperature operating environments. In response, LED manufacturers have improved the purity of the semiconductor materials in order to keep the LED output intensity high as temperature increases. As a result, desired applications of LEDs are now constrained by the thermal limits of their packaging. The currently prevalent plastic LED packages have an operational temperature limit of about 80° C. Some LED die, however, will operate at 120° C., and industry preference is for an operational temperature of about 200° C. Accordingly there is a need for an improved light emitting diode packaged for high temperature operation. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In accordance with the invention, an LED packaged for high temperature operation comprises a metal base including an underlying thermal connection pad and a pair of electrical connection pads, an overlying ceramic layer, and a LED die mounted overlying the metal base. The LED is thermally coupled through the metal base to the thermal connection pad, and the electrodes are electrically connected to the underlying electrical connection pads. A low thermal resistance insulating layer can electrically insulate other areas of die from the base while permitting heat passage. Heat flow can be enhanced by thermal vias to the thermal connector pad. Ceramic layers formed overlying the base can add circuitry and assist in distributing emitted light. The packaged diode can be made by the low temperature co-fired ceramic on metal technique (LTCC-M). The LTCC-M packaged diode can operate at temperatures as high as 250° C. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The advantages, nature and various additional features of the invention will appear more fully upon consideration of the illustrative embodiments now to be described in detail in connection with the accompanying drawings. In the drawings: FIG. 1 is a schematic cross section of a first embodiment of an LED packaged for high temperature operation; FIG. 2 illustrates how circuit components can be added to the overlying ceramic layer; FIGS. 3A and 3B illustrate exemplary light dispersive cavities in the ceramic layer; FIG. 4 is a schematic cross section of an alternative embodiment of an LED; FIGS. 5, 6 and 7 show alternative embodiments of the packaged LED; FIG. 8 depicts an array of LEDs in accordance with the embodiment of FIG. 1; FIG. 9 illustrates, in schematic cross section an array that is particularly easy to fabricate; FIGS. 10 and 11 are top views of advantageous arrays; FIG. 12 shows the inventive LED array as a plug in card; FIG. 13 shows the card of FIG. 12 mounted on an additional external heatsink; FIGS. 14 and 15 are a top and side view of flip-chip die bonded to the traces of an LTCC-M package by solder or gold balls; FIG. 16 shows conductive traces in an LTCC-M package; FIG. 17 shows a single LED package having isolated base terminals and vias; FIG. 18 shows the package of FIG. 17 adapted for a plurality of LED die; and FIG. 19 shows a round punch tool for forming a tapered cavity. It is to be understood that these drawings are for illustrating the concepts of the invention and are not to scale. DETAILED DESCRIPTION This description is divided into two parts. In Part I describes the structure and features of light emitting diodes (LEDs) packaged for high temperature operation in accordance with the invention and illustrate exemplary embodiments. In Part II we provide further details of the LTCC-M technology used in packaging the LEDs. I. LSDs Packaged for High Temperature Operation Referring to the drawings, FIG. 1 is a schematic cross section of an LED 10 packaged for high temperature operation. LED 10 is mounted overlying and thermally coupled to a metal base 11. Advantageously the metal base 11 includes a patterned low thermal resistance, electrically insulating layer 12 to provide electrical insulation from the base 11 and a patterned conductive layer 13 to provide thermal coupling and electrical connection. The layers 12 and 13 can be patterned to provide insulation or electrical connection regions as desired. An LED 10 having an anode 10A and a cathode 10C can be mounted overlying the base 11 by solder bonding the electrodes 10A and 10C to conductive pad regions 13A and 13C of patterned conductive layer 13. Electrical connections may be made through the metal base 11 to underlying electrical connection pads 15A and 15B using electrically insulated vias 14 or the metal of the base 11. Solderable electrical connection pads 15A and 15B may be deposited on the underside of metal base 11 to permit surface mounting of the base 11 on a printed circuit board (not shown). The remaining areas of the base 11 may be provided with one or more thermal connector pads 16 to carry heat from the LED package to the printed circuit board. Advantageously the base 11 makes contact with plated through holes (not shown) in a printed circuit board during solder assembly. Such through holes would transfer heat from the diode package into the PCB carrier (typically aluminum or copper). Overlying the base 11, one or more ceramic layers 17 can be added to the surface of the package. The ceramic layers on the base 11 form a cavity 18 around the LED 10. The shape of the cavity walls, as will be discussed below, can affect the distribution of light from the LED 10. The ceramic layer 17 can include circuitry for connecting multiple diodes in an array, electrostatic discharge protection circuitry, diode control and power supply connections and other surface mount components (not shown in FIG. 1). A transparent cover 19 can be provided by bonding a transparent clear cover or lens over the cavity 18 (as by epoxy). The seal can be made hermetic by addition of a bonding pad and brazed seal ring (not shown). In an advantageous embodiment, the metal base 11 is copper/molybdenum/copper (CMC), the low thermal resistance electrical insulating layer 12 (about 2 micrometers) can be an oxidized layer of the metal base, deposited glass or another deposited insulator such as nickel oxide (about 2 micrometers), and the conductive layer 13 can be gold, silver or other suitable conductor. The LED electrodes 10A, 10C can be solder bonded to the gold bonding pads 13A, 13C by AuSn solder. The underlying pads 15 and 16 for electrical connection and heat sinking are preferably PdAg and Ag, respectively. As shown in FIG. 2, the ceramic layer 17 overlying base 11 can be composed of a plurality of ceramic layers 17A, 17B, 17C and 17D. Each ceramic layer can include circuit components for powering, controlling, protecting and interconnecting LEDs. While the circuitry will vary for different applications, FIG. 2 illustrates how to add surface mounted active devices 20, buried capacitors 21, connectors 22, interconnecting vias 23, and buried resistors 24. The metal base 11 with overlying ceramic layer 17 incorporating circuitry can be fabricated using the low temperature co-fired ceramic on metal technique (LTCC-M) described, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 6,455,930 issued Sep. 24, 2002 and incorporated herein by reference. Since a good amount of light is emitted from the edges of LED die, the shape of the ceramic cavity is an important factor in the total light efficiency. The ceramic cavity walls can be formed in a variety of ways including embossing, coining, stamping, forming by lamination, or routing the ceramic in the “green” or unfired state. FIGS. 3A and 3B illustrate exemplary light dispersive cavities for the LED of FIG. 1. In FIG. 3A the cavity 18 is provided with walls 30 having straight taper. In FIG. 3B, the walls 31 have a parabolic taper. In general, each diode cavity 18 can be shaped to improve the light output and focus. White fired glass ceramic is reflective and disperses light to reduce the appearance of bright spots. The reflectivity of the cavity surface can be increased by polishing the surface or by applying a reflective coating such as silver, as by spraying, painting, sputtering or chemical vapor disposition. It is advantageous to smooth the side walls so that applied materials such as epoxy will shrink back and form a reflective gap. FIG. 4 is a schematic cross section of an alternative embodiment of a single LED packaged for high temperature operation. In this embodiment a lens 40 overlying the LED 10 replaces the ceramic layer 17, cavity 18 and lens cover 19. The other features of the FIG. 4 device are substantially the same as described for the FIG. 1 device. Other variations of the high temperature LED would include a LED die with a single electrode on the bottom of the package with the second electrode as a wire bondable pad on the top side. Or both electrodes could be on the top surface with wire bonding to each. FIG. 5 is a schematic cross section of an alternative LED packaged for high temperature applications. The FIG. 5 device is similar to FIG. 1 device except that the metal base 51 is formed, as by coining, to include a concave light reflecting cavity 52 around the LED die 10. FIG. 5 also illustrates that the LED die 10 can have one of its electrodes 53 on its top surface. The top electrode 53 can be connected, for example by a bonding wire 54 to a top bonding pad 55 on the ceramic 17 and through via 57 including insulated via section 56 to the bonding pad 15A underlying the formed metal base 51. The other LED electrode can be on the bottom surface connected to bonding pad 59 and further connected by way of the metal base and via 57 to the second underlying bonding pad 15B. The formed metal base 51 can be provided with underlying ceramic supports 58A, 58B so that underlying bonding pads 15A, 15B are coplanar with thermal base connector 16. This arrangement presents pads 15A, 15B and connector 16 in a single plane for surface mount connection onto a PC board. The embodiment of FIG. 6 is similar to that of FIG. 5 except that the LED 10 is mounted on the ceramic layer 17 rather than on the formed metal base 51. Here the ceramic layer 17, conforming to the coined metal base, acts as a light reflector. The bottom electrode of the LED 10 can be connected to metal base 51 by way of a bonding pad 60 and conductive vias 61 through the ceramic to the base 51. The vias 61 are numbered and dimensioned to conduct heat as well as electricity. The FIG. 7 embodiment is similar to the FIG. 5 embodiment except that the cavity 18 in the ceramic layer 17 is enlarged so that the shaped region of formed metal base 51 is more widely exposed for acting as a layer area reflector. The LED structure of FIG. 1 may easily be replicated to form an array of LEDs. FIG. 8 illustrates an exemplary array 80 of diodes 10, with buried interconnection circuitry (not shown) added to the ceramic (17 of FIG. 1) connected to common electrodes 81A, 81C. FIG. 9 is a schematic cross section of an array 90 of LTCC-M packaged LED diodes 10 that is particularly easy to fabricate. In essence array 90 comprises a plurality of diodes 10 disposed between a heat sink 91 and an apertured PC board 92. The light emitting portion of each LED 10 is aligned with a corresponding window aperture 93 of PC board 92. The PC board 92 advantageously contains the control and driver circuits (not shown) and electrical connections between the circuits and the LED's, e.g. connections 94. The PC Board 92 can be conveniently secured to the heat sink (which can be a sheet of aluminum), as by screws 95, to hold the diodes 10 in thermal contact with the heat sink. Advantageously thermal coupling between the diodes and the heat sink can be facilitated by thermal grease. The array 90 is particularly easy to fabricate. After forming PC board 92 and providing a plurality of LTCC-M packaged diodes 10 as described herein, the diodes can be surface mounted on the PC board with the light emitting portions aligned with apertures, and LED contacts aligned with PC board contacts. After solder reflow connection, the PC board 92 can be secured to the heat sink 91 by screws 95. The apertures and LEDs can be arranged across the surface of the board to achieve any desired configuration of a two-dimensional array of LEDs. FIG. 10 is a top view illustrating a first advantageous configuration of LEDs 10 forming a closely packed hexagonal array. The PC board 92 includes common electrodes 81A and 81C. FIG. 11 is a top view of a second advantageous configuration. The LEDs are distributed in a plurality of sets 111A, 111B, and 111C in respective sectors around the circumference of a circle and in a set 111D in the center of the circle, all to emulate a concentrated light source. FIG. 12 shows an embodiment of the invention suitable for use as a plug in card. A plurality of cavities 122 includes a plurality LED die 123, 124, and 125. LED die 123, 124, and 125 can be identical die (for increased luminosity), or they can be individual colors and lit in various patterns for single, or mixed color displays. They can also be lit in various combinations to give variable intensity or to show patterns. Card contact fingers 126, 127, 128, and 129 show an exemplary embodiment to control the displayed color. Here, finger 129 is an electrical common (common cathode or common anode), and fingers 126, 127, and 128 are each connected to a single color die in each well to cause the card to light red, green, or blue respectively. In the example, each LED die is wired to the respective LED die of the same color in each well and to the respective control finger for that color. In another version of this embodiment, decoding/driver electronics can be embedded directly in the layers of the card and can control individual LED die or groups of die. FIG. 13 shows card advantageously mounted on heat sink 132 for additional cooling. Also the card is shown plugged into edge connector 133 showing how contact is made with contact fingers 126, 127, 128. Semiconductor die can also be directly connected as flip-chips to any of the described LED assemblies. In this embodiment, surfaces of the package can be bumped with a bondable material such as gold or solder. The bumps can be applied to correspond to the metal terminals of the semiconductor die. The die can then be attached to the package by applying heat and/or thermosonic agitation to create metallurgical connections between the bumped terminals on the package and the die terminals. This embodiment is shown in FIGS. 14 and 15. FIG. 14 is a top view showing flip-chip die 143 in LTCC-M package 141. FIG. 15 is a side view of the same assembly showing flip chip 143 connected to a wiring plane on surface 142 by bumps 144. FIG. 16 shows a top view of a package before the die is installed. Wiring traces 161 can be seen residing on surface 142. In another embodiment of the invention, as shown in FIG. 17, connections to the LED assembly can be made by isolated terminals 175 on base 174. Openings in insulating layer 171 form wells for the LEDs as before. Insulating layer 171 can optionally include ground plane 172. Metal vias 173 can facilitate electrical connections from isolated terminals 175 to the die via conductive traces (not shown). FIG. 18 shows a version of this embodiment designed to house a plurality of die 10. The invention may now be more clearly understood by consideration of the following specific example. EXAMPLE This part was built using a 13% copper, 74% molybdenum, 13% copper (CMC) metal laminate produced by H.C. Starck Corp. Thick film gold bonding pads are fired on the metal base to correspond to the location of each diode electrode. The pads are connected electrically and thermally to the CMC base. 4 layers of CMC-compatible ceramic tape are used to form the LED cavities, make the electrical connections, and form the array housing. The ceramic tape is composed of glasses and resins supplied by Ferro Corp. and others. The tape materials are ground, mixed, and cast into flat sheets. The sheets are then processed using common “green” tape processing including punching, printing, collating, and laminating. The cavities are formed by routing (cutting away material with a rotary tool), pressing the shape using a rigid tool during lamination in the green state, or by punching the cavity in each ceramic layer (green-state punching) using a round punch tool 190 with punch shaft 191 and tapered shaft 192 (FIG. 19). Round Punch 193 pushes out the ceramic tape chad, then the tapered shaft 192 presses a taper into the green tape. The surface is optionally coated with a silver or aluminum metal powder prior to each punch. During the punching operation the metal powder is transferred to the ceramic tape. When fired, the metal sinters into the ceramic. The surface of the taper can also be polished after firing using a rotary polishing tool. A polished surface can also result by using a ceramic powder with a finer grain size in the production of the ceramic tape. The finer grain size reduces the surface roughness of the finished part. The CMC base is attached during lamination and joined to the tape layers during firing at ˜900° C. Multiple arrays are processed on a single wafer, which is then singulated by dicing after firing. After the package is complete, individual diodes are connected to the gold pads in the bottom of each cavity by soldering using 80% Au/20% Sn solder, or using electrically conductive epoxy such as Ablebond 84LMI. The gold pads are connected to the metal base. Conductive vias connect an electrical terminal on the top ceramic layer to the metal base. The anode or cathode are commonly connected to the back side of the diode which is in-turn connected to the gold bonding pad The opposite side of the diode is electrically connected to the array using a wire bond. The bond is connected from the diode to a bonding pad on one of the ceramic layers. Thick film, conductive traces are deposited onto the surface of the ceramic layer containing the bonding pads. The traces are connected to an electrical terminal on the top ceramic layer through electrically conductive vias. A variety of diode connections are possible including series, parallel, and combined series-parallel. Voltage dropping and current limiting resistors, inductors, and capacitors may be added as components buried in between the ceramic layers, or as discrete components mounted on the top surface of the package. Additional control, ESD protection, and voltage regulation semiconductors may be added in die or packaged form. Finally, an index matching epoxy, such as Hysol 1600, may be added to each diode cavity to improve the light output of each device, followed by a cover or lens that may be attached using clear Hysol 1600. II. LTCC-M Packaging Multilayer ceramic circuit boards are made from layers of green ceramic tapes. A green tape is made from particular glass compositions and optional ceramic powders, which are mixed with organic binders and a solvent, cast and cut to form the tape. Wiring patterns can be screen printed onto the tape layers to carry out various functions. Vias are then punched in the tape and are filled with a conductor ink to connect the wiring on one green tape to wiring on another green tape. The tapes are then aligned, laminated, and fired to remove the organic materials, to sinter the metal patterns and to crystallize the glasses. This is generally carried out at temperatures below about 1000° C., and preferably from about 750-950° C. The composition of the glasses determines the coefficient of thermal expansion, the dielectric constant and the compatibility of the multilayer ceramic circuit boards to various electronic components. Exemplary crystallizing glasses with inorganic fillers that sinter in the temperature range 700 to 1000° C. are Magnesium Alumino-Silicate, Calcium Boro-Silicate, Lead Boro-Silicate, and Calcium Alumino-Boricate. More recently, metal support substrates (metal boards) have been used to support the green tapes. The metal boards lend strength to the glass layers. Moreover since the green tape layers can be mounted on both sides of a metal board and can be adhered to a metal board with suitable bonding glasses, the metal boards permit increased complexity and density of circuits and devices. In addition, passive and active components, such as resistors, inductors, and capacitors can be incorporated into the circuit boards for additional functionality. Where optical components, such as LEDs are installed, the walls of the ceramic layers can be shaped and/or coated to enhance the reflective optical properties of the package. Thus this system, known as low temperature cofired ceramic-metal support boards, or LTCC-M, has proven to be a means for high integration of various devices and circuitry in a single package. The system can be tailored to be compatible with devices including silicon-based devices, indium phosphide-based devices and gallium arsenide-based devices, for example, by proper choice of the metal for the support board and of the glasses in the green tapes. The ceramic layers of the LTCC-M structure must be matched to the thermal coefficient of expansion of the metal support board. Glass ceramic compositions are known that match the thermal expansion properties of various metal or metal matrix composites. The LTCC-M structure and materials are described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,455,930, “Integrated heat sinking packages using low temperature co-fired ceramic metal circuit board technology”, issued Sep. 24, 2002 to Ponnuswamy, et al and assigned to Lamina Ceramics. U.S. Pat. No. 6,455,930 is incorporated by reference herein. The LTCC-M structure is further described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,581,876, 5,725,808, 5,953,203, and 6,518,502, all of which are assigned to Lamina Ceramics and also incorporated by reference herein. The metal support boards used for LTCC-M technology do have a high thermal conductivity, but some metal boards have a high thermal coefficient of expansion, and thus a bare die cannot always be directly mounted to such metal support boards. However, some metal support boards are known that can be used for such purposes, such as metal composites of copper and molybdenum (including from 10-25% by weight of copper) or copper and tungsten (including 10-25% by weight of copper), made using powder metallurgical techniques. Copper clad Kovar®, a metal alloy of iron, nickel, cobalt and manganese, a trademark of Carpenter Technology, is a very useful support board. AlSiC is another material that can be used for direct attachment, as can aluminum or copper graphite composites. Another instance wherein good cooling is required is for thermal management of flip chip packaging. FIGS. 14 and 15, for example show the inventive LED system where the LTCC-M package house LED die. Densely packed microcircuitry, and devices such as decoder/drivers, amplifiers, oscillators and the like which generate large amounts of heat, can also use LTCC-M techniques advantageously. Metallization on the top layers of an integrated circuit bring input/output lines to the edge of the chip so as to be able to wire bond to the package or module that contains the chip. Thus the length of the wirebond wire becomes an issue; too long a wire leads to parasitics. The cost of very high integration chips may be determined by the arrangement of the bond pads, rather than by the area of silicon needed to create the circuitry. Flip chip packaging overcomes at least some of these problems by using solder bumps rather than wirebond pads to make connections. These solder bumps are smaller than wire bond pads and, when the chip is turned upside down, or flipped, solder reflow can be used to attach the chip to the package. Since the solder bumps are small, the chip can contain input/output connections within its interior if multilayer packaging is used. Thus the number of transistors in it, rather than the number and size of bond pads will determine the chip size. However, increased density and integration of functions on a single chip leads to higher temperatures on the chip, which may prevent full utilization of optimal circuit density. The only heat sinks are the small solder bumps that connect the chip to the package. If this is insufficient, small active or passive heat sinks must be added on top of the flip chip. Such additional heat sinks increase assembly costs, increase the number of parts required, and increase the package costs. Particularly if the heat sinks have a small thermal mass, they have limited effectiveness as well. In the simplest form of the present invention, LTCC-M technology is used to provide an integrated package for a semiconductor component and accompanying circuitry, wherein the conductive metal support board provides a heat sink for the component. A bare semiconductor die, for example, can be mounted directly onto a metal base of the LTCC-M system having high thermal conductivity to cool the semiconductor component. In such case, the electrical signals to operate the component must be connected to the component from the ceramic. In FIGS. 5, 6, and 7, wire bond 54 serves this purpose. Indirect attachment to the metal support board can also be used. In this package, all of the required components are mounted on a metal support board, incorporating embedded passive components such as conductors and resistors into the multilayer ceramic portion, to connect the various components, i.e., semiconductor components, circuits, heat sink and the like, in an integrated package. The package can be hermetically sealed with a lid. For a more complex structure having improved heat sinking, the integrated package of the invention combines a first and a second LTCC-M substrate. The first substrate can have mounted thereon a semiconductor device, and a multilayer ceramic circuit board with embedded circuitry for operating the component; the second substrate has a heat sink or conductive heat spreader mounted thereon. Thermoelectric (TEC) plates (Peltier devices) and temperature control circuitry are mounted between the first and second substrates to provide improved temperature control of semiconductor devices. A hermetic enclosure can be adhered to the metal support board. The use of LTCC-M technology can also utilize the advantages of flip chip packaging together with integrated heat sinking. The packages of the invention can be made smaller, cheaper and more efficient than existing present-day packaging. The metal substrate serves as a heat spreader or heat sink. The flip chip can be mounted directly on the metal substrate, which is an integral part of the package, eliminating the need for additional heat sinking. A flexible circuit can be mounted over the bumps on the flip chip. The use of multilayer ceramic layers can also accomplish a fan-out and routing of traces to the periphery of the package, further improving heat sinking. High power integrated circuits and devices that have high thermal management needs can be used with this new LTCC-M technology. It is understood that the above-described embodiments are illustrative of only a few of the many possible specific embodiments, which can represent applications of the invention. Numerous and varied other arrangements can be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. | <SOH> BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION <EOH>Light emitting diodes (LEDs) are being used as light sources in an increasing variety of applications extending from communications and instrumentation to household, automotive and visual display. Many of these applications require higher levels of power or subject the LEDs to higher temperature operating environments. In response, LED manufacturers have improved the purity of the semiconductor materials in order to keep the LED output intensity high as temperature increases. As a result, desired applications of LEDs are now constrained by the thermal limits of their packaging. The currently prevalent plastic LED packages have an operational temperature limit of about 80° C. Some LED die, however, will operate at 120° C., and industry preference is for an operational temperature of about 200° C. Accordingly there is a need for an improved light emitting diode packaged for high temperature operation. | <SOH> SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION <EOH>In accordance with the invention, an LED packaged for high temperature operation comprises a metal base including an underlying thermal connection pad and a pair of electrical connection pads, an overlying ceramic layer, and a LED die mounted overlying the metal base. The LED is thermally coupled through the metal base to the thermal connection pad, and the electrodes are electrically connected to the underlying electrical connection pads. A low thermal resistance insulating layer can electrically insulate other areas of die from the base while permitting heat passage. Heat flow can be enhanced by thermal vias to the thermal connector pad. Ceramic layers formed overlying the base can add circuitry and assist in distributing emitted light. The packaged diode can be made by the low temperature co-fired ceramic on metal technique (LTCC-M). The LTCC-M packaged diode can operate at temperatures as high as 250° C. | 20040902 | 20060829 | 20050210 | 65362.0 | 10 | CAO, PHAT X | LIGHT EMITTING DIODES PACKAGED FOR HIGH TEMPERATURE OPERATION | SMALL | 1 | CONT-ACCEPTED | 2,004 |
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10,933,504 | ACCEPTED | Policy-based selection of remediation | A method, of automatically determining one or more remediations for a device that includes a processor, may include: receiving values of a plurality of parameters which collectively characterize an operational state of the device, there being at least one policy associated with at least a given one of the plurality of parameters, policy defining as a condition thereof one or more potential values of, or based upon, the given parameter, satisfaction of the condition potentially being indicative of unauthorized activity or manipulation of the device; automatically determining, from the received parameter values, whether the conditions for any policies are satisfied, respectively; and automatically selecting one or more remediations for the device according to the satisfied policies, respectively. | 1. A method of automatically determining one or more remediations for a device that includes a processor, the method comprising: receiving values of a plurality of parameters which collectively characterize an operational state of the device, there being at least one policy associated with at least a given one of the plurality of parameters, the at-least-one policy defining as a condition thereof one or more potential values of, or based upon, the given parameter, satisfaction of the condition potentially being indicative of unauthorized activity or manipulation of the device; automatically determining, from the received parameter values, whether the conditions for any policies are satisfied, respectively; and automatically selecting one or more remediations for the device according to the satisfied policies, respectively. 2. The method of claim 1, further comprising: automatically determining which of the satisfied policies are also activated with respect to the device; wherein the selecting of the one or more remediations is based upon those policies that are both satisfied and activated. 3. The method of claim 1, wherein: the at-least-one policy is a first type of policy; and there is at least one instance of a second type of policy, the second policy type being associated collectively with two or more given ones of the plurality of parameters, the second type of policy defining as a condition thereof a collection of at least two sub-conditions, a first one of the sub-conditions in the collection being defined as one or more potential values of the first parameter, and a second one of the sub-conditions in the collection being defined as one or more potential values of the second parameter, satisfaction of the condition occurring when respective satisfaction of the sub-conditions coincides, the satisfaction of the condition possibly being indicative of unauthorized activity or manipulation of the device. 4. The method of claim 3, wherein, for at least the first sub-condition, the one or more potential values defined for the associated parameter represent normal values thereof. 5. The method of claim 4, wherein, for at least the first and second sub-conditions, the one or more potential values defined for the associated parameters respectively represent normal values thereof. 6. The method of claim 3, wherein: the first parameter is an identification of an entity; and the first sub-condition is one of presence of the entity on a list of permissible entities, and presence of the entity on a list of impermissible entities. 7. The method of claim 3, wherein: the collection includes a third sub-condition; the first sub-condition is absence of the entity from a list of permissible entities; the second sub-condition is absence of the entity from a list of impermissible entities; and the third sub-condition is satisfaction of the first and second sub-conditions. 8. The method of claim 3, further comprising: representing the collection of conditions in machine-memory as an at least two-level hierarchical tree structure. 9. The method of claim 8, wherein the hierarchical tree structure includes: a root node representing a logical operator; and at least two leaf nodes respectively reporting to the root node, the leaf nodes being statements of the at-least-two sub-conditions, respectively, evaluation of each statement according to a corresponding one or more of the received parameter values yielding an indication of the statement being true or false. 10. The method of claim 9, wherein the hierarchical tree structure further includes: at least N additional leaf nodes respectively reporting to the root node, where N is a positive integer and N≧1. 11. The method of claim 10, wherein N≧2. 12. The method of claim 11, wherein N≧3. 13. The method of claim 9, wherein the logical operator is one of a logical AND, a logical OR and a logical NOT. 14. The method of claim 9, wherein one or more of the at-least-two leaf nodes is a multi-part node, each multi-part node including: an intermediate node representing a logical operator reporting to the root node; and at least one sub-leaf node respectively reporting to the intermediate node, each sub-leaf node being a statement of a sub-sub-condition, evaluation of the statement according to a corresponding one or more of the received parameter values yielding an indication of the statement being true or false. 15. The method of claim 14, wherein the multi-part node further includes: at least two sub-leaf nodes respectively reporting to the intermediate node. 16. The method of claim 1, wherein the condition for at least one policy describes for the corresponding at-least-one parameter one of the following: existence; non-existence; a range of potential values thereof; change in the value thereof; no-change in the value thereof; a maximum amount of change in the value thereof; a minimum amount of change in the value thereof; a maximum potential value thereof; a minimum potential value thereof; being equal to a specific value thereof; not being equal to a specific value thereof; presence on a list; and absence from a list. 17. The method of claim 1, wherein, for at least one policy, the one or more potential values defined as the condition for the given parameter represent aberrations from normal values of the given parameter. 18. The method of claim 1, wherein at least one policy has as the condition thereof one or more values that are based upon a change in the given parameter. 19. The method of claim 18, wherein at least one policy has as the condition thereof one or more values representing a difference between a current value of the given parameter and a previous value thereof. 20. The method of claim 1, further comprising: automatically creating, for each satisfied policy, a machine-actionable map between the policy, the corresponding one or more selected remediations and the device. 21. The method of claim 20, further comprising: automatically expanding, for each of the satisfied policies, the machine-actionable map to include mapping to one or more actions the execution of which carries out the one or more selected remediations, respectively. 22. The method of claim 1, further comprising: deploying the one or more selected remediations to the device. 23. The method of claim 22, wherein the deploying of the one or more selected remediations includes: automatically mapping the one or more selected remediations to one or more actions the execution of which carries out the one or more selected remediations, respectively. 24. The method of claim 23, wherein each action is an automatically-machine-actionable type of operation. 25. The method of claim 24, wherein each operation is a machine-language command. 26. The method of claim 25, wherein the machine-language command is a set of one or more Java byte codes. 27. A machine-readable medium comprising instructions, execution of which by a machine determines one or more remediations for a device that includes a processor, the machine-readable instructions including: a first code segment to receive values of a plurality of parameters which collectively characterize an operational state of the device, there being at least one policy associated with at least a given one of the plurality of parameters, policy defining as a condition thereof one or more potential values of, or based upon, the given parameter, satisfaction of the condition potentially being indicative of unauthorized activity or manipulation of the device; a second code segment to automatically determine, from the received parameter values, whether the conditions for any policies are satisfied, respectively; and a third code segment to automatically select one or more remediations for the device according to the satisfied policies, respectively. 28. The machine-readable medium of claim 27, wherein the machine-readable instructions further include: a fourth code segment to automatically determine which of the satisfied policies are also activated with respect to the device; the third code segment selecting the one or more remediations based upon those policies that are both satisfied and activated. 29. The machine-readable medium of claim 27, wherein: the at-least-one policy is a first type of policy; and there is at least one instance of a second type of policy, the second policy type being associated collectively with two or more given ones of the plurality of parameters, the second type of policy defining as a condition thereof a collection of at least two sub-conditions, a first one of the sub-conditions in the collection being defined as one or more potential values of the first parameter, and a second one of the sub-conditions in the collection being defined as one or more potential values of the second parameter, satisfaction of the condition occurring when respective satisfaction of the sub-conditions coincides, the satisfaction of the condition possibly being indicative of unauthorized activity or manipulation of the device. 30. The machine-readable medium of claim 29, the machine-readable instructions further include: a fourth code segment to represent the collection of conditions in machine-memory as an at least two-level hierarchical tree structure. 31. The machine-readable medium of claim 30, wherein the fourth code segment represents the hierarchical tree structure as including: a root node representing a logical operator; and at least two leaf nodes respectively reporting to the root node, the leaf nodes being statements of the at-least-two sub-conditions, respectively, evaluation of each statement according to a corresponding one or more of the received parameter values yielding an indication of the statement being true or false. 32. (canceled) 33. (canceled) 32. The machine-readable medium of claim 27, wherein the condition for at least one policy describes for the corresponding at-least-one parameter one of the following: existence; non-existence; a range of potential values thereof; change in the value thereof; no-change in the value thereof; a maximum amount of change in the value thereof; a minimum amount of change in the value thereof; a maximum potential value thereof; a minimum potential value thereof; being equal to a specific value thereof; not being equal to a specific value thereof; presence on a list; and absence from a list. 33. The machine-readable medium of claim 27, wherein the machine-readable instructions further include: a fourth code segment to automatically create, for each satisfied policy, a machine-actionable map between the policy, the corresponding one or more selected remediations and the device. 34. The machine-readable medium of claim 33, wherein the fourth code segment is further operable to automatically expand, for each of the satisfied policies, the machine-actionable map to include mapping to one or more actions the execution of which carries out the one or more selected remediations, respectively. 35. The machine-readable medium of claim 27, further comprising: a fourth code segment to deploy the one or more selected remediations as one or more automatically-machine-actionable actions. 36. The machine-readable medium of claim 35, wherein each automatically-machine-actionable action takes the form of a set of one or more Java byte codes. 37. A machine configured to implement the method of claim 1. 38. (canceled) 39. (canceled) 38. A machine configured to implement the method of claim 20. 39. A machine configured to implement the method of claim 22. 40. An apparatus for determining one or more remediations for a device that includes a processor, the apparatus comprising: means for receiving values of a plurality of parameters which collectively characterize an operational state of the device, there being at least one policy associated with at least a given one of the plurality of parameters, policy defining as a condition thereof one or more potential values of, or based upon, the given parameter, satisfaction of the condition potentially being indicative of unauthorized activity or manipulation of the device; means for automatically determining, from the received parameter values, whether the conditions for any policies are satisfied, respectively; and means for automatically selecting one or more remediations for the device according to the satisfied policies, respectively. 41. The method of claim 40, further comprising: means for automatically determining which of the satisfied policies are also activated with respect to the device; wherein the means for selecting is operable to automatically select the one or more remediations based upon those policies that are both satisfied and activated. 42. The machine-readable medium of claim 31, wherein the fourth code segment represents the hierarchical tree structure as further including: at least N additional leaf nodes respectively reporting to the root node, where N is a positive integer and N≧1. 43. The machine-readable medium of claim 31, wherein the fourth code segment represents one or more of the at-least-two leaf nodes as a multi-part node, each multi-part node including: an intermediate node representing a logical operator reporting to the root node; and at least one sub-leaf node respectively reporting to the intermediate node, each sub-leaf node being a statement of a sub-sub-condition, evaluation of the statement according to a corresponding one or more of the received parameter values yielding an indication of the statement being true or false. 44. A machine configured to implement the method of claim 2. 45. A machine configured to implement the method of claim 8. | BACKGROUND OF THE PRESENT INVENTION Attacks on computer infrastructures are a serious problem, one that has grown directly in proportion to the growth of the Internet itself. Most deployed computer systems are vulnerable to attack. The field of remediation addresses such vulnerabilities and should be understood as including the taking of deliberate precautionary measures to improve the reliability, availability, and survivability of computer-based assets and/or infrastructures, particularly with regard to specific known vulnerabilities and threats. Too often, remediation is underestimated as merely the taking of security precautions across a network. While remediation includes such taking of security precautions, it is more comprehensive. It is more accurate to view the taking of security precautions as a subset of remediation. The taking of precautions is typically based upon policies. Such policies are typically based upon security best practices, e.g., a user shall not install his own software, and/or corporate best practices, e.g., a password must be 8 characters in length. To the extent that taking of precautions is automated, the automation typically samples the value of one or more parameters at a given point in time. Then the values of one or more parameters are presented to a user to assess whether the sampled values pose a cause for concern in the context of any policies which are in place. SUMMARY OF THE PRESENT INVENTION At least one embodiment of the present invention provides a method of automatically determining one or more remediations for a device that includes a processor. Such a method may include: receiving values of a plurality of parameters which collectively characterize an operational state of the device, there being at least one policy associated with at least a given one of the plurality of parameters, policy defining as a condition thereof one or more potential values of, or based upon, the given parameter, satisfaction of the condition potentially being indicative of unauthorized activity or manipulation of the device; automatically determining, from the received parameter values, whether the conditions for any policies are satisfied, respectively; and automatically selecting one or more remediations for the device according to the satisfied policies, respectively. At least one other embodiment of the present invention provides a machine-readable medium comprising instructions, execution of which by a machine automatically determines one or more remediations for a device that includes a processor, as in the determination method mentioned above. At least one other embodiment of the present invention provides a machine configured to implement the determination method mentioned above. Additional features and advantages of the present invention will be more fully apparent from the following detailed description of example embodiments, the accompanying drawings and the associated claims. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The drawings are: intended to depict example embodiments of the present invention and should not be interpreted to limit the scope thereof. In particular, relative sizes of the components of a figure may be reduced or exaggerated for clarity. In other words, the figures are not drawn to scale. FIGS. 1, 2A, 2B, 2C, 2D, 3A, 3B, 4, 5, 6A, 6B, 7, 8, 9A and 9B are referred to in the following section entitled, “DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EXAMPLE EMBODIMENTS (hereafter the Detailed Description Section), albeit not in numerical order. Hence, the following brief description of the drawings describes the drawings in the order in which they are first discussed in the Detailed Description Section. FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an architecture 100 for a policy-based remediation system into which embodiments of the present invention can be incorporated, making system 100 itself represent at least one embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3A is a UML-type sequence diagrams depicting a first part of a method of determining which policies are violated, according to at least one embodiment of the present invention. In a sequence diagram, indicates an action that expects a response message. A indicates a response message. A indicates an action for which the response is implied. And a indicates an action for which no response is expected. FIG. 6A is a survey table illustrating data relationships in a machine-actionable memory that represent survey data from a current sample, according to at least one embodiment of the present invention. FIGS. 2A, 2B, 2C and 2D are linked database structures illustrating data relationships in a machine-actionable memory that represent parameters of a host-asset, according to at least one embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 6B depicts a new-vs-old table, according to at least one embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3B is a UML-type sequence diagrams depicting a second part of a method of determining which policies are violated, according to at least one embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 7 depicts a UML-type database structure, entitled ASSET_CHG_LOG (asset change log) that is used to keep a history of changes in the value of a parameter, according to at least one embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 8 depicts a policy information table illustrating data relationships in a machine-actionable memory that represents which policies are active on which of the various host-assets, according to at least one embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 9A is a diagram of a condition-tree, according to at least one embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 9B is a diagram of another version of the condition-tree of FIG. 9A, according to at least one embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 4 depicts a violation table 402 illustrating data relationships in a machine-actionable memory that represent policies that have been violated, according to at least one embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 5 is a flow diagram illustrating a policy-based method of remediation selection, and a method of remediation deployment, according to at least one embodiment of the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EXAMPLE EMBODIMENTS FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an architecture 100 for a policy-based remediation system into which embodiments of the present invention can be incorporated, making system 100 itself represent at least one embodiment of the present invention. Architecture 100 can include: a server 102 (having one or more processors 103A, non-volatile memory 103B and other components 103C); a database (DB) of remediations 104; a DB of assets 106; a DB of policies 106; and a group 108 of networked assets. Generalized networked communication is represented by path 112. Access to entities external to architecture 100, e.g., the internet (item 113) is available via path 112. Server 102 can be a component of the network to which group 108 represents assets. Other components 103B typically include an input/output (IO) unit, volatile memory (e.g., RAM, etc.), non-volatile memory (e.g., disk drives, etc.), etc. DBs 104, 106 and 107 can be local non-volatile memory resources of server 102. Examples of assets in group 108 include network-attached storage (NAS) devices 160, routers 162, switches 164, computers (also referred to as PCs) 166, printers 168, etc. Assets in group 108 will be generally be referred to as host-assets 16X. In group 108, host-assets 16X can be generalized as devices having some measure of program-code-based operation, e.g., software, firmware, etc., which can be manipulated in some way via an instance of a communication, e.g., arriving via path 112, and as such can be vulnerable to attack. Each of the various host-assets 16X in group 108 is depicted as hosting a light weight sensor (LWS) 109. Each LWS 109 and server 102 adopt a client-server relationship. Operation of each LWS 109 can include gathering information about its host-asset 16X and sending such information to server 102; and receiving remediations in an automatically-machine-actionable format from server 102 and automatically implementing the remediations upon its host-asset 16X. An automatically-machine-actionable remediation can take the form of a sequence of one or more operations that automatically can be carried out on a given host-asset 16X under the control of its LWS 109. Such operations can be invoked by one or more machine-language commands, e.g., one or more Java byte codes. Server 102 can evaluate the gathered-information regarding host-assets 16X in terms of policies that have been applied, or are active in regard to, host-assets 16X, respectively. Based upon the evaluations, server 102 can select remediations and then send them to host-assets 16X, respectively. Each host-asset 16X is provided with local programs and/or services (hereafter, survey tools) that can collect values of a plurality of parameters (hereafter, survey data) which collectively characterize an operational state of host-asset 16X at a particular point in time. Each LWS 109 can invoke such survey tools and/or cooperate with periodic scheduling of such survey tools to obtain the survey data. Then each LWS 109 can also transmit the survey data to server 102. For example, consider LWS 109 of NAS 160, whose transmission of survey data to server 102 is indicated by a communication path 130 superimposed on path 112 in FIG. 1. Continuing the example, once server 102 has selected one or more remediations for NAS 160, server 102 deploys the selected remediation(s) to LWS 109 of NAS 160 as indicated by a communication path 132. The selected remediations can take the form of a deployment package that can include one or more automatically-machine-actionable actions, e.g., a set of one or more Java byte codes for each automatically-machine-actionable action. It is noted that, for simplicity of illustration, only NAS 160 is depicted in FIG. 1 as sending survey data and receiving a deployment package. It is to be understood that instances of paths 130 and 132 would be present for all LWSs 109. Next, details as to the gathering of information will be discussed and examples of policies provided, followed by discussion of how violations of policies can be automatically determined, and how corresponding remediations can automatically be selected. To accompany the discussion, FIGS. 3A-3B are provided. FIGS. 3A-3B are a UML-type sequence diagrams depicting a method of determining which policies are violated, according to at least one embodiment of the present invention. Server 102 and each LWS 109 can, e.g., be provided with services (not depicted in LWSs 109 but see corresponding communication service 170 in server 102), e.g., J2EE-type services, that carry out communication therebetween. For example, see message 304 in FIG. 3A sent from a given instance of LWS 109 to communication service 170. Survey data from an instance of LWS 109 (which is transferred via path 130) can be formatted in a variety of ways. For example, within the survey data, a portion representing a particular parameter can be preceded by a service key, e.g., a string of data that denotes the service on host-asset 16X that collected the portion. Server 102 can be provided with a parser service 172, a J2EE-type service, that can parse the survey data. In the context of FIG. 3A, communication service 170 can pass the survey data to parser server 172 at message 306. Parser service 172 can sequentially examine the survey data, looking for pairs of service keys and associated data portions. Continuing the example, parser service 172 can recognize a service key (k), recognize as being associated therewith a data portion (k), e.g., found between service key (k) and a subsequent service key (k+1), and call an interpretation service (not depicted) corresponding to service key (k) to interpret data portion (k). Parser service 172 can take the output of the respective interpretation services and build a survey table of new parameter values. This can be an iterative process. One of ordinary skill in the art would understand that there are other ways to process the survey data. In the context of FIG. 3A, such an iterative loop is denoted by item No. 308 and is given the label “[PAIR(i), i≦M-1, FOR M PAIRS].” In UML notation, the asterisk (*) denotes iteration, and iteration of loop 308 will continue while the statement within the square brackets is true. Here, the statement for loop 308 indicates that looping iterates for each PAIR(i) of a service key and its related portion of the survey data (or, in other words the ith PAIR) while (so long as) the variable, i, is less than or equal to M−1 (namely, i≦M−1). The boundary M denotes the total number of pairs of service keys and related data present in the survey data. At self-message 310 in FIG. 3A, parser service 172 can parse the survey data to obtain the ith pair, also known as PAIR(i). At message 312, parser service 172 calls an interpretation service according to the value of the service key in PAIR(i). Hence, such an interpretation service is generally referred to as an ith interpretation service 180 in FIG. 3A. At message 314, ith interpretation service sends back interpreted data to parser service 172. In response, at message 316, parser service 172 can create survey table 602 if this is the first pass through loop 308 and survey table 602 does not yet exist. Otherwise, if survey table 602 already exists, then parser service 172 can append the interpreted data to survey table 602. FIG. 6A is an example of a survey table 602 illustrating data relationships in a machine-actionable memory that represent new survey data from the present sample, according to at least one embodiment of the present invention. More particularly, survey table 602 illustrates data relationships created by parser service 172, e.g., in volatile memory 103B, based upon the survey data, according to at least one embodiment of the present invention. As such, survey table 602 illustrates a particular type of machine-actionable memory arranged according to a particular data structure. Survey table 602 can be described as a CE_ID:PARAM:NEW:OLD mapping, where CE_ID is an acronym for an identification (ID) of a given LWS 109 loaded on a given host-asset 160X, and where each instance of a host-asset 16X can be described as a client environment (CE). Each row of table 602 can include: a CE_ID field; a PARAM field (name of parameter); a NEW field (new value of the parameter); and an OLD field (old value of the parameter). Each row of table 602 represents a mapping between a value for the CE_ID, a name or identification (ID) of a parameter, a new value thereof obtained during the present sampling (k) by the survey tool(s), and an old value thereof obtained during a preceding sampling (e.g., k−1). Here, continuing the example of survey data from path 130, it is assumed that NAS 160 has CE_ID=160—999 for (merely) the purposes of illustration. As will be discussed below, values of many different types of parameters are gathered from the various host-assets 160X, respectively. Further continuing the example of survey data from path 130, survey table 602 assumes that the survey data includes: the parameters CPU_CNT, PROCESS_NAME, DOM_NAM and OS_TYPE as being reported in the survey data; and the corresponding values 1, Outlook®, acct (abbreviation for account) and Windows® 2000, respectively. Initially, null values are stored in the OLD fields. Typically, many other parameters will be present in the survey data and reflected in table 602. Here, only four samples of parameters and values thereof are presented, for simplicity of illustration. Server 102, e.g., via parser service 172, can then assess whether there has been a change in the values of the parameters in the survey data from the present sample (k) relative to a preceding sample, e.g., the immediately preceding sample (k−1). This can be done by server 102 querying asset DB 106 for all parameter records that pertain to a given host-asset 16X, and then comparing the new values (k) against the old values (e.g., k−1) to identify those that have changed. An architecture for DB 106 will now be discussed. FIGS. 2A, 2B, 2C and 2D are linked database structures illustrating data relationships in a machine-actionable memory, e.g., asset DB 106, that represent parameter values for the various host-assets 160X, according to at least one embodiment of the present invention. More particularly, FIG. 2A depicts an asset-parameter (ASSET_PARAMETER) database structure 202. As such, database structure 202 illustrates a particular type of machine-actionable memory arranged according to a particular data structure. Unlike survey table 602, database structure 202 (and also database structures 204-228) are depicted as UML-type database structures. This should be understood to mean that database structure 202 represents an at least M×N array, e.g., M rows and N columns where M and N are integers. A row (not depicted) of the array denoted by database structure 202 corresponds to parameter values of a given host-asset 16X. The columns (not depicted) of the array denoted by database structure 202 correspond to various parameters. The N labels in box 203 denote the parameters, and hence there is a column in the array denoted by database structure 202 for each label in box 203. Box 203 indicates that database structure 202 can include, e.g., the following parameters: CE_ID (again, the ID of the particular instance of LWS 109); DATE_CREATED (date that the asset was created); DATE MODIFIED (last date that the asset was modified); MODIFIED_BY (who modified the asset); BOOT_TIME (time at which the most recent boot-up occurred); OS_TYPE (type of operating system); OS_VERSION (version of the operating system); CONNECTED_IP_ADDRESS (IP address assigned to host-asset 160X); HOST_NAME (name of host-asset 160X); CONNECTED_MAC_ADDRESS (MAC address assigned to host-asset 160X); SERIAL_NO (serial number assigned to host-asset 160X); DOM_NAM (domain name of host asset 160X); DNS_NAME (DNS name assigned to host asset 160X); DHCP_ENABLED (is DHCP, namely dynamic host control protocol, enabled?); BIOS_MFG (name of the manufacturer of the BIOS); BIOS_VERSION (version of the BIOS); CPU_CNT (number of processors); CPU_FAMILY (processor's family of architectures, e.g., Centrino®; CPU_MODEL (model of processor); CPU_SPEED (speed of processor); CPU_UTILIZATION (percentage utilization of the processor); HD_FREE (free space on the hard disk); HD_TOTAL (total space of the hard disk); RAM_PAGE (page size for RAM); RAM_TOTAL (total size of RAM); RAM_VIRTUAL (amount of virtual RAM); RAM_UTILIZATION (percentage utilization of RAM); RM_ACTION_ALLOWED (remote actions allowed); SURVEY_INTERVAL (interval of at which sampling to obtain survey data takes place); MOST_RECENT_SURVEY (DTS, namely date-time stamp, of most recent survey data); and TRANSACT_CTL_NUM (a surrogate key to uniqueness of rows in database structure 202). One of ordinary skill in the art will recognize that values for those parameters listed by box 203 of database structure 202, a subset thereof and/or other parameters can be gathered by the survey tools. Appropriate sets of parameters depend upon the nature of the technology found in host-assts 16X, the granularity of information which an administrator of architecture 100 desires, etc. The same is true for database structures 204-228. FIG. 2A also depicts UML-type database structures 204-228. FIG. 2B is a version of FIG. 2A that depicts database structures 204, 206, 208, 212 and 214 in more detail and database structure 202 in less detail. As such, each of database structures 204, 206, 208, 212 and 214 illustrates a particular type of machine-actionable memory arranged according to a particular data structure. Consider, for example, database structure 204, which is entitled asset-user (ASSET_USER). Each row in database structure 204 can include a CE_ID field (used as a foreign key relative to database structure 204), a USER_NAME field (user's name), and a TRANSACT_CTL_NUM field. It should be understood that multiple users can potentially use a given host-asset 16X, most with permission but some possibly without permission. Hence, different rows in the array represented by database structure 204 can identify different users of the various host-assets 16X, respectively. Database structure 204 is connected to database structure 202 via a path that terminates in a open diamond (O) at database structure 202. The open diamond denotes aggregation. In terms of ASSET_USER database structure 204, multiple instances or values of the parameter USER_NAME can exist for a given asset many of whose parameters are stored in ASSET_PARAMETER database structure 202. Such aggregation also can include the characteristic that if rows for a given asset are deleted in ASSET_PARAMETER database structure 202, then the corresponding one or more rows in ASSET_USER database structure 204 are not necessarily deleted as a consequence. Each of database structures 206-228 is also connected to database structure 202 via a path that terminates in a open diamond (O) at database structure 202. Database structure 206 is entitled asset-user-group (ASSET_USER_GROUP). Each row in database structure 206 can include: a CE_ID field (used as a foreign key relative to database structure 204); a GROUP_NAME field (user-group's name); and a TRANSACT_CTL_NUM field. Database structure 206 is an accommodation for the possibility that multiple user-groups can be given permission to use a given host-asset 16X. Different rows in the array represented by database structure 206 can identify different user groups for the various host-assets 16X, respectively. Database structure 208 is entitled asset-user-account (ASSET_USER_ACCOUNT). Each row in database structure 208 can include: a CE_ID field (used as a foreign key relative to database structure 204); a USER_NAME field (user's name); a password (PASSWORD) field; a DOMAIN_USER field (user's domain); a LOGIN_TIME field (time of most recent login); LOGOUT_TIME field (time of most recent logout); and a TRANSACT_CTL_NUM field. Database structure 208 can store information about the activity of the multiple users that can be given permission to use a given host-asset 16X. Different rows in the array represented by database structure 208 can store data regarding different users' activity on the various host-assets 16X, respectively. Database structure 212 is entitled asset-process (ASSET_PROCESS). Each row in database structure 212 can include: a CE_ID field (used as a foreign key relative to database structure 204); a P_ID field (ID of process); a PROCESS_NAME field (name of process); and a TRANSACT_CTL_NUM field. Database structure 212 is an accommodation for the possibility that multiple processes can be running on a given host-asset 16X. Different rows in the array represented by database structure 212 can store data regarding different processes running on the various host-assets 16X, respectively. Database structure 214 is entitled asset-file (ASSET_FILE). Each row in database structure 214 can include: a CE_ID field (used as a foreign key relative to database structure 204); a PARENT_DIRECTORY field (path to file location); a FILE_NAME field (name of file); an IS_DIRECTORY field (is file actually a directory?); a PERMISSION field (read/write permission, DTS, etc.); and a TRANSACT_CTL_NUM field. Database structure 214 is an accommodation for the possibility of desiring to determine the presence of a particular file in a given location, the status of the file's permissions, etc. Hence, rows in the array represented by database structure 214 can store information about various files that are loaded on the various host-assets 16X, respectively. FIG. 2C is a version of FIG. 2A that depicts database structures 210, 216 and 218 in more detail and database structure 202 in less detail. As such, each of database structures 210, 216 and 218 illustrates a particular type of machine-actionable memory arranged according to a particular data structure. Database structure 210 is entitled asset-hard-drive (ASSET_HARD_DRIVE). Each row in database structure 210 can include: a CE_ID field (used as a foreign key relative to database structure 204); a NAME field (hard drive name); a TYPE field (type of hard drive); a CAPACITY field (storage capacity of the hard drive); a SERIAL_NO field (serial number assigned to the hard drive); a FILE_SYSTEM field (type of file system to which the hard drive is configured); a USED_SPACE field (amount of storage used); a FREE_SPACE field (amount of storage remaining unused); a COMPRESSED field (are the files compressed?); a LABEL field (label given to the hard drive); a MFG_NAME field (name of the hard drive's manufacturer); a NO_OF_PARTITIONS field (number of partitions into which the hard drive is divided); a SECTORS_PER_TRACK field (number of sectors per track); a TOTAL_CYLINDERS field (total number of cylinders or platters); a TOTAL_HEADS field (total number of heads); a TOTAL_SECTORS field (number of sectors per track); a TOTAL_TRACKS field (total number of tracks); a TRACKS_PER_CYLINDER field (number of tracks per cylinder); and a TRANSACT_CTL_NUM field. Database structure 210 is an accommodation for the possibility that there can be multiple hard drives on a given host-asset 16X. Different rows in the array represented by database structure 210 can store data regarding various hard drives which form parts of the various host-assets 16X, respectively. Database structure 216 is entitled asset-file-system (ASSET_FILE_SYSTEM). Each row in database structure 216 can include: a CE_ID field (used as a foreign key relative to database structure 204); a VOLUME_NAME field (name of storage volume); a MEDIA_TYPE field (type of media); a CAPACITY field (storage capacity of the file system); a VOLUME_SL_NO field (volume serial number); a FILE_SYSTEM field (type of file system); a USED_SPACE field (amount of storage in the file system that has been used); a FREE_SPACE field (amount of storage in the file system remaining unused); a COMPRESSED field (are the files compressed?); a LABEL field (label given to the file system); and a TRANSACT_CTL_NUM field. Database structure 216 is an accommodation for the possibility that there can be multiple file systems in use on a given host-asset 16X. Different rows in the array represented by database structure 216 can store data regarding different file-systems used by the various host-assets 16X, respectively. Database structure 218 is entitled asset-application (ASSET_APPLICATION). Each row in database structure 216 can include: a CE_ID field (used as a foreign key relative to database structure 204); a VENDOR field (name of the application's vendor); a PRODUCT field (name of application); a VERSION field (version of the application); a SERIAL_NUM field (serial number assigned to the application); a LICENSE_NUM field (number of license for the application); a SKU_NUM field (SKI, namely stock-keeping unit, number); an INSTALL_DATE field (date that the application was installed); and a TRANSACT_CTL_NUM field. Database structure 218 is an accommodation for the possibility that there can be multiple applications loaded on a given host-asset 16X. Different rows in the array represented by database structure 218 can store data regarding different applications loaded on the various host-assets 16X, respectively. FIG. 2D is a version of FIG. 2A that depicts database structures 220, 222, 224, 226 and 228 in more detail and database structure 202 in less detail. As such, each of database structures 220, 222, 224, 226 and 228 illustrates a particular type of machine-actionable memory arranged according to a particular data structure. Database structure 220 is entitled asset-route-table (ASSET_ROUTE_TABLE). Each row in database structure 220 can include: a CE_ID field (used as a foreign key relative to database structure 204); a TARGET field (address to which communication directed); a GATEWAY field (gateway through which communication proceeds; a NETMASK field (bit mask used to tell how much of an IP address identifies the subnetwork that the given host-asset 16X is on and how much identifies the host-asset 16X itself); and a TRANSACT_CTL_NUM field. Database structure 220 is an accommodation for the possibility that there can be multiple routes by which communication can be sent from a given host-asset 16X. Different rows in the array represented by database structure 220 can store information regarding various routes of communication being used by the various host-assets 16X, respectively. Database structure 222 is entitled asset-ARP-table (ASSET_ARP_TABLE). Each row in database structure 222 can include: a CE_ID field (used as a foreign key relative to database structure 204); an INTERNET_ADDRESS field (internet address, e.g., IP address, of host-asset 16X involved in a communication); a PHYSICAL_ADDRESS field (address of hardware on host-asset 16X involved in a communication); a TYPE field (ARP mapping dynamic or static); and a TRANSACT_CTL_NUM field. Database structure 222 is an accommodation for the possibility that there can be multiple components on a given host-asset 16X that are engaged in external communication. Different rows in the array represented by database structure 222 can store data regarding different various components on the various host-assets 16X, respectively, that are engaged in communication. Database structure 224 is entitled asset-device-driver (ASSET_DEVICE_DRIVER). Each row in database structure 224 can include: a CE_ID field (used as a foreign key relative to database structure 204); a DEVICE_NAME field (name of driver); a DEVICE_TYPE field (type of driver); a MFG_NAME field (name of driver's manufacturer); and a TRANSACT_CTL_NUM field. Database structure 224 is an accommodation for the possibility that there can be multiple drivers loaded on a given host-asset 16X. Different rows in the array represented by database structure 212 can store data regarding different processes running on the various host-assets 16X, respectively. Different rows in the array represented by database structure 224 can store information regarding the various drivers loaded on the various host-assets 16X, respectively. Database structure 226 is entitled asset-netstat (ASSET_NETSTAT). Each row in database structure 226 can include: a CE_ID field (used as a foreign key relative to database structure 204); a PROTOCOL field (name of protocol, e.g., TCP, UDP, etc.); a LOCAL_ADDRESS field (port being used for an instance of communication by a given host-asset 16X); a FOREIGN_ADDRESS field (an address of an entity with which the given host-asset 16X is in communication); a STATE field (state, e.g., listening, of the communication in which an entity on a given host-asset 16X is engaged); and a TRANSACT_CTL_NUM field. Database structure 226 is an accommodation for the possibility that there can be multiple instances of external communication in which components on a given host-asset 16X can be engaged. Different rows in the array represented by database structure 226 can store information regarding various instances of communication in which the various host-assets 16X, respectively, are engaged. Database structure 228 is entitled asset-installed-patch (ASSET_INSTALLED_PATCH). Each row in database structure 228 can include: a CE_ID field (used as a foreign key relative to database structure 204); a PATCH_NAME field (name of installed patch); a VERSION field (version of the installed patch); an INSTALL_DATE field (date that the patch was installed); an UNINSTALL_DATE field (date that the patch was uninstalled); and a TRANSACT_CTL_NUM field. Database structure 228 is an accommodation for the possibility that there can be multiple patches installed on a given host-asset 16X. Different rows in the array represented by database structure 228 can store data regarding various patches installed on the various host-assets 16X, respectively. Discussion now returns to parser service 172. To review, parser service 172 can query asset DB 106 for all parameter records pertaining to a given host-asset 16X for which survey data has been received and parsed to form survey table 602. In the context of FIG. 3A, such a query is illustrated as a message 318 from parser service 172 to asset DB 106. Then parser service 172 can iteratively (e.g., row-by-row for survey table 602) compare the new parameter values (k) against the old parameter values (e.g., k−1) to identify those that have changed. Such an iterative technique is illustrated in FIG. 3A as loop 320. The result of such an iterative technique (or, in other words, the result of loop 320) is that table 602 is converted into what can be described as a new vs. old table. Loop 320 of FIG. 3A is given the label “[ROW(i), i≦N−1, FOR N ROWS IN TBL 602].” Iteration of loop 320 will continue for each ROW(i) of table 602′ while (so long as) the variable, i, is less than or equal to N−1 (namely, i≦N−1). The boundary N denotes the total number of rows in table 602′. In loop 320, parser service 170 searches through parameter values obtained via message 318 for an old value corresponding to the parameter of row(i) of table 602. Next, FIG. 3A illustrates a branching message 324. As indicated by the label “[NEW=OLD],” if parser service 170 finds a corresponding old value and if the old value equals the new value, then branch 326A of message 324 is taken, by which parser service 174 deletes row(i) from table 602. Else, as indicated by the label “[NEW≠OLD],” if parser service 170 finds a corresponding old value and if the old value does not equal the new value, then branch 326B of message 324 is taken, by which parser service 174 appends the old value to the OLD field of row(i) in table 602. If no corresponding old parameter value is found, then parser service 170 can ignore the new value. This could be handled by changing the label of branch 324A to be [NEW=OLD or NEW=NULL]. FIG. 6B depicts such a new versus old (hereafter, new-vs-old) table 602′ that illustrates a revised version of survey table 602, according to at least one embodiment of the present invention. As such, survey table 602′ illustrates a particular type of machine-actionable memory arranged according to a particular data structure. Extending the example of survey data from path 130, it is assumed in FIG. 6B that parser service 172 has: recognized changes in the parameters CPU_CNT, DOM_NAM, and OS_TYPE; appended the corresponding old values thereof; determined that no change has occurred in the parameter PROCESS_NAME; and deleted the row for the unchanged parameter PROCESS_NAME. After it finishes the iterative new vs. old comparison that results in new-vs-old table 602′, parser service 172 can place a copy of new-vs-old table 602′ (or an object representing table 602′) in an asynchronous queue 173, e.g., a FIFO buffer, for a policy service 174 (to be discussed below). In the context of FIG. 3B, this is illustrated as message 328 from parser service 172 to queue 173. Queue 173 can absorb variations in the rate at which parser service 172 generates instances of new-vs-old table 602′. Substantially concurrently, parser service 172 can (according to those rows, if any, remaining in table 602′) also overwrite corresponding records in database structures 202-228 with the new parameter values and append new records to an installment history, e.g., as embodied by a suitable database structure on asset DB 106. In the context of FIG. 3B, this is illustrated as message 330 from parser service 172 to asset DB 106. FIG. 7 depicts an example of a suitable UML-type database structure 702, entitled ASSET_CHG_LOG (asset change log) that is used to keep the history of changes in the value of a parameter, according to at least one embodiment of the present invention. Each row in database structure 228 can include: a CE_ID field (used as a foreign key relative to database structure 204); a TABLE_NAME field (name of the primary table in which the parameter is tracked); a COLUMN_NAME field (name of the parameter); a RECORD_ID field (value of the TRANSACT_CTL_NUM field in the primary table); a CHANGE_DATE field (DTS for change tracked by the given row in database structure 228); a CHANGED_BY field (entity initiating change); an OLD field (value of the parameter as of the immediately preceding, relative to point in time indicated by the value in the CHANGE_DATE field, sample); a NEW field (value of the parameter as of the point in time indicated by the value in the CHANGE_DATE field); and a TRANSACT_CTL_NUM field. Structure 702 can be used to track the history of changes to each of parameters for all of the assets tracked in ASSET_PARAMETER database structure 202. The copies of the various instances of table 602′ in queue 173 can be sequentially processed by a policy service 174 of server 102. Policy service 174 can obtain an instance of new-vs-old table 602′ from queue 173 and then evaluate the changed data in new-vs-old table 602′ against each policy that is activated for the given host-asset 16X. This can be iterative. In the context of FIG. 3B, such iteration is illustrated by loop 332. Loop 332 of FIG. 3B is given the label “[TBL_602′(i), i≦R−1, FOR R INSTANCES OF TBL_602].” Iteration of loop 332 will continue for each TBL_602′(i) of queue 173 while (so long as) the variable, i, is less than or equal to R−1 (namely, i≦R−1). The boundary R denotes the total number of instances of table 602′ in queue 173. Policy service 174 gets a copy of table 602′(i) via message 334 to queue 173. Before discussing loop 332 further, a discussion of policies is provided. A policy can define as a condition of a given parameter either of the following: one or more potential values of a given parameter; or one or more values based upon the given parameter. When the condition of a policy is satisfied, this is potentially indicative of unauthorized activity or manipulation of the given host-asset 16X upon which the policy has been activated. As a first policy example, consider a policy which is violated (or, in other words, whose condition is satisfied) if the value of the CONNECTED_IP_ADDRESS parameter of ASSET_PARAMETER database structure 202 is not one of the IP addresses on an approved list. If such a policy is satisfied, it could potentially (though not necessarily) indicate unauthorized actively on the given host-asset 16X. As a second policy example, consider a policy which is violated (or, in other words, whose condition is satisfied) if an authorized user of a VPN (virtual private network) is logged in during normal business hours (where VPN usage is for this user is typically expected to be after business hours) and if the given host-asset is connected to the accounting wireless domain (where the user is authorized only to access the engineering and sales domains). If such a policy is satisfied, it could potentially indicate that a known user is engaging in unauthorized activity. As a third policy example, consider a policy which is violated (or, in other words, whose condition is satisfied) if there is a change in the CPU_CNT parameter of ASSET_PARAMETER database structure 202. If such a policy is satisfied, this could be indicative of one or more processors having been stolen from or added to the given host-asset 16X, Either type of change can indicate potential unauthorized manipulation of the given-host 16X, and the latter may potentially be a precursor of forthcoming unauthorized activity on the given host-asset 16X. Discussion now returns to loop 332 of FIG. 3B and policy service 174. To evaluate the changed data in new-vs-old table 602′ against each policy that is activated for the given host-asset 16X, policy service 174 can do the following: it can query policy DB 107 for all policies activated for the given host-asset 16X, e.g., by indexing according to the CE_ID value therefore; then it can build a condition-tree, e.g., in non-volatile memory 103B, for the condition of each policy that is active for a given host-asset 16X; and then it can evaluate each row of new-vs-old table 602′ according to each condition-tree, which results in a violation table. An example of a violation table is depicted in FIG. 8. In the context of FIG. 3B, policy service 174 queries for the activated policies via message 336 to policy DB 107. FIG. 8 depicts an activated policy table illustrating data relationships in a machine-actionable memory that represents which policies are active on which of the various host-assets 16X, according to at least one embodiment of the present invention. More particularly, FIG. 8 depicts a policy information (or, in other words, an R_ID:POL_ID:CE_ID) table 802, illustrating data relationships in a machine-actionable memory, e.g., in policy DB 107, that maps policies to remediations, and also maps policies to assets. As such, policy information table 802 illustrates a particular type of machine-actionable memory arranged according to a particular data structure. Policy information (pol-info) table 802 includes the columns R_ID, POL_ID, ACT_ID and CE_ID. A value in the R_ID-column indicates an identification (ID) of a remediation (R_ID) suited to remediating the circumstances of a violated policy. A value in the POL_ID-column indicates an ID of a policy (POL_ID). A value in the ACT_ID-column indicates an ID of action or operation that automatically can be carried out on a given host-asset 16X to at least in-part implement a remediation. A value in the CE_D-column indicates an ID of a given host-asset 16X. An example of constraints upon Pol-info table 802 would be as follows: each policy can map to only one remediation; a remediation, however, can map to one or more policies; each policy can map to one or more assets; etc. Pol-info table 802 can be created by the administrator of architecture 100, and edited/expanded as policies change and/or are added. Extending the example illustrated via the specific details of new-vs-old table 602′ in FIG. 6B, it is assumed in FIG. 9A that records denoted by items 804 and 806 corresponding to the policies violated by the data of the new-vs-old table 602′. Returning to the context of FIG. 3B, at self-message 338, policy service 174 builds the condition trees for those policies indicated by Pol-info table 802 as being activated for the given host-asset 16X. For the sake of discussion, it is assumed that each message 338 generates a total of Q condition trees for Q activated policies. Next, at loop 340, policy service 174 evaluates each condition-tree according to the values of each row of new-vs-old table 602′(i). Before discussing loop 340, a discussion of condition trees is provided. FIG. 9A is a diagram of a condition-tree 902, according to at least one embodiment of the present invention. Condition-tree 902 depicts data relationships in volatile memory 103B. As such, condition-tree 902 depicts a particular type of machine-actionable memory, according to at least one embodiment of the present invention. Condition-tree 902 is an at least two-level hierarchical tree structure that includes: a root node 904; and leaf node 906; and one or more optional leaf nodes 908. There can be N leaf nodes, where N is an integer and N≧1. While not limited to a specific maximum value, N typically will fall in a range 2≦N≦10. Root node 904 can represent a logical operator, e.g., logical AND, logical OR, logical NOT, etc. Leaf nodes 906 and 906 can be statements representing sub-conditions of the policy's condition. Stated differently, condition tree 902 is a representation of a condition that itself is a collection of conditions. Evaluation of the statements representing the sub-conditions according to the values in a row of new-vs-old table 602′ yields an indication of the statement being true or false, e.g., a logical one or a logical zero. FIG. 9B is a diagram of a version 902′ of condition-tree 902, according to at least one embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 9B, node 908 is depicted as a multi-part node 908′, which can include: an intermediate node 910, that reports to root node 904; a sub-leaf node 912; and one or more sub-leaf nodes 914. There can be P sub-leaf nodes, where P is an integer and P≧1. Similarly, sub-leaf nodes 912 and 914 can be statements representing sub-sub-conditions of the sub-condition represented by leaf node 908. And similarly, evaluation of the statements representing the sub-sub-conditions according to the values in a row of the new-vs-old table 602′ yields an indication of the statement being true or false. One or more of sub-leaf nodes 912 and 914 can be themselves be multi-part nodes, respectively. Via the use of a condition tree 902/902′, a policy whose condition is satisfied when a collection of sub-conditions are coincidentally satisfied can be quickly evaluated. Moreover, such condition-trees 902/902′ can quickly and easily be configured and/or reconfigured. In rule-based decision-making software according to the Background Art, conditions of a rule are typically represented in source code as if-then-else constructs, rather than as a machine-actionable memory. Coding of such constructs is relatively more difficult, and as is revising such constructs. In addition, if-then-else constructs are sequential in nature. In contrast, condition-trees 902/902′ exploit the parallelism in a condition. Accordingly, condition trees 902/902′ are significantly faster on average to evaluate than a corresponding if-then-else construct. Stated differently, condition-trees represent an object-oriented representation, where the level of granularity is at the node-level (nodes are the objects) into which a condition is decomposed. In contrast, while an if-then-else construct according to the Background Art might be coded using a high-level object-oriented programming language, at best the condition as a whole of the construct is treated as the sole object. If-then-else constructs are less granular representations of conditions than are condition-trees. Returning to the first policy example, a corresponding condition-tree could have as simple leaf nodes reporting to the root node the sub-conditions CONNECTED_IP_ADDRESS=given_member_of_approved_list for each member of the approved list. The root node for this condition tree could be a logical OR operator. Returning to the second policy example, a corresponding condition-tree could have as the root node the logical AND operator, and as simple leaf nodes reporting thereto the sub-conditions VPN_CONNECTION (true or false) and USER_VPN_AUTHORIZED (true or false). The condition tree could also have the following multi-part nodes reporting to the root node: the logical AND operator as the intermediate node to which report simple sub-leaf nodes representing the sub-sub conditions DOM_NAM=given_member_of-approved_list for each member on the list; and the logical operator NOT as the intermediate node to which reports a simple sub-leaf node representing the sub-sub condition NORMAL_VPN_WINDOW=time_range given_member_of-approved_list. Returning to the third policy example, a corresponding condition-tree could have as the root node the local NOT operator, and as a simple leaf node reporting thereto the sub-condition CPU_CNT_NEW═CPU_CNT_OLD. The ordinarily-skilled artisan will recognize other ways to construct condition-trees for each of the first, second and third policy examples. In general, policy conditions are typically susceptible to a plurality of constructions. Similar to how an appropriate set of parameters will vary (again, depending upon the nature of the technology found in host-assts 16X, the granularity of information thereabout that is desired, etc.), so too will vary the nature and complexity (e.g., the number of sub-conditions whose satisfaction needs to coincide) of policy conditions. Moreover, the complexity of policies will also vary according to the desired degree to which satisfaction of the policy is a precursor of forthcoming unauthorized activity on or manipulation of the given host-asset 16X. In other words, condition complexity (and thus policy complexity) will vary according to how early a warning of potential forthcoming unauthorized activity or manipulation the administrator of architecture 100 desires to receive. Patterns of seemingly unrelated parameter values or changes in the values thereof can warn of or foreshadow potential forthcoming unauthorized activity or manipulation. In this respect, identifying unauthorized activity or manipulation from a pattern of seemingly unrelated parameter values is analogous to the differential diagnosis of a patient's illness by a physician where the patient presents with a plurality of symptoms, many of which can seem unrelated. Generally, the earlier the warning that is desired, the greater is the number of seemingly unrelated parameter values (or changes in the values thereof) that are included as factors of the condition. Hence, earlier warnings typically dictate policies whose conditions concern a relatively greater number of parameters. It should be noted that there can be one or more policies which have as the sole condition, or as one or more of the sub-conditions thereof, either of the following definitions: one or more of the potential values defined for the given parameter represent aberrations from normal values of the given parameter; or one or more of the potential values defined for the given parameter represent normal values of the given parameter. Generally, the earlier the warning, the more likely it is that that the latter definition (in which potential values representing normal values) will chosen for one or more sub-conditions of the policy. A condition for a policy can include as one or more factors (or, in other words, describe) at least one of the following concerning at least one parameter: existence; non-existence; a range of potential values thereof; change in the value thereof; no-change in the value thereof; a maximum amount of change in the value thereof; a minimum amount of change in the value thereof; a maximum potential value thereof; a minimum potential value thereof; being equal to a specific value thereof; not being equal to a specific value thereof; presence on a list; absence from a list; etc. Some additional examples of policies will be briefly mentioned. Again, satisfaction of the conditions of such policies can potentially be indicative of unauthorized activity or manipulation of the given host-asset 16X. As a fourth policy example, consider a policy which is violated (or, in other words, whose condition is satisfied) if: the value of the BOOT_TIME parameter from of ASSET_PARAMETER database structure 202 is not consistent with the value of the MOST_RECENT_SURVEY parameter of ASSET_PARAMETER database structure 202. Satisfaction of this condition potentially can indicate unauthorized manipulation of the system clock on the given host-asset 16X. As a fifth policy example, consider a two-sub-condition policy which is violated (or, in other words, whose condition is satisfied) if: the CPU_CNT parameter of ASSET_PARAMETER database structure 202 changes; and the DHCP_ENABLED parameter of ASSET_PARAMETER database structure 202 is true. Servers typically do not enable DHCP, using instead a static IP address. Where the given host-asset 16X is a server, satisfaction of this condition potentially can indicate that that a malefactor who added the processor to the server desires to keep the extra processor invisible. As a sixth policy example, consider a multi-sub-condition policy which is violated (or, in other words, whose condition is satisfied) if: the value of the CPU_UTILIZATION parameter of ASSET_PARAMETER database structure 202 exhibits a spike; and there is a pattern that the value of the RAM_UTILIZATION parameter of ASSET_PARAMETER database structure 202 exhibits a spike and then returns substantially to the previous value. Satisfaction of this condition potentially can indicate that a user is hiding use of some volatile memory and/or a rogue application is attempting to minimize the amount of time that it exposed. As a seventh policy example, consider a policy which is violated (or, in other words, whose condition is satisfied) if: the value of the RAM_TOTAL parameter of ASSET_PARAMETER database structure 202 is less than a previous value. Satisfaction of this condition potentially can indicate unauthorized removal (e.g., theft) of volatile memory device(s) from the given host-asset 16X or that some of the volatile memory is deliberately being hidden. Alternatively, if the value of the RAM_TOTAL parameter increases, then this potentially can indicate unauthorized addition of volatile memory device(s) from the given host-asset 16X. As an eighth policy example, consider a policy which is violated (or, in other words, whose condition is satisfied) if: the value of DOM_NAM parameter of ASSET_PARAMETER database structure 202 is a null value (indicating that the given host-asset 16X does not belong to the domain); and the value of the USER_NAME parameter of ASSET_USER database structure 204 is not on a list of users approved for the given host-asset 16X. Satisfaction of this condition potentially can indicate an unauthorized user. As a ninth policy example, consider a policy which is violated (or, in other words, whose condition is satisfied) if: the calculated value of a hard disk's size (which can be based upon the values of the SECTORS_PER_TRACK and TOTAL_TRACKS parameters of ASSET_HARD_DRIVE database structure 210) does not substantially match the value of the CAPACITY parameter of ASSET_HARD_DRIVE database structure 210. If there are a negligible number of bad sectors, then satisfaction of this condition potentially can indicate a portion of the hard disk storage space is being hidden. As a tenth policy example, consider a policy which is violated (or, in other words, whose condition is satisfied) if: the value of the GATEWAY parameter of ASSET_ROUTE_TABLE database structure 220 has changed from the preceding value, which is assumed to be a default value. Satisfaction of this condition potentially can indicate a communication which a malefactor hopes will go unnoticed. As an eleventh policy example, consider a policy which is violated (or, in other words, whose condition is satisfied) if: the value of the SERIAL_NUM parameter in ASSET_APPLICATION database structure 218 changes. Where the unit having the change serial number is a processor, satisfaction of the condition potentially can indicate an unauthorized swap of processors. Due to manufacturing tolerances, otherwise identical instances of processors can exhibit different tolerances to ambient temperature; here, a malefactor could have swapped a processor with a lower ambient temperature tolerance for a processor with higher ambient temperature tolerance. As a twelfth policy example, consider a policy which is violated (or, in other words, whose condition is satisfied) if: the DHCP_ENABLED parameter of ASSET_PARAMETER database structure 202 is false. As noted, servers typically do not enable DHCP, but all other computer-based devices typically do enable DHCP. Where the given host-asset 16X is not a server, satisfaction of this condition potentially can indicate that that a malefactor has statically set the IP address of the given host-asset 16X in order to login to the network fraudulently as another user. As a thirteenth policy example, consider a policy which is violated (or, in other words, whose condition is satisfied) if: the value of the PROCESS_NAME parameter in ASSET_PROCESS database structure 212 is not on a list of processes approved for the given host-asset 16X. Satisfaction of this condition potentially can indicate processes that should not be running on the given host-asset 16X. As a fourteenth policy example, consider a policy which is violated (or, in other words, whose condition is satisfied) if: the value of the PRODUCT parameter of ASSET_APPLICATION database structure 218 is on a list of applications not approved for the given host-asset 16X. Satisfaction of this condition could indicate that an unwanted file-sharing program, e.g., KAZAA, is installed irrespective of whether it is running as a process. As a fifteenth policy example, consider a policy which is violated (or, in other words, whose condition is satisfied) if: the value of the LOCAL_ADDRESS parameter of ASSET_NETSTAT database structure 226 includes a port value that is not on a list of ports approved for listening by the given host-asset 16X. Satisfaction of this condition could indicate that an unauthorized web server is running on the given host-asset 16X. As a sixteenth policy example, consider a policy which is violated (or, in other words, whose condition is satisfied) if: the value of the DEVICE_TYPE parameter of ASSET_DEVICE DRIVER database structure 224 indicates that the driver is on list of unauthorized driver types, e.g., including USB-type drivers. Some information-security best practices call for there to be no removable storage devices connected to networked computers. An common example of a small, easily concealed removable storage media is a USB-type memory stick. Satisfaction of this policy's condition potentially can indicate that a removable storage device, e.g., USB-type memory stick, is connected to the given host-asset 16X. As a seventeenth policy example, consider a policy which is violated (or, in other words, whose condition is satisfied) if: the value of a given parameter, e.g., the PRODUCT parameter of ASSET_APPLICATION database structure 218, is absent from a list of permissible values; and the value of the given parameter is absent from a list of impermissible values. Satisfaction of this condition potentially can indicate the presence of an entity, e.g., an application, on the given host-asset 16X which the administrator of architecture 100 has yet to encounter. Discussion now returns to loop 340 of FIG. 3B and policy service 174. Nested within loop 340 is a loop 342, and nested within loop 342 is a prerequisite-dependent group 346 of messages. Again, at loop 340, policy service 174 evaluates each condition-tree according to the values of each row of new-vs-old table 602′(i). Loop 340 of FIG. 3B is given the label “[ROW(j), j≦N−1, FOR N ROWS IN TABLE 602′(i)].” Iteration of loop 332 will continue for each TBL_602′(i) of queue 173 while (so long as) the variable, i, is less than or equal to R−1 (namely, i≦R−1). Again, the boundary N denotes the total number of rows in table 602′(i). Nested loop 342 of FIG. 3B is given the label “[POLICY(h), h≦Q−1, FOR Q POLICIES].” Iteration of loop 342 will continue for each POLICY(h) for table 602(i) while (so long as) the variable, h, is less than or equal to Q−1 (namely, h≦Q−1). Again, the boundary N denotes the total number of rows in table 602′(i). At self-message 344, policy service 174 applies policy(h) to row(j) of table 602′(i). Then nested group 346 is entered. Group 346 of FIG. 3B is given the label “[IF POLICY(h) VIOLATED (CONDITION SATISFIED)],” which represents the pre-requisite to group 346. Messages 348 and 350 are included in group 346. Messages 348 and 350 occur if the prerequisite is met. More particularly, if self-message 344 determines that policy(h) has been violated, then policy service can query policy DB 107 for more information regarding policy(h), as indicated by message 348. Then policy service 174 can create a violation table (to be discussed in more detail below), e.g., in volatile memory 103B, to represent the additional information regarding policy(h). Creation of the violation table is represented by message 350. If the violation table has already been created in a previous iteration of loop 340, then policy service 174 appends the additional information regarding policy(h) to the existing at message 350. An example of a suitable violation table can be an adaptation of new-vs-old table 602′. Information that policy service 174 can add to new-vs-old table 602′ can include: an ID of the policy (POL_ID) that was violated; and an ID of a remediation (R_ID) suited to remediating the circumstances of the violated policy. FIG. 4 depicts a violation table 402 illustrating data relationships in a machine-actionable memory that represent policies that have been violated, according to at least one embodiment of the present invention. In other words, violation table 402 illustrates a particular type of machine-actionable memory arranged according to a particular data structure. In violation table 402, each row can identify (and thus map between) a policy that has been violated, the one or more parameters whose value (or values or changes therein) violated the policy, the new value (k) and at least the preceding corresponding value (k−1). Each row of table 402 can include: a CE_ID field (as in new-vs-old table 602′); at least one PARAM field (similar to new-vs-old table 602′); a NEW field (as in new-vs-old table 602′); at least one OLD field (similar to new-vs-old table 602′); a R_ID field; and a POL_ID field. As noted above, policy service 174 can produce violation table 402 by adapting new-vs-old table 602′, e.g., appending IDs of the violated policies (POL_IDs) and IDs of the associated remediations (R_IDs) to the corresponding rows of the parameters responsible for the violations, respectively. Extending the example illustrated via the specific details of new-vs-old table 602′ in FIG. 6B, it is assumed in FIG. 4 that policies concerning the parameters CPU_CNT and DOM_NAM have been violated. Accordingly, information from the records corresponding to items 904 and 906 in R_ID:POL_ID:CE_ID table 902 has been appended to new-vs-old table 602′ to form violation table 402. For simplicity of illustration, values for the column labeled OLD(K−2) have not been depicted, but such values could be present. After completing violation table 402, policy service 174 can pass violation table 402 to an event service 176. Again, each row in violation table 402 can be described as representing a remediation for the given host-asset 16X. Server 102 can send remediations to the given LWS 109 via event service 176 and a deployment service 178, e.g., as follows. For example, event service 176 can prepare an event object corresponding to each row of violation table 402. Thus, each event object represents a remediation for the given host-asset 16X. Event service 176 can pass each event object to a deployment service 178, which can prepare a deployment package for each event object and then send the respective deployment package to the given LWS 109 via communication service 170. The above discussion can be summarized by referring to FIG. 5. FIG. 5 is a flow diagram illustrating a policy-based method of remediation selection, and a method of remediation deployment, according to at least one embodiment of the present invention. Flow in FIG. 5 begins at block 500 and proceeds to block 502, which has the label “policy-based analysis.” The preceding discussion has described a policy-based analysis that yields violation map 402. This can be contrasted with what can be described as a vulnerability-based analysis. Examples of vulnerability-based analysis are two related copending applications that are assigned to the same assignee as the present application. The two related copending applications are: U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/897,399 having a U.S. filing date of Jul. 23, 2004; and U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/897,402 that also has a U.S. filing date of Jul. 23, 2004. The entirety of the '399 patent application is hereby incorporated by reference. The entirety of the '402 patent application is hereby incorporated by reference. From block 502, flow proceeds in FIG. 5 to decision block 504, where server 102 can, e.g., via event service 176, check whether any policies activated for the given host-asset 16X have been violated. For example, this can be done by event service 176 checking if violation table has any non-null rows. If not, then flow can proceed to block 506 where flow stops or re-starts, e.g., by looping back to block 500. But if there is at least one non-null row in violation table 402, then can flow proceed to block 508, where event service 176 can create an event object (e.g., EVENT) corresponding to each non-null row in violation table 402. Flow can then proceed to decision block 510. At decision block 510, server 102, e.g., via deployment service 178, can determine whether to automatically deploy each event object. As each is produced, event service 176 can pass the event object EVENT(i) to deployment service 178. Deployment service can then determine whether the object EVENT(i) should be automatically deployed, e.g., based upon an automatic deployment flag set in a record for the corresponding policy stored in policy DB 107. Alternatively, a field labeled AUTO_DEP can be added to violation table 402, which would be carried forward in each object EVENT(i). The administrator of architecture 100 can make the decision about whether the remediation for a policy should be automatically deployed. If automatic-deployment is not approved for the remediation corresponding to the violated policy of object EVENT(i), then flow can proceed to block 512 from decision block 510. At block 512, deployment service can present information about object EVENT(i) to, e.g., the administrator of architecture 100, who can then decide whether or not to deploy the remediation. Flow proceeds to block 514 from block 512. But if automatic-deployment is approved for object EVENT(i), then flow can proceed directly to block 514 from decision block 510. At block 514 of FIG. 5, at time at which to deploy object EVENT(i) is determined. Flow proceeds to block 516, where a deployment package D_PAK(i) corresponding to object EVENT(i) is prepared, e.g., as of reaching the time scheduled for deploying object EVENT(i). Deployment package D_PAK(i) can represent the remediation in an automatically-machine-actionable format, e.g., (again) a sequence of one or more operations that automatically can be carried out on the given host-asset 16X, e.g., under the control of its LWS 109. Again, such operations can be invoked by one or more machine-language commands, e.g., one or more Java byte codes. After deployment package D_PAK(i) is created at block 516, flow can proceed to block 518. At block 518, deployment service 178 can send (or, in other words, push) deployment package D_PAK(i) to the given LWS 109. For example, deployment service 178 can pass deployment package D_PAK(i) to communication service 170. Then communication service 170 can send D_PAK(i) to the given LWS 109 over, e.g., path 132. Flow can proceed from block 518 to block 520. At block 520 in FIG. 5, deployment service 178 can monitor the implementation upon the given host-asset 16X of the remediation represented by deployment package D_PAK(i). Such monitoring can be carried out via communication facilitated by communication service 170. More particularly, interaction between deployment service 178 and the given LWS 109 (via communication service 170) can obtain more information than merely whether deployment package D_PAK(i) was installed successfully by the given LWS 109 upon its host-asset 16X. Recalling that a remediation represents one or more operations in an automatically-machine-actionable format, it is noted that a remediation will typically include two or more such operations. LWS 109 can provide deployment service 178 with feedback regarding, e.g., the success or failure of each such operation. From block 520, flow proceeds to block 522, where the flow ends. It is noted that a bracket 548 is depicted in FIG. 5 that groups together blocks 500-522. And bracket 548 points a block diagram of a typical computer (also referred to as a PC) 550. Typical hardware components for computer 550 include a CPU/controller, an I/O unit, volatile memory such as RAM and non-volatile memory media such disk drives and/or tape drives, ROM, flash memory, etc. Bracket 548 and computer 550 are depicted in FIG. 5 to illustrate that blocks 500-502 can be carried out by computer 550, where computer 550 can correspond, e.g., to server 102, etc. The methodologies discussed above can be embodied on a machine-readable medium. Such a machine-readable medium can include code segments embodied thereon that, when read by a machine, cause the machine to perform the methodologies described above. Of course, although several variances and example embodiments of the present invention are discussed herein, it is readily understood by those of ordinary skill in the art that various additional modifications may also be made to the present invention. Accordingly, the example embodiments discussed herein are not limiting of the present invention. | <SOH> BACKGROUND OF THE PRESENT INVENTION <EOH>Attacks on computer infrastructures are a serious problem, one that has grown directly in proportion to the growth of the Internet itself. Most deployed computer systems are vulnerable to attack. The field of remediation addresses such vulnerabilities and should be understood as including the taking of deliberate precautionary measures to improve the reliability, availability, and survivability of computer-based assets and/or infrastructures, particularly with regard to specific known vulnerabilities and threats. Too often, remediation is underestimated as merely the taking of security precautions across a network. While remediation includes such taking of security precautions, it is more comprehensive. It is more accurate to view the taking of security precautions as a subset of remediation. The taking of precautions is typically based upon policies. Such policies are typically based upon security best practices, e.g., a user shall not install his own software, and/or corporate best practices, e.g., a password must be 8 characters in length. To the extent that taking of precautions is automated, the automation typically samples the value of one or more parameters at a given point in time. Then the values of one or more parameters are presented to a user to assess whether the sampled values pose a cause for concern in the context of any policies which are in place. | <SOH> SUMMARY OF THE PRESENT INVENTION <EOH>At least one embodiment of the present invention provides a method of automatically determining one or more remediations for a device that includes a processor. Such a method may include: receiving values of a plurality of parameters which collectively characterize an operational state of the device, there being at least one policy associated with at least a given one of the plurality of parameters, policy defining as a condition thereof one or more potential values of, or based upon, the given parameter, satisfaction of the condition potentially being indicative of unauthorized activity or manipulation of the device; automatically determining, from the received parameter values, whether the conditions for any policies are satisfied, respectively; and automatically selecting one or more remediations for the device according to the satisfied policies, respectively. At least one other embodiment of the present invention provides a machine-readable medium comprising instructions, execution of which by a machine automatically determines one or more remediations for a device that includes a processor, as in the determination method mentioned above. At least one other embodiment of the present invention provides a machine configured to implement the determination method mentioned above. Additional features and advantages of the present invention will be more fully apparent from the following detailed description of example embodiments, the accompanying drawings and the associated claims. | 20040903 | 20100216 | 20060309 | 68120.0 | H04L900 | 3 | REVAK, CHRISTOPHER A | POLICY-BASED SELECTION OF REMEDIATION | UNDISCOUNTED | 0 | ACCEPTED | H04L | 2,004 |
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10,933,505 | ACCEPTED | Data structure for policy-based remediation selection | A machine-actionable memory may include: one or more machine-actionable records arranged according to a data structure, the data structure including links that respectively map between at least one R_ID field, the contents of which denote an identification (ID) of a remediation (R_ID); and at least one POL_ID field, the contents of which denotes an ID of at least one policy (POL_ID), the at-least-one policy respectively defining a condition satisfaction of which is potentially indicative of unauthorized activity or manipulation of the device. | 1. A machine-actionable memory comprising: one or more machine-actionable records arranged according to a data structure, the data structure including links that respectively map between at least one R_ID field, the contents of which denote an identification (ID) of a remediation (R_ID); and at least one POL_ID field, the contents of which denotes an ID of at least one policy (POL_ID), the at-least-one policy respectively defining a condition satisfaction of which is potentially indicative of unauthorized activity or manipulation of the device. 2. The memory of claim 1, wherein the data structure further includes: one or more parameter fields, the contents of which denote present and one or more previous values of one or more parameters associated with the at-least-one policy. 3. The memory of claim 1, wherein the data structure further includes: at least one ACT_ID field, the contents of which denotes an ID of an action (ACT_ID). 4. The memory of claim 1, wherein: excursion of one or more parameter values outside of the boundaries of the at least one policy denoted by the at least one POL_ID field may be cause for invoking the remediation; and execution of the at least one action denoted by the contents of the at least one ACT_ID field at least in part implements the remediation. 5. The memory of claim 1, wherein the data structure further includes: at least one CE_ID field, the contents of which denotes an ID of an asset (CE_ID) to which the remediation is to be applied. 6. The memory of claim 5, wherein: excursion of one or more parameter values outside of the boundaries of the at least one policy denoted by the at least one POL_ID field may be cause for invoking the remediation; execution of the at least one action denoted by the contents of the at least one ACT_ID field at least in part implements the remediation; and implementation of the remediation upon the at least one asset denoted by the contents of the at least one CE_ID field mitigates against a future excursion of the one or more parameter values outside the boundaries of the at least one policy. 7. The memory of claim 5, wherein the data structure for at least one of the one-or-more machine-actionable records includes: two or more POL_ID fields, the contents of which denote two or more POL_IDs, respectively; a plurality of ACT_ID fields, the contents of which denote a plurality of ACT_IDs, respectively; two or more SS links relating one or more among the plurality of ACT_ID fields as a subset (SS) thereof, respectively; two or more CE_ID fields, the contents of which denote two or more CE_ID fields; and at least one of the following, (A) at least two P-SS links between the two or more POL_ID fields, respectively, and the two or more subsets, (B) at least two R-P links between the at-least-one R_ID field and the two or more POL_ID fields, respectively, (C) at least two R-SS links between the at-least-one R_ID field and the two or more subsets, respectively, and (D) at least two R-AS links between the at-least-one R_ID field and the two or more CE_ID fields, respectively. 8. The memory of claim 1, wherein the data structure for at least one of the one-or-more machine-actionable records includes: two or more POL_ID fields, the contents of which denote two or more POL_IDs, respectively; a plurality of ACT_ID fields, the contents of which denote a plurality of ACT_IDs, respectively; at least two SS links relating one or more among the plurality of ACT_ID fields as a subset (SS) thereof, respectively; and at least one of the following, (A) at least two P-SS links between the two or more POL_ID fields, respectively, and the two or more subsets, (B) at least two R-P links between the at-least-one R_ID field and the two or more POL_ID fields, respectively, (C) at least two R-SS links between the at-least-one R_ID field and the two or more subsets, respectively. 9. A method of selecting a remediation that is appropriate to a policy for a device that includes a processor, the method comprising: providing a machine-actionable memory that includes one or more machine-actionable records arranged according to a data structure, the data structure including links that respectively map between at least one R_ID field, the contents of which denote an identification (ID) of a remediation (R_ID), and at least one POL_ID field, the contents of which denotes an ID of a policy (POL_ID), the policy defining a condition satisfaction of which is potentially indicative of unauthorized activity or manipulation of the device; and indexing into the memory using a given POL_ID value to determine values of the at-least-one R_ID corresponding thereto. 10. A machine having a memory as in claim 1. 11. A machine having a memory as in claim 2. 12. A machine having a memory as in claim 3. 13. A machine having a memory as in claim 4. 14. A machine having a memory as in claim 5. 15. A machine having a memory as in claim 6. 16. A machine having a memory as in claim 7. 17. A machine having a memory as in claim 8. 18. A machine-readable medium comprising instructions, execution of which by a machine selects a remediation that is appropriate to a policy for a device that includes a processor, the method comprising: a first code segment to provide a machine-actionable memory that includes one or more machine-actionable records arranged according to a data structure, the data structure including links that respectively map between at least one R_ID field, the contents of which denote an identification (ID) of a remediation (R_ID), and at least one POL_ID field, the contents of which denotes an ID of a policy (POL_ID), the policy defining a condition satisfaction of which is potentially indicative of unauthorized activity or manipulation of the device; and a second code segment to index into the memory using a given POL_ID value to determine values of the at-least-one R_ID corresponding thereto. 19. A machine configured to implement the method of claim 9. 20. An apparatus for selecting a remediation that is appropriate to a technology present on a machine to be remediated, the method comprising: a machine-actionable memory that includes one or more machine-actionable records arranged according to a data structure, the data structure including links that respectively map between at least one R_ID field, the contents of which denote an identification (ID) of a remediation (R_ID), and at least one POL_ID field, the contents of which denotes an ID of a policy (POL_ID), the policy defining a condition satisfaction of which is potentially indicative of unauthorized activity or manipulation of the device; and means for indexing into the memory using a given POL_ID value to determine values of the at-least-one R_ID corresponding thereto. | BACKGROUND OF THE PRESENT INVENTION Attacks on computer infrastructures are a serious problem, one that has grown directly in proportion to the growth of the Internet itself. Most deployed computer systems are vulnerable to attack. The field of remediation addresses such vulnerabilities and should be understood as including the taking of deliberate precautionary measures to improve the reliability, availability, and survivability of computer-based assets and/or infrastructures, particularly with regard to specific known vulnerabilities and threats. Too often, remediation is underestimated as merely the taking of security precautions across a network. While remediation includes such taking of security precautions, it is more comprehensive. It is more accurate to view the taking of security precautions as a subset of remediation. The taking of precautions is typically based upon policies. Such policies are typically based upon security best practices, e.g., a user shall not install his own software, and/or corporate best practices, e.g., a password must be 8 characters in length. To the extent that taking of precautions is automated, the automation typically samples the value of one or more parameters at a given point in time. Then the values of one or more parameters are presented to a user to assess whether the sampled values pose a cause for concern in the context of any policies which are in place. SUMMARY OF THE PRESENT INVENTION At least one embodiment of the present invention provides a machine-actionable memory that may include: one or more machine-actionable records arranged according to a data structure, the data structure including links that respectively map between at least one R_ID field, the contents of which denote an identification (ID) of a remediation (R_ID); and at least one POL_ID field, the contents of which denotes an ID of at least one policy (POL_ID), the at-least-one policy respectively defining a condition satisfaction of which is potentially indicative of unauthorized activity or manipulation of the device. At least one other embodiment of the present invention provides a method of selecting a remediation that is appropriate to a policy for a device that includes a processor, the method comprising: providing a machine-actionable memory such as is mentioned above; and indexing into the memory using a given POL_ID value to determine values of the at-least-one R_ID corresponding thereto. At least one other embodiment of the present invention provides a machine having a machine-actionable memory such as is mentioned above. Additional features and advantages of the present invention will be more fully apparent from the following detailed description of example embodiments, the accompanying drawings and the associated claims. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The drawings are: intended to depict example embodiments of the present invention and should not be interpreted to limit the scope thereof. In particular, relative sizes of the components of a figure may be reduced or exaggerated for clarity. In other words, the figures are not drawn to scale. FIGS. 1, 2A, 2B, 2C, 2D, 3A, 3B, 4, 5, 6A, 6B, 7, 8, 9A and 9B are referred to in the following section entitled, “DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EXAMPLE EMBODIMENTS” (hereafter the Detailed Description Section), albeit not in numerical order. Hence, the following brief description of the drawings describes the drawings in the order in which they are first discussed in the Detailed Description Section. FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an architecture 100 for a policy-based remediation system into which embodiments of the present invention can be incorporated, making system 100 itself represent at least one embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3A is a UML-type sequence diagrams depicting a first part of a method of determining which policies are violated, according to at least one embodiment of the present invention. In a sequence diagram, indicates an action that expects a response message. A indicates a response message. A indicates an action for which the response is implied. And a indicates an action for which no response is expected. FIG. 6A is a survey table illustrating data relationships in a machine-actionable memory that represent survey data from a current sample, according to at least one embodiment of the present invention. FIGS. 2A, 2B, 2C and 2D are linked database structures illustrating data relationships in a machine-actionable memory that represent parameters of a host-asset, according to at least one embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 6B depicts a new-vs-old table, according to at least one embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3B is a UML-type sequence diagrams depicting a second part of a method of determining which policies are violated, according to at least one embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 7 depicts a UML-type database structure, entitled ASSET_CHG_LOG (asset change log) that is used to keep a history of changes in the value of a parameter, according to at least one embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 8 depicts a policy information table illustrating data relationships in a machine-actionable memory that represents which policies are active on which of the various host-assets, according to at least one embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 9A is a diagram of a condition-tree, according to at least one embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 9B is a diagram of another version of the condition-tree of FIG. 9A, according to at least one embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 4 depicts a violation table 402 illustrating data relationships in a machine-actionable memory that represent policies that have been violated, according to at least one embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 5 is a flow diagram illustrating a policy-based method of remediation selection, and a method of remediation deployment, according to at least one embodiment of the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EXAMPLE EMBODIMENTS FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an architecture 100 for a policy-based remediation system into which embodiments of the present invention can be incorporated, making system 100 itself represent at least one embodiment of the present invention. Architecture 100 can include: a server 102 (having one or more processors 103A, non-volatile memory 103B and other components 103C); a database (DB) of remediations 104; a DB of assets 106; a DB of policies 106; and a group 108 of networked assets. Generalized networked communication is represented by path 112. Access to entities external to architecture 100, e.g., the internet (item 113) is available via path 112. Server 102 can be a component of the network to which group 108 represents assets. Other components 103B typically include an input/output (IO) unit, volatile memory (e.g., RAM, etc.), non-volatile memory (e.g., disk drives, etc.), etc. DBs 104, 106 and 107 can be local non-volatile memory resources of server 102. Examples of assets in group 108 include network-attached storage (NAS) devices 160, routers 162, switches 164, computers (also referred to as PCs) 166, printers 168, etc. Assets in group 108 will be generally be referred to as host-assets 16X. In group 108, host-assets 16X can be generalized as devices having some measure of program-code-based operation, e.g., software, firmware, etc., which can be manipulated in some way via an instance of a communication, e.g., arriving via path 112, and as such can be vulnerable to attack. Each of the various host-assets 16X in group 108 is depicted as hosting a light weight sensor (LWS) 109. Each LWS 109 and server 102 adopt a client-server relationship. Operation of each LWS 109 can include gathering information about its host-asset 16X and sending such information to server 102; and receiving remediations in an automatically-machine-actionable format from server 102 and automatically implementing the remediations upon its host-asset 16X. An automatically-machine-actionable remediation can take the form of a sequence of one or more operations that automatically can be carried out on a given host-asset 16X under the control of its LWS 109. Such operations can be invoked by one or more machine-language commands, e.g., one or more Java byte codes. Server 102 can evaluate the gathered-information regarding host-assets 16X in terms of policies that have been applied, or are active in regard to, host-assets 16X, respectively. Based upon the evaluations, server 102 can select remediations and then send them to host-assets 16X, respectively. Each host-asset 16X is provided with local programs and/or services (hereafter, survey tools) that can collect values of a plurality of parameters (hereafter, survey data) which collectively characterize an operational state of host-asset 16X at a particular point in time. Each LWS 109 can invoke such survey tools and/or cooperate with periodic scheduling of such survey tools to obtain the survey data. Then each LWS 109 can also transmit the survey data to server 102. For example, consider LWS 109 of NAS 160, whose transmission of survey data to server 102 is indicated by a communication path 130 superimposed on path 112 in FIG. 1. Continuing the example, once server 102 has selected one or more remediations for NAS 160, server 102 deploys the selected remediation(s) to LWS 109 of NAS 160 as indicated by a communication path 132. The selected remediations can take the form of a deployment package that can include one or more automatically-machine-actionable actions, e.g., a set of one or more Java byte codes for each automatically-machine-actionable action. It is noted that, for simplicity of illustration, only NAS 160 is depicted in FIG. 1 as sending survey data and receiving a deployment package. It is to be understood that instances of paths 130 and 132 would be present for all LWSs 109. Next, details as to the gathering of information will be discussed and examples of policies provided, followed by discussion of how violations of policies can be automatically determined, and how corresponding remediations can automatically be selected. To accompany the discussion, FIGS. 3A-3B are provided. FIGS. 3A-3B are a UML-type sequence diagrams depicting a method of determining which policies are violated, according to at least one embodiment of the present invention. Server 102 and each LWS 109 can, e.g., be provided with services (not depicted in LWSs 109 but see corresponding communication service 170 in server 102), e.g., J2EE-type services, that carry out communication therebetween. For example, see message 304 in FIG. 3A sent from a given instance of LWS 109 to communication service 170. Survey data from an instance of LWS 109 (which is transferred via path 130) can be formatted in a variety of ways. For example, within the survey data, a portion representing a particular parameter can be preceded by a service key, e.g., a string of data that denotes the service on host-asset 16X that collected the portion. Server 102 can be provided with a parser service 172, a J2EE-type service, that can parse the survey data. In the context of FIG. 3A, communication service 170 can pass the survey data to parser server 172 at message 306. Parser service 172 can sequentially examine the survey data, looking for pairs of service keys and associated data portions. Continuing the example, parser service 172 can recognize a service key (k), recognize as being associated therewith a data portion (k), e.g., found between service key (k) and a subsequent service key (k+1), and call an interpretation service (not depicted) corresponding to service key (k) to interpret data portion (k). Parser service 172 can take the output of the respective interpretation services and build a survey table of new parameter values. This can be an iterative process. One of ordinary skill in the art would understand that there are other ways to process the survey data. In the context of FIG. 3A, such an iterative loop is denoted by item No. 308 and is given the label “*[PAIR(i), i≦M−1, FOR M PAIRS].” In UML notation, the asterisk (*) denotes iteration, and iteration of loop 308 will continue while the statement within the square brackets is true. Here, the statement for loop 308 indicates that looping iterates for each PAIR(i) of a service key and its related portion of the survey data (or, in other words the ith PAIR) while (so long as) the variable, i, is less than or equal to M−1 (namely, i≦M−1). The boundary M denotes the total number of pairs of service keys and related data present in the survey data. At self-message 310 in FIG. 3A, parser service 172 can parse the survey data to obtain the ith pair, also known as PAIR(i). At message 312, parser service 172 calls an interpretation service according to the value of the service key in PAIR(i). Hence, such an interpretation service is generally referred to as an ith interpretation service 180 in FIG. 3A. At message 314, ith interpretation service sends back interpreted data to parser service 172. In response, at message 316, parser service 172 can create survey table 602 if this is the first pass through loop 308 and survey table 602 does not yet exist. Otherwise, if survey table 602 already exists, then parser service 172 can append the interpreted data to survey table 602. FIG. 6A is an example of a survey table 602 illustrating data relationships in a machine-actionable memory that represent new survey data from the present sample, according to at least one embodiment of the present invention. More particularly, survey table 602 illustrates data relationships created by parser service 172, e.g., in volatile memory 103B, based upon the survey data, according to at least one embodiment of the present invention. As such, survey table 602 illustrates a particular type of machine-actionable memory arranged according to a particular data structure. Survey table 602 can be described as a CE_ID:PARAM:NEW:OLD mapping, where CE_ID is an acronym for an identification (ID) of a given LWS 109 loaded on a given host-asset 160X, and where each instance of a host-asset 16X can be described as a client environment (CE). Each row of table 602 can include: a CE_ID field; a PARAM field (name of parameter); a NEW field (new value of the parameter); and an OLD field (old value of the parameter). Each row of table 602 represents a mapping between a value for the CE_ID, a name or identification (ID) of a parameter, a new value thereof obtained during the present sampling (k) by the survey tool(s), and an old value thereof obtained during a preceding sampling (e.g., k−1). Here, continuing the example of survey data from path 130, it is assumed that NAS 160 has CE_ID=160—999 for (merely) the purposes of illustration. As will be discussed below, values of many different types of parameters are gathered from the various host-assets 160X, respectively. Further continuing the example of survey data from path 130, survey table 602 assumes that the survey data includes: the parameters CPU_CNT, PROCESS_NAME, DOM_NAM and OS_TYPE as being reported in the survey data; and the corresponding values 1, Outlook®, acct (abbreviation for account) and Windows® 2000, respectively. Initially, null values are stored in the OLD fields. Typically, many other parameters will be present in the survey data and reflected in table 602. Here, only four samples of parameters and values thereof are presented, for simplicity of illustration. Server 102, e.g., via parser service 172, can then assess whether there has been a change in the values of the parameters in the survey data from the present sample (k) relative to a preceding sample, e.g., the immediately preceding sample (k−1). This can be done by server 102 querying asset DB 106 for all parameter records that pertain to a given host-asset 16X, and then comparing the new values (k) against the old values (e.g., k−1) to identify those that have changed. An architecture for DB 106 will now be discussed. FIGS. 2A, 2B, 2C and 2D are linked database structures illustrating data relationships in a machine-actionable memory, e.g., asset DB 106, that represent parameter values for the various host-assets 160X, according to at least one embodiment of the present invention. More particularly, FIG. 2A depicts an asset-parameter (ASSET_PARAMETER) database structure 202. As such, database structure 202 illustrates a particular type of machine-actionable memory arranged according to a particular data structure. Unlike survey table 602, database structure 202 (and also database structures 204-228) are depicted as UML-type database structures. This should be understood to mean that database structure 202 represents an at least M×N array, e.g., M rows and N columns where M and N are integers. A row (not depicted) of the array denoted by database structure 202 corresponds to parameter values of a given host-asset 16X. The columns (not depicted) of the array denoted by database structure 202 correspond to various parameters. The N labels in box 203 denote the parameters, and hence there is a column in the array denoted by database structure 202 for each label in box 203. Box 203 indicates that database structure 202 can include, e.g., the following parameters: CE_ID (again, the ID of the particular instance of LWS 109); DATE_CREATED (date that the asset was created); DATE MODIFIED (last date that the asset was modified); MODIFIED_BY (who modified the asset); BOOT_TIME (time at which the most recent boot-up occurred); OS_TYPE (type of operating system); OS_VERSION (version of the operating system); CONNECTED_IP_ADDRESS (IP address assigned to host-asset 160X); HOST_NAME (name of host-asset 160X); CONNECTED_MAC_ADDRESS (MAC address assigned to host-asset 160X); SERIAL_NO (serial number assigned to host-asset 160X); DOM_NAM (domain name of host asset 160X); DNS_NAME (DNS name assigned to host asset 160X); DHCP_ENABLED (is DHCP, namely dynamic host control protocol, enabled?); BIOS_MFG (name of the manufacturer of the BIOS); BIOS_VERSION (version of the BIOS); CPU_CNT (number of processors); CPU_FAMILY (processor's family of architectures, e.g., Centrino®; CPU_MODEL (model of processor); CPU_SPEED (speed of processor); CPU_UTILIZATION (percentage utilization of the processor); HD_FREE (free space on the hard disk); HD_TOTAL (total space of the hard disk); RAM_PAGE (page size for RAM); RAM_TOTAL (total size of RAM); RAM_VIRTUAL (amount of virtual RAM); RAM_UTILIZATION (percentage utilization of RAM); RM_ACTION_ALLOWED (remote actions allowed); SURVEY_INTERVAL (interval of at which sampling to obtain survey data takes place); MOST_RECENT_SURVEY (DTS, namely date-time stamp, of most recent survey data); and TRANSACT_CTL_NUM (a surrogate key to uniqueness of rows in database structure 202). One of ordinary skill in the art will recognize that values for those parameters listed by box 203 of database structure 202, a subset thereof and/or other parameters can be gathered by the survey tools. Appropriate sets of parameters depend upon the nature of the technology found in host-assets 16X, the granularity of information which an administrator of architecture 100 desires, etc. The same is true for database structures 204-228. FIG. 2A also depicts UML-type database structures 204-228. FIG. 2B is a version of FIG. 2A that depicts database structures 204, 206, 208, 212 and 214 in more detail and database structure 202 in less detail. As such, each of database structures 204, 206, 208, 212 and 214 illustrates a particular type of machine-actionable memory arranged according to a particular data structure. Consider, for example, database structure 204, which is entitled asset-user (ASSET_USER). Each row in database structure 204 can include a CE_ID field (used as a foreign key relative to database structure 204), a USER_NAME field (user's name), and a TRANSACT_CTL_NUM field. It should be understood that multiple users can potentially use a given host-asset 16X, most with permission but some possibly without permission. Hence, different rows in the array represented by database structure 204 can identify different users of the various host-assets 16X, respectively. Database structure 204 is connected to database structure 202 via a path that terminates in a open diamond (⋄) at database structure 202. The open diamond denotes aggregation. In terms of ASSET_USER database structure 204, multiple instances or values of the parameter USER_NAME can exist for a given asset many of whose parameters are stored in ASSET_PARAMETER database structure 202. Such aggregation also can include the characteristic that if rows for a given asset are deleted in ASSET_PARAMETER database structure 202, then the corresponding one or more rows in ASSET_USER database structure 204 are not necessarily deleted as a consequence. Each of database structures 206-228 is also connected to database structure 202 via a path that terminates in a open diamond (⋄) at database structure 202. Database structure 206 is entitled asset-user-group (ASSET_USER_GROUP). Each row in database structure 206 can include: a CE_ID field (used as a foreign key relative to database structure 204); a GROUP_NAME field (user-group's name); and a TRANSACT_CTL_NUM field. Database structure 206 is an accommodation for the possibility that multiple user-groups can be given permission to use a given host-asset 16X. Different rows in the array represented by database structure 206 can identify different user groups for the various host-assets 16X, respectively. Database structure 208 is entitled asset-user-account (ASSET_USER_ACCOUNT). Each row in database structure 208 can include: a CE_ID field (used as a foreign key relative to database structure 204); a USER_NAME field (user's name); a password (PASSWORD) field; a DOMAIN_USER field (user's domain); a LOGIN_TIME field (time of most recent login); LOGOUT_TIME field (time of most recent logout); and a TRANSACT_CTL_NUM field. Database structure 208 can store information about the activity of the multiple users that can be given permission to use a given host-asset 16X. Different rows in the array represented by database structure 208 can store data regarding different users' activity on the various host-assets 16X, respectively. Database structure 212 is entitled asset-process (ASSET_PROCESS). Each row in database structure 212 can include: a CE_ID field (used as a foreign key relative to database structure 204); a P_ID field (ID of process); a PROCESS_NAME field (name of process); and a TRANSACT_CTL_NUM field. Database structure 212 is an accommodation for the possibility that multiple processes can be running on a given host-asset 16X. Different rows in the array represented by database structure 212 can store data regarding different processes running on the various host-assets 16X, respectively. Database structure 214 is entitled asset-file (ASSET_FILE). Each row in database structure 214 can include: a CE_ID field (used as a foreign key relative to database structure 204); a PARENT_DIRECTORY field (path to file location); a FILE_NAME field (name of file); an IS_DIRECTORY field (is file actually a directory?); a PERMISSION field (read/write permission, DTS, etc.); and a TRANSACT_CTL_NUM field. Database structure 214 is an accommodation for the possibility of desiring to determine the presence of a particular file in a given location, the status of the file's permissions, etc. Hence, rows in the array represented by database structure 214 can store information about various files that are loaded on the various host-assets 16X, respectively. FIG. 2C is a version of FIG. 2A that depicts database structures 210, 216 and 218 in more detail and database structure 202 in less detail. As such, each of database structures 210, 216 and 218 illustrates a particular type of machine-actionable memory arranged according to a particular data structure. Database structure 210 is entitled asset-hard-drive (ASSET_HARD_DRIVE). Each row in database structure 210 can include: a CE_ID field (used as a foreign key relative to database structure 204); a NAME field (hard drive name); a TYPE field (type of hard drive); a CAPACITY field (storage capacity of the hard drive); a SERIAL_NO field (serial number assigned to the hard drive); a FILE_SYSTEM field (type of file system to which the hard drive is configured); a USED_SPACE field (amount of storage used); a FREE_SPACE field (amount of storage remaining unused); a COMPRESSED field (are the files compressed?); a LABEL field (label given to the hard drive); a MFG_NAME field (name of the hard drive's manufacturer); a NO_OF_PARTITIONS field (number of partitions into which the hard drive is divided); a SECTORS_PER_TRACK field (number of sectors per track); a TOTAL_CYLINDERS field (total number of cylinders or platters); a TOTAL_HEADS field (total number of heads); a TOTAL_SECTORS field (number of sectors per track); a TOTAL_TRACKS field (total number of tracks); a TRACKS_PER_CYLINDER field (number of tracks per cylinder); and a TRANSACT_CTL_NUM field. Database structure 210 is an accommodation for the possibility that there can be multiple hard drives on a given host-asset 16X. Different rows in the array represented by database structure 210 can store data regarding various hard drives which form parts of the various host-assets 16X, respectively. Database structure 216 is entitled asset-file-system (ASSET_FILE_SYSTEM). Each row in database structure 216 can include: a CE_ID field (used as a foreign key relative to database structure 204); a VOLUME_NAME field (name of storage volume); a MEDIA_TYPE field (type of media); a CAPACITY field (storage capacity of the file system); a VOLUME_SL_NO field (volume serial number); a FILE_SYSTEM field (type of file system); a USED_SPACE field (amount of storage in the file system that has been used); a FREE_SPACE field (amount of storage in the file system remaining unused); a COMPRESSED field (are the files compressed?); a LABEL field (label given to the file system); and a TRANSACT_CTL_NUM field. Database structure 216 is an accommodation for the possibility that there can be multiple file systems in use on a given host-asset 16X. Different rows in the array represented by database structure 216 can store data regarding different file-systems used by the various host-assets 16X, respectively. Database structure 218 is entitled asset-application (ASSET_APPLICATION). Each row in database structure 216 can include: a CE_ID field (used as a foreign key relative to database structure 204); a VENDOR field (name of the application's vendor); a PRODUCT field (name of application); a VERSION field (version of the application); a SERIAL_NUM field (serial number assigned to the application); a LICENSE_NUM field (number of license for the application); a SKU_NUM field (SKI, namely stock-keeping unit, number); an INSTALL_DATE field (date that the application was installed); and a TRANSACT_CTL_NUM field. Database structure 218 is an accommodation for the possibility that there can be multiple applications loaded on a given host-asset 16X. Different rows in the array represented by database structure 218 can store data regarding different applications loaded on the various host-assets 16X, respectively. FIG. 2D is a version of FIG. 2A that depicts database structures 220, 222, 224, 226 and 228 in more detail and database structure 202 in less detail. As such, each of database structures 220, 222, 224, 226 and 228 illustrates a particular type of machine-actionable memory arranged according to a particular data structure. Database structure 220 is entitled asset-route-table (ASSET_ROUTE_TABLE). Each row in database structure 220 can include: a CE_ID field (used as a foreign key relative to database structure 204); a TARGET field (address to which communication directed); a GATEWAY field (gateway through which communication proceeds; a NETMASK field (bit mask used to tell how much of an IP address identifies the subnetwork that the given host-asset 16X is on and how much identifies the host-asset 16X itself); and a TRANSACT_CTL_NUM field. Database structure 220 is an accommodation for the possibility that there can be multiple routes by which communication can be sent from a given host-asset 16X. Different rows in the array represented by database structure 220 can store information regarding various routes of communication being used by the various host-assets 16X, respectively. Database structure 222 is entitled asset-ARP-table (ASSET_ARP_TABLE). Each row in database structure 222 can include: a CE_ID field (used as a foreign key relative to database structure 204); an INTERNET_ADDRESS field (internet address, e.g., IP address, of host-asset 16X involved in a communication); a PHYSICAL_ADDRESS field (address of hardware on host-asset 16X involved in a communication); a TYPE field (ARP mapping dynamic or static); and a TRANSACT_CTL NUM field. Database structure 222 is an accommodation for the possibility that there can be multiple components on a given host-asset 16X that are engaged in external communication. Different rows in the array represented by database structure 222 can store data regarding different various components on the various host-assets 16X, respectively, that are engaged in communication. Database structure 224 is entitled asset-device-driver (ASSET_DEVICE_DRIVER). Each row in database structure 224 can include: a CE_ID field (used as a foreign key relative to database structure 204); a DEVICE_NAME field (name of driver); a DEVICE_TYPE field (type of driver); a MFG_NAME field (name of driver's manufacturer); and a TRANSACT_CTL_NUM field. Database structure 224 is an accommodation for the possibility that there can be multiple drivers loaded on a given host-asset 16X. Different rows in the array represented by database structure 212 can store data regarding different processes running on the various host-assets 16X, respectively. Different rows in the array represented by database structure 224 can store information regarding the various drivers loaded on the various host-assets 16X, respectively. Database structure 226 is entitled asset-netstat (ASSET_NETSTAT). Each row in database structure 226 can include: a CE_ID field (used as a foreign key relative to database structure 204); a PROTOCOL field (name of protocol, e.g., TCP, UDP, etc.); a LOCAL_ADDRESS field (port being used for an instance of communication by a given host-asset 16X); a FOREIGN_ADDRESS field (an address of an entity with which the given host-asset 16X is in communication); a STATE field (state, e.g., listening, of the communication in which an entity on a given host-asset 16X is engaged); and a TRANSACT_CTL_NUM field. Database structure 226 is an accommodation for the possibility that there can be multiple instances of external communication in which components on a given host-asset 16X can be engaged. Different rows in the array represented by database structure 226 can store information regarding various instances of communication in which the various host-assets 16X, respectively, are engaged. Database structure 228 is entitled asset-installed-patch (ASSET_INSTALLED_PATCH). Each row in database structure 228 can include: a CE_ID field (used as a foreign key relative to database structure 204); a PATCH_NAME field (name of installed patch); a VERSION field (version of the installed patch); an INSTALL_DATE field (date that the patch was installed); an UNINSTALL_DATE field (date that the patch was uninstalled); and a TRANSACT_CTL_NUM field. Database structure 228 is an accommodation for the possibility that there can be multiple patches installed on a given host-asset 16X. Different rows in the array represented by database structure 228 can store data regarding various patches installed on the various host-assets 16X, respectively. Discussion now returns to parser service 172. To review, parser service 172 can query asset DB 106 for all parameter records pertaining to a given host-asset 16X for which survey data has been received and parsed to form survey table 602. In the context of FIG. 3A, such a query is illustrated as a message 318 from parser service 172 to asset DB 106. Then parser service 172 can iteratively (e.g., row-by-row for survey table 602) compare the new parameter values (k) against the old parameter values (e.g., k−1) to identify those that have changed. Such an iterative technique is illustrated in FIG. 3A as loop 320. The result of such an iterative technique (or, in other words, the result of loop 320) is that table 602 is converted into what can be described as a new vs. old table. Loop 320 of FIG. 3A is given the label “[ROW(i), i≦N−1, FOR N ROWS IN TBL 602].” Iteration of loop 320 will continue for each ROW(i) of table 602′ while (so long as) the variable, i, is less than or equal to N−1 (namely, i≦N−1). The boundary N denotes the total number of rows in table 602′. In loop 320, parser service 170 searches through parameter values obtained via message 318 for an old value corresponding to the parameter of row(i) of table 602. Next, FIG. 3A illustrates a branching message 324. As indicated by the label “[NEW=OLD],” if parser service 170 finds a corresponding old value and if the old value equals the new value, then branch 326A of message 324 is taken, by which parser service 174 deletes row(i) from table 602. Else, as indicated by the label “[NEW≠OLD],” if parser service 170 finds a corresponding old value and if the old value does not equal the new value, then branch 326B of message 324 is taken, by which parser service 174 appends the old value to the OLD field of row(i) in table 602. If no corresponding old parameter value is found, then parser service 170 can ignore the new value. This could be handled by changing the label of branch 324A to be [NEW=OLD or NEW=NULL]. FIG. 6B depicts such a new versus old (hereafter, new-vs-old) table 602′ that illustrates a revised version of survey table 602, according to at least one embodiment of the present invention. As such, survey table 602′ illustrates a particular type of machine-actionable memory arranged according to a particular data structure. Extending the example of survey data from path 130, it is assumed in FIG. 6B that parser service 172 has: recognized changes in the parameters CPU_CNT, DOM_NAM, and OS_TYPE; appended the corresponding old values thereof; determined that no change has occurred in the parameter PROCESS_NAME; and deleted the row for the unchanged parameter PROCESS_NAME. After it finishes the iterative new vs. old comparison that results in new-vs-old table 602′, parser service 172 can place a copy of new-vs-old table 602′ (or an object representing table 602′) in an asynchronous queue 173, e.g., a FIFO buffer, for a policy service 174 (to be discussed below). In the context of FIG. 3B, this is illustrated as message 328 from parser service 172 to queue 173. Queue 173 can absorb variations in the rate at which parser service 172 generates instances of new-vs-old table 602′. Substantially concurrently, parser service 172 can (according to those rows, if any, remaining in table 602′) also overwrite corresponding records in database structures 202-228 with the new parameter values and append new records to an installment history, e.g., as embodied by a suitable database structure on asset DB 106. In the context of FIG. 3B, this is illustrated as message 330 from parser service 172 to asset DB 106. FIG. 7 depicts an example of a suitable UML-type database structure 702, entitled ASSET_CHG_LOG (asset change log) that is used to keep the history of changes in the value of a parameter, according to at least one embodiment of the present invention. Each row in database structure 228 can include: a CE_ID field (used as a foreign key relative to database structure 204); a TABLE_NAME field (name of the primary table in which the parameter is tracked); a COLUMN_NAME field (name of the parameter); a RECORD_ID field (value of the TRANSACT_CTL_NUM field in the primary table); a CHANGE_DATE field (DTS for change tracked by the given row in database structure 228); a CHANGED_BY field (entity initiating change); an OLD field (value of the parameter as of the immediately preceding, relative to point in time indicated by the value in the CHANGE_DATE field, sample); a NEW field (value of the parameter as of the point in time indicated by the value in the CHANGE_DATE field); and a TRANSACT_CTL_NUM field. Structure 702 can be used to track the history of changes to each of parameters for all of the assets tracked in ASSET_PARAMETER database structure 202. The copies of the various instances of table 602′ in queue 173 can be sequentially processed by a policy service 174 of server 102. Policy service 174 can obtain an instance of new-vs-old table 602′ from queue 173 and then evaluate the changed data in new-vs-old table 602′ against each policy that is activated for the given host-asset 16X. This can be iterative. In the context of FIG. 3B, such iteration is illustrated by loop 332. Loop 332 of FIG. 3B is given the label “*[TBL_602′(i), i≦R−1, FOR R INSTANCES OF TBL_602].” Iteration of loop 332 will continue for each TBL_602′(i) of queue 173 while (so long as) the variable, i, is less than or equal to R−1 (namely, i≦R−1). The boundary R denotes the total number of instances of table 602′ in queue 173. Policy service 174 gets a copy of table 602′(i) via message 334 to queue 173. Before discussing loop 332 further, a discussion of policies is provided. A policy can define as a condition of a given parameter either of the following: one or more potential values of a given parameter; or one or more values based upon the given parameter. When the condition of a policy is satisfied, this is potentially indicative of unauthorized activity or manipulation of the given host-asset 16X upon which the policy has been activated. As a first policy example, consider a policy which is violated (or, in other words, whose condition is satisfied) if the value of the CONNECTED_IP_ADDRESS parameter of ASSET_PARAMETER database structure 202 is not one of the IP addresses on an approved list. If such a policy is satisfied, it could potentially (though not necessarily) indicate unauthorized actively on the given host-asset 16X. As a second policy example, consider a policy which is violated (or, in other words, whose condition is satisfied) if an authorized user of a VPN (virtual private network) is logged in during normal business hours (where VPN usage is for this user is typically expected to be after business hours) and if the given host-asset is connected to the accounting wireless domain (where the user is authorized only to access the engineering and sales domains). If such a policy is satisfied, it could potentially indicate that a known user is engaging in unauthorized activity. As a third policy example, consider a policy which is violated (or, in other words, whose condition is satisfied) if there is a change in the CPU_CNT parameter of ASSET_PARAMETER database structure 202. If such a policy is satisfied, this could be indicative of one or more processors having been stolen from or added to the given host-asset 16X, Either type of change can indicate potential unauthorized manipulation of the given-host 16X, and the latter may potentially be a precursor of forthcoming unauthorized activity on the given host-asset 16X. Discussion now returns to loop 332 of FIG. 3B and policy service 174. To evaluate the changed data in new-vs-old table 602′ against each policy that is activated for the given host-asset 16X, policy service 174 can do the following: it can query policy DB 107 for all policies activated for the given host-asset 16X, e.g., by indexing according to the CE_ID value therefore; then it can build a condition-tree, e.g., in non-volatile memory 103B, for the condition of each policy that is active for a given host-asset 16X; and then it can evaluate each row of new-vs-old table 602′ according to each condition-tree, which results in a violation table. An example of a violation table is depicted in FIG. 8. In the context of FIG. 3B, policy service 174 queries for the activated policies via message 336 to policy DB 107. FIG. 8 depicts an activated policy table illustrating data relationships in a machine-actionable memory that represents which policies are active on which of the various host-assets 16X, according to at least one embodiment of the present invention. More particularly, FIG. 8 depicts a policy information (or, in other words, an R_ID:POL_ID:CE_ID) table 802, illustrating data relationships in a machine-actionable memory, e.g., in policy DB 107, that maps policies to remediations, and also maps policies to assets. As such, policy information table 802 illustrates a particular type of machine-actionable memory arranged according to a particular data structure. Policy information (pol-info) table 802 includes the columns R_ID, POL_ID, ACT_ID and CE_ID. A value in the R_ID-column indicates an identification (ID) of a remediation (R_ID) suited to remediating the circumstances of a violated policy. A value in the POL_ID-column indicates an ID of a policy (POL_ID). A value in the ACT_ID-column indicates an ID of action or operation that automatically can be carried out on a given host-asset 16X to at least in-part implement a remediation. A value in the CE_D-column indicates an ID of a given host-asset 16X. An example of constraints upon Pol-info table 802 would be as follows: each policy can map to only one remediation; a remediation, however, can map to one or more policies; each policy can map to one or more assets; etc. Pol-info table 802 can be created by the administrator of architecture 100, and edited/expanded as policies change and/or are added. Extending the example illustrated via the specific details of new-vs-old table 602′ in FIG. 6B, it is assumed in FIG. 9A that records denoted by items 804 and 806 corresponding to the policies violated by the data of the new-vs-old table 602′. Returning to the context of FIG. 3B, at self-message 338, policy service 174 builds the condition trees for those policies indicated by Pol-info table 802 as being activated for the given host-asset 16X. For the sake of discussion, it is assumed that each message 338 generates a total of Q condition trees for Q activated policies. Next, at loop 340, policy service 174 evaluates each condition-tree according to the values of each row of new-vs-old table 602′(i). Before discussing loop 340, a discussion of condition trees is provided. FIG. 9A is a diagram of a condition-tree 902, according to at least one embodiment of the present invention. Condition-tree 902 depicts data relationships in volatile memory 103B. As such, condition-tree 902 depicts a particular type of machine-actionable memory, according to at least one embodiment of the present invention. Condition-tree 902 is an at least two-level hierarchical tree structure that includes: a root node 904; and leaf node 906; and one or more optional leaf nodes 908. There can be N leaf nodes, where N is an integer and N≧1. While not limited to a specific maximum value, N typically will fall in a range 2≦N≦10. Root node 904 can represent a logical operator, e.g., logical AND, logical OR, logical NOT, etc. Leaf nodes 906 and 906 can be statements representing sub-conditions of the policy's condition. Stated differently, condition tree 902 is a representation of a condition that itself is a collection of conditions. Evaluation of the statements representing the sub-conditions according to the values in a row of new-vs-old table 602′ yields an indication of the statement being true or false, e.g., a logical one or a logical zero. FIG. 9B is a diagram of a version 902′ of condition-tree 902, according to at least one embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 9B, node 908 is depicted as a multi-part node 908′, which can include: an intermediate node 910, that reports to root node 904; a sub-leaf node 912; and one or more sub-leaf nodes 914. There can be P sub-leaf nodes, where P is an integer and P≧1. Similarly, sub-leaf nodes 912 and 914 can be statements representing sub-sub-conditions of the sub-condition represented by leaf node 908. And similarly, evaluation of the statements representing the sub-sub-conditions according to the values in a row of the new-vs-old table 602′ yields an indication of the statement being true or false. One or more of sub-leaf nodes 912 and 914 can be themselves be multi-part nodes, respectively. Via the use of a condition tree 902/902′, a policy whose condition is satisfied when a collection of sub-conditions are coincidentally satisfied can be quickly evaluated. Moreover, such condition-trees 902/902′ can quickly and easily be configured and/or reconfigured. In rule-based decision-making software according to the Background Art, conditions of a rule are typically represented in source code as if-then-else constructs, rather than as a machine-actionable memory. Coding of such constructs is relatively more difficult, and as is revising such constructs. In addition, if-then-else constructs are sequential in nature. In contrast, condition-trees 902/902′ exploit the parallelism in a condition. Accordingly, condition trees 902/902′ are significantly faster on average to evaluate than a corresponding if-then-else construct. Stated differently, condition-trees represent an object-oriented representation, where the level of granularity is at the node-level (nodes are the objects) into which a condition is decomposed. In contrast, while an if-then-else construct according to the Background Art might be coded using a high-level object-oriented programming language, at best the condition as a whole of the construct is treated as the sole object. If-then-else constructs are less granular representations of conditions than are condition-trees. Returning to the first policy example, a corresponding condition-tree could have as simple leaf nodes reporting to the root node the sub-conditions CONNECTED_IP_ADDRESS=given_member_of approved_list for each member of the approved list. The root node for this condition tree could be a logical OR operator. Returning to the second policy example, a corresponding condition-tree could have as the root node the logical AND operator, and as simple leaf nodes reporting thereto the sub-conditions VPN_CONNECTION (true or false) and USER_VPN_AUTHORIZED (true or false). The condition tree could also have the following multi-part nodes reporting to the root node: the logical AND operator as the intermediate node to which report simple sub-leaf nodes representing the sub-sub conditions DOM_NAM=given_member_of-approved_list for each member on the list; and the logical operator NOT as the intermediate node to which reports a simple sub-leaf node representing the sub-sub condition NORMAL_VPN_WINDOW=time_range given_member_of-approved_list. Returning to the third policy example, a corresponding condition-tree could have as the root node the local NOT operator, and as a simple leaf node reporting thereto the sub-condition CPU_CNT_NEW=CPU_CNT_OLD. The ordinarily-skilled artisan will recognize other ways to construct condition-trees for each of the first, second and third policy examples. In general, policy conditions are typically susceptible to a plurality of constructions. Similar to how an appropriate set of parameters will vary (again, depending upon the nature of the technology found in host-assts 16X, the granularity of information thereabout that is desired, etc.), so too will vary the nature and complexity (e.g., the number of sub-conditions whose satisfaction needs to coincide) of policy conditions. Moreover, the complexity of policies will also vary according to the desired degree to which satisfaction of the policy is a precursor of forthcoming unauthorized activity on or manipulation of the given host-asset 16X. In other words, condition complexity (and thus policy complexity) will vary according to how early a warning of potential forthcoming unauthorized activity or manipulation the administrator of architecture 100 desires to receive. Patterns of seemingly unrelated parameter values or changes in the values thereof can warn of or foreshadow potential forthcoming unauthorized activity or manipulation. In this respect, identifying unauthorized activity or manipulation from a pattern of seemingly unrelated parameter values is analogous to the differential diagnosis of a patient's illness by a physician where the patient presents with a plurality of symptoms, many of which can seem unrelated. Generally, the earlier the warning that is desired, the greater is the number of seemingly unrelated parameter values (or changes in the values thereof) that are included as factors of the condition. Hence, earlier warnings typically dictate policies whose conditions concern a relatively greater number of parameters. It should be noted that there can be one or more policies which have as the sole condition, or as one or more of the sub-conditions thereof, either of the following definitions: one or more of the potential values defined for the given parameter represent aberrations from normal values of the given parameter; or one or more of the potential values defined for the given parameter represent normal values of the given parameter. Generally, the earlier the warning, the more likely it is that that the latter definition (in which potential values representing normal values) will chosen for one or more sub-conditions of the policy. A condition for a policy can include as one or more factors (or, in other words, describe) at least one of the following concerning at least one parameter: existence; non-existence; a range of potential values thereof; change in the value thereof; no-change in the value thereof; a maximum amount of change in the value thereof; a minimum amount of change in the value thereof; a maximum potential value thereof; a minimum potential value thereof; being equal to a specific value thereof; not being equal to a specific value thereof; presence on a list; absence from a list; etc. Some additional examples of policies will be briefly mentioned. Again, satisfaction of the conditions of such policies can potentially be indicative of unauthorized activity or manipulation of the given host-asset 16X. As a fourth policy example, consider a policy which is violated (or, in other words, whose condition is satisfied) if: the value of the BOOT_TIME parameter from of ASSET_PARAMETER database structure 202 is not consistent with the value of the MOST_RECENT_SURVEY parameter of ASSET_PARAMETER database structure 202. Satisfaction of this condition potentially can indicate unauthorized manipulation of the system clock on the given host-asset 16X. As a fifth policy example, consider a two-sub-condition policy which is violated (or, in other words, whose condition is satisfied) if: the CPU_CNT parameter of ASSET_PARAMETER database structure 202 changes; and the DHCP_ENABLED parameter of ASSET_PARAMETER database structure 202 is true. Servers typically do not enable DHCP, using instead a static IP address. Where the given host-asset 16X is a server, satisfaction of this condition potentially can indicate that that a malefactor who added the processor to the server desires to keep the extra processor invisible. As a sixth policy example, consider a multi-sub-condition policy which is violated (or, in other words, whose condition is satisfied) if: the value of the CPU_UTILIZATION parameter of ASSET_PARAMETER database structure 202 exhibits a spike; and there is a pattern that the value of the RAM_UTILIZATION parameter of ASSET_PARAMETER database structure 202 exhibits a spike and then returns substantially to the previous value. Satisfaction of this condition potentially can indicate that a user is hiding use of some volatile memory and/or a rogue application is attempting to minimize the amount of time that it exposed. As a seventh policy example, consider a policy which is violated (or, in other words, whose condition is satisfied) if: the value of the RAM_TOTAL parameter of ASSET_PARAMETER database structure 202 is less than a previous value. Satisfaction of this condition potentially can indicate unauthorized removal (e.g., theft) of volatile memory device(s) from the given host-asset 16X or that some of the volatile memory is deliberately being hidden. Alternatively, if the value of the RAM_TOTAL parameter increases, then this potentially can indicate unauthorized addition of volatile memory device(s) from the given host-asset 16X. As an eighth policy example, consider a policy which is violated (or, in other words, whose condition is satisfied) if: the value of DOM_NAM parameter of ASSET_PARAMETER database structure 202 is a null value (indicating that the given host-asset 16X does not belong to the domain); and the value of the USER_NAME parameter of ASSET_USER database structure 204 is not on a list of users approved for the given host-asset 16X. Satisfaction of this condition potentially can indicate an unauthorized user. As a ninth policy example, consider a policy which is violated (or, in other words, whose condition is satisfied) if: the calculated value of a hard disk's size (which can be based upon the values of the SECTORS_PER_TRACK and TOTAL_TRACKS parameters of ASSET_HARD_DRIVE database structure 210) does not substantially match the value of the CAPACITY parameter of ASSET_HARD_DRIVE database structure 210. If there are a negligible number of bad sectors, then satisfaction of this condition potentially can indicate a portion of the hard disk storage space is being hidden. As a tenth policy example, consider a policy which is violated (or, in other words, whose condition is satisfied) if: the value of the GATEWAY parameter of ASSET_ROUTE_TABLE database structure 220 has changed from the preceding value, which is assumed to be a default value. Satisfaction of this condition potentially can indicate a communication which a malefactor hopes will go unnoticed. As an eleventh policy example, consider a policy which is violated (or, in other words, whose condition is satisfied) if: the value of the SERIAL_NUM parameter in ASSET_APPLICATION database structure 218 changes. Where the unit having the change serial number is a processor, satisfaction of the condition potentially can indicate an unauthorized swap of processors. Due to manufacturing tolerances, otherwise identical instances of processors can exhibit different tolerances to ambient temperature; here, a malefactor could have swapped a processor with a lower ambient temperature tolerance for a processor with higher ambient temperature tolerance. As a twelfth policy example, consider a policy which is violated (or, in other words, whose condition is satisfied) if: the DHCP_ENABLED parameter of ASSET_PARAMETER database structure 202 is false. As noted, servers typically do not enable DHCP, but all other computer-based devices typically do enable DHCP. Where the given host-asset 16X is not a server, satisfaction of this condition potentially can indicate that that a malefactor has statically set the IP address of the given host-asset 16X in order to login to the network fraudulently as another user. As a thirteenth policy example, consider a policy which is violated (or, in other words, whose condition is satisfied) if: the value of the PROCESS_NAME parameter in ASSET_PROCESS database structure 212 is not on a list of processes approved for the given host-asset 16X. Satisfaction of this condition potentially can indicate processes that should not be running on the given host-asset 16X. As a fourteenth policy example, consider a policy which is violated (or, in other words, whose condition is satisfied) if: the value of the PRODUCT parameter of ASSET_APPLICATION database structure 218 is on a list of applications not approved for the given host-asset 16X. Satisfaction of this condition could indicate that an unwanted file-sharing program, e.g., KAZAA, is installed irrespective of whether it is running as a process. As a fifteenth policy example, consider a policy which is violated (or, in other words, whose condition is satisfied) if: the value of the LOCAL_ADDRESS parameter of ASSET_NETSTAT database structure 226 includes a port value that is not on a list of ports approved for listening by the given host-asset 16X. Satisfaction of this condition could indicate that an unauthorized web server is running on the given host-asset 16X. As a sixteenth policy example, consider a policy which is violated (or, in other words, whose condition is satisfied) if: the value of the DEVICE_TYPE parameter of ASSET_DEVICE_DRIVER database structure 224 indicates that the driver is on list of unauthorized driver types, e.g., including USB-type drivers. Some information-security best practices call for there to be no removable storage devices connected to networked computers. An common example of a small, easily concealed removable storage media is a USB-type memory stick. Satisfaction of this policy's condition potentially can indicate that a removable storage device, e.g., USB-type memory stick, is connected to the given host-asset 16X. As a seventeenth policy example, consider a policy which is violated (or, in other words, whose condition is satisfied) if: the value of a given parameter, e.g., the PRODUCT parameter of ASSET_APPLICATION database structure 218, is absent from a list of permissible values; and the value of the given parameter is absent from a list of impermissible values. Satisfaction of this condition potentially can indicate the presence of an entity, e.g., an application, on the given host-asset 16X which the administrator of architecture 100 has yet to encounter. Discussion now returns to loop 340 of FIG. 3B and policy service 174. Nested within loop 340 is a loop 342, and nested within loop 342 is a prerequisite-dependent group 346 of messages. Again, at loop 340, policy service 174 evaluates each condition-tree according to the values of each row of new-vs-old table 602′(i). Loop 340 of FIG. 3B is given the label “*[ROW(j), j≦N−1, FOR N ROWS IN TABLE 602′(i)].” Iteration of loop 332 will continue for each TBL—602′(i) of queue 173 while (so long as) the variable, i, is less than or equal to R−1 (namely, i≦R−1). Again, the boundary N denotes the total number of rows in table 602′(i). Nested loop 342 of FIG. 3B is given the label “[POLICY(h), h≦Q−1, FOR Q POLICIES].” Iteration of loop 342 will continue for each POLICY(h) for table 602(i) while (so long as) the variable, h, is less than or equal to Q−1 (namely, h≦Q−1). Again, the boundary N denotes the total number of rows in table 602′(i). At self-message 344, policy service 174 applies policy(h) to row(j) of table 602′(i). Then nested group 346 is entered. Group 346 of FIG. 3B is given the label “[IF POLICY(h) VIOLATED (CONDITION SATISFIED)],” which represents the pre-requisite to group 346. Messages 348 and 350 are included in group 346. Messages 348 and 350 occur if the prerequisite is met. More particularly, if self-message 344 determines that policy(h) has been violated, then policy service can query policy DB 107 for more information regarding policy(h), as indicated by message 348. Then policy service 174 can create a violation table (to be discussed in more detail below), e.g., in volatile memory 103B, to represent the additional information regarding policy(h). Creation of the violation table is represented by message 350. If the violation table has already been created in a previous iteration of loop 340, then policy service 174 appends the additional information regarding policy(h) to the existing at message 350. An example of a suitable violation table can be an adaptation of new-vs-old table 602′. Information that policy service 174 can add to new-vs-old table 602′ can include: an ID of the policy (POL_ID) that was violated; and an ID of a remediation (R_ID) suited to remediating the circumstances of the violated policy. FIG. 4 depicts a violation table 402 illustrating data relationships in a machine-actionable memory that represent policies that have been violated, according to at least one embodiment of the present invention. In other words, violation table 402 illustrates a particular type of machine-actionable memory arranged according to a particular data structure. In violation table 402, each row can identify (and thus map between) a policy that has been violated, the one or more parameters whose value (or values or changes therein) violated the policy, the new value (k) and at least the preceding corresponding value (k−1). Each row of table 402 can include: a CE_ID field (as in new-vs-old table 602′); at least one PARAM field (similar to new-vs-old table 602′); a NEW field (as in new-vs-old table 602′); at least one OLD field (similar to new-vs-old table 602′); a R_ID field; and a POL_ID field. As noted above, policy service 174 can produce violation table 402 by adapting new-vs-old table 602′, e.g., appending IDs of the violated policies (POL_IDs) and IDs of the associated remediations (R_IDs) to the corresponding rows of the parameters responsible for the violations, respectively. Extending the example illustrated via the specific details of new-vs-old table 602′ in FIG. 6B, it is assumed in FIG. 4 that policies concerning the parameters CPU_CNT and DOM_NAM have been violated. Accordingly, information from the records corresponding to items 904 and 906 in R_ID:POL_ID:CE_ID table 902 has been appended to new-vs-old table 602′ to form violation table 402. For simplicity of illustration, values for the column labeled OLD(K-2) have not been depicted, but such values could be present. After completing violation table 402, policy service 174 can pass violation table 402 to an event service 176. Again, each row in violation table 402 can be described as representing a remediation for the given host-asset 16X. Server 102 can send remediations to the given LWS 109 via event service 176 and a deployment service 178, e.g., as follows. For example, event service 176 can prepare an event object corresponding to each row of violation table 402. Thus, each event object represents a remediation for the given host-asset 16X. Event service 176 can pass each event object to a deployment service 178, which can prepare a deployment package for each event object and then send the respective deployment package to the given LWS 109 via communication service 170. The above discussion can be summarized by referring to FIG. 5. FIG. 5 is a flow diagram illustrating a policy-based method of remediation selection, and a method of remediation deployment, according to at least one embodiment of the present invention. Flow in FIG. 5 begins at block 500 and proceeds to block 502, which has the label “policy-based analysis.” The preceding discussion has described a policy-based analysis that yields violation map 402. This can be contrasted with what can be described as a vulnerability-based analysis. Examples of vulnerability-based analysis are two related copending applications that are assigned to the same assignee as the present application. The two related copending applications are: U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/897,399 having a U.S. filing date of Jul. 23, 2004; and U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/897,402 that also has a U.S. filing date of Jul. 23, 2004. The entirety of the '399 patent application is hereby incorporated by reference. The entirety of the '402 patent application is hereby incorporated by reference. From block 502, flow proceeds in FIG. 5 to decision block 504, where server 102 can, e.g., via event service 176, check whether any policies activated for the given host-asset 16X have been violated. For example, this can be done by event service 176 checking if violation table has any non-null rows. If not, then flow can proceed to block 506 where flow stops or re-starts, e.g., by looping back to block 500. But if there is at least one non-null row in violation table 402, then can flow proceed to block 508, where event service 176 can create an event object (e.g., EVENT) corresponding to each non-null row in violation table 402. Flow can then proceed to decision block 510. At decision block 510, server 102, e.g., via deployment service 178, can determine whether to automatically deploy each event object. As each is produced, event service 176 can pass the event object EVENT(i) to deployment service 178. Deployment service can then determine whether the object EVENT(i) should be automatically deployed, e.g., based upon an automatic deployment flag set in a record for the corresponding policy stored in policy DB 107. Alternatively, a field labeled AUTO_DEP can be added to violation table 402, which would be carried forward in each object EVENT(i). The administrator of architecture 100 can make the decision about whether the remediation for a policy should be automatically deployed. If automatic-deployment is not approved for the remediation corresponding to the violated policy of object EVENT(i), then flow can proceed to block 512 from decision block 510. At block 512, deployment service can present information about object EVENT(i) to, e.g., the administrator of architecture 100, who can then decide whether or not to deploy the remediation. Flow proceeds to block 514 from block 512. But if automatic-deployment is approved for object EVENT(i), then flow can proceed directly to block 514 from decision block 510. At block 514 of FIG. 5, at time at which to deploy object EVENT(i) is determined. Flow proceeds to block 516, where a deployment package D_PAK(i) corresponding to object EVENT(i) is prepared, e.g., as of reaching the time scheduled for deploying object EVENT(i). Deployment package D_PAK(i) can represent the remediation in an automatically-machine-actionable format, e.g., (again) a sequence of one or more operations that automatically can be carried out on the given host-asset 16X, e.g., under the control of its LWS 109. Again, such operations can be invoked by one or more machine-language commands, e.g., one or more Java byte codes. After deployment package D_PAK(i) is created at block 516, flow can proceed to block 518. At block 518, deployment service 178 can send (or, in other words, push) deployment package D_PAK(i) to the given LWS 109. For example, deployment service 178 can pass deployment package D_PAK(i) to communication service 170. Then communication service 170 can send D_PAK(i) to the given LWS 109 over, e.g., path 132. Flow can proceed from block 518 to block 520. At block 520 in FIG. 5, deployment service 178 can monitor the implementation upon the given host-asset 16X of the remediation represented by deployment package D_PAK(i). Such monitoring can be carried out via communication facilitated by communication service 170. More particularly, interaction between deployment service 178 and the given LWS 109 (via communication service 170) can obtain more information than merely whether deployment package D_PAK(i) was installed successfully by the given LWS 109 upon its host-asset 16X. Recalling that a remediation represents one or more operations in an automatically-machine-actionable format, it is noted that a remediation will typically include two or more such operations. LWS 109 can provide deployment service 178 with feedback regarding, e.g., the success or failure of each such operation. From block 520, flow proceeds to block 522, where the flow ends. It is noted that a bracket 548 is depicted in FIG. 5 that groups together blocks 500-522. And bracket 548 points a block diagram of a typical computer (also referred to as a PC) 550. Typical hardware components for computer 550 include a CPU/controller, an I/O unit, volatile memory such as RAM and non-volatile memory media such disk drives and/or tape drives, ROM, flash memory, etc. Bracket 548 and computer 550 are depicted in FIG. 5 to illustrate that blocks 500-502 can be carried out by computer 550, where computer 550 can correspond, e.g., to server 102, etc. The methodologies discussed above can be embodied on a machine-readable medium. Such a machine-readable medium can include code segments embodied thereon that, when read by a machine, cause the machine to perform the methodologies described above. Of course, although several variances and example embodiments of the present invention are discussed herein, it is readily understood by those of ordinary skill in the art that various additional modifications may also be made to the present invention. Accordingly, the example embodiments discussed herein are not limiting of the present invention. | <SOH> BACKGROUND OF THE PRESENT INVENTION <EOH>Attacks on computer infrastructures are a serious problem, one that has grown directly in proportion to the growth of the Internet itself. Most deployed computer systems are vulnerable to attack. The field of remediation addresses such vulnerabilities and should be understood as including the taking of deliberate precautionary measures to improve the reliability, availability, and survivability of computer-based assets and/or infrastructures, particularly with regard to specific known vulnerabilities and threats. Too often, remediation is underestimated as merely the taking of security precautions across a network. While remediation includes such taking of security precautions, it is more comprehensive. It is more accurate to view the taking of security precautions as a subset of remediation. The taking of precautions is typically based upon policies. Such policies are typically based upon security best practices, e.g., a user shall not install his own software, and/or corporate best practices, e.g., a password must be 8 characters in length. To the extent that taking of precautions is automated, the automation typically samples the value of one or more parameters at a given point in time. Then the values of one or more parameters are presented to a user to assess whether the sampled values pose a cause for concern in the context of any policies which are in place. | <SOH> SUMMARY OF THE PRESENT INVENTION <EOH>At least one embodiment of the present invention provides a machine-actionable memory that may include: one or more machine-actionable records arranged according to a data structure, the data structure including links that respectively map between at least one R_ID field, the contents of which denote an identification (ID) of a remediation (R_ID); and at least one POL_ID field, the contents of which denotes an ID of at least one policy (POL_ID), the at-least-one policy respectively defining a condition satisfaction of which is potentially indicative of unauthorized activity or manipulation of the device. At least one other embodiment of the present invention provides a method of selecting a remediation that is appropriate to a policy for a device that includes a processor, the method comprising: providing a machine-actionable memory such as is mentioned above; and indexing into the memory using a given POL_ID value to determine values of the at-least-one R_ID corresponding thereto. At least one other embodiment of the present invention provides a machine having a machine-actionable memory such as is mentioned above. Additional features and advantages of the present invention will be more fully apparent from the following detailed description of example embodiments, the accompanying drawings and the associated claims. | 20040903 | 20100720 | 20060309 | 68120.0 | H04L900 | 1 | REVAK, CHRISTOPHER A | DATA STRUCTURE FOR POLICY-BASED REMEDIATION SELECTION | UNDISCOUNTED | 0 | ACCEPTED | H04L | 2,004 |
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10,933,572 | ACCEPTED | Multipoint to multipoint communication over ring topologies | A method for assigning bandwidth in a network including nodes coupled by links arranged in a physical topology, the method including: defining between the nodes logical connections associated with a data transmission service to be provided over the network, the logical connections having a connection topology different from the physical topology, and determining respective bandwidth requirements for the logical connections based on parameters of the service. The method further includes mapping the connection topology to the physical topology, so that each of the logical connections is associated with one or more links of the physical topology, and allocating a bandwidth for the service on each of the links in response to the bandwidth requirements of the logical connections and to the mapping. | 1. A method for assigning bandwidth in a network including nodes coupled by links arranged in a physical topology, the method comprising: defining between the nodes logical connections associated with a data transmission service to be provided over the network, the logical connections having a connection topology different from the physical topology; determining respective bandwidth requirements for the logical connections based on parameters of the service; mapping the connection topology to the physical topology, so that each of the logical connections is associated with one or more links of the physical topology; and allocating a bandwidth for the service on each of the links in response to the bandwidth requirements of the logical connections and to the mapping. 2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the network comprises a ring network, and wherein the physical topology comprises a ring topology. 3. The method according to claim 1, wherein the connection topology is chosen from one of a hub-and-spoke topology and a full mesh topology. 4. The method according to claim 1, wherein the data transmission service comprises a guaranteed bandwidth service. 5. The method according to claim 1, wherein the data transmission service comprises a class of service defined by a protocol under which the network operates. 6. The method according to claim 1, and comprising multiplying the bandwidth by a correction factor to determine an actual bandwidth. 7. The method according to claim 1, wherein mapping the connection topology to the physical topology comprises generating a bandwidth requirement for each of the links. 8. The method according to claim 1, wherein parameters of the service comprise respective node-bandwidths required by each of the nodes to provide the service. 9. The method according to claim 1, and comprising monitoring traffic generated in the network by the data transmission service, and adjusting the bandwidth in response to the traffic. 10. The method according to claim 1, wherein the data transmission service comprises a plurality of subclasses of traffic, and wherein allocating the bandwidth comprises allocating a reserved bandwidth to one of the subclasses. 11. The method according to claim 1, wherein allocating the bandwidth comprises comparing a mapping bandwidth determined in response to the bandwidth requirements of the logical connections and to the mapping with a full bandwidth determined by assuming all possible logical connections in the network are provided for. 12. A method for assigning bandwidth in a network including nodes coupled by links arranged in a physical topology, the method comprising: defining between the nodes a first set of logical connections associated with a first data transmission service to be provided over the network, and a second set of logical connections associated with a second data transmission service to be provided over the network, the first set of logical connections having a first connection topology, the second set of logical connections having a second connection topology, the first and second connection topologies being different from the physical topology; determining respective first bandwidth requirements for the first set of logical connections based on first parameters of the first data transmission service and respective second bandwidth requirements for the second set of logical connections based on second parameters of the second data transmission service; generating a first mapping of the first connection topology to the physical topology, so that each of the first set of logical connections is associated with one or more links of the physical topology; allocating a first bandwidth for the first data transmission service on each of the links in response to the first bandwidth requirements of the first set of logical connections and to the first mapping; generating a second mapping of the second connection topology to the physical topology, so that each of the second set of logical connections is associated with one or more links of the physical topology; allocating a second bandwidth for the second data transmission service on each of the links in response to the second bandwidth requirements of the second set of logical connections and to the second mapping; and summing the first and the second bandwidths to determine a total allocation for each of the links. 13. The method according to claim 12, wherein the network comprises a ring network, and wherein the physical topology comprises a ring topology. 14. The method according to claim 12, wherein the first connection topology comprises a hub-and-spoke topology and the second connection topology comprises a full mesh topology. 15. The method according to claim 12, wherein at least one of the first and second data transmission services comprises a guaranteed bandwidth service. 16. The method according to claim 12, wherein at least one of the first and second data transmission services comprises a class of service defined by a protocol under which the network operates. 17. The method according to claim 12, and comprising multiplying at least one of the first and second bandwidths by a correction factor to determine a corrected bandwidth. 18. The method according to claim 12, wherein generating the first mapping comprises generating a first bandwidth requirement for each of the links, and wherein generating the second mapping comprises generating a second bandwidth requirement for each of the links. 19. The method according to claim 12, wherein the first parameters of the first service comprise respective first node-bandwidths required by each of the nodes to provide the first service, and wherein the second parameters of the second service comprise respective second node-bandwidths required by each of the nodes to provide the second service. 20. The method according to claim 12, and comprising monitoring traffic generated in the network by the first and second data transmission services, and adjusting the total allocation in response to the traffic. 21. The method according to claim 12, wherein the first data transmission service comprises a plurality of subclasses of traffic, and wherein allocating the first bandwidth comprises allocating a reserved bandwidth to one of the subclasses. 22. The method according to claim 12, wherein the first connection topology is different from the second connection topology. 23. The method according to claim 12, wherein summing the first and the second bandwidths to determine a total allocation for each of the links comprises: determining a first mapping bandwidth in response to the first bandwidth requirements of the first set of logical connections and to the first mapping; determining a second mapping bandwidth in response to the second bandwidth requirements of the second set of logical connections and to the second mapping; and comparing the first mapping bandwidth and the second mapping bandwidth with a full bandwidth determined by assuming all possible logical connections in the network are provided for. 24. A method for assigning bandwidth in a ring network including nodes coupled by links, the method comprising: defining between the nodes a first set of logical connections associated with a first data transmission service to be provided over the network, and a second set of logical connections associated with a second data transmission service to be provided over the network, the first set of logical connections having a hub-and-spokes connection topology, the second set of logical connections having a full mesh connection topology; determining respective first bandwidth requirements for the first set of logical connections based on first parameters of the first data transmission service and respective second bandwidth requirements for the second set of logical connections based on second parameters of the second data transmission service; generating a first mapping of the first connection topology to the ring network, so that each of the first set of logical connections is associated with one or more links of the ring network; determining a first bandwidth for the first data transmission service on each of the links in response to the first bandwidth requirements of the first set of logical connections and to the first mapping; generating a second mapping of the second connection topology to the ring topology, so that each of the second set of logical connections is associated with one or more links of the ring network; determining a second bandwidth for the second data transmission service on each of the links in response to the second bandwidth requirements of the second set of logical connections and to the second mapping; summing the first and the second bandwidths to determine a total bandwidth for each of the links; and allocating one of the first bandwidth, the second bandwidth, and the total bandwidth to each of the links in response to respectively providing the first service, the second service, and both services, over the network. 25. Apparatus for assigning bandwidth in a network including nodes coupled by links arranged in a physical topology, the apparatus comprising: a controller which is adapted to: receive a definition of logical connections between the nodes, the logical connections being associated with a data transmission service to be provided over the network, the logical connections having a connection topology different from the physical topology, determine respective bandwidth requirements for the logical connections based on parameters of the service, map the connection topology to the physical topology, so that each of the logical connections is associated with one or more links of the physical topology, and allocate a bandwidth for the service on each of the links in response to the bandwidth requirements of the logical connections and to the mapping. 26. Apparatus according to claim 25, wherein the controller is comprised in one of the nodes. 27. Apparatus according to claim 25, wherein the controller is external to the network. 28. Apparatus for assigning bandwidth in a network including nodes coupled by links arranged in a physical topology, the apparatus comprising: a controller which is adapted to: receive a definition of a first set of logical connections, between the nodes, associated with a first data transmission service to be provided over the network, and a second set of logical connections, between the nodes, associated with a second data transmission service to be provided over the network, the first set of logical connections having a first connection topology, the second set of logical connections having a second connection topology, the first and second connection topologies being different from the physical topology, determine respective first bandwidth requirements for the first set of logical connections based on first parameters of the first data transmission service and respective second bandwidth requirements for the second set of logical connections based on second parameters of the second data transmission service, generate a first mapping of the first connection topology to the physical topology, so that each of the first set of logical connections is associated with one or more links of the physical topology, allocate a first bandwidth for the first data transmission service on each of the links in response to the first bandwidth requirements of the first set of logical connections and to the first mapping, generate a second mapping of the second connection topology to the physical topology, so that each of the second set of logical connections is associated with one or more links of the physical topology, allocate a second bandwidth for the second data transmission service on each of the links in response to the second bandwidth requirements of the second set of logical connections and to the second mapping, and sum the first and the second bandwidths to determine a total allocation for each of the links. 29. Apparatus according to claim 28, wherein the controller is comprised in one of the nodes. 30. Apparatus according to claim 28, wherein the controller is external to the network. | FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates generally to data communications within a network, and specifically to optimizing bandwidth allocation for the data in the network. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Packet ring networks are typically significantly easier to operate and administer than complex mesh or irregular networks, and a ring network may also allow for failure of a link between nodes of the network, if the network is bi-directional. The leading bi-directional protocol for high speed packet rings is the Resilient Packet Ring (RPR) protocol, defined by IEEE Standard 802.17. If services provided by the ring network do not require guaranteed bandwidth, all nodes (termed stations in RPR) operating in the ring may use a “Best Effort” approach to transfer packets. To meet guarantee needs, however, RPR allocates guaranteed bandwidth for class A traffic and some class B traffic. (RPR defines three classes of traffic: class A, class B, and class C. Class A is a low latency, low jitter class.) Class A0 is a subdivision of class A. The bandwidth of a class A0 traffic reservation may only be used by the station holding the reservation, and any such reserved bandwidth that is unused is wasted. At initiation of an RPR network a station on the RPR network broadcasts reservation requests for its class A0 traffic using topology messages (which are also used for stations to notify each other of their existence and position in the ring). The reservations are typically determined by Service Level Agreements (SLAs) between users and an operator of the ring. A Connection Admission Controller (CAC) in the network allocates bandwidth according to the received requests, and all stations on the RPR are informed of the allocation. For any new service, the CAC must know how much bandwidth has been consumed, and how much is required by the new service, to verify that the new service can be provisioned according to the new service's SLA. In addition, and regardless of the class of traffic, it may be necessary to reserve some bandwidth to avoid traffic starvation. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In a ring network, bandwidth allocation for guaranteed point-to-point traffic can be estimated based on parameters such as interface type, user requirements, and the path on the ring between the two end points. Furthermore, for this traffic, the bandwidth consumed by each link intervening between a start point and an end point on the ring is equal to the bandwidth required at the start and end points. Thus, for guaranteed point-to-point traffic, actual bandwidth needed for each link between stations on the ring can be well estimated. On the other hand, for guaranteed point-to-multipoint traffic and guaranteed multipoint-to-multipoint traffic, good estimation of actual bandwidth needs is difficult. Point-to-multipoint traffic is characteristic, for example, of Video On Demand Service (VODS), while multipoint-to-multipoint traffic is typical in Virtual Private LAN Service (VPLS). In both of these types of traffic there are multiple paths between the start and the end points, and guaranteed bandwidth is often required. Although estimation is difficult, it is necessary in order for the CAC to be able to function. One method to allocate guaranteed bandwidth in multipoint cases is to allocate the full required bandwidth for all possible paths that packets may travel. In this case there will always be sufficient bandwidth, at the expense of large guaranteed bandwidth wastage. Embodiments of the present invention provide methods and systems for bandwidth allocation that make more efficient use of the guaranteed bandwidth available on the ring network. In embodiments of the present invention, nodes of a network, such as a ring network, are coupled by links according to a physical topology. One or more data transmission services operate between the nodes. Each service has a logical connection topology that may be different from the physical topology. The service parameters for each service determine how much bandwidth each of the nodes in the network participating in the service is required to supply for that service. For each service, a controller in the network maps the logical connections in the logical connection topology of the service to corresponding physical links in the physical topology. The controller determines how the bandwidth of each participating node is to be distributed among the logical connections in the logical topology, and then generates an actual bandwidth requirement for each of the physical links, based on the mapping. Typically, the logical connection topology for each service is chosen from a number of different logical connection topologies, such as a hub and spoke topology and a full mesh topology, depending on the nature of the service (such as VODS or VPLS). Assigning the actual bandwidths of the links in a physical network according to the logical connectivity of nodes in services carried by the network is a simple and effective way to allocate bandwidth correctly and efficiently, particularly guaranteed bandwidth. In some embodiments, at least some of the actual bandwidths are multiplied by a correction factor, typically the same for each of the links, that allows for deviation from the assigned actual bandwidth. In a disclosed embodiment, different services operate in the network, each service having a respective logical connection topology and corresponding bandwidths for nodes participating in the service. Bandwidth requirements for each of the physical links in the network are determined by mapping each of the respective logical topologies to the physical topology of the network, and then adding up the bandwidths required by all the services on each of the links. Typically, during operation of the network, actual bandwidth usage is monitored, and the assigned bandwidths may be altered to reflect the usage. There is therefore provided, according to an embodiment of the present invention, a method for assigning bandwidth in a network including nodes coupled by links arranged in a physical topology, the method including: defining between the nodes logical connections associated with a data transmission service to be provided over the network, the logical connections having a connection topology different from the physical topology; determining respective bandwidth requirements for the logical connections based on parameters of the service; mapping the connection topology to the physical topology, so that each of the logical connections is associated with one or more links of the physical topology; and allocating a bandwidth for the service on each of the links in response to the bandwidth requirements of the logical connections and to the mapping. Typically, the network includes a ring network, the physical topology includes a ring topology, and the connection topology is chosen from one of a hub-and-spoke topology and a full mesh topology. In an embodiment, the data transmission service includes a guaranteed bandwidth service, and may include a class of service defined by a protocol under which the network operates. In an alternative embodiment, the method includes multiplying the bandwidth by a correction factor to determine an actual bandwidth. In a disclosed embodiment, mapping the connection topology to the physical topology includes generating a bandwidth requirement for each of the links. Typically, parameters of the service include respective node-bandwidths required by each of the nodes to provide the service. The method may include monitoring traffic generated in the network by the data transmission service, and adjusting the bandwidth in response to the traffic. In one embodiment, the data transmission service includes a plurality of subclasses of traffic, and allocating the bandwidth includes allocating a reserved bandwidth to one of the subclasses, and/or comparing a mapping bandwidth determined in response to the bandwidth requirements of the logical connections and to the mapping with a full bandwidth determined by assuming all possible logical connections in the network are provided for. There is further provided, according to an embodiment of the present invention, a method for assigning bandwidth in a network including nodes coupled by links arranged in a physical topology, the method including: defining between the nodes a first set of logical connections associated with a first data transmission service to be provided over the network, and a second set of logical connections associated with a second data transmission service to be provided over the network, the first set of logical connections having a first connection topology, the second set of logical connections having a second connection topology, the first and second connection topologies being different from the physical topology; determining respective first bandwidth requirements for the first set of logical connections based on first parameters of the first data transmission service and respective second bandwidth requirements for the second set of logical connections based on second parameters of the second data transmission service; generating a first mapping of the first connection topology to the physical topology, so that each of the first set of logical connections is associated with one or more links of the physical topology; allocating a first bandwidth for the first data transmission service on each of the links in response to the first bandwidth requirements of the first set of logical connections and to the first mapping; generating a second mapping of the second connection topology to the physical topology, so that each of the second set of logical connections is associated with one or more links of the physical topology; allocating a second bandwidth for the second data transmission service on each of the links in response to the second bandwidth requirements of the second set of logical connections and to the second mapping; and summing the first and the second bandwidths to determine a total allocation for each of the links. Typically, the network includes a ring network, and the physical topology includes a ring topology. In an embodiment, the first connection topology includes a hub-and-spoke topology and the second connection topology includes a full mesh topology. In a disclosed embodiment, at least one of the first and second data transmission services includes a guaranteed bandwidth service and/or a class of service defined by a protocol under which the network operates. The method typically includes multiplying at least one of the first and second bandwidths by a correction factor to determine a corrected bandwidth. In one embodiment, generating the first mapping includes generating a first bandwidth requirement for each of the links, and generating the second mapping includes generating a second bandwidth requirement for each of the links. Typically, the first parameters of the first service include respective first node-bandwidths required by each of the nodes to provide the first service, and the second parameters of the second service include respective second node-bandwidths required by each of the nodes to provide the second service. The method typically includes monitoring traffic generated in the network by the first and second data transmission services, and adjusting the total allocation in response to the traffic. In an alternative embodiment, the first data transmission service includes a plurality of subclasses of traffic, and allocating the first bandwidth includes allocating a reserved bandwidth to one of the subclasses. Typically, the first connection topology is different from the second connection topology. In a further alternative embodiment, summing the first and the second bandwidths to determine a total allocation for each of the links includes: determining a first mapping bandwidth in response to the first bandwidth requirements of the first set of logical connections and to the first mapping; determining a second mapping bandwidth in response to the second bandwidth requirements of the second set of logical connections and to the second mapping; and comparing the first mapping bandwidth and the second mapping bandwidth with a full bandwidth determined by assuming all possible logical connections in the network are provided for. There is further provided, according to an embodiment of the present invention, a method for assigning bandwidth in a ring network including nodes coupled by links, the method including: defining between the nodes a first set of logical connections associated with a first data transmission service to be provided over the network, and a second set of logical connections associated with a second data transmission service to be provided over the network, the first set of logical connections having a hub-and-spokes connection topology, the second set of logical connections having a full mesh connection topology; determining respective first bandwidth requirements for the first set of logical connections based on first parameters of the first data transmission service and respective second bandwidth requirements for the second set of logical connections based on second parameters of the second data transmission service; generating a first mapping of the first connection topology to the ring network, so that each of the first set of logical connections is associated with one or more links of the ring network; determining a first bandwidth for the first data transmission service on each of the links in response to the first bandwidth requirements of the first set of logical connections and to the first mapping; generating a second mapping of the second connection topology to the ring topology, so that each of the second set of logical connections is associated with one or more links of the ring network; determining a second bandwidth for the second data transmission service on each of the links in response to the second bandwidth requirements of the second set of logical connections and to the second mapping; summing the first and the second bandwidths to determine a total bandwidth for each of the links; and allocating one of the first bandwidth, the second bandwidth, and the total bandwidth to each of the links in response to respectively providing the first service, the second service, and both services, over the network. There is further provided, according to an embodiment of the present invention, apparatus for assigning bandwidth in a network including nodes coupled by links arranged in a physical topology, the apparatus including: a controller which is adapted to: receive a definition of logical connections between the nodes, the logical connections being associated with a data transmission service to be provided over the network, the logical connections having a connection topology different from the physical topology, determine respective bandwidth requirements for the logical connections based on parameters of the service, map the connection topology to the physical topology, so that each of the logical connections is associated with one or more links of the physical topology, and allocate a bandwidth for the service on each of the links in response to the bandwidth requirements of the logical connections and to the mapping. Typically, the controller is included in one of the nodes or is external to the network. There is further provided, according to an embodiment of the present invention, apparatus for assigning bandwidth in a network including nodes coupled by links arranged in a physical topology, the apparatus including: a controller which is adapted to: receive a definition of a first set of logical connections, between the nodes, associated with a first data transmission service to be provided over the network, and a second set of logical connections, between the nodes, associated with a second data transmission service to be provided over the network, the first set of logical connections having a first connection topology, the second set of logical connections having a second connection topology, the first and second connection topologies being different from the physical topology, determine respective first bandwidth requirements for the first set of logical connections based on first parameters of the first data transmission service and respective second bandwidth requirements for the second set of logical connections based on second parameters of the second data transmission service, generate a first mapping of the first connection topology to the physical topology, so that each of the first set of logical connections is associated with one or more links of the physical topology, allocate a first bandwidth for the first data transmission service on each of the links in response to the first bandwidth requirements of the first set of logical connections and to the first mapping, generate a second mapping of the second connection topology to the physical topology, so that each of the second set of logical connections is associated with one or more links of the physical topology, allocate a second bandwidth for the second data transmission service on each of the links in response to the second bandwidth requirements of the second set of logical connections and to the second mapping, and sum the first and the second bandwidths to determine a total allocation for each of the links. Typically, the controller is in one of the nodes or is external to the network. The present invention will be more fully understood from the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments thereof, taken together with the drawings, a brief description of which follows. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a schematic representation of a data communication system, according to an embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 2 is a flow chart showing steps of a process applied by a Connection Admission Controller (CAC) in allocating bandwidths to links in the system of FIG. 1, according to an embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 3 is a schematic illustration of a first example of the process of FIG. 2, according to an embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 4 is a schematic illustration of a second example of the process of FIG. 2, according to an embodiment of the present invention; and FIG. 5 is a flow chart showing an automatic management process performed by a manager node during operation of the system of FIG. 1, according to an embodiment of the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS Reference is now made to FIG. 1, which is a schematic representation of a data communication system 10, according to an embodiment of the present invention. System 10 is built around a high-speed ring network 12, such as a SONET or SDH network, having data nodes 14, also herein termed nodes A, B, C, D. Each pair of nodes is connected by a physical network link 16, which typically comprises a pair of wired, fiberoptic, and/or wireless links 18, 20, that are configured to carry data traffic in clockwise and counterclockwise directions around the ring. Thus network 12 comprises a clockwise network 19 and a counterclockwise network 21. One of the data nodes also serves as a manager node 22, comprising a connection admission controller (CAC) 24 which performs functions that are described hereinbelow. Alternatively, CAC 24 is implemented external to the network. The topology of network 12, as of networks 19 and 21, is shown here by way of example, to illustrate aspects of the present invention. It will be understood, however, that the present invention is in no way limited in its applicability to this topology, and may equally be applied to other network topologies, as well. It will also be understood that in the context of the present patent application and in the claims, the terms “clockwise” and “counterclockwise” are used arbitrarily to distinguish between two opposing directions of packet flow in a ring network. These terms are chosen solely for convenience of explanation, and do not necessarily bear any relation to the physical characteristics of the network. Network 12 serves as the infrastructure for a virtual packet communication network, such as a virtual private LAN. For example, nodes 14 may be connected to external Ethernet networks (not shown in the figure), and may package the Ethernet packets in virtual-concatenated containers provided by network 12. Alternatively or additionally, system 10 may be configured to support traffic of other types, in accordance with other protocols that are known in the art. Hereinbelow, by way of example, network 12 is assumed to be configured as a bi-directional Resilient Packet Ring (RPR) network, as defined by IEEE standard 802.17, wherein nodes are also referred to as stations and networks 19 and 21 are referred to as ringlets 0 and 1. On setup of network 12, an operator of the network inputs a basic connectivity map (BCM) 28 to manager node 22. As explained below, BCM 28, also herein termed the applied BCM, is used to determine actual bandwidths that are to be applied to each of the links in network 12. The applied BCM is one of a number of different connectivity maps, each having a different logical topology and bandwidth relations, that the operator may input to node 22. Alternatively or additionally, more than one of the basic connectivity maps are stored in node 22, and the operator chooses one of the stored maps as the applied BCM. Each basic connectivity map comprises and defines a logical topology that connects nodes 14 of the network, required bandwidths for each of the nodes when operating in the logical topology, and a correction parameter, herein termed a deviation parameter (DP), that is used to formulate the actual bandwidths used by each link. Except as stated below, the following description assumes that the bandwidths referred to are for traffic of a data transmission service requiring guaranteed bandwidths. FIG. 2 is a flow chart showing steps of a process 50 applied by CAC 24 in allocating bandwidths to links 16 in network 12, according to an embodiment of the present invention. Examples of the application of process 50 are described in more detail below, with reference to FIGS. 3 and 4. In a first step 52, CAC 24 maps the logical topology of the applied BCM to the existing physical topology of network 12. Performing the mapping generates actual links 16 and 18 used in network 12. In a step 54, for each of the links the bandwidth requirements are summed to determine a mapping bandwidth, described in more detail below. In a comparison step 56, the mapping bandwidths are compared with “full” bandwidths. In the specification and in the claims, full bandwidths are assumed to be bandwidths for each link if every possible connection in the network is provided for. It will be appreciated that applying full bandwidth allocations to every link ensures that there are always enough resources for transmitting packets between the nodes. However, full bandwidth allocations waste considerable bandwidth compared to the actual bandwidths needed. In allocation steps 58, CAC 24 allocates actual bandwidths to each of the links based on the comparison. If the mapping bandwidth is equal to the full bandwidth, then CAC 24 uses the mapping bandwidth as an actual bandwidth applied to the link. If the mapping bandwidth is less than the full bandwidth, CAC 24 multiplies the mapping bandwidth by the deviation parameter to determine the actual bandwidth. FIG. 3 is a schematic illustration of a first example of process 50 for determining the actual bandwidth of each link, according to an embodiment of the present invention. In this example, the nodes of network 12 are assumed to be logically connected in a hub and spoke arrangement, with A as the hub and B, C, and D at the ends of the spokes. Furthermore, node A is assumed to require a bandwidth of 3R, and each of nodes B, C, and D are assumed to require a bandwidth of R to communicate with hub node A, where R is a bandwidth factor measured in Mbps. Although it will be appreciated that for any specific node bandwidth requirements may be different in different directions (referred to herein as uplink and downlink directions), for simplicity the examples herein assume that the uplink and downlink requirements of a node are equal. The logical connectivity between the nodes, and the required bandwidths of the nodes and of the logical connections between them, are shown schematically in a diagram 60 of BCM 28. Diagram 60 also includes the DP, which for this example is set to be 10%. In the following description of the steps of process 50, it is assumed by way of example that nodes A, B, C, and D are connected in a first physical topology formed by clockwise links 18, corresponding to network 19, and in a second physical topology of counterclockwise links 20, corresponding to network 21. In step 52 of process 50, CAC 24 analyzes the basic connectivity map of diagram 60 to find links 18 of network 19 and links 20 of network 21 corresponding to the logical connections of the map. Diagram 60 shows that there are six direct logical connections A-B, A-C, A-D, and B-A, C-A, and D-A required. Network 19, reproduced schematically here as a diagram 62, shows that the available single links in network 19 are A-B, B-C, C-D, and D-A. Network 21, reproduced schematically here as a diagram 63, shows that the available single links in network 21 are A-D, D-C, C-B, and B-A. CAC 24 typically selects from the available single links a minimum hop path between any two nodes, and typically also balances the allocation of the links between the two networks. Table I below shows the relation between the connections of the hub and spoke map assumed, and the links 18 and 20 selected by CAC 24 in step 52. TABLE I Network 19 Network 21 Hub and Spoke Connections Links Links A-B A-B A-C A-B and B-C A-D A-D B-A B-A C-A C-B and B-A D-A D-A Diagrams 64 and 66 illustrate the results shown by Table I. In step 54, CAC 24 uses the results of Table I to determine theoretical bandwidths, also herein termed mapping bandwidths, for each link of the networks, as described herein with respect to Table II below. Table II is derived from Table I, and shows the bandwidth requirements for each link according to the required connections. In determining entries in Table II, it is assumed that only nodes at the ends of paths are effective in determining the bandwidth. Thus, connection A-B requires R bandwidth from nodes A and B, and R bandwidth in link A-B. Connection A-C requires R bandwidth from nodes A and C, and R bandwidth in links A-B and B-C. As stated above, node A provides a bandwidth of 3R, greater than the 2R required by Table II; and each of nodes B and C provide a bandwidth of R as required by Table II. The bandwidth for each link is derived by summing the individual connection requirements of the link and corresponds to the mapping bandwidth used by CAC 24. TABLE II Mapping Connection Bandwidth Link A-B A-C A-D B-A C-A D-A Total A-B R R 2R B-C R R C-D 0 D-A R R A-D R R D-C 0 C-B R R B-A R R 2R For comparison, Table III below shows the full bandwidth requirements. (As stated above, full bandwidths are assumed to be bandwidths for each link if every possible connection in the network is provided for.) Table III is constructed using the same node bandwidth constraints as for Table II, i.e., 3R for node A and R for nodes B, C, and D. The totals for each link are derived by summing the individual connection requirements, except that the requirements indicated by R* are not summed since the available R has already been allocated in a link. For example, connection B-C uses R from node B; thus connection B-D may not use R from node B since node B only provides R. TABLE III Connection Full Link A-B A-C A-D B-A B-C B-D C-A C-B C-D D-A D-B D-C Total A-B R R 2R B-C R R R* 2R C-D R R 2R D-A R R A-D R R D-C R* R R C-B R* R R 2R B-A R R 2R In comparison step 56 and allocation step 58, CAC 24 compares the full bandwidths with the mapping bandwidths and allocates actual bandwidths. The results of the comparison and allocation are shown in Table IV below. TABLE IV Link (Network 19) Link (Network 21) A-B B-C C-D D-A A-D D-C C-B B-A Full 2R 2R 2R R R R 2R 2R Mapping 2R R 0 R R 0 R 2R Actual 2R 1.1R 0 R R 0 1.1R 2R As shown in Table IV, links A-B, D-A, A-D and B-A are allocated bandwidths corresponding to the full bandwidth, since the full and mapping bandwidths are equal. The other links are allocated bandwidths corresponding to the mapping bandwidth multiplied by the deviation parameter (DP) of 10%, since the mapping bandwidth is less than the full bandwidth. Inspection of Table IV shows that actual allocated bandwidths for links, derived by applying process 50, may be significantly less than the full bandwidths, leading to more efficient bandwidth utilization within network 12. FIG. 4 is a schematic illustration of a second example of process 50 for determining the actual bandwidth of each link, according to an embodiment of the present invention. In this example, nodes A, B, C, and D are assumed to be logically connected in a balanced full mesh arrangement, and each of the nodes is assumed to be require a bandwidth of R. The logical connectivity between the nodes, and the required bandwidths of the nodes and their logical connections, are shown schematically in a diagram 70 of BCM 28. Diagram 70 also includes the DP, which for this example is also set to be 10%. In step 52, the basic connectivity map of diagram 70 is analyzed to find links 18 of network 19 and links 20 of network 21 corresponding to the logical connections of the map. Diagram 70 shows that there are twelve direct connections required. Table V below shows the relation between the connections of the balanced full mesh map assumed, and the links of networks 19 and 21, illustrated by diagrams 72, 73, 74, and 76, that provide the connections. TABLE V Network 19 Network 21 Full Mesh Connections Links Links A-B A-B A-C A-B and B-C A-D A-D B-A B-A B-C B-C B-D B-C and C-D C-A C-B and B-A C-B C-B C-D C-D D-A D-A D-B D-C and C-B D-C D-C Table VI below shows the mapping bandwidths determined by CAC 24 in step 54 from Table V. (Table VI corresponds to Table II.) TABLE VI Connection Mapping Link A-B A-C A-D B-A B-C B-D C-A C-B C-D D-A D-B D-C Total A-B 1 3 R 1 3 R 2 3 R B-C 1 3 R 1 3 R 1 3 R R C-D 1 3 R 1 3 R 2 3 R D-A 1 3 R 1 3 R A-D 1 3 R 1 3 R D-C 1 3 R 1 3 R 2 3 R C-B 1 3 R 1 3 R 1 3 R R B-A 1 3 R 1 3 R 2 3 R Table VII below shows the results of applying comparison step 56 and allocation step 58 to the results of Table VI. The full bandwidths are derived in a substantially similar manner to that used to derive the values in Table III above. TABLE VII Link (Network 19) Link (Network 21) A-B B-C C-D D-A A-D D-C C-B B-A Full R 2R 2R R R R 2R 2R Mapping 2 3 R R 2 3 R 1 3 R 1 3 R 2 3 R R 2 3 R Actual 2.2 3 R 1.1R 2.2 3 R 1.1 3 R 1.1 3 R 2.2 3 R 1.1R 2.2 3 R As for the hub and spoke system described above with reference to FIG. 3, Table VII shows that by applying process 50 actual allocated bandwidths for links for a full mesh system are significantly less than the full bandwidths. For clarity, the examples described above with respect to FIGS. 3 and 4 have each used only one BCM defining logical connectivity for guaranteed bandwidth. It will be appreciated, however, that more than one BCM may be applied in network 12 for different data transmission services. For example, in network 12 a first BCM may assume that nodes A, B, and C are logically connected according to a hub and spoke arrangement, where A is the hub node and B and C are nodes at the ends of spokes, and a second BCM may assume that nodes B, C, and D are connected in a balanced full mesh arrangement. Both BCMs are mapped to the network, substantially as described above with respect to FIGS. 2, 3, and 4, to generate total allocated bandwidths for each link of the network, corresponding to line 5 of Tables IV and VII. For any specific BCM, the operator may make adjustments to the allocated bandwidths determined by mapping the BCM to network 12. For example, for the hub and spoke system described above with reference to FIG. 3, the operator may increase the bandwidth set for link C-D, such an increase typically being warranted if the operator is aware that there is significant traffic between nodes C and D. Furthermore, the deviation parameter for each of the links in the network may be set to be different values. Alternatively or additionally, the BCM may include other parameters applicable to traffic flow in the logical network (represented by the BCM) or of the physical network. For example, in a BCM for guaranteed traffic, the operator may add in that a specific subclass of guaranteed traffic, such as guaranteed broadcast traffic, has a specified bandwidth reserved in the physical network. FIG. 5 is a flow chart showing an automatic management process 80 performed by manager node 22 during operation of network 12, according to an embodiment of the present invention. Process 80 is performed after process 50. In a first step 82, manager node 22 monitors and measures actual traffic between the nodes in network 12. The measurements are made for each of the services that have had allocated bandwidths. In a second step 84, node 22 determines intended changes to the allocated bandwidth values, corresponding to lines 5 of Tables IV and VII, according to differences from the actual measured traffic determined in the step 82. Typically, the determination is performed periodically, at times set by an operator of the network. The intended bandwidth change for each link may be averaged, for example by a moving time average or another suitable averaging process known in the art, so that in implementing the change manager 22 typically does not make abrupt changes in bandwidth allocation. In a decision step 86, manager node 22 checks if the intended changes to the allocated bandwidths for the links are possible, e.g., if intermediate spans of a link where bandwidth is to be increased are able to supply the increase. If the intended changes are not possible, in an alarm step 88 manager node 22 sets an alarm to notify the network operator. If the intended changes are possible, then in a second decision step 90, manager node 22 checks if the intended changes are greater then a guard value. The guard value is typically preset by the operator of the system so as to preclude unnecessarily high rates of change of bandwidth values. If the required changes are greater than the guard value, then in an implementation step 92, manager 22 makes the changes. If the changes are less than or equal to the guard value, there is no change in allocated bandwidth. It will be appreciated that the management tasks exemplified by process 80, as well as other management tasks for network 12, may be at least partly performed non-automatically. For example, the network operator may periodically check that the one or more BCMs mapped to the network are still valid, and that their parameters are still applicable. If there have been changes, the operator may change one or more of the allocated link bandwidths and/or apply a different BCM. Alternatively or additionally, manager node 22 may make measurements of bandwidth usage, substantially as described for step 82 above, and provide an indication to the network operator if there are any relatively long term deviations from the allocated bandwidths. It will thus be appreciated that the embodiments described above are cited by way of example, and that the present invention is not limited to what has been particularly shown and described hereinabove. Rather, the scope of the present invention includes both combinations and subcombinations of the various features described hereinabove, as well as variations and modifications thereof which would occur to persons skilled in the art upon reading the foregoing description and which are not disclosed in the prior art. | <SOH> BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION <EOH>Packet ring networks are typically significantly easier to operate and administer than complex mesh or irregular networks, and a ring network may also allow for failure of a link between nodes of the network, if the network is bi-directional. The leading bi-directional protocol for high speed packet rings is the Resilient Packet Ring (RPR) protocol, defined by IEEE Standard 802.17. If services provided by the ring network do not require guaranteed bandwidth, all nodes (termed stations in RPR) operating in the ring may use a “Best Effort” approach to transfer packets. To meet guarantee needs, however, RPR allocates guaranteed bandwidth for class A traffic and some class B traffic. (RPR defines three classes of traffic: class A, class B, and class C. Class A is a low latency, low jitter class.) Class A0 is a subdivision of class A. The bandwidth of a class A0 traffic reservation may only be used by the station holding the reservation, and any such reserved bandwidth that is unused is wasted. At initiation of an RPR network a station on the RPR network broadcasts reservation requests for its class A0 traffic using topology messages (which are also used for stations to notify each other of their existence and position in the ring). The reservations are typically determined by Service Level Agreements (SLAs) between users and an operator of the ring. A Connection Admission Controller (CAC) in the network allocates bandwidth according to the received requests, and all stations on the RPR are informed of the allocation. For any new service, the CAC must know how much bandwidth has been consumed, and how much is required by the new service, to verify that the new service can be provisioned according to the new service's SLA. In addition, and regardless of the class of traffic, it may be necessary to reserve some bandwidth to avoid traffic starvation. | <SOH> SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION <EOH>In a ring network, bandwidth allocation for guaranteed point-to-point traffic can be estimated based on parameters such as interface type, user requirements, and the path on the ring between the two end points. Furthermore, for this traffic, the bandwidth consumed by each link intervening between a start point and an end point on the ring is equal to the bandwidth required at the start and end points. Thus, for guaranteed point-to-point traffic, actual bandwidth needed for each link between stations on the ring can be well estimated. On the other hand, for guaranteed point-to-multipoint traffic and guaranteed multipoint-to-multipoint traffic, good estimation of actual bandwidth needs is difficult. Point-to-multipoint traffic is characteristic, for example, of Video On Demand Service (VODS), while multipoint-to-multipoint traffic is typical in Virtual Private LAN Service (VPLS). In both of these types of traffic there are multiple paths between the start and the end points, and guaranteed bandwidth is often required. Although estimation is difficult, it is necessary in order for the CAC to be able to function. One method to allocate guaranteed bandwidth in multipoint cases is to allocate the full required bandwidth for all possible paths that packets may travel. In this case there will always be sufficient bandwidth, at the expense of large guaranteed bandwidth wastage. Embodiments of the present invention provide methods and systems for bandwidth allocation that make more efficient use of the guaranteed bandwidth available on the ring network. In embodiments of the present invention, nodes of a network, such as a ring network, are coupled by links according to a physical topology. One or more data transmission services operate between the nodes. Each service has a logical connection topology that may be different from the physical topology. The service parameters for each service determine how much bandwidth each of the nodes in the network participating in the service is required to supply for that service. For each service, a controller in the network maps the logical connections in the logical connection topology of the service to corresponding physical links in the physical topology. The controller determines how the bandwidth of each participating node is to be distributed among the logical connections in the logical topology, and then generates an actual bandwidth requirement for each of the physical links, based on the mapping. Typically, the logical connection topology for each service is chosen from a number of different logical connection topologies, such as a hub and spoke topology and a full mesh topology, depending on the nature of the service (such as VODS or VPLS). Assigning the actual bandwidths of the links in a physical network according to the logical connectivity of nodes in services carried by the network is a simple and effective way to allocate bandwidth correctly and efficiently, particularly guaranteed bandwidth. In some embodiments, at least some of the actual bandwidths are multiplied by a correction factor, typically the same for each of the links, that allows for deviation from the assigned actual bandwidth. In a disclosed embodiment, different services operate in the network, each service having a respective logical connection topology and corresponding bandwidths for nodes participating in the service. Bandwidth requirements for each of the physical links in the network are determined by mapping each of the respective logical topologies to the physical topology of the network, and then adding up the bandwidths required by all the services on each of the links. Typically, during operation of the network, actual bandwidth usage is monitored, and the assigned bandwidths may be altered to reflect the usage. There is therefore provided, according to an embodiment of the present invention, a method for assigning bandwidth in a network including nodes coupled by links arranged in a physical topology, the method including: defining between the nodes logical connections associated with a data transmission service to be provided over the network, the logical connections having a connection topology different from the physical topology; determining respective bandwidth requirements for the logical connections based on parameters of the service; mapping the connection topology to the physical topology, so that each of the logical connections is associated with one or more links of the physical topology; and allocating a bandwidth for the service on each of the links in response to the bandwidth requirements of the logical connections and to the mapping. Typically, the network includes a ring network, the physical topology includes a ring topology, and the connection topology is chosen from one of a hub-and-spoke topology and a full mesh topology. In an embodiment, the data transmission service includes a guaranteed bandwidth service, and may include a class of service defined by a protocol under which the network operates. In an alternative embodiment, the method includes multiplying the bandwidth by a correction factor to determine an actual bandwidth. In a disclosed embodiment, mapping the connection topology to the physical topology includes generating a bandwidth requirement for each of the links. Typically, parameters of the service include respective node-bandwidths required by each of the nodes to provide the service. The method may include monitoring traffic generated in the network by the data transmission service, and adjusting the bandwidth in response to the traffic. In one embodiment, the data transmission service includes a plurality of subclasses of traffic, and allocating the bandwidth includes allocating a reserved bandwidth to one of the subclasses, and/or comparing a mapping bandwidth determined in response to the bandwidth requirements of the logical connections and to the mapping with a full bandwidth determined by assuming all possible logical connections in the network are provided for. There is further provided, according to an embodiment of the present invention, a method for assigning bandwidth in a network including nodes coupled by links arranged in a physical topology, the method including: defining between the nodes a first set of logical connections associated with a first data transmission service to be provided over the network, and a second set of logical connections associated with a second data transmission service to be provided over the network, the first set of logical connections having a first connection topology, the second set of logical connections having a second connection topology, the first and second connection topologies being different from the physical topology; determining respective first bandwidth requirements for the first set of logical connections based on first parameters of the first data transmission service and respective second bandwidth requirements for the second set of logical connections based on second parameters of the second data transmission service; generating a first mapping of the first connection topology to the physical topology, so that each of the first set of logical connections is associated with one or more links of the physical topology; allocating a first bandwidth for the first data transmission service on each of the links in response to the first bandwidth requirements of the first set of logical connections and to the first mapping; generating a second mapping of the second connection topology to the physical topology, so that each of the second set of logical connections is associated with one or more links of the physical topology; allocating a second bandwidth for the second data transmission service on each of the links in response to the second bandwidth requirements of the second set of logical connections and to the second mapping; and summing the first and the second bandwidths to determine a total allocation for each of the links. Typically, the network includes a ring network, and the physical topology includes a ring topology. In an embodiment, the first connection topology includes a hub-and-spoke topology and the second connection topology includes a full mesh topology. In a disclosed embodiment, at least one of the first and second data transmission services includes a guaranteed bandwidth service and/or a class of service defined by a protocol under which the network operates. The method typically includes multiplying at least one of the first and second bandwidths by a correction factor to determine a corrected bandwidth. In one embodiment, generating the first mapping includes generating a first bandwidth requirement for each of the links, and generating the second mapping includes generating a second bandwidth requirement for each of the links. Typically, the first parameters of the first service include respective first node-bandwidths required by each of the nodes to provide the first service, and the second parameters of the second service include respective second node-bandwidths required by each of the nodes to provide the second service. The method typically includes monitoring traffic generated in the network by the first and second data transmission services, and adjusting the total allocation in response to the traffic. In an alternative embodiment, the first data transmission service includes a plurality of subclasses of traffic, and allocating the first bandwidth includes allocating a reserved bandwidth to one of the subclasses. Typically, the first connection topology is different from the second connection topology. In a further alternative embodiment, summing the first and the second bandwidths to determine a total allocation for each of the links includes: determining a first mapping bandwidth in response to the first bandwidth requirements of the first set of logical connections and to the first mapping; determining a second mapping bandwidth in response to the second bandwidth requirements of the second set of logical connections and to the second mapping; and comparing the first mapping bandwidth and the second mapping bandwidth with a full bandwidth determined by assuming all possible logical connections in the network are provided for. There is further provided, according to an embodiment of the present invention, a method for assigning bandwidth in a ring network including nodes coupled by links, the method including: defining between the nodes a first set of logical connections associated with a first data transmission service to be provided over the network, and a second set of logical connections associated with a second data transmission service to be provided over the network, the first set of logical connections having a hub-and-spokes connection topology, the second set of logical connections having a full mesh connection topology; determining respective first bandwidth requirements for the first set of logical connections based on first parameters of the first data transmission service and respective second bandwidth requirements for the second set of logical connections based on second parameters of the second data transmission service; generating a first mapping of the first connection topology to the ring network, so that each of the first set of logical connections is associated with one or more links of the ring network; determining a first bandwidth for the first data transmission service on each of the links in response to the first bandwidth requirements of the first set of logical connections and to the first mapping; generating a second mapping of the second connection topology to the ring topology, so that each of the second set of logical connections is associated with one or more links of the ring network; determining a second bandwidth for the second data transmission service on each of the links in response to the second bandwidth requirements of the second set of logical connections and to the second mapping; summing the first and the second bandwidths to determine a total bandwidth for each of the links; and allocating one of the first bandwidth, the second bandwidth, and the total bandwidth to each of the links in response to respectively providing the first service, the second service, and both services, over the network. There is further provided, according to an embodiment of the present invention, apparatus for assigning bandwidth in a network including nodes coupled by links arranged in a physical topology, the apparatus including: a controller which is adapted to: receive a definition of logical connections between the nodes, the logical connections being associated with a data transmission service to be provided over the network, the logical connections having a connection topology different from the physical topology, determine respective bandwidth requirements for the logical connections based on parameters of the service, map the connection topology to the physical topology, so that each of the logical connections is associated with one or more links of the physical topology, and allocate a bandwidth for the service on each of the links in response to the bandwidth requirements of the logical connections and to the mapping. Typically, the controller is included in one of the nodes or is external to the network. There is further provided, according to an embodiment of the present invention, apparatus for assigning bandwidth in a network including nodes coupled by links arranged in a physical topology, the apparatus including: a controller which is adapted to: receive a definition of a first set of logical connections, between the nodes, associated with a first data transmission service to be provided over the network, and a second set of logical connections, between the nodes, associated with a second data transmission service to be provided over the network, the first set of logical connections having a first connection topology, the second set of logical connections having a second connection topology, the first and second connection topologies being different from the physical topology, determine respective first bandwidth requirements for the first set of logical connections based on first parameters of the first data transmission service and respective second bandwidth requirements for the second set of logical connections based on second parameters of the second data transmission service, generate a first mapping of the first connection topology to the physical topology, so that each of the first set of logical connections is associated with one or more links of the physical topology, allocate a first bandwidth for the first data transmission service on each of the links in response to the first bandwidth requirements of the first set of logical connections and to the first mapping, generate a second mapping of the second connection topology to the physical topology, so that each of the second set of logical connections is associated with one or more links of the physical topology, allocate a second bandwidth for the second data transmission service on each of the links in response to the second bandwidth requirements of the second set of logical connections and to the second mapping, and sum the first and the second bandwidths to determine a total allocation for each of the links. Typically, the controller is in one of the nodes or is external to the network. The present invention will be more fully understood from the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments thereof, taken together with the drawings, a brief description of which follows. | 20040903 | 20080212 | 20060309 | 78321.0 | H04Q700 | 3 | HOANG, THAI D | MULTIPOINT TO MULTIPOINT COMMUNICATION OVER RING TOPOLOGIES | SMALL | 0 | ACCEPTED | H04Q | 2,004 |
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10,933,682 | ACCEPTED | Speed-variable maximum delay clamping when using variable-delay random PWM switching | A control system and a method of using the same for an electric machine having a random number generating module generating a random number ranging from a first value to a second value, a multiplying module multiplying the random number and a sample rate to generate an random delay value; and a delay limiter module limiting the random delay value as a function of speed of the electric machine and generating a limited delay value. | 1. A control system for an electric machine, comprising: a random number generating module that generates a random number ranging from a first value to a second value; a multiplying module that multiplies said random number and a sample rate to generate a random delay value; and a delay limiter module that limits said random delay value as a function of speed of said electric machine and generates a limited delay value. 2. The control system according to claim 1 further comprising: a switch module that receives said limited delay value from said delay limiter module, that adds said sample rate, that subtracts a delay period of a previous cycle, and that outputs a calculated switching period. 3. The control system according to claim 2 further comprising: a max checking module that compares said calculated switching period to a predetermine minimum switching period, that outputs a final switching period that is equal to said calculated switching period if said calculated switching period is greater than said minimum switching period and that is equal to said minimum switching period if said calculated switching period is less than said minimum switching period. 4. The control system according to claim 3 further comprising: a delay calculating module that receives said final switching period from said max checking module, that subtracts said sample rate, that adds said delay period of said previous cycle and that outputs a delay period for a current cycle. 5. The control system according to claim 1 wherein said delay limiter module further limits said random delay value as a function of speed for speeds greater than a predetermined value. 6. The control system according to claim 5 wherein said delay limiter module limits said random delay value in an inversely proportional manner relative to said speed of said electric machine for speeds greater than said predetermined value. 7. The control system according to claim 1 wherein said first value is about 0 and said second value is about 1. 8. A control system for an electric machine, said control system comprising: a random number generating module that generates a random number ranging from a first value to a second value; a multiplying module that multiplies said random number and a sample rate to generate a random delay value; and a delay limiter module that limits said random delay value as a function of speed of said electric machine and generates a limited delay value, that limits said random delay value as a function of speed for speeds greater than a predetermined value, which is greater than a minimum speed of said electric machine and less than a maximum speed of said electric machine. 9. The control system according to claim 8, further comprising: a switch module that receives said limited delay value from said delay limiter module, that adds said sample rate and subtracts a delay period of a previous cycle, and that outputs a calculated switching period. 10. The control system according to claim 9 further comprising: a max checking module that compares said calculated switching period to a predetermine minimum switching period, that outputs a final switching period that is equal to said calculated switching period if said calculated switching period is greater than said minimum switching period and that is equal to said minimum switching period if said calculated switching period is less than said minimum switching period. 11. The control system according to claim 10 further comprising: a delay calculating module that receives said final switching period from said max checking module, that subtracts said sample rate and adds said delay period of said previous cycle, and that outputs a delay period for a current cycle. 12. The control system according to claim 8 wherein said delay limiter module limits said random delay value in an inversely proportional manner relative to said speed of said electric machine for speeds greater than said predetermined value. 13. The control system according to claim 8 wherein said first value is about 0 and said second value is about 1. 14. A control method comprising: generating a random number ranging from a first value to a second value; multiplying said random number and a sample rate to generate an random delay value; limiting said random delay value as a function of speed of said electric machine; and generating a limited delay value. 15. The control method according to claim 14 further comprising: receiving said limited delay value; adding said sample rate to said limit delay value; and subtracting a delay period of a previous cycle from said limit delay value to output a calculated switching period. 16. The control method according to claim 15 further comprising: comparing said calculated switching period to a predetermine minimum switching period; and outputting a final switching period that is equal to said calculated switching period if said calculated switching period is greater than said minimum switching period and that is equal to said minimum switching period if said calculated switching period is lesser than said minimum switching period. 17. The control method according to claim 16 further comprising: receiving said final switching period; subtracting said sample rate; and adding said delay period of said previous cycle to output a delay period for a current cycle. 18. The control method according to claim 14 wherein said limiting said random delay value as a function of speed of said electric machine and generating a limited delay value includes limiting said random delay value as a function of speed for speeds greater than a predetermined value. 19. The control method according to claim 18 wherein said limiting said random delay value is inversely proportionally to said speed of said electric machine for speeds greater than said predetermined value. | FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to power converters and, more particularly, relates to a variable-delay random pulse width modulation control system having a maximum delay limit as a function of motor speed. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Random pulse width modulation (RPWM) is recognized as a desirable technique to reduce both electromagnetic and acoustic noise emissions from pulse width modulation (PWM) inverters. RPWM is generally characterized by random variations of the switching frequency. The random variations of the frequency alleviate undesirable characteristics in PWM electronic power converters. Specifically, the fundamental AC component harmonics remain unchanged. However, the spectral power, measured in Watts, is converted to continuous power density, measured in Watts per Hertz, instead of being concentrated in discrete harmonics. The power spectra of the output voltage and current from a RPWM power converter emulate the spectrum of white noise. Consequently, spurious phenomena are significantly mitigated. Additionally, conventional variable-delay random pulse width modulation (VD-RPWM) may also be used for various applications to further alleviate undesirable characteristics. In fact, the variable-delay random PWM technique provides a number of significant advantages over other RPWM techniques. Known prior art systems have demonstrated the excellent EMC performance of true random switching frequency modulation techniques where both the sampling and PWM periods are synchronized. However, these RSF systems suffer from a significant disadvantage, namely the maximum code size is limited by the minimum sample period. Furthermore, the random sample rate places a constraint on the minimum sample period based upon the required time to execute the application code. For complicated motor control algorithms, the length of code may not allow sufficiently high switching frequency to achieve good spectral spreading. Fixed sample rate techniques, on the other hand, allow optimal use of the processor computational capability. For example, random zero vector, random center displacement, and random lead-lag techniques all maintain synchronous sample and PWM period, but suffer some form of limitation. For example, random zero vector and random center displacement lose effectiveness at high modulation indexes. Random lead-lag does not offer suitable performance with respect to reducing acoustic/EMI emissions and, further, suffers an increased current ripple. Additionally, both random lead-lag and random center displacement introduce an error in the fundamental component of current due to a per-cycle average value of the switching ripple. The VD-RPWM technique allows a fixed sample rate for optimal usage of processor computational power, while providing quasi-random PWM output for good spectral spreading. However, conventional VD-RPWM suffers from disadvantages when operated at high fundamental frequencies. For example, using a 4-pole induction machine with a maximum speed of 14 krpm, the highest fundamental electrical frequency is 467 Hz. In this situation, using a 12 kHz sample rate, conventional VD-RPWM techniques provide satisfactory control. On the other hand, when used with induction machines having eight or more poles, the highest fundamental electrical frequency may exceed 800 Hz. In these cases, the delay introduced by VD-RPWM may cause undesirable instability. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION According to the principles of the present invention, a control system for an electric machine is provided having an advantageous construction and advantageous method of use. The control system includes a random number generating module generating a random number ranging from a first value to a second value. A multiplying module multiplies the random number and a sample rate to generate an random delay value. A delay limiter module limits the random delay value as a function of speed of the electric machine and generates a limited delay value. Further areas of applicability of the present invention will become apparent from the detailed description provided hereinafter. It should be understood that the detailed description and specific examples, while indicating the preferred embodiment of the invention, are intended for purposes of illustration only and are not intended to limit the scope of the invention. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The present invention will become more fully understood from the detailed description and the accompanying drawings, wherein: FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating the implementation of the speed-variable maximum delay clamping according to some embodiments of the present invention; FIG. 2 is a graph illustrating the speed-variable scheduling of the maximum delay; FIG. 3 is a phase current waveform according to the prior art having fsamp equal to 11.1 kHz, fe equal to 800 Hz, and Iq equal to 60 A; and FIG. 4 is a phase current waveform according to some embodiments of the present invention having fsamp equal to 11.1 kHz, fe equal to 800 Hz, Iq equal to 60 A, and Kdelay of 0.5. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT The following description of the preferred embodiment is merely exemplary in nature and is in no way intended to limit the invention, its application, or uses. As used herein, the term “module” refers to an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), an electronic circuit, a processor (shared, dedicated, or group) and memory that execute one or more software or firmware programs, a combinational logic circuit, and/or other suitable components that provide the described functionality. As discussed above, conventional variable-delay random pulse width modulation (VD-RPWM) provides a number of significant advantages over other RPWM techniques. According to conventional VD-RPWM, the sample rate (input), Ts, remains constant while the PWM output period, Tsw, is randomly varied from Tsw—min to 2*Ts, where Tsw—min is the minimum PWM switching period to be allowed and Ts is the sample rate. This wide range in PWM output period provides excellent spectral spreading in many cases for improved modulation. However, in applications having high fundamental electrical frequency and limited sample rate (for example, fundamental electrical frequencies above about 500 Hz with 12 kHz sample rates), conventional VD-RPWM techniques may exhibit significant control problems. In other words, in these cases, the additional delay introduced by conventional VD-RPWM becomes more critical and can cause instability. This instability can be seen in FIG. 3, which illustrates a phase current waveform according to the prior art having fsamp equal to 11.1 kHz, fe equal to 800 Hz, and Iq equal to 60 A. As can be seen, the resultant waveform exhibits instability as evidenced by the varying amplitude between cycles. This condition is undesirable in current regulator systems. It is undesirable to vary the sample rate (input) Ts since maintaining a constant sample rate offers many advantages. For example, many of the coefficients used in digital controllers are sample time dependent. By maintaining fixed sample rates, the need to recalculate coefficients every time the PWM period is changed is eliminated. Additionally, by maintain fixed sample rates, the time required for software execution remains fixed. This permits predictable and optimized usage of the microprocessor's capability and capacity. In other techniques that have variable sample rates, the maximum code length is limited by the minimum sample period. This may be a significant drawback in many applications. Therefore, according to some embodiments of the present invention, a control system or algorithm is used to “clamp” or otherwise limit the maximum delay of the system to alleviate such control instability. More particularly, this clamping function is introduced as a function of motor speed. The algorithm introduces a random delay into the trailing edge of the next PWM output cycle. Therefore, because two consecutive edges determine the PWM output period, a quasi-random PWM output is created. With reference to FIG. 1, a block diagram is shown illustrating the computation of the variable delay and the integration according to some embodiments of the present invention. With continued reference to FIG. 1, a random floating point number between first and second values is first generated in a random number generator 10. In some embodiments, this random number is then multiplied with a sample time Ts at multiplier 12 and results in an initial random delay value 112. This initial random delay value 112 is then introduced into a delay limiter 14. Delay limiter 14 limits the initial random delay value 112 in response to motor speed, nr (see reference numeral 100). As best seen in FIG. 2, a graph illustrates the speed-variable scheduling of the maximum delay, generally referred to as limit curve 16. More particularly, it can be seen that for a machine speed between 0 and n1, the maximum allowable delay is equal to Ts, which is the sample period (see reference numeral 102). However, for machine speeds between n1 and nmax, it can be seen that the maximum allowable delay is reduced from Ts to Ts*Kdelay—min, where Kdelay—min is a configurable constant set by the user and n1 is similarly determined by the user. It should be noted, however, that n1 may represent a motor speed where instability is recognized in the system. Therefore, as can be seen from FIG. 2, delay limiter 14 is operable to limit the initial random delay value to an area on or below limit curve 16. According to the present invention, maximum variability of the PWM period is available at low motor speeds, while controllability of the phase current is maintained at high speeds, thereby resulting in improved stability. It should be noted, however, that limit curve 16 may have any one of a number of defined shapes. By way of non-limiting example, limit curve 16 could be exponential, parabolic, or the like. Referring again to FIG. 1, an output or limited delay value 114 of delay limiter 14 is then added to Ts at summer 18 and is output as a intermediate calculation 118. At subtractor 20, the intermediate calculation from the previous cycle, Tdelay*z−1 125 is subtracted to define a calculated switching period Tsw—before—check 120. Tsw—before—check 120 is them compared with Tsw—min 121 at comparator 22. If Tsw—before—check 120 is greater than Tsw—min 121, then Tsw—before—check 120 is unchanged and is output as Tsw 122. If Tsw—before—check 120 is less than Tsw—min 121, then Tsw—before—check 120 is changed to equal Tsw—min 121 and output as Tsw 122. Comparator 22 serves to prevent very short output PWM periods from being commanded. Finally, Ts 102 is subtracted from Tsw 122 at subtractor 24. The delay of the previous cycle, Tdelay*z−1 125, is then added to the result of subtractor 24 at summer 26 to define the delay of the current cycle, Tdelay*z0 126. Therefore, in other words, the switching time, Tsw, can be expressed as follows: Tsw=Ts+Tdelay*z0−Tdelay*z−1 where z0 is the current cycle and z−1 is the previous cycle. Using this technique, the resultant switching period, Tsw 122, may vary from Tsw—min 121 to Ts*(1+Kdelay). The average switching period will equal the sample period Ts over time. To demonstrate the effectiveness of some embodiments of the present invention, laboratory tests were conducted utilizing a 600V/600 A power inverter with floating point processor and an inductive load. VD-RPWM according to the present invention was implemented in the module. By way of comparison, as described above, FIG. 3 illustrates the resultant phase current when no clamping with a sample rate of 11.1 kHz, and controlling a fundamental frequency of 800 Hz. As can be seen, the current is oscillatory. FIG. 4 shows the current under the same conditions when the present invention is implemented. As can be seen, the current is now well behaved and the oscillations are gone. The present invention provides a number of advantages over the prior art. By way of non-limiting example, the present invention provides a method of maintaining control stability of high speed motors. Additionally, by facilitating RPWM operation at high speed, EMI emissions are reduced, thereby requiring smaller filtering requirements. Smaller filtering requirement consequently lead to reduced overall size, reduced cost, and lower weight. Still further, the present invention leads to reduced acoustic noise. This is particularly important when lower switching frequency is used in that it results in lower switching losses in the inverter when operating at low speeds. Those skilled in the art can now appreciate from the foregoing description that the broad teachings of the present invention can be implemented in a variety of forms. Therefore, while this invention has been described in connection with particular examples thereof, the true scope of the invention should not be so limited since other modifications will become apparent to the skilled practitioner upon a study of the drawings, the specification and the following claims. | <SOH> BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION <EOH>Random pulse width modulation (RPWM) is recognized as a desirable technique to reduce both electromagnetic and acoustic noise emissions from pulse width modulation (PWM) inverters. RPWM is generally characterized by random variations of the switching frequency. The random variations of the frequency alleviate undesirable characteristics in PWM electronic power converters. Specifically, the fundamental AC component harmonics remain unchanged. However, the spectral power, measured in Watts, is converted to continuous power density, measured in Watts per Hertz, instead of being concentrated in discrete harmonics. The power spectra of the output voltage and current from a RPWM power converter emulate the spectrum of white noise. Consequently, spurious phenomena are significantly mitigated. Additionally, conventional variable-delay random pulse width modulation (VD-RPWM) may also be used for various applications to further alleviate undesirable characteristics. In fact, the variable-delay random PWM technique provides a number of significant advantages over other RPWM techniques. Known prior art systems have demonstrated the excellent EMC performance of true random switching frequency modulation techniques where both the sampling and PWM periods are synchronized. However, these RSF systems suffer from a significant disadvantage, namely the maximum code size is limited by the minimum sample period. Furthermore, the random sample rate places a constraint on the minimum sample period based upon the required time to execute the application code. For complicated motor control algorithms, the length of code may not allow sufficiently high switching frequency to achieve good spectral spreading. Fixed sample rate techniques, on the other hand, allow optimal use of the processor computational capability. For example, random zero vector, random center displacement, and random lead-lag techniques all maintain synchronous sample and PWM period, but suffer some form of limitation. For example, random zero vector and random center displacement lose effectiveness at high modulation indexes. Random lead-lag does not offer suitable performance with respect to reducing acoustic/EMI emissions and, further, suffers an increased current ripple. Additionally, both random lead-lag and random center displacement introduce an error in the fundamental component of current due to a per-cycle average value of the switching ripple. The VD-RPWM technique allows a fixed sample rate for optimal usage of processor computational power, while providing quasi-random PWM output for good spectral spreading. However, conventional VD-RPWM suffers from disadvantages when operated at high fundamental frequencies. For example, using a 4-pole induction machine with a maximum speed of 14 krpm, the highest fundamental electrical frequency is 467 Hz. In this situation, using a 12 kHz sample rate, conventional VD-RPWM techniques provide satisfactory control. On the other hand, when used with induction machines having eight or more poles, the highest fundamental electrical frequency may exceed 800 Hz. In these cases, the delay introduced by VD-RPWM may cause undesirable instability. | <SOH> SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION <EOH>According to the principles of the present invention, a control system for an electric machine is provided having an advantageous construction and advantageous method of use. The control system includes a random number generating module generating a random number ranging from a first value to a second value. A multiplying module multiplies the random number and a sample rate to generate an random delay value. A delay limiter module limits the random delay value as a function of speed of the electric machine and generates a limited delay value. Further areas of applicability of the present invention will become apparent from the detailed description provided hereinafter. It should be understood that the detailed description and specific examples, while indicating the preferred embodiment of the invention, are intended for purposes of illustration only and are not intended to limit the scope of the invention. | 20040903 | 20080902 | 20060309 | 96895.0 | H04L2300 | 0 | CHANG, SUNRAY | SPEED-VARIABLE MAXIMUM DELAY CLAMPING WHEN USING VARIABLE-DELAY RANDOM PWM SWITCHING | UNDISCOUNTED | 0 | ACCEPTED | H04L | 2,004 |
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10,933,791 | ACCEPTED | Enhanced pollenizer and method for increasing seedless watermelon yield | An enhanced, diploid pollenizer watermelon plant and method used to maximize the yield of triploid seedless watermelons per area. The enhanced pollenizer watermelon plant of the invention is either a hybrid variety, an open-pollinated variety or a synthetic variety, that exhibits the characteristics of small leaves and fruit with a brittle rind that splits when the fruit is overripe or breaks when relatively small physical forces are applied. In one embodiment, the watermelon plant of the invention is also characterized by extended flowering duration, thereby increasing the number of triploid watermelon flowers that are pollinated and set fruit. The method for producing a seedless watermelon fruit, includes the steps of providing a pollenizer diploid watermelon plant, extending the duration of flowering of the pollenizer plant while reducing the number of such plants needed to pollinate the same number of triploid watermelon plants, and maximizing dispersal of the pollenizer watermelon plant throughout the field of triploid watermelon plants. | 1) A watermelon plant comprising, at maturity: a) a fruit, the rind of which breaks under a pressure of not more than about 1,800 g when a fruit tester with a 2 mm tip is used or under a pressure of not more than about 2,300 g when a fruit tester with a 3 mm tip is used; and b) a 5th leaf from the smallest new leaf on a vine having a surface area of not more than about 50 cm2. 2) The watermelon plant according to claim 1, wherein the rind of said fruit breaks under a pressure in the range of about 400 g to about 1,800 g when a fruit tester with a 2 mm tip is used. 3) The watermelon plant according to claim 1, wherein the rind of said fruit breaks under a pressure in the range of about 1,000 g to about 2,300 g when a fruit tester with a 3 mm tip is used. 4) The watermelon plant according to claim 1, wherein said 5th leaf has a surface area in the range of about 15 cm2 to about 50 cm2. 5) The watermelon plant according to claim 13, wherein said leaf is characterized by deep, non-overlapping leaf lobes. 6) The watermelon plant according to claim 1, further comprising heavily branched vines. 7) The watermelon plant according to claim 1, wherein the weight of said fruit in the range of about 2 lbs to about 7 lbs. 8) The watermelon plant according to claim 1, wherein said plant is an inbred, a hybrid or a dihaploid. 9) Pollen of the plant of claim 1. 10) An ovule of the plant of claim 1. 11) Fruit of the plant of claim 1. 12) Seed of the plant of claim 1. 13) Progeny of plants as claimed in claim 1, wherein said progeny retain the characteristics set forth in claim 1. 14) A watermelon plant comprising, at maturity: a) fruits, the rind of which breaking under an average pressure of not more than about 1,300 g when a fruit tester with a 2 mm tip is used or under an average pressure of not more than about 2,000 g when a fruit tester with a 3 mm tip is used; and b)5th leaves from the smallest new leaf on a vine having an average leaf surface area under about 40 cm2. 15) The watermelon plant according to claim 14, wherein the average pressure to break the rind of said fruits is in the range of about 700 g to about 1,300 g when a fruit tester with a 2 mm tip is used. 16) The watermelon plant according to claim 14, wherein the average pressure to break the rind of said fruits is in the range of about 1,400 g to about 2,000 g when a fruit tester with a 3 mm tip is used. 17) The watermelon plant according to claim 14, wherein the average surface area of said 5th leaves is in the range of about 20 cm2 to about 40 cm2. 18) The watermelon plant according to claim 14, wherein said leaves are characterized by deep, non-overlapping leaf lobes. 19) The watermelon plant according to claim 14, further comprising heavily branched vines. 20) The watermelon plant according to claim 14, wherein the weight of said fruits in the range of about 2 lbs to about 7 lbs. 21) The watermelon plant according to claim 14, wherein said plant is an inbred, a hybrid or a dihaploid. 22) Pollen of the plant of claim 14. 23) An ovule of the plant of claim 14. 24) Fruit of the plant of claim 14. 25) Seed of the plant of claim 14. 26) Progeny of plants as claimed in claim 14, wherein said progeny retain the characteristics set forth in claim 14. 27) A watermelon plant comprising the characteristics of: a) smaller leaf size compared to the watermelon variety Sangria™, b) wherein said fruit rind is more brittle than the rind of the variety Sangria™. 28) The watermelon plant according to claim 27, wherein the leaf surface area of a leaf of said plant is about 3 times to about 14 times smaller than the leaf surface area of a leaf of watermelon variety Sangria™. 29) The watermelon plant according to claim 27, wherein the rind of a fruit of said plant is about 2 times to about 4 times more brittle than the rind of a fruit of variety Sangria™. 30) diploid watermelon plant according to claim 27, wherein leaves said plant are characterized by deep, non-overlapping leaf lobes. 31) The watermelon plant according to claim 27, further comprising heavily branched vines. 32) The watermelon plant according to claim 27, wherein said fruit weighs in the range of about 2 to about 7 lbs. 33) The watermelon plant according to claim 27, wherein said plant is an inbred, a hybrid or a dihaploid. 34) Pollen of the plant of claim 27. 35) An ovule of the plant of claim 27. 36) Fruit of the plant of claim 27. 37) Seed of the plant of claim 27. 38) Progeny of plants as claimed in claim 27, wherein said progeny retain the characteristics set forth in claim 27. 39) A method for producing triploid, seedless watermelon fruit comprising the steps of: a) planting a field with rows of triploid watermelon plants; b) inter-planting diploid pollenizer watermelon plant according to claim 1 within said rows of triploid watermelon plants after every 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th, 9th, or 10th triploid plants; c) allowing pollination of said triploid watermelon plants by pollen of said diploid watermelon plant to obtain triploid, seedless watermelon fruit; and d) harvesting said triploid, seedless watermelon fruit. 40) A method for producing triploid, seedless watermelon fruit comprising the steps of: a) planting a field with rows of triploid watermelon plants; b) planting said field with rows of diploid watermelon plants according to claim 1, wherein the rows of diploid watermelon plants are approximately one-third to two-thirds the width of the triploid rows; c) allowing pollination of said triploid watermelon plants by pollen of said diploid watermelon plant to obtain triploid, seedless watermelon fruit. 41) The method for producing triploid, seedless watermelon fruit according to claim 40, wherein the rows of diploid watermelon plants are approximately one-half to two-thirds the width of the triploid rows. 42) The method for producing triploid, seedless watermelon fruit according to claim 40, wherein the rows of diploid watermelon plants are approximately one-third to one-half the width of the triploid rows. 43) The method for producing triploid, seedless watermelon fruit according to claim 40, further comprising the step of planting said rows of diploid watermelon plants after every two triploid rows. 44) The method for producing triploid, seedless watermelon fruit according to claim 40, further comprising the step of planting said rows of diploid watermelon plants after every three triploid rows. 45) The method for producing triploid, seedless watermelon fruit according to claim 40, further comprising the step of planting said rows of diploid watermelon plants after every four triploid rows. 46) A method of increasing the yield of triploid watermelon plants comprising the steps of: a) obtaining a pollenizer watermelon plant for pollinating said triploid watermelon plants, said pollenizer watermelon having the characteristics of: i) reduced fruit load; ii) decreased size of the leaves; iii) increased flowering duration; b) planting said pollenizer watermelon plant in a field of triploid watermelon plants; c) allowing pollination of said triploid watermelon plants by pollen of said diploid watermelon plant to obtain triploid, seedless watermelon fruit; and d) harvesting said triploid, seedless watermelon fruit. 47) The method of increasing the yield of triploid watermelon plants according to claim 46, wherein planting of said pollenizer watermelon plant is at a ratio of approximately equal to or less than 1 pollenizer watermelon plant to 2 triploid watermelon plants. 48) The method of increasing the yield of triploid watermelon plants according to claim 46, wherein planting of said pollenizer watermelon plant is at a ratio of approximately equal to or less than 1 pollenizer watermelon plant to 4 triploid watermelon plants. 49) A method for producing diploid pollenizer watermelon plants comprising: a) crossing a first watermelon plant having small leaves with a second watermelon plant producing fruit with brittle rind; and b) selecting a diploid pollenizer watermelon plants having small leaves and producing fruit with brittle rind, wherein the surface area of a 5th leaf from the smallest new leaf on a vine of said watermelon plant selected in step b) is not more than about 50 cm2, and the rind of a fruit said watermelon plant selected in step b) breaks under a pressure of not more than about 1,800 g when a fruit tester with a 2 mm tip is used or under a pressure of not more than about 2,300 g when a fruit tester with a 3 mm tip is used. 50) The method according to claim 49, wherein the leaves of said first watermelon plant have deep, non-overlapping leaf lobes. 51) The method according to claim 49, said first watermelon plant further comprises, at maturity, heavily branched vines. 52) The watermelon plant according to claim 49, wherein the weight of a fruit of said second watermelon plant in the range of about 2 kg to about 3 kg. 53) A diploid watermelon for pollinating triploid plants obtained by the method of claim 49. 54) A method for producing diploid pollenizer watermelon plants comprising the steps of developing a diploid pollenizer watermelon plant by increasing the brittleness of the fruit of said pollenizer watermelon plant. 55) A method for producing triploid, seedless watermelon fruit comprising the steps of: a) inter-planting a seed or a plant of a watermelon plant according to claim 1 and a seed or plant of a triploid watermelon plant in a field; and b) allowing pollination of said triploid watermelon plants by pollen of said diploid watermelon plant to obtain triploid, seedless watermelon fruit. 56) The method according to claim 55, further comprising harvesting said triploid, seedless watermelon fruit. 57) A method of producing seeds of a watermelon plant comprising the steps of: a) growing a watermelon plant according to claim 1; b) allowing self-pollination of said plant; and c) harvesting seeds from said plant. 58) The method according to claim 57, further comprises washing and drying said seed. 59) A method of vegetative propagating a watermelon plant comprising the steps of: a) collecting shoot tissue of a plant of a watermelon plant according to claim 1; b) cultivating said tissue to obtain proliferated shoots; and c) rooting said proliferated shoots to obtain rooted plantlets. 60) The method according to claim 59, further comprising growing plants from said rooted plantlets. 61) The method according to claim 60, further comprising harvesting seeds from said plants. 62) A method for producing triploid, seedless watermelon fruit comprising the steps of: a) inter-planting in a field a first triploid watermelon plant and a second watermelon plant capable of producing a fruit, the rind of which breaks under a pressure of not more than about 1,800 g when a fruit tester with a 2 mm tip is used or under a pressure of not more than about 2,300 g when a fruit tester with a 3 mm tip is used; and b) allowing pollination of said first triploid watermelon plant by pollen of said second watermelon plant to obtain triploid, seedless watermelon fruit. 63) The method according to claim 62, further comprising harvesting said triploid, seedless watermelon fruit. 64) The method according to claim 62, wherein the weight of said fruit of said second watermelon plant is in the range of about 2 lbs to about 7 lbs. 65) The method according to claim 62, wherein the leaves of said second watermelon plant are characterized by deep, non-overlapping leaf lobes. 66) The method according to claim 62, wherein said second watermelon plant further comprises heavily branched vines. 67) The method according to claim 62, wherein said second watermelon plant is an inbred, a hybrid or a dihaploid. | CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS This application is a continuation-in-part of U.S. application Ser. No. 10/349,509, filed Jan. 22, 2003, which is a continuation-in-part of U.S. application Ser. No. 10/091,154, filed Mar. 5, 2002, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,759,576. The aforementioned applications are incorporated herein by reference in their entireties. FIELD OF THE INVENTION This invention is in the field of watermelon breeding, specifically relating to diploid watermelons used to pollinate triploid watermelon plants for the commercial production of seedless watermelon fruit, and includes a novel method for the production of triploid watermelon fruit. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Watermelon is an important horticultural crop that accounts for 2% of the world area devoted to vegetable crops. There were 6,024,000 acres of watermelon grown in the world and 187,000 acres of watermelons grown in the United States in 1997 (FAO Production Yearbook 51, 1998). The estimated annual world watermelon value exceeded $7.6 billion when using the United States average price for 1995-1997. The United States watermelon crop amounted to over 41 million cwt, from over 174,000 harvested acres, and a farm value of over $266 million, accounted for 9.2% of the harvested acres, 10.0% of the production, and 3.5% of the value of the United States fresh vegetable industry in 1999 (USDA Agricultural Statistics 2001). California was the leading state in watermelon farm gate value, exceeded $72 million in 2000, due to high percentage of triploid seedless watermelon grown in California. Seedless watermelon receives well above the average price for seeded watermelons in the market. The goal of plant breeding is to combine in a single variety or hybrid various desirable traits. Desirable traits may include resistance to diseases and insects, tolerance to heat and drought, reducing the time to crop maturity, greater yield, and better agronomic quality. With mechanical harvesting of many crops, uniformity of plant characteristics such as germination and stand establishment, growth rate, and maturity, are important. Other desired traits may include particular nutrient content, color, fruit shape, as well as taste characteristics. As with many different plants, watermelon contains a fruit part and a plant part. Each part contains different traits that are desired by consumers and/or growers, including such traits as flavor, texture, disease resistance, and appearance traits such as shape and color. The seedless trait in the watermelon fruit is highly desired by consumers. For production of seedless watermelon, optimum pollination characteristics of the pollinating plant are desired. Seedless watermelon plants are triploid and must be pollinated by the pollen of diploid watermelon plants. To provide adequate pollination of seedless watermelon plants, it is current practice to plant diploid pollenizer plants over approximately 25-33% of the field surface. The remaining portion of the field is planted with the triploid plants. Thus, to maximize the value of the crop in the field, growers use high yield marketable diploid watermelon varieties, which ultimately compete with the triploid seedless varieties for sun, nutrients, and space. A pollenizer for seedless watermelon producing small and unmarketable fruits, which are not harvested, has been disclosed (WO00/70933). However, when this pollenizer is used, a lower total yield of marketable fruit is observed when compared to a commercial pollenizer line. Also, the fruits of the pollenizer described in WO00/70933 that are not harvested become hosts for diseases in the future, and their seeds will germinate and grow into weeds, thus reducing future yields. The present invention recognizes the need to increase the yield of the seedless watermelon, preferably without loss in total yields of marketable fruits. The present invention also recognizes that novel phenotypic characteristics of the diploid pollenizer plants are needed to permit these diploids to be planted in close proximity to the triploid plants and to share the field surface with the triploid plants, thereby effectively decreasing the surface area of the field required for the diploid pollenizers of the invention. The present invention also recognizes the need to minimize the carryover of un-harvested pollenizer fruits as weeds into the subsequent season. The present invention also recognizes the need to increase the pollinating capacity of diploid watermelon plants in order to further decrease the ratio of diploid to triploid plants in the field, thereby also increasing the yield of the seedless watermelon. The present invention also further recognizes the needs to allow farmers to distinguish the seedless fruits from the fruits of the pollenizer in the field and to provide marketable value to the pollenizer fruits themselves. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention uses a novel diploid watermelon to improve current methods of commercial production of seedless watermelon and to increase seedless watermelon yield. According to the invention, there is provided a novel enhanced, pollenizer diploid watermelon (hereinafter referred to as “enhanced pollenizer”) and method for pollinating seedless watermelon plants. The present invention includes an enhanced pollenizer comprising, at maturity, small leaves. The present invention further includes an enhanced pollenizer comprising, at maturity, brittle fruits. The present invention includes an enhanced pollenizer comprising, at maturity, small leaves and bearing brittle fruits. The small leaves allow the enhanced pollenizer to be grown in close proximity to the triploid watermelon plants without competing with them, thereby increasing yields of seedless fruits. The brittleness of the fruit offers the advantage that un-harvested fruits of the pollenizer can be easily destroyed through conventional field preparation for minimizing carry over as weeds in future plantings. In one embodiment, the enhanced pollenizer of the present invention further comprises heavily branching lacy vines (also referred to as heavily branched open vines) and therefore preferably comprises a high number of open (lacy) branches. The heavily branching vines allow an enhanced pollenizer of this invention to produce very large amount of male flowers to pollinate the female flowers of the triploid plant, to produce the seedless fruit. In one embodiment, the leaves of the enhanced pollenizer also comprise non-overlapping, deep lobes. The openness of the branched or lacy vine results, in part, from the distinct small and non-overlapping, deep lobed leaves. The lacy branches and the small leaves, in one embodiment with non-overlapping, deep lobes, of the invention have the additional advantage to provide more access of bees to the flowers of both the pollenizing and the triploid plant, thereby enhancing transfer of the pollen from enhanced pollenizer watermelon to the female flowers of the triploid watermelon. Easier access by bees to the male flowers of the enhanced pollenizer and coupled with a greater frequency of male flowers provides a greater pollen source for triploid fruit production. A second advantage of small leaves, in one embodiment characterized by deep, non-overlapping lobes, is that more sunlight is able to penetrate to adjacent triploid plants. A third advantage of small leaves, in one embodiment characterized by deep, non-overlapping lobes, is that these leaves take up less field area than the substantially larger leaves of the diploid pollenizers currently used in the production of seedless watermelon. Thus, as it is less competitive for light, water and fertilizers, the enhanced pollenizer of the present invention can also be grown closer to the triploid plants, and it does not need dedicated space to grow. In one embodiment, when the enhanced pollenizer and method of the present invention are used, the triploid seedless watermelon are grown in solid rows at a standard spacing, the enhanced pollenizer being then inter-planted between the plants within the rows. This results in significantly higher numbers of triploid plants per acre compared to the number of triploid watermelon plants that has traditionally been planted, and higher yields of seedless fruits. In one embodiment, the fruit of the enhanced pollenizer of the present invention are small and therefore easier to distinguish from the seedless fruits in the field. Therefore, also according to the present invention, there is provided a novel enhanced pollenizer comprising small fruits with brittle rind. The small fruits with brittle rind also reduce the load to the plant and allow the plant to continue flowering for extended periods of time, significantly greater than pollenizer watermelons that are currently used in the production of seedless watermelon. The longer flowering duration of the enhanced pollenizer, compared to traditional pollenizer diploid watermelons, results in increased fruit set and yield of seedless watermelon. The brittle rind also offers the advantage that un-harvested fruits of the pollenizer quickly decompose in the fields, and can be easily eliminated from further re-production through conventional crop disposal (discing and plowing). The brittle rind also offers the advantage of differentiating the fruit of pollenizer from the fruit of triploid seedless watermelon, even when they are similar in appearance. An additional advantage of the enhanced pollenizer of the present invention is also that its fruits contain very large amounts of seeds, which can be harvested and sold as edible watermelon seeds for food or feed uses, or for use in medicines. This provides additional value to the grower who can harvest and market the fruits of the enhanced pollenizer as such or its seeds. The present invention also includes an enhanced pollenizer fruit that weighs approximately in the range of about 2 to 7 lbs, in one embodiment about 2 to about 6 lbs, in one embodiment about 2 to about 5 lbs. In one embodiment, the average weight for the fruits of the enhanced pollenizer is about 3.2 lbs. In one embodiment, the present invention further includes an enhanced pollenizer fruit rind that is brittle, breaking under a pressure approximately in the range of about 7 to about 11 lbs/in2. In another embodiment, an enhanced pollenizer fruit rind breaks under a pressure approximately in the range of about 90 to about 150 g/mm2, in one embodiment about 100 to about 148 g/mm2, in one embodiment about 110 to about 145 g/mm2, in one embodiment about 120 to about 140 g/mm2. In one embodiment, the rind of a fruit an enhanced pollenizer of the instant invention breaks under a pressure of not more than about 1,800 g when a fruit tester with a 2 mm tip is used. In one embodiment, the fruit rind of an enhanced pollenizer of the instant invention breaks under a pressure approximately in the range of about 400 g to about 1,800 g when a fruit tester with a 2 mm tip is used. In one embodiment, the fruit rind of an enhanced pollenizer of the instant invention breaks under a pressure of not more than about 2,300 g when a fruit tester with a 3 mm tip is used. In one embodiment, the fruit rind of an enhanced pollenizer of the instant invention breaks under a pressure approximately in the range of about 1,000 g to about 2,300 g when a fruit tester with a 3 mm tip is used. In one embodiment, the average pressure to break the rind of a fruit of an enhanced pollenizer of the present invention is not more than about 1,300 g when a fruit tester with a 2 mm tip is used. In one embodiment, the average pressure to break the rind of a fruit of an enhanced pollenizer of the present invention is approximately in the range of about 700 g to about 1,300 g when a fruit tester with a 2 mm tip is used. In one embodiment, the average pressure to break the rind of a fruit of an enhanced pollenizer of the present invention is not more than about 2,000 g when a fruit tester with a 3 mm tip is used. In one embodiment, the average pressure to break the rind of a fruit of an enhanced pollenizer of the present invention is approximately in the range of about 1,400 g to about 2,000 g when a fruit tester with a 3 mm tip is used. In one embodiment, the present invention includes an enhanced pollenizer having leaves with a surface area approximately in the range of about 20 to about 70 cm2, in one embodiment about 22.5 to about 50 cm2, in one embodiment about 25 to about 40 cm2. In one embodiment, the average leaf surface area of leaves of the enhanced pollenizer is approximately about 25 to about 40 cm2, in one embodiment about 27.5 to about 37.5 cm2, in one embodiment about 30 to about 35 cm2. In one embodiment, the surface area of the 5th leaf on a vine of an enhanced pollenizer of the present invention counted from the smallest new leaf at the tip of the vine towards the crown of the plant is not more than about 50 cm2. In one embodiment, the surface area of such 5th leaf from the smallest new leaf on a vine of an enhanced pollenizer of the instant invention is approximately in the range of about 15 cm2 to about 50 cm2. In one embodiment, the average leaf surface area of such 5th leaves from the smallest new leaf on a vine of an enhanced pollenizer of the instant invention is not more than about 40 cm2. In one embodiment, the average leaf surface area of the 5th leaves from the smallest new leaf on a vine of an enhanced pollenizer is approximately in the range of about 20 cm2 to about 40 cm2. Also included in the invention is an enhanced pollenizer plant for pollinating triploid plants producing seedless watermelon fruit, comprising, at maturity, the characteristics of smaller leaf size compared to the watermelon variety Sangria™, wherein the fruit rind is more brittle than the rind of the variety Sangria™ (a commercial variety of Syngenta Seeds, Inc.). In one embodiment, the average leaf surface area of leaves of an enhanced pollenizer of the present invention is about 3 to about 14 times smaller than that of watermelon variety Sangria™. In one embodiment, the fruit rind of an enhanced pollenizer of the present invention is about 2 to about 4 times more brittle than the fruit rind of watermelon variety Sangria™. In one embodiment, the enhanced pollenizer further comprises small fruits. In one embodiment, the leaves of the enhanced pollenizer comprises deep, non-overlapping lobes. The pollenizer diploid watermelon of the invention is further enhanced by including resistance to various pests and herbicides via conventional plant breeding methods or genetic transformation. The present invention also provides a method for inter-planting enhanced pollenizer plants amongst the triploid watermelon plants in a field in a pattern that decreases the ratio of pollenizer plants to triploid plants and increases the field surface for triploid plants. This allows for a higher population of triploid plants, than conventional practices, and results in 25-33% higher yield of seedless fruits. Also included in the present invention is a method of increasing the yield of triploid, seedless watermelon comprising the steps of reducing fruit load of said enhanced pollenizer watermelon, increasing the flowering duration of said pollenizer watermelon, planting said enhanced pollenizer watermelon in a field of triploid watermelon; and harvesting said triploid watermelon. The invention also provides a method of increasing the yield of triploid seedless watermelon plants by using enhanced pollenizer watermelon plants, in one embodiment with small fruits, wherein the fruit as such are not harvested for human consumption. In one embodiment, the seeds of the fruits of the enhanced pollenizer are used as food or feed, or in medicines. The present invention also provides a method for producing an enhanced pollenizer according to the present invention comprising crossing a first watermelon plant having small leaves with a second watermelon plant producing fruit with brittle rind that splits easily and selecting for a watermelon plant having the characteristics of the enhanced pollenizer disclosed herein. In one embodiment, the first watermelon plant further comprises the characteristic of a heavily branching lacy vine. In one embodiment, the leaves of the enhanced pollenizer comprises deep, non-overlapping lobes. In one embodiment, the first watermelon plant has the characteristics of OW824 disclosed herein. In one embodiment, the second watermelon plant bears small fruit. In one embodiment, the second watermelon plant has the characteristics of OW823 disclosed herein. In one embodiment, the first watermelon plant is OW824. In one embodiment, the second watermelon plant is OW823. In another embodiment, the first watermelon plant is OW824 and the second watermelon plant is OW823. In one embodiment, the method further comprises fixing the traits of the enhanced pollenizer. The present invention also discloses a watermelon enhanced pollenizer obtainable by a method comprising the steps of a) crossing a watermelon plant with a plant of NO1F3203B (now called SP-1) deposited under Accession No. PTA-4856, b) obtaining a progeny, c) selecting said progeny for the characteristics of the enhanced pollenizer, preferably small leaves and brittle fruit, In one embodiment, it is further selected for heavily branching lacy vines, in one embodiment for small fruit. In one embodiment, the method further comprises crossing said progeny either with itself or with a plant of NO1F3203B, or with another enhanced pollenizer, and selecting for the said characteristics of the enhanced pollenizer. In one embodiment, the method further comprises fixing the traits of the enhanced pollenizer. In one embodiment, an enhanced pollenizer of the instant invention is an inbred or a hybrid. In one embodiment, an enhanced pollenizer of the instant invention is a dihaploid. In one embodiment, the present invention discloses a method of producing seeds of an enhanced pollenizer comprising: a) growing a plant of an enhanced pollenizer according to the present invention; b) allowing self-pollination of said plant; c) harvesting seeds from said plant. In one embodiment, the method further comprises washing and drying said seed. In one embodiment, the present invention discloses a method of vegetative propagating an enhanced pollenizer of the present invention comprising: a) collecting shoot tissue of a plant of an enhanced pollenizer; b) cultivating said tissue to obtain proliferated shoots; c) rooting said proliferated shoots to obtain rooted plantlets. In one embodiment, the method further comprises growing plants from said rooted plantlets. In one embodiment, the method further comprises harvesting seeds from said plants. In one embodiment, the method further comprises washing and drying said seed. In one embodiment, the present invention discloses a method for producing triploid, seedless watermelon fruit comprising the steps of: a) inter-planting a seed or a plant of an enhanced pollenizer according to the present invention and seed or plants of triploid watermelon plants in a field; and b) allowing pollination of said triploid watermelon plants by pollen of said diploid watermelon plant to obtain triploid, seedless watermelon fruit. In one embodiment, the method further comprises harvesting seeds from said plants. In one embodiment, the method further comprises washing and drying said seed. DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a photographic depiction of a leaf of the enhanced pollenizer plant of the invention. FIG. 2 is a photographic depiction of a leaf of the pollenizer referred to as Sangria™ that is currently used in commerce. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Development of Seedless Watermelons Triploid watermelons are created by crossing a tetraploid (4×) female parent line with diploid (2×) male parent line. The resulting triploid (3×) watermelon seeds or plants are planted in a field with diploid watermelon pollenizers. The resulting fruit of the triploid watermelon are seedless. To create a tetraploid female watermelon line, it is known in the art to use chemicals that alter mitosis of a diploid inbred line so that unusual numbers of chromosomes are obtained. For example, colchicine is a chemical that alters the mitotic spindle fibers of diploid cells resulting in a number of cells that are tetraploid. The diploid line used to create a tetraploid is selected based on the traits desired for the tetraploid line. Traits that are desired for a tetraploid line may therefore first be introgressed into the diploid inbred lines that will be used to develop the tetraploid lines by breeding methods well known to those skilled in the art. Thus, the diploid and tetraploid parent lines are bred separately for the desired traits. It usually requires at least two generations of self-pollination and selection to “fix” the 4×condition, after the colchicine treatment generation because, often, chromosomal aberrations are encountered that affect seed fertility, and must be eliminated. Once the stable tetraploid containing the desired characteristics is verified, it then can be used as a stable female parent for the production of the triploid hybrid. A stable diploid inbred is selected for use as the male parent. Methods for developing tetraploid plants are described in Kihara, H., 1951, Triploid Watermelons, Proceedings of American Society for Horticultural Science 58:217-230; and Eigsti, O. J., 1971, Seedless Triploids, HortScience 6, pgs. 1-2. The tetraploid female parent line and diploid male parent line are planted in a seed production field. The pollen of the diploid male parent is transferred to the female tetraploid flower by methods well known to those skilled in the art. The triploid seed that is produced is present in the resulting fruit and is planted to produce the triploid plants. The breeding of watermelon is further described in Mark Bassett (Editor), 1986, Breeding Vegetable Crops, AVI Publishing, ISBN 0-87055-499-9. A triploid seedless watermelon is a true F1 hybrid between a tetraploid watermelon, as the female parent, and a diploid watermelon, as the male parent (Kihara, H. 1951. Triploid Watermelons. Proceedings of American Society for Horticultural Science 58:217-230). The seedless condition in triploid watermelon is the result of the presence of three homologous sets of chromosomes per somatic cell rather than the usual two. Cells with three sets of homologous chromosomes are said to be triploid and are designated as 3X. The triploid seedless watermelons have 33 chromosomes (2N=3X=33) in their somatic cells. The inability of the triploid zygote to produce normal viable gametes (pollen and egg cells) causes the absence of seeds in triploid fruits. Typically, seedless watermelons contain small edible white ovules, similar to those in immature cucumbers. Adequate viable pollen supply from the diploid pollenizer watermelon is essential for the triploid female flowers to set and develop into regular seedless fruit. The female flowers of triploid watermelon will not set if they are not pollinated by viable pollen of diploid watermelon. (Maynard, D. N. (editor), 2001, Watermelons: Characteristics, Production and Marketing, ASHS Press, ISBN 0-9707546-1-2). The diploid watermelon grown in a field of triploid plants is referred to herein as the “pollenizer.” In current commercial triploid watermelon production fields, the triploid watermelon and diploid pollenizer are inter-planted, either within row or between rows, in a ratio of approximately 1 diploid to 2 or 3 triploids. Although research has indicated a 1:4 ratio is acceptable, it is rarely used in commercial plots. (NeSmith, D. S., Duval, J. R. Fruit Set of Triploid Watermelons as a Function of Distance from a Diploid Pollenizer, HortScience 36(1): 60-61, 2001) Development of Enhanced Pollenizer Diploid Watermelon According to the present invention, a watermelon (OW824) is selected having the characteristics of a heavily branching lacy vine, early and prolific male flowers, and small leaves with deep, non-overlapping leaf lobes. In this example, the fruit of OW824 is relatively large, the rind and flesh are very firm, the seed size is very big and the flesh is white. OW824 is a publicly available edible seed watermelon variety generally referred to as XinJiang edible seed watermelon. Also according to the invention, a hybrid watermelon (OW823) is selected for its small fruit (2-3 kg) with brittle rind that splits easily. OW823 also includes the characteristics of mid-sized seeds with yellow flesh and has relatively large leaves. OW823 is a commercially available variety, Tiny Orchid, from Known-You Seeds, Ltd. of Taiwan. Crossing OW824 X OW823 generated progeny having the characteristics of the enhanced pollenizer diploid watermelon of the present invention as described in more detail below. The initial cross of OW824 X OW823 was made during the summer of 2000 in California. The F1 generation was grown in the greenhouse in the fall of 2000. The F2 population was grown Florida in the spring, and in California in the summer of 2001. Individuals with the set of traits required for the enhanced pollenizer were successfully identified and self-pollinated in F2 populations grown in both locations. A total 7 selections were made. The 7 F3 lines were grown in the field in Florida and the greenhouse in California in the fall of 2001 for further selection and evaluation. Three F3 lines were identified to best meet our breeding goals and advanced to F4 generation. They all have the set of the traits required by the enhanced pollenizer. One line, NO1F3203B, now called SP-1, is fixed for every trait concerned. NO1F3203B contains the traits that are illustrative of the traits of the enhanced pollenizer of the invention. Other enhanced pollenizer lines with similar characteristics were for example SP-2 with slightly larger leaves than SP-1, and SP-3 with slightly larger fruits than SP-1 and a different fruit skin color. Leaf: The leaves of the enhanced pollenizer are significantly smaller and are more numerous than that of the commonly used pollenizers such as the variety Sangria™ (See FIGS. 1 and 2). The size of a leaf is determined by measuring its surface area. The surface area of different types of leaves of a watermelon plant can be measured. In one embodiment, the surface area of the 5th leaf on a vine, counted from the smallest new leaf at the tip of the vine towards the crown of the plant, is measured. The smallest new leaf at the tip of a vine is typically about 5 cm in length and width, and is counted as the first leaf. Such 5th leaf is generally referred to herein as the 5th leaf from the smallest new leaf on a vine. In another embodiment, the surface area of an average mature and fully developed leaf is measured. An average mature and fully developed leave is for example a leaf at the fifth node from the crown of a plant. In another embodiment, the surface area of the leaves, which appear to be the largest on a plant, is measured. In one embodiment, the leaves of an enhanced pollenizer of the present invention have a surface area approximately in the range of about 20 to about 70 cm2, in one embodiment about 22.5 to about 50 cm2, in one embodiment about 25 to about 40 cm2. In another embodiment, the average leaf surface area of the leaves of the enhanced pollenizer is approximately about 25 to about 40 cm2, in one embodiment about 27.5 to about 37.5 cm2, in one embodiment about 30 to about 35 cm2. In one embodiment, the surface area of the 5th leaf from the smallest new leaf on a vine of an enhanced pollenizer of the present invention is measured. In one embodiment, the surface area of the 5th leaf from the smallest new leaf on a vine of an enhanced pollenizer of the present invention is not more than about 50 cm2. In one embodiment, the surface area of the 5th leaf from the smallest new leaf on a vine of an enhanced pollenizer of the instant invention is approximately in the range of about 15 cm2 to about 50 cm2. In one embodiment, the average leaf surface area of 5th leaves from the smallest new leaf on a vine of an enhanced pollenizer of the present invention is not more than about 40 cm2. In one embodiment, the average leaf surface area of 5th leaves from the smallest new leaf on a vine of an enhanced pollenizer of the present invention is approximately in the range of about 20 to about 40 cm2. For example, Tables 1A and 1D below describe measurements of the surface area of 5th leaves from the smallest new leaf on a vine of NO1F3203B/SP-1. In one embodiment, the surface area of average mature and fully developed leaves of an enhanced pollenizer of the present invention is measured. In one embodiment, the surface area of such average mature and fully developed leaves of an enhanced pollenizer of the present invention is not more about 90 cm2. In one embodiment, the surface area of an average mature and fully developed leaf of an enhanced pollenizer of the present invention is approximately in the range of about 40 cm2 to about 90 cm2. For example, Tables 1C and 1D below describe measurements of the surface area of average mature and fully developed leaves of NO1F3203B/SP-1. In one embodiment, the surface area of largest leaves of plants of the enhanced pollenizer of the present invention is determined. In one embodiment, such largest leaves have a surface area not more than about 120 cm2, in one embodiment approximately in the range of about 60 cm2 to about 120 cm2. For example, Table 1B below describes measurements of the surface area of such large leaves of NO1F3203B/SP-1. Clearly, due to various environmental and physiological conditions, the size of the leaves of a watermelon plant may vary. Accordingly, in one embodiment, at least about 80% of the leaves of an enhanced pollenizer of the instant invention in a field show the above characteristics of surface area. In one embodiment, at least about 90% of the leaves of an enhanced pollenizer of the instant invention in a field show the above characteristics of surface area. In one embodiment, the leaves of the enhanced pollenizer have deep, non-overlapping leaf lobes. The leaf surface areas of the enhanced pollenizer NO1F3203B and the Sangria™, a pollenizer favored by growers, are shown for comparison purposes in Table 1 A-D. In Table 1A the leaves for both NO1F3203B and Sangria™ were taken from mature plants sowed on Aug. 20, 2001 and harvested on Nov. 8, 2001. In Table A, 5th leaves from the smallest new leaf on a vine were harvested. In Table 1B the leaves of both NO1F3203B and Sangria™ were taken from mature plants sowed on Aug. 7, 2003, transplanted to open fields on Sep. 9, 2003 and harvested on Oct. 31, 2003. In Table 1B, leaves, which appeared to be the largest leaves on the plants, were harvested. In Table 1C leaves of both NO1F3203B and Sangria™ were taken from mature plants sowed on Aug. 7, 2003, transplanted to open fields on Sep. 9, 2003 and harvested on Dec. 4, 2003. The leaves used in Table 1C were average mature and fully expanded leaves at the fifth node from the crown of the plant. In Table 1D the leaves for both NO1F3203B (SP-1) and Sangria™ were taken from mature plants sowed on Jan. 16, 2004 and harvested on May 16, 2004. Average mature and fully developed leaves (M) and 5th leaves from the smallest new leaf on a vine (Y) were harvested. The data in the Tables are given in cm2 (also given in square inches (sq. in.) in Table 1B and 1C). Plants were grown at the Naples station in Florida. Leaf samples were collected and the leaves photocopied. In Table 1A, the surface area of the leaves was determined using graph paper. In Tables 1 B-D, the photocopies of leaves were scanned and the surface area determined using a computer. In particular, in Table 1D, a WinRhizo STD 1600+scanner and the program WinRhizo Pro 2003 were used to analyze the leaf images. TABLE 1A SANGRIA NO1F3203B LEAF cm2 LEAF cm2 A 38.75 A 232.00 B 26.25 B 447.25 C 39.75 C 241.50 D 28.75 D 238.00 E 38.25 E 211.00 F 26.27 Average (±Std Dev) 33.08 (±6.46) 273.95 (±97.60) TABLE 1B NO1F3203B Sangria Sample cm2 (sq. in.) cm2 (sq. in.) 1 63.42 (9.83) 301.81 (46.78) 2 100.19 (15.53) 285.81 (44.30) 3 103.87 (16.10) 212.00 (32.86) 4 78.00 (12.09) 334.77 (51.89) 5 114.58 (17.76) 330.90 (51.29) Average 92.00 (14.26) 293.03 (45.42) Std Dev 20.77 (3.22) 49.67 (7.70) TABLE 1C NO1F3203B LEAF SANGRIA LEAF Sample cm2 (sq. in.) cm2 (sq. in.) 1 59.16 (9.17) 213.03 (33.02) 2 51.35 (7.96) 242.37 (37.57) 3 51.48 (7.98) 265.10 (41.09) 4 43.74 (6.78) 245.16 (38.00) 5 57.94 (8.98) 274.25 (42.51) Average 52.71 (8.17) 248.00 (38.44) Sdt Dev 5.53 (0.86) 21.19 (3.28) TABLE 1D Leaf Stage Leaf ID Area (cm2) Average Std Dev SP-1 Y sp6-1 18.79 SP-1 Y sp6-2 40.31 SP-1 Y sp6-3 19.00 SP-1 Y sp6-4 32.34 SP-1 Y sp6-5 22.47 26.58 7.79 Sangria Y sg6-1 120.35 Sangria Y sg6-2 119.00 Sangria Y sg6-3 103.16 Sangria Y sg6-4 152.82 Sangria Y sg6-5 118.09 122.68 12.06 SP-1 M sp-1 60.99 SP-1 M sp-2 59.01 SP-1 M sp-3 44.05 SP-1 M sp-4 80.91 SP-1 M sp-5 81.56 SP-1 M sp-6 64.49 SP-1 M sp-7 60.61 SP-1 M sp-8 51.06 SP-1 M sp-9 51.88 SP-1 M sp-10 41.55 59.61 10.10 Sangria M sg-1 218.92 Sangria M sg-2 317.81 Sangria M sg-3 261.77 Sangria M sg-4 244.82 Sangria M sg-5 235.53 Sangria M sg-6 234.35 Sangria M sg-7 255.25 Sangria M sg-8 261.73 Sangria M sg-9 237.72 Sangria M sg-10 240.58 250.85 18.63 In one embodiment, the surface area of the enhanced pollenizer leaf of the invention is approximately 3 to 14 times less than the surface area of the typical diploid pollenizer, Sangria™ plant. In one embodiment, the surface area of the enhanced pollenizer leaf of the invention is approximately 5 to 12 times less than the surface area of the typical diploid pollenizer, Sangria™ plant. FIG. 1 illustrates the non-overlapping characteristic of the deep, non-overlapping lobed leaves of the enhanced pollenizer. Clearly, due to various environmental and physical forces, some of the leaves in this population may have some overlapping lobes, but overlapping lobes are not characteristic thereof. In contrast, the Sangria™ leaf shown in FIG. 2 is characterized as having leaf lobes that habitually overlap each other. The small, deeply lobed and non-overlapping leaves of the invention allow more sunlight through to adjacent triploid watermelon plants. Branching: In one embodiment, an enhanced pollenizer of the invention is also heavily branched (also referred to as “lacy vines” or “open vines”), having significantly more branches (average of 25.9) than the variety referred to as Sangria™, (average of 13). In one embodiment, an enhanced pollenizer of the present invention produces secondary and tertiary branches on the main branch, thus allowing for very large amounts of male flowers. Moreover, in one embodiment, an enhanced pollenizer of the present invention, for example, a plant of SP-1, also develops tertiary branches late in the season, a characteristic rarely observed on regular watermelon plant like Sangria™. The lacy vine characteristic enables the enhanced pollenizer to produce more accessible male flowers than current diploid pollenizers, thereby enhancing exposure of the flowers to bees. The open or lacy vines also permit the inter-planting of the enhanced pollenizer between triploid plants thereby allowing for higher triploid populations and greater seedless fruit production. Fruit: The fruit rind of the enhanced pollenizer is very brittle and is easily broken. The brittle fruit rind splits easily, due to natural maturation or by breaking or splitting of the fruit during harvest of the seedless triploid watermelon (for example from foot traffic). Splitting of fruit signals the plant that it hasn't completed its reproductive process inducing the plant to continue flowering for a longer period of time. Brittleness is conferred by a gene e (explosive rind, thin, and tender rind, bursting when cut (Rhodes & Dane, 1999, Gene List for Watermelon, Cucurbit Genetics Cooperative Report 22:71-77; Nihat Guner & Todd C. Wehner, 2003, Gene List for Watermelon, Cucurbit Genetics Cooperative Report 26:76-92; Porter D. R. (1937) Inheritance of certain fruit and see characters in watermelon Hilgardia 10: 489-509; Poole C. F. (1944) Genetics of cultivated cucurbits J. Hered. 35: 122-128). Accordingly, in one embodiment, the brittleness of the fruit of an enhanced pollenizer of the present invention is conferred by a gene e, and the present invention includes the use of a watermelon plant comprising a gene e as pollenizer for triploid watermelon plants. When measured by a penetrometer, a fruit of NO1F3203B breaks at about 7-11 lbs/in2, whereas a fruit of a typical watermelon such as Sangria™ breaks at about 21-27 lbs/in2. Accordingly, in one embodiment, the fruit rind of an enhanced pollenizer of the present invention is about 2 to about 4 times more brittle than the fruit rind of watermelon variety Sangria™. In one embodiment, using a Tester FT02 of Wagner Instruments, Greenwich, Conn. 06836, the fruit of the enhanced pollenizer breaks under a pressure approximately in the range of about 90 to about 150 g/mm2, in one embodiment about 100 to about 148 g/mm2, in one embodiment about 110 to about 145 g/mm2, in one embodiment about 120 to about 140 g/mm2. By comparison, the fruit of Sangria™ breaks under a pressure of approximately about 300 g/mm2. In one embodiment, measurements of the brittleness of a watermelon fruit are carried out with a Tester FT327, a Tester FT011 or a Tester FT02 from Wagner Instruments, Greenwich, Conn. 06836, with a 2 mm or a 3 mm tip. In one embodiment, the rind of a fruit of an enhanced an enhanced pollenizer of the instant invention breaks under a pressure under about 1,800 g when a fruit tester with a 2 mm tip is used. In one embodiment, the fruit rind of an enhanced an enhanced pollenizer of the instant invention breaks under a pressure approximately in the range of about 400 g to about 1,800 g when a fruit tester with a 2 mm tip is used. In one embodiment, the fruit rind of an enhanced an enhanced pollenizer of the instant invention breaks under a pressure under about 2,300 g when a fruit tester with a 3 mm tip is used. In one embodiment, the fruit rind of an enhanced an enhanced pollenizer of the instant invention breaks under a pressure approximately in the range of about 1,000 g to about 2,300 g when a fruit tester with a 3 mm tip is used. In one embodiment, the average pressure to break the rind of a fruit of an enhanced pollenizer of the present invention is under about 1,300 g when a fruit tester with a 2 mm tip is used. In one embodiment, the average pressure to break the rind of a fruit of an enhanced pollenizer of the present invention is approximately in the range of about 700 g to about 1,300 g when a fruit tester with a 2 mm tip is used. In one embodiment, the average pressure to break the rind of a fruit of an enhanced pollenizer of the present invention is under about 2,000 g when a fruit tester with a 3 mm tip is used. In one embodiment, the average pressure to break the rind of a fruit of an enhanced pollenizer of the present invention is approximately in the range of about 1,400 g to about 2,000 g when a fruit tester with a 3 mm tip is used. In one embodiment, at least about 80% of the fruits of a plant of the instant invention in a field show the above characteristics of rind brittleness. In one embodiment, at least about 90% of the fruits of a plant of the instant invention in a field show the above characteristics of rind brittleness. The environmental conditions generally influence the brittleness of the rind of a fruit of the present invention. For example, the rind of fruits grown under warm and sunny conditions tends to be more brittle than that of fruits grown under cooler and shadier conditions. This is for example reflected in the measurements of Example 12, where a Spring crop was tested compared to a Fall crop in Examples 10 and 11. In one embodiment, the fruit size of the enhanced pollenizer is approximately in the range of about 5 to about 7 inches long x about 6 to about 8 inches wide. In one embodiment, the fruit size of the enhanced pollenizer is approximately about 6 inches long x about 7 inches wide, whereas the typical pollenizer is about 10 inches long x 20 inches wide. Small fruit size, as well its brittleness was selected to decrease the load on the plant, thereby extending the duration of plant growth and flower production. Another advantage of the small fruit size is that it enables the harvester to easily distinguish the seedless fruit from seeded fruit, is often difficult with currently used pollenizers, which are selected based on their overall similarity to the seedless triploid plants. The fruit of the enhanced pollenizer weighs approximately in the range of about 2 to about 7 lbs, in one embodiment about 2 to about 6 lbs, in one embodiment about 2 to about 5 lbs. In one embodiment, the average weight for the fruits of the enhanced pollenizer is about 3.2 lbs. In one embodiment, the rind color of the enhanced pollenizer is light green with very thin dark green lines. The fruit of the enhanced pollenizer of the invention can be distinguished from the fruit of most (about 99%) of the commercially available seedless watermelon varieties. Flowering: The plants of the enhanced pollenizer, e.g. of NO1F3203B, also flower approximately 7 to 10 days earlier than diploid pollenizer plants currently used for the production of seedless watermelon, and continue flowering during fruit harvest time of the seedless watermelon, 2 to 3 weeks longer than standard diploid pollenizer plants. Thus, the pollenizer plant of the invention has a flowering duration that is approximately 3 to 5 weeks longer than pollenizers currently used. Other Traits: The enhanced pollenizer, e.g. NO1F3203B, can be used either as donor of the set of traits disclosed above, or as the recurrent parent to develop additional enhanced pollenizer lines. In accordance with the invention, the enhanced pollenizer watermelon contains traits of disease resistance (e.g. Fusarium wilt, Anthracnose, Gummy Stem Blight, Powdery Mildew, and Bacterial Fruit Blotch), insect resistance (e.g. cucumber beetle, aphids, white flies and mites), salt tolerance, cold tolerance and/or herbicide resistance added. These traits can be added to existing lines by using either conventional backcrossing method, pedigree breeding method or genetic transformation. The methods of conventional watermelon breeding are taught in several reference books, e.g. Maynard, D. N. (editor), 2001, WATERMELONS Characteristics, Production and Marketing, ASHS Press; Mohr, H. C., Watermelon Breeding, in Mark J. Bassett (editor), 1986, Breeding Vegetable Crops, AVI Publishing Company, Inc. General methods of genetic transformation can be learned from publish references, e.g. Glich et al., (Eds), 1993, Methods in Plant Molecular Biology & Biotechnology, CRC Press, and more specifically for watermelon in WO02/14523. Forms of the Enhanced Diploid Pollenizer: Once the enhanced pollenizer lines are developed, several forms of enhanced pollenizer varieties can be used in commercial seedless watermelon production. Specifically, these forms of enhanced pollenizer varieties include: Forms of Enhanced Pollenizer: (1) Open Pollinated Variety: The stable, enhanced lines of the enhanced pollenizer are grown in isolated fields, at least 2,000 meters from other watermelon varieties. Pollination is conducted in the open fields by bees. Seeds are harvested from the seed production field when the fruit and seeds are fully developed. The seeds are dried and processed according to the regular watermelon seed handling procedures. (2) Synthetic Variety: The seed of different enhanced pollenizer lines are individually produced in isolated fields. Bee pollination is used in each isolation. The seed of different enhanced pollenizer are separately harvested and processed. Mixing several enhanced pollenizer lines in various ratios forms the synthetic varieties. The synthetic variety can provide a broader pollenizer population for the triploid watermelons. (3) Open-Pollinated Hybrid Variety: Two or several enhanced pollenizer lines are planted in the same seed production field with bee pollination. The harvested seed lot, therefore, contains both hybrid and inbred seed. (4) Hybrid Variety: Two enhanced pollenizer lines, the male and female parents, are planted in the same field. Hand pollination is conducted. Only the seed from female parent line is harvested and sold to the commercial grower to use as pollenizer. Table 3 in Example 7 shows the results obtained using various combinations of inbred and hybrid enhanced pollenizers. In one embodiment, an enhanced pollenizer of the present invention is a dihaploid. A dihaploid is for example produced by gamma-ray irradiation of the anthers followed by pollination of female flowers with irradiated pollen and embryo rescue. In one embodiment, an enhanced pollenizer is grafted on rootstock according to methods standard in the art. Method of Seedless Watermelon Production: Most current commercial seedless watermelon growers in NAFTA use elongated diploid varieties with an Allsweet stripe pattern: light green skin with wide green stripes, as the pollenizer. The variety referred to as Sangria™ is the most preferred Allsweet type pollenizer and is available as a commercial product from Syngenta Seeds, Inc., Boise Id. Typically, the pollenizer is inter-planted with the triploid watermelon either between rows or within row. The current method of planting diploid pollenizers include planting the diploid plants at a distance from adjacent triploid such that they have the same field area available per plant as the field area that is available to the triploid watermelon plants. For example, currently watermelon growers inter-plant the diploids within a row, whereby the space between all adjacent plants within the row are approximately equidistant. Alternatively, diploid pollenizer plants are planted in separate rows between rows of triploid watermelon plants. All rows of diploid and triploid plants in such a field are planted approximately equidistant from each other. In other words, under current methods for producing seedless watermelon, the width of all diploid and triploid rows is the same. In one embodiment, a method of the present invention includes planting the enhanced pollenizer watermelon plants in rows that are narrower than the triploid rows, thereby saving field area for production of triploid seedless watermelon. In one embodiment, a method of the present invention includes planting an enhanced pollenizer watermelon plant within a row of triploid watermelon plants. In one embodiment, a method of the present invention includes planting an enhanced pollenizer watermelon plant and a triploid watermelon plant in the same hole. In one embodiment, enhanced pollenizer watermelon plants and triploid watermelon plants are planted in a ratio of 3-4:1, i.e. in every 3rd or 4th hole both an enhanced pollenizer plant and a triploid watermelon plant are planted in the same hole. In one embodiment, an enhanced pollenizer watermelon plant of the present invention is planted within pollinating distance of a triploid watermelon plant. In one embodiment, a seed or a plant (e.g. a young plant about 2-4 weeks after sowing) of an enhanced pollenized of the present invention is planted in a field. Table 2 below shows examples of different planting alternatives for watermelon pollenizer, including a preferred inter-planting according to the present invention (right column). TABLE 2 ◯ X X ◯ X X ◯ X ◯ X X ◯ X X X X X X X X X ♦ ♦ ◯ X X ◯ X X ◯ ◯ X X ◯ X X ◯ X X X X X X X ♦ ♦ ♦ ◯ X X ◯ X X ◯ X X ◯ X X ◯ X X X X X X X X ♦ ♦ ◯ X X ◯ X X ◯ X ◯ X X ◯ X X X X X X X X X ♦ ♦ ◯ X X ◯ X X ◯ ◯ X X ◯ X X ◯ X X X X X X X ♦ ♦ ♦ ◯ X X ◯ X X ◯ X X ◯ X X ◯ X X X X X X X X ♦ ♦ ◯ X X ◯ X X ◯ X ◯ X X ◯ X X X X X X X X X ♦ ♦ ◯ X X ◯ X X ◯ ◯ X X ◯ X X ◯ X X X X X X X seeded seedless seedless seeded seedless seedless seeded Seeded = ◯ Pollenizer = ♦ Seedless = X Seedless = X Conventional 2:1 Conventional 2:1 Pollenizer inter-planted at pollenizer ratio using the pollenizer ratio using the a 3:1 pollenizer ratio row method within row method EXAMPLES The following Examples are provided to illustrate the present invention, and should not be construed as limiting thereof. Example 1 Triploid watermelon plants are planted in parallel rows 7 feet apart and 3 feet apart within each row. However, the enhanced diploid watermelon plants are planted in a narrow row 3.5° wide (½ the width of the triploid rows) between every second and third triploid row. For example, rows A and B are two consecutive rows of triploids, each 7-foot wide. Row C is a diploid row that is 3.5 feet wide. Row D and E are the following two 7 foot wide rows of triploids, followed by the 3.5-foot wide row F of diploid plants. This pattern is repeated across the width of the field. Because the diploid row is narrower according to the method of the invention, the distance between rows B and D is 10.5 feet instead of the traditional distance of 14 feet. Using this ratio of 1 pollenizer row for every 2 triploid rows (1:2), 33.3% of the field would normally be used for the pollenizer plants. Reducing the width of the pollenizer row according to the method of the invention by one-half, the gain of space for planting additional triploid plants would be 33.3%/2 or approximately 17%. Example 2 Triploid watermelon plants are again planted in parallel rows 7 feet apart and 3 feet apart within each row. As in Example 1, the enhanced diploid watermelon plants are planted in a narrow row 3.5′ wide, but are planted between every third and fourth triploid row. For example, rows A, B, and C, are three consecutive rows of triploids, each row being 7′ wide. The following row D is a diploid row that is 3.5 feet wide. Row E, F, and G are the following three rows of triploids, all 7 feet wide, followed by a 3.5 foot wide row of enhanced pollenizer plants. This pattern is repeated across the width of the field. Because the diploid row is narrower according to the method of the invention, the distance between rows B and D is again 10.5 feet instead of the traditional distance of 14 feet. Using this ratio of 1 pollenizer row for every 3 triploid rows (1:3), 25% of the field would normally be used for the pollenizer plants. Reducing the width of the pollenizer row according to the method of the invention by one-half, the gain of space for planting additional triploid plants would be 25%/2 or approximately 12%. Example 3 Triploid watermelons are planted in parallel rows 8 feet apart and 3 feet apart within each row. The enhanced diploid watermelon plants are planted in a narrow row 4.0 feet wide (½ the width of the triploid rows) between every second and third triploid row. For example, rows A and B are two consecutive rows of triploids, each 8 foot wide. Row C is a diploid row that is 4.0 feet wide. Row D and E are the following two 8 foot wide rows of triploids, followed by the 4.0 feet wide row F of diploid plants. This pattern is repeated across the width of the field. Because the diploid row is narrower according to the method of the invention, the distance between rows B and D is 12.0 feet instead of the traditional distance of 16 feet. Using this ratio of 1 pollenizer row for every 2 triploid rows (1:2), 33.3% of the field would normally be used for the pollenizer plants. Reducing the width of the pollenizer row according to the method of the invention by one-half, the gain of space for planting additional triploid plants would be 33.3%/2 or approximately 17%. Example 4 Referring to the above three examples, when triploids are planted in rows 8 feet apart, and the ratio of diploid to triploid is 1:3, it is now clear that the reduction of the pollenizer row width by one-half will gain space for planting additional 12%. Example 5 It is also within the scope of the invention to reduce the pollenizer row width to approximately {fraction (1/3)} that of the triploid row width. Thus, according to the present invention, at any row width, when the ratio of diploid rows to triploid rows is: (a.) 1:2, the savings of field area for additional triploid plants is (33%×⅔) or 22%. (b) 1:3, the savings of field area for additional triploid plants is (25%×⅔) or 16.5%. (c) 1:4, the savings of field area for additional triploid plants is (20%×⅔) or 13.2%. It is also within the scope of the invention to reduce the pollenizer row width to approximately {fraction (2/3)} that of the triploid row width. Example 6 It is also within the scope of the present invention to inter-plant the diploid plants within the rows of triploid plants. According to the invention, the triploid plants are first planted by machine or by hand in regularly spaced rows. The triploid plants within each row are planted, for example, 3 feet apart. After the triploid plants are in the field as described, the diploid pollenizer watermelon plants of the invention are inter-planted, by hand, within each row approximately midway between the triploid plants, i.e. the diploid pollenizer watermelon plants of the invention are inserted between the triploid plants. Thus, in this example, the diploid plants are planted approximately 1.5 feet from the flanking triploid plants within the row. Due to the characteristics of the enhanced pollenizer of the invention, the diploid plants can be inter-planted within each row after every 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, or 10 consecutive triploid plants. It is currently preferred in the industry to plant the diploid plants after every 2 (1:2) or 3 (1:3) triploid plants within the row. A 1:4 ratio has been reported, but is not normally used in commercial fields due to inadequate pollenization of the triploid plants. The field area saved under this example, when compared with both the current methods of planting diploids in separate rows or within a row at the ratios (diploid:triploid) of: (a) 1:2, is 33.3%, (b) 1:3, is 25%, (c) 1:4, is 20%. The enhanced pollenizer and method of the present invention comprises planting the enhanced pollenizer watermelons in rows that are narrower than the rows containing the triploid plants. Although the narrower diploid row will encourage diploid plant growth into the triploid plant row, the novel characteristics of the enhanced pollenizer watermelon allow it maintain its ability to sufficiently pollinate the triploid plants in the field. Thus, the enhanced pollenizer watermelon and method of the present invention increase the yield of seedless watermelon in a field. Example 7 A split-plot design is used for this experiment to test three inbred enhanced pollenizers and three hybrid enhanced pollenizers against the commercial checks Sangria 2:1 and Sangria 3:1. All 6 enhanced pollenizers are inserted between regularly spaced (80″×24″) triploid plants in the ratio of 3:1. For Sangria 2:1 ratio, every third space is a Sangria plant. For Sangria 3:1 ratio, every 4th space is a Sangria plant. A 5:1 ratio is also included in this trial using the mixed enhanced pollenizers. In this treatment, the enhanced pollenizers plant is inserted between 5th and 6th regularly spaced triploid plants. So there are total 9 main plots, the 9 main treatments/pollinators, in this experiment. The 9 main plots are separated by cantaloupe plants. 3 different triploids, the sub-plots, with 2 replications are used to test different pollinators (see table 3). Plants are well grown except the leaf-miner damage. This damage results in smaller fruit size for Palomar and Tri-X-313. The trials are evaluated after about two months. The number of triploid fruit in each sub-plot is counted. The first 15 fruits in each sub-plot are non-selectively harvested and weighted. 10 fruits are also harvested from each pollinator and measured for rind firmness. Data are analyzed using S-Plus 6.1. The enhanced pollenizers varieties are also evaluated for fruit size and other fruit characteristics. As shown in table 3, very similar fruit set per plant is achieved for all the pollenizer used. Smaller triploid seedless melons are produced when Sangria is used as pollinator in the ratio of 2:1 in this experiment. This could be due to Sangria's strong competition to the triploid plant for space, water and nutrient. A lot more seedless melons per acre, 25% (compared to the 3:1 ratio) to 33% (compared to the standard 2:1 ratio), are produced when enhanced pollenizers varieties are used as pollenizer. The rind of enhanced pollenizer varieties of the present invention is much less durable compared to diploid pollenizer Sangria, as indicated by the force used to penetrate the rind using a fruit firmness tester (Fruit Firmness Tester FT02 of Wagner Instruments, Greenwich, Conn. 06836). Should the pollenizer not be harvested for its commercial value, its brittle rind allows the pollinator fruit to be destroyed during fruit harvest or soon thereafter. This is helpful for unloading the pollenizer plant and maintaining the flowering ability of the pollenizer plants for longer period of time. The brittle rind of the enhanced pollenizer also reduces the risk of carry-over into the next season, as a weed, since the fruit, and plant debris can be easily destroyed, after harvest of the triploid fruit. Enhanced pollenizer plants flower about 7 days earlier than diploid Sangria. Enhanced pollenizer plants produce more than twice many of branches compared to Sangria. This allows enhanced pollenizer plants to produce more male flowers, thereby reducing the number of pollenizer plants needed. The vine of enhanced pollenizer plant is much thinner than regular diploid plants. The leaf size and leaf-lobe size of enhanced pollenizer are much smaller than those of Sangria. All these make enhanced pollenizer much less competitive for light, water and fertilizer, compared to regular diploid watermelon. Enhanced pollenizer plants are producing male flowers after the harvest of triploid seedless fruits. This gives the potential of having a second fruit set and multiple harvests of triploid seedless fruit with single planting. The male flowers open earlier in the morning compared to regular watermelons, especially in the cooler days. TABLE 3 Seedless Watermelon Fruit Yields Produced by Using Different Pollenizer and Rind Firmness of Different Pollenizer Rind Fruit/Plant Fruit/Acre Frt Wt (lbs) Firmness (g/ Pollinator Palomar RWT8124 TriX313 Mean Palomar RWT8124 TriX313 Mean Palomar RWT8124 TriX313 Mean mm2) SP Hyb 5:1 2.00 3.60 2.15 2.58 6534 11652 6957 8381 13.6 6.0 15.4 11.6 NA SP1 2.05 3.55 1.95 2.53 6719 11661 6413 8265 12.2 5.7 14.6 10.8 121 SP1 × SP3 2.00 3.60 2.15 2.58 6579 11752 7001 8444 13.2 6.0 14.9 11.3 139 SP2 1.90 3.50 1.90 2.43 6258 11479 6137 7958 12.1 6.0 13.3 10.5 123 SP2 × SP1 1.85 3.30 2.20 2.45 6004 10728 7106 7946 13.1 5.8 14.0 10.9 129 SP3 1.90 3.40 1.55 2.28 6210 11170 5116 7499 12.8 6.0 14.1 11.0 133 SP3 × SP2 1.90 3.60 2.05 2.52 6219 11649 6577 8149 12.5 5.8 13.9 10.7 129 Sangria 2:1 1.90 3.50 2.00 2.47 4086 7596 4375 5352 10.5 5.7 12.5 9.6 302 Sangria 3:1 1.95 3.35 1.95 2.42 4737 8248 4863 5949 12.4 5.6 12.9 10.3 Mean 1.95 3.52 2.02 2.49 5770 10405 5946 7374 12.5 5.8 13.8 10.7 154 Factor P-value P-value P-value P-value Pollinator 0.0239 0.0000 0.0000 0.0000 Triploid 0.0000 0.0000 0.0000 Pollinator * 0.4121 0.0061 0.0029 Triploid Replication 0.9372 0.8580 0.6310 Example 8 Eight triploid varieties (see table 4) are transplanted on two 80″ beds and spaced 24″ apart. These two beds are located in the center of our regular hybrid evaluation block. A diploid hybrid bed is placed in each side of the two trial beds to eliminate the pollination factor. About 90 plants are transplanted for each variety. Two days later, each triploid plot is divided into 2 sub-plots and the enhanced pollenizer SP-1 plants of the present invention are inserted in one of the 2 sub-plots in the ratio of 3:1, for each of the 8 triploid varieties. This planting pattern allows 3260 triploid plants per acre. The 8 triploid varieties differ in fruit shape, size and maturity. About 10 weeks later, the first 30 fruits are non-selectively harvested from each sub-plot and are weighted using a digital scale. Data are analyzed using S-Plus 6.1. As shown in table 4, the fruit size differences are solely due to triploid variety differences. Inserting of enhanced pollenizer SP-1 between regularly spaced triploid plants in the ratio of 3:1 does not reduce the fruit size of triploid seedless fruit, regardless of the type of triploid variety. The triploid varieties used in this trial represent a very broad spectrum of triploids used in commercial production. They differ in fruit size, fruit shape, and maturity. Thus, inserting enhanced pollenizer plants of the present invention between regularly spaced triploid plants does not reduce the fruit size of the triploid seedless melons. Therefore, a seedless grower can plant his or her fields solid with triploid plants and then insert the enhanced pollenizer plants in a ratio of 3:1 or less. This planting pattern and ratio allows growers to produce significant higher (25 to 33%) yields of seedless fruit per acre. TABLE 4 Effect of Inserting Super-Pollenizer Between Regularly Spaced (80″ × 24″) Triploid Plants in the Ratio of 3:1 to the Fruit Size of Eight Different Triploid Watermelon Varieties Super-Pollenizer Insertion Triploid Variety No Yes Mean 3X Sangria 18.05 18.51 18.28 Palomar 14.23 16.21 15.22 RWT8126 16.97 17.15 17.06 RWT8124 6.26 6.03 6.15 RWT8139 15.46 14.43 14.94 RWT8140 15.31 15.73 15.52 Shadow 15.97 14.73 15.35 Tri-X-313 15.77 15.60 15.69 Mean 14.75 14.80 14.77 Factor P-Value Triploid Variety 0.0000 Super-Pollenizer 0.8829 Variety * Super-Pollenizer 0.2451 Example 9 Production of Dihaploid Watermelon Plants Anthers of SP-1 plants were gamma-ray irradiated with cobalt 60 for a dose of 0.4 KGy. Irradiated pollen was gently transferred from the anthers to the receptive stigma on or before anthesis. Each ovary of the pollinated female received an application of 50 ppm CPPU (a plant cytokinin hormone) to stimulate fruit development. Plants were monitored for pollination take and fruit development. Fruit was harvested 14 days or 21 days post-pollination. Harvested immature fruit were carefully cut open under sterile conditions and the seeds were meticulously removed from the flesh. The distal portion of each seed was cut off before plating about 40 seeds to each plate of culture medium. Sealed plates with seeds were cultured at 25° C. with a 16-hour photoperiod in a culture room on a Murashige and Skoog Basal Medium, 30 g/L sucrose, 10 g/L agar supplemented either with 10 μM BA (2.25 mg/L) or 22.2 μM BA (5 mg/L) and 2.85 μM IAA (0.5 mg/L), pH 5.8 and dispensed into 100×15 petri dishes after autoclaving. After 30 days, seeds were screened for greenish immature embryos for embryo rescue. Those with embryos were moved to fresh medium. As the embryos germinated and elongated, they were transferred to small culture jars with the same medium. When sufficient leaf tissue was present on the plantlet, a leaf was sampled and ploidy analysis was carried out by flow cytometry. Once the plantlets had been confirmed haploid, cuttings/clones are made and rooted in vitro. The medium consisted of half strength MS basal salts, 20 g/L sucrose, 1.0 μM IBA (0.2 mg/L), 4 g/L agar and 1 g/L Phytagel, pH 5.8. Once a good root system had developed, plantlets are moved into the greenhouse and planted in trays. The chromosome doubling occurred in the greenhouse by applying 58 μM Surflan (oryzalin) to all apical and axillary nodes. Once plants were established and new flowers exhibited the presence of pollen confirming restored fertility, they were self-pollinated and seed was harvested. Further increase of the dihaploid SP-1 can be done in a field isolated from any other watermelon plant, or physically isolated in a net cage. Example 10 Measurements of Brittleness of Fruits Watermelon plants of SP-1 and Sangria™ were sown at the Naples, Fla. research station on Aug. 7, 2003 and transplanted to open field on Sep. 9, 2003. Fruits were harvested from the plants on Nov. 20, 2003. Mature fruits were tested using a Tester FT327 of Wagner Instruments, Greenwich, Conn. 06836 and a 3.0 mm tip. Ten fruits of SP-1 and Sangria™ were tested. The average pressure to puncture the rind of fruits of SP-1 was 3 lb 8 oz (1,587 g). The average pressure to puncture the rind of fruits of Sangria™ was 11 lb 6 oz (5,159 g). Example 11 Measurements of Brittleness of Fruits Watermelon plants of SP-1 and Sangria™ were grown at the Naples, Fla. research station. Fruits were harvested on Dec. 4, 2003 from plants about 17 weeks after sowing. Mature fruits (about 35-40 days after anthesis) were tested. The fruits were tested in the morning at about 9 to 10 am. Different models of Wagner penetrometers (Tester FT327, a Tester FT011 or a Tester FT02 of Wagner Instruments, Greenwich, Conn. 06836) were used in combination with a 2 mm or a 3 mm tip. The tip of the penetrometer was placed vertically on the top surface of the fruit in the middle portion of the fruit. For SP-1, 5 fruits (1 to 5) were tested in three independent measurements (A, B, C). For Sangria™, one fruit was tested in three independent measurements (A, B, C). The results are shown in Table 5A (2 mm tip) and Table 5B (3 mm tip). TABLE 5A FT02/2 mm (force in g) FT327/2 mm (force in g) FT011/2 mm (force in g) Average Average Average SP-1 A B C per fruit A B C per fruit A B C per fruit Fruit 1 1450 1460 1520 1477 1700 1300 1350 1450 1650 1250 1300 1400 2 1120 1000 1220 1113 1100 1100 1200 1133 1700 1200 1150 1350 3 970 990 1370 1110 1750 1000 1200 1317 1100 1100 1150 1117 4 1150 1140 1100 1130 1400 1100 1200 1233 1000 1150 1100 1083 5 1150 1190 1270 1203 1200 1200 1100 1167 1200 1150 950 1100 Average all fruits 1207 1260 1210 (std dev all fruits) (175) (216) (208) Sangria 1 not able to break through rind 3500 2900 3500 3300 3350 3750 3150 3417 (std dev) (346) (306) TABLE 5B FT02/3 mm (force in g) FT327/3 mm (force in g) FT011/3 mm (force in g) Average Average Average SP-1 A B C per fruit A B C per fruit A B C per fruit Fruit 1 2240 1950 2250 2147 1900 2100 2100 2033 1850 2000 2200 2017 2 1720 1690 1720 1710 1600 1700 1800 1700 1800 1800 1700 1767 3 1910 2000 2100 2003 1700 1600 1800 1700 1750 1550 1650 1650 4 1910 1970 1900 1927 1900 1800 1800 1833 1550 1650 1750 1650 5 1930 1840 1880 1883 1900 1900 1800 1867 1600 1700 1700 1667 Average all fruits 1934 1827 1750 (std dev all fruits) (167) (149) (171) Sangria 1 not able to break through rind 4200 5400 4800 4800 5000 5000 5200 5067 (std dev) (600) (115) Example 12 Measurements of Brittleness of Fruits Watermelon plants of SP-1 and Sangria™ were sown on Jan. 16, 2004 at the Naples, Fla. station. Fruits were harvested on May 17, 2004 and tested using Tester FT 327 (Wagner Instruments, Greenwich, Conn. 06836) in combination with a 2 mm or a 3 mm tip. Ten mature fruit of SP-1 and Sangria were tested, and the results are shown in Table 6. TABLE 6 Force in Grams (Pounds) Force in Grams (Pounds) 3 mm Tip (FT 30M) 2 mm Tip (FT 20M) SP-1 1452 (3.2) 680 (1.5) 1270 (2.8) 726 (1.6) 1452 (3.2) 680 (1.5) 1633 (3.6) 1043 (2.3) 1043 (2.3) 590 (1.3) 1043 (2.3) 771 (1.7) 1588 (3.5) 816 (1.8) 1542 (3.4) 998 (2.2) 1633 (3.6) 907 (2.0) 1588 (3.5) 454 (1.0) 1678 (3.7) 816 (1.8) AVE 1447 (3.2) 771 (1.7) STD 179 (0.4) 132 (0.3) Sangria 4763 (10.5) 2903 (6.4) 5670 (12.5) 2903 (6.4) 6804 (15.0) 3992 (8.8) 4717 (10.4) 3175 (7.0) 7439 (16.4) 4082 (9.0) 5171 (11.4) 2631 (5.8) 5352 (11.8) 2722 (6.0) 5534 (12.2) 2722 (6.0) 5897 (13.0) 3175 (7.0) 6350 (14.0) 3266 (7.2) AVE 5770 (12.7) 3157 (7.0) STD 682 (1.5) 381 (0.8) DEPOSIT Applicants have made a deposit of at least 2500 seeds of enhanced watermelon pollenizer line NO1F3203B (now called SP-1) with the American Type Culture Collection (ATCC), Manassas, Va., 20110-2209 U.S.A., ATCC Deposit No: PTA-4856. This deposit of the enhanced watermelon pollenizer line NO1F3203B/SP-1 will be maintained in the ATCC depository, which is a public depository, for a period of 30 years, or 5 years after the most recent request, or for the effective life of the patent, whichever is longer, and will be replaced if it becomes nonviable during that period. Additionally, Applicants have satisfied all the requirements of 37 C.F.R. §§1.801-1.809, including providing an indication of the viability of the sample. Applicants impose no restrictions on the availability of the deposited material from the ATCC; however, Applicants have no authority to waive any restrictions imposed by law on the transfer of biological material or its transportation in commerce. Applicants do not waive any infringement of its rights granted under this patent or under the Plant Variety Protection Act (7 USC 2321 et seq.). The foregoing invention has been described in detail by way of illustration and example for purposes of clarity and understanding. However, it will be obvious that certain changes and modifications such as single gene modifications and mutations, somaclonal variants, variant individuals selected from large populations of the plants of the instant inbred and the like may be practiced within the scope of the invention, as limited only by the scope of the appended claims. Thus, although the foregoing invention has been described in some detail in this document, it will be obvious that changes and modification may be practiced within the scope of the invention, as limited only by the scope of the appended claims. All references cited herein are incorporated by reference in the application in their entireties. | <SOH> BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION <EOH>Watermelon is an important horticultural crop that accounts for 2% of the world area devoted to vegetable crops. There were 6,024,000 acres of watermelon grown in the world and 187,000 acres of watermelons grown in the United States in 1997 (FAO Production Yearbook 51, 1998). The estimated annual world watermelon value exceeded $7.6 billion when using the United States average price for 1995-1997. The United States watermelon crop amounted to over 41 million cwt, from over 174,000 harvested acres, and a farm value of over $266 million, accounted for 9.2% of the harvested acres, 10.0% of the production, and 3.5% of the value of the United States fresh vegetable industry in 1999 (USDA Agricultural Statistics 2001). California was the leading state in watermelon farm gate value, exceeded $72 million in 2000, due to high percentage of triploid seedless watermelon grown in California. Seedless watermelon receives well above the average price for seeded watermelons in the market. The goal of plant breeding is to combine in a single variety or hybrid various desirable traits. Desirable traits may include resistance to diseases and insects, tolerance to heat and drought, reducing the time to crop maturity, greater yield, and better agronomic quality. With mechanical harvesting of many crops, uniformity of plant characteristics such as germination and stand establishment, growth rate, and maturity, are important. Other desired traits may include particular nutrient content, color, fruit shape, as well as taste characteristics. As with many different plants, watermelon contains a fruit part and a plant part. Each part contains different traits that are desired by consumers and/or growers, including such traits as flavor, texture, disease resistance, and appearance traits such as shape and color. The seedless trait in the watermelon fruit is highly desired by consumers. For production of seedless watermelon, optimum pollination characteristics of the pollinating plant are desired. Seedless watermelon plants are triploid and must be pollinated by the pollen of diploid watermelon plants. To provide adequate pollination of seedless watermelon plants, it is current practice to plant diploid pollenizer plants over approximately 25-33% of the field surface. The remaining portion of the field is planted with the triploid plants. Thus, to maximize the value of the crop in the field, growers use high yield marketable diploid watermelon varieties, which ultimately compete with the triploid seedless varieties for sun, nutrients, and space. A pollenizer for seedless watermelon producing small and unmarketable fruits, which are not harvested, has been disclosed (WO00/70933). However, when this pollenizer is used, a lower total yield of marketable fruit is observed when compared to a commercial pollenizer line. Also, the fruits of the pollenizer described in WO00/70933 that are not harvested become hosts for diseases in the future, and their seeds will germinate and grow into weeds, thus reducing future yields. The present invention recognizes the need to increase the yield of the seedless watermelon, preferably without loss in total yields of marketable fruits. The present invention also recognizes that novel phenotypic characteristics of the diploid pollenizer plants are needed to permit these diploids to be planted in close proximity to the triploid plants and to share the field surface with the triploid plants, thereby effectively decreasing the surface area of the field required for the diploid pollenizers of the invention. The present invention also recognizes the need to minimize the carryover of un-harvested pollenizer fruits as weeds into the subsequent season. The present invention also recognizes the need to increase the pollinating capacity of diploid watermelon plants in order to further decrease the ratio of diploid to triploid plants in the field, thereby also increasing the yield of the seedless watermelon. The present invention also further recognizes the needs to allow farmers to distinguish the seedless fruits from the fruits of the pollenizer in the field and to provide marketable value to the pollenizer fruits themselves. | <SOH> SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION <EOH>The present invention uses a novel diploid watermelon to improve current methods of commercial production of seedless watermelon and to increase seedless watermelon yield. According to the invention, there is provided a novel enhanced, pollenizer diploid watermelon (hereinafter referred to as “enhanced pollenizer”) and method for pollinating seedless watermelon plants. The present invention includes an enhanced pollenizer comprising, at maturity, small leaves. The present invention further includes an enhanced pollenizer comprising, at maturity, brittle fruits. The present invention includes an enhanced pollenizer comprising, at maturity, small leaves and bearing brittle fruits. The small leaves allow the enhanced pollenizer to be grown in close proximity to the triploid watermelon plants without competing with them, thereby increasing yields of seedless fruits. The brittleness of the fruit offers the advantage that un-harvested fruits of the pollenizer can be easily destroyed through conventional field preparation for minimizing carry over as weeds in future plantings. In one embodiment, the enhanced pollenizer of the present invention further comprises heavily branching lacy vines (also referred to as heavily branched open vines) and therefore preferably comprises a high number of open (lacy) branches. The heavily branching vines allow an enhanced pollenizer of this invention to produce very large amount of male flowers to pollinate the female flowers of the triploid plant, to produce the seedless fruit. In one embodiment, the leaves of the enhanced pollenizer also comprise non-overlapping, deep lobes. The openness of the branched or lacy vine results, in part, from the distinct small and non-overlapping, deep lobed leaves. The lacy branches and the small leaves, in one embodiment with non-overlapping, deep lobes, of the invention have the additional advantage to provide more access of bees to the flowers of both the pollenizing and the triploid plant, thereby enhancing transfer of the pollen from enhanced pollenizer watermelon to the female flowers of the triploid watermelon. Easier access by bees to the male flowers of the enhanced pollenizer and coupled with a greater frequency of male flowers provides a greater pollen source for triploid fruit production. A second advantage of small leaves, in one embodiment characterized by deep, non-overlapping lobes, is that more sunlight is able to penetrate to adjacent triploid plants. A third advantage of small leaves, in one embodiment characterized by deep, non-overlapping lobes, is that these leaves take up less field area than the substantially larger leaves of the diploid pollenizers currently used in the production of seedless watermelon. Thus, as it is less competitive for light, water and fertilizers, the enhanced pollenizer of the present invention can also be grown closer to the triploid plants, and it does not need dedicated space to grow. In one embodiment, when the enhanced pollenizer and method of the present invention are used, the triploid seedless watermelon are grown in solid rows at a standard spacing, the enhanced pollenizer being then inter-planted between the plants within the rows. This results in significantly higher numbers of triploid plants per acre compared to the number of triploid watermelon plants that has traditionally been planted, and higher yields of seedless fruits. In one embodiment, the fruit of the enhanced pollenizer of the present invention are small and therefore easier to distinguish from the seedless fruits in the field. Therefore, also according to the present invention, there is provided a novel enhanced pollenizer comprising small fruits with brittle rind. The small fruits with brittle rind also reduce the load to the plant and allow the plant to continue flowering for extended periods of time, significantly greater than pollenizer watermelons that are currently used in the production of seedless watermelon. The longer flowering duration of the enhanced pollenizer, compared to traditional pollenizer diploid watermelons, results in increased fruit set and yield of seedless watermelon. The brittle rind also offers the advantage that un-harvested fruits of the pollenizer quickly decompose in the fields, and can be easily eliminated from further re-production through conventional crop disposal (discing and plowing). The brittle rind also offers the advantage of differentiating the fruit of pollenizer from the fruit of triploid seedless watermelon, even when they are similar in appearance. An additional advantage of the enhanced pollenizer of the present invention is also that its fruits contain very large amounts of seeds, which can be harvested and sold as edible watermelon seeds for food or feed uses, or for use in medicines. This provides additional value to the grower who can harvest and market the fruits of the enhanced pollenizer as such or its seeds. The present invention also includes an enhanced pollenizer fruit that weighs approximately in the range of about 2 to 7 lbs, in one embodiment about 2 to about 6 lbs, in one embodiment about 2 to about 5 lbs. In one embodiment, the average weight for the fruits of the enhanced pollenizer is about 3.2 lbs. In one embodiment, the present invention further includes an enhanced pollenizer fruit rind that is brittle, breaking under a pressure approximately in the range of about 7 to about 11 lbs/in 2 . In another embodiment, an enhanced pollenizer fruit rind breaks under a pressure approximately in the range of about 90 to about 150 g/mm 2 , in one embodiment about 100 to about 148 g/mm 2 , in one embodiment about 110 to about 145 g/mm 2 , in one embodiment about 120 to about 140 g/mm 2 . In one embodiment, the rind of a fruit an enhanced pollenizer of the instant invention breaks under a pressure of not more than about 1,800 g when a fruit tester with a 2 mm tip is used. In one embodiment, the fruit rind of an enhanced pollenizer of the instant invention breaks under a pressure approximately in the range of about 400 g to about 1,800 g when a fruit tester with a 2 mm tip is used. In one embodiment, the fruit rind of an enhanced pollenizer of the instant invention breaks under a pressure of not more than about 2,300 g when a fruit tester with a 3 mm tip is used. In one embodiment, the fruit rind of an enhanced pollenizer of the instant invention breaks under a pressure approximately in the range of about 1,000 g to about 2,300 g when a fruit tester with a 3 mm tip is used. In one embodiment, the average pressure to break the rind of a fruit of an enhanced pollenizer of the present invention is not more than about 1,300 g when a fruit tester with a 2 mm tip is used. In one embodiment, the average pressure to break the rind of a fruit of an enhanced pollenizer of the present invention is approximately in the range of about 700 g to about 1,300 g when a fruit tester with a 2 mm tip is used. In one embodiment, the average pressure to break the rind of a fruit of an enhanced pollenizer of the present invention is not more than about 2,000 g when a fruit tester with a 3 mm tip is used. In one embodiment, the average pressure to break the rind of a fruit of an enhanced pollenizer of the present invention is approximately in the range of about 1,400 g to about 2,000 g when a fruit tester with a 3 mm tip is used. In one embodiment, the present invention includes an enhanced pollenizer having leaves with a surface area approximately in the range of about 20 to about 70 cm 2 , in one embodiment about 22.5 to about 50 cm 2 , in one embodiment about 25 to about 40 cm 2 . In one embodiment, the average leaf surface area of leaves of the enhanced pollenizer is approximately about 25 to about 40 cm 2 , in one embodiment about 27.5 to about 37.5 cm 2 , in one embodiment about 30 to about 35 cm 2 . In one embodiment, the surface area of the 5 th leaf on a vine of an enhanced pollenizer of the present invention counted from the smallest new leaf at the tip of the vine towards the crown of the plant is not more than about 50 cm 2 . In one embodiment, the surface area of such 5 th leaf from the smallest new leaf on a vine of an enhanced pollenizer of the instant invention is approximately in the range of about 15 cm 2 to about 50 cm 2 . In one embodiment, the average leaf surface area of such 5 th leaves from the smallest new leaf on a vine of an enhanced pollenizer of the instant invention is not more than about 40 cm 2 . In one embodiment, the average leaf surface area of the 5 th leaves from the smallest new leaf on a vine of an enhanced pollenizer is approximately in the range of about 20 cm 2 to about 40 cm 2 . Also included in the invention is an enhanced pollenizer plant for pollinating triploid plants producing seedless watermelon fruit, comprising, at maturity, the characteristics of smaller leaf size compared to the watermelon variety Sangria™, wherein the fruit rind is more brittle than the rind of the variety Sangria™ (a commercial variety of Syngenta Seeds, Inc.). In one embodiment, the average leaf surface area of leaves of an enhanced pollenizer of the present invention is about 3 to about 14 times smaller than that of watermelon variety Sangria™. In one embodiment, the fruit rind of an enhanced pollenizer of the present invention is about 2 to about 4 times more brittle than the fruit rind of watermelon variety Sangria™. In one embodiment, the enhanced pollenizer further comprises small fruits. In one embodiment, the leaves of the enhanced pollenizer comprises deep, non-overlapping lobes. The pollenizer diploid watermelon of the invention is further enhanced by including resistance to various pests and herbicides via conventional plant breeding methods or genetic transformation. The present invention also provides a method for inter-planting enhanced pollenizer plants amongst the triploid watermelon plants in a field in a pattern that decreases the ratio of pollenizer plants to triploid plants and increases the field surface for triploid plants. This allows for a higher population of triploid plants, than conventional practices, and results in 25-33% higher yield of seedless fruits. Also included in the present invention is a method of increasing the yield of triploid, seedless watermelon comprising the steps of reducing fruit load of said enhanced pollenizer watermelon, increasing the flowering duration of said pollenizer watermelon, planting said enhanced pollenizer watermelon in a field of triploid watermelon; and harvesting said triploid watermelon. The invention also provides a method of increasing the yield of triploid seedless watermelon plants by using enhanced pollenizer watermelon plants, in one embodiment with small fruits, wherein the fruit as such are not harvested for human consumption. In one embodiment, the seeds of the fruits of the enhanced pollenizer are used as food or feed, or in medicines. The present invention also provides a method for producing an enhanced pollenizer according to the present invention comprising crossing a first watermelon plant having small leaves with a second watermelon plant producing fruit with brittle rind that splits easily and selecting for a watermelon plant having the characteristics of the enhanced pollenizer disclosed herein. In one embodiment, the first watermelon plant further comprises the characteristic of a heavily branching lacy vine. In one embodiment, the leaves of the enhanced pollenizer comprises deep, non-overlapping lobes. In one embodiment, the first watermelon plant has the characteristics of OW824 disclosed herein. In one embodiment, the second watermelon plant bears small fruit. In one embodiment, the second watermelon plant has the characteristics of OW823 disclosed herein. In one embodiment, the first watermelon plant is OW824. In one embodiment, the second watermelon plant is OW823. In another embodiment, the first watermelon plant is OW824 and the second watermelon plant is OW823. In one embodiment, the method further comprises fixing the traits of the enhanced pollenizer. The present invention also discloses a watermelon enhanced pollenizer obtainable by a method comprising the steps of a) crossing a watermelon plant with a plant of NO1F3203B (now called SP-1) deposited under Accession No. PTA-4856, b) obtaining a progeny, c) selecting said progeny for the characteristics of the enhanced pollenizer, preferably small leaves and brittle fruit, In one embodiment, it is further selected for heavily branching lacy vines, in one embodiment for small fruit. In one embodiment, the method further comprises crossing said progeny either with itself or with a plant of NO1F3203B, or with another enhanced pollenizer, and selecting for the said characteristics of the enhanced pollenizer. In one embodiment, the method further comprises fixing the traits of the enhanced pollenizer. In one embodiment, an enhanced pollenizer of the instant invention is an inbred or a hybrid. In one embodiment, an enhanced pollenizer of the instant invention is a dihaploid. In one embodiment, the present invention discloses a method of producing seeds of an enhanced pollenizer comprising: a) growing a plant of an enhanced pollenizer according to the present invention; b) allowing self-pollination of said plant; c) harvesting seeds from said plant. In one embodiment, the method further comprises washing and drying said seed. In one embodiment, the present invention discloses a method of vegetative propagating an enhanced pollenizer of the present invention comprising: a) collecting shoot tissue of a plant of an enhanced pollenizer; b) cultivating said tissue to obtain proliferated shoots; c) rooting said proliferated shoots to obtain rooted plantlets. In one embodiment, the method further comprises growing plants from said rooted plantlets. In one embodiment, the method further comprises harvesting seeds from said plants. In one embodiment, the method further comprises washing and drying said seed. In one embodiment, the present invention discloses a method for producing triploid, seedless watermelon fruit comprising the steps of: a) inter-planting a seed or a plant of an enhanced pollenizer according to the present invention and seed or plants of triploid watermelon plants in a field; and b) allowing pollination of said triploid watermelon plants by pollen of said diploid watermelon plant to obtain triploid, seedless watermelon fruit. In one embodiment, the method further comprises harvesting seeds from said plants. In one embodiment, the method further comprises washing and drying said seed. | 20040903 | 20090505 | 20050303 | 98729.0 | 2 | ROBINSON, KEITH O NEAL | ENHANCED POLLENIZER AND METHOD FOR INCREASING SEEDLESS WATERMELON YIELD | UNDISCOUNTED | 1 | CONT-ACCEPTED | 2,004 |
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10,933,856 | ACCEPTED | Ballistic reticle for projectile weapon aiming systems and method of aiming | A reticle of a projectile weapon aiming system such as a riflescope includes a primary aiming mark adapted to be sighted-in at a first selected range and further includes a plurality of secondary aiming marks spaced apart below the primary aiming mark. The secondary aiming marks are positioned to compensate for ballistic drop at preselected incremental ranges beyond the first selected range, for a selected group of ammunition having similar ballistic characteristics. Angles subtended by adjacent aiming marks of the reticle can be adjusted by changing the optical power of the riflescope, to thereby compensate for ballistic characteristics of different ammunition. In some embodiments, the reticle includes a set of windage aiming marks spaced apart along at least one secondary horizontal axis intersecting a selected one of the secondary aiming marks, to facilitate compensation for the effect of crosswinds on the trajectory of the projectile. | 1. A reticle for a projectile weapon aiming system, comprising: a primary aiming mark indicating a primary aiming point adapted to be sighted-in at a first selected range; a plurality of secondary aiming marks spaced progressively increasing incremental distances below the primary aiming point and indicating corresponding secondary aiming points along a vertical axis intersecting the primary aiming mark, the secondary aiming points positioned to compensate for ballistic drop at preselected regular incremental ranges beyond the first selected range for a group of ammunition having similar ballistic characteristics; and a set of windage aiming marks spaced apart along a secondary horizontal axis intersecting a selected one of the secondary aiming points, the set of windage aiming marks including at least (a) first and second windage aiming marks spaced apart to the left of the vertical axis at distances from the vertical axis selected to compensate for leftward crosswinds of preselected first and second incremental velocities, respectively, at the range of said selected secondary aiming point, and (b) third and fourth windage aiming marks spaced apart to the right of the vertical axis at distances from the vertical axis selected to compensate for rightward crosswinds of preselected third and fourth incremental velocities equal and opposite the respective first and second incremental velocities of the leftward crosswinds, at the range of said selected secondary aiming point, the reticle thereby facilitating aiming compensation for ballistics and windage for two or more preselected incremental crosswind velocities, at one or more preselected incremental ranges. 2. A reticle according to claim 1, wherein each secondary aiming point is intersected by a secondary horizontal axis along which a set of windage aiming marks is spaced for facilitating aiming compensation for ballistics and windage for two or more preselected incremental crosswind velocities, at the range of the corresponding secondary aiming point. 3. A reticle according to claim 2, wherein each set of windage aiming marks includes windage aiming marks positioned to compensate for leftward and rightward crosswinds of 10 miles per hour and 20 miles per hour at the range of the secondary aiming point corresponding to said set of windage aiming marks. 4. A reticle according to claim 1, wherein at least one of the secondary aiming marks includes a horizontal line. 5. A reticle according to claim 4, wherein the horizontal line intersects at least the first and third windage aiming marks. 6. A reticle according to claim 1, wherein at least one of the secondary aiming marks extends horizontally from the vertical axis and is thicker at a distal end than immediately adjacent the vertical axis. 7. A reticle according to claim 1, wherein the primary aiming mark is formed by an intersection of a primary horizontal sight line and a primary vertical sight line. 8. A reticle according to claim 7, wherein at least one of the primary vertical sight line and the primary horizontal sight line includes a widened post portion located radially outward from the primary aiming point, the widened post portion having an innermost end located proximal of the primary aiming point. 9. A reticle according to claim 7, further comprising a set of windage aiming marks spaced apart along the primary horizontal sight line to the left and right of the primary aiming point to compensate for leftward and rightward crosswinds of 10 miles per hour and 20 miles per hour, at the first selected range. 10. A riflescope comprising: an elongate housing supporting an objective lens and an eyepiece lens proximate opposite ends of the housing, and further supporting a power-adjusting erector lens assembly between the objective lens and the eyepiece lens; a power selector mechanism operably coupled to the erector lens assembly for adjusting an optical power of the riflescope; a reticle positioned between the erector lens assembly and the eyepiece, the reticle including: (a) a primary aiming mark indicating a primary aiming point adapted to be sighted-in at a first selected range, and (b) a plurality of secondary aiming marks indicating corresponding secondary aiming points spaced apart below the primary aiming point along a vertical axis intersecting the primary aiming point, the secondary aiming points positioned to compensate for ballistic drop at preselected incremental ranges beyond the first range; and a set of fiducial marks positioned along the power selector mechanism and prescribing at least two different optical power settings corresponding to at least two different groups of ammunition, each of the fiducial marks indicating an optical power setting at which the secondary aiming points accurately compensate for ballistic drop for a selected group of ammunition at the preselected incremental ranges. 11. A riflescope according to claim 10, wherein the reticle further includes: a set of windage aiming marks spaced apart along a secondary horizontal axis intersecting a selected one of the secondary aiming points, the set of windage aiming marks including at least: (a) first and second windage aiming marks spaced apart to the left of the vertical axis at distances from the vertical axis selected to compensate for leftward crosswinds of preselected first and second incremental velocities, respectively, at the range of said selected secondary aiming point, and (b) third and fourth windage aiming marks spaced apart to the right of the vertical axis at distances from the vertical axis selected to compensate for rightward crosswinds of preselected third and fourth incremental velocities equal and opposite the respective first and second incremental velocities of the leftward crosswinds, at the range of said selected secondary aiming point; the reticle thereby facilitating aiming compensation for ballistics and windage for two or more preselected incremental crosswind velocities at one or more preselected incremental ranges. 12. A riflescope according to claim 11, wherein each secondary aiming point is intersected by a secondary horizontal axis along which a set of windage aiming marks is spaced for facilitating aiming compensation for ballistics and windage for two or more preselected incremental crosswind velocities at each of the preselected incremental ranges. 13. A riflescope according to claim 11, wherein at least one of the secondary aiming marks includes a horizontal line intersecting at least some of the windage aiming marks. 14. A riflescope according to claim 10, wherein at least one of the secondary aiming marks includes a horizontal line. 15. A riflescope according to claim 10, wherein at least one of the secondary aiming marks extends horizontally from the vertical axis and is thicker at a distal end than immediately adjacent the vertical axis. 16. A riflescope according to claim 10, wherein the primary aiming mark is formed by an intersection of a primary horizontal sight line and a primary vertical sight line. 17. A riflescope according to claim 16, wherein at least one of the primary vertical sight line and the primary horizontal sight line includes a widened post portion located radially outward from the primary aiming point, the widened post portion having an innermost end located proximal of the primary aiming point. 18. A riflescope according to claim 17, wherein the innermost end of the widened post portion and the primary aiming mark subtend between approximately 7 minutes of angle and approximately 8 minutes of angle when the riflescope is adjusted to its lowest optical power setting. 19. A riflescope according to claim 17, further comprising a set of ranging fiducials positioned along the power selector mechanism, the ranging fiducials cooperating with the power selector mechanism and the reticle to indicate an estimated range to a target sized approximately 16 inches across when the optical power setting of the riflescope is adjusted so that the 16-inch target is framed by the primary aiming mark and the innermost end of the widened post portion. 20. A method of aiming a gun with a riflescope, comprising the steps of: (a) displaying, via the riflescope, a primary aiming mark indicating a primary aiming point; (b) displaying, via the riflescope, a plurality of secondary aiming marks indicating secondary aiming points spaced apart below the primary aiming point along a vertical axis intersecting the primary aiming point, the primary and secondary aiming points subtending preselected angles therebetween at a first optical power of the riflescope so that the secondary aiming points can be used to compensate for ballistic drop at preselected incremental ranges beyond a first range of the primary aiming point; (c) sighting-in the riflescope at a predetermined first range so that the primary aiming point of the reticle is superposed with a nominal point of impact of a projectile shot from the gun at the first range; (d) loading a selected ammunition into the gun; (e) adjusting an optical power setting of the riflescope until the angles subtended by the adjacent aiming points correspond to the selected ammunition; (f) determining an observed range to a target; and (g) aligning the gun so that a primary or secondary aiming point corresponding most closely to the observed range is superposed over a desired point of impact on the target. 21. A method according to claim 20, further comprising: displaying, via the riflescope, a plurality of windage aiming marks spaced apart along a secondary horizontal axis intersecting a selected one of the secondary aiming points; determining an observed crosswind velocity; and adjusting a lateral aim of the gun until a selected one of the windage aiming marks most closely corresponding to the observed crosswind velocity is superposed over the desired point of impact on the target. 22. A method according to claim 20, wherein the displaying of the primary aiming mark includes displaying an intersection of a primary horizontal sight line and a primary vertical sight line. 23. A method according to claim 22, wherein the riflescope includes a power selector mechanism, and further comprising: displaying, via the riflescope, a post located radially outward from the primary aiming point, the post including an innermost end located proximal of the primary aiming mark; providing a set of ranging fiducials along the power selector mechanism, each of the ranging fiducials corresponding to an estimated range to a target of a preselected size; viewing through the riflescope a target having a feature known or estimated to be approximately the preselected size; rotating the power selector mechanism to adjust the optical power setting of the riflescope and change an angle subtended by the innermost end of the post and the primary aiming mark until the feature of the preselected size is framed therebetween; and after framing the feature of the target, observing the position of the power selector mechanism and the ranging fiducials to thereby estimate the range to the target. 24. A method according to claim 23, wherein the angle subtended by the innermost end of the post and the primary aiming mark is approximately 7.6 minutes of angle when the riflescope is adjusted to its lowest optical power setting, and the preselected size is 16 inches so that, when the feature is framed and the riflescope is adjusted to its lowest optical power setting, the ranging fiducials indicate an estimated range to the target of 200 yards. | RELATED APPLICATIONS This application claims the benefit of priority under 35 U.S.C. § 119(e) from U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60/518,377, filed Nov. 4, 2003, which is incorporated herein by reference. This application is also related to a U.S. design patent application titled “RETICLE FOR A GUNSIGHT OR OTHER PROJECTILE WEAPON AIMING DEVICE,” filed Nov. 4, 2003 under Attorney Docket No. 44500/200:48. COPYRIGHT NOTICE © 2003 Leupold & Stevens, Inc. A portion of the disclosure of this patent document contains material which is subject to copyright protection. The copyright owner has no objection to the facsimile reproduction by anyone of the patent document or the patent disclosure, as it appears in the Patent and Trademark Office patent file or records, but otherwise reserves all copyright rights whatsoever. 37 CFR § 1.71 (d). TECHNICAL FIELD This application relates to projectile weapon aiming systems such as riflescopes, to reticle configurations for projectile weapon aiming systems, and to associated methods of compensating for ballistic characteristics. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Projectile weapon aiming systems are discussed herein principally with reference to their use on rifles and embodied in telescopic sights commonly known as riflescopes. It will become apparent, however, that projectile weapon aiming systems may include aiming devices other than riflescopes, and may be used on weapons other than rifles, which are capable of propelling projectiles along substantially predeterminable trajectories, e.g., handguns, crossbows, and artillery. A factor that must be taken into account in long-range shooting is the curved trajectory traversed by a bullet or other projectile as it falls from its initial trajectory while traveling the distance from the gun to the target, i.e., “range.” An aiming line of sight emanating from a reticle aiming mark of a riflescope rigidly affixed to the gun is straight, and hence the line of sight can intersect the curved trajectory only at a discrete range. At other ranges the projectile will pass below or above the aiming line of sight, necessitating the use of elevation adjustments for aiming. Elevation adjustments in such riflescopes are typically made by turning an adjustment mechanism of the riflescope to impart vertical movement of optical elements (as described, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 3,297,389 of Gibson) or of the reticle (as described, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 3,058,391 of Leupold), so that the aiming line of sight is accurately “sighted-in” at the range of the target. To adjust for the effect of crosswinds, riflescopes also typically include a separate adjustment mechanism for imparting horizontal movement to the optical elements or reticle. In yet other projectile weapon aiming systems, the entire aiming device is adjusted relative to the weapon via an adjustable sight mount. Adjustment of the elevation and windage is time consuming and may require the shooter to take his or her eyes off the target while manipulating the adjustment mechanisms. There have been proposed numerous reticles and riflescopes designed to provide the shooter with a plurality of aiming marks for shooting at targets at various predetermined ranges, i.e., aiming marks producing line of sight/trajectory intersections at various ranges. Some of these include devices for approximating the range to the target. These riflescopes propose to eliminate the need to make elevation adjustments in the riflescope to compensate for bullet drop at different ranges. Exemplary riflescopes are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,190,003 of O'Brien; U.S. Pat. No. 1,190,121 of Critchett; U.S. Pat. No. 3,392,450 of Herter et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 3,431,652 of Leatherwood; U.S. Pat. No. 3,492,733 of Leatherwood; U.S. Pat. No. 6,032,374 of Sammut; and U.S. Pat. No. 6,591,537 of Smith. Most of these patents propose riflescopes providing a plurality of range-related aiming marks accompanied with aiming mark selection devices, the use of which depends on relative height of the image of a target of known or estimable height compared to the height of a feature in the reticle. Using modern laser rangefinders and other ranging techniques, it is now possible to quickly determine a range to target more accurately than by using one of the range-finding reticles described above. U.S. Pat. No. 3,948,587 of Rubbert proposes a riflescope with a reticle that includes vertically adjacent target-spanning and aiming apertures dimensioned so that when a target of known or estimable size is framed in one of the apertures, the gun is thereby aimed for the correct range to the target. However, Rubbert does not provide an aiming mark or points of reference when the target is at a range such that it does not fit any of the apertures. The apparent spacing of the target-spanning and aiming apertures can be changed by varying the optical power of the riflescope; however, due to a limited amount of optical power adjustment available, the riflescope of Rubbert is useful only for aiming at targets within a limited size range. For example, Rubbert describes a riflescope that can be adjusted for use in aiming at targets sized between 14 and 40 inches in height. Attempting to fit smaller or larger targets in the apertures would result in gross aiming errors. U.S. Pat. No. 6,032,374 of Sammut and U.S. Pat. No. 6,591,537 of Smith propose reticles having a series of secondary aiming marks spaced below a primary aiming mark at predetermined intervals for compensating for bullet drop. After determining or estimating an observed range, the shooter selects the secondary aiming mark most closely corresponding to the observed range. The secondary aiming marks of Sammut are evenly spaced, but a bullet's trajectory is parabolic, so Sammut requires preliminary collection of ballistic data to determine the range corresponding to each secondary aiming mark. The corresponding ranges determined by the collection of ballistic data are applicable only for the ballistics of particular ammunition for which data is collected. Furthermore, a shooter must either memorize the ranges that are empirically determined or refer to a worksheet where the ballistic data and corresponding ranges have been recorded. Smith purports to provide secondary aiming marks for regular incremental ranges (typically 300, 400, 500, and 600 yards) in an attempt to eliminate the need, as with the device of Sammut, to refer to ballistics data or to memorize the ranges corresponding to the secondary aiming marks. However, the ranges of the secondary aiming marks of Smith are accurate only for a particular predetermined rifle and ammunition combination, referred to as the ballistic “factor.” For ammunition having a ballistic factor different from the factor for which the reticle is designed, Smith proposes to apply a decal to the stock of the rifle or some other convenient location for reference in determining the irregular ranges at which the secondary aiming marks can be used to aim the rifle. The present inventors have recognized a need for an improved projectile weapon aiming system for accurately compensating for ballistic drop and windage for a variety of ammunition having different ballistic characteristics. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In accordance with preferred embodiments, a reticle for use in a projectile weapon aiming system includes a primary aiming mark adapted to be sighted-in at a first selected range and two or more secondary aiming marks spaced apart below the primary aiming mark along a vertical axis intersecting the primary aiming mark. The secondary aiming marks are positioned to compensate for ballistic drop at preselected incremental ranges beyond the first selected range for a selected group of ammunition having similar ballistic characteristics. The reticle is preferably located proximate a rear focal plane of a riflescope, between a power-varying erector lens assembly and an ocular of the riflescope, so that angles subtended by adjacent aiming marks of the reticle can be adjusted by changing the optical power of the riflescope, to thereby compensate for ballistic characteristics of different ammunition and firing velocities. A set of fiducial marks may be associated with a power selector mechanism of the riflescope for prescribing at least two different optical power settings corresponding to at least two different groups of ammunition. Each of the fiducial marks indicates an optical power setting at which the secondary aiming marks accurately compensate for ballistic drop for a selected group of ammunition at the preselected incremental ranges. Preferably, the groups of ammunition are chosen based on empirical data, to group together ammunition having ballistic drop at the incremental ranges of the secondary aiming marks that is within an acceptable error tolerance of a mean ballistic drop of the group. In some embodiments, the reticle includes a set of windage aiming marks spaced apart along at least one secondary horizontal axis intersecting a selected one of the secondary aiming marks, to facilitate compensation in aiming for the effect of crosswinds on the trajectory of the projectile. Methods of aiming are also disclosed, in which the optical power of the riflescope is first adjusted until it corresponds to the ballistic characteristics of the selected ammunition. Thereafter, an observed range to target is determined, for example, by estimation or use of a range-finding device, before aiming with the secondary aiming mark that most closely corresponds to the observed range. In windy conditions, one of the windage aiming marks associated with the selected secondary aiming mark can be chosen based on an observed crosswind velocity, to compensate for crosswind effects at the observed range. Additional aspects and advantages of this invention will be apparent from the following detailed description of preferred embodiments, which proceeds with reference to the accompanying drawings. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a side elevation view of a riflescope mounted on a rifle in accordance with a preferred embodiment; FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing optical elements of a riflescope in accordance with a preferred embodiment; FIG. 3 is a view of a reticle in accordance with a preferred embodiment as viewed through an ocular (eyepiece) of a riflescope; FIG. 4 is a view of the reticle of FIG. 3 including dimension lines and reference numerals referred to in the detailed description for describing the various features of the reticle; FIG. 5 is a view of a reticle in accordance with a second preferred embodiment, which is adapted for big game hunting; FIG. 6 is a view of a reticle in accordance with a third preferred embodiment, also adapted for big game hunting; FIG. 7 is an enlarged top view of the riflescope of FIG. 1, showing detail of a power selector mechanism and associated fiducials used for varying the optical power setting of the riflescope to compensate for ballistic differences between two groups of ammunition; and further showing associated ranging fiducials used, in cooperation with ranging features of the reticle and the power selector mechanism, to estimate the range to a target of known or estimable size; FIG. 8 is a table listing ballistic drop data for a variety of ammunition at selected incremental ranges corresponding to secondary aiming marks of the reticle of FIG. 5; the ammunition is grouped into two groups corresponding to two different optical power settings of the riflescope of FIG. 7, which are selected to compensate for ballistic characteristics of the two groups of ammunition; FIG. 9 is a view of the reticle of FIG. 5 showing range-estimating features of the reticle being used to determine an estimated range to a game animal of known or estimated size; and FIG. 10 is a view of the reticle of FIG. 3 shown aimed at a varmint at a known or estimated range of 400 yards and compensating for a known or estimated leftward (right-to-left) crosswind of 20 miles per hour. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Throughout the specification, reference to “one embodiment,” “an embodiment,” or “some embodiments” means that a particular described feature, structure, or characteristic is included in at least one embodiment. Thus appearances of the phrases “in one embodiment,” “in an embodiment,” or “in some embodiments” in various places throughout this specification are not necessarily all referring to the same embodiment. Furthermore, the described features, structures, or characteristics may be combined in any suitable manner in one or more embodiments. Furthermore, the described features, structures, characteristics, and methods may be combined in any suitable manner in one or more embodiments. Those skilled in the art will recognize that the various embodiments can be practiced without one or more of the specific details or with other methods, components, materials, etc. In other instances, well-known structures, materials, or operations are not shown or not described in detail to avoid obscuring aspects of the embodiments. FIG. 1 is a side elevation view of a riflescope 10 mounted to a rifle 14 in accordance with a preferred embodiment. FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing an arrangement of optical elements 16 of riflescope 10, together with ray trace lines 18 indicating the path of light from an observed object (not shown) located to the left of the assembly of optical elements 16, as the light travels through the optical system along an optical path. With reference to FIGS. 1 and 2, riflescope 10 includes a tubular housing 20 that supports at opposite ends an objective or objective lens assembly 22 and an ocular or ocular lens assembly 26 (sometimes referred to as an eyepiece or eyepiece lens assembly). Objective 22 focuses the image of an observed object at a first (front) focal plane 28 located medially of objective 22 and ocular 26. A power-adjusting erector lens assembly 30 interposed between objective 22 and ocular 26 inverts the image and refocuses it at a second (rear) focal plane 32 between erector lens assembly 30 and ocular 26. A preferred riflescope 10 may comprise, for example, a VARI-X® III brand riflescope sold by Leupold & Stevens, Inc., Beaverton, Oreg., USA, modified according to various preferred embodiments to include a reticle 40 of the kind described below. At least a part of erector lens assembly 30 is movable in response to rotation of a power selector ring 34 or other power selector mechanism to adjust the optical power of riflescope 10 within a predetermined range of magnification. For example, the optical power of riflescope 10 may range between approximately 8.5× and 25× magnification, in accordance with a first preferred embodiment, or between approximately 6.5× and 20× magnification, in accordance with an alternative embodiment. Other embodiments may allow optical power adjustment within different ranges of adjustment, such as 4.5-14×, 3.5-10×, and 2.5-8×, for example, the optical zoom ratio in each instance being approximately 3:1. In yet other embodiments, the optical power of riflescope 10 may be fixed. Reticle 40 is located in the optical path between objective 22 and ocular 26 and more preferably between erector lens assembly 30 and ocular 26, at or adjacent second focal plane 32. By way of example, reticle 40 may be used in a riflescope 10 in a configuration of certain riflescopes sold by Leupold & Stevens, Inc., Beaverton, Oreg., USA under the trademarks LPS®, VARI-X®, VX®, and others. However, the reticles described herein are not limited to use in riflescopes or with rifles, but may also be used in various other types of sighting devices and projectile weapon aiming devices and may be used to aim one or more of a variety of projectile weapons, such as rifles, pistols, crossbows, artillery, and others. FIG. 3 is an enlarged pictorial representation of reticle 40 as viewed through ocular 26 of riflescope 10. FIG. 4 is another enlarged pictorial view of reticle 40, with reference numbers and dimension lines, as referred to below. Reticle 40 is preferably formed on a substantially flat disc of optical quality material, such as glass or plastic, and includes a primary aiming mark 50 (also referred to herein as the primary aiming point 50) formed by the intersection of a primary horizontal sight line 52 and a primary vertical sight line 54. While primary sight lines 52 and 54 and other indicia, described below, may be marked on the surface of a transparent reticle disc, they may also be embodied in other forms, such as reticle wires, iron sights, illuminated reticle devices, projected targeting displays, head-up displays, simulated reticle images, and the like. Thus, the terms “reticle”, “mark”, “marking”, “marks”, “lines”, and the like are not limited to permanent inscriptions on a physical object, but are intended to also include all kinds of visually perceptible patterns, signs, and symbols, regardless of the way in which they are created and regardless of whether their elements are permanent or transitory in nature, or a combination of both permanent and transitory elements. The arrangement and selection of the aiming marks of reticle 40 of FIG. 3 are particularly suited to varmint shooting, in which the targeted animals are relatively small, the optical power range of riflescope 10 is relatively high, and small fast ammunition is used. FIGS. 5 and 6 are enlarged pictorial views of second and third reticle embodiments 140 and 240, respectively, both designed for big game hunting. Big game reticles 140 and 240 may be substituted for reticle 40 in riflescope 10 (FIGS. 1 and 2). The aiming marks of big game reticles 140 and 240 are generally thicker than those of varmint reticle 40, affording better reticle visibility in low light conditions common to early morning hunts. And because big game animals are larger than varmints, they are less likely to be obscured by the larger marks and lines of big game reticles 140 and 240. In contrast, the aiming marks of varmint reticle 40 are made finer to afford greater target visibility and more accurate shot placement. The thickness of fine central portions 58 of primary horizontal and vertical sight lines 52 and 54 (and secondary horizontal sight lines 72a-c, described below) may be sized, for example, to subtend an angle of approximately 0.13 minute of angle (MOA) in the field of view, wherein 1 MOA= 1/60th degree. Primary horizontal and vertical sight lines 52 and 54 may include one or more widened post portions 62 and 64, respectively, located radially outward from primary aiming point 50. Post portions 62 and 64 may be at least two times thicker than central portions 58 of primary horizontal and vertical sight lines 52 and 54, and more preferably three times thicker, to draw a shooter's eye to the thinner central portions 58 and thereby help the shooter to locate primary aiming mark or point 50. In some embodiments, innermost ends 66 of widened post portions 62 and 64 may serve as reference points for range estimation or windage compensation, as described in further detail below. Reticle 40 includes one or more secondary aiming marks 68a-c spaced below primary aiming mark 50 along a vertical axis intersecting primary aiming mark 50. In the embodiment shown, the vertical axis is coincident with vertical sight line 54 and is, therefore, not separately shown or numbered. More preferably, reticles in accordance with certain preferred embodiments may include at least two such secondary aiming marks, spaced apart at distances from the primary aiming mark 50 preselected to compensate for bullet drop at incremental ranges to a target. In the embodiment of FIG. 4, three secondary aiming marks 68a, 68b, and 68c are formed by the intersection of secondary horizontal sight lines 72a, 72b, and 72c with primary vertical sight line 54. Alternatively, the secondary aiming marks need not be formed by intersecting horizontal and vertical lines, but may comprise other kinds of marks and indicia spaced apart below primary aiming mark 50. For example, in big game reticle 140 of FIG. 5, secondary aiming points 168a and 168b are indicated by the tips of opposing left and right CPC™-style secondary aiming marks 180a and 180b. Although each of the triangular CPC™-style secondary aiming marks 180a and 180b tapers to a sharp tip shown touching primary vertical sight line 154, in alternative embodiments (not shown), secondary aiming marks 180a and 180b need not touch primary vertical sight line 154 to indicate the location of secondary aiming points 168a and 168b. Thus, depending on the design preference, the secondary aiming marks may or may not overlap with, contact, or extend through the vertical axis or a primary vertical sight line to indicate the position on the vertical axis of the secondary aiming points 168a and 168b. Turning again to FIG. 4, secondary aiming marks 68a-c are preferably arranged for accurate indication of bullet drop at incremental ranges when riflescope 10 is sighted-in at 200 yards—i.e., when the optical alignment of riflescope 10 relative to a barrel 44 of rifle 14 is adjusted so that primary aiming mark 50 accurately indicates a point of bullet impact 200 yards from the shooter. When riflescope 10 is sighted-in at 200 yards, secondary aiming marks 68a, 68b, and 68c will indicate points of impact at ranges of approximately 300, 400, and 500 yards, respectively, assuming the shot is not affected by crosswinds or lateral drift. Spacing of secondary aiming marks 68a-c for aiming at incremental ranges of round numbers makes it easy for a shooter to remember the ranges corresponding to the primary and secondary aiming marks 50 and 68a-c, and avoids the need to look away from the target to check a reference list of corresponding ranges, as with the riflescopes of U.S. Pat. No. 6,032,374 of Sammut and U.S. Pat. No. 6,591,537 of Smith. Moreover, in riflescopes according to the preferred embodiments, the optical power can be adjusted to compensate for different ammunition having different ballistics, as described below with reference to FIG. 7. As indicated by dimension lines 74a, 74b, and 74c, the angles subtended between primary aiming point 50 and secondary aiming marks 68a, 68b, and 68c in the preferred embodiment are, respectively, 1.81 MOA, 4.13 MOA, and 7.02 MOA, at 16× magnification. When varmint reticle 40 is embodied in a transparent reticle disc located at rear focal plane 32 of riflescope 10, the actual physical dimensions of reticle lines and spacing between lines are determined based on the conversion factor of approximately 1.0 MOA=0.223 mm. Similarly, secondary aiming marks 180a-b and 280a-b of respective second and third embodiment reticles 140 and 240 are spaced below primary aiming marks 150 and 250 for accurate indication of bullet drop at incremental ranges of 300 and 400 yards, when riflescope 10 is sighted-in at 200 yards. Because big game reticles 140 and 240 are designed to be used at a lower optical power and for a different type of ammunition than varmint reticle 40, the spacing between primary aiming mark 150/250 and secondary aiming points 168a/268a and 168b/268b is different from the corresponding spacing of secondary aiming marks 68a-b of varmint reticle 40. Preferably the 300-yard secondary aiming points 168a and 268a are spaced 2.19 MOA below the center of primary horizontal sight line 152/252 (i.e., primary aiming mark 150/252), at 10× magnification; and the 400-yard secondary aiming marks 168b and 268b are spaced 4.80 MOA from the center of primary horizontal sight line 152/252, at 10× magnification. Additional secondary aiming marks may be provided for compensating for bullet drop at longer ranges. For example, a 500-yard aiming mark 178/278 comprises the upper end of a lower post 164/264 in each embodiment, and a 450-yard aiming mark 176/276 comprises a short line intersecting primary vertical sight line 154/254. 450-yard aiming marks 176 and 276 are located 6.26 MOA below primary horizontal sight line 152/252 (measured center to center) and the 500-yard aiming marks 178 and 278 are located 7.82 MOA below the center of primary horizontal sight line 152/252, both measured at 10× magnification. When big game reticles 140 and 240 are embodied transparent reticle discs adapted to be located at rear focal plane 32 of riflescope 10, the actual physical dimensions of reticle markings and spacing therebetween on reticle discs are determined based on the conversion factor of approximately 1.0 MOA=0.139 mm. Turning again to FIG. 4, varmint reticle 40 preferably includes a simple ranging device 76 for estimating the range to average-sized varmints and other targets that are approximately 7 inches in height. Ranging device 76 comprises a horizontal ranging line 78 positioned 2.333 MOA below the lowermost secondary aiming mark 68c at 16× magnification (a typical operating setting for varmint hunting), so that when a 7-inch-tall varmint 80 or another 7-inch target is located at 300 yards it will be closely bracketed in the gap 82 between secondary aiming mark 68c and ranging line 78. If a targeted varmint 80 is larger than gap 82, then it is closer than 300 yards and primary aiming mark 50 (or one of the associated windage aiming marks 86, described below) can be used for targeting. When a targeted varmint 80 is smaller than gap 82, the range is greater than 300 yards; thus, before selecting an aiming point, the shooter may want to use a precision ranging device such as a laser rangefinder, for example, to determine a more accurate range to the target. A set of windage aiming marks 84 may be spaced apart along at least one secondary horizontal axis 88 intersecting a selected one of secondary aiming marks 68a-c, to facilitate compensation in aiming for the effect of crosswinds on the trajectory of the projectile. As with secondary aiming marks 68a-c, windage aiming marks 84 need not touch the corresponding secondary horizontal sight line 72a-c to indicate the location of windage aiming points on the secondary horizontal axis 88. However, in a preferred embodiment, windage aiming marks 84 include tick marks 92a and 92b intersecting or touching the ends of one or more of the secondary horizontal sight lines 72a-c and FLOATING SQUARE™ marks 94a and 94b for compensating for stronger crosswinds. First and second windage aiming marks 92a and 94a are spaced apart to the left of the vertical axis at distances from the vertical axis selected to compensate for leftward crosswinds of preselected first and second incremental velocities, respectively, at the incremental ranges of the corresponding secondary aiming mark. In the preferred embodiment, windage aiming marks 92a and 94a are positioned to compensate for first and second incremental crosswind velocities of 10 mph and 20 mph, respectively. Third and fourth windage aiming marks 92b and 94b are spaced apart to the right of the vertical axis at distances from the vertical axis selected to compensate for rightward crosswinds of preselected third and fourth incremental velocities, respectively, at the range of said selected secondary aiming mark. To simplify use of the reticle, the third and fourth windage aiming marks 92b and 94b are spaced to compensate for rightward crosswinds of third and fourth incremental velocities which are equal and opposite the respective first and second incremental velocities of the leftward crosswinds. Additional windage aiming marks 86 (also indicated as 92a-b and 94a-b) may be provided along primary horizontal sight line 52 for windage compensation at the sighted-in range (e.g., 200 yards) and the preselected crosswind velocities (e.g., 10 mph and 20 mph). FIG. 10 is a view of the reticle of FIG. 3 shown aimed at a varmint 120 (not to scale) at a known or estimated range of 400 yards and compensating for a known or estimated leftward (right-to-left) crosswind of 20 mph. Table 1 sets forth the spacing of windage aiming marks 92a/92b and 94a/94b at the selected incremental ranges of primary and secondary aiming marks 50 and 68a-c: TABLE 1 Horizontal distance Horizontal distance Distance from from vertical axis to from vertical axis to aim point 50 Range/ 1st and 3rd windage 2nd and 4th windage to post ends corresponding aiming marks 92a/92b aiming marks 94a/94b 66 (30-mph sight line (10-mph crosswind) (20-mph crosswind) crosswind 200 yds./line 62 1.77 MOA 3.54 MOA 5.31 MOA 300 yds./line 72a 2.86 MOA 5.72 MOA — 400 yds./line 72b 4.09 MOA 8.17 MOA — 500 yds./line 72c 5.49 MOA 10.99 MOA — Although the preferred embodiment of FIG. 4 shows a reticle 40 with four windage aiming marks 92a, 92b, 94a, and 94b at each range, greater or fewer than four windage aiming marks may also be used at each range. For example, as indicated in Table 1, at the sighted-in range of 200 yards, innermost ends 66 of post portions 62 may serve as a third pair of windage aiming marks, providing windage compensation for 30-mph crosswinds. In the reticle 140 of FIG. 5, secondary aiming marks 180a and 180b are sized so that their outermost ends 192a and 192b are positioned to compensate for respective leftward and rightward 10-mph crosswinds. Marks 180a/180b at the 300-yard range (at secondary aim point 168a) are sized so that their ends 192a and 192b are located 2.16 MOA from the vertical axis. Marks 180a/180b at the 400-yard range (at secondary aiming point 168b) are sized so that at 10× magnification their ends are located 3.03 MOA from the vertical axis. In the reticle 240 of FIG. 6, secondary aiming marks 280a and 280b are stepped to include radially outer post portions 284. Inner and outer ends 286 and 288 of post portions 284 are positioned to correct for crosswinds of 10 mph and 20 mph, respectively. At the 300-yard range (secondary aiming point 268a), inner ends 286 of post portions 284 are located 2.16 MOA from the vertical axis and outermost ends 288 are located 4.32 MOA from the vertical axis, both at 10× magnification. At the 400-yard range (secondary aiming point 268b), inner ends 286 of post portions 284 are located 3.03 MOA from the vertical axis and outer ends 288 are located 6.06 MOA from the vertical axis, both at 10× magnification. The particular subtensions of secondary aiming marks 68, 168, and 268 are selected based on a survey of ballistic drop data for a variety of commonly used ammunition, which may be gathered empirically or calculated using the Ingalls Tables or ballistics software. FIG. 8 is a table including ballistics drop data for selected ammunition commonly used in big game hunting, for ranges of 300, 400, and 500 yards and based on a sighted-in distance of 200 yards. A nominal design for secondary aiming marks 168a-b and 178 was chosen to correspond to a 130 grain .270 caliber WINCHESTER (.270 WIN) bullet having a muzzle velocity of 3,000 feet per second (fps). The .270 WIN, 130 Gr., 3,000 fps was chosen as a nominal design because its ballistic characteristics are approximately median for a first group of ammunition 310 having ballistic characteristics within an acceptable error tolerance, at the selected incremental ranges. Based on ballistic calculations or empirical measurements at typical altitude, temperature and relative humidity, bullet drop for the .270 WIN, 130 Gr., 3,000 fps is determined to be approximately 6.88 inches at 300 yards. At a preselected nominal optical power of 10× magnification, 6.88 inches of ballistic drop converts to approximately 2.19 MOA below primary aiming point 50. Optical power of 10× magnification was preselected as the nominal optical power because it is commonly used for big game hunting. Subtensions for incremental ranges of 400 and 500 yards are selected in a similar manner, for the same nominal ammunition and 10× magnification. One or more additional groups of ammunition having ballistic drop characteristics outside the acceptable error tolerance may also be selected. For example, ammunition of a second group 320 exhibits a greater amount of bullet drop than ammunition of first group 310. The present inventors recognized that to compensate for the different ballistic characteristics of ammunition of second group 320, the optical power of riflescope 10 could be decreased to thereby increase the subtensions of secondary aiming points 168a-b and 178. Thus, for example, an optical power of 7.5× magnification (a 25% decrease) is selected to provide a 25% increase in the subtension of secondary aiming mark 168a, to approximately 2.74 MOA (2.19 MOA×1.25=2.74 MOA), thereby corresponding to an approximate median ballistic drop of second group 320. In the preferred embodiment, the ammunition is grouped into only two groups 310 and 320 for simplicity and ease of use. However, for more precise aiming, the same ammunition shown in FIG. 8 could be grouped into a greater number of groups, in which case ammunition other than .270 WIN might be selected as the nominal design. A group of ammunition may include as few as one particular kind of ammunition. The particular ammunition listed in FIG. 8 is merely exemplary. For the exemplary ammunition and based on the above-described grouping and optical magnification, FIG. 8 lists, at each of the incremental ranges of 300, 400, and 500 yards, the inches of error from the nominal design, the corresponding MOA at the preselected optical power, the deviation from nominal (in percent), and the corresponding approximate best optical power. This data, and especially approximate best optical power, is used to group the ammunition. In yet other embodiments, different ammunition may be utilized at the settings corresponding to one of the groups, but at different incremental ranges. For example, .300 Ultra Mag (UM) ammunition 330 was determined to have ballistic drop characteristics that fall outside of the acceptable tolerance ranges for both of the first and second groups 310 and 320 of ammunition (i.e., more than 2.0 inches of deviation from nominal at 300 yards and nearly 11.5 inches of deviation from nominal at 500 yards). However, for the same .300 UM ammunition, if riflescope 10 is sighted-in at 300 yards instead of 200 yards (as indicated in FIG. 8 at 340), then secondary aim points 168a, 168b, and 178 can be used effectively to compensate for ballistic drop at 400, 500, and 600 yards, respectively, with an acceptable margin of error. To facilitate adjustment of the subtensions of the secondary aiming marks for different groups of ammunition, a set of fiducial marks can be associated with power selector ring 34 to indicate the prescribed optical power settings for the different groups. FIG. 7 is a an enlarged partial pictorial view of the eyepiece end of riflescope 10 showing detail of power selector ring 34 and a portion of the right side housing 20. A dot 380 or other mark on housing 20 is used in cooperation with optical power indicia 386 on power selector ring 34 to indicate the optical power setting of riflescope 10. A set of fiducial marks 390 is also provided and includes, in the preferred embodiment, first and second fiducials 392 and 394 corresponding to the first and second groups of ammunition 310 and 320 listed in FIG. 8. In preparation for using riflescope 10, the shooter selects one of the fiducial marks 390 corresponding to the group of ammunition including the caliber of rifle 14 and type of ammunition to be used, and then rotates power selector ring 34 until the selected fiducial mark is aligned with dot 380. The relative large and small sizes of fiducials 392 and 394 are generally suggestive of the relative muzzle velocities and masses of the groups of ammunition, to help remind the shooter of the ammunition to which fiducials 390 correspond. Many other configurations and arrangements of power selector mechanism and fiducials may be used in place of the embodiment shown. Riflescope 10 and reticles 40, 140, and 240 may also include a built-in range estimator. FIG. 9 is an auxiliary view of reticle 140 of FIG. 5 being used for range estimation. With reference to FIG. 9, the range estimator utilizes a known spacing between the ends 166 of post portions 162 and 164 (also called the “pickets”) and the central primary aiming mark 150 at a known magnification to estimate the range to targets of a known or estimated size. For example, ends 166 are spaced between approximately 7 MOA and 8 MOA from primary aiming mark 150 at the lowest optical power setting of riflescope 10 and more preferably approximately 7.6 MOA, which corresponds to approximately 16 inches at 200 yards. At the highest optical power—three times the lowest power for a zoom ratio of 3:1—the spacing between ends 166 and primary aiming mark 150 corresponds to a 16-inch target at 600 yards. To estimate range, a hunter frames the back-to-brisket feature of a deer 360 (which is known to be approximately 16 inches in height) between primary horizontal sight line 152 and end 166 of vertical picket 164, rotating power selector ring 34 to adjust the optical power, as necessary. When the optical power is adjusted so as to closely frame the back-to-brisket feature of deer 360, the hunter then views a set of ranging fiducials 400 (FIG. 7) associated with power selector ring 34 to determine the range to target. In the preferred embodiment, ranging fiducials 400 shown as “4”, “5”, and “6” indicate ranges of 400, 500, and 600 yards, respectively. (Ranging fiducials “2” and “3” corresponding to 200 and 300 yards are obscured in FIG. 7.) By determining which of the ranging fiducials 400 is most closely aligned with a ranging dot 410 on housing 20, the hunter can then quickly determine (estimate) the range to target. Projectile weapon aiming systems have been described herein principally with reference to their use with rifles and embodied as riflescopes. However, skilled persons will understand that projectile weapon aiming systems may include aiming devices other than riflescopes, and may be used on weapons other than rifles, which are capable of propelling projectiles along substantially predeterminable trajectories, e.g., handguns, crossbows, and artillery. Thus, it will be obvious to those having skill in the art that many changes may be made to the details of the above-described embodiments without departing from the underlying principles of the invention. The scope of the present invention should, therefore, be determined only by the following claims. | <SOH> BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION <EOH>Projectile weapon aiming systems are discussed herein principally with reference to their use on rifles and embodied in telescopic sights commonly known as riflescopes. It will become apparent, however, that projectile weapon aiming systems may include aiming devices other than riflescopes, and may be used on weapons other than rifles, which are capable of propelling projectiles along substantially predeterminable trajectories, e.g., handguns, crossbows, and artillery. A factor that must be taken into account in long-range shooting is the curved trajectory traversed by a bullet or other projectile as it falls from its initial trajectory while traveling the distance from the gun to the target, i.e., “range.” An aiming line of sight emanating from a reticle aiming mark of a riflescope rigidly affixed to the gun is straight, and hence the line of sight can intersect the curved trajectory only at a discrete range. At other ranges the projectile will pass below or above the aiming line of sight, necessitating the use of elevation adjustments for aiming. Elevation adjustments in such riflescopes are typically made by turning an adjustment mechanism of the riflescope to impart vertical movement of optical elements (as described, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 3,297,389 of Gibson) or of the reticle (as described, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 3,058,391 of Leupold), so that the aiming line of sight is accurately “sighted-in” at the range of the target. To adjust for the effect of crosswinds, riflescopes also typically include a separate adjustment mechanism for imparting horizontal movement to the optical elements or reticle. In yet other projectile weapon aiming systems, the entire aiming device is adjusted relative to the weapon via an adjustable sight mount. Adjustment of the elevation and windage is time consuming and may require the shooter to take his or her eyes off the target while manipulating the adjustment mechanisms. There have been proposed numerous reticles and riflescopes designed to provide the shooter with a plurality of aiming marks for shooting at targets at various predetermined ranges, i.e., aiming marks producing line of sight/trajectory intersections at various ranges. Some of these include devices for approximating the range to the target. These riflescopes propose to eliminate the need to make elevation adjustments in the riflescope to compensate for bullet drop at different ranges. Exemplary riflescopes are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,190,003 of O'Brien; U.S. Pat. No. 1,190,121 of Critchett; U.S. Pat. No. 3,392,450 of Herter et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 3,431,652 of Leatherwood; U.S. Pat. No. 3,492,733 of Leatherwood; U.S. Pat. No. 6,032,374 of Sammut; and U.S. Pat. No. 6,591,537 of Smith. Most of these patents propose riflescopes providing a plurality of range-related aiming marks accompanied with aiming mark selection devices, the use of which depends on relative height of the image of a target of known or estimable height compared to the height of a feature in the reticle. Using modern laser rangefinders and other ranging techniques, it is now possible to quickly determine a range to target more accurately than by using one of the range-finding reticles described above. U.S. Pat. No. 3,948,587 of Rubbert proposes a riflescope with a reticle that includes vertically adjacent target-spanning and aiming apertures dimensioned so that when a target of known or estimable size is framed in one of the apertures, the gun is thereby aimed for the correct range to the target. However, Rubbert does not provide an aiming mark or points of reference when the target is at a range such that it does not fit any of the apertures. The apparent spacing of the target-spanning and aiming apertures can be changed by varying the optical power of the riflescope; however, due to a limited amount of optical power adjustment available, the riflescope of Rubbert is useful only for aiming at targets within a limited size range. For example, Rubbert describes a riflescope that can be adjusted for use in aiming at targets sized between 14 and 40 inches in height. Attempting to fit smaller or larger targets in the apertures would result in gross aiming errors. U.S. Pat. No. 6,032,374 of Sammut and U.S. Pat. No. 6,591,537 of Smith propose reticles having a series of secondary aiming marks spaced below a primary aiming mark at predetermined intervals for compensating for bullet drop. After determining or estimating an observed range, the shooter selects the secondary aiming mark most closely corresponding to the observed range. The secondary aiming marks of Sammut are evenly spaced, but a bullet's trajectory is parabolic, so Sammut requires preliminary collection of ballistic data to determine the range corresponding to each secondary aiming mark. The corresponding ranges determined by the collection of ballistic data are applicable only for the ballistics of particular ammunition for which data is collected. Furthermore, a shooter must either memorize the ranges that are empirically determined or refer to a worksheet where the ballistic data and corresponding ranges have been recorded. Smith purports to provide secondary aiming marks for regular incremental ranges (typically 300, 400, 500, and 600 yards) in an attempt to eliminate the need, as with the device of Sammut, to refer to ballistics data or to memorize the ranges corresponding to the secondary aiming marks. However, the ranges of the secondary aiming marks of Smith are accurate only for a particular predetermined rifle and ammunition combination, referred to as the ballistic “factor.” For ammunition having a ballistic factor different from the factor for which the reticle is designed, Smith proposes to apply a decal to the stock of the rifle or some other convenient location for reference in determining the irregular ranges at which the secondary aiming marks can be used to aim the rifle. The present inventors have recognized a need for an improved projectile weapon aiming system for accurately compensating for ballistic drop and windage for a variety of ammunition having different ballistic characteristics. | <SOH> SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION <EOH>In accordance with preferred embodiments, a reticle for use in a projectile weapon aiming system includes a primary aiming mark adapted to be sighted-in at a first selected range and two or more secondary aiming marks spaced apart below the primary aiming mark along a vertical axis intersecting the primary aiming mark. The secondary aiming marks are positioned to compensate for ballistic drop at preselected incremental ranges beyond the first selected range for a selected group of ammunition having similar ballistic characteristics. The reticle is preferably located proximate a rear focal plane of a riflescope, between a power-varying erector lens assembly and an ocular of the riflescope, so that angles subtended by adjacent aiming marks of the reticle can be adjusted by changing the optical power of the riflescope, to thereby compensate for ballistic characteristics of different ammunition and firing velocities. A set of fiducial marks may be associated with a power selector mechanism of the riflescope for prescribing at least two different optical power settings corresponding to at least two different groups of ammunition. Each of the fiducial marks indicates an optical power setting at which the secondary aiming marks accurately compensate for ballistic drop for a selected group of ammunition at the preselected incremental ranges. Preferably, the groups of ammunition are chosen based on empirical data, to group together ammunition having ballistic drop at the incremental ranges of the secondary aiming marks that is within an acceptable error tolerance of a mean ballistic drop of the group. In some embodiments, the reticle includes a set of windage aiming marks spaced apart along at least one secondary horizontal axis intersecting a selected one of the secondary aiming marks, to facilitate compensation in aiming for the effect of crosswinds on the trajectory of the projectile. Methods of aiming are also disclosed, in which the optical power of the riflescope is first adjusted until it corresponds to the ballistic characteristics of the selected ammunition. Thereafter, an observed range to target is determined, for example, by estimation or use of a range-finding device, before aiming with the secondary aiming mark that most closely corresponds to the observed range. In windy conditions, one of the windage aiming marks associated with the selected secondary aiming mark can be chosen based on an observed crosswind velocity, to compensate for crosswind effects at the observed range. Additional aspects and advantages of this invention will be apparent from the following detailed description of preferred embodiments, which proceeds with reference to the accompanying drawings. | 20040903 | 20091020 | 20051020 | 60868.0 | 1 | CLEMENT, MICHELLE RENEE | BALLISTIC RETICLE FOR PROJECTILE WEAPON AIMING SYSTEMS AND METHOD OF AIMING | UNDISCOUNTED | 0 | ACCEPTED | 2,004 |
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10,933,875 | ACCEPTED | System for data management and on-demand rental and purchase of digital data products | A system for handling data and transactions involving data through the use of a virtual transaction zone, which virtual transaction zone removes the dependency of such transaction on the delivery medium of the product. The invention may reside and operate on a variety of electronic devices such as televisions, VCRs, DVDs, personal computers, WebTV, any other known electronic recorder/player, or as a stand alone unit. The transaction zone also provides a mechanism for combining mediums, data feeds, and manipulation of those feeds. The transaction zone also provides a mechanism for controlling the content, delivery, and timing of delivery of the end consumer's product. | 1. A system for the processing, recording, and playback of audio or video data, comprising: a. a receiver apparatus for receiving audio or video data from at least one data feed; b. memory circuitry comprising a built-in, high capacity, non-movable storage device; c. processing circuitry for processing the data and for storing the processed data in the storage device; d. a user interface operatively connected to the processing circuitry for programming which processing functions are to be applied to the received data by the processing circuitry; e. playback circuitry, which reads the data from the non-movable storage device and which converts the data to electronic signals for driving a playback apparatus; and f. a microprocessor having software programming to control the operation of the processing circuitry and the playback circuitry enabling the recording of rented data and enacting a simulated return of said rented data by deleting or scrambling said data from said non-movable storage device or blocking further access to said data, and notifying a data supplier of said simulated return. 2. The system of claim 1, wherein the processing circuitry further comprises a discretionary content filter/editor which is programmable by the user interface to establish the criteria for recording particular data, wherein said criteria is one from the group consisting of program name, title, theme, genre, actor, actress, artist, director, producer, motion picture rating, year, time, and key word. 3. The system of claim 2, wherein the storage device comprises a plurality of individual storage units having a memory capacity. 4. The system of claim 3, wherein custom personalized channels are created by allowing the individual storage units to be programmed to a users specific suitability criteria. 5. The system according to claim 1, further including an instant replay function allowing replay of a predetermined length of recorded broadcast data wherein said length is programmable by said user. 6. The system of claim 5 wherein said user selects a variable replay length by activating a switch until an instant replay time is indicated on a screen display. 7. The system of claim 1 wherein said broadcast data is a Pay-Per-View program. 8. The system of claim 1, further including: a. said data having embedded within a main program control data for identifying specific data or data segments; b. said microprocessor separating said embedded control data from said main program; c. said microprocessor decoding said control data; and d. said microprocessor using said control data identify specific data segments and reassemble said specific data segments to form a custom program. 9. The system of claim 1, wherein said data is audio programming. 10. The system of claim 9, wherein said data is satellite radio. 11. The system of claim 1, wherein said system records said rented data onto a portable storage device and allows no more than a specified number of audio, video, or music programs to be recorded onto said portable storage device. 12. The system of claim 11, wherein said portable storage device is one from the group consisting of a compact disk, a mini-disk, a DVD, a digital memory card, a PDA, portable digital recorder/player, palm held computer, a Palm Pilot, a portable PC, and a wireless phone. 13. The system of claim 1 or 11, wherein said rented data is an audio, video, or music program and said audio or music programming is MP3 digital audio compression formatted data. 14. The system of claim 1 or 11, said software programming further enabling rented data to be purchased after a temporary trial period. 15. The system of claim 1, wherein said rented data is received from a broadcast data source which is at least one of radio, UHF/VHF, Network TV, cable, satellite or Internet broadcasts. 16. The system of claim 1, wherein said system includes an electronically based payment system making rental charges to a user's credit or debit account. 17. The system of claim 16, wherein said credit or debit account comprises a credit card account, a checking account, or an ATM account. 18. The system of claim 1, further including a remote intermediate service provider to manipulate or repackage data for end users. 19. The system of claim 1, wherein said system adds copyright protection to data recorded onto a portable storage device, said copyright protection comprising Macrovision DVD, SCMS, or watermarking. 20. The system of claim 1, further including a user option to adjust degree of compression versus recording quality. 21. The system of claim 1, wherein data is processed and the output generates an e-mail or a phone message. 22. The system of claim 1, further including the use of a portable storage device which has been preformatted to include control data for controlling data rental restrictions, data erasure, or data playback operations. 23. The system of claim 1 combined in an enclosure with a TV, VCR, TVCR, cable receiver, satellite receiver, broadcast TV antenna, CD player/recorder, DVD player/recorder, PC, portable PC, palm held computer, portable digital organizer (PDA), or wireless telephone. 24. The system of claim 1 wherein said system is remotely programmable through a telephone, wireless telephone, computer interface, the Internet, or Palm Top computer. 25. The system of claim 1, wherein the playback of a data product may be paused by registering a cue point in memory, and later playing back the data from the cue point while the data product delivered from a data product provider is being continuously recorded without interruption by the either the pause or the playback. 26. The system of claim 1, said software programming further enabling access to an Internet based subscription service and automatic downloading of data for rental or purchase. 27. The system of claim 26, wherein said downloaded data is digital music data. 28. The system of claim 1 or 26, wherein said system includes a data management system database located remote to a user allowing the user to rent said system and control operations of said database via an on-line two way connection. 29. A video-on-demand system, comprising: a. a receiver apparatus receiving a single program on a plurality of channels, each of said channels broadcasting said program at successive delayed time intervals; b. a high capacity storage device which is built into the system; c. processing circuitry for processing the broadcast data and for storing the broadcast data in the storage device; d. a user interface operatively connected to the processing circuitry for programming which processing functions are to be applied to the received data by the processing circuitry; e. playback circuitry which reads the data from the storage device and which converts that data to electronic signals for driving playback apparatus; f. a microprocessor having software programming to control the operation of the processing circuitry and the playback circuitry; g. said microprocessor causing said processing circuitry either to record an initial segment of said program from one of said channels or to access said initial segment from a pre-recorded source, wherein the viewing time length of said initial segment is equal to or longer than the time length of said delayed time intervals; h. said microprocessor registering a start time indicating when a user selects to view on demand said program; i. said microprocessor causing said processing circuitry to begin playback of said initial segment from a beginning of said initial segment at any time on demand of a user; j. said microprocessor locating a later playing channel which has not begun broadcasting a next segment following said initial segment; k. said microprocessor causing said processing circuitry to initiate recording said program on said later playing channel prior to or at a beginning of said next segment until an end of said program; and l. said microprocessor beginning playback of said recorded next segment immediately following playback of said initial segment. 30. The system of claim 29, wherein system records initial segments from a plurality of different programs. 31. The system of claim 29 wherein a program or said program segments are recorded in a continuous loop in a storage device of said system. 32. The system of claim 29 wherein said program is a Pay-Per-View program wherein said program is recorded in a system storage device in scrambled or encrypted form and wherein said program is made accessible to user by said system receiving an authorization key for decoding/descrambling said stored program. 33. The system of claim 1 or 29 wherein a user may pause viewing of said program and instantly replay a program segment previously viewed by registering a cue point at a location of pause in said program and wherein said user may return to view said program from said cue point location until an end of said program. 34. The system of claim 33 wherein a length of said program segments viewable by said instant replay is programmable based upon a length specified by said user. 35. The system of claim 29 wherein said beginning of said next segment is located by said system identifying a data bit cue point marking said beginning of said next segment. 36. The system of claim 1 or 29, wherein said system automatically queries a content provider at regular intervals to obtain updated broadcast, programming or merchandise information and said system stores said information for subsequent access by a user. 37. The system of claim 36, wherein said programming information includes at least one from the group consisting of broadcast scheduling information, program previews, critical reviews, program segments, program guide information, program identification data, program classification data, program control data, user account/billing data, system updates, and software upgrades. 38. The system of claim 29, wherein said high capacity storage device is a hard disk drive. | CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS This application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 10/126,829 filed Apr. 19, 2002 entitled “System for Data Management and On-Demand Rental and Purchase of Digital Data Products,” which is a divisional of U.S. application Ser. No. 09/383,994 filed on Aug. 26, 1999 entitled “System for Data Management and On-Demand Rental and Purchase of Digital Data Products,” which is a continuation-in-part of U.S. application Ser. No. 08/873,584 filed Jun. 12, 1997 entitled “Multi-Functional Processing System.” The benefit of 35 U.S.C. § 120 is claimed for the above referenced applications. FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a data handling system for the management of data received on one or more data feeds. More specifically, it relates to a method for management, storage and retrieval of digital information and an apparatus for accomplishing the same. Even more specifically, it relates to a method and system for selecting, receiving and manipulating data products that may be transferred to a portable storage device for use with existing playback systems. Even more specifically, it relates to a system for renting or purchasing data products for immediate, on-demand delivery, which may be formatted and transferred to a portable medium for use in any existing playback device. DESCRIPTION OF THE PRIOR ART For the past several years the world has experienced what has been termed an information explosion. Innumerable, varying technologies have arisen in an attempt to manage this flow of information in commercial areas. Examples range from the various protocols and configurations used for managing office local area networks (LANs) and the information that flows over them, to low end hand-held personal organizers. A new area is finally reaching a point of no return in this world of information overload: the end user of commercial and educational material. This information overload has now become critical with the end users of computers and televisions. This, in turn, creates problems relating to the management of the exponentially increasing global database of information available over data feeds to personal computers, such as the Internet and other modem and cable accessible computer data feeds. It also includes the explosion in data feed sources over and through program broadcasts such as network television, radio, cable television channels; satellite feeds, UHF/VHF channels, videotapes, and even the Internet. Couple this explosion of information with a blurring line between the personal computer, the television, and telephone communications. It is apparent that there is a serious need for an integrated system that manages and handles the growing amount of information available over the various data feeds and can meet the needs and desires of the end user. In particular, this increasing array of data, data sources, and storage devices has resulted in numerous battles over the format in which the data is delivered and manipulated. For example, one of the more recent format battles is being played out over the fixture format for purchases of video products and music and other sound recordings, i.e., Digital Video Express. (“Divx”) versus digital video disc (“DVD”); compact discs (“CD”) versus digital audio tape (“DAT”) versus cassette modes. Yet another example is the battle over which medium, PC's or televisions, will eventually triumph in being the delivery channel for all of this information. Another issue arises when discussing the conduit for receiving the information being provided to end-users. Regardless of the format of delivery, manipulation processing, storage or play back, there are limitations on the devices utilized to manage the ever increasing and, now in many cases, overlapping information data feeds provided over computer-received and television/radio-received data feeds. Previous attempts to solve the problems caused by this plethora of information, the ability to access this information through different sources, and different methods of storing the data have not solved some of the basic issues surrounding this technology such as timing, commercial transfer and licensing issues as well as security for the person transferring the information. The creation of new methods of transferring, storing, manipulating and accessing such data do not solve the problems outlined herein. In a sense, prior attempts to provide solutions have focused on the technology of retrieving, storing, or playing back or viewing of the data with a minor emphasis if at all on the overall management of the data. In many instances, the new technology “solution” creates a new format dilemma. For example, the new Divx video format creates another layer of technology that consumers must purchase to play the video on this new format. Under this format, consumers may purchase a small, compact disc-like medium containing a digital video product in a restrictive, special, non-universal format such as DVD, for a nominal price. The disc is encoded in the Divx format to prevent playing on regular DVD players. However, the disc may be placed in a Divx player that presents the consumer a series of options, including renting or purchasing the video product. Each Divx disc has Divx “control data,” including an individualized serial number, which the player reads the first time the disc is inserted and then stores in a memory on the player. Information on the disc and on the player is then used to determine the appropriate price for the movie. When the customer begins playing a movie, the viewing period for that copy of the movie begins. More specifically, the player allows the disc with that particular serial number to be played for a set length of time (which is also stored in secure memory on the player). During this set length of time, the customer may view the movie as many times as desired, but only on this Divx machine. An on-board modem calls the Divx network on a regular schedule for billing purposes, and to refresh existing information on the player. However, Divx is limited in that a disc enabled by one player cannot be played in any other Divx player without re-enabling the disc, or making arrangements through the Divx company to transfer your account to another box. Thus, a video rented or purchased and usable on one Divx machine is useless in another Divx machine or any other kind of player without incurring the time and trouble of dealing with Divx account customer service. Additionally, if Divx technology is accepted, it will render obsolete large collections of video on other media such as DVD, laser disc, and videocassette tapes. Recently, electronic commerce has blossomed on the Internet. The solution for commerce to date has been to have the user access the web site of the commercial vendor and browse through the items available and then order those items for delivery via delivery service when ordering goods or in some instances downloading the purchase immediately. This results in piecemeal transactions over a variety of formats and protocols. Even attempts by the on-line service providers to provide groupings of products and services still requires access to their respective systems. A comprehensive data management system is needed that forms a transaction (or commercial) zone where and through which data can be selected, purchased or rented, received, stored, manipulated, and downloaded by a user and then downloaded to ultimate storage or use. Utilization of such a system removes the battle over which storage format, delivery system or platform is used and provides the consumer of the information age with data access and manipulation without issues of format compatibility and timing. This same system also interfaces with current financial tools such as credit cards, checking accounts, ATM accounts, and other debit and credit systems to provide easy rental or purchase access. Such a data management system, in effect, separates the distribution media from the storage media. The current invention solves these problems through the use of an integrated information management and processing system that provides for the handling, sorting and storage of large amounts of data that is a user-defined and user resident environment. It allows this management to occur both during and after the actual feed is being received, while also allowing various decisions to be made about the suitability, quality, and other content of the information being received. The invention also has the capability to be securely accessed and utilized from a remote location, including telephone, Internet, and remote computer/television access. This would allow services to provide virtual user transaction zones. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of this invention is to provide a system that creates a transaction or commercial zone for data to be received, manipulated, stored, retrieved, and accessed by a user, utilizing one or more data feeds from various sources. The system also creates unique arrangements of information or selections of information from distinct user-defined criteria. Another object of the invention is to provide a system for intermediate service providers to manipulate and repackage data and information for end users in a streamlined, comprehensive package of information. A further object of this invention is to provide a system for the electronic delivery of data for commercial or other types of communication that can also serve as an electronically based payment system for same. A further object of this invention is to provide a single integrated system and device with a user-friendly control interface which permits the end user to efficiently and effectively manipulate and manage data feeds. A further object of this invention is to provide a system and device for spontaneously and automatically capturing and manipulating large amounts of data for both real time playback, and for storing the captured data for subsequent playback without the need for having a readily available, movable, blank storage device. Another object of this invention is to provide a system and device for spontaneously and automatically capturing and manipulating electronic data, either continuously or at specified times, both for real time playback, and for storage for subsequent playback, without the need for having a readily available, movable, blank storage device, and which can be programmed from a remote location. Another object of this invention is to provide a system and device for capturing, manipulating and storing open digital audio, video and audio/video data to a built-in storage device, and for transferring the data to a selectable portable storage device. This is accomplished while incorporating digital copyright protection to protect he/she artist's work from unlawful pirating. Media formats include data that is scrambled or encrypted, or which is written on disks and devices designed to be compatible with the Data Management System of the present invention. Other objects of the present invention include: The use of data boxes to personalize programming to the individual taste of the user. Rent/lease storage space in users Data Box to personalize and target advertising to the individual preferences of the user. Purchase or rent data products (movie, TV show, etc.) even after real time broadcast. In a preferred embodiment of the invention, a digital data management system includes a remote Account-Transaction Server (“ATS”), and a local host Data Management System and Audio/Video Processor Recorder-player (“VPR/DMS”) unit. The ATS may be local or placed at the content broadcaster's site. The ATS stores and provides all potential programming information for use with the local VPR/DMS unit. This includes user account and sub-account information, programming/broadcast guides, merchandise information. It may also include data products for direct purchase and/or rental from on-line or virtual stores, and has interfaces with billing authorities such as Visa, MasterCard, Discover, American Express, Diner's Club, or any other credit card or banking institution that offers credit or debit payment systems. The local VPR/DMS unit comprises at least one data feed which includes an interface to the ATS; at least one receiver/transmitter unit for receiving information from a data provider or the ATS, and for transmitting information to the remote ATS; and a plurality of data manipulation and processing devices. These devices may include, but are not limited to, digital signal processors, an automatic discretionary content filter/editor, a V-chip or other such content or ratings-based “content blocker, analog-to-digital converters, and digital-to-analog converters; a one or more built-in, non-movable storage devices; one or more recording units; a microprocessor; a user interface; and a playback unit. The VPR/DMS queries the ATS at regular intervals to obtain the latest broadcast, programming and merchandise information. Upon user request, a program running on the VPR/DMS creates a virtual “Transaction Zone”, whereby the information received from the remote ATS (or from a direct broadcast) is configured in a graphical, hierarchical set of menus. These menus allow the user to access a variety of functions and/or program the VPR/DMS to record scheduled broadcasts or to directly rent or purchase data products. The local VPR/DMS unit acts as the interface between the data products from the broadcaster/content provider, the ATS, and the end user. The VPR/DMS may be used in a variety of ways, including, but not limited to, a virtual audio/video recorder/player for recording and playback of scheduled broadcast programs; an audio/video duplicating device for capturing, manipulating and storing audio/video programs from other external audio/video sources; or as an interface to a “virtual store” for purchasing and/or renting audio/video products or computer software on demand. The VPR/DMS may also be used in a combination device, such as a TVCR, or as a separate component linking any well known audio or video device to a plurality of input sources. Audio/video or other data may be received on the data feed lines at the receiver unit. For example, a cable television broadcast may be received on a cable television broadcast feed at a CATV receiver located in the receiver unit (notice, that likewise, a satellite television, digital cable, or even a UHF/VHF signal may be received, depending on the type of television connection used). Once the data has been received, it may be converted to digital form (if not already in digital form), compressed and immediately stored on the built-in storage device. For example, the analog or digital TV signal may be converted to mpeg-2 format (the standard used on DVD) and stored on the internal storage device preferably a HDD or RAM optical disk, as is well known in the art. Following storage, user-controlled programming features determine whether or how the digital data will be processed upon playback. In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the built-in storage device of the VPR/DMS is such that it allows stored data to be accessed as soon as it is stored. This provides for the ability to watch and store a program virtually in real time. As the broadcast program is received it is converted to digital form, stored on the built-in storage device, read from the storage device, processed by the processing circuit, and played back through the playback circuitry and output to an attached television. This operation is similar to recording a television show with a VCR while viewing the program. However, the invention provides the ability to pause, freeze frame, stop, rewind, fast forward or playback while it continues to record the remainder of the show in real time as it is broadcast. For example, a user may be watching a television show in real time while the VPR/DMS records and processes the broadcast when his viewing is interrupted by a knock at the door. Rather than waiting for the show to finish recording before he/she can go back and see the portion of the program missed by the interruption, the user may pause the simultaneous broadcast/playback while the VPR/DMS continues to record the remainder of the program. Later, he/she can return to a precise cue point marker where the interruption occurred, and continue watching the show, even as the VPR/DMS continues to record the broadcast. In addition, he/she may rewind, fast forward through commercials, watch in slow motion, or perform any other VCR-like function, even while the VPR/DMS continues to record a broadcast. Thus, the system provides a means by which the user may seamlessly integrate real time with delayed playback. The VPR/DMS also provides a means by which the user may program the local host receiver/player to automatically record certain programs, or other data from specific data deeds. For example, when used as a recording unit to record preferred broadcasts, the user may program the local host/receiver unit to record according to specific times via a built-in auto-clock timer. It may also record specific programs, in much the same way that current VCR technology allows users to manually set recording times, or even program-specific recordings (e.g., VCR+, or TV Guide Plus). However, the preferred embodiment makes significant improvements over the manual timer or VCR+ type recording methods by allowing the user to personalize his or her own parameters for recording broadcast programs. In addition to manual timer recording and VCR+ technology, the system includes a built-in automatic discretionary content filter/editor. This content filter/editor allows a user to program the unit to automatically record broadcast content by selection of a “User Suitability Criteria”, which may be defined as a program name, theme, genre, favorite actors or actresses, directors, producers or other parameters, such as key words, television/motion picture rating, etc. The User Suitability Criteria may be used alone or in combination, and can be used to either select or prohibit programming to be recorded. On demand, the VPR/DMS will automatically select, according to the User Suitability Criteria input, from among available programs according to a broadcast programming guide provided by the remote ATS, and will be automatically be configured to receive and record programs in accordance with the required parameters. Additionally, the broadcast signal may be supplied with digital control data recognizable by the VPR/DMS. For example, a user may program the VPR/DMS to selectively and automatically record all broadcast programs in which a particular actor appears. The VPR/DMS will examine the latest programming control data provided by the ATS, recognize programming selection, and automatically configure itself to record the programs in which that actor appears. The system provides the additional benefit of never having to be reprogrammed unless the user desires. For example, if a user has a favorite weekly television show that he/she would like to record, the system may be configured so that every week, it automatically records that show without having to be reprogrammed. However, the VPR/DMS configures itself based on User Suitability Criteria apart from just the program time selection of prior art video recorders. It searches the programming guides for titles, actors, ratings or other User Suitability Criteria, and only records those programs meeting the programmed parameters. Thus if the user's favorite show is preempted in favor of a special program, the system's programming will read the broadcast control data, understand that the program has been preempted and not record at the normally scheduled time. Additionally, the VPR/DMS may be programmed according to individual, non-related parameters so that multiple programs may be recorded. For example, an adult family member may program the VPR/DMS to record all broadcasts in which a particular actor appears, while another family member, say a child, may program the VPR/DMS to record all programs in which a different actor appears. A single user may also set up multiple individual recording parameters as well. This is accomplished by the creation of individual virtual “Data Boxes” or “personalized custom channels”, which may be created for each user. Real time recording and playback or selection of future manual or auto-recordings which flow into the individual Data Boxes may be accomplished based on the User Suitability Criteria. Individual criteria may be completely separate or related to other more system-wide criteria. Like VCR's, audio tape players, recordable compact disk units and other well known equipment, the invention can capture audio/video data output from other consumer electronics equipment in addition to recording broadcasts or retrieving information. A consumer may connect the VPR/DMS to a consumer electronic device such as a TV, video tape recorder, compact disc player, audio tape player, DVD player, or any other known digital or analog audio/video data player/recorder and record audio/video information directly to the built-in storage device. The VPR/DMS may also be connected to TV antennae, TV cable, or satellite dish receiving systems to receive broadcast media. It may also be attached to the Internet whereby the consumer can retrieve data from a desired website. For those players like DVD players, CD recorder/players and minidisc recorder/players having digital inputs and outputs, the VPR/DMS incorporates the ability to receive, store, encode, decode and output digital information in these formats. For example, a user may connect the digital output of a CD player or a minidisc player to a digital input on the VPR/DMS. The VPR/DMS may receive and store the digital CD or minidisc data onto the built-in storage device for subsequent use. In the same respect, the user may connect the digital output of the VPR/DMS to the digital input of a CD-recordable or minidisc player, and transfer digital data stored on the built-in storage device to a CD or minidisc. With the advent of DVD-RAM and DVD-recordable, both of these options are also available with regard to video, as well as audio data. In any event, the capability of the VPR/DMS to receive and store data from both content providers and other consumer electronic devices, as well as its ability to output both digital and analog data is instrumental in its multitude of uses, including the virtual rental/purchase options. A variation of the invention offers content providers the capability of direct instant delivering multi-formatted programs (movies, direct Compact Disc or other audio medium, video catalogs, etc.). The data management zone (or ring) would allow for rental (limited use) or purchase to home based or business based customers. It effectively eliminates need for transporting, inventorying, and physical delivery of digital data products. Direct data rental or purchase provides far more convenience, data security, versatility, cost effectiveness, technical quality, accessibility, product variety, product durability (no broken tapes or damaged compact discs) anti-piracy protection, various preview/rental/purchase options, secure transactions, auto return (no late fees), user privacy, etc. It also provides the added benefit to the rental industry of reducing or eliminating retail space and physical inventory. Under the virtual rental/purchase store, the user has several options. He may choose from products listed in an electronic catalog which is either downloaded from the remote ATS, or received via direct broadcast feed. He may set the content filter/editor to automatically record data. In either case, the data from which is stored on the local VPR/DMS. The VPR/DMS unit interfaces with the ATS to establish two-way communication with a broadcaster/content provider and update itself at regular intervals, providing the home user with the latest available rental/purchase information. For example, the user may browse through available movie titles, audio titles and software titles to select a particular product she would like to purchase or rent. The local VPR/DMS obtains the necessary information from the user to identify the selected product; retrieves stored or spontaneously entered billing information, and then transmits the information to the remote ATS. The remote ATS receives the requested information, and validates the user's account and billing information. It then electronically negotiates the purchase or rental from the content provider, and configures the local VPR/DMS to connect to and receive the requested data from the content provider either on-demand or via a broadcast schedule. In one type of purchase transaction, the data is received and stored on the built-in storage device where it may be accessed for processing, playback or transfer to other media. The data may be received in a scrambled or encrypted format, and may have either content or access restrictions, but also may be provided without restriction. For example, in a rental or purchase transaction, the remote ATS, the local VPR/DMS, (or both) retain rental control information, which is monitored by the broadcaster/content provider, to restrict the use of downloaded data past the or prior to negotiated rental period. For example, control data indicating rental restrictions for a particular title may be stored by the VPR/DMS upon receipt of the digital data product (i.e., movie, pay TV show, music album, etc.) from a content provider. Once receipt of the data is acknowledged by the VPR/DMS and the transaction is completed, the user may play back the data product, store it, or transfer it to portable medium for use on a stand alone playback unit (e.g., DVD player, VCR, etc.) provided all necessary transactions are completed. If the data product is stored in scrambled form, an authorization “key code” must be received from broadcaster/content provider to unlock the rented or purchased program by use of a built-in data descrambler device. In order to avoid late charges or fees for rental transactions, the user must “return” the data product by selecting a return option from the electronic menu. The VPR/DMS interfaces with the ATS to negotiate the “return”, and the data product is erased from the VPR/DMS storage device or re-scrambled (authorization key voided, where the data product remains stored for future access/rental/purchase). The data product has been transferred to portable medium; the control data keeps a record of such transfer, and requires the portable medium to be erased before successfully negotiating the “return.” In this way, the system is programmable by the end user and broadcaster/content provider to enact a “virtual return” of data products stored on the non-moveable storage device. In a preferred embodiment, the user may program the system to process the received data according to the User's Suitability Criteria. For example, the system may be preset to automatically filter, edit, record or not record all or any part of the content of the data based on User's Suitability Criteria, by interpreting control data encoded into a broadcast signal. The data may otherwise be stored in a ROM, PROM, or on a portion of the built-in non-movable storage device reserved for such control information. The V-chip, which is well known, merely blocks out entire programs that are considered “unsuitable”. The present invention may include, as part of the microprocessor, a processing device or circuitry which automatically edits the received data according to the User's Suitability Criteria to omit portions of a received program that may be considered unsuitable. The content that is received from the broadcaster/content provider is sent to a processing circuit, which includes a signal processor for decoding control data that is included in broadcast signals. Alternatively, this content may be stored in a ROM, PROM, or a portion of the built-in non-movable storage device reserved for such control information, and which is used for determining whether or how the program or data product will be processed by the content filter/editor. Processing may include recording, editing, condensing, rearranging data segments, displaying, or otherwise customizing the content. This is especially useful when the User Suitability Criteria is a ratings based edit. The processor decodes the received content, interprets the control information, updates the previously stored control information, and then automatically edits the signal to censor unsuitable content (e.g., bleep out expletives, or eliminate scenes involving nudity or graphic violent or sexual content). The processed data may then be played back though the playback unit in real time and/or sent to the recording unit to be recorded onto the non-movable storage device for later access, editing, and/or playback by the playback unit. In a further preferred embodiment, the user may program the system to capture digital data products (data) from a plurality of broadcast channels or other data feeds at the same time. A microprocessor in the system may is controlled by the broadcaster/content provider and the end user. This microprocessor has software programming to control the operation of the processing circuitry and the playback circuitry. The software programming interacts with the built-in, non-movable storage device and the playback apparatus to allow recording and processing of the digital data products as they are broadcast from several channels simultaneously. The software programming further interacts with the playback circuitry to allow the data to be played back to a cue point, which is registered within the system's memory. It may be paused on command, and restarted and played back from the cue point, while the data are being continuously recorded without interruption. This allows the user to view, pause, and restart a program at his discretion while the program is still being recorded. The data may be subject to either pay per view, purchase or rental restrictions by the digital data product provider. When this occurs, the data is still received and recorded, but in a format that prohibits viewing by the user until the commercial transaction has been completed. The data may be scrambled, encrypted, or otherwise locked from viewing or playback (audio) until the user agrees to pay for access. However, since the data is already stored on the users local VPR/DMS, the commercial transaction may take place locally on the VPR/DMS, or on a remote ATS. When the user decides to obtain the data, the digital data product provider exchanges an electronic access key to the scrambled, encrypted, or otherwise locked data in exchange for agreement to his commercial terms. By way of example, the user may come home only to find that his or her premium program of choice started 15 minutes prior to his arrival. In all known prior art devices, the program in this instance would be missed. However, because the user pre-programmed the system to capture either a broad band of programming, or specific selections during the period before the program started, the entire program is still instantly accessible, even while the program is still recording. If required, an access key may be obtained allowing the user convenient and discretionary viewing privileges. Additionally, programs that have been completely recorded earlier may be rented or purchased in this fashion as well. If the scrambled or encrypted digital data isn't accessed from the recorder during a user definable time, the system may record over it later. In another variation of this invention, the system may be equipped with password protection that serves multiple purposes. First, the password protection limits the utilization of the device to authorized users of the system that have valid passwords. Second, the system may be programmed by an administrator (e.g., a parent) to automatically assign certain processing functions to specific passwords, prohibit certain processing functions from being utilized by specific passwords, or to make certain functions optional according to the administrator's objectives. For example, a parent may program the system to assign an automatic censoring, or editing function to a child's password in order to limit the content that child may view. Consequently, when the child enters his/her password in order to gain access to the system, all data to which the child has access (whether it be real time viewing or previously recorded data) will be automatically edited to screen cut unsuitable material as described above. The creation and use of the virtual individual “Data Boxes” or “custom channels”, is especially useful in the present invention. User suitability criteria unique to each data box address may be either completely separate or related to other system-wide criteria. This enables content stored to a first data box to be uniquely configured from second or subsequent data boxes. These Data Boxes may be accessed only by means of a unique password specific to the data box, of the built-in, non-movable storage device. In this manner, the present invention provides for multiple users to have, not only unique processing functions assigned to their accounts based on their password, but also to enjoy storage space to which other passwords have no access. For example, this feature allows parents to have greater control over the programming that may be accessed by their children. The system may also include the ability to add copyright protection to digital data in order to protect copyright holders from unauthorized duplication by intellectual property pirates. For example, Macrovision Corporation offers methods and systems for encoding data on a digital medium which causes disruption during recording from the digital medium to another analog or digital medium and causes the recorded resultant product to be of such poor quality, that it is not commercially useable. Similarly, minidisc and CD players use a system called Serial Code Management System (“SCMS”) which, during digital recording, sets certain control bits to prevent further digital copies from being made from the first generation copy. The VPR/DMS's processing and/or playback circuits may include elements for implementing this or similar copyright protection to the data received from content providers. Open data recorded onto the storage device may be encoded such that first generation copies of sufficient quality for personal use. but that copies of first generation copies are either preventable or of such poor quality that they sufficiently prevent pirating. It should also be noted that the recording means of the invention, which records data onto the high capacity, non-movable storage device, may be set to record in a continuous loop. This is an advantage over prior art devices, like VCR's, that shut off when its storage device has reached maximum capacity. This function may also be available if the built-in non-movable storage device has been divided into Data Boxes. For instance, a user may record data in a continuous loop to her particular Data Box, writing over the first recorded data when the Data Box reaches its capacity. When recording to a particular Data Box, and its full capacity has been reached, the recording device will record over the first recorded data in that Data Box. This may occur even if the built-in, non-movable storage device still has available space. Continuous loop-recording is useful, because it allows the user to continue to record a broadcast or other program although her storage space has been used up prior to the conclusion of the broadcast or program. It should be noted that the invention as described herein may be “bundled” with a television set, video cassette recorder, digital video disc player, radio, personal computer, receiver, cable box, satellite, wireless cable, telephone, computer or other such electronic device to provide a single unit device. For example, in the television and video market there exist television/VCR combinations “bundles” which include a television set and a video cassette recorder combined into the same enclosure. The present invention may be combined with a television, a VCR, a TV/VCR combination, DVD, TV DVD combination, digital VCR, or any combination above or with computers to provide a single unit device which allows the user to spontaneously view television broadcasts; VCR (or other such device) movies or programs; or other such programs or data, and to record them without the need for a blank video cassette or other such storage device. Other combinations include: radio, satellite receivers and decoders, “set top” internet access devices, wireless cable receivers, and automobile radio/CD, and data stored on computers. Further, utilizing the claimed invention, the bundled device allows for convenient storage until such time as the user can obtain a blank movable storage device on which to transfer the recorded program. Another aspect of the present invention is the capability of downloading data products to portable media. The invention is capable of storing, processing, and playback of data products which have been pre-recorded onto any type of portable storage device. In a “commercial based” embodiment a merchant (or distributor), such as BLOCKBUSTER VIDEO may employ a VPR/DMS in a commercial establishment to receive data, edit it customer's User Suitability Criteria, and instantly record the edited version on a portable storage device which then is sold or rented. This enables the merchant to thereby reduce his standing inventory for a given title, yet enables him to retain the data as originally received and produce as many copies as current demand allows. This commercially based VPR/DMS system has all the unique VPR/DMS functions as previously described. Functionally, the commercial based system would be identical to the home based version, except that the recording of the data product would occur by an intermediary prior to rental or purchase by end-user. Additionally, commercial product distributors or by end-users may utilize “blank” VPR/DMS portable storage media (i.e., CD, DVD, VHS, etc.) which can be produced and preformatted at the factory or at the distributor level to include unique VPR/DMS control data and product information data (as described above) for customizing data products, for maximizing unique VPR/DMS recording, processing, and playback functions, or other for use in controlling all rental/purchase transactions described previously. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 shows a block diagram of a standalone unit including one embodiment of the invention. FIG. 2a shows a block diagram of a television unit incorporating one embodiment of the invention. FIG. 2b shows a block diagram of one embodiment of the receiver from FIG. 2a. FIGS. 3a-3i show block diagrams of one embodiment of the invention of on screen menus for commercial renting, leasing, or sales of audio, video, multimedia as well as functional selectivity for recording, editing, and content filtration. FIG. 4 shows a representation of the potential types of inputs to and outputs from the transaction zone. FIG. 5 is a schematic representation of a matrix of devices and sources of input and output into which the transaction zone may be placed. FIG. 6 shows a global diagram of the system including data content providers, remote account server, billing authorities, and the local receiver-recorder-player unit. FIG. 7 shows a block diagram of a preferred embodiment of the local receiver-recorder-player unit. FIG. 8 is a global schematic of the present invention illustrating the flow of data, and programming instruction input pathways interrelate. FIG. 9 is a schematic representation of the present invention illustrating the management of multiple feeds of data for commercial transactions. FIG. 10 is an example of a Master Menu of the present invention for user selection of pathways for receiving data. FIG. 11 is an example of a Data Fields menu of the present invention for selection of data type to be received. FIG. 12 is an example of a Combined Data programming menu of the present invention for selection of data to be purchased. FIG. 13 is a schematic representation of the present invention illustrating the flow of data types, programming instruction, and storage options. FIG. 14 is a schematic representation of the present invention illustrating how multiple control data channels may be used to control, filter and edit content to be played back. FIG. 15 is a schematic representation of the present invention illustrating the communication pathways between system components, content providers, and a transaction zone. FIG. 16 is a schematic representation of the present invention illustrating the communication pathways between advertisers, a broadcaster/content provider, system components/programming, and the non-movable storage device. FIG. 17 is a schematic representation of the present invention illustrating post recording data processing. FIG. 18 is a schematic representation of Pay-Per-View/Time shift Operation of the present invention, illustrating an example of a two hour movie recording and playback sequence. FIG. 19 is a schematic representation of Continuous Loop Recording Operations of the present invention, illustrating a playback of a movie where there is a temporal offset between real time recording and a delayed playback. FIG. 20 is a schematic representation of the Video-on-Demand System, illustrating how data flows from a broadcaster into the VPR/DMS of the present invention, and how it may be recorded on a plurality of tracks having temporal offsets. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Stand Alone Embodiment Referring now to FIG. 1, which illustrates a standalone embodiment of the present invention, data feeds 1a-1d carry electronic data from any particular source. This includes, but is not limited to, network television broadcasts, UHF/VHF signal receivers, cable television broadcasts, satellite broadcasts, radio broadcasts, audio, video or audio/video data signals, or computer data signals are received at the receiver 2. The receiver 2 may incorporate a radio or television antenna, cable television receiver, satellite signal receiver, or any other digital or analog signal receiver capable of accepting a signal transmitting any kind of information or programming. Once received, the signal is transmitted to the microprocessor 3 where the information is processed according to user input. For example, in an information subscription program, users may be required to pay a fee in order to access information for personal use. To enforce the payment of such fees, and to prevent unauthorized access from non-subscribers, the signal may be encoded by the broadcaster, and require some sort of de-scrambler to facilitate access to the information. In the present embodiment of the invention, the microprocessor 3 may include an optional “de-scrambler,” among other processing devices, which will decode the broadcast signal so that the information contained therein may be accessed for personal use by the subscriber. In addition, broadcasters or information providers frequently include information in other coded signals along with the broadcast program that, when separated and decoded, may be utilized by other electronic features that may be present in the system. For example, high-end compact disc players (CD players) often have features that read and decode compact disc information (CD-I) that is included by manufacturers on audio CD's. This information typically contains the name of the CD, the artist, and the name of the songs on each track. Using special signal decoders, these high-end CD players can decode the CD-I information, process it, and display on the player unit's LED display, the name of the CD, the artist, and the particular song being accessed at any given time. The microprocessor 3 of the invention embodied in FIG. 1 includes a signal processor that decodes and processes coded information which may be included in the broadcast or other received signal. In addition, other processing functions that may be included in microprocessor 3 include a device or circuitry for data compression, expansion, and/or encoding. These features would aid in the system in maximizing transfer rates, maximizing storage efficiency, and providing security from unauthorized access. The microprocessor 3 is fully programmable to allow the inclusion or exclusion of any and all types of available processing and/or signal decoding. In other words, the type of processing the received signal undergoes in the microprocessor 3 is dependent on the specific desires of the user. Once the received signal has been processed, it may be stored for future use on the built-in, non-movable storage device 4, or immediately accessed for present use. If needed for present use, the processed data is transmitted from the microprocessor 3 to a playback device 5, which interprets the processed data and prepares it for display. For example, an audio signal is received from a compact disc player at receiver 2, and then processed and decoded by microprocessor 3 so that any audio data is separated from CD-I information on the disc. Once the data has been fully processed in the microprocessor 3, it is sent to the playback device 5 which plays back the audio data through a speaker system and displays the CD-I information on a LED display. In addition to allowing instantaneous playback of received and processed data, the present invention allows the data to be stored on an internal, non-movable storage device 4 in either processed or unprocessed format. The stored data may be processed and/or displayed later. The preferred non-movable storage device is computer hard drive, but 4 may be any medium known in the art for storing electronic data, including, but not limited to: recordable tape or other analog recording media, CD ROM, optical disk, magneto-optical disc, digital video disc (DVD), and/or digital audio tape (DAT). It is preferred, but not required that the non-movable storage device 4 be one that is erasable so that previously stored programs may be overwritten. Data from the storage device 4 may be accessed for playback at the playback device 5 or for subsequent processing in the microprocessor 3. This feature is important because it allows a user to record a specific program in its original format for review and subsequent editing to make it suitable for themselves other or users. In a practical application of this feature, a parent can record a cable television program that is unsuitable for children, and store it on the built-in, non-movable storage device 4. He/she may then allow the children to watch a version edited by the microprocessor 3 to make it suitable for child viewers. Such a feature allows for more parental control over the content of programs a child may view. There are many other examples of program customization using User Suitable Criteria and content filter/editor for customizing programs which have been previously recorded in raw or original form Television Embodiment Referring now to FIG. 2a, which illustrates a television embodiment, the drawing depicts a block diagram of a television incorporating one embodiment of the invention. Data feed lines 10a-10n transmit data from television, cable television, satellite, or UHF/VHF broadcasts or from other local data sources (including VCR's, laser disc players, DVD players, video cameras, or any other audio, video, or combination audio/video (collectively “A/V”) data transmitter known in the art to the receiver 11. FIG. 2b depicts an embodiment of the receiver 11 from FIG. 2a. Receiver 11 may include a combination of one or more receiver interfaces 21-26. Receiver interfaces 21-26 include a network broadcast television antenna; cable television receiver; satellite receiver; UHF/VHF antenna; broadcast radio antenna, and computer network interface. Other embodiments of receiver interfaces 21-26 could include, but are not limited to, standard A/V inputs (e.g., RCA video in and video out, Super VHS, or any other A/V input/output ports known in the art). Receiver interfaces 21-26 are designed to accept the broadcast signals and transmit them to output circuit 27. Output circuit 27 may be a multiplexer, sequencer, delay circuit, or other circuit generally known in the art for handling the flow of multiple output signals for individual processing. In this respect, the multi-functional processing system may process, handle, and operate on one or more input signals simultaneously. Referring back to FIG. 2a, from the receiver 11, the raw data received from one or more of data feed lines 10a-10n is sent to the processing means 13. The microprocessor 12 controls which processing functions (if any) are applied to the received data. Additionally, microprocessor 12 controls any playback features that are subject to user input (e.g., pause, stop, record, fast forward, rewind, instant replay). The user interface 17 allows the user to directly control which processing functions will be applied to the received data as it is transmitted through the processing means 13. This is accomplished by transmitting a control signal 16 which the microprocessor 12 receives, interprets and uses to control the processing means 13 based on the user's specifications. User interface 17 may include a system for local on screen programming using an infrared or other hand-held remote control device 37 to produce the control signal 16. Alternatively, the user interface 17 may be an on-unit interface featuring control pad buttons which activate the control signal 16 to direct the features of the system. In addition, user interface 17 may include touch tone telephones or software programs utilizing computer modems or other computer ports (e.g., serial, parallel, network card, or any other computer interface known in the art) to generate the control signal 16, and which may be utilized at much greater distances than standard remote control interfaces to control microprocessor 12. User interface 17 may include circuitry, software or any other means known in the art for securely encrypting or encoding control signal 16 to provide safe, secure transmission of the control signal and to prevent unauthorized interception of the control signal 16 and/or access to the system. Upon user request, microprocessor 12 may deactivate all types of processing so that the raw data received from data feed lines 10a-10n may be stored directly to built-in, non-movable storage device 14 for later processing and/or playback. Processing means 13 may include any number of circuits, signal processors, filters, or other data manipulation devices known in the art for providing any electronic features or functions that may exist in standard televisions and other such displays known in the art. The microprocessor may also include, but is not limited to, one or more the following processing circuits or devices specifically aimed at: enhancement of picture color, hue brightness, or tint; sound balance; bass and treble enhancement; stereo/mono sound processing; picture-in-picture (PIP) viewing; decoding and integration of broadcast information such as closed captioned viewing, V-chip program blocking, or automatic data editing; and compression of data for storage or transmission. Each function making up the microprocessor may operate independently of other functions such that the enablement or disablement of one function does not depend on or affect the enablement or disablement of another function. In this manner, the user, through user interface 17 and microprocessor 12, may specify the exact type of processing he/she wishes the received raw data to undergo. Once the received data has been processed according to user specification, it may be played back on the display via playback device 15 and/or stored on built-in, non-movable storage device 14. This may occur as a simultaneous recording of a number of feeds while the user plays back a selective feed in a non-real-time mode. The built-in, non-movable storage device 14 may be any storage device for audio/video information known in the art. The built-in, non-movable storage device 14 may be divided into separate Data Boxes, which may be assigned to separate members of a family, business or group. It may also be used to assign individual processing/storing instructions for processing the raw data. Playback device 15 may include any technology known in the art for playing back audio/video data from any storage device known in the art (e.g., video tape, DVD, laser disc, etc.). In essence, the playback device 15 reads the data from built-in, non-movable storage device (or from processing means 13), and then converts it to the proper electronic signals for driving the displays (e.g., cathode ray tube and speakers, or any audio and video displays known in the art). Virtual Transaction Zone Embodiment Single Feed Commercial Transaction Example Either of the preceding units can be configured as another embodiment of the invention so that it can be utilized to provide direct on demand delivery of multi-formatted programs (movies, compact disc (or other audio medium), video catalogs, etc.). This embodiment effectively eliminates the need for transporting, inventorying, and physical delivery of digital data products. It can create a variety of applications from virtual VCR rental stores, music stores, bookstores, home shopping applications and other commercial applications. Referring to FIG. 2b, data feeds 10a-10f carry electronic data from any particular source, but preferably from a computer signal, a satellite signal or a cable signal utilizing information via the Internet. The data feeds may carry audio, video, print or other mediums to the receiver 11 and, for purposes of the Internet, may utilize either “Push” or “Pull” technology as those terms are commonly referred to in the field. The data feeds may be in compressed format. Once received, the signal is transmitted to the microprocessor 3 where the information is processed according to user input. As in the previous embodiment, the receiver interfaces 21-26 in FIG. 2 are designed to accept the broadcast signals and transmit them to an output circuit 27. The output circuit 27 may be a multiplexer, sequencer, delay circuit, or other circuit generally known in the art for handling the flow of multiple output signals for individual processing. In this respect, the multi-functional processing system may process, handle, and operate on one or more input signals simultaneously. For example, one of the data feeds should be a typical Internet data feed of compressed data, which could download a movie to one of the receiver interfaces 21-26. It may also be used for a time scheduled broadcast which is auto recorded by programming user suitability into the content filter/editor. It may also contain applets or other applications to assist the processing in the transaction zone. Referring back to FIG. 2a, from the receiver 11, the raw data received from one or more of the data feed lines 10a-10n is sent to the processing means 13. Microprocessor 12 controls the processing functions (if any) that are applied to the received data. Microprocessor 12 presents menu-driven screens to the user through the user interface 17, the display or a combination of both as are well recognized in the prior art. As with the prior embodiment, the user interface 17 allows the user to directly control which processing functions will be applied to the received data as it is transmitted through the processing means 13. This is accomplished by transmitting a control signal 16 which the microprocessor 12 receives, interprets and uses to control the processing means 13 based on the user's specifications and would include all of the variations and features related herein above. The choices provided to the user interface or the display may include retrieval of specific selections, previews, excerpts, reviews, or other information regarding the potential selections. For example, referring now to FIGS. 3a, 3b, and 3c, a user may choose to access any of several different services. This information may be resident on the microprocessor, the microprocessor, the storage device, the data feed (e.g., Java applets), or any combination. FIG. 3a is an example of a master menu for accessing different types of data fields. This menu may be viewed by the display means or through other display means viewed by the user, such as on FIG. 3b represents a choice to access movies, videos, and game cartridges for either rental or purchase, in essence a virtual video rental store. The movies are browsed, previewed, and selected using various search and retrieval algorithms (e.g., genre, title, year, actor, and director). The selections are made by user and the financial transaction is completed by payment through a screen such as seen in FIG. 3c. FIG. 3d depicts a menu that gives the user further specificity as to what function is to be performed on the received data. By selection of one of the menu options, he/she may choose to record, play, download, upload, erase, edit, condense (or compress), or store the data in a user defined Data Box. FIG. 3e is a menu that gives the user specificity as to recording operations that may be performed on the received data. The user may choose to Auto-Record using various criteria, including use of a content filter/editor, a DMS program guide, a clock timer, usage of VCR Plus, or TV Guide plus. The user may re-record and enact a custom edit, assign the data to a Data Box or send the data to a portable storage unit. He can select specific programming according to his User Suitability Criteria. Additionally, he can edit the data in the content filter/editor, to obtain the desired product. Additionally, he/she may instruct the system to perform Continuous Loop recording, and assign the recorded data to a main storage partition, a data box, or record by auto timer. FIG. 3f is a menu that gives the user further specificity as to editing functions on the received data. The user may initiate an Auto-Record Filter, and specify that recordings be initiated based on specific features of the programming. This may include programming user Suitability Criteria, Title, Theme, Actors, Ratings, Year of Release, or any other searchable field supplied in a broadcast control data stream. He/she may also choose Auto-Editing, which may be performed by rating based programmed criteria, Multi-Format Selections, or certain specific User Suitability Criteria as may be desired by the user. FIG. 3h is a menu that gives the user further specificity as to editing functions on the received data. When multi-formatted data is available, a first movie may be edited to select certain user suitability criteria. This criteria may be ratings based, the data may be abridged, a certain story line may be selected, the type of display, a certain language, audio parameters may be selected, and even the recording quality. A second selection may be chosen with entirely different user suitability criteria. The results may then be stored to individual Data Boxes, or displayed at the user's discretion. FIG. 3i is a menu that gives the user further specificity as to criteria on received data for programming that is pre-edited or multi formatted for optional editing choices. The user will immediately know if the programming that has been processed and recorded meets his suitability criteria before playback. An example is a “Director's Cut” edition of a movie, where previously unreleased scenes are included in the formatting of the data. The user may select an option to view these scenes from this menu by using embedded control data for processing, editing, display and playback, and thereby construct a custom version of the program. As can be seen from the FIGS. 3a-3i above, a choice can be made to rent or purchase a copy of the material. In FIG. 2, it can be seen that the raw data received from data feed lines 10a-10n may be stored directly to a storage device 14 for later processing and/or playback. The payment is credited (or debited) to the selected user account with processing in the microprocessor 12 that also takes into account preset spending limits, authorization codes, and similar security and cash management features. The processing means 13 may include any or all of the features and attributes as described hereinabove. In this manner, the user, through user interface 17 and microprocessor 12, may specify the exact type of processing he/she wishes the received raw data in the form of a movie to undergo. Using the example of the downloaded movie, the digital information would pass from the storage device 14 to the playback device. Within the microprocessor 12 (or even monitored through one or more of the data feeds), the playback or download of the movie would be noted. In the case of the purchase in FIG. 3e (denoted in the example by the “P” code), only that one download to a VCR tape would be allowed by control of the microprocessor 12. In the case of one of the rentals (denoted in the example by the “R” code), the movie could be viewed directly from the storage device 14 or be downloaded to a VCR tape or similar medium through user interface 17 utilizing, for example, a menu screen. Again, this activity is monitored by the microprocessor 12 and unless the downloaded movie is erased (and such erasure communicated back to the microprocessor 12), “late fees” could be assessed to the user until such rental was virtually “returned” to the storage device 14. Note that the microprocessor 12 control of the access to the storage device 14, creates a virtual transaction zone 40 (shown in FIG. 4). This allows the user to negotiate with the content provider for a wide range of different commercial transactions preset by the content provider but chosen by the user. The virtual transaction zone 40 provides a commercial and transactional environment that is free of restrictions of time, inventory, and, most importantly, specific formats of the physical delivery medium. Virtual Transaction Zone Embodiment Home Shopping Example The preceding units can be configured as another embodiment of the invention so that it can be utilized to provide direct access to shopping channels typically viewed through television channels today. Video on demand orders and (when the product is in digital format) delivery of movies, compact disc (or other audio medium), video catalogs, are all contemplated by this embodiment. This embodiment effectively eliminates the need for in store shopping or even the use of telephone lines to communicate with current television channel options. It can create a variety of applications for home shopping for clothes, hardware, building supplies, books, cars, homes, vacations and vacation rentals and other forms of purchasing that benefit from the viewer being able to access multi-media data feeds that enhance the buying process. Additionally, the VPR/DMS unit may be programmed to automatically capture video catalogues according to certain User Suitability Criteria. In this way, the user may customize his commercial programming, for storage in his Data Box for viewing at his convenience. This is possible by utilizing the content filter/editor which interprets control data specifically for that purpose imbedded in the data feed. The catalogues may also be captured by use of the clock timer system after searching program menus for criteria matches. Referring to FIG. 2a, data feeds 10a-1-0n carry electronic data from any particular source, but preferably from a computer signal, a satellite signal or a cable signal utilizing information via the Internet. The data feeds may carry audio, video, print or other mediums to the receiver 11 and, for purposes of the Internet, may utilize either “Push” or “Pull” technology as those terms are commonly referred to in the field. The data feeds may be in compressed format. Once received, the signal is transmitted to the microprocessor 12 where the information is processed according to user input. In the home shopping example, the input feed should typically be a stream of catalog information that is fed either sequentially or from predetermined search routines of the buyer's preferences. As in the previous embodiment, the receiver interfaces 21-26 in FIG. 2 are designed to accept the broadcast signals and transmit them to output circuit 27. Output circuit 27 may be a multiplexer, sequencer, delay circuit, or other circuit generally known in the art for handling the flow of multiple output signals for individual processing. In this respect, the multi-functional processing system may process, handle, and operate on one or more input signals simultaneously. As an example, one of the data feeds would be a typical Internet data feed of compressed data, which could download a clothing catalog to one of the receiver interfaces 21-26. It may also contain applets or other applications to assist the processing in the transaction zone. For example, there may be an applet that interfaces with certain preset body measurements of the end user that are stored in the transaction zone 40 (shown in FIG. 4), thereby providing a body to simulate the fit of the clothes that are being viewed in the virtual store within the transaction zone 40. Referring back to FIG. 2a, from the receiver 11, the raw data received from one or more of the data feed lines 10a-10n is sent to the processing means 13. Microprocessor 12 controls the processing functions (if any) that are applied to the received data. Microprocessor 12 presents menu-driven screens and visual aids to recreate the look and feel of shopping in a store and viewing the fit and style of the clothes. By way of further example, there is certain technology already known that can create a “walk around” environment to the user through the user interface 17, the display or a combination of both as are well-recognized in the prior art. As with the prior embodiment, the user interface 17 allows the user to directly control which processing functions will be applied to the received data as it is transmitted through the processing means 13 by transmitting a control signal 16 which the microprocessor 12 receives, interprets and uses to control the processing means 13 based on the user's specifications and would include all of the variations and features related herein. The choices provided to the user interface or the display may include retrieval of specific selections, accessing certain parts of the virtual store where goods are placed in various virtual “spaces” by specified categories (i.e., ties, blazers, shoes, socks, underwear, brand names, etc.) previews, excerpts, reviews, or other information regarding the potential selections. For example, referring to FIGS. 3a, 3b, and 3c, a user may choose to access any of several different services. This information may be resident on the microprocessor, the microprocessor, the storage device, the data feed (e.g., Java applets), or any combination. The processing means 13 may include any or all of the features and attributes as described herein. In this manner, the user, through user interface 17 and microprocessor 12, may specify the exact type of processing he/she wishes the received raw data in the form of a movie to undergo. Using the example of the downloaded virtual store, the digital information would pass from the storage device 14 to the playback device. Within the microprocessor 12 (or even monitored through one or more of the data feeds), the download or playback of the movie would be noted. In the case of browsing a virtual store, the user would be provided, for example, a mouse driven “walk” around the virtual store. Virtual Transaction Zone Embodiment—Multiple Feed Commercial Transaction Example Any of the disclosed units can be configured as another embodiment of the invention so that it can be utilized to provide direct on demand delivery of multi-formatted programs. Examples are movies, compact discs (or other audio medium), video catalogs, etc. This is done so that multiple feeds can be placed in the ultimate display to the user. Referring to FIG. 2a, data feeds 10a-10n carry electronic data as in the prior examples. Once received, the signal is transmitted to the microprocessor 3 where the information is processed according to user input. As in the previous embodiment, the receiver interfaces 21-26 in FIG. 2 are designed to accept the broadcast signals and transmit them to output circuit 27, the multi-functional processing system may process, handle, and operate on one or more input signals simultaneously. As an example, one of the data feeds would be a typical Internet data feed of compressed data from ESPN or another sports related data provider, which could download real time sports statistics and sports news to one of the receiver interfaces 21-26. It may also contain applets or other applications to assist the processing in the transaction zone. Another data feed from a broadcaster would be received from a cable input into another one of the other receiver interfaces 21-26. Referring back to FIG. 2a, from the receiver 11, the raw data received from one or more of the data feed lines 10a-10n is sent to the processing means 13. Microprocessor 12 controls the processing functions (if any) that are applied to the received data. The channel within the data feed from the cable TV input would then be split from the cable data TV feed and combined, in the transaction zone with the ESPN data feed. Microprocessor 12 presents menu-driven screens to the user through the user interface 17, the display or a combination of both as are well recognized in the prior art. As with the prior embodiment, the user interface 17 allows the user to directly control which processing functions will be applied to the received data as it is transmitted through the processing means 13 by transmitting a control signal 16 which the microprocessor 12 receives, interprets and uses to control the processing means 13 based on the user's specifications and would include all of the variations and features related hereinabove. The choices provided to the user interface or the display may include retrieval of specific selections, previews, excerpts, reviews, or other information regarding the potential selections. For example, referring to FIGS. 3e, 3f, and 3g, a user may choose to access and blend any of several different services into the ultimate stored or displayed data feed. This information may be resident on the microprocessor, the microprocessor, the storage device, the data feed (e.g., Java applets), or any combination. FIG. 3e is an example of a master menu for accessing different types of data feeds and combining those fields for unique experiences. This menu may be viewed by the display means or through other display means viewed by the user, such as on the FIG. 3f represents a choice to access broadcaster channels, statistical data feeds, news data feeds, and data feeds from other users for either rental or purchase, in essence a virtual sports center in this specific example. The broadcaster channels showing sporting events are browsed, previewed, and selected using various search and retrieval algorithms (e.g., type of sport, time, professional vs., amateur, region, etc). The other types of data feeds are selected and initial positioning on the display feed are chosen (e.g., picture-in-picture, multiple screen, header, footer, etc.) The virtual store example above could have additional music added to the background for a more pleasing shopping experience. FIG. 3h is a representation of a typical screen layout. The selections are made by the user and the financial transaction is completed by payment through a screen such as seen in FIG. 3i. As can be seen from that figure, a choice can be made to rent or purchase a copy of the material. The raw data received from data feed lines 10a-10n may be stored directly to a storage device 14 for later processing and/or playback. As with prior examples, the payment is credited (or debited) to the selected user account with processing in the microprocessor 12 that also takes into account preset spending limits, authorization codes, and similar security and cash management features. The processing means 13 may include any or all of the features and attributes as described hereinabove. In this manner, the user, through user interface 17 and microprocessor 12, may specify the exact type of processing he/she wishes the received raw data in the form of a movie to undergo. Using the example of the multimedia array of sports programming, the digital information would pass from the storage device 14 to the playback device. By way of example, one type of additional processing might be colorization of a black and white movie accomplished by renting first the movie and then “renting” an additional feed that provides colorization software to overlay on top of the movie in the transaction zone, where the rental for both feeds and the application of color to the feeds to create the ultimate output are implemented and payment negotiated, which is also made within the transaction zone. Virtual Transaction Zone Embodiment—Personal Computer Example By way of further example, the use of the transaction zone is not limited to a TV/VCR platform. It is recognized that the transaction zone could exist on a typical computer platform under any typically available operating system such as Windows, Unix or even a Macintosh environment. The transaction zone 40 would be created in the computer's RAM, the CPU would provide processing capability and the algorithms for accomplishing the transaction zone 40 (in FIG. 4) would be stored on the hard drive of the computer in the form of computer software or on a RISC chip. Virtual Transaction Zone Embodiment—Remote Location of User Defined Transaction Zone Example By way of yet another example, it is important to realize that the current invention is not relegated to local processing and storage of data. An example of a remote unit would be a service that stores preset selection information for a series of users and access via modem through the Internet or telephone lines for remote users to link into their own or a rented transaction zone 40 (in FIG. 4) to provide the same services and advantages outlined above. Overview of Inputs and Outputs to Closed Loop Transaction Zone In FIG. 4, it is shown that a virtual Transaction Zone 40 relies on various types of Content Providers 41 and Software Accessory Providers 42 (collectively Providers) in order to establish one portion of a zone for accomplishing transactions involving digital data that are not format or program dependent. The Content Providers 41 may consist of movie studios, distributors, sports broadcasters, network and cable broadcasters, news media outlets, music publishers, book distributors, and generally any content providers that would otherwise utilize the television, personal computer, the Internet, or telephone lines to convey information. Coming from the other direction, Information Consumers 43 and Entertainment Consumers 44 (collectively Consumers) provide information to a VPR/IDMS 30 and upload or transfer information within the device to the Transaction Zone 40. In turn, information from the Content Providers 41 and Software Accessory Providers 42 is manipulated and downloaded based on instructions from the Consumer, which includes negotiations within the Transaction Zone 40 with the Content Providers 41-42 for download and use of the data feeds, software, and associated blended and modified data fields. The net effect of the information flow from the Content Providers 41-42 to the Transaction Zone 40 and the information flow and requests from the Consumers 43-45 to the Transaction Zone 40 creates an interactive zone for virtually selecting, packaging, renting, purchasing, pricing and payment of digital data products and the order and delivery of products and services presented to and ordered from the Transaction Zone 40. Breadth of Technology Applications In broad aspect, the current invention will most often reside in the form of software on consumer devices. It is important to note that these consumer applications fall into three devices in order to capture most forms of entertainment and information available on the market today. Referring to the matrix of FIG. 5, in the current technology environment, most of the categories of Entertainment 61 and Information 62 available on the market today percolate through to the end consumer to some type of video processor 51, WebTV 52, personal computer 53. While this is the optimum placement of the transaction zone 40 at this time, the invention is not dependent on residence on only those devices. As such, the invention is to be placed at and includes residence in the transaction zone 40 on any point or points along the matrix shown in FIG. 5. Referring now to FIG. 6, there is shown a block diagram of the components of the entire system as they interrelate during operation of the system. A local VPR/DMS 30 provides the vehicle for program reception and recording, custom processing, and product download as well as program or product playback. In its most basic form, VPR/DMS 30 may be a licensed “set top box” which houses the electronic components necessary for connection and operation. The VPR/DMS 30 may be locally connected (or built in) to one or more consumer electronics units 28. This includes computers; home theater systems; home stereo receivers; CD recorders and/or players; audio and video multi-disc players; DAT recorders and/or players; Minidisc recorders and/or players; cassette tape recorders and/or players; televisions; VCRs; DVD players and/or recorders; Divx players; cable receivers; satellite receivers; or any other consumer electronics known in the art. Additionally, the local VPR/DMS unit 30 may include a built-in portable media recorder/player such as a CD recorder/player (e.g., CD recordable (“CD-R”), CD rewriteable (“CD-RW”), CD-ROM, audio CD player, or any other CD recorder/player unit), DVD recorder/player (e.g., DVD recordable (“DVD-R”), DVD-RAM, DVD-ROM, or any other DVD format recorder/player unit), DAT recorder/player, audio cassette tape recorder/player, minidisc recorder/player, video cassette recorder/player, or any other recorder/player known in the art (which utilize a portable storage medium) so that received data may be transferred to a portable medium for use on other media playback units. The preferred embodiment may also include a DVD recorder/player also capable of reading and recording both DVD and CD formats on the same unit. The local VPR/DMS unit 30 is directly connected to broadcasters 39, data content providers 41, software accessory providers 42 and a remote Automatic Transaction Server (ATS) 29. Data products, including free or pay-per-view television or radio broadcasts, audio and/or video products, and software products may be received directly from the broadcasters 39, data content providers 41, and software accessory providers 42 and recorded on the local VPR/DMS 30. The remote ATS 29 provides a billing interface between the end user and the content providers 39, 41, and 42 as well as an information and auto-programming source for local VPR/DMS unit 30. This device may be located at the content provider's site, or it may be administered by the content provider/broadcaster. The local VPR/DMS unit 30 interfaces with remote ATS 29 at regular intervals to download the latest programming/scheduling information for timed television/radio broadcasts so that the end user may reliably program local VPR/DMS unit 30 to record timed broadcasts. Additionally, remote ATS 29 provides local VPR/DMS unit 30 with an electronic catalog of audio, video or software products available for direct rental or purchase. Additionally, user account information may be stored on remote ATS 29 or securely transmitted through remote ATS 29 for easy interface with billing authorities 30 and context providers 39, 41, and 42 to negotiate rentals, purchases or pay-per-view broadcasts. Referring now to FIG. 7, a block diagram of a preferred embodiment of the local receiver-recorder-player unit is disclosed. Data feeds 10a-10c are directly link broadcasters, content providers and the remote ATS to the local VPR/DMS unit 30. Data, including direct audio/video and software products, broadcast programs or audio/video data from local consumer electronics or computers is received and/or transmitted by local VPR/DMS unit 30 via data feeds 10a-10c Data on data feeds 10a-10c is received by receiver 2 which digitizes received analog data and which may compress both digitized analog data and native digital data. For example, receiver 2 may include circuitry that receives an analog television signal (CATV, Satellite TV, etc.) and converts it to digital data via an MPEG-2 (or similar) encoding process. The same receiver 2 may receive digital ATRAC data from a local minidisc player, however, since ATRAC data is digital, the receiver 2 would not need to digitize the data first. However, the receiver 2 may include circuitry allowing it to recognize particular digital data formats (particularly those that require large amounts of storage space) and convert or compress them to data formats requiring less storage space. For example, the receiver 2 may recognize that CD audio data is being received through a digital input. However, since CD data may take up several megabytes of storage space, the receiver 2 may first convert or compress the CD audio data into a smaller file. One method of accomplishing this task would be for the receiver 2 to convert the CD audio data into mpeg-2 layer 3 (“MP3”) format using a compression algorithm developed by the Fraunhofer Gesellschaft. Similar techniques may be used for video data using the MPEG-2 format, and when they become sufficiently developed the MPEG-4 or MPEG-7 formats. Once data has been received and compressed or digitized, the receiver 2 passes the data on to the non-movable storage device 14 for immediate or subsequent playback, processing or transfer. Storage device 14 is capable of being written to and read from virtually simultaneously to allow for immediate access to data while the local VPR/DMS 30 continues to record and/or process data. A typical medium for use as the built-in storage device 14 may include a single or multiple array of one or more high capacity random access memory devices, such as hard drives, but may also magneto-optical discs, and other re-recordable media, provided that these media allow for the near simultaneous read/write operation to enable the local VPR/DMS 30 to play back, pause, rewind, fast forward, and process recorded data as other data is being recorded. As data is read from the storage device 14 it is transferred to the microprocessor 12 to be processed according to user input parameters. Broadcasters or information providers frequently include information encoded in broadcast signals along with the broadcast program that, when separated and decoded, may be utilized by other electronic features that may be present in the system. For example, television broadcasters include closed captioning information in line 21 of the vertical blinking interval (VBI) of a television signal. A television with built-in closed caption decoding reads this signal decodes it, and allows the television to display it. It is possible to transmit other information in this manner, including V-chip ratings, or information that may be used to automatically edit the data content. In addition to V-chip or closed captioning, the present invention makes it possible for broadcasters to transmit an uncensored or multi-formatted program, and include control information embedded in the signal. The reception and storage of editing control data may also occur prior to broadcasting the program data, or, in the case of digital music and television, as embedded control code corresponding to particular significant portions of the data. This code can be used by the microprocessor 12 to automatically edit the program according to FCC standards or based on the pre-programmed user suitability criteria and use of the content filter/editor The broadcasters may also transmit a multi-formatted program, and include control and program information relating to an unedited version for “re-assembly” by the content filter/editor 35 and the processing means 13. The processing means 13 of the invention embodied in FIG. 7 may include a signal processor or content filter/editor that decodes and processes any coded control information which may be included in a broadcast or other received data signal. In addition, other processing functions, which may be accessed in microprocessor 12, include a device or circuitry for data compression, expansion, and/or encoding. These features would aid in the system in maximizing transfer rates, maximizing storage efficiency, and providing security from unauthorized access. The processing means 13 is fully programmable to allow the inclusion or exclusion of any types of available digital signal processing and/or signal decoding. The type of processing the received signal undergoes in the processing means 13 is dependent on the specific desires of the user. After the data is processed according to specific parameters set forth by the user, processing means 13 transmits the data to the playback circuit 27. The playback circuit 27 comprises signal decoders, digital-to-analog converters and digital outputs for transmitting the processed data to a proper playback device. For example, playback circuit 27 may convert digital mpeg-2 compressed audio/video data to the proper analog audio/video signal (RCA, composite, S-video) for display on an analog source (e.g., analog television, RGB computer monitor inputs, FIREWIRE, RCA stereo inputs, S-video inputs, etc.). Additionally, or alternatively, playback circuit 27 may include output connectors 20a-e for transmitting processed data, in digital format (e.g., mpeg-2, Dolby Digital/AC3, DTS, MP3, etc.) directly to the digital input of an electronic component capable of decoding digital data (e.g., a digital television or HDTV, stereo receiver with Dolby Digital decoder, etc.). The invention thus contemplates the use of a combination of digital and analog outputs. For example, the user may have a stereo or component capable of receiving and/or decoding digital signals, but has not yet upgraded to a digital television. Therefore, the user connects an analog video output connector 20a, b to the analog video in on his TV or monitor, while connecting the digital audio output circuit 20c to his stereo with Dolby Digital decoder. Automatic Digital Audio/Video Recorder Embodiment The following embodiments are directed to specific uses for automatic recording features of the system. In its most basic form, the VPR/DMS of the present invention has many advantages over video tape recorders that record television and/or radio broadcasts. The present invention may be fully programmed to automatically record a user's requested broadcasts based on a variety of programming parameters. Referring to the drawings, FIG. 7 shows a basic form of the local VPR/DMS unit as it may be used in this embodiment. Data feeds 1a-1c carrying electronic or broadcast data from any particular source, including but not limited to network television broadcasts, UHF/VHF signal receivers, cable television broadcasts, satellite broadcasts, radio broadcasts, audio, video or audio/video components, or computer data signals are received at the receiver unit 2. The receiver unit 2 may incorporate any one or a combination of radio or television antennas, cable television receiver, satellite signal receiver, analog RCA input/output interfaces, digital optical or co-axial I/O ports, computer network I/O ports (e.g., serial, parallel, Ethernet, token ring, FIREWIRE and others known in the art) or any other digital or analog signal receiver and/or transmitter capable of accepting a signal transmitting any kind of digital or broadcast information. Once received, the signal may be transmitted to the processing unit 3 where the information is processed according to user input. For example, in an information subscription program, a user may be required to pay a fee in order to access information for personal use. To enforce the payment of such fees, and to prevent unauthorized access from non-subscribers, the signal may be encoded by the broadcaster, and require some sort of de-scrambler to facilitate access to the information after it is stored. In the present embodiment of the invention, the processing unit 3 may include an optional “de-scrambler,” among other processing devices, which will decode the broadcast signal so that the information contained therein may be accessed for personal use by the subscriber. Once the received signal has been processed, it may be stored in either scrambled or unscrambled format on the built-in non-movable storage device 14 for future use, or immediately accessed for present use. In a preferred embodiment, if needed for present use, the processed data is transmitted from the microprocessor 12, through the output circuit 27, to the playback device 5 which interprets the processed data and prepares it for display. For example, an audio signal is received from a compact disc player at receiver 2, and then processed and decoded by microprocessor 12 so that any audio data is separated from CD-I information on the disc. Once the data has been fully processed in the microprocessor 12, it is sent to the playback device 5 which plays back the audio data through a speaker system, and displays the CD-I information on a LED display. In addition to allowing immediate playback of received and processed data, the present invention allows the data to be stored on an internal, non-movable storage device 14 in either processed or unprocessed format such as scrambled or unscrambled In that way it may be processed and/or displayed later. The non-movable storage device 14 may be any medium known in the art for storing electronic data, including, but not limited to recordable tape or other analog recording media, random access memory (RAM), CD ROM, optical disk, magneto-optical disc, computer hard drive, digital video disc (DVD), or digital audio tape (DAT). It is preferred, but not required that the non-movable storage device 14 be one that is erasable so that previously stored programs may be overwritten. Data from the storage device 14 may be accessed for playback at the playback device 5 or for subsequent processing in the microprocessor 12. This feature is important because it allows the user to capture a data product according to his User Suitability Criteria, edit it by utilizing the content filter/editor, store it on the non-movable storage device 14, and then watch a version edited by the microprocessor 12 to his specifications. This feature allows more control over the content of programs he may view. A preferred embodiment of the Digital Recorder Embodiment will now be described with reference to FIGS. 6 and 7. The remote ATS 29 in FIG. 6 stores local broadcast programming data collected from the various broadcasters in an online database. The programming data is updated at regular intervals to provide the most accurate programming information possible. The local VPR/DMS unit 30 is the central component of the system, and may be used by an end user to digitally record, store, and play back broadcast programs. Referring now to FIG. 7, a detailed description of the automatic digital recorder will now be described. Via user interface 17, the end user activates the local VPR/DMS unit to access the remote ATS server. User interface 17 may comprise a remote control unit which transmits user selection/programming option data via remote signal (e.g., infrared, VHF, etc.). Alternatively, or additionally, user interface 17 may comprise a button or set of buttons located on the VPR/DMS 30 for entering user selection/programming option data. In the preferred embodiment, the local VPR/DMS 30 is interfaced with the remote ATS 29 via an Internet connection (TCP/IP) through a high speed interface (e.g., cable modem, a direct T1 or T3 connection through Ethernet, token ring or other high speed computer network interface). However, other interfaces may be used as well (e.g., telephone modem connection). Thus, this preferred embodiment, as part of the receiver circuit 2 and the playback circuit 27, an Ethernet input/output interface would be included to provide for the high speed exchange of data via TCP/IP (and other Internet protocols) between the VPR/DMS and the ATS. The user connects to the ATS 29 (FIG. 6) using the VPR/DMS 30. The VPR/DMS 30 downloads the latest available programming information, presenting the user with a hierarchical set of menus (FIGS. 3a through 3i) to select specific programming parameters for setting the VPR/DMS 30 to automatically record specific programs. This selection is done either by: 1) interpreting embedded control data and matching User Suitability Criteria; 2) time schedule recording of pre-rated or pre-classified programming. In the preferred embodiment, the user interface 17 permits the user to select from broadcast program names, themes, ratings, actors, plots, times, genres (western, espionage, comedy, etc.), or any other parameter of his User Suitability Criteria, to automatically configure the VPR/DMS 30 to record specific programs. Any single parameter or a combination of a plurality of parameters may be used to narrow or broaden the range of shows that will be recorded. The user may also use a simple timer or VCR plus information as well to configure the VPR/DMS 30. The user may also select an option where the automatic recording is done perpetually until modified. He/she may also select an option allowing specific parameters to define the broadcast programs to be recorded for only a limited number of times, or for a specific period. Once the user has finished selecting the User Suitability Criteria, the VPR/DMS, he/she may select a specific button (e.g., a START button) which activates the auto-programming feature. The micro-controller 31 queries the ATS to search for all programming meeting the parameters specified by the user. The ATS then begins searching for all of the programs that meet the user's specifications, and then sends the auto-configuration data (e.g., broadcast times, channels, and sources) to the VPR/DMS. Micro-controller 31 reads the auto-configuration data downloaded from the ATS 29. It then automatically configures the system to receive and record the requested broadcast programs. This automatic recordation is by user selection of either time schedule programming of programs pre-classified to match various user selected criteria or optionally, by interpretation of control data within the data feed. Assume the VPR/DMS has been programmed to record a particular cable television show. At the time of the program broadcast, the micro-controller 31 activates the receiver 2 to receive the selected broadcast program. For example, the micro-controller 31 sets the receiver circuit to receive cable TV data via a data feed 10a. Specifically, the micro-controller 31 sets the receiver 2 to receive the particular channel at which corresponds to the requested broadcast program. Broadcast program data (e.g., television audio and video signals) are received on data feed 10a at the receiver 2. In the case of recording a television program, when the analog television data is received, the receiving circuit determines that the data is analog audio/video data, and converts the television signal to compressed digital format (e.g., mpeg-2 data). Receiver circuit employs all necessary hardware and software including compression algorithms, signal processors, analog-to-digital converters, etc. for converting analog audio and/or video data to compressed digital format. Micro-controller 31 may be involved as well by receiving control signals from the receiver 2, which enable the micro-controller 31 to select the type of conversion and/or compression applied to the incoming data. Note that the invention as disclosed herein may be used in conjunction with new emerging audio/video formats such as digital television (DTV, and HDTV), Dolby digital/AC3 encoding, Digital Theater Sound (“DTS”) encoding, and mpeg-2 layer 3 (“MP3”) audio formats. Although these formats are already digital, the microprocessor 12 and the receiver 2 are capable of recognizing that such formats do not need to be digitized and/or compressed, and the receiver 2 will simply receive the data without performing such operations upon it. Digital encoding and compressing capability is fully programmable by the user. User may select specific options for digital compression and encoding based on desired picture/sound quality versus storage capacity. For example, better picture and sound may require less compression to avoid loss of data. If user desires more storage capability, and is indifferent to picture quality, the system may be configured to compress data into smaller storage space, resulting in poorer picture and/or sound quality. User may select such option to optimize both parameters to his preference. Once the broadcast program data is received and digitized/compressed, if necessary, it is recorded onto the built-in non-movable storage device 14 included in the VPR/DMS 30. Storage device 14 is capable of dynamic accessing by both a set of recording heads and at least one playback device 15 almost simultaneously to allow for instant playback of recorded data “on the fly.” In a preferred embodiment, storage device 14 is a hard disk drive unit or large array of random access memory capable of storing several hours (up to 30 now) worth of compressed digital audio/video data. Storage device 14 is further capable of being accessed dynamically at different portions of the drive/array by the read and write operations nearly simultaneously. Thus, the drive may be written to and read from simultaneously, and he/she may play back, surf through a stored program, or pause live broadcasts even as the VPR/DMS 30 continues to record programs. Upon playback, stored digital data is read from the built-in storage device 14 and transmitted to a microprocessor 12 to be processed according to User Suitability Criteria as described above. Embedded data is received with content data, and decoded by microprocessor 12 to instruct the Content Filter/Editor how such content should be edited. A representative example may include the embedding of control data relating to specific elements in a particular movie. An illustration of imbedded control data is shown in FIG. 14. A Processing circuit may decode such data on the fly, and bleep out expletives or edit pictures to remove explicit sexual content. It is contemplated that alternative scenes may be included in the data transmission, and substituted for sexually explicit scenes, on the fly if the user setting requires such content editing. It should be noted that such content editing is not restricted to “child-proofing” and ratings based applications. Such content editing may include options of adding or substituting scenes from a “director's cut” if this option is selected, or choosing between sound encoding formats (e.g., Dolby Digital/AC3 versus DTS versus Dolby Surround Sound). Such options may allow for less data to be used in that rather than providing two separate versions (actual release versus director's cut), scenes added or replaced in the director's cut may be included with control information detailing where such scenes should be placed in the movie, and as the data is played back, the processing unit can automatically add or cut scenes depending on the selected version. Once the data has been processed according to the user's specific desires, the data is sent to the playback device 15 or to the built-in storage device 14 for subsequent playback. Playback device 15 comprises the circuitry necessary to transmit processed data to the proper playback device in the proper (digital or analog) form. For example, consider the case where user uses the device with an analog television. Since analog audio/video data is required to be transmitted to the analog audio/video inputs of a television, then playback circuit must incorporate signal decoders and digital-to-analog converters to transform the mpeg 2 data to analog audio/video signals which are then output at the device's analog outputs 20c (RCA audio/video outputs and/or the S-video outputs). However, the digital mpeg-2 data may also be received by the playback device 15, and transmitted in digital form directly to the digital output 20b with decoding or conversion to analog format. Data from the digital output 20b may be input directly to the television's digital input, where it is decoded by the television, rather than by the VPR/DMS 30. It should be noted that one preferred embodiment of the VPR/DMS 30 (FIG. 7) includes a built-in recorder/player 19 for recording data to and/or playing data from a portable storage device. Examples include DVD, CD, DAT, audio or video cassette. Data stored on the built-in storage device 14 may be archived on a portable medium via portable recorder/player 19. This stored data may be in open or scrambled format depending on whether or not the data product requires a fee for accessing, renting, or purchasing. If a commercial terms between the content provider and the user are required, once transacted, an “authorization key” is issued for de-scrambling or unlocking the program, whereby the user may gain access to the data. The preferred embodiment includes a recorder/player 19 for storing data to and playing data from a digital portable medium (e.g., DVD, DAT, and minidisc, CD). Thus in the preferred embodiment, recorder/player 19 would likely comprise a DVD-RAM, DVD recordable/re-writeable (DVD-R), CD read/write CD-R/W, minidisc, or other digitally recordable drive. However, it is contemplated that the built-in portable storage device 19 may store data in analog form (e.g., videotape, audiotape, etc.). Referring to FIG. 8, a global semi-diagrammatic schematic of the present invention is shown illustrating the flow of data, and programming instruction input pathways. Data Feeds 10a-10n communicate data, through receiver interfaces 21-26 to a receiver 2. The multiple feeds are transmitted to a multiplexer 27, which simplifies the multiple signals and then transmits the data to a microprocessor 12. A software program 33 controls the operation of the microprocessor 12, which may route the data stream through a decoder 34, a content filter/editor 35, before being routed in accordance with the users program instructions. The data may be routed to the built-in, non-movable storage device 14, a playback device 15, or the user's audio/video system 36. A detailed description of manipulation of data is hereafter described in detail. Further, the data may be sent to a portable recorder/player 19 in communication with the VPR/DMS 30. The user may program the VPR/DMS 30 of the present invention to manipulate data in a multitude of ways, and will hereafter be described in detail. The user also has great flexibility as to the ways he/she may interface with the VPR/DMS 30, and issue programming instructions. He may access the system via his/her audio/video system 36, and may program the system via cascading on-screen menus. Examples of these on screen menus are shown in FIGS. 3a-3i, FIGS. 10, 11, and 12. FIG. 8 further illustrates that the user's audio/video system 36 may be accessed with a remote control device 37. This device generates a control signal 16 to allow the user to move through the on screen menus to enable him/her to select among the options presented. Further, VPR/DMS 30 may be programmed remotely, from a computer 46 attached to the system. Other ways in which the user can control programming of his device is by telephone 47, by a remote and/or portable computer 48, a wireless telephone 49, or a palm top computer 50 such as a PALM PILOT. In this way, the user may program his VPR/DMS 30, when he/she is away. Referring now to FIG. 9, a schematic representation of the present invention illustrates the management of multiple feeds of data for commercial transactions. This example shows a Virtual sports Center and the management of simultaneous flows of information from Internet Data Feeds 54, Cable TV channels 55, and interaction with an on-line video catalog 56. Each of these feeds may carry multiple channels. The Internet Data Feed 54 may carry a Sports Statistics channel 57, a Sports News channel 58, and Special Effects Software 59. The Cable TV Data Feed 55 may carry a Previews and Interviews channel 60, a Live Sports Center channel 61, and a Music Overlay 62. The On-Line video catalog 56 may carry a User Account Information channel 63, and a Walk around Souvenir Store 64. These channels communicate with the VPR/DMS 30 of the present invention, and in this embodiment, pass the information through the content filter/editor 35, then stores the information on the built-in, non-movable storage device 14 based on preprogrammed User Suitability Criteria. If instructed, the data may be stored in an individual Data Box partition of the non-movable storage device 14. The information may then be blended into a Multimedia Data Display/Playback 65, for the user's discretionary enjoyment. On screen menus allow the selection of the source of data (FIG. 10), selection of generic types of data to be received (FIG. 11), as well as selection and rental/purchase details associated with specific selection of programming (FIG. 12). Referring to FIG. 13, a schematic representation of the present invention is illustrated. showing the flow of data types, programming instructions, and storage options. Data flows from Data Transmission Sources 66, which may include Network TV, Satellite transmissions, TV Cable, the Internet, Telephone, or Wireless sources. Data may also originate locally. These Data Feeds 10 flow through Receiver Interfaces 21-26 into the receiver 2. The data is processed, may be decoded or unscrambled in a decoder 34, edited according to user selectable criteria, and processed through a content filter/editor 35, and recorded on the built-in, non-movable storage device 14. Resultant Output Information 67, may take the form of e-mail, TV programs, Movies, Musical recordings or videos, computer games, audio books, video catalogues, and phone messages. All of this data may be accessed via any playback device 5 employed by the user. Information may also be communicated to a portable recorder/player 19. Multi-Formatted Broadcast Processing Referring now to FIG. 14, a schematic representation of the present invention is illustrated, showing how multiple control data channels may be used to control, filter and edit content to be played back. This diagram generally illustrates Multi-Formatted Data, and shows how it may be processed by the VPR/DMS 30 of the present invention. The Data received may comprise a large number of Control Data (CD) tracks 69. This is represented by a block diagram of a Multi-Formatted Data Transmission 68. Each control data track 69 comprises unique and distinguishable data, that may include multiple language tracks, multiple audio tracks, and multiple story lines. Further, audio/video segments may have specific scenes, dialog, narration, previews, and adult content. Control Data tracks 69 may also have indices for identification of user suitability criteria, interactive control data, and subscription/fee based transaction information. The existence of this information allows the user incredible flexibility for customizing the digital data product in accordance with his/her preferences, by use of the content filter/editor. Control data may be provided on parallel tracks or channels, providing general processing/editing controls. Control data tracks 69 may also be included within the main program data for use by the VPR/DMS 30 for identifying specific data or data segments for manipulation, editing, and re-assembly by the content filter/editor. Broadcasters/content providers may now transmit highly formatted programs that include TV shows, movies, audio/video product catalogs, and music channels. When received and processed by the VPR/DMS 30 allows users to record and/or display the broadcast in various optional edited (or processed) versions based on pre-programmed user suitability criteria. These broadcasts may include data having several optional story lines, optional advertising formats, and optional program preview formats. It may also include data representing several optional story endings, optional display formats, and data representing edited versions of the program based on a content rating system. Along with the broadcast signal is control data that may be interpreted and utilized by the VPR/DMS 30 and specifically processed by the content filter/editor. The utilization may include control data for processing, recording, and/or displaying the broadcast in customized edited versions. These variations are generated according to the preprogrammed user suitability criteria, which has been pre-programmed in the system. The User Suitability Criteria directs the content filter/editor to interpret and utilize received control data for editing, thereby creating a program tailored to the user's individual tastes. This may occur either before or after storage of the data in the non-movable storage device 14. Referring again to FIG. 14, the VPR/DMS 30 demonstrates its improved features over DVD players that processes and plays back multi-formatted program data in various optional display/playback versions. The improvement over these prior art devices occurs where the VPR/DMS 30 operates with live broadcast signals which are not limited by the formatting capability of DVD or any portable storage media with highly restrictive data storage capacity. Users and broadcaster/content providers may also take advantage of other VPR/DMS features for providing a multitude of user options and unique functions. For example, a highly formatted broadcast program (movie, etc.) may first be recorded in raw form onto the System's built-in storage device. Subsequently, individuals, family members, business associates, and public access applications may retrieve or order a customized edition of the program which has been processed by the system according to the individual's User Suitability Criteria for display, playback, and/or recording. Recording of the customized program may be done in the Data Box partitions of the built-in storage device, or onto a portable recorder. This customized editing feature allows each member of a family to enjoy a customized edition of the broadcast program/movie according to their own personal preferences, or those of the VPR/DMS system administrator. This functionality gives parents greater control over content to be viewed by their children. It also provides many new opportunities for broadcasters and content providers to transmit various editions of custom programs and custom targeted advertising data all contained within a single broadcast transmission. As FIG. 14 illustrates, in a fee based or subscription broadcast model, this system provides great flexibility and customization of programming data according to various user suitability criteria that may increase the frequency of program viewing. This translates to increased revenues from delivery of preferred data products which may be accessed by pay-per-view, rented, and/or purchased directly through the VPR/DMS 30 system. An additional benefit of the VPR/DMS 30 system includes data delivery used in a public access system. Like other functions of the system, these operations may be programmed by the end user. Product Advertising Operations Referring to FIG. 15, a schematic representation of the present invention illustrates the communication pathways between system components, content providers, and a transaction zone 40. A broadcaster 39, content provider 41, or software accessory Provider 42, communicate with an Internet Service Provider 70, a Transaction Zone 40, and the VPR/DMS 30 of the present invention. This connectivity allows for the expeditious transfer of data as is further described by these preferred embodiments. Referring to FIG. 16, a schematic representing the present invention illustrates the communication pathways between advertisers 71, a broadcaster content provider 41, and VPR/DMS components/programming. The VPR/DMS 30 system creates a new, unique, and ideally suited vehicle capable of managing the delivery of product advertising at the speed and efficiency available with existing electronic commerce systems, including the Internet. Referring now to FIG. 17, a schematic representation of the present invention further illustrating post recording data processing is shown and described. Advertising data transmitted from a broadcaster 39 or other content provider, is received in the VPR/DMS 30 and is recorded on the built-in, non-movable storage device in it its raw form. The VPR/DMS is then able to interpret the data in the decoder 34, and process and edit the data according his/her preprogrammed User Suitability Criteria. The data is sent through the Content Filter/Editor 35, where it is edited, and held in buffer memory 72 until instructions are received as to the user's desires, which may include a storage, display or playback preference. Multiple versions of the data may be transferred to storage in individual Data Boxes 74 of the built-in, non-movable storage device 14. The data may then be sent to a Playback Device 5, or transferred to a Portable Recorder/Player 19 or other such portable storage device. In addition to delivery transactions involving digital data products (i.e. movies, premium, TV shows, video games and physical product catalogs), the VPR/DMS 30 system also provides multi-layered advertising formats with numerous advantages to both advertisers and consumers. Some of the various advertising formats included in the VPR/DMS 30 of the present invention are: 1) Combining advertisements with on-screen menu selection displays. Examples include: “live” feeds, VPR/DMS 30 recorded data, software based programs, and Internet overlays 2) Combined with product preview data, audio/video recordings, product catalogs, data feeds, VPR/DMS 30 recorded data, Internet data, as well as broadcast movies, and videos. 3) Combined with rented or purchased digital data product delivery (“live”, recorded, Internet, etc.) 4) Delivered by TV/radio network broadcast channels assigned for use with VPR/DMS 30 system 5) Delivered by computer/Internet Web sites associated and/or interactive with VPR/DMS 30 system 6) Delivered by use of excess data capacity existing within all various digital data signal feeds (such as now used for closed captioning, TV guide schedules, VCR+time clock programming, etc. and same for similar data feeds specific to use with VPR/DMS 30 system) 7) Programmable designation of advertising “sections” within VPR/DMS 30 internal storage areas. These permanent or programmable “sections”, “data boxes” or “spaces” are monitored and controlled by both content providers (or VPR/DMS 30 central data base) as well as by end users according to pre-set or negotiable criteria. The designated advertising “sections” might be used for delivering advertising feeds, which are processed and recorded by VPR/DMS 30 system for real-time or subsequent viewing by end user. These advertising data feeds might be mass distributed or broadcast to VPR/DMS 30 customers, or might be selectively distributed according to customer profiles, demographics, or other criteria. Profile criteria can be established through analysis of customer activity history from on-line monitoring. Alternatively, it may be developed from customer information inquiries acquired directly through system interaction or from outside customer profile data sources. Advertising “sections” or “spaces” or “data boxes” may be reserved, rented, leased or purchased from end user, content providers, broadcasters, cable/satellite distributor, or other data communications companies administering the data products and services. For example, a wide band, multi-media cable distributor may provide, lease or sell a cable “set top box” containing the VPR/DMS system. This VPR/DMS 30 comprises a built-in non-movable storage device 14 which has certain areas that are reserved and controlled by the cable company. These areas are available for commercial sales or leasing to others, who may include movie distributors, advertisers, data product suppliers, video game suppliers, video magazine publishers, or video product catalogue companies. As shown in FIG. 16, advertisements which are delivered to the VPR/DMS 30 advertising “sections” can be customer specific by use of systems built-in signal decoding and the data content filter/editing algorithm. This is accomplished either by customer selection or by activity history monitoring. Selective recording of customer specific advertisements can be automatically processed and recorded onto the designated advertising “sections” of the VPR/DMS 30 system's internal storage areas. It may also be delivered through or onto other available advertising storage areas or monitoring channels of VPR/DMS 30 system. This offers a great advantage to both the advertiser and the VPR/DMS 30 customer for maximizing content, establishing customer qualifications, and ultimately producing more cost efficient advertising for product and service providers. 8) Another important capability of the VPR/DMS 30 system allows for an entirely new method of processing, delivering, and managing advertising programs. Because the VPR/DMS 30 system is an on-line, integrated, and interactive system it represents the next generation of high speed automated advertising, perfectly suited for modem electronic commerce applications. Controlled through a VPR/DMS 30 central database (or other associated control database), prospective advertisers will be continuously updated by on-line data transmission into advertisers computer systems, and specific to a variety of customer profile data. This data is continuously retrieved, stored, and processed by VPR/DMS 30 central database through monitoring and service interactions with VPR/DMS 30 customers. This data specific to advertiser analysis will include for examples, total number of customers (system users and/or specific product subscribers), customer profile data, customer demographics, program schedules, product showcase schedules, available advertising formats, available advertising schedules, advertising rates, etc. Various advertising analyses can be made automatically for a selection of advertising formats, according to critical factors such as timing and cost effectiveness. Pre-programmed or spontaneously programmed advertising format scenarios can be instantly analyzed and displayed or produced on advertiser's system by use with custom VPR/DMS 30 analysis software located at VPR/DMS 30 central data base or present with advertiser's systems. Once all format decisions are made by the advertiser, it may then place the desired advertising order for “instant” or scheduled delivery to VPR/DMS 30 customers. For example, one available advertising placement option might indicate a selective customer base of 5,000,000 VPR/DMS 30 subscribers who have available space on advertising “sections”. Providing the advertiser has immediately available advertisement formats (audio/video/text, etc.) for transmission, then instantaneous advertisement delivery can be transmitted to the 5,000,000 qualified customers. This may be sent via a VPR/DMS central data base and control center which may be located at the Content Provider's site 41 or on the remote ATS 29 (FIG. 15). The same or similar advertisement distribution can be accomplished expeditiously as soon as materials are available. Another example would allow an advertiser to make qualified yet almost instantaneous transactions for placement of advertising within a scheduled “issue” of a video magazine. It would be electronically delivered to VPR/DMS 30 subscribers and recorded onto designated storage areas of end user's VPR/DMS 30 system. The entire transaction can be instantly and automatically conducted within the “Transaction Zone” of the VPR/DMS 30 system. 9) To increase effectiveness and profitability of advertising within this system, many means are available including placing advertisements in and around desirable broadcast feeds which are specifically tailored to the consumer's specific User Suitability Criteria and content filter/editor, enabling the user to see only advertising of interest, thereby making the advertising more effective. Ad distributions would include those for movies, TV shows, sports programs, and previews. Targeted advertisements within specialty product catalogs, and supplying to specialty product/user specific product catalogs may also be distributed to consumers. These examples may be delivered in the form of audio, video, audio/video, still graphics, text, or other data formats. In addition to the systems' capabilities for downloading audio/video data to portable storage devices, the system might also include outputs to printers for producing printed copies of text, graphics, or captured still images. This would occur if such output systems are connected to VPR/DMS 30 system. Referring now to FIG. 17, a schematic representation of the present invention further illustrating post recording data processing is shown and described. Data transmitted from a broadcaster 39 or other content provider, is received in the VPR/DMS 30 and is recorded on the built-in, non-movable storage device in it its raw form. Upon completion of a commercial transaction, (i.e. rental, purchase, or pay per view) an authorization key code 73 is supplied to the user. He/she is then able to de-scramble or otherwise unlock the data in the decoder 34, and process and edit the data according his/her preprogrammed User Suitability Criteria. The data is sent through the Content Filter/Editor 35, where it is edited, and held in buffer memory 72 until instructions are received as to the user's desires, which may include a storage, display or playback preference. Multiple versions of the data may be transferred to storage in individual Data Boxes 74 of the built-in, non-movable storage device 14. The data may then be sent to a Playback Device 5, or transferred to a Portable Recorder/Player 19 or other such portable storage device. Automobile System The incorporation of the VPR/DMS 30 device into or connected with automobile receiver and playback devices (which may include satellite, radio, wireless communications) is one preferred embodiment of the present invention. This embodiment allows all functionality unique to the present inventions in an automobile, and also enables all VPR/DMS rental/purchase transaction capabilities for direct delivery of digital data products. It also allows transactions involving rental/purchase of other products and services not normally delivered as digital data. For example, ordering a music CD after reviewing song excerpts received and processed by VPR/DMS system. The portable, built-in auto mounted VPR/DMS system also provides a valuable tool for automatically or manually processing and recording the ever growing varieties of audio/video/computer data presently received by automobile receiver/playback/display systems during a period of time when the user is likely to buy the product—while he is driving. Portable VPR/DMS and Public Access The portable, auto mounted VPR/DMS system is particularly useful for integration with public access data communication systems to provide the user most or all of the benefits enabled by these inventions, although portability need not be confined to automobiles. A portable system may be embodied as visually similar to a laptop computer, but retains all the functional capability of the home based system. Further, access to any VPR/DMS via a telephone, a remote computer having a modem, or a palm top computer, such as a PALM PILOT is possible with the present invention. For example, with little or no modifications to public use telephone systems and computer/Internet communication systems, the portable VPR/DMS can be connected to or built into these systems whereby virtually all rental/purchase transactions may be quickly and effectively conducted. Upon interconnection between these systems, the user selects a variety of digital data products for preview, sale or rental from on-screen menus, or auto-recorded via programmable User Suitability Criteria and content filter/editor. These data products might be transmitted through integration with public access system from various digital data sources such as cable TV, satellite, phone lines, computer/Internet, or any other data broadcast source. After completing the commercial arrangement within the Transaction Zone, the broadcaster/content provider transmits data product through a novel electronic data dispenser system (EDDS). This EDDS may incorporate a fully functional VPR/DMS, or provide a convenient connection for the VPR/DMS portable device that stores the data product onto designated storage area within system. Alternatively, the data product may be directly transferred from the EDDS to a portable storage device. Upon receipt of the data, the user may enjoy access to the data product, (for example a new audio CD recording). Access would occur for a limited period if rented, after which, the data product must be “virtually returned” by re-engaging the portable VPR/DMS, or portable storage device with the EDDS for erasing, encrypting or scrambling the data product If the data was purchased, he/she may be able to utilize the data product as often as desired. All other functions and processes necessary for these transactions are virtually identical to those described previously in home or office based rental/purchase transactions. The EDDS system is enabled to dispense or display on a built-in TV screen/monitor only those data products, which are stored on-site and within storage areas of the EDDS system. The EDDS may be updated via physical delivery of data products, or it may also be updated through online data communications with a central database control system. Virtual Digital Data Rental/Purchase Embodiment Either of the preceding units can be configured as another embodiment of the invention so that it can be utilized to provide direct on demand delivery of multi-formatted programs (movies, compact disc (or other audio medium), video catalogs, software, video games, etc.). This embodiment effectively eliminates the need for transporting, inventorying, and physical delivery of digital data products. It can create a variety of applications from virtual VCR rental stores, music stores, bookstores, home shopping applications and other commercial applications. Referring to FIG. 6, data feeds carry electronic data from the audio/video content providers 41, and software accessory providers 42. Data travels between the remote ATS 29 and the local VPR/DMS 30). This includes computer software, video games like NINTENDO 64 or SONY PLAYSTATION. Data is preferably transmitted via: a high speed computer signal (T1 or T3 connection via Ethernet, token ring; cable modem; high speed analog or ISDN modem or other high speed computer network connection); satellite signal; or cable signal utilizing information via the Internet. The data feeds 6 may carry digital audio, video, print or other mediums directly to the local VPR/DMS 30. Under the virtual rental/purchase store, the user has several options. He may choose from products listed in an electronic catalog which is either downloaded from the remote ATS, or received via direct broadcast feed. He may set the content filter/editor to automatically record data according to User Suitability Criteria or specifically selected programming. In either case, the data from which is stored on the local VPR/DMS. The VPR/DMS unit interfaces with the ATS to establish two-way communication with a broadcaster/content provider and update itself at regular intervals, providing the home user with the latest available rental/purchase information. For example, the user may browse through available software titles to select a particular product she would like to purchase or rent. The local VPR/DMS obtains the necessary information from the user to identify the selected product; retrieves stored or spontaneously entered billing information, and then transmits the information to the remote ATS. The remote ATS receives the requested information, and validates the user's account and billing information. It then electronically negotiates the purchase or rental, either before or after storage in the VPR/DMS, from the content provider, and configures the local VPR/DMS to connect to and receive the requested data from the content provider either on-demand or via a broadcast schedule. In one type of purchase transaction, the data is received and stored on the built-in storage device where it may be accessed for processing, playback or transfer to other media. The data may be received in a scrambled or encrypted format, and may have either content or access restrictions, but also may be provided without restriction. For example, in a rental or purchase transaction, the remote ATS, the local VPR/DMS, (or both) retain rental control information, which is monitored by the broadcaster/content provider, to restrict the use of downloaded data past the or prior to negotiated rental period or purchase transaction. For example, control data indicating rental restrictions for a particular title may be stored by the VPR/DMS upon receipt of the digital data product from the content provider. Once receipt of the data is acknowledged by the VPR/DMS and the transaction is completed, the user may play back the data product, store it, or transfer it to portable medium for use on a stand alone playback unit (e.g., DVD Player, VCR, etc.) provided all necessary transactions are completed. If the data product is stored in scrambled form, an authorization “key code” must be received from broadcaster/content provider to unlock the rented or purchased program by use of a built-in data descrambler device. In order to avoid late charges or fees for rental transactions, the user must “return” the data product by selecting a return option from the electronic menu. Additionally, the system is programmable to automatically return, erase, scramble or block out the data/program when the rental, preview, demo time has expired. The VPR/DMS interfaces with the ATS to negotiate the “return”, and the data product is erased from the VPR/DMS storage device or re-scrambled (authorization key voided, where the data product remains stored for future access/rental/purchase). The data product has been transferred to portable medium; the control data keeps a record of such transfer, and requires the portable medium to be erased before successfully negotiating the “return.” In this way, the system is programmable by the end user and broadcaster/content provider to enact a “virtual return” of data products stored on the non-moveable storage device. Virtual Movie Rental Embodiment Referring now to FIGS. 6 and 7, the user activates user interface 17 to connect the local VPR/DMS 30 (from FIG. 6) to the remote. ATS 29 to enable renting a movie. VPR/DMS 30 queries the remote ATS 29 to provide listings of available titles for rental. Remote ATS 29 maintains a periodically updated database of available movie titles available for purchase or rent, and transmits such information to the local VPR/DMS 30 for display. The user makes rental selections from among the available titles via the user interface 17. An example of an on screen menu is shown in FIG. 3c. Once the user has finished making selections, the local VPR/DMS 30 transmits the user's selections to the remote ATS 29 which proceeds to negotiate the rental transactions from the movie content providers. ATS 29 queries the user for billing information. Alternatively, the user may maintain billing information in the system (either locally, or in a database stored at the ATS 29 location). ATS 29 verifies the billing information with the proper bank, credit card company, or other financial institution, and then negotiates the transfer of requested movies from the content provider to the local VPR/DMS 30. This is accomplished by establishing an interface (preferably a TCP/IP connection) between the VPR/DMS 30 and the data content provider 41. The ATS 29 also provides billing information to the proper financial institution, authorizing charges against the user's account. Once the direct connection between the data content provider and the VPR/DMS 30 has been negotiated, VPR/DMS 30 begins downloading the requested movies. The ATS 29 provides rental information control data that includes rental periods, due dates, applicable late fees, and content enabling data associated with each data product downloaded. An illustration of imbedded control data is shown in FIG. 14. This is done to restrict access to the data, and provide for supplemental billing if the data is not returned within the rental period. VPR/DMS 30 receives content and associated control data at the receiver 2 (see FIG. 7). In a preferred embodiment, network interface 10b is the high-speed connection to the digital data content providers through which the VPR/DMS receives the digital movie data. Receiver 2 may include digital signal processors, and compression algorithm hardware and/or software to compress the received data for storage on the built-in storage device. Digital data (compressed or uncompressed) may be received from the receiver 2, which then records the data onto the built-in, non-movable storage device 14. It should be noted that like the previous embodiment, the data storage device 14 is nearly simultaneously accessible by separate read and write heads so that data may be read virtually at the same time it is written. Thus, the user is not required to wait until all of the movie data has been received before viewing or otherwise manipulating the movie data. Once movie data has been stored on the built-in non movable storage device 14, the data may be played back by the system, or transferred to a portable medium for use on a movie player outside the system, but only if allowed by the content provider and commercial transactions associated with delivery are completed. Considering the playback example, the system operates much like the playback system in the Automatic Digital Recorder/Player Embodiment above. Data is transmitted to the microprocessor 12 and to the content filter/editor where it may be further processed prior to playback according to pre-selected or on-the-fly options. Some on-the fly selections may include, for example, choices from among different formats (wide screen versus NTSC format), or user may select added features unique to the rented movie data, such as viewing movie data by chapter, accessing movie credits, director's comments, actor bios, movie trailers, etc. Pre-selected options may include ratings or content based editing as described above. Once the data has been processed according to user selection, it is output to the playback circuit 27 for playback on an analog or digital television or monitor, and/or through a stereo with analog and/or digital inputs, or stored on the built-in non movable storage device 14. As detailed above, playback circuit 27 may include signal processors and decoders and digital-to-analog decoders (DAC) to transform digital audio/video data to analog form to be output at output connector 20a, b, or c. Additionally, digital data may directly output via digital output connector 20a, b, or c, to components with built-in digital decoders, without first being decoded, thus preserving the integrity and quality of the digital sound and picture. Rather than playing back the movie from the built-in non-movable storage device 14, the user may wish to record the data onto a portable recorder/player 19 or other portable storage media. In this case, the user may transfer the data from the built-in storage device 14 to a portable recorder/player 19. This may be accomplished in at least two ways. First, since the preferred embodiment includes a built-in portable media recorder/player 19, the user may simply select an option from the user interface 17 to transfer the data to a media in the built-in portable recorder player 19. If this option is selected, the user places a blank DVD (or DVD-R or DVD-RAM) disc into the portable recorder/player 19, and selects the transfer option. The micro-controller 31 reads the movie data from the built-in storage device 14, and transmits it to the microprocessor 12. The microprocessor 12, using techniques known in the art, may add copyright protection (e.g., Macrovision DVD, SCMS, etc.) to the data to prevent additional copies from being made from the copy. In addition, the processing unit may include control data on the disc, which uniquely identifies the disk based on the rental information unique to that rental agreement. The micro-controller 31 stores control data information in a memory unit 32 for later use in the return process. The control data information is necessary for the system to track and account for all “copies” of the rented movie that may be made by the user. It should be noted that the control data stored on the disc does not affect playback of the data content, but merely serves to identify the disc as containing movie data related to a specific rental agreement. An illustration of imbedded control data is shown in FIG. 14. The DVD disc now contains all of the movie data, which may be accessed by any DVD player known in the art, on an unrestricted basis (i.e. as many times as one wants, and on any player). An alternative method includes usage of a stand-alone DVD recorder (or similar device e.g., a personal computer with built-in DVD recorder) which may be attached to one of the digital I/O ports or via computer interface. In this respect, the same operations may occur except that from the built-in storage device 14 the digital data is transmitted through the playback circuit 27, through a digital output (or computer I/O interface) to the outside DVD recorder. Note that the transmitted data may include content data, copy protection data, and control data assigned by the processing circuit to uniquely identify the device. It should be noted again that when the rental agreement period has elapsed, the user may perform a “virtual return” of the movie data, including any copies made. This “virtual return” may be an “auto return”, where the data is automatically erased at the expiration of the rental period. Or it may embody an automatic cancellation of an access key code which prevents further access. At the time of return, the user accesses the system via the user interface 17. The system alerts the user that a movie is due to be returned, and offers several options, including returning, or renewing. If the user renews, then the VPR/DMS 30 proceeds to access the remote ATS 29 (FIG. 6) and instructs the server to renew the rental charge the account. If the user decides to return the movie, then the micro-controller 31 accesses the memory unit 32 to retrieve rental information and control data information relating to the rented movie. If a copy has been made for use on outside players, then the VPR/DMS 30 queries the user to insert a disc or tape into the portable medium player/recorder 19. The micro-controller 31 reads the control data information on the disc to make sure that the disc is the proper one. When this is confirmed, the programming in the VPR/DMS 30 causes the portable medium recorder/player 19 to erase the disc or otherwise render it unusable. Next, the micro-controller 31 issues instructions to delete the movie data from the built-in digital storage device 14. Finally, the micro-controller 31 signals the remote ATS 29 that the movie data has been properly erased from the built-in storage device 14, and any portable copies that may exist. The ATS 29 then contacts the data content provider that provided the movie to confirm that the movie has been “returned”. Finally, the ATS 29 records the rental transaction as having been finalized and completed. The provider may also allow the data product to be purchased for a fee as hereinafter described. Virtual Video Game Rental Virtual Video Game rental is operationally the same as the Virtual Movie Rental, except the data is video game data (e.g., SONY PLAYSTATION, NINTENDO 64). Data is stored on built-in storage device 14, and output from digital output to re-writeable adapter cartridge, which may be inserted into a game console. A return is initiated by deleting the rented software from the built-in storage device 14 and notifying the digital data provider that the transaction is completed. Virtual Software Rental Virtual software rental is operationally the same as the Virtual Movie Rental, except the VPR/DMS keeps track of copies, and requires all copies to be deleted to initiate a return as earlier described. Interface with computer is required to transfer software to and from CPU. Virtual Purchases (Movies, CD's, Games, Software) Virtual purchases are operationally the same as the Virtual Rentals, except once purchased, the data is the user's to manipulate. The VPR/DMS system incorporates standard copyright protection on all copies. User may transfer to portable medium once, and then data on built-in medium is erased so that the copyrighted material may not be illegally duplicated. The purchase essentially allows unlimited access to the data for viewing. However, the present invention prohibits any illegal duplication. Data Box—Individual Storage Units The VPR/DMS 30 can be utilized by individuals for capturing, processing, and/or playback of received broadcasts according to their own programmable suitability criteria. Similarly, the system's apparatus for capturing and processing multiple data feeds can be subdivided into multiple units for which a single user may assign various recording/processing functions to individual data box storage units for a multitude of purposes. For example, a user can pre-program the system to automatically record all TV programs (or segments) received from all or specific broadcast channels that have specific themes. Examples include comedy shows, western, high tech, mysteries, financial interests, actors, etc. This thereby creates a virtual broadcasting network with multiple channels, each of which are customized to suit the user's suitability criteria. The user/may designate specific Data Boxes to automatically capture and process data feeds from such diverse sources as for network TV, satellite TV/music channels, cable transmissions, telephone communications, facsimile transmissions, Internet data, advertising data, subscriptions to on-line magazines, radio. In doing so, the multi-functional processor recorder becomes a versatile data management system for routing, capturing, processing, combining, accessing, display/playback, and/or downloading to portable devices any and all multiple data feeds received along various transmission sources. The user may designate a partition in his individual Data Box to hold only advertising information which has been processed and customized according to his unique user suitability criteria. This information may be communicated back to the broadcaster/content provider to allow advertising or video catalogues sent to the user to be more on target as to the user's preferences. Besides receiving preferred advertising and catalogues, the VPR/VMS allows the user to scan content backwards and forwards, as well conduct transactions to rent, purchase, pay-per-view out of the data box functions directly through the system. Instantaneous Playback The user can activate an Instant replay function of the VPR/DMS by pressing an Instant replay, a reverse scan button or a swing shuttle knob located on the remote control or on the VPR/DMS 30 unit. These functions are available for use during real time viewing/recording and for viewing previously recorded data (movies, etc.). While viewing a program in real time, user may at any time press the replay button which activates the rewind or a relocate playback feature for reviewing the last few seconds (or minutes) of the program. Such time lengths are programmable by the user. This may occur while the program is being viewed in real time and being recorded simultaneously on the built-in, non-movable storage device 14. This replay function is programmable to review a pre-selected or pre-programmed number of seconds or minutes of programs being viewed in real time according to the user's preference. It also allows for variable replay time frames by pressing the replay button (or turning rewind shuttle knob) allowing user to spontaneously select the instant replay time frame indicated on the on-screen display. Once the user has completed viewing the replay segment, the unit will automatically shift to the real time viewing mode, or if desired, the user may re-commence viewing of the program at the point of pause which also continues to record the program. At the same time, the system continues to record the program by the use of multiple read/write operations. The system registers all pauses in “live or real time” viewing by timing based on the location of cue points automatically registered in system memory for automatically returning to view the program at the point of pause or instant replay. The recording modes for such instant replay features include both continuous loop in a designated time frame, or continuous recording to the end of the storage capacity. The continuous loop mode is particularly useful. Regardless of how long the user records a broadcast or other data feed, the last few seconds, minutes, or even hours of programs being viewed in real time can be instantly replayed. The system will automatically record over initially recorded storage areas located on recording tape, optical disc, hard drive, or other built-in, non-movable storage device 14. Since the VPR/DMS 30 includes both multiple storage device; and multiple data boxes, the instant replay features can be activated for review during several recording modes. This includes multiple programs being recorded simultaneously, as well as programs that have been previously recorded. These multiple programs may be displayed in full screen, split screen, or Picture-In-Picture display formats. Pause-N-Return or Stop-N-Go Functions Referring now to FIGS. 18 and 19, the manner in which the VPR/DMS 30 of the present invention initiates pause-n-return or stop-n-go functions is illustrated. The VPR/DMS 30 of the present invention provides that a user may pause live viewing of a broadcast program and return later to continue viewing the program from the point of pause through to end of the program. This may occur even if the program is still in progress. If the user pauses live program viewing while the VPR/DMS is not in any recording mode, then the user activates a “pause n′ return” button. This button instructs the system to instantly begin recording the program while also automatically registering the pause cue point in system memory for use later. This process may be repeated as often as necessary. When the user returns to continue viewing, a “return to view” button may be utilized which automatically locates and begins playing back the program from the precise cue point which the user paused live, real time program. At that point the system continues to record the program using a read/write device, and continues to record the program through to its ending. The system continues to playback the recorded program in normal viewing sequence. The functionality is repeatable any number of times allowing the view to raise-n-return to continue viewing in normal continuous sequence regardless of how many minutes, hours, or even days the user takes to view the entire program. Although the system will function in this manner in use with various recording and storage formats, the preferred embodiment includes use of one or more high capacity hard disk drives with random access memory operations. “Late to View” or Time Shifting Functions Referring now to FIGS. 18 and 19, the manner in which the VPR/DMS 30 of the present invention initiates “late to view” or time shifting functions. The VPR/DMS 30 may be programmed to begin a recording of a broadcast program or broadcast channel at a specific time in both normal recording mode or in continuous loop mode. If the user arrives late to begin viewing a broadcast program or channel which has already started, the system will automatically locate and register in systems memory, the cue point of the program being recorded. It will then begin playing back the program from its beginning through to its ending, regardless of whether or not the program is still in progress, while at the same time continue recording the show to its ending by use of multiple read/write heads or random access memory operations provided in the system. Additionally, the user may take advantage of “Instant Replay” and “Pause-N-Return” functions. In effect, this system provides that a user will never be late to view a favored broadcast. Referring now to FIG. 13, the user may program the system to capture digital data products from a single or a plurality of broadcast channels at the same time. A microprocessor in the system has software programming to control the operation of the processing circuitry and the playback circuitry. The software programming interacts with the non-movable storage device 14 and the playback device 15 to allow recording of the digital data products as they are broadcast. The software programming further interacts with the playback circuitry to allow the data to be played back from a cue point, paused on command, and restarted from the cue point, while the data are being continuously recorded without interruption The data may be subject to either pay per view, purchase or rental restrictions by the broadcaster/content provider. When this occurs, the data is still received and recorded, but in a format that prohibits viewing by the user until the commercial transaction has been completed. The data may be scrambled, encrypted, or otherwise locked from viewing until the user agrees to pay for access. However, the data is already stored on the users local VPR/DMS, so the commercial transaction may take place locally on a remote ATS. Once the commercial transaction is completed, the digital data product provider exchanges a digitally encoded electronic access key to the scrambled, encrypted, or otherwise locked data. In this way, the user may come home only to find that his or her premium program of choice started, say fifteen minutes prior. In prior art devices, the entire body of programming content, in this instance would be missed or viewed 15 minutes into the program. However, because the user pre-programmed the system to capture a broad band of programming channels or specific programs during the period before the program started, the entire program is still instantly accessible, even while the program is still being recorded. The access key is obtained allowing the user convenient and discretionary viewing privileges. If the scrambled or encrypted digital data isn't accessed, the system may record over it later. This unique function provides improvements for both the end user as well as increasing pay-per-view sales by effectively synchronizing program starting times with convenient user access time schedules. Expanded Continuous Loop Recording Referring now to FIGS. 18 and 19, the manner in which the VPR/DMS 30 of the present invention initiates continuous loop recording. The continuous loop recording functions in the VPR/DMS of the present invention have many useful purposes when applied to both “free” channel broadcast data and fee based/subscription broadcasts. When applied to free broadcasts, for example, a network television broadcast, or any received broadcast where no pay-per-view transactions are required for immediate access to a program, this feature provides that even when a user is late to arrive to view a program which has already started, he/she may view the program from its beginning through to its ending. First the user scans broadcast channels or program menu displays to determine desired programs already in progress which have been recorded by the VPR/DMS via any methods previously described. Upon selection by user via remote control or via buttons on VPR/DMS the system automatically locates the starting point of the broadcast program (TV show, movie, audio track, etc.) which has been recorded onto system's built-in storage device, preferably a hard disk drive for this application. The system simultaneously continues to record the remainder of the broadcast (unless entire broadcast has been fully recorded) using multiple read/write heads and random access operations with hard disk drive system. The system is also instantly programmable to automatically disengage the continuous loop recording process if the user, in addition to viewing the broad, cast in “view time” (time shifted real-time viewing), wishes to capture the program in its entirety for viewing at s later time. Any and all processing functions described previously (VPR/DMS) are applicable to said recorded program such as for data, scrambling, program customization, compressed data, commercial skip, ratings edited, and all processing can be done before and/or after recording. This continuous loop recording process is useful for allowing user to scan backwards all broadcasts received within a limited time period (limited only to the total recording capacity of the built-in storage device or designated storage areas on the device assigned for such purposes). Therefore, when a user has not programmed the system for recording specific broadcast programs, then this feature provides instant access to hours of previously received broadcasts for selection and viewing. The hard disk drive system provides such capabilities for 20 hours or more, or dividable storage capacity assigned to individual broadcast channels. For example, the total storage capacity of 20 hours equally assigned over 10 broadcast channels allows for a user to view any program(s) received within the last 2 hosts over any of the 10 channels from the beginning of the program through to its ending. Alternately, a user may program the system to record specific programs or programs automatically selected via system discretionary filter/editor system based on programmable user suitability criteria. In this way, the user may view, for example, all comedy programs received within the allotted, time period (continuous loop recording capacity) instead of only recording specific programs and then deactivating recording when storage capacity is reached. The continuous loop recording mode can be pre-programmed to activate and deactivate at any time desired by user. This feature is also necessary for providing instantaneous playback (“instant replay”) and backwards program scanning as previously described in that the system continues to record received broadcasts even when data storage capacity is full. These functions are also very well suited for enhanced pay-per-view, fee-based channels, and subscription program applications. When applied with the continuous loop functions described above, many new and useful functions are provided. For example, the process described above can be assigned to one or more pay-per-view channels for recording all broadcasts received over the previous 3 hours (capacity of continuous loop storage designated to the channel). In this way, the user may “purchase” a number of pay-per-view broadcast programs currently in progress (movie, etc.) and view the entire program from its beginning even if he or she is late to arrive for the beginning of the real-time start of the program. This application of the system effectively solves the most prevalent problem of know pay-per-view delivery formats: failure to match viewer's time of convenience with real time start of programming. The value to both broadcasters and consumers may be easily seen. Additionally, these capabilities become even more advantageous when all other VPR/DMS functions are available, such as instant replay, backwards and forwards scanning, customized program processing/editing, multi-format broadcast processing, utilization with individually accessed storage units (data boxes), as well as applications with all other VPR/DMS rental/purchase capabilities. Any or all of these functions may be applied to the pay-per-view premium subscription programs which allows not only a virtual “on-demand” audio/video system, but also provides delivery of video programs and other data products which are customized to the end user's suitability. Video-On-Demand Referring now to FIG. 20, a schematic representation of the Video-on-Demand System, illustrating how data flows from a broadcaster into the VPR/DMS of the present invention, and how it may be recorded on a plurality of tracks having temporal offsets. The invention may be used for providing Video-On-Demand (V.O.D.) or Near-Video-On-Demand (N.V.O.D.) functions in use with multiple television broadcast channels or via Internet broadcasting 39. For these functions the system utilizes pre-stored initial data program segments. In this example an initial movie segment (PR-A) 76 of 30 minutes (or longer) in length in conjunction with (4) standard TV/movie broadcast channels. Each of the (4) broadcast channels transmit the exact stream of data representing the same movie (2 hr movie in this example) but in 30 minute time delayed intervals. Upon selection by viewer at anytime between the hours of 6:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m. (beginning of last segment B to be broadcast that day in this example) and following any necessary fee transactions, playback of pre-stored initial movie segment (PR-A) 76 begins at 6:45 p.m. in this illustration. If the movie is a pay-per-view movie, then upon selection and completion of fee transactions the initial movie segment (PR-A) is unscrambled or otherwise unlocked for display in normal viewing format. The pre-storing of initial data/program segments (movies, etc.) can be accomplished in several ways, including: 1. automatically recording an initial program segment at the time a regularly scheduled program is being broadcast; or 2. single or multiple initial program segments may be transmitted by broadcasters along channels designated for such purposes, via the Internet, downloaded from a portable storage media, or by other transmission means for storage in the VPR/DMS system within storage areas designated for such purposes and utilized for the V.O.D./N.V.O.D. operations described above. At the time of selection and playback of PR-A 76, the system simultaneously and automatically begins monitoring all (4) broadcast channels 75, i.e. (ch1, ch2, ch3, ch4) on which the same movie is to be broadcast in time delayed intervals. The system automatically selects channel (2) at the precise time (or slightly before) the beginning of segment B when broadcast in real-time (7:00 p.m.) (RS on figure). The recording of the movie broadcast on channel (2) will continue until the entire movie has been recorded (8:30 p.m. in this example). Once playback of pre-stored initial segment PR-A 76 is completed, the system automatically begins immediately playing back the now recorded movie segment (B) from its beginning which as been precisely located by use of either a data bit cue point identification system. This might include broadcast transmission of control information data received and stored in system memory received along with or prior to the movie data, or the system may utilize a clock timer system which identifies the beginning of segment B on channel 2 (by way of a time delay calculation or time synchronization method). If the VPR/DMS 30 contains only one playback head, then the system is programmable to automatically switch from playback of PR-A segment to a recording track 77 used for recording movie segment B. Whenever adequate space is available immediately adjacent to the recording track containing the pre-recorded PR-A segment, the system will automatically select that storage area on a Hard Disk Drive (in this example) for recording the movie segment which follows the initial segment (PR-A) for seamless playback of the entire movie. The system continues playback of all remaining movie segments (B,C,D) which are still being recorded by use of systems having simultaneously read/write capabilities described previously. In this example, the real-time movie broadcast on ch (2) selected for use ends at 8:30 p.m., at which time the recording of the movie on ch (2) also ends. Playback of the movie segments received on channel (2) and simultaneously recorded continues and concludes at 8:45 p.m., which is (2) hours subsequent to time of viewer selection and playback of pre-stored initial segment (PR-A) which began at 6:45 p.m. Again, the system and methods described above provide a solution to the existent problems of matching broadcast schedule times with time of convenience of television or Internet broadcasting viewers. These functions are equally applicable to “free” broadcast channels or fee based broadcast programming (pay-per-view, etc.). The latter might necessitate on-line direct fee transactions all within the system's “transaction zone” followed by broadcaster authorization for unscrambling or unlocking the pay-per-view movie (in this example) for immediate access by the system user. Note that the process described above and illustrated in FIG. 20 represents only one example of the V.O.D. or N.V.O.D. functions of the invention. Any number of similar broadcast formats may be easily configured and utilized by the VPR/DMS system for creating V.O.D. or N.V.O.D. capabilities. For example, a premium channel broadcast network such as Direct TV, HBO, or SHOWTIME may broadcast the same movie over three different channels in 20 minute time delayed intervals offering their subscribers a total of only (3) movie starts (as opposed to (4) starts in the example above) which more likely than not will not match the viewer's preferred time of convenience. By use of this invention, the pre-storage of an initial movie segment of at least 20 minutes in length will provide that (V.O.D.) between the times of the beginning of the first of the three broadcast starts and prior to the beginning of the second 20 minute segment of the third broadcast of the 2 hr. movie in this example. In these ways the system may for example pre-store up to 60 initial movie segments (20 minutes long) on one hard disk drive having a total data storage capacity of 20 hrs. This allows the end user to select and playback on-demand up to 60 different movies (or other programs), each of which are broadcast over multiple channels in 20 minute time delayed intervals. Other Commercial Aspects In addition to the system's capabilities for downloading data products to portable media which have been received directly by end-user via broadcast signal or other data transmission means, the VPR/DMS of the present invention is capable of storing, processing, and playback of data products (i.e., movies, computer games, etc.) which have been pre-recorded* onto any type of portable storage device (CD, DVD, VHS tapes, etc.) in unique recording/playback formats adapted for use by VPR/DMS recorder/players as described previously. In this embodiment of a commercial based VPR/DMS system all unique VPR/DMS functions as previously described for uses with portable storage devices would be identical, except that the recording of the data product would occur prior to rental or purchase of pre-recorded portable storage device by end-user. Additionally, the recording process might include all other unique formatting techniques previously described including (some or all) copy protection, embedded control data, product identification data, consumer identification data, transaction/account data, rental/purchase transaction data, multi-formatted data, and all other formatting methods previously described for controlling all rental/purchase functions as well as unique record/playback functions enabled by the invention. Besides the availability of such pre-formatted pre-recorded VPR/DMS data products through mail order or retail distribution, the system might also be conformed to provide on-site (retailer, mail order, Blockbuster, etc.) recording of customized data products for rental, purchase, or rental/purchase to consumers for use on their home based VPR/DMS (or portables or public access systems). In this way a data product provider/distributor can format and record a movie (for example) according to specific user suitability criteria provided by the customer, or otherwise customized to conform to various pre-selected criteria known to be popular or suitable for various customer groups such as based on ratings, or price based on sophistication of user playback options as formatted and recorded on the DVD, VHS tape, C.D., etc. To allow this commercial operation, similar to functions described for direct delivery of data programs to end-user system, the commercial based VPR/DMS would receive bulk data products (movies for example) via broadcast or other data transmission from content providers (i.e., Internet, etc.) for storage within its commercial VPR/DMS, preferably stored on a built-in non-movable storage device such as a high capacity HDD. Subsequently, a retailer (for example) can download a customized version of a data product (movie, etc.) onto a highly formatted, copy protected VPR/DMS portable storage device for sale or rental to customers for use on their VPR/DMS systems. All functions for negotiating rental and purchase transactions as previously described for direct transmission to home-based VPR/DMS systems are equally effective for rental or purchase of pre-recorded data products as described above. However, alternatively to automatic “return” of data products (i.e., erasure, scrambling, etc.) customers may be required to physically return a pre-recorded VPR/DMS data product for subsequent resale, re-rental, or erasure by retailer or product distributor. As previously described, rented and purchased VPR/DMS data products are securely controlled via copy protection, embedded control data, and other techniques. However, contrary to existing rental/purchase formats (i.e., DIVX), it is not necessary that the data product be recorded in a scrambled format. Therefore, under easily managed negotiations with content providers, a VPR/DMS portable storage device may be utilized with existing (or future universal) recorder/players following any necessary rental or purchase transactions with content providers. Alternately, the system is fully capable of scrambling and unscrambling data stored internally or onto a portable media while under proprietary control by content providers as previously described, yet maintaining the capability for permanently descrambling the data product for transfer to a portable storage device (C.D., DVD, VHS tape, etc.) for use with conventional recorder/players. Thus the fears by consumers to invest in specialized recorder/players or to collect libraries of products which can only be played back on specialized players (i.e., DIVX, etc.) is eliminated. Additionally, for use by commercial product distributors or by end-users, “blank” VPR/DMS portable storage media (i.e., CD, DVD, VHS, etc.) can be produced which have been formatted at the factory or distributor level to include unique VPR/DMS control data and product information data (as described above) for customizing data products, for maximizing unique VPR/DMS recording, processing, and playback functions, or other for use in controlling all rental/purchase transactions described previously. Copyright Collection/Monitoring Functions In addition to storing and processing transaction data or other control information data, the VPR/DMS is capable of electronically monitoring and logging all rental, purchase, or pay-per-view transactions as well as end user access operations (i.e., playbacks, downloads, etc.) of data programs and products which are copyrighted, patented, licensed or otherwise represent proprietary intellectual property. This electronically logged data might then be automatically transmitted to or retrieved by content providers or by copyright collective organizations such as ASCAP, BMI, SESAC, etc. for collection of licensing fees or other purposes. Otherwise, these licensing and distribution mechanisms might be executed by random sampling, periodical monitoring or retrieval of statistical data about distribution, broadcast, re-broadcasts, downloads to portable media, or other use of proprietary intellectual property by direct (or indirect) access to such data stored within the VPR.DMS or at an associated database. These same invention capabilities can also be utilized by both content providers and end-users for compiling and analyzing activity specific statistical data for producing end-user profile data which can then be used for directing transmission, storage and custom processing of data products, programs or advertisements which are most suitable for end-users. Effective employment of these operations is enhanced by the use of various VPR/DMS processing capabilities described herein including: compartmental data storage and processing, embedded control data (TAGS) processing, data encoding and decoding copy protection features (such as Macrovision, watermarking, etc.), direct microprocessor control by content provider, and other invention features described herein and illustrated in the figures. | <SOH> FIELD OF THE INVENTION <EOH>The present invention relates to a data handling system for the management of data received on one or more data feeds. More specifically, it relates to a method for management, storage and retrieval of digital information and an apparatus for accomplishing the same. Even more specifically, it relates to a method and system for selecting, receiving and manipulating data products that may be transferred to a portable storage device for use with existing playback systems. Even more specifically, it relates to a system for renting or purchasing data products for immediate, on-demand delivery, which may be formatted and transferred to a portable medium for use in any existing playback device. | <SOH> SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION <EOH>An object of this invention is to provide a system that creates a transaction or commercial zone for data to be received, manipulated, stored, retrieved, and accessed by a user, utilizing one or more data feeds from various sources. The system also creates unique arrangements of information or selections of information from distinct user-defined criteria. Another object of the invention is to provide a system for intermediate service providers to manipulate and repackage data and information for end users in a streamlined, comprehensive package of information. A further object of this invention is to provide a system for the electronic delivery of data for commercial or other types of communication that can also serve as an electronically based payment system for same. A further object of this invention is to provide a single integrated system and device with a user-friendly control interface which permits the end user to efficiently and effectively manipulate and manage data feeds. A further object of this invention is to provide a system and device for spontaneously and automatically capturing and manipulating large amounts of data for both real time playback, and for storing the captured data for subsequent playback without the need for having a readily available, movable, blank storage device. Another object of this invention is to provide a system and device for spontaneously and automatically capturing and manipulating electronic data, either continuously or at specified times, both for real time playback, and for storage for subsequent playback, without the need for having a readily available, movable, blank storage device, and which can be programmed from a remote location. Another object of this invention is to provide a system and device for capturing, manipulating and storing open digital audio, video and audio/video data to a built-in storage device, and for transferring the data to a selectable portable storage device. This is accomplished while incorporating digital copyright protection to protect he/she artist's work from unlawful pirating. Media formats include data that is scrambled or encrypted, or which is written on disks and devices designed to be compatible with the Data Management System of the present invention. Other objects of the present invention include: The use of data boxes to personalize programming to the individual taste of the user. Rent/lease storage space in users Data Box to personalize and target advertising to the individual preferences of the user. Purchase or rent data products (movie, TV show, etc.) even after real time broadcast. In a preferred embodiment of the invention, a digital data management system includes a remote Account-Transaction Server (“ATS”), and a local host Data Management System and Audio/Video Processor Recorder-player (“VPR/DMS”) unit. The ATS may be local or placed at the content broadcaster's site. The ATS stores and provides all potential programming information for use with the local VPR/DMS unit. This includes user account and sub-account information, programming/broadcast guides, merchandise information. It may also include data products for direct purchase and/or rental from on-line or virtual stores, and has interfaces with billing authorities such as Visa, MasterCard, Discover, American Express, Diner's Club, or any other credit card or banking institution that offers credit or debit payment systems. The local VPR/DMS unit comprises at least one data feed which includes an interface to the ATS; at least one receiver/transmitter unit for receiving information from a data provider or the ATS, and for transmitting information to the remote ATS; and a plurality of data manipulation and processing devices. These devices may include, but are not limited to, digital signal processors, an automatic discretionary content filter/editor, a V-chip or other such content or ratings-based “content blocker, analog-to-digital converters, and digital-to-analog converters; a one or more built-in, non-movable storage devices; one or more recording units; a microprocessor; a user interface; and a playback unit. The VPR/DMS queries the ATS at regular intervals to obtain the latest broadcast, programming and merchandise information. Upon user request, a program running on the VPR/DMS creates a virtual “Transaction Zone”, whereby the information received from the remote ATS (or from a direct broadcast) is configured in a graphical, hierarchical set of menus. These menus allow the user to access a variety of functions and/or program the VPR/DMS to record scheduled broadcasts or to directly rent or purchase data products. The local VPR/DMS unit acts as the interface between the data products from the broadcaster/content provider, the ATS, and the end user. The VPR/DMS may be used in a variety of ways, including, but not limited to, a virtual audio/video recorder/player for recording and playback of scheduled broadcast programs; an audio/video duplicating device for capturing, manipulating and storing audio/video programs from other external audio/video sources; or as an interface to a “virtual store” for purchasing and/or renting audio/video products or computer software on demand. The VPR/DMS may also be used in a combination device, such as a TVCR, or as a separate component linking any well known audio or video device to a plurality of input sources. Audio/video or other data may be received on the data feed lines at the receiver unit. For example, a cable television broadcast may be received on a cable television broadcast feed at a CATV receiver located in the receiver unit (notice, that likewise, a satellite television, digital cable, or even a UHF/VHF signal may be received, depending on the type of television connection used). Once the data has been received, it may be converted to digital form (if not already in digital form), compressed and immediately stored on the built-in storage device. For example, the analog or digital TV signal may be converted to mpeg-2 format (the standard used on DVD) and stored on the internal storage device preferably a HDD or RAM optical disk, as is well known in the art. Following storage, user-controlled programming features determine whether or how the digital data will be processed upon playback. In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the built-in storage device of the VPR/DMS is such that it allows stored data to be accessed as soon as it is stored. This provides for the ability to watch and store a program virtually in real time. As the broadcast program is received it is converted to digital form, stored on the built-in storage device, read from the storage device, processed by the processing circuit, and played back through the playback circuitry and output to an attached television. This operation is similar to recording a television show with a VCR while viewing the program. However, the invention provides the ability to pause, freeze frame, stop, rewind, fast forward or playback while it continues to record the remainder of the show in real time as it is broadcast. For example, a user may be watching a television show in real time while the VPR/DMS records and processes the broadcast when his viewing is interrupted by a knock at the door. Rather than waiting for the show to finish recording before he/she can go back and see the portion of the program missed by the interruption, the user may pause the simultaneous broadcast/playback while the VPR/DMS continues to record the remainder of the program. Later, he/she can return to a precise cue point marker where the interruption occurred, and continue watching the show, even as the VPR/DMS continues to record the broadcast. In addition, he/she may rewind, fast forward through commercials, watch in slow motion, or perform any other VCR-like function, even while the VPR/DMS continues to record a broadcast. Thus, the system provides a means by which the user may seamlessly integrate real time with delayed playback. The VPR/DMS also provides a means by which the user may program the local host receiver/player to automatically record certain programs, or other data from specific data deeds. For example, when used as a recording unit to record preferred broadcasts, the user may program the local host/receiver unit to record according to specific times via a built-in auto-clock timer. It may also record specific programs, in much the same way that current VCR technology allows users to manually set recording times, or even program-specific recordings (e.g., VCR+, or TV Guide Plus). However, the preferred embodiment makes significant improvements over the manual timer or VCR+ type recording methods by allowing the user to personalize his or her own parameters for recording broadcast programs. In addition to manual timer recording and VCR+ technology, the system includes a built-in automatic discretionary content filter/editor. This content filter/editor allows a user to program the unit to automatically record broadcast content by selection of a “User Suitability Criteria”, which may be defined as a program name, theme, genre, favorite actors or actresses, directors, producers or other parameters, such as key words, television/motion picture rating, etc. The User Suitability Criteria may be used alone or in combination, and can be used to either select or prohibit programming to be recorded. On demand, the VPR/DMS will automatically select, according to the User Suitability Criteria input, from among available programs according to a broadcast programming guide provided by the remote ATS, and will be automatically be configured to receive and record programs in accordance with the required parameters. Additionally, the broadcast signal may be supplied with digital control data recognizable by the VPR/DMS. For example, a user may program the VPR/DMS to selectively and automatically record all broadcast programs in which a particular actor appears. The VPR/DMS will examine the latest programming control data provided by the ATS, recognize programming selection, and automatically configure itself to record the programs in which that actor appears. The system provides the additional benefit of never having to be reprogrammed unless the user desires. For example, if a user has a favorite weekly television show that he/she would like to record, the system may be configured so that every week, it automatically records that show without having to be reprogrammed. However, the VPR/DMS configures itself based on User Suitability Criteria apart from just the program time selection of prior art video recorders. It searches the programming guides for titles, actors, ratings or other User Suitability Criteria, and only records those programs meeting the programmed parameters. Thus if the user's favorite show is preempted in favor of a special program, the system's programming will read the broadcast control data, understand that the program has been preempted and not record at the normally scheduled time. Additionally, the VPR/DMS may be programmed according to individual, non-related parameters so that multiple programs may be recorded. For example, an adult family member may program the VPR/DMS to record all broadcasts in which a particular actor appears, while another family member, say a child, may program the VPR/DMS to record all programs in which a different actor appears. A single user may also set up multiple individual recording parameters as well. This is accomplished by the creation of individual virtual “Data Boxes” or “personalized custom channels”, which may be created for each user. Real time recording and playback or selection of future manual or auto-recordings which flow into the individual Data Boxes may be accomplished based on the User Suitability Criteria. Individual criteria may be completely separate or related to other more system-wide criteria. Like VCR's, audio tape players, recordable compact disk units and other well known equipment, the invention can capture audio/video data output from other consumer electronics equipment in addition to recording broadcasts or retrieving information. A consumer may connect the VPR/DMS to a consumer electronic device such as a TV, video tape recorder, compact disc player, audio tape player, DVD player, or any other known digital or analog audio/video data player/recorder and record audio/video information directly to the built-in storage device. The VPR/DMS may also be connected to TV antennae, TV cable, or satellite dish receiving systems to receive broadcast media. It may also be attached to the Internet whereby the consumer can retrieve data from a desired website. For those players like DVD players, CD recorder/players and minidisc recorder/players having digital inputs and outputs, the VPR/DMS incorporates the ability to receive, store, encode, decode and output digital information in these formats. For example, a user may connect the digital output of a CD player or a minidisc player to a digital input on the VPR/DMS. The VPR/DMS may receive and store the digital CD or minidisc data onto the built-in storage device for subsequent use. In the same respect, the user may connect the digital output of the VPR/DMS to the digital input of a CD-recordable or minidisc player, and transfer digital data stored on the built-in storage device to a CD or minidisc. With the advent of DVD-RAM and DVD-recordable, both of these options are also available with regard to video, as well as audio data. In any event, the capability of the VPR/DMS to receive and store data from both content providers and other consumer electronic devices, as well as its ability to output both digital and analog data is instrumental in its multitude of uses, including the virtual rental/purchase options. A variation of the invention offers content providers the capability of direct instant delivering multi-formatted programs (movies, direct Compact Disc or other audio medium, video catalogs, etc.). The data management zone (or ring) would allow for rental (limited use) or purchase to home based or business based customers. It effectively eliminates need for transporting, inventorying, and physical delivery of digital data products. Direct data rental or purchase provides far more convenience, data security, versatility, cost effectiveness, technical quality, accessibility, product variety, product durability (no broken tapes or damaged compact discs) anti-piracy protection, various preview/rental/purchase options, secure transactions, auto return (no late fees), user privacy, etc. It also provides the added benefit to the rental industry of reducing or eliminating retail space and physical inventory. Under the virtual rental/purchase store, the user has several options. He may choose from products listed in an electronic catalog which is either downloaded from the remote ATS, or received via direct broadcast feed. He may set the content filter/editor to automatically record data. In either case, the data from which is stored on the local VPR/DMS. The VPR/DMS unit interfaces with the ATS to establish two-way communication with a broadcaster/content provider and update itself at regular intervals, providing the home user with the latest available rental/purchase information. For example, the user may browse through available movie titles, audio titles and software titles to select a particular product she would like to purchase or rent. The local VPR/DMS obtains the necessary information from the user to identify the selected product; retrieves stored or spontaneously entered billing information, and then transmits the information to the remote ATS. The remote ATS receives the requested information, and validates the user's account and billing information. It then electronically negotiates the purchase or rental from the content provider, and configures the local VPR/DMS to connect to and receive the requested data from the content provider either on-demand or via a broadcast schedule. In one type of purchase transaction, the data is received and stored on the built-in storage device where it may be accessed for processing, playback or transfer to other media. The data may be received in a scrambled or encrypted format, and may have either content or access restrictions, but also may be provided without restriction. For example, in a rental or purchase transaction, the remote ATS, the local VPR/DMS, (or both) retain rental control information, which is monitored by the broadcaster/content provider, to restrict the use of downloaded data past the or prior to negotiated rental period. For example, control data indicating rental restrictions for a particular title may be stored by the VPR/DMS upon receipt of the digital data product (i.e., movie, pay TV show, music album, etc.) from a content provider. Once receipt of the data is acknowledged by the VPR/DMS and the transaction is completed, the user may play back the data product, store it, or transfer it to portable medium for use on a stand alone playback unit (e.g., DVD player, VCR, etc.) provided all necessary transactions are completed. If the data product is stored in scrambled form, an authorization “key code” must be received from broadcaster/content provider to unlock the rented or purchased program by use of a built-in data descrambler device. In order to avoid late charges or fees for rental transactions, the user must “return” the data product by selecting a return option from the electronic menu. The VPR/DMS interfaces with the ATS to negotiate the “return”, and the data product is erased from the VPR/DMS storage device or re-scrambled (authorization key voided, where the data product remains stored for future access/rental/purchase). The data product has been transferred to portable medium; the control data keeps a record of such transfer, and requires the portable medium to be erased before successfully negotiating the “return.” In this way, the system is programmable by the end user and broadcaster/content provider to enact a “virtual return” of data products stored on the non-moveable storage device. In a preferred embodiment, the user may program the system to process the received data according to the User's Suitability Criteria. For example, the system may be preset to automatically filter, edit, record or not record all or any part of the content of the data based on User's Suitability Criteria, by interpreting control data encoded into a broadcast signal. The data may otherwise be stored in a ROM, PROM, or on a portion of the built-in non-movable storage device reserved for such control information. The V-chip, which is well known, merely blocks out entire programs that are considered “unsuitable”. The present invention may include, as part of the microprocessor, a processing device or circuitry which automatically edits the received data according to the User's Suitability Criteria to omit portions of a received program that may be considered unsuitable. The content that is received from the broadcaster/content provider is sent to a processing circuit, which includes a signal processor for decoding control data that is included in broadcast signals. Alternatively, this content may be stored in a ROM, PROM, or a portion of the built-in non-movable storage device reserved for such control information, and which is used for determining whether or how the program or data product will be processed by the content filter/editor. Processing may include recording, editing, condensing, rearranging data segments, displaying, or otherwise customizing the content. This is especially useful when the User Suitability Criteria is a ratings based edit. The processor decodes the received content, interprets the control information, updates the previously stored control information, and then automatically edits the signal to censor unsuitable content (e.g., bleep out expletives, or eliminate scenes involving nudity or graphic violent or sexual content). The processed data may then be played back though the playback unit in real time and/or sent to the recording unit to be recorded onto the non-movable storage device for later access, editing, and/or playback by the playback unit. In a further preferred embodiment, the user may program the system to capture digital data products (data) from a plurality of broadcast channels or other data feeds at the same time. A microprocessor in the system may is controlled by the broadcaster/content provider and the end user. This microprocessor has software programming to control the operation of the processing circuitry and the playback circuitry. The software programming interacts with the built-in, non-movable storage device and the playback apparatus to allow recording and processing of the digital data products as they are broadcast from several channels simultaneously. The software programming further interacts with the playback circuitry to allow the data to be played back to a cue point, which is registered within the system's memory. It may be paused on command, and restarted and played back from the cue point, while the data are being continuously recorded without interruption. This allows the user to view, pause, and restart a program at his discretion while the program is still being recorded. The data may be subject to either pay per view, purchase or rental restrictions by the digital data product provider. When this occurs, the data is still received and recorded, but in a format that prohibits viewing by the user until the commercial transaction has been completed. The data may be scrambled, encrypted, or otherwise locked from viewing or playback (audio) until the user agrees to pay for access. However, since the data is already stored on the users local VPR/DMS, the commercial transaction may take place locally on the VPR/DMS, or on a remote ATS. When the user decides to obtain the data, the digital data product provider exchanges an electronic access key to the scrambled, encrypted, or otherwise locked data in exchange for agreement to his commercial terms. By way of example, the user may come home only to find that his or her premium program of choice started 15 minutes prior to his arrival. In all known prior art devices, the program in this instance would be missed. However, because the user pre-programmed the system to capture either a broad band of programming, or specific selections during the period before the program started, the entire program is still instantly accessible, even while the program is still recording. If required, an access key may be obtained allowing the user convenient and discretionary viewing privileges. Additionally, programs that have been completely recorded earlier may be rented or purchased in this fashion as well. If the scrambled or encrypted digital data isn't accessed from the recorder during a user definable time, the system may record over it later. In another variation of this invention, the system may be equipped with password protection that serves multiple purposes. First, the password protection limits the utilization of the device to authorized users of the system that have valid passwords. Second, the system may be programmed by an administrator (e.g., a parent) to automatically assign certain processing functions to specific passwords, prohibit certain processing functions from being utilized by specific passwords, or to make certain functions optional according to the administrator's objectives. For example, a parent may program the system to assign an automatic censoring, or editing function to a child's password in order to limit the content that child may view. Consequently, when the child enters his/her password in order to gain access to the system, all data to which the child has access (whether it be real time viewing or previously recorded data) will be automatically edited to screen cut unsuitable material as described above. The creation and use of the virtual individual “Data Boxes” or “custom channels”, is especially useful in the present invention. User suitability criteria unique to each data box address may be either completely separate or related to other system-wide criteria. This enables content stored to a first data box to be uniquely configured from second or subsequent data boxes. These Data Boxes may be accessed only by means of a unique password specific to the data box, of the built-in, non-movable storage device. In this manner, the present invention provides for multiple users to have, not only unique processing functions assigned to their accounts based on their password, but also to enjoy storage space to which other passwords have no access. For example, this feature allows parents to have greater control over the programming that may be accessed by their children. The system may also include the ability to add copyright protection to digital data in order to protect copyright holders from unauthorized duplication by intellectual property pirates. For example, Macrovision Corporation offers methods and systems for encoding data on a digital medium which causes disruption during recording from the digital medium to another analog or digital medium and causes the recorded resultant product to be of such poor quality, that it is not commercially useable. Similarly, minidisc and CD players use a system called Serial Code Management System (“SCMS”) which, during digital recording, sets certain control bits to prevent further digital copies from being made from the first generation copy. The VPR/DMS's processing and/or playback circuits may include elements for implementing this or similar copyright protection to the data received from content providers. Open data recorded onto the storage device may be encoded such that first generation copies of sufficient quality for personal use. but that copies of first generation copies are either preventable or of such poor quality that they sufficiently prevent pirating. It should also be noted that the recording means of the invention, which records data onto the high capacity, non-movable storage device, may be set to record in a continuous loop. This is an advantage over prior art devices, like VCR's, that shut off when its storage device has reached maximum capacity. This function may also be available if the built-in non-movable storage device has been divided into Data Boxes. For instance, a user may record data in a continuous loop to her particular Data Box, writing over the first recorded data when the Data Box reaches its capacity. When recording to a particular Data Box, and its full capacity has been reached, the recording device will record over the first recorded data in that Data Box. This may occur even if the built-in, non-movable storage device still has available space. Continuous loop-recording is useful, because it allows the user to continue to record a broadcast or other program although her storage space has been used up prior to the conclusion of the broadcast or program. It should be noted that the invention as described herein may be “bundled” with a television set, video cassette recorder, digital video disc player, radio, personal computer, receiver, cable box, satellite, wireless cable, telephone, computer or other such electronic device to provide a single unit device. For example, in the television and video market there exist television/VCR combinations “bundles” which include a television set and a video cassette recorder combined into the same enclosure. The present invention may be combined with a television, a VCR, a TV/VCR combination, DVD, TV DVD combination, digital VCR, or any combination above or with computers to provide a single unit device which allows the user to spontaneously view television broadcasts; VCR (or other such device) movies or programs; or other such programs or data, and to record them without the need for a blank video cassette or other such storage device. Other combinations include: radio, satellite receivers and decoders, “set top” internet access devices, wireless cable receivers, and automobile radio/CD, and data stored on computers. Further, utilizing the claimed invention, the bundled device allows for convenient storage until such time as the user can obtain a blank movable storage device on which to transfer the recorded program. Another aspect of the present invention is the capability of downloading data products to portable media. The invention is capable of storing, processing, and playback of data products which have been pre-recorded onto any type of portable storage device. In a “commercial based” embodiment a merchant (or distributor), such as BLOCKBUSTER VIDEO may employ a VPR/DMS in a commercial establishment to receive data, edit it customer's User Suitability Criteria, and instantly record the edited version on a portable storage device which then is sold or rented. This enables the merchant to thereby reduce his standing inventory for a given title, yet enables him to retain the data as originally received and produce as many copies as current demand allows. This commercially based VPR/DMS system has all the unique VPR/DMS functions as previously described. Functionally, the commercial based system would be identical to the home based version, except that the recording of the data product would occur by an intermediary prior to rental or purchase by end-user. Additionally, commercial product distributors or by end-users may utilize “blank” VPR/DMS portable storage media (i.e., CD, DVD, VHS, etc.) which can be produced and preformatted at the factory or at the distributor level to include unique VPR/DMS control data and product information data (as described above) for customizing data products, for maximizing unique VPR/DMS recording, processing, and playback functions, or other for use in controlling all rental/purchase transactions described previously. | 20040903 | 20101123 | 20050908 | 77161.0 | 1 | CHAMPAGNE, DONALD | SYSTEM FOR DATA MANAGEMENT AND ON-DEMAND RENTAL AND PURCHASE OF DIGITAL DATA PRODUCTS | SMALL | 1 | CONT-ACCEPTED | 2,004 |
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10,933,905 | ACCEPTED | Ophthalmologic analysis system | This invention relates to an ophthalmologic analysis system for measuring the thickness of the corneal tissue on an eye to be examined having a projection device with which defined regions of the corneal tissue are illuminated, whereby the projection device cooperates with an observation system by means of which the illuminated regions of the corneal tissue can be observed and recorded at an angle in relation to the beam path of the projection device such that the thickness of the corneal tissue can be derived in an analysis device from the image information of the observation system. A second projection device is provided on the analysis system with which defined regions of the corneal tissue are illuminated, whereby the second the projection device cooperates with a second observation system by means of which the illuminated regions of the corneal tissue are observed and recorded such that the curvature of the corneal tissue can be derived from the image information of the second observation system in the analysis device. | 1. An ophthalmologic analysis system (01) for measuring the thickness of the corneal tissue on an eye (A) that is to be examined, having a projection device (02) with which defined regions of the corneal tissue are illuminated, whereby the projection device (02) cooperates with an observation system (03) through which the illuminated area of the corneal tissue is observed and recorded at an angle relative to the beam path of the projection device (02) such that the thickness of the corneal tissue can be derived in an analysis device from the image information of the observation system (03), the ophthalmologic analysis system comprising: a second projection device (04, 05, 08) is provided on the analysis system (01) with which defined regions of the corneal tissue are illuminated, whereby the second projection device (04, 05, 08) cooperates with a second observation system (09) through which the illuminated regions of the corneal tissue are observed and recorded, such that the curvature of the corneal tissue can be derived from the image information of the second observation system (09) in the analysis device. 2. The analysis system according to claim 1, wherein the first projection device (02) is designed in the manner of slit lighting, so that the corneal tissue can be illuminated with a light slit. 3. The analysis system according to claim 2, wherein the beam path of the slit lighting (02) is deflected by 90° at least once on a reflector element (18, 19), in particular being deflected by 90° each time on two reflector elements (18, 19). 4. The analysis system according to claim 2, wherein the slit lighting (02) is arranged to be stationary. 5. The analysis system according to claim 2, wherein one or more LEDs (15) are used as the lighting means for the first projection device (02). 6. The analysis system according to claim 2, wherein the beam path of the first projection device (02), the beam path of the first observation system (03) and the projection plane (22) of the first observation system (03) are arranged with intermediate angles so that the first projection device (02) and the first observation system (03) together form a Scheimpflug system. 7. The analysis system according to claim 1, wherein the second projection device, the second observation system and the analysis device together form a topographic measurement system for measuring the topography of the cornea. 8. The analysis system according to claim 1, wherein the second projection device (04, 05, 08), the second observation system (09) and the analysis device together form a keratometer. 9. The analysis system according to claim 8, wherein a defined measurement mark can be projected onto the cornea with the projection device (04, 05, 08) of the keratometer. 10. The analysis system according to claim 9, wherein the measurement mark has two collimated light spots and a non-collimated light strip that is essentially circular. 11. The analysis system according to claim 10, wherein the collimated light spots are each produced by an LED (10) arranged in a tube (04, 05) with at least one lens (11) in front of the light-emitting diode. 12. The analysis system according to claim 10, wherein the circular non-collimated light strip is created by a circular cylindrical light guide element (08) whereby the light of at least one lighting means (15) is input into the light guide element on the rear end face and/or on the circumference of the cylinder and emerges from the light guide element (08) on the forward end face. 13. The analysis system according to claim 12, wherein several LEDs (12) distributed around the circumference of the circular cylindrical light guide element (08) serve as the lighting means. 14. The analysis system according to claim 1, wherein at least one video sensor (14, 22) is provided in the first observation system (03) and/or in the second observation system (09) so that the cornea can be observed and recorded, with the video sensor (14, 22) relaying the image data in the form of a video signal. 15. The analysis system according to claim 14, wherein the video signal is generated in a digital data format or is converted to a digital data format. 16. The analysis system according to claim 15, wherein a digital image processing system is provided as the analysis device, with which the thickness of the corneal tissue and/or the curvature of the corneal tissue can be derived from the digital image data. 17. The analysis system according to claim 14, wherein the video sensor is designed in the manner of chip camera (14, 22). 18. The analysis system according to claim 14, wherein the video sensor (14) of the second observation system (09) can be used as a setup camera for aligning the eye (A) that is to be examined in the correct position. 19. The analysis system according to claim 1, wherein the analysis system (01) can be used as a pupillometer. 20. The analysis system according to claim 19, wherein the pupillometer can be used as a centering system for positioning the eye (A) to be examined. 21. The analysis system according to claim 1, wherein the analysis system (01) is accommodated in a housing (23) which can be connected to an instrument mount. | This invention relates to an ophthalmologic analysis system for measuring the thickness of the cornea on the human eye according to the preamble of Claim 1. Such analysis systems are of major importance in ophthalmology. By using suitable image processing methods, the significant properties of the corneal tissue can be ascertained extremely effectively. Tests have shown that the measurement of the thickness of the cornea depends on the radius of curvature of the cornea in the measurement range. In other words, this means that the means known so far for measuring the thickness of the corneal tissue have been subject to a measurement error, with the deviation being greater, the greater the difference between the actual curvature of the cornea in the measurement range and the reference value preselected in the analysis system. Against the background of this state of the art, the object of the present invention is therefore to make available an ophthalmologic analysis system with which this measurement accuracy can be increased. This object is achieved by an analysis system according to the teaching of Claim 1. Advantageous embodiments of this invention are the object of the subclaims. This invention is based on the basic idea of combining in one instrument the known pachymetric analysis systems with another analysis system with which the curvature of the cornea can be measured. As a result, it is possible in a single examination of the patient using one instrument to determine both the thickness and curvature of the cornea. The curvature of the corneal tissue may also be used in deriving the measured value for the thickness of the cornea from the image information, so that measurement errors in the derivation of the thickness of the corneal tissue due to deviations in the assumed curvature of the corneal tissue can be ruled out. The first projection device for examination of the cornea may preferably be designed in the manner of slit lighting. Lighting of the corneal tissue with a light slit has proven most suitable for measuring the thickness of the cornea. In addition, it is especially advantageous if the beam path of the slit lighting is deflected at least once by 90° on a reflector element, in particular by 90° on each of two reflector elements. This makes it possible to implement a very compact instrument design because the beam path of the slit lighting can be folded through appropriate deflection. A stationary arrangement of the slit lighting ensures an extremely accurate adjustment of the slit diaphragm so that measurement errors due to unwanted deviations in the slit diaphragm are ruled out. A particularly great image resolution of the image data obtained by the first observation system is achieved when a Scheimpflug system is imaged through an appropriate arrangement with intermediate angles from the first projection device and from the first observation system. It is essentially irrelevant how the curvature of the corneal tissue is measured. According to a first embodiment, it is conceivable to use a topographic measurement system for measuring the topography of the cornea. Such topographic measurement systems are known in the state of the art and are suitable in principle for measuring the curvature of the corneal tissue in all parts of the cornea. According to a second embodiment, the second projection device, the second observation system and the analysis device together form a keratometer. To measure the curvature of the cornea with a keratometer, a defined measurement mark may be projected onto the cornea and the distortion in the measurement mark occurring due to curvature is measured on the cornea. A combination of two collimated light spots and an essentially circular light strip which is not collimated is especially suitable for use as the measurement mark. Two tubes that are cylindrical, for example, may be provided on the keratometer to produce the collimated light spots. A light-emitting diode (LED) is provided as the lighting means in the interior of these tubes, with at least one lens being positioned in front of the LED to create the collimated light. To produce the circular non-collimated light strip, a circular cylindrical light guide element may be used. The light is input on the end face and/or on the circumference of the cylinder by lighting with a lighting means on the back side of the light guide element, e.g., a strip of plastic that conducts light. The light then leaves the light guide element on the forward end face and is projected onto the cornea as a circular non-collimated light strip according to the circular cylindrical shape of the light guide element. LEDs in particular may be used as the lighting means for input of the light into the light guide element. To facilitate processing and/or storing of the image data observed by the first observation system and/or the second observation system, it is particularly advantageous if suitable video sensors are used for image pickup, these sensors optionally relaying the image data in the form of a video signal to downstream function units, e.g., an image processing system. To permit digital image processing, the video signal should preferably be generated in a digital data format or, if the image data is recorded in analog form, the video signal should be converted to a digital data format. For calculating the thickness of the corneal tissue and/or the curvature of the corneal tissue from the image data thus recorded, preferably a digital signal processing system should be used, such as that installed on a standard PC, for example. In particular so-called chip cameras, e.g., CMOS chips or CCD chips have proven successful as video sensors. To measure the thickness of the corneal tissue, the eye to be examined must be aligned as accurately as possible in relation to the observation optics. Using the video sensor of the second observation system, which is used itself to measure the curvature of the cornea, as a setup camera makes it possible to eliminate the need for a separate setup camera. The function units provided on the inventive analysis system also make it possible to use this system simultaneously as a pupillometer for measuring the pupil response as a function of time. Apart from the image processing software which is suitable here accordingly, no additional optical function units are needed to perform pupillometry. The pupil position could also be used in particular to determine the point of intersection, i.e., the relative position of the eye to be examined in relation to the instrument. In this manner, the pupillometer may also be used as a centering system for positioning the eye to be examined. It is particularly advantageous if the analysis system is accommodated in a housing which can be connected to an instrument mount. In this way, it is not necessary to have an independent instrument mount for positioning the analysis system in front of the eye to be examined. Instead of this, a standard instrument mount such as that available anyway in many ophthalmology practices is used for this purpose. One embodiment of this invention is diagramed schematically in the drawings and explained below with examples. FIG. 1 shows an ophthalmologic analysis system in a perspective view; FIG. 2 shows the analysis system according to FIG. 1 in a side view; FIG. 3 shows the analysis system according to FIG. 1 in a view from above; FIG. 4 shows the analysis system according to FIG. 1 in a view from the front; FIG. 5 shows the analysis system according to FIG. 1 in a cross section along line sectional line I-I; FIG. 6 shows the analysis system according to FIG. 1 in a longitudinal section along sectional line II-II. FIG. 1 illustrates an ophthalmologic analysis system 01 for combined examination of a patient's eyes, shown here in perspective view. The analysis system 01 is installed in a housing 23, which is composed of multiple parts and has various accessory parts and can be connected to a suitable instrument mount (not shown here). For one type of examination in which the thickness of the corneal tissue of the eye A is measured, a first projection device 02 designed in the manner of a slit lighting is provided. The function of the first projection device 02 is explained in greater detail below. The measurement system for measuring the thickness of the cornea is completed by a first observation system 03 which is designed in the manner of Scheimpflug camera system. The keratometric measurement system for measuring the curvature of the corneal tissue has a projection device with which two collimated spots of light and an essentially circular non-collimated strip of light can be projected onto the eye A. To create the collimated light spots, two tubes 04 and 05 are provided, directed at the point of intersection of the different beam axes, an LED 10 generating a collimated light beam in the interior of these tubes in cooperation with a lens 11. The two light beams pass through a lens ring 06 in two recesses 07 provided for this purpose and are projected in this way onto the eye A to be examined. The circular non-collimated light strip is created by a circular cylindrical light guide element 08. The light guide element 08 is illuminated on its rear side with LEDs 12, so that the light input into the light guide element 08 opposite the eye A to be examined can emerge on the forward end face in the form of a circular strip of light. The keratometric measurement system is completed by a second observation system 09. FIG. 1, FIG. 3 and FIG. 4 show the analysis system 01 in various views from different angles. On the basis of the cross section shown in FIG. 5, the functioning of the keratometric measurement system will now be explained briefly. An LED 10 is provided in each of tubes 04 and 05, a lens 11 being situated upstream from each LED. In this way, collimated light beams are created in the tubes 04 and 05 and are projected through the recesses 07 in the lens ring 06 onto the eye A to be examined. To generate the circular ring-shaped non-collimated strip of light, a light guide element 08 shaped in the form of a circular cylinder is inserted into the lens ring 06 in such a way that the forward end face of the light guide element 08 is sealed with the outside of the lens ring 06. Several light emitting diodes 12 are provided on the rear side of the light guide element 08, these LEDs being uniformly distributed over the circumference of the light guide element 08. The light emitted by the LEDs 12 is input into the light guide element 08 on the inside circumference and emerges again as a circular non-collimated strip of light on the forward end face of the light guide element 08. The light mark generated jointly by the tubes 04 and 05 and the light guide element 08 is projected onto the eye A that is to be examined. The light mark is imaged on the cornea and is observed through the observation system 09, which has multiple lenses 13 and a chip camera 14. The image data recorded by the chip camera 14 is processed digitally and relayed to a digital image processing system. In the image processing system the image data is analyzed in a manner suitable for calculating the radius of curvature of the cornea from the image data. The function of the measurement system for measuring the thickness of the cornea with the projection device 02 and the observation system 03 is diagramed schematically in the longitudinal section according to FIG. 7. An LED 15 with two lenses 16 positioned in front of it serves as the lighting means for the slit lighting in the projection device 02. To generate the slit light, a slit diaphragm 17 containing a narrow light slit is provided. Then the light beam is deflected by 90° on each of two reflectors 18 and 19 and is projected by a partially mirrorized reflector element 20 onto the eye A that is to be examined. The light slit projected on to the eye A is imaged by the lenses 21 on a chip camera 22, so that the digital image data recorded there can be analyzed in a digital processing system to derive the thickness of the cornea. | 20040902 | 20070807 | 20050317 | 60498.0 | 1 | HASAN, MOHAMMED A | OPHTHALMOLOGIC ANALYSIS SYSTEM | SMALL | 0 | ACCEPTED | 2,004 |
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10,934,050 | ACCEPTED | Soft tip cannula and methods for use thereof | A surgical device having a body portion that is gripped by a user, the body portion having a distal end equipped with a soft tip and the proximal end optionally connected to an external vacuum or gas/air source. The surgical device is particularly suitable for use in ophthalmic surgical procedures to remove fluid from the eye or introduce gas/air into the eye. The soft tip is fabricated to protect the delicate tissues if the eye and is further modified so as to enhance a user's visibility of the device in the surgical field. | 1. A surgical device particularly suitable for ophthalmic surgical procedures comprising: an elongate body portion; the elongate body portion having a proximal end and a distal end; a soft tip at the distal end of the body portion; and the soft tip being modified so as to enhance a user's visibility of the soft tip in the surgical area. 2. The surgical device of claim 1, wherein the soft tip is formed of a soft material at least partially colored to enhance a user's visibility of the soft tip. 3. The surgical device of claim 2, wherein the soft tip material has one or more markings to enhance a user's visibility of the soft tip. 4. The surgical device of claim 3, wherein the marking is a fiducial ring. 5. The surgical device of claim 2, wherein the soft tip material is at least partially colored with a fluorescent material. 6. The surgical device of claim 1, wherein the soft tip is connected to a light source that illuminates the soft tip. 7. The surgical device of claim 6, wherein the light source further illuminates the surgical site. 8. The surgical device of claim 6, wherein the light source is a fiber optic that illuminates the soft material. 9. The surgical device of claim 6, wherein the light source is a laser transmitting fiber. 10. The surgical device of claim 9, wherein the laser transmitting fiber transmits colored beams. 11. The surgical device of claim 1, wherein the body portion of the device is hollow and the device is an aspirating device. 12. The surgical device of claim 11, wherein the soft tip is formed of a porous material that allows material to be passed through. 13. The surgical device of claim 11, wherein the soft tip has one or more apertures through which material may pass. 14. The surgical device of claim 11, wherein the soft tip is hollow. 15. The surgical device of claim 1, wherein the device is a non-aspirating device for retinal manipulation or scraping of scar tissue or ocular tissues. 16. The surgical device of claim 1, further comprising a hub at the proximal end of the body portion. 17. A medical device kit, comprising one or more of the surgical devices of claim 1 any one of claims 1 through 16. 18. The kit of claim 17, wherein the one or more delivery devices are packaged in sterile condition. 19. A method for performing an ophthalmic surgical procedure utilizing the device of claim 1. 20. A method for performing an ophthalmic surgical procedure comprising the steps of: (a) providing a surgical device comprising: an elongate body portion; the elongate body portion having a proximal end and a distal end; a soft tip at the distal end of the body portion; the soft tip being modified so as to enhance a user's visibility of the soft tip in the surgical area; (b) making an incision in the eye of a patient to access the treatment area; (c) inserting the surgical device into the treatment area through the incision; (d) performing the ophthalmic surgical procedure; and (e) removing the delivery device from the treatment area wherein the ability to visualize the soft tip during the ophthalmic surgical procedure is enhanced. 21-35. (cancelled) | This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 60/241,496 filed Oct. 18, 2000, the teaching of which is incorporated herein by reference. FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a device used in connection with medical procedures, more particularly to cannulas used in ophthalmic procedures (e.g., retinal tear and retinal detachment surgery), as well as methods of use thereof. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Cannulas are used in ophthalmic surgical procedures, such as retinal detachment surgery, to aspirate fluids such as blood, aqueous humor, and infused balanced saline solutions. The cannulas are typically connected by PVC tubing to a machine induced vacuum source and the fluids are collected in a disposable cassette in the machine. For ophthalmic surgical procedures, it is important that the cannula tip be specially designed for the delicate eye area. Thus, for example, such cannula tips are typically formed with rounded, smooth edges. Cannulas have also been made with a tip formed from a transparent soft material such as silicone. The soft silicone tip helps prevent damage to the delicate tissue of the eye in the event of physical contact with the eye. Retinal detachment is a serious eye condition that, if not treated early, may lead to impairment or loss of vision. The condition typically affects older individuals, individuals with myopia (nearsightedness) and individuals with relatives having retinal detachment. In some instances, a hard, solid blow to the eye has lead to retinal detachment. Further, individuals who have undergone cataract surgery have, in some cases, subsequently developed retinal detachment. The retina is a fine layer of nerve cells that covers the inside back portion of the eye (FIG. 2). If the retina thins, one or more small tears or holes in the retina may result (FIG. 3), leading to retinal detachment (FIG. 4). More often, retinal detachment is caused by shrinkage of the vitreous. The vitreous is a clear, gel-like substance that fills the inside of the eye and is firmly attached to the retina in several places. As the vitreous shrinks, as a result of age, inflammation, injury or near-sightedness, it often separates from the retina and, in some cases, it may pull a piece of the retina away with it, leaving a tear or hole in the retina. If the retina tears or breaks, watery fluid from the vitreous may pass through the hole and flow between the retina and the back wall of the eye producing “subretinal” fluid. Over time, the flow of the vitreous fluid between the retina and the back of the eye separates the retina from the back of the eye and causes it to detach (FIG. 4). There are several procedures available to treat retinal detachment. The severity of the detachment or tear in the retina typically determines which of the procedures should be performed. If the retina is torn but there is little or no retinal detachment, laser photocoagulation may be used to seal the retinal tears. During laser photocoagulation a laser is used seal the tear. Using the laser, small burns are placed around the edges of the tear. This produces scar tissue that seals the edges of the tear and prevents vitreous fluid from flowing through the tear. Freezing or “cryopexy” is another procedure that is used to treat retinal tears. According to this procedure, the back wall of the eye behind the tear is frozen to produce scar tissue. As with laser photocoagulation, the scar tissue seals the edges of the tear and prevents vitreous fluid from flowing through the tear. If the flow of the vitreous fluid between the retina and the back of the eye has caused the retina to detach, more complicated surgical procedures are required. In general, the detached portion of the retina is pressed against the back wall of the eye. Any subretinal fluid that is present must be drained from under the retina to allow the retina to settle back onto the back wall of the eye. The tears may then be sealed by use of, e.g., lasers, freezing, or an electrically heated needle which create scar tissue and seals the tear. In severe cases, it is sometimes necessary to use a technique called vitrectomy. During this procedure, the vitreous body is cut away from the retina and removed from the eye. The vitreous cavity may then be filled with air or gas to push the retina back against the wall of the eye. In time, clear fluid from the blood seeps into and permanently fills the vitreous cavity. During an ophthalmic procedure (e.g. retinal tear, retinal detachment, vitreoretinal procedure), the tip of a cannula is generally used to press a detached portion of the retina against the back wall of the eye, to fill the vitreous cavity with air or gas, and to remove the subretinal fluids from under the retina to allow the retina to return to its anatomically correct position. A disadvantage of conventional cannulas is that the soft material of the cannula tip is transparent and, thus, difficult for the surgeon to discriminate during use, particularly during the fluid/air exchange when visibility is compromised by bubbles and a significant change in the refractive media from fluid to air. There is a need for improved devices, systems and methods for use of these devices and systems during ophthalmic procedures. In particular, there is a need for improved devices, systems and methods for use during ophthalmic procedures wherein the device is easier for a user to detect and, thus, provides safe and easy manipulation around the particularly delicate eye area. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention provides a novel surgical device and methods for use thereof. More particularly, the present invention enables safe and easy manipulation of a surgical device during ophthalmic procedures (e.g., retinal tear and retinal detachment surgery), thereby minimizing the potential for damage to the delicate eye area. In particular, the surgical device of the present invention is a soft tip cannula useful during ophthalmic surgery. The soft tip device may be an aspirating device or a non-aspirating device. In a preferred embodiment, the surgical device is a soft tip cannula that assists in removing fluids during surgery. The soft tip cannula is particularly suitable for the removal of fluids from the posterior chamber of the eye during retinal detachment surgery. In another embodiment, the surgical device is a non-aspirating soft tip device, such as a soft tip scraper cannula for assisting in the removal of membranes, such as the posterior hyaloid, internal limiting, and other membranes of the eye. The soft tip device of the present invention provides enhanced visibility of the soft tip to the surgeon so that he/she may more easily manipulate the device safely and effectively. According to one embodiment of the present invention, the properties of the typically transparent soft material comprising the soft tip portion of the device are modified in order to enhance visibility of the device to the surgeon. In a preferred embodiment, the soft tip material is tinted, marked or stained to enhance visibility. The tinting, marking or stain is preferably of such a color that improves identification, visibility, position, and depth perception of the tip of the device. In one embodiment, the soft tip is stained with fluorescent material. The entire soft tip may be tinted, marked or stained. Alternatively, the tip may be demarcated with an identifying mark, fiducial line, ring, characters, or stripe(s) to improve visibility/identification. One color or a combination of colors may be used as desired. In preferred embodiments, the soft tip cannula is used with a fiber optic probe or similar illuminator by shining light from the fiber optic probe or similar illuminator onto the soft tip. In another preferred embodiment, the soft tip cannula is connected to a fiber optic illuminator or a laser fiber and colored beams of light are transmitted by the soft tip to enhance visibility. Other aspects and embodiments of the invention are discussed infra. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is an isometric view of one embodiment of the soft tip surgical device of the present invention. FIG. 2 shows a diagram of a normal, healthy eye. FIG. 3 shows diagram of an eye with a typical retinal tear. FIG. 4 shows diagram of an eye with a typical retinal detachment. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Referring now to the various figures of the drawing wherein like reference characters refer to like parts, there is shown in FIG. 1 various views of a soft tip surgical device 1 in accordance with the invention. As shown, the soft tip surgical device 1 is in the form of a cannula, which may be aspirating or non-aspirating. Cannulas are well-known and, thus, although described below with reference to a preferred embodiment, the general features (e.g. size, shape, materials) of the soft tip surgical device 1 may be in accordance with conventional cannulas. In a preferred embodiment, the soft tip surgical device 1 is designed for ophthalmic procedures. As such, the soft tip surgical device 1 comprises a body portion 2 having a proximal end 4, a distal end 6 and a soft tip 8 located on the distal end 6 of the body portion 2. A hub 10 may further be located on the proximal end 4 of the body portion 2. In use, the soft tip surgical device 1 may be attached to a handle (not shown), which provides a user with further means for gripping the device 1. Such handles are known and are commonly referred to as extrusion handles. In the case of an aspirating device, the handle could be hollow so that fluid, gas and other material may flow through the handle. In the case of a non-aspirating device, the handle may be hollow or solid as desired. The handle may be attached to the soft tip surgical device 1 by a frictional fit and/or any conventional fastening means. The hub 10 portion may further be included and designed so as to assist in connecting the device 1 to the handle via a frictional fit and, if desired, any conventional fastening means may be used to assist the hub 10 in connecting the device 1 to the handle. If desired, the handle may be omitted in an aspirating type device and, in such embodiments, the user may, for example, grip the device by the hub 10 and/or tubing connecting the device to a vacuum/aspiration source. In such an embodiment, the hub 10 portion may further be included and designed so as to assist in connecting the device 1 to the tubing via a frictional fit and, if desired, any conventional fastening means may be used to assist the hub 10 in connecting the device 1 to the tubing. In use, the soft tip surgical device 1 is gripped by a handle, the tubing and/or hub 10 and the body portion 2 with the soft tip 8 is introduced into the surgical site. During an ophthalmic procedure, the soft tip 8 and body portion 2 enter the eye, for example, through an incision made in the eye to provide access to the retina at the back of the eye. Thus, the body portion 2 is preferably elongate in shape to provide easy access to the surgical site. Preferably, the body portion is designed so as to conform with the incision made in the eye (typically a 20 gauge incision) such that as the body portion 2 is inserted in the eye through the incision, the incision molds around the body portion and prevents leakage of materials into or out of the eye around the body portion 2. Further, the body portion 2 is preferably designed with a smooth surface so as to prevent further trauma to the eye as it is inserted through the incision. In one preferred embodiment, as shown in FIG. 1, the body portion 2 has an elongate cylindrical shape. The body portion 2 may have a substantially uniform cross sectional diameter or may taper. In one preferred embodiment, the body portion 2 tapers towards the distal end 6 to provide precision in placement of the soft tip 8. Although the body portion 2 is depicted as cylindrical in shape, other shapes may be used as desired. Additionally, the body portion 2 may include a bend (not shown) to provide easier access to areas that are difficult to reach. The body portion 2 may be fabricated of any conventional materials used in forming similar surgical devices. Preferably, the material is lightweight and strong. Some conventional materials include plastics and stainless steel. Further, because the body portion 2 is inserted in the eye area in some applications, the materials used in forming the body portion 2 must be medically approved for such contact. The soft tip surgical device 1 may be an aspirating device or a non-aspirating device. As a non-aspirating device, the body portion 2 may be hollow or solid. As an aspirating device, the body portion 2 has a cavity through which fluids, gas and other materials may flow. The body portion further has a soft tip 8 at its distal end 6. Still further, tubing (e.g. PVC tubing) extending from the proximal end 4 of the body portion 2 (or hub 10 or handle, if included) connects the device to an external fluid or pressure source (e.g. Vitrectomy machine). The soft tip 8 is fabricated so as to maintain its shape and not collapse when the external fluid or pressure source is turned on. The soft tip 8 is further designed so as to allow the flow of fluid, gas and other materials through it. For example, the soft tip 8 may have one or more apertures, may be formed of a porous material or may be hollow. In one embodiment, when used as an aspiration device, the soft tip 8 includes one or more slits or openings through which air, fluid and other materials may flow. The openings or slits may be of any geometric shape such as, for example, circular, oval or triangular. Preferably, the openings or slits are designed with rounded, smooth edges so as to not traumatize the delicate eye area in the event of contact with the eye. The number, size and placement of the openings or slits are not particularly limited, and may be in accordance with known aspirating cannulas for similar applications. In another embodiment, the soft tip 8 is hollow and designed so that air, fluid and other materials may flow through the hollow soft tip 8 during use. As such, the hollow soft tip 8 may have any geometric shape and, for example, may be in the shape of a cylindrical hollow tube. During use, the soft tip surgical device 1 would be connected to an external fluid or pressure source, such as a vacuum/aspiration device. Materials from the eye would be aspirated through the open end of the hollow soft tip 8, through the hollow soft tip 8, through the cavity in the body portion 2 of the device, through the hub 10, through the handle, through the PVC tubing and, finally, the materials would reach a reservoir (e.g. a bag or chamber) at the vacuum/aspiration source. To be used as an aspirating device 1, the proximal end 4 is designed so as to connect to an external fluid or pressure source. For example, the proximal end 4 may be designed for direct connection to tubing that connects the device 1 to an external fluid or pressure source. Thus, the proximal end 4 may be designed to have a frictional fit within or about the tubing. Conventional fastening means may also be used to secure the tubing to the proximal end 4. Alternatively, the proximal end 4 may be connected to the tubing via a conventional coupling device such as, for example hub 10. Further, if desired, the device 1 may be connected to a handle which, in turn, connects the device 1 to tubing. The soft tip surgical device 1 is particularly suitable for use in ophthalmic surgical procedures. As such, the soft tip 8 may be formed of any material suitable for contact with the delicate eye area. Because the soft tip 8 is inserted into the eye area, the materials used in forming the soft tip 8 must be medically approved for such contact. Preferably, the soft tip 8 is formed of a soft, flexible and resilient material such as rubber or plastic. Silicone rubber and polyurethane are two examples of particularly suitable materials. The soft tip 8 may be fixedly or removably connected to the body portion 2. Known means such as, for example, adhesives may be used to fixedly secure the soft tip to the body portion 2. The soft tip 8 may also be removably connected to the body portion by known means such as, for example, forming the soft tip 8 and the body portion 8 to have corresponding threaded portions that allows removable attachment of the soft tip 8 to the body portion 2. By providing a removable soft tip 8, the device may be reused by simply sterilizing the body portion 2 with ethelene oxide gas or similar means and replacing the soft tip 8 to maintain sterility and prevent cross-contamination between uses. More preferably, the entire device 1 is disposed of and replaced between uses to maintain sterility and prevent cross-contamination between uses. According to the present invention, the soft tip 8 material is modified so as to enhance its visibility to a user while in the surgical field. In a preferred embodiment, the soft tip 8 material is colored, thereby improving identification, visibility, position and depth perception of the soft tip 8. Any colors may be used to optimize visibility of the soft tip 8 in the surgical field. Because the retina is generally orange-red in color, the soft tip 8 is preferably designed to provide maximum contrast on the orange-red background. Visualization and depth perception may be maximized by utilizing the science of optics and vision to select colors that will provide optimal contrast. Optimal contrast may be achieved by use of complimentary colors, as set out by Johannes Itten's color wheel developed in the 1930's. Thus, in a preferred embodiment wherein the soft tip 8 is utilized for retinal detachment surgery, the soft tip 8 would preferably be colored green-blue. In one embodiment, the soft tip is coated or stained with a fluorescent material. Preferably, for use in retinal detachment surgical procedures, the soft tip 8 would have a green fluorescence. In another embodiment, the soft tip has an identifying mark, fiducial ring, character, stripes or other designs that improves visibility of the soft tip. These identifying marks, fiducial rings, characters, stripes or other designs are preferably selected so as to provide optimal contrast with relation to the background during use. In another embodiment, the soft tip surgical device 1 is used together with a fiber optic probe or similar illumination mechanism, wherein the probe or illumination mechanism shines a light on the soft tip 8 to enhance its visibility in the surgical field. In another embodiment, the soft material is connected to a light source, such as, for example, a fiber optic that illuminates the soft tip material so as to improve the visibility of the soft tip 8 while, at the same time, improving the visibility of the surgical field. For example, the light source may shine through the interior of the device and light up the soft tip 8 from within the soft tip 8. In a preferred embodiment, an aspirating soft tip surgical device 1 has an overall length, from the soft tip 8 to the proximal end 4, ranging from about 28 to about 32 mm. More preferably, the soft tip surgical device 1 has a length ranging from about 29 mm to about 31 mm. The soft tip 8 portion of the device preferably has a length that ranges from about 2 mm to about 6 mm. More preferably, the length of the soft tip 8 portion of the device ranges from about 2 mm to about 3 mm. If included, the hub 10 preferably has a length ranging from about 10 mm to about 12 mm. In applications where the body portion 2 of the device is inserted into the eye through an incision, the diameter or thickness of the body portion 2 preferably conforms to the size of the incision so that the incision molds around the body portion 2 and prevents leakage of materials around the body portion 2. For example, in preferred embodiments, the diameter or thickness of the body portion 2 ranges from about 0.6 mm to about 1.2 mm. More preferably, the diameter or thickness of the body portion 2 ranges from about 0.8 to about 1.0 mm. However, it is to be understood that the diameter or thickness of the body portion 2 may vary depending on the particular procedure performed and the size of the incision made. In such applications where the body portion 2 is inserted into the eye through an incision, the length of the body portion 2 would be designed so that the soft tip 8 would reach the retina and back of the eye while allowing only the body portion 2, and not the hub 10, tubing or other apparatus connected to the proximal end 4 of the body portion 2, to enter the incision. If the device 1 is an aspirating device, the inner opening through which materials from the surgical site are suctioned preferably has a diameter ranging from about 0.2 mm to about 0.5 mm. More preferably the inner opening has a diameter ranging from about 0.25 mm to about 0.35 mm. Such dimensions are particularly suitable for optical procedures wherein the surgical area is delicate and can withstand limited suction and pressure. However, it is to be understood that various dimensions may be utilized depending on the desired suction and pressure limits for the particular application. The soft tip surgical device 1 may be utilized during a retinal detachment surgical procedure as follows: an incision is made in the eye to provide access to the retina. The soft tip surgical device 1 in accordance with one embodiment is then inserted through the incision, with the soft tip 8 and the body portion 2 entering the incision. The device 1 could then be used to press the detached portion of the retina against the back wall of the eye. Additionally, the soft tip 8 may be embedded with abrasive materials to allow for scraping of scar tissue and eye tissues that are desirable to remove to increase visual acuity outcomes (e.g. ocular tissues: posterior hyaloid and internal limiting membrane “I.L.M.”) As such, the device may be either a non-aspirating or aspirating device. If the device is non-aspirating, it is preferably removed and an aspirating soft tip surgical device 1 is then inserted into the eye. If the device is an aspirating soft tip surgical device 1, then the device remains in the eye. During a vitreoretinal surgical procedure, after the vitreous body is cut away from the retina and removed from the eye, the aspirating soft tip surgical device 1 may be used to fill the vitreous cavity with air or gas to push the retina back against the wall of the eye. In such an application, the soft tip surgical device 1 would be connected to an air or gas source. The aspirating soft tip surgical device 1 can further be used to drain any subretinal fluid that is present between the retina and the back wall of the eye to allow the retina to settle back onto the back wall of the eye. The present invention also includes kits that comprise one or more device of the invention, preferably packaged in sterile condition. Kits of the invention also may include, for example, one or more body portions 2, soft tips 8, etc. for use with the device, preferably packaged in sterile condition, and/or written instructions for use of the device and other components of the kit. The following non-limiting example is illustrative of the invention. EXAMPLE Using the soft tip surgical device 1 and surgical technique of the present invention, three different surgeons performed vitreoretinal procedures. The surgeons evaluated the performance of the soft tip surgical device 1, the ability to visualize the distal soft tip 8 portion of the device during the fluid/air exchange portion of vitreoretinal procedures. During this procedure step visualization is difficult due to the mixture of air and fluid in the eye, which have different indexes of refraction. The results were unanimous. All three surgeons evaluating the soft tip surgical device 1 indicated a dramatic difference in visualization of the soft tip 8 as compared to the traditional clear silicon soft tip cannulas. The surgeons indicated that the soft tip 8 appeared to be glowing or fluorescing when light from a fiber optic probe in their opposite hand was shone on the soft tip 8 and that the color provided significantly better contrast on the red-orange background of the retina. Insertion of a traditional clear tip cannula as a comparison did not result in good visualization. The foregoing description of the invention is merely illustrative thereof, and it is understood that variations and modifications can be effected without departing from the scope or spirit of the invention as set forth in the following claims. | <SOH> BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION <EOH>Cannulas are used in ophthalmic surgical procedures, such as retinal detachment surgery, to aspirate fluids such as blood, aqueous humor, and infused balanced saline solutions. The cannulas are typically connected by PVC tubing to a machine induced vacuum source and the fluids are collected in a disposable cassette in the machine. For ophthalmic surgical procedures, it is important that the cannula tip be specially designed for the delicate eye area. Thus, for example, such cannula tips are typically formed with rounded, smooth edges. Cannulas have also been made with a tip formed from a transparent soft material such as silicone. The soft silicone tip helps prevent damage to the delicate tissue of the eye in the event of physical contact with the eye. Retinal detachment is a serious eye condition that, if not treated early, may lead to impairment or loss of vision. The condition typically affects older individuals, individuals with myopia (nearsightedness) and individuals with relatives having retinal detachment. In some instances, a hard, solid blow to the eye has lead to retinal detachment. Further, individuals who have undergone cataract surgery have, in some cases, subsequently developed retinal detachment. The retina is a fine layer of nerve cells that covers the inside back portion of the eye ( FIG. 2 ). If the retina thins, one or more small tears or holes in the retina may result ( FIG. 3 ), leading to retinal detachment ( FIG. 4 ). More often, retinal detachment is caused by shrinkage of the vitreous. The vitreous is a clear, gel-like substance that fills the inside of the eye and is firmly attached to the retina in several places. As the vitreous shrinks, as a result of age, inflammation, injury or near-sightedness, it often separates from the retina and, in some cases, it may pull a piece of the retina away with it, leaving a tear or hole in the retina. If the retina tears or breaks, watery fluid from the vitreous may pass through the hole and flow between the retina and the back wall of the eye producing “subretinal” fluid. Over time, the flow of the vitreous fluid between the retina and the back of the eye separates the retina from the back of the eye and causes it to detach ( FIG. 4 ). There are several procedures available to treat retinal detachment. The severity of the detachment or tear in the retina typically determines which of the procedures should be performed. If the retina is torn but there is little or no retinal detachment, laser photocoagulation may be used to seal the retinal tears. During laser photocoagulation a laser is used seal the tear. Using the laser, small burns are placed around the edges of the tear. This produces scar tissue that seals the edges of the tear and prevents vitreous fluid from flowing through the tear. Freezing or “cryopexy” is another procedure that is used to treat retinal tears. According to this procedure, the back wall of the eye behind the tear is frozen to produce scar tissue. As with laser photocoagulation, the scar tissue seals the edges of the tear and prevents vitreous fluid from flowing through the tear. If the flow of the vitreous fluid between the retina and the back of the eye has caused the retina to detach, more complicated surgical procedures are required. In general, the detached portion of the retina is pressed against the back wall of the eye. Any subretinal fluid that is present must be drained from under the retina to allow the retina to settle back onto the back wall of the eye. The tears may then be sealed by use of, e.g., lasers, freezing, or an electrically heated needle which create scar tissue and seals the tear. In severe cases, it is sometimes necessary to use a technique called vitrectomy. During this procedure, the vitreous body is cut away from the retina and removed from the eye. The vitreous cavity may then be filled with air or gas to push the retina back against the wall of the eye. In time, clear fluid from the blood seeps into and permanently fills the vitreous cavity. During an ophthalmic procedure (e.g. retinal tear, retinal detachment, vitreoretinal procedure), the tip of a cannula is generally used to press a detached portion of the retina against the back wall of the eye, to fill the vitreous cavity with air or gas, and to remove the subretinal fluids from under the retina to allow the retina to return to its anatomically correct position. A disadvantage of conventional cannulas is that the soft material of the cannula tip is transparent and, thus, difficult for the surgeon to discriminate during use, particularly during the fluid/air exchange when visibility is compromised by bubbles and a significant change in the refractive media from fluid to air. There is a need for improved devices, systems and methods for use of these devices and systems during ophthalmic procedures. In particular, there is a need for improved devices, systems and methods for use during ophthalmic procedures wherein the device is easier for a user to detect and, thus, provides safe and easy manipulation around the particularly delicate eye area. | <SOH> SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION <EOH>The present invention provides a novel surgical device and methods for use thereof. More particularly, the present invention enables safe and easy manipulation of a surgical device during ophthalmic procedures (e.g., retinal tear and retinal detachment surgery), thereby minimizing the potential for damage to the delicate eye area. In particular, the surgical device of the present invention is a soft tip cannula useful during ophthalmic surgery. The soft tip device may be an aspirating device or a non-aspirating device. In a preferred embodiment, the surgical device is a soft tip cannula that assists in removing fluids during surgery. The soft tip cannula is particularly suitable for the removal of fluids from the posterior chamber of the eye during retinal detachment surgery. In another embodiment, the surgical device is a non-aspirating soft tip device, such as a soft tip scraper cannula for assisting in the removal of membranes, such as the posterior hyaloid, internal limiting, and other membranes of the eye. The soft tip device of the present invention provides enhanced visibility of the soft tip to the surgeon so that he/she may more easily manipulate the device safely and effectively. According to one embodiment of the present invention, the properties of the typically transparent soft material comprising the soft tip portion of the device are modified in order to enhance visibility of the device to the surgeon. In a preferred embodiment, the soft tip material is tinted, marked or stained to enhance visibility. The tinting, marking or stain is preferably of such a color that improves identification, visibility, position, and depth perception of the tip of the device. In one embodiment, the soft tip is stained with fluorescent material. The entire soft tip may be tinted, marked or stained. Alternatively, the tip may be demarcated with an identifying mark, fiducial line, ring, characters, or stripe(s) to improve visibility/identification. One color or a combination of colors may be used as desired. In preferred embodiments, the soft tip cannula is used with a fiber optic probe or similar illuminator by shining light from the fiber optic probe or similar illuminator onto the soft tip. In another preferred embodiment, the soft tip cannula is connected to a fiber optic illuminator or a laser fiber and colored beams of light are transmitted by the soft tip to enhance visibility. Other aspects and embodiments of the invention are discussed infra. | 20040904 | 20090526 | 20050210 | 62759.0 | 1 | GIBSON, ROY DEAN | SOFT TIP CANNULA AND METHODS FOR USE THEREOF | SMALL | 1 | CONT-ACCEPTED | 2,004 |
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10,934,255 | ACCEPTED | Automatic electric muffin maker | An automatic electric muffin maker for baking muffins and related foodstuffs is disclosed. The present muffin maker comprises a housing assembly enclosing a bottom heating plate having an integrated heating element and a top heating element for browning (i.e. to scorch slightly in cooking). Advantageously, the heating plate includes a plurality of integrally formed, internally tapered heating wells which receive a mating baking pan having tapered cylindrical mold cups configured to provide complementary surface-to-surface engagement within the heating wells and efficient heat transfer therebetween. The heating elements are electrically interconnected to a heat control thermostat, which regulates the baking cycle. In an alternative embodiment the baking functions are carried out by electronic controls including a timed cooking cycle which changes to a warming mode upon completion. | 1. An automatic muffin maker comprising: a base support plate; a housing assembly attached to said base support plate including an upper housing section and a lower housing section interconnected by a hinge mechanism; heating means including a top browning element disposed within said upper housing section and a heating plate including a base heating element disposed with said lower housing section, wherein said heating plate further includes a plurality of individual heating wells integrally formed thereon in a predetermined pattern; and temperature controlling means electrically interconnected with said heating means enabling said heating elements to be energized to provide variable baking cycles. 2. The automatic muffin maker of claim 1 wherein said base support plate includes a temperature selector switch coupled to said temperature controlling means by a mechanical linkage. 3. The automatic muffin maker of claim 2 wherein said temperature controlling means comprises a thermostat. 4. The automatic muffin maker of claim 1 wherein said top browning element comprises a tubular resistance heating element. 5. The automatic muffin maker of claim 4 wherein said top browning element is is a symmetrical bilobular construction. 6. The automatic muffin maker of claim 1 wherein said heating plate includes a tubular resistance heating element integrated therein. 7. The automatic muffin maker of claim 6 wherein each of said plurality of individual heating wells comprises an internally tapered cylindrical structure. 8. The automatic muffin maker of claim 1 further including a baking liner including a plurality of molds formed therein in said predetermined pattern, wherein said molds are positioned in surface-to-surface contact within said heating wells. 9. The automatic muffin maker of claim 8 wherein each of said plurality of molds in said liner comprises a mating inwardly tapered cylindrical structure, said molds being disposed in said predetermined pattern such that said molds are interlocked within said heating wells to provide efficient heat transfer therebetween. 10. The automatic muffin maker of claim 1 wherein said predetermined pattern comprises eight heating wells and eight molds arranged in a generally circular pattern about a center well and a center mold respectively. 11. The automatic muffin maker of claim 1 further including a power indicator light electrically interconnected to said heating elements. 12. An appliance for baking foodstuffs comprising: a housing assembly having a base support plate, wherein said housing assembly includes a lower housing section and a lid member interconnected by a hinge mechanism; a top browning element mounted within said lid member; a bottom heating plate disposed within said lower housing section, wherein said bottom heating plate further includes a plurality of individual heating wells integrally formed thereon in a predetermined pattern; a baking liner including a plurality of molds formed therein for receiving batter, wherein said liner is nested in surface-to-surface contact within said heating wells; and a thermostat electrically interconnected with said heating elements enabling said heating elements to be energized to provide variable baking cycles. 13. The appliance of claim 12 wherein said appliance includes a temperature selector switch coupled to said thermostat by a mechanical linkage. 14. The appliance of claim 12 wherein said top browning element comprises a tubular resistance heating element. 15. The appliance of claim 14 wherein said top browning element is is a symmetrical bilobular construction resembling an umbrella in axial cross-section. 16. The appliance of claim 12 wherein said heating plate includes a tubular resistance heating element embedded therein. 17. The appliance of claim 16 wherein each of said plurality of individual heating wells comprises an internally tapered cylindrical structure. 18. The appliance of claim 17 wherein each of said plurality of molds in said liner comprises a mating inwardly tapered cylindrical structure, said molds being disposed in said predetermined pattern such that said molds are interlocked within said heating wells to provide efficient heat transfer therebetween. 19. The appliance of claim 12 wherein said predetermined pattern comprises eight heating wells and eight muffin molds arranged in a generally circular pattern about a central well and a central mold respectively. 20. The automatic muffin maker of claim 12 further including a power indicator light electrically interconnected to said heating elements. | BACKGROUND OF INVENTION The present invention relates to home cooking appliances and, more particularly, to an automatic electric muffin maker for baking muffins and related foodstuffs. Batch type appliances for baking foodstuffs from batter are known in the prior art. One example of such an appliance is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,970,949 to Ferrara, Jr. et al. which provides a batch baker comprising a compact oven for baking breads, muffins and other baked items of a general disc shape. This device includes a housing in which a lower cooking cavity having a plurality of alternating vertically aligned disk-shaped members and semicircular troughs for receiving batter is disposed. A serpentine heating element is configured to pass between adjacent troughs such that heat may be applied to each disc face, which defines the vertical sides of the muffin. Another example of a batch type appliance for baking comestibles from batter is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,817,513 to Carbon provides a cone baker including a mold assembly and a core assembly which are pivotally connected to a frame. Heating elements are positioned in the mold and the core assemblies to heat batter, which is poured into the mold cavity to form the cone or related food item of a tapered cylindrical shape. While these devices fulfill their respective, particular objectives and requirements, the aforementioned patents differ significantly in their construction from the present invention and do not disclose the features of the present automatic muffin maker. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Accordingly, the present invention provides a home appliance for baking breads, muffins, and related foodstuffs. The present automatic muffin maker comprises a hinged housing assembly enclosing a bottom heating plate having a heating element integrated therein and a top heating element for browning (i.e. to scorch slightly in cooking). Advantageously, the heating plate includes a plurality of integrally formed heating wells which receive a baking liner including a plurality of muffin mold cups formed therein that is configured to provide complementary surface-to-surface engagement within the heating wells to provide efficient heat transfer therebetween. A heat controller or thermostat is electrically interconnected to the heating elements to regulate the baking functions of the present device. There has thus been outlined, rather broadly, the important features of the invention in order that the detailed description thereof that follows may be better understood, and in order that the present contribution to the art may be better appreciated. There are additional features of the invention that will be described hereinafter and which will form the subject matter of the claims appended hereto. Other features and technical advantages of the present invention will become apparent from a study of the following description and the accompanying drawings. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The novel features of the present invention are set forth in the appended claims. The invention itself, however, as well as other features and advantages thereof will be best understood by reference to the following detailed description of an illustrative embodiment when read in conjunction with the accompanying figures wherein: FIG. 1A is a perspective view of the present automatic muffin maker; FIG. 1B is a top plan view of the present muffin maker showing the orientation of section plane 8-8; FIG. 2 is a side elevation of the present muffin maker; FIG. 3 is a rear end view of the present muffin maker showing further details thereof including the hinge mechanism; FIG. 4 is a bottom view of the present muffin maker showing further details of the construction thereof including the temperature controller; FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the present muffin maker showing the top browning assembly within the lid member and the heating mold assembly within the lower housing; FIG. 6 is a perspective view of the heating plate of the present muffin maker; FIG. 7 is a perspective view of the baking liner of the present muffin maker; FIG. 8 is a partially cutaway perspective view showing the baking liner assembled within the heating plate; FIG. 9 is a cross-sectional view of the present muffin maker taken along section line 9-9 of FIG. 1B; and FIG. 10 is an electrical schematic showing the components and circuitry of the present muffin maker. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS With further reference to the drawings, there is shown therein an automatic muffin maker in accordance with the present invention, indicated generally at 10 and illustrated in FIGS. 1A and 1B. The present muffin maker 10 is comprised of a housing assembly, indicated generally at 20 including an upper housing section or lid member 30 having a handle 32 and a lower housing section 40. The lid member 30 and the lower housing section 40 are provided with interconnecting means, including but not limited to, the following structures. In the embodiment shown the lid member 30 and the lower housing section 40 are interconnected by a pivoting hinge mechanism, indicated generally at 50 as more clearly shown in FIGS. 2 and 3. The housing assembly 20 is mounted on a base support plate, indicated generally at 60, whereon a temperature selector switch 65 is disposed in relation to numerical indicia 62 (FIG. 1A) for temperature regulation. A power ON/OFF indicator light 61 is also provided on the base support plate 60. In operation the automatic muffin maker 10 is electrically connected to a standard 110 volt power source by power cord 80. Referring to FIG. 4 it can be seen that the temperature selector switch 65 is coupled to a temperature controller or thermostat, indicated generally at 85, by a mechanical linkage, indicated generally at 90, which is disposed beneath the base plate 60. The linkage mechanism 90 extends through an opening 63 formed in base plate 60. The housing assembly 20 is constructed of sheet steel, engineered composites, or other heat resistant materials and is provided in different exterior finishes such as powder coating, stainless steel, or plated steel. Referring to FIG. 5 the present muffin maker 10 provides structures comprising heating means including, but not limited to, the following structures. It can be seen that the lid member 30 includes a top browning assembly, indicated generally at 75, which is for browning (i.e. to scorch slightly in cooking). The lower housing section 40 encloses a heating mold assembly, indicated generally at 45, including a baking pan or liner 47 wherein a plurality of tapered cylindrical mold cups 46 are formed as shown. In the embodiment shown the heating mold assembly 45 also includes a generally cylindrical heating plate 42 (FIG. 6) wherein a tubular resistance heating element 70 (FIG. 8) is integrated. The heating element 70 is constructed of stainless steel tubing or other suitable tubing wherein a resistance heater wire 72 (FIG. 9) is enclosed. A tubular resistance heating element 70 of the type sold under the tradename CALROD or other similar heating element is suitable for this purpose. As shown more clearly in FIG. 6 heating plate 42 includes a plurality of internally tapered, cylindrical heating wells 41, which are integrally cast in the heating plate 42 in a circular pattern about a central well 41. In the embodiment shown eight heating wells 41 are provided. The heating plate 42 is constructed from cast aluminum, cast iron, steel, or other suitable material having a high coefficient of heat conductivity. As shown in FIG. 7 the baking pan or liner 47 is also constructed from a highly heat conductive material such as sheet aluminum, steel, or other suitable material and may be provided with a non-stick coating. The liner 47 is removable from the heating plate 42 for cleaning purposes and/or replacement. Advantageously, the liner 47 including tapered mold cups 46 is configured to provide a complementary surface for mating engagement within the heating wells 41 of the heating plate 42 to maximize heat transfer therebetween as illustrated in FIG. 8. More particularly, when the liner 47 is inserted into the mating heating plate 42 as shown in FIG. 8, the tapered mold cups 46 of the liner are effectively interlocked in engagement within their corresponding heating wells 41 providing surface-to-surface contact therebetween for efficient heat transfer to the cups 46 wherein the muffins or other foodstuffs are baked. Referring to FIG. 9, further details of the construction of the present muffin maker 10 are illustrated. The top browning assembly 75 includes a top heating element 65 which is mounted on an insulating block 34 attached to the interior surface 30a of the upper housing section 30. The upper housing section is provided with heat insulating materials disposed as at 31 to reduce heat at the exterior of the housing for the protection of the user. Top browning element 65 is a symmetrical, bilobular construction formed in a generally umbrella-shaped configuration (i.e. wherein such umbrella is viewed in axial cross-section) as shown in FIG. 5. Top browning element 65 extends from the insulating block 34 in parallel relation to the top surface of the baking pan 47 to provide uniform browning of the muffins in operation. A tubular resistance heating element 70 of the type sold under the tradename CALROD or other similar heating element is also suitable for this purpose. In other embodiments (not shown) the top browning assembly may include a quartz heating element or, alternatively, an infrared heating element which are commercially available for small cooking appliances. Thus, the embodiment disclosed herein is intended to be illustrative and not restrictive in any sense. The automatic muffin maker 10 provides structures comprising temperature controlling means including, but not limited to, the following structures. The top browning element 65 is electrically connected to a temperature controller 85 and, in turn, to a power source by electrical wiring routed through the hinge mechanism 50 as shown in FIG. 9. The temperature controller 85 is constructed to provide a timed heating cycle for baking and regulates the functions of the present muffin maker 10. Temperature controller 85 is electrically interconnected by wiring to both the base heating element 70 and top browning element 65 and functions to regulate the operation thereof. In the embodiment shown the temperature controller 85 comprises a thermostat. In another embodiment (not shown) the muffin maker is provided with electronic controls including a digital control panel to regulate the operation thereof. In the embodiment using electronic controls a timed cooking cycle is selected by the user which reverts to a warming mode upon completion of the cooking cycle. Referring to FIG. 10 there is shown therein a schematic representation of the electrical components and circuitry of the present muffin maker 10 including the temperature controller 85, heating elements 65 and 70, and the associated circuitry and components shown in FIG. 9. The muffin maker 10 is designed as a home appliance for use with a standard 120 volt, 60 Hz power source 100. In the embodiment shown the top browning element 65 element 40 is designed to operate in the range of 100 watts; and the base heating element 70 is designed to operate in the range of 1450 watts. Of course, these wattage ratings may vary for a given application and capacity of the muffin maker 10. In operation the mold cups 46 within the baking liner 47 are filled with the desired batter for a particular foodstuff. It is understood that the principles of the invention may be applied to form any type of muffin, bread, or other type of baked foodstuff of this general shape. Next, the temperature selector switch 65 is set to the desired temperature cycle using indicia 62 and the muffin maker 10 is plugged into a standard electrical 110 volt outlet to initiate the baking cycle. Indicator light 61 provides a warning to the user that the heating elements 65, 70 are energized. The muffin maker 10 shuts off automatically at the end of the selected baking cycle. In an alternative embodiment (not shown) the lid member 30 is provided with electrically conductive interconnecting means including, but not limited to, the following structures. The top heating element 65 is electrically connected to the power source by a pin connector (not shown), which is attached by electrical wiring 51 to an electrical plug assembly (not shown) integrated within a modified hinge mechanism. Electrical wiring 51 extends through the hinge mechanism to the power cord 80, which extends from the housing 40. An electrical circuit for the top heating element 65 is completed at an electrical contact (not shown) when the hinge mechanism is in the closed position. A compression spring (not shown) maintains the electrical connection when the lid member 30 is in the closed position. In another embodiment a tubular type (e.g. Cal-rod) element 65 is mounted on the inner surface of the lid member 30. In this embodiment (not shown) the lid member 30 is fabricated from a heatproof glass material. The browning element 65 extends through the lid member 30 within an insulating block and terminates in a plug connector (not shown). The plug connector is received in an electrical receptacle, which is integrated into the modified hinge mechanism. Thus, the top browning element 65 is electrically connected to the power source via power cord 80 and electrical wiring 51. Advantageously, the plug and receptacle may be disconnected for food service, cleaning, and storage purposes. In yet another embodiment (not shown) a tubular type browning element extends through the lid member 30 within a modified insulating block and terminates in a right angle plug connector. A cover plate encloses the modified insulating block and the plug connector. Plug connector is received in an electrical receptacle, which includes a permanent magnet block. Magnet block engages and retains plug connector at the interface thereof to maintain electrical contact with the top browning element and to secure the lid member 30 in position on the muffin maker. The plug connector and receptacle may be conveniently disconnected for food service, cleaning, and storage purposes. Although not specifically illustrated in the drawings, it should be understood that additional equipment and structural components will be provided as necessary and that all of the components described above are arranged and supported in an appropriate fashion to form a complete and operative Automatic Muffin Maker incorporating features of the present invention. Moreover, although illustrative embodiments of the invention have been described, a latitude of modification, change, and substitution is intended in the foregoing disclosure, and in certain instances some features of the invention will be employed without a corresponding use of other features. Accordingly, it is appropriate that the appended claims be construed broadly and in a manner consistent with the scope of invention. | <SOH> BACKGROUND OF INVENTION <EOH>The present invention relates to home cooking appliances and, more particularly, to an automatic electric muffin maker for baking muffins and related foodstuffs. Batch type appliances for baking foodstuffs from batter are known in the prior art. One example of such an appliance is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,970,949 to Ferrara, Jr. et al. which provides a batch baker comprising a compact oven for baking breads, muffins and other baked items of a general disc shape. This device includes a housing in which a lower cooking cavity having a plurality of alternating vertically aligned disk-shaped members and semicircular troughs for receiving batter is disposed. A serpentine heating element is configured to pass between adjacent troughs such that heat may be applied to each disc face, which defines the vertical sides of the muffin. Another example of a batch type appliance for baking comestibles from batter is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,817,513 to Carbon provides a cone baker including a mold assembly and a core assembly which are pivotally connected to a frame. Heating elements are positioned in the mold and the core assemblies to heat batter, which is poured into the mold cavity to form the cone or related food item of a tapered cylindrical shape. While these devices fulfill their respective, particular objectives and requirements, the aforementioned patents differ significantly in their construction from the present invention and do not disclose the features of the present automatic muffin maker. | <SOH> SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION <EOH>Accordingly, the present invention provides a home appliance for baking breads, muffins, and related foodstuffs. The present automatic muffin maker comprises a hinged housing assembly enclosing a bottom heating plate having a heating element integrated therein and a top heating element for browning (i.e. to scorch slightly in cooking). Advantageously, the heating plate includes a plurality of integrally formed heating wells which receive a baking liner including a plurality of muffin mold cups formed therein that is configured to provide complementary surface-to-surface engagement within the heating wells to provide efficient heat transfer therebetween. A heat controller or thermostat is electrically interconnected to the heating elements to regulate the baking functions of the present device. There has thus been outlined, rather broadly, the important features of the invention in order that the detailed description thereof that follows may be better understood, and in order that the present contribution to the art may be better appreciated. There are additional features of the invention that will be described hereinafter and which will form the subject matter of the claims appended hereto. Other features and technical advantages of the present invention will become apparent from a study of the following description and the accompanying drawings. | 20040907 | 20071023 | 20060309 | 71421.0 | F24C710 | 0 | PELHAM, JOSEPH MOORE | AUTOMATIC ELECTRIC MUFFIN MAKER | SMALL | 0 | ACCEPTED | F24C | 2,004 |
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10,934,397 | ACCEPTED | Fluid pump | A pump comprising pressure means in communication with a valve chamber provided with a first valve seat and a second valve seat, and a resilient valve element comprising a first tapered portion, a second tapered portion and a flange portion extending from a periphery of the first tapered portion, in which the flange portion co-operates with the first valve seat to form an inlet valve, and the second tapered portion co-operates with the second valve seat to form an outlet valve, and in which negative pressure applied to the flange portion by the pressure means in use lifts it from the first valve seat, and positive pressure applied to the first tapered portion by the pressure means in use lifts the second tapered portion from the second valve seat. | 1. A pump comprising pressure means in communication with a valve chamber provided with a first valve seat and a second valve seat, and a resilient valve element comprising a first tapered portion, a second tapered portion and a flange portion extending from a periphery of the first tapered portion, in which the flange portion cooperates with the first valve seat to form an inlet valve, and the second tapered portion co-operates with the second valve seat to form an outlet valve, and in which negative pressure applied to the flange portion by the pressure means in use lifts it from the first valve seat, and positive pressure applied to the first tapered portion by the pressure means in use lifts the second tapered portion from the second valve seat. 2. A pump as claimed in claim 1 in which the valve element is mounted in compression between the first valve seat and the second valve seat. 3. A pump as claimed in claim 2 in which the first valve seat tapers in the opposite direction to the first tapered portion, such that the flange portion tapers away from the periphery of the first tapered portion in use. 4. A pump as claimed in claim 3 in which the flange portion is resiliently biased against the first valve seat. 5. A pump as claimed in claim 4 in which the second valve seat tapers in a manner which corresponds to the second tapered portion. 6. A pump as claimed in claim 1 in which a negative pressure required to lift the flange portion from the first valve seat is less than a negative pressure required to lift the second tapered portion from the second valve seat, such that in use when a negative pressure is applied to the valve chamber the inlet valve opens and the outlet valve does not. 7. A pump as claimed in claim 6 in which the first tapered portion is spaced apart from the second tapered portion, and a substantially non-tapering body portion is disposed therebetween, such that a space is defined between the inlet valve and the outlet valve for a fluid to move freely through, and be contained in, the valve chamber in use. 8. A fluid pump as claimed in claim 7 in which a nipple portion is provided at an apex of the second tapered portion, which in use extends into an outlet conduit extending from the outlet valve, in which a portion of the nipple portion remains inside the outlet conduit when the outlet valve is open in use such that the second tapered portion is prevented from becoming unseated form the second valve seat in use. 9. A pump as claimed in claim 8 in which the valve element is provided with a bore extending along its longitudinal axis, in which an upper portion of the bore is defined by the first tapered portion, and in which a lower portion of the bore extends through the body portion and the second tapered portion and into the nipple portion. 10. A pump as claimed in claim 9 in which a rigid pin is disposed inside the bore to limit lateral movement of the valve element in use. 11. A pump as claimed in claim 10 in which the rigid pin extends from a plate mounted above the valve, in which the plate holds the valve element under compression, and in which the plate is provided with a number of apertures through which fluid passes to enter the inlet valve in use. 12. A pump as claimed in claim 11 in which the pressure means is a cylinder extending laterally from the valve chamber, provided with a piston. 13. A pump as claimed in claim 12 in which movement of the piston away from the valve chamber in use creates the negative pressure, and in which movement of the piston towards the valve chamber in use creates the positive pressure. 14. A pump as claimed in claim 13 in which the pump is adapted to dispense a viscous liquid, which viscous liquid is contained in a container, which is mounted in use to one end of an inlet conduit, and in which the inlet valve is disposed at the opposite end of the inlet conduit. 15. A pump as claimed in claim 14 in which a coil spring is mounted in compression around the rigid pin and between the plate and the first tapered portion, such that an additional compression force is provided to the outlet valve in use. 16. (canceled) 17. A resilient valve element for use with a pump comprising pressure means in communication with a valve chamber provided with a first valve seat and a second valve seat, in which the resilient valve element comprises a first tapered portion, a second tapered portion and a flange portion extending from a periphery of the first tapered portion, in which in use the flange portion co-operates with the first valve seat to form an inlet valve, and the second tapered portion co-operates with the second valve seat to form an outlet valve, and in which negative pressure applied to the flange portion by the pressure means in use lifts it from the first valve seat, and positive pressure applied to the first tapered portion by the pressure means in use lifts the second tapered portion from the second valve seat. 18. (canceled) 19. A pump as claimed in claim 2 in which a negative pressure required to lift the flange portion from the first valve seat is less than a negative pressure required to lift the second tapered portion from the second valve seat, such that in use when a negative pressure is applied to the valve chamber the inlet valve opens and the outlet valve does not. 20. A pump as claimed in claim 3 in which a negative pressure required to lift the flange portion from the first valve seat is less than a negative pressure required to lift the second tapered portion from the second valve seat, such that in use when a negative pressure is applied to the valve chamber the inlet valve opens and the outlet valve does not. 21. A pump as claimed in claim 4 in which a negative pressure required to lift the flange portion from the first valve seat is less than a negative pressure required to lift the second tapered portion from the second valve seat, such that in use when a negative pressure is applied to the valve chamber the inlet valve opens and the outlet valve does not. 22. A pump as claimed in claim 5 in which a negative pressure required to lift the flange portion from the first valve seat is less than a negative pressure required to lift the second tapered portion from the second valve seat, such that in use when a negative pressure is applied to the valve chamber the inlet valve opens and the outlet valve does not. | This invention relates to a fluid pump provided with a novel valve element, for use particularly, but not exclusively, with a soap dispenser. A fluid dispensing device can be provided with a pump comprising a fluid inlet, a priming cylinder with a piston, a fluid outlet, and a valve element disposed between the fluid inlet and the fluid outlet. The valve element is adapted to seal the fluid outlet when the cylinder is primed with fluid, and to seal the fluid inlet when said fluid is driven from the cylinder. In one arrangement a conical flexible valve element is provided, which is disposed in compression between a relatively large inlet aperture, and a relatively small outlet aperture. The periphery of the valve element surrounds the inlet aperture, and the apex of the valve element is seated in the outlet aperture, thereby creating an inlet and an outlet seal. In use the periphery of the valve element is drawn away from the inlet aperture, and the apex is pressed into the outlet aperture when the cylinder is primed with fluid, and the periphery of the valve element is pressed against the surface around the inlet aperture, and the apex is drawn away from the outlet aperture, when said fluid is driven form the cylinder. The valve element must be provided with a particular rigidity in order to provide adequate seals, and in particular to maintain one seal when the other is opened. As a result, a relatively large force may be required to manipulate the valve element as described above. This can put a strain on associated parts of a pump and reduce its life span. It is the object of the present invention to provide a novel valve element construction. According to the present invention a pump comprises pressure means in communication with a valve chamber provided with a first valve seat and a second valve seat, and a resilient valve element comprising a first tapered portion, a second tapered portion and a flange portion extending from a periphery of the first tapered portion, in which the flange portion co-operates with the first valve seat to form an inlet valve, and the second tapered portion co-operates with the second valve seat to form an outlet valve, and in which negative pressure applied to the flange portion by the pressure means in use lifts it from the first valve seat, and positive pressure applied to the first tapered portion by the pressure means in use lifts the second tapered portion from the second valve seat. In a preferred construction the valve element can be mounted in compression between the first valve seat and the second valve seat. The first valve seat can taper in the opposite direction to the first tapered portion, such that the flange portion tapers away from the periphery of the first tapered portion in use. Preferably the flange portion is resiliently biased against the first valve seat. The second valve seat can taper in a manner which corresponds to the second tapered portion. The first tapered portion can be spaced apart from the second tapered portion, and a substantially non-tapering body portion can be disposed therebetween. This arrangement provides a sufficient space between the inlet and outlet valves for fluid to move freely through the valve chamber. In one construction a nipple portion can be provided at the apex of the second tapered portion, which extends into an outlet conduit extending from the outlet valve. The nipple portion can be adapted to prevent the second tapered portion from becoming unseated form the second valve seat in use. The valve element can be provided with a bore extending along its longitudinal axis. An upper portion of the bore can be defined by the first tapered portion, and a lower portion of the bore can extend through the body portion and the second tapered portion and into the nipple portion. A rigid pin can be disposed inside the bore to limit lateral movement of the valve element in use. The pin can extend from a plate mounted above the valve, which holds it under compression, and which is provided with a number of apertures through which fluid can pass to enter the inlet valve. The pressure means may be a cylinder extending from the valve chamber, provided with a piston. Movement of the piston away from the valve chamber in use creates a negative pressure therein and lifts the flange portion from the first valve seat. This negative pressure can be insufficient to lift the second tapered portion from the second valve seat, and hence the outlet valve remains sealed. Movement of the piston towards the valve chamber in use creates a positive pressure therein which forces the first tapered portion towards the first valve seat, and as a result the second tapered portion is lifted form the second valve seat. This positive pressure can also force the flange portion against the first valve seat, and hence the inlet valve remains sealed. The pump can be adapted to dispense a viscous liquid, for example liquid soap. The soap can be contained in a cartridge, bag or refillable reservoir, which is mounted to one end of an inlet conduit, the opposite end of which is disposed the first valve seat. Movement of the piston down the cylinder opens the inlet valve and draws soap into the valve chamber and the cylinder. Movement of the piston back up the cylinder closes the inlet valve and opens the outlet valve as described above, and pumps the soap out of the outlet conduit. The invention also includes a resilient valve element for use with a pump comprising pressure means in communication with a valve chamber provided with a first valve seat and a second valve seat, in which the a resilient valve element comprises a first tapered portion, a second tapered portion and a flange portion extending from a periphery of the first tapered portion, in which the flange portion co-operates with the first valve seat to form an inlet valve, and the second tapered portion co-operates with the second valve seat to form an outlet valve, and in which negative pressure applied to the flange portion by the pressure means in use lifts it from the first valve seat, and positive pressure applied to the first tapered portion by the pressure means in use lifts the second tapered portion from the second valve seat. The invention can be performed in various ways, but one example will now be described by way of example and with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of a pump according to the present invention in a first arrangement; FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of a pump as shown in FIG. 1 in a second arrangement; and, FIG. 3 is a side view of a valve element as shown in the pump as shown in FIG. 1; and, FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional side view of the valve element as shown in FIG. 3. In FIG. 1 a pump 1 comprises pressure means, in the form of cylinder 2 and piston 3, in communication with a valve chamber 4 provided with a first valve seat 5 and a second valve seat 6, and a resilient valve element 7. The valve element 7 comprises first tapered portion 8, second tapered portion 9 and flange portion 10 extending from a periphery 11 of the first tapered portion 8. The flange portion 10 co-operates with the first valve seat 5 to form an inlet valve 12, and the second tapered portion 9 co-operates with the second valve seat 6 to form an outlet valve 13. Negative pressure applied to the flange portion 10 by the pressure means 2 and 3 in use lifts it from the first valve seat 5, and positive pressure applied to the first tapered portion 8 by the pressure means 2 and 3 in use lifts the second tapered portion 9 from the second valve seat 6. The pump further comprises inlet conduit 14, which is provided with a screw thread 15, which is adapted to co-operate with a soap cartridge or bag (not shown). A ring 16 is provided inside the inlet conduit 14, which rests on ledge 17, and carries the first valve seat 5. As is clear from FIG. 1 the cylinder 2 extends laterally from the valve chamber 4, and an aperture 18 is provided between the cylinder 2 and the valve chamber 4. An outlet conduit 19 extends downward form the outlet valve 13, and is provided with a dispensing aperture 20 at its outer end. The valve element 7 also comprises a body portion 22, which is disposed between the first tapered portion 8 and the second tapered portion 9. This arrangement provides a sufficient space between the inlet valve 12 and outlet valve 13 for the soap to move freely through the valve chamber 4. A nipple portion 23 is provided at the apex of the second tapered portion 9, which extends into the outlet conduit 19. The valve element 7 also has a bore 24, an upper portion of which 25 is defined by the first tapered portion 8, and a lower portion of which 26 extends through the body portion 22, the second tapered portion 9 and into a portion of the nipple portion 23. A pin 27 is disposed inside the bore 24 to limit lateral movement of the valve element 7. The pin 27 extends from a plate 28 which is mounted in the ring 16, and which holds the valve element 7 under compression against the second valve seat 6. The plate 28 is provided with a number of apertures 29, through which fluid can pass to enter the inlet valve 12. FIGS. 3 and 4 show the valve element 7 under no compression. As is shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the flange portion extends substantially perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the valve member 7. When the valve element 7 is mounted in the pump 1 as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, it is mounted under compression. The plate 28 presses down against the periphery 11 of the first tapered section 8, and hold the second tapered portion 9 against the second valve seat 6. This compression force is relatively low. At the same time, the flange portion 10 is held down in the position as shown in FIG. 2, by the first valve seat 5, which is tapered in the opposite direction to the first tapered portion 8. The flange portion 10 is therefore resiliently biased towards the first valve seat 5. In use the piston 3 is moved down the cylinder 2 in a priming stroke, as shown in FIG. 1. As a result a negative pressure is created inside the cylinder 2 and the valve chamber 4, and the flange portion 10 is lifted from the first valve seat 5, as shown in FIG. 1. The negative pressure required to lift the flange portion 10 from the first valve seat 5 is less than that required to lift the second tapered portion 9 from the second valve seat 6, and hence the outlet valve remains sealed. Soap is therefore drawn from the cartridge or bag (not shown), through the inlet conduit, through the apertures 29, through the inlet valve 12, and into the valve chamber 4 and the cylinder 2. When a desired priming stroke has been completed, the piston 3 is moved back up the cylinder 2, in a driving stroke as shown in FIG. 2. As a result a positive pressure is created inside the cylinder 2 and the valve chamber 4. This pressure forces the first tapered portion 8 up against the plate 28, and as a result the second tapered portion 9 is lifted from the second valve seat 6, as shown in FIG. 2. The nipple portion 23 remains inside the outlet conduit 19, and prevents the valve element 7 from becoming unseated from the second valve seat 6. The positive pressure in the valve chamber 4 also applies against the flange portion 10, further biasing it against the first valve seat 5, and maintaining an effective seal. The soap drawn into the valve chamber 4 and the cylinder 2 during the priming stroke as described above, is therefore forced therefrom through the outlet valve 13, through the outlet conduit 19 and through the dispensing aperture 20, for use. During both the priming and driving strokes negative and positive pressure is applied laterally to the body portion 22. However, the pin 27 prevent the body portion flexing enough to unseat the valve element 7. During construction of the pump 1, the pin 27 and the nipple portion 23 also ensure that the valve element 7 can be readily positioned correctly in the valve chamber 4. The embodiment can be altered without departing from the spirit of the invention. For example, it has been found in practice that the outlet valve 13 in the embodiment described above can suffer from leakage when the pump is used with certain fluids, due to insufficient sealing pressure. Therefore, in one alternative embodiment (not shown) a coil spring is mounted in compression around the pin 27, between the plate 28 and the top side of the first tapered portion 8. The coil spring provides an additional compression force to the outlet valve 13 in use, and helps to prevent possible leakage. The invention also includes a resilient valve element for use with a pump as described above. Therefore, resilient valve element 7 is shown in FIGS. 3 and 4. Thus a pump is provided with a resilient two-way valve element which requires relatively low forces to open and close an inlet and an outlet. The stresses placed on the associated parts of a pump are therefore reduced, and reliability is improved. In addition, the valve element 7 requires less rigidity than conventional conical valve elements, and its walls can therefore be provided with a thinner cross section, which is easier to manufacture. | 20040907 | 20080527 | 20050414 | 76415.0 | 1 | STIMPERT, PHILIP EARL | FLUID PUMP | UNDISCOUNTED | 0 | ACCEPTED | 2,004 |
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10,934,676 | ACCEPTED | System and method for providing container security | A system for monitoring the contents of a closed container is provided. The system includes a sensing system for monitoring the contents of the container; a signal receiving element for receiving sensor data from the sensing system; a control element for analyzing received sensor data; a first transceiver element for receiving signals containing sensor data from within the container and for transmitting those signals outside of the container; and a satellite transceiver element for receiving signals from the first transceiver element and for forwarding the received signals via satellite uplink to a remote location. | 1. A system for monitoring the contents of a closed container, the system comprising: a sensing system, comprised of one or more sensors within the container for monitoring the contents of the container; a signal receiving element for receiving sensor data from the sensing system; a control element for analyzing received sensor data; a first transceiver element for receiving signals containing sensor data from within the container and for transmitting those signals outside of the container; and a satellite transceiver element for receiving signals from the first transceiver element and for forwarding the received signals via satellite uplink to a remote location. 2. The system of claim 1, wherein the sensors include at least one sensor from the group of sensors containing: temperature sensor, visible light sensor, acoustic sensor, vibration sensor, motion sensor, microbolometer, and smoke detector 3. The system of claim 2, wherein the signals are transmitted from within the container to outside the container via a pass-through antenna. 4. The system of claim 3 wherein the pass-through antenna comprises: an internal antenna element configured to receive signals from within the container; a substantially planar signal conduit element; and an external antenna element configured to accept signals from the planar signal conduit element and allow those signals to transmit outside the container. 5. The system of claim 4, wherein the external antenna element is configured as an end portion of the planar signal conduit element. 6. The system of claim 4, wherein the planar signal conduit element is configured to reside within the door frame of the container. 7. The system of claim 6, wherein the sensing system includes at least one door switch sensor. 8. The system of claim 7, wherein the door switch sensor comprises and RF e-Seal device. 9. The system of claim 6, wherein the sensing system includes at least one sensor for measuring the integrity of the container. 10. The system of claim 9, wherein the integrity of the container is determined at least in part by a measurement of ultrasonic waves. 11. The system of claim 9, wherein the integrity of the container is determined at least in part by a measurement of reflected RF energy. 12. The system of claim 9, wherein the integrity of the container is determined at least in part by a measurement of container conductivity. 13. The system of claim 6, wherein at least a portion of the transported goods are marked with RFID tags and where the system includes an RFID reader for reading RFID tags. 14. A method for monitoring the status of a container for transporting goods, wherein the container includes sensors, the method comprising: receiving data from at least one sensor within the container; comparing the received sensor data against a threshold value for the measured sensor data; initiating a message in response to the received sensor data exceeding the threshold value for the measured sensor data; transmitting the initiated message as an RF signal from within the container to a satellite transceiver element outside the container, wherein the RF signal is transmitted outside of the container via a passive antenna system. 15. The method of claim 14, wherein the passive antenna system comprises a passive antenna. 16. The method of claim 15, wherein the pass-through antenna comprises: an internal antenna element configured to receive signals from within the container; a substantially planar signal conduit element; and an external antenna element configured to accept signals from the planar signal conduit element and allow those signals to transmit outside the container. 17. The system of claim 16, wherein the external antenna element is configured as an end portion of the planar signal conduit element. 18. The system of claim 16, wherein the planar signal conduit element is configured to reside within the door frame of the container. 19. The method of claims 16, wherein at least a portion of the transported goods are marked with RFID tags and where the container includes, as a sensor, an RFID reader for reading RFID tags, the method comprising the following additional steps: creating a first electronic list of RFID tagged items loaded into the container; storing the electronic list of RFID tagged items; loading the container for transport; monitoring the addition and removal of RFID tagged items to and from the container during transit; creating an updated electronic list of RFID items based on the monitoring of the container during transit; delivering the container to a target destination; and reconciling the first electronic list of the stored RFID tagged items with the updated electronic list. 20. A method for monitoring the status of a container, the method comprising: receiving data from at least one sensor within the container; comparing the received sensor data against a threshold value for the measured sensor data; initiating a message in response to the received sensor data exceeding the threshold value for the measured sensor data; transmitting the initiated message as an RF signal from within the container to a satellite transceiver element outside the container, wherein the RF signal is transmitted outside of the container via a wireless link integrated with a door switch sensor. 21. The method of claim 20, wherein the door switch sensor comprises an input element for receiving signals from within the container, a door switch element, and an antenna element, at least a portion of which is substantially unobstructed when the container is sealed. 22. The method of claim 21, wherein the antenna element comprises a substantially planar antenna configured from being located within the doorframe of the container when sealed. 23. In a system for monitoring the contents of a closed container comprising: a sensing system, comprised of one or more sensors within the container for monitoring the contents of the container; a signal receiving element for receiving sensor data from the sensing system; a control element for analyzing received sensor data; a first transceiver element for receiving signals containing sensor data from within the container and for transmitting those signals outside of the container; and a satellite transceiver element for receiving signals from the first transceiver element and for forwarding the received signals via satellite uplink to a remote location, a passive antenna system comprising a pass-through antenna. 24. The passive antenna system of claim 23, wherein the pass-through antenna comprises: an internal antenna element configured to receive signals from within the container; a substantially planar signal conduit element; and an external antenna element configured to accept signals from the planar signal conduit element and allow those signals to transmit outside the container. 25. The passive antenna system of claim 24, wherein the external antenna element is configured as an end portion of the planar signal conduit element. 26. The passive antenna system of claim 25, wherein the planar signal conduit element is configured to reside within the door frame of the container. | CLAIM OF PRIORITY The present invention claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60/499,338, filed Sep. 3, 2003. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates generally to container security and, more particularly, to a shipping container security system to provide a high degree of confidence regarding the content and security of the container. 2. Background of the Invention In today's security conscious transportation environment, there is a strong need to cost-effectively and accurately monitor the contents of containerized shipments. This need exist both in the United States and abroad. Despite the strong need, no present solution has been able to provide the protection and accuracy needed to suit the transportation industry and the government agencies charged with monitoring shipments. This lack of an acceptable solution is due to many factors which complicate interstate and international shipping. Shipping containers are used to transport most of the commerce entering, leaving, and transiting or moving within the United States. It is estimated that there are over 6 million containers moving in global commerce. Shipping containers have revolutionized the transportation of goods by greatly reducing the number of times goods must be loaded and unloaded during transport. However, at the same time, this same advantage has created a major problem in that it is very difficult to monitor and track the contents of each container during transport. Beyond their basic construction, monitoring the content of shipping containers is also difficult because these containers are carried through numerous transit points and depots all over the world and it is impractical to stop and check the contents of each container individually at each point of transit. Dealing with this problem, the U.S. Customs Service estimates it can inspect just 5% of the 6 million containers entering and reentering the U.S. each year. Accordingly, agencies such as the United States Customs Service are seeking improved ways to achieve cargo container security and integrity upon arrival at the ports of entry of the United States. To date, many government agencies have initiated programs to improve container security. These include many useful elements that are intended to preclude their use by terrorists. However, at present, none of the container tracking systems in use provide a way to assure the integrity of the contents of the containers to assure global container security. Current computer tracking systems are effective at monitoring the location of individual containers from point of origin to destination and maintaining an inventory of loaded and empty containers. Most of these systems rely on transponders mounted on the containers that send messages to satellites or ground stations, from which the messages are rerouted to shipping companies, freight forwarders, and companies. However, these tracking systems are unable to guarantee that a given container does not contain contraband. As an alternative, some present systems rely on external sensors which can inspect container contents for radiation and other items. The Vehicle and Cargo Inspection System (VACIS) sensors developed by SAIC International (and other similar systems) have proven useful in detecting unauthorized items, such as automobiles, in containers. Widespread use of VACIS will help monitor routine traffic and assist customs agents in controlling smuggling. Systems like VACIS, however, cannot prevent determined terrorists from moving dangerous items into the United States in a container because the technique is not fool-proof, it is costly (Over $300 per container movement inspected), slows the velocity of containers moving in the supply chain (because of delays in U.S. government invoicing costs and clearing these costs before release of goods to the consignee) and is not applied to 100% of containers destined to move into the United States. The most likely solution is to tag, track and tamper-proof every container as it is transported. This typically means that the only way to have a high degree of security is to stop and open containers, unload their contents, scan the contents with appropriate sensors or inspect the contents. However, inspecting 100%, every container that enters the United States, would be a time-consuming, laborious process. Such an undertaking would be expensive, require a large work force of inspectors, slow the flow of commerce, and force prices of imported goods to increase significantly. The result would be drastic increases in the costs of goods delivered to the U.S. consumer. 3. Description of the Related Art Beyond the VACIS system described above, several solutions for container surveillance during transport have been proposed. For instance, U.S. Pat. No. 5,712,789 describes a container monitoring system and method for identification, tracking and monitoring of containers from a point of departure to a final destination and return. This system is able to provide shippers and their customers an updated status for each container using various telecommunications systems. Similarly, U.S. Pat. No. 5,565,858, provides a device external to the shipping container which communicates using a combination of a short range transceiver and a long range transceiver. European Patent Application No. EP 1246094 also describes a communication system external to the container which allows for tracking the movement of the container. This application also describes the use of a satellite positioning unit. Finally, U.S. Pat. No. 5,831,519 describes a method for surveillance of the atmosphere within a shipping container and related equipment via a centralized backup system located on a transportation unit. In particular, this reference discloses a communication system by which information regarding the status of the container is relayed to a transporting carrier (i.e. a truck) which then is able to transmit data regarding the container location and container contents via a satellite or wireless uplink. A problem with the existing technology as outlined above is that no solution is provided which enables the shipping container to be self-evaluating and self-reporting as to its status and that of its cargo. Further, problems exist with respect to integration of container security with the increasing important area of RFID inventory tracking. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION To address the problems and limitations noted above, a system for monitoring the contents of a closed container is provided. According to a first preferred embodiment, the system includes a sensing system for monitoring the contents of the container; a signal receiving element for receiving sensor data from the sensing system; a control element for analyzing received sensor data; a first transceiver element for receiving signals containing sensor data from within the container and for transmitting those signals outside of the container; and a satellite transceiver element for receiving signals from the first transceiver element and for forwarding the received signals via satellite uplink to a remote location. The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification, illustrate various embodiments of the invention and, together with the description, serve to explain the principles of the invention. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 shows a functional configuration of an system according to an embodiment of the invention. FIG. 2 shows a functional configuration of an sensing system according to an embodiment of the invention. FIG. 3 shows a diagram of a sensing control element according to an embodiment of the invention. FIG. 4 shows a functional configuration of an processing system according to an embodiment of the invention. FIG. 5 shows a functional configuration of an communications system according to an embodiment of the invention. FIG. 6 shows a side view of an example of a monitoring system deployed to an embodiment of the invention. FIG. 7 shows a front view of an example of a monitoring system deployed to an embodiment of the invention. FIG. 8 shows a side view of an example of a monitoring system deployed to an alternative embodiment of the invention. FIG. 9 shows an example of the pass-through antenna according to an embodiment of the invention. FIG. 10 shows an example of the pass-through antenna deployed according to an embodiment of the invention. FIG. 11 shows a functional example of the pass-through antenna according to an embodiment of the invention. FIG. 12 system diagram of a monitoring system incorporating an embodiment of the invention. DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention provides a unique system for monitoring and reporting environmental information regarding the interior of the shipping container. Further, the present invention provides a unique system for reading and incorporating RFID information in this system. Throughout this specification, preferred embodiments of the invention are described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the embodiments, various examples and illustrative embodiments are provided. It should be understood that these embodiments and examples are provided purely for purposes of illustration. The present invention is limited solely by the claims appended hereto. With reference now to FIG. 1, and for the purposes of explanation, the basic system of the present invention may consist of three major systems: a sensing system 102 for monitoring conditions within the container; a processing system 104 for analyzing and processing data from the sensing system; and a communications system 106 for forwarding data to monitoring devices outside of the container. I. Sensing System With reference now to FIG. 2, the details of the sensing system 200 will now be discussed. As shown in FIG. 2, the sensing system of the present invention consists of a set of sensors chosen to give the most accurate and complete view of the container environment. In accordance with the preferred embodiment of the present invention, these sensors preferably include: a PIR (motion) sensor 202; a micro-bolometer 204 for detecting the presence of people and animals; a smoke detector 206; a light sensor 208; a vibration sensor 210; a temperature sensor 212; an auditory (sound) sensor 214; and a container integrity sensor 216 (as discussed in detail further below). This sensor suite has been selected particularly as an anti-penetration and human tampering detection system. In addition, further sensors that are RF enabled and fully functional within the LAN of the invention and customized to match current threats such as ionization detectors to detect explosives or radiological sensors to detect gamma or neutron emissions may be incorporated for use with the preferred sensor suite provided herein. In addition to the environment sensors, in accordance with the preferred embodiment of the present invention, a door switch sensor 222 (such as an optical, ultrasonic, magnetic or mechanical switch) may preferably also be included to detect the status of the door. Together, the sensors of the present invention provide anti-tampering protection, aid in the detection of contraband, and continuous monitoring of environmental conditions that could affect the cargo within the container or indicate suspicious activity. Preferably, each sensor of the present invention includes circuitry to continuously monitor the sensor and capture the highest amplitude signal over a pre-determined, short time interval. Thereafter, as signals are detected, it is preferred that a sensor manager 220 is provided to sample the held measured value or cumulative values once per programmed interval and thereafter, provide the sampled results for further processing and analysis by processing system 300 of the present invention. The interval can be changed by the processing system as required to gather more detailed information about possible change of container integrity status or the presence of unauthorized content. Preferably, the sensor manager 220 of the present invention may also provide analog and digital ports for additional inputs. For example, a container door switch may be connected to one of these ports. This door switch may provide additional protection to sense when the container doors are open, beyond that provided by the electro/mechanical door switch 222 detailed herein. Additionally, an RF e-seal device and RFID reader device may also be incorporated as detailed below. A. Sensors The following sensors comprise a preferred suite of sensors for use with the sensing system of the present invention. Preferably, each of these should be designed to work independently to monitor the container environment. Data from these sensors is processed, stored, and acted upon by the processing system of the present invention as discussed in detail below. It should be understood that the exact placement and type of sensors may vary according to a variety of factors including the specific needs of the shipper and the type of goods being shipped. Further, it should be understood that, although preferred operating parameters for each preferred sensor described below are suggested, each sensor may, of course, be adjusted to suit particular applications. The key goal for each sensor is to allow a resolution of measurement sufficient to allow for noting small and sudden differences in an otherwise stable container environment that may indicate a change in the container integrity status or the presence of unauthorized content. Temperature—Preferably, the temperature sensor 212 of the present invention will allow measurement of temperatures in the range is −40° C. to 125° C. with a ±2% accuracy and a 0.25° C. resolution. Visible Light—Preferably, the light sensor 208 of the present invention should allow for light levels between 0 and 2000 Lux. Acoustic—Preferably, an acoustic sensor 214 for use with the present invention will provides information on sounds in the environment including high frequency sounds unique to cutting or cracking. Vibration—The vibration sensor 210 of the present invention preferably consists of a two-axis accelerometer. IR Motion—Preferably, the motion detector 202 of present invention will be sensitive to electromagnetic energy in the 8-10 micron wavelength band where humans produce their peak IR energy so that it is optimized to sense human motion. IR Microbolometer—Microbolometers are passive sensors that absorb infrared radiation and convert the change in the temperature of the micro-detector into a change in resistance or other parameter, which is then sensed electronically. Preferably, the IR Microbolometer 204 of the present invention will monitor possible activity in the IR part of the spectrum. Smoke Detector—Preferably, the smoke detector 206 of the present invention will be a photoelectric smoke detector to sense chemical or particulate changes in the atmosphere of a shipping container. It should allow for detection of smoldering cargo combustion (smoking embers or open fire) and attempts to cut through the walls of the container with a torch. Door Switch—According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the system of the present invention may also include a magnetic proximity sensor 222 for monitoring the opening and closing of the door. This sensing function alternatively can be accomplished with an optical photometer or ultrasonic transducer that senses an angular change in a reflected diode light imposed on the interior of the door. RF E-Seal—As an alterative or in addition to a basic door switch sensor, the present invention may also use an RF E-seal device 224, which may be attached to the door hasp or hidden within the door frame of the container. This RF E-seal device 224 preferably is enabled to periodically send information regarding the status of the RF E-seal 224 via a wireless link (usually 2.45 GHz signal). Preferably, the sensor manager 220 inside the container periodically receives the status of the seal through an RF conformal antenna inserted through the door gasket during container stuffing operations. Opening the door breaks the seal, causing the RFID transmitter to cease active transmission. Preferably, the sensor manager 220 will record the date and time of such an event in a suspicious activity file in its memory log. Container Integrity Sensors (Hole Detection)—In accordance with the present invention, sensors for detecting breaches in the container integrity (holes) may also be included to enhance container security. Preferably, these type of sensors may include one of the following sensing techniques. Alternatively, other types of sensing techniques may be applicable as well. (i) Passive Ultrasonic Technique: Cracking or tearing of the container's structural shell during and after the creation of the hole creates a series of ultrasonic shock waves with a wide spectrum of energy distribution. Even in very high acoustic noise environments, relatively quiet background noise portions of the spectrum above 20 KHz may be exploited to detect the presence of the suspicious acoustic emission and in certain applications, triangulate its source. In accordance with the present invention, this technique will include a sensor including a high-pass-band filter for processing signal wave-forms detected by piezoelectric accelerometers. (ii) Measurement of Reflected RF Energy: The second solution treats the inside of the container as a microwave (Faraday) reflective cavity, by retrofitting a thin sheet of metal or metallic foil on top of the wooden deck inside the container or on the bottom of the floor (under the container). This technique of hole detection uses pulsed RF microwave energy from an RFID reader operating periodically in the container while it is closed. If the reader operates at a sweeping frequency centered at approximately 915 MHz, its wavelength would be approximately 30 cm. Holes smaller than 3 cm. in diameter would not markedly affect the energy that is reflected within the cavity. However, holes 7-8 cm (approx 3″) in diameter could have the affect of breaching the Faraday cavity effectively forming quarter wave parasitic slot antennas that can drain a detectable amount of microwave energy out of the cavity. This increased energy drain creates a differential property that can be used to detect the sudden presence of the hole. Cargo loaded inside the container will change the standing wave patterns within the cavity and will absorb energy. Such a “loaded Faraday cavity” can have unique characteristics, but the back-scatter energy level should be reduced with the emergence of a hole in the loaded cavity shell regardless, especially for holes 7-8 cm in diameter or larger. (iii) Measurement of Container Conductivity: The third solution includes sending an electrical current into a network of small conductors layered but insulated from the metal container surface like a dielectric capacitor and measuring the return of current and other electrical characteristics of certain circuits in the grid or measuring the steady state dielectric characteristics. Where holes are formed, the measured return of current measured will be measurably changed and the dielectric constant will be suddenly altered through the creation of ground current paths. Additional Sensors—In accordance with the preferred embodiment of the present invention, each group of sensors will have a modular open architecture design that will allow for future addition of sensors 218 for such purposes as chemical and radiation detection as required. II. Processing System With reference now to FIGS. 3 and 4, a first preferred embodiment of the processing system 300 of the present invention will now be discussed. As shown in FIG. 3, it is preferable that control of the sensor system is maintained by an on-board controller 302. As discussed above, it is preferable that the processing system 300, through its onboard controller 302 compare the sequence and threshold performance of the sensors 304 in the clusters to a set of predetermined patterns and levels derived from empirical trials on an instrumented static test container. Based on a series of rule sets stored in memory, the controller 302 then operates to declare security events and initiate recording and communication actions as programmed. For instance, where sensor input 304 regarding the measured level of smoke or light in the container exceeds a predetermined level, the controller 302 may then function to initiate a message or alarm in response. In operation, the controller is preferably programmed to routinely scan the conditions of the sensors to ensure operability. It is further preferable, that the controller 302 have access to all other subsystem managers and provide control of the sensor, communications, power, and alerting functions. To achieve this function, as shown in FIG. 4, it is preferred that the controller 402 has access to and handles all of the system logging of sensor data on a sensor log 404 or similar medium. Further, it is preferred that the controller also process and store RFID data (i.e. as an RFID manifest 406 of the container contents) when the system is used in conjunction with an RFID reader (as discussed in detailed below). With reference now to FIG. 3, it is preferred that the controller 302 incorporates a microprocessor 304, a real time clock 318, a general purpose Input/Output port 308 to support external peripheral control, a Universal Synchronous/Asynchronous Receiver Transmitter (USART) 310, a Serial Port Interface (SPI) 312, and memory such as RAM 322, FLASH memory 320, and EEPROM 314 as shown. Preferably, the microprocessor 304 used is a low power, high performance, eight-bit integrated circuit based on the Motorola HCS08 instruction set. Such a chip, for instance the NCL08 micro-controller, will preferably use an event driven power management technique to reduce power consumption by half compared with alternative microprocessors. The controller will preferably manages power and hosts the master date-time clock, communication scheduling and annotation of flash memory records. As shown in FIG. 4, it is further preferred that the controller 402 will also control any alarms 408 which may be placed on a container. In accordance with the present invention, such alarms may include both audible alarms 310 and visible alarms 312. Alarming The declaration of an alarm event is a result of sensor data fusion, sensor performance sequencing, and contextual supporting data. When the controller declares an alarm event, it may activate a visible (strobe diode) and an audible alarm. Each alarm is preferably date and time stamped into flash memory along with relevant details of the alarm. The alarm messages will expose the data and rationale for the event declaration to allow for troubleshooting and visual inspection by the carrier before the shipper or Customs agents are obligated to respond. This data also can be forwarded to a central location for scrutiny prior to dispatching an inspector to decrease the possibility of a false alarm response. III. Communication System A Communications (Comms) Manager module provides an interface to either a wireless ZigBee (IEEE 802.15.4) subsystem or a wireless Bluetooth subsystem, enabling communications to systems outside the shipping container. The Zig-Bee signal is passed through a sealed container by way of a specially developed passive pass-through antenna (514), allowing wireless communication with the interior systems of the sealed container. The external systems include the RF E-Seal, the Local Interface and the Remote Interface. The RF E-Seal allows for a formal door sealing after loading of the container and it reports its status to the processing system. Violation of this seal could trigger an alarm event. The Local Port Interface provides for a local authorized user to poll the status of the container and to enter data as needed. A laptop or PDA computer may be used for this purpose. Additionally, this functionally may be completed remotely via the Remote Port Interface. The purpose of the Remote Port is to pass status and alarms to a centralized location with an appropriate data/message response from the controller. In accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the reporting may be made via a wireless connection to a satellite modem to communicate with a satellite system such as Globalstar™ or Orbcomm™. 1. Communications and Interfaces With reference now to FIG. 5, the communications system 500 of the present invention will now be discussed. As shown in FIG. 5, a Communications (Comms) Manager module 502 is provided as an interface to a wireless link 506 enabling communications to systems outside the shipping container. Preferably, the wireless signal is passed through a sealed container by way of a specially developed passive pass-through antenna 514 (discussed in detail below, which allows for wireless communication with the interior systems of the sealed container. As further shown in FIG. 5, the external systems may include an RF E-Seal 528 (which may be combined with the pass-though antenna 514 or a communications path through the wooden floor of the container), the Local Comms Interface 520 and a Remote Comms Interface 522. The RF E-Seal 528 allows for a formal door sealing after loading of the container. It reports its status to the processing system. Violation of this seal could trigger an alarm event. The Local Comms Interface 520 provides for a local authorized user to poll the status of the container and to enter data as needed. A laptop or PDA computer may be used for this purpose. Additionally, this functionally may be completed remotely via the Remote Comms Interface 522. The purpose of the Remote Comms Interface 522 is to pass status and alarms to a centralized location with an appropriate data/message response from the controller. In accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the reporting may be made via a wireless connection to a satellite modem to communicate with a satellite system 526 such as Globalstar™ or Orbcomm™. Preferably, such a satellite device will be a device such as the Axxon™ AxTracker™ or the like, or a customized OrbComm™ VHF satellite GPS tracking communications device which is adapted with ZigBee interface antenna devices to incorporate them into the overall LAN architecture of the security system; these devices include a satellite transceiver, GPS receiver, a customized ZigBee™ wireless antenna with a serial (Ax Tracker™) or duplex (OrbComm™) interface. According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, it is preferred that the wireless communications used within the present invention will be based on the ZigBee™ (IEEE 802.15.4) standard. This standard transmits RF signals in the 2.4 GHz ISM band and operates with low power consumption due to its relatively slower data transmission rate (128 Kbps-250 Kbps). This approach enables additional capacity and flexibility of design through an up to 255 node pico-network. Communications are simplex or duplex in design, meaning that data can be assessed in either a push or pull process. The remote communications functions (communications outside the container) will allow for remote polling of alert event history from the flash memory storage as well as verification of “operations normal” and battery charge level. Additional communications with the communications manager 504 are preferably enabled via industry standard wired interfaces, with communications protocols implemented in firmware for future upgrade. These interfaces preferably will include at least two RS-232 compatible serial ports 504. These alternate serial ports may assist to interface the communications manager 502 to interface with additional remote sensors as well as other local readers/controllers such as an RFID reader or other devices 512. 2. Pass-Through Antenna With reference now to FIGS. 9-11, examples of pass-through antennas for use in accordance with the present invention will now be discussed. An important link in the communications chain of the present invention is the communication of messages and alarm from within the container to remote monitoring stations via a wireless link. According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, such a wireless link is preferably established via a pass-through antenna 902 which receives signals from within the container and guides those signals outside of the container. An example pass-through antenna 902 is shown in FIG. 9, which includes: an external antenna element 904, a substantially planar signal conduit element 906; and a internal antenna element 908. As shown in FIG. 11, this pass-through antenna 1110 according to the present invention is preferably designed to fit snugly within the door frame 1112 of a container, and to guide RF signals into and out of the container. As shown in FIG. 9, the pass-through antenna of the present invention can also be configured to receive signals and send signals input via wired connection 910 as well. FIG. 10 illustrates an example configuration and use of the pass-through antenna of the present invention. As shown, the pass through antenna 1002 is mounted onto the doorframe 1012 of a container. Accordingly, external antenna element 1010 has unobstructed access to transmit and receive signals from outside the container. Further, the substantially planar signal conduit element 1008 provides a conduit across the threshold of the container. Further, internal antenna element 1004 is available to transmit and receive signals within the container. As illustrated, a WLAN link 1006 or other devices may be attached via a serial port to the internal antenna element. 3. RFID Reader As further shown in FIG. 5, one of the preferred wired connections into the communication manager 502 is an RFID Reader system. In accordance to a further preferred embodiment of the present invention, an RFID reading device in accordance with the Class 1, Version 2 (Gen 2) RFID specification. The RFID Reader system is included in and designed to read RFID equipped pallets. Preferably, the RFID Reader data will be largely self sufficient with only alarm conditions (such as missing inventory) passed to the sensor controller for processing and storage in associated memory. However, one of the new sensor functions could be to use the RFID reader as a hole detector, measuring the energy of RF backscatter (as discussed above). In that scenario, the RFID reader, if it sensed a sudden loss of backscatter energy caused by the creation of a large hole in the container's metal shell, would be designed to immediately pass an alarm indication to the sensor manager, which would provide an appropriate data indicator for the alarm controller and communications manager modules. In operation, the RFID reader forms the backbone of an electronic manifest system that verifies accurate loading of pallets (with associated RFID tags) and validates their ultimate disposition. In accordance with a preferred embodiment, at least one door sensor will interface with the power circuit of a tag reader capable of reading pallet and carton product tags through an RS-232 compatible serial interface. The logic of the RFID reader is in its controller, which is programmed to accept a list of unique serial numbers from a flash memory card or chip and seek their corresponding RFID tags as they are loaded or unloaded into and out of the container. The RFID reader must be able to read various commercial protocols and employs multiple tag collision avoidance algorithms. The readers typically use frequency hopping in a band centered around 915 MHz. Preferably, the RFID Reader is located near the container door to minimize the distance between the reader and a RFID tag entering or leaving the container, thus enhancing the sensing and reading of the RFID tag. The size and location of the auxiliary power unit will be determined during system development. The auxiliary power unit will supply the RFID reader through a power bus that could be tapped for one or more of the sensor clusters. 4. Physical Deployment With reference now to FIG. 6, an exemplary illustration of a container 600 monitored by the present invention will now be discussed. As shown in FIG. 6, monitoring device 602, incorporating the sensors, communication, and control elements of the present invention, is positioned within the container. Alternatively, the sensors and other elements of the monitoring devices may be positioned at alternate locations such as 604 or 606, as dictated by environmental concerns. Further, the sensors may be co-located as a single sensor suite (as shown) or broken-up and deployed throughout the container separately. As further shown in FIG. 6, a pass-through antenna 608 is located on the door frame 612 and attached to a wireless interface device 616. Further shown, a satellite transceiver element 610 is mounted on the front surface of the container door 612. Accordingly, the monitoring device 602 of the present invention is able to process signals received from its sensor system and relay necessary information via wireless link 616 and pass-through antenna 608 to the satellite transceiver element 710. The monitoring device is preferably able to receive information and request for information via the same path for duplex communications and trigger a preset alarm communications over the satellite communicator for simplex satellite communications devices. With reference now to FIG. 7, an front view of the container 700 in FIG. 6 is provided to illustrate the location of the pass-through antenna 708 and the satellite transceiver element 710. With reference now to FIG. 8, a similar configuration to that of FIG. 6 is provided with the addition of an RFID reader 818 with a power supply 820 and power bus 822. Accordingly, as shown in FIG. 8, a monitoring device 802 is shown along with alternate locations 804 and 806. Further shown, a pass-through antenna 808 is located on the door frame 812 and attached to a wireless interface device 816. Further shown, a satellite transceiver element 810 is mounted on the front surface of the container door 812. Accordingly, the monitoring device 802 of the present invention is able to process signals received from its sensor system and relay necessary information via wireless link 816 and pass-through antenna 808 to the satellite transceiver element 810. Further, the RFID Reader 818 is preferably positioned to record the comings and goings of RFID tagged items, which is able to transmit to either the monitoring device or directly to the wireless link 816. 5. Dataflow With reference now to FIG. 12, the flow and transfer of data within the present invention will now be discussed. As discussed above, environmental and content data is initially generated from within the monitored container 1202 via a suite of sensors. These sensors may include information from an RF e-seal device and an RFID reader device. As shown in FIG. 12, the configuration of the sensors and controllers within the container 1202 may be configured via a laptop interface 1204 or similar device. Through this configuration step, a user of the present invention may set alarm threshold levels, select communication protocols, turn on and off selected sensors as desired, download stored data, check battery and power levels and other set-up functions. Once in a monitoring status, the security system of the present invention then functions to monitor and report the status of the container to a central monitoring station 1212 (as discussed below). As illustrated in FIG. 12, information from the container may be transmitted using a variety of paths. According to a first preferred embodiment of the present invention, data from the container may, for instance, be transmitted from the satellite communication device to an orbiting satellite 1218 which may then transmit the information to a satellite transceiver element 14, which may then route the information to the central monitoring station 1212. As shown, information may also be transmitted from the central monitoring station 1212 to the monitored container 1202 via the same path. As further shown in FIG. 12, an alternative pathway for data may also be used without directly using satellite communications. According to this second pathway, data from the monitored container 1202 may be provided via wireless signal to a hand-held device 1206 (such as a personal digital assistance, cellular phone or similar device) or to a specially designed portal reading device 1220 for receiving data. Both sets of devices may alternatively receive data via a direct serial connection to the monitored container 1202 when circumstanced allow. In either circumstance, data transmission may be initiated by either the monitoring system or by the data reading device. As further shown, such data transmissions received by either type device may then be transferred via the Internet 1208 to the central monitoring station 1212. Where available, data may be routed to dedicated monitoring services (i.e. a seal monitoring operation 1210) as well as to the central monitoring station. Such monitoring services may receive data from only specific sensors for data. For instance, data from an RF e-Seal type device or RFID reader may be transmitted directly to a specific monitoring service 1210 concerned only with alerts and reports from that particular sensor. 6. Remote Monitoring To support and monitor the dataflow generated by the present invention, it is preferred that users establish a centralized location to collect and analyze data. This central location or “data fusion center” would preferably consolidate all tracking signals, sensor alarms and reports generated by the monitoring systems and provide further context and links with current intelligence. Preferably, such a data fusion center will receive such source information in a variety of formats such as Electronic Data Interchange, XML, E-Mail, HTML and flat text files. After receiving such data, the data fusion center preferably would act to process the information to identify anomalies. With this data collected and processed, analyst may calculate statistics and probability of detection models used for decision support. In terms of decision making, such a data fusion center would assist agents and shippers in making decisions regarding the safety and status of each container. In short, such a data fusion center would preferably provide a consolidated source of information that could be used to assist agencies and shippers to identify and remove unsafe and suspicious containers from commerce. | <SOH> BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION <EOH>1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates generally to container security and, more particularly, to a shipping container security system to provide a high degree of confidence regarding the content and security of the container. 2. Background of the Invention In today's security conscious transportation environment, there is a strong need to cost-effectively and accurately monitor the contents of containerized shipments. This need exist both in the United States and abroad. Despite the strong need, no present solution has been able to provide the protection and accuracy needed to suit the transportation industry and the government agencies charged with monitoring shipments. This lack of an acceptable solution is due to many factors which complicate interstate and international shipping. Shipping containers are used to transport most of the commerce entering, leaving, and transiting or moving within the United States. It is estimated that there are over 6 million containers moving in global commerce. Shipping containers have revolutionized the transportation of goods by greatly reducing the number of times goods must be loaded and unloaded during transport. However, at the same time, this same advantage has created a major problem in that it is very difficult to monitor and track the contents of each container during transport. Beyond their basic construction, monitoring the content of shipping containers is also difficult because these containers are carried through numerous transit points and depots all over the world and it is impractical to stop and check the contents of each container individually at each point of transit. Dealing with this problem, the U.S. Customs Service estimates it can inspect just 5% of the 6 million containers entering and reentering the U.S. each year. Accordingly, agencies such as the United States Customs Service are seeking improved ways to achieve cargo container security and integrity upon arrival at the ports of entry of the United States. To date, many government agencies have initiated programs to improve container security. These include many useful elements that are intended to preclude their use by terrorists. However, at present, none of the container tracking systems in use provide a way to assure the integrity of the contents of the containers to assure global container security. Current computer tracking systems are effective at monitoring the location of individual containers from point of origin to destination and maintaining an inventory of loaded and empty containers. Most of these systems rely on transponders mounted on the containers that send messages to satellites or ground stations, from which the messages are rerouted to shipping companies, freight forwarders, and companies. However, these tracking systems are unable to guarantee that a given container does not contain contraband. As an alternative, some present systems rely on external sensors which can inspect container contents for radiation and other items. The Vehicle and Cargo Inspection System (VACIS) sensors developed by SAIC International (and other similar systems) have proven useful in detecting unauthorized items, such as automobiles, in containers. Widespread use of VACIS will help monitor routine traffic and assist customs agents in controlling smuggling. Systems like VACIS, however, cannot prevent determined terrorists from moving dangerous items into the United States in a container because the technique is not fool-proof, it is costly (Over $300 per container movement inspected), slows the velocity of containers moving in the supply chain (because of delays in U.S. government invoicing costs and clearing these costs before release of goods to the consignee) and is not applied to 100% of containers destined to move into the United States. The most likely solution is to tag, track and tamper-proof every container as it is transported. This typically means that the only way to have a high degree of security is to stop and open containers, unload their contents, scan the contents with appropriate sensors or inspect the contents. However, inspecting 100%, every container that enters the United States, would be a time-consuming, laborious process. Such an undertaking would be expensive, require a large work force of inspectors, slow the flow of commerce, and force prices of imported goods to increase significantly. The result would be drastic increases in the costs of goods delivered to the U.S. consumer. 3. Description of the Related Art Beyond the VACIS system described above, several solutions for container surveillance during transport have been proposed. For instance, U.S. Pat. No. 5,712,789 describes a container monitoring system and method for identification, tracking and monitoring of containers from a point of departure to a final destination and return. This system is able to provide shippers and their customers an updated status for each container using various telecommunications systems. Similarly, U.S. Pat. No. 5,565,858, provides a device external to the shipping container which communicates using a combination of a short range transceiver and a long range transceiver. European Patent Application No. EP 1246094 also describes a communication system external to the container which allows for tracking the movement of the container. This application also describes the use of a satellite positioning unit. Finally, U.S. Pat. No. 5,831,519 describes a method for surveillance of the atmosphere within a shipping container and related equipment via a centralized backup system located on a transportation unit. In particular, this reference discloses a communication system by which information regarding the status of the container is relayed to a transporting carrier (i.e. a truck) which then is able to transmit data regarding the container location and container contents via a satellite or wireless uplink. A problem with the existing technology as outlined above is that no solution is provided which enables the shipping container to be self-evaluating and self-reporting as to its status and that of its cargo. Further, problems exist with respect to integration of container security with the increasing important area of RFID inventory tracking. | <SOH> SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION <EOH>To address the problems and limitations noted above, a system for monitoring the contents of a closed container is provided. According to a first preferred embodiment, the system includes a sensing system for monitoring the contents of the container; a signal receiving element for receiving sensor data from the sensing system; a control element for analyzing received sensor data; a first transceiver element for receiving signals containing sensor data from within the container and for transmitting those signals outside of the container; and a satellite transceiver element for receiving signals from the first transceiver element and for forwarding the received signals via satellite uplink to a remote location. The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification, illustrate various embodiments of the invention and, together with the description, serve to explain the principles of the invention. | 20040903 | 20060829 | 20050407 | 66587.0 | 1 | CROSLAND, DONNIE L | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR PROVIDING CONTAINER SECURITY | UNDISCOUNTED | 0 | ACCEPTED | 2,004 |
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10,934,863 | ACCEPTED | Polymorphic forms of 3-(4-amino-1-oxo-1,3 dihydro-isoindol-2-yl)-piperidine-2,6-dione | Polymorphic forms of 3-(4-amino-1-oxo-1,3 dihydro-isoindol-2-yl)-piperidine-2,6-dione are disclosed. Compositions comprising the polymorphic forms, methods of making the polymorphic forms and methods of their use are also disclosed. | 1. Crystalline 3-(4-amino-1-oxo-1,3 dihydro-isoindol-2-yl)-piperidine-2,6-dione having an X-ray powder diffraction pattern comprising a peak at approximately 17.5 degrees 2θ. 2. The crystalline 3-(4-amino-1-oxo-1,3 dihydro-isoindol-2-yl)-piperidine-2,6-dione of claim 1, wherein the pattern further comprises peaks at approximately 8, 14.5, 16, 20.5, 24 and 26 degrees 2θ. 3. The crystalline 3-(4-amino-1-oxo-1,3 dihydro-isoindol-2-yl)-piperidine-2,6-dione of claim 1 that has a differential scanning calorimetry melting temperature maximum of about 270° C. 4. Crystalline 3-(4-amino-1-oxo-1,3 dihydro-isoindol-2-yl)-piperidine-2,6-dione having an X-ray powder diffraction pattern comprising a peak at approximately 27 degrees 2θ. 5. The crystalline 3-(4-amino-1-oxo-1,3 dihydro-isoindol-2-yl)-piperidine-2,6-dione of claim 4, wherein the pattern further comprises peaks at approximately 16, 18 and 22 degrees 2θ. 6. The crystalline 3-(4-amino-1-oxo-1,3 dihydro-isoindol-2-yl)-piperidine-2,6-dione of claim 4 that has a differential scanning calorimetry melting temperature maximum of about 268° C. 7. Crystalline 3-(4-amino-1-oxo-1,3 dihydro-isoindol-2-yl)-piperidine-2,6-dione having an X-ray powder diffraction pattern comprising a peak at approximately 25 degrees 2θ. 8. The crystalline 3-(4-amino-1-oxo-1,3 dihydro-isoindol-2-yl)-piperidine-2,6-dione of claim 7, wherein the pattern further comprises a peak at approximately 15.5 degrees 2θ. 9. The crystalline 3-(4-amino-1-oxo-1,3 dihydro-isoindol-2-yl)-piperidine-2,6-dione of claim 7 that has a differential scanning calorimetry melting temperature maximum of about 269° C. 10. Crystalline 3-(4-amino-1-oxo-1,3 dihydro-isoindol-2-yl)-piperidine-2,6-dione having an X-ray powder diffraction pattern comprising a peak at approximately 28 degrees 2θ. 11. The crystalline 3-(4-amino-1-oxo-1,3 dihydro-isoindol-2-yl)-piperidine-2,6-dione of claim 10, wherein the pattern further comprises a peak at approximately 27 degrees 2θ. 12. The crystalline 3-(4-amino-1-oxo-1,3 dihydro-isoindol-2-yl)-piperidine-2,6-dione of claim 10 that has a differential scanning calorimetry melting temperature maximum of about 270° C. 13. Crystalline 3-(4-amino-1-oxo-1,3 dihydro-isoindol-2-yl)-piperidine-2,6-dione having an X-ray powder diffraction pattern comprising a peak at approximately 20 degrees 2θ. 14. The crystalline 3-(4-amino-1-oxo-1,3 dihydro-isoindol-2-yl)-piperidine-2,6-dione of claim 13, wherein the pattern further comprises peaks at approximately 24.5 and 29 degrees 2θ. 15. The crystalline 3-(4-amino-1-oxo-1,3 dihydro-isoindol-2-yl)-piperidine-2,6-dione of claim 13 that has a differential scanning calorimetry melting temperature maximum of about 269° C. 16. Crystalline 3-(4-amino-1-oxo-1,3 dihydro-isoindol-2-yl)-piperidine-2,6-dione having an X-ray powder diffraction pattern comprising a peak at approximately 19 degrees 2θ. 17. The crystalline 3-(4-amino-1-oxo-1,3 dihydro-isoindol-2-yl)-piperidine-2,6-dione of claim 16, wherein the pattern further comprises peaks at approximately 19.5 and 25 degrees 2θ. 18. The crystalline 3-(4-amino-1-oxo-1,3 dihydro-isoindol-2-yl)-piperidine-2,6-dione of claim 16 that has a differential scanning calorimetry melting temperature maximum of about 269° C. 19. Crystalline 3-(4-amino-1-oxo-1,3 dihydro-isoindol-2-yl)-piperidine-2,6-dione having an X-ray powder diffraction pattern comprising a peak at approximately 23 degrees 2θ. 20. The crystalline 3-(4-amino-1-oxo-1,3 dihydro-isoindol-2-yl)-piperidine-2,6-dione of claim 19 that has a differential scanning calorimetry melting temperature maximum of about 267° C. 21. Crystalline 3-(4-amino-1-oxo-1,3 dihydro-isoindol-2-yl)-piperidine-2,6-dione having an X-ray powder diffraction pattern comprising a peak at approximately 15 degrees 2θ. 22. The crystalline 3-(4-amino-1-oxo-1,3 dihydro-isoindol-2-yl)-piperidine-2,6-dione of claim 21 that has a differential scanning calorimetry melting temperature maximum of about 269° C. 23. The crystalline 3-(4-amino-1-oxo-1,3 dihydro-isoindol-2-yl)-piperidine-2,6-dione of claim 1, 4, 7, 10, 13, 16, 19 or 21, which is substantially pure. 24. A mixture of the crystalline 3-(4-amino-1-oxo-1,3 dihydro-isoindol-2-yl)-piperidine-2,6-dione of claim 4, 5 or 6 and the crystalline of claim 13, 14 or 15. 25. A composition comprising amorphous 3-(4-amino-1-oxo-1,3 dihydro-isoindol-2-yl)-piperidine-2,6-dione and crystalline 3-(4-amino-1-oxo-1,3 dihydro-isoindol-2-yl)-piperidine-2,6-dione of claim 1, 4, 7, 10, 13, 16, 19 or 21. 26. The composition of claim 25, which comprises greater than about 50 weight percent crystalline 3-(4-amino-1-oxo-1,3 dihydro-isoindol-2-yl)-piperidine-2,6-dione. 27. A pharmaceutical composition comprising crystalline 3-(4-amino-1-oxo-1,3 dihydro-isoindol-2-yl)-piperidine-2,6-dione of claim 1, 4, 7, 10, 13, 16, 19 or 21 and a pharmaceutically acceptable excipient. 28. The pharmaceutical composition of claim 27, wherein the composition is a single unit dosage form. | This application claims the benefit of U.S. provisional application 60/499,723, filed Sep. 4, 2003, the contents of which are incorporated by reference herein their entirety. 1. FIELD OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to polymorphic forms of 3-(4-amino-1-oxo-1,3 dihydro-isoindol-2-yl)-piperidine-2,6-dione, compositions comprising the polymorphic forms, methods of making the polymorphic forms and methods of their use for the treatment of diseases and conditions including, but not limited to, inflammatory diseases, autoimmune diseases, and cancer. 2. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Many compounds can exist in different crystal forms, or polymorphs, which exhibit different physical, chemical, and spectroscopic properties. For example, certain polymorphs of a compound may be more readily soluble in particular solvents, may flow more readily, or may compress more easily than others. See, e.g., P. DiMartino, et al., J. Thermal Anal., 48:447-458 (1997). In the case of drugs, certain solid forms may be more bioavailable than others, while others may be more stable under certain manufacturing, storage, and biological conditions. This is particularly important from a regulatory standpoint, since drugs are approved by agencies such as the U.S. Food and Drug Administration only if they meet exacting purity and characterization standards. Indeed, the regulatory approval of one polymorph of a compound, which exhibits certain solubility and physico-chemical (including spectroscopic) properties, typically does not imply the ready approval of other polymorphs of that same compound. Polymorphic forms of a compound are known in the pharmaceutical arts to affect, for example, the solubility, stability, flowability, fractability, and compressibility of the compound, as well as the safety and efficacy of drug products comprising it. See, e.g., Knapman, K. Modern Drug Discoveries, 2000, 53. Therefore, the discovery of new polymorphs of a drug can provide a variety of advantages. U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,635,517 and 6,281,230, both to Muller et al., disclose 3-(4-amino-1-oxo-1,3 dihydro-isoindol-2-yl)-piperidine-2,6-dione, which is useful in treating and preventing a wide range of diseases and conditions including, but not limited to, inflammatory diseases, autoimmune diseases, and cancer. New polymorphic forms of 3-(4-amino-1-oxo-1,3 dihydro-isoindol-2-yl)-piperidine-2,6-dione can further the development of formulations for the treatment of these chronic illnesses, and may yield numerous formulation, manufacturing and therapeutic benefits. 3. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION This invention encompasses polymorphs of 3-(4-amino-1-oxo-1,3 dihydro-isoindol-2-yl)-piperidine-2,6-dione. In certain aspects, the invention provides polymorphs of the compound identified herein as forms A, B, C, D, E, F, G, and H. The invention also encompasses mixtures of these forms. In further embodiments, this invention provides methods of making, isolating and characterizing the polymorphs. This invention also provides pharmaceutical compositions and single unit dosage forms comprising a polymorph of 3-(4-amino-1-oxo-1,3 dihydro-isoindol-2-yl)-piperidine-2,6-dione. The invention further provides methods for the treatment or prevention of a variety of diseases and disorders, which comprise administering to a patient in need of such treatment or prevention a therapeutically effective amount of a polymorph of 3-(4-amino-1-oxo-1,3 dihydro-isoindol-2-yl)-piperidine-2,6-dione. 4. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Specific aspects of the invention can be understood with reference to the attached figures: FIG. 1 provides a representative X-ray powder diffraction (XRPD) pattern of Form A; FIG. 2 provides a representative IR spectrum of Form A; FIG. 3 provides a representative Raman spectrum of Form A; FIG. 4 provides a representative thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) curve and a representative differential scanning calorimeter (DSC) thermogram of Form A; FIG. 5 provides a representative moisture sorption/desorption isotherm of Form A; FIG. 6 provides a representative XRPD pattern of Form B; FIG. 7 provides a representative IR spectrum of Form B; FIG. 8 provides a representative Raman spectrum of Form B; FIG. 9 provides a representative TGA curve and a representative DSC thermogram of Form B; FIG. 10 provides representative TG-IR results of Form B; FIG. 11 provides a representative moisture sorption/desorption isotherm of Form B; FIG. 12 provides a representative XRPD pattern of Form C; FIG. 13 provides a representative IR spectrum of Form C; FIG. 14 provides a representative Raman spectrum of Form C; FIG. 15 provides a representative TGA curve and a representative DSC thermogram of Form C; FIG. 16 provides representative TG-IR results of Form C; FIG. 17 provides a representative moisture sorption/desorption isotherm of Form C; FIG. 18 provides a representative XRPD pattern of Form D; FIG. 19 provides a representative IR spectrum of Form D; FIG. 20 provides a representative Raman spectrum of Form D; FIG. 21 provides a representative TGA curve and a representative DSC thermogram of Form D; FIG. 22 provides a representative moisture sorption/desorption isotherm of Form D; FIG. 23 provides a representative XRPD pattern of Form E; FIG. 24 provides a representative TGA curve and a representative DSC thermogram of Form E; FIG. 25 provides a representative moisture sorption/desorption isotherm of Form E; FIG. 26 provides a representative XRPD pattern for a sample of Form F; FIG. 27 provides a representative thermogram of Form F; FIG. 28 provides a representative XRPD pattern of Form G; FIG. 29 provides a representative DSC thermogram for a sample of Form G; FIG. 30 provides a representative XRPD pattern of Form H; FIG. 31 provides a representative TGA curve and a representative DSC thermogram of Form H; FIG. 32 provides a representative XRPD pattern of Form B; FIG. 33 provides a representative XRPD pattern of Form B; FIG. 34 provides a representative XRPD pattern of Form B; FIG. 35 provides a representative XRPD pattern of Form E; FIG. 36 provides a representative XRPD pattern of polymorph mixture; FIG. 37 provides a representative TGA curve of Form B; FIG. 38 provides a representative TGA curve of Form B; FIG. 39 provides a representative TGA curve of Form B; FIG. 40 provides a representative TGA curve of Form E; FIG. 41 provides a representative TGA curve of polymorph mixture; FIG. 42 provides a representative DSC thermogram of Form B; FIG. 43 provides a representative DSC thermogram of Form B; FIG. 44 provides a representative DSC thermogram of Form B; FIG. 45 provides a representative DSC thermogram of Form E; FIG. 46 provides a representative DSC thermogram of polymorph mixture; FIG. 47 provides a UV-Vis scan of dissolution medium; FIG. 48 provides a UV-Vis scan of 0.04 mg/ml of 3-(4-amino-1-oxo-1,3 dihydro-isoindol-2-yl)-piperidine-2,6-dione in dissolution medium; FIG. 49 provides a UV-Vis scan of 0.008 mg/ml of 3-(4-amino-1-oxo-1,3 dihydro-isoindol-2-yl)-piperidine-2,6-dione in dissolution medium; FIG. 50 provides a calibration curve for 3-(4-amino-1-oxo-1,3 dihydro-isoindol-2-yl)-piperidine-2,6-dione; FIG. 51 provides a solubility curve of Form A; FIG. 52 provides a solubility curve of Form B; FIG. 53 provides an intrinsic dissolution of Forms A, B and E; and FIG. 54 provides an intrinsic dissolution of Forms A, B and E. 5. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 5.1 Definitions As used herein and unless otherwise indicated, the terms “treat,” “treating” and “treatment” refer to the alleviation of a disease or disorder and/or at least one of its attendant symptoms. As used herein and unless otherwise indicated, the terms “prevent,” “preventing” and “prevention” refer to the inhibition of a symptom of a disease or disorder or the disease itself. As used herein and unless otherwise indicated, the terms “polymorph” and “polymorphic form” refer to solid crystalline forms of a compound or complex. Different polymorphs of the same compound can exhibit different physical, chemical and/or spectroscopic properties. Different physical properties include, but are not limited to stability (e.g., to heat or light), compressibility and density (important in formulation and product manufacturing), and dissolution rates (which can affect bioavailability). Differences in stability can result from changes in chemical reactivity (e.g., differential oxidation, such that a dosage form discolors more rapidly when comprised of one polymorph than when comprised of another polymorph) or mechanical characteristics (e.g., tablets crumble on storage as a kinetically favored polymorph converts to thermodynamically more stable polymorph) or both (e.g., tablets of one polymorph are more susceptible to breakdown at high humidity). Different physical properties of polymorphs can affect their processing. For example, one polymorph might be more likely to form solvates or might be more difficult to filter or wash free of impurities than another due to, for example, the shape or size distribution of particles of it. Polymorphs of a molecule can be obtained by a number of methods known in the art. Such methods include, but are not limited to, melt recrystallization, melt cooling, solvent recrystallization, desolvation, rapid evaporation, rapid cooling, slow cooling, vapor diffusion and sublimation. Polymorphs can be detected, identified, classified and characterized using well-known techniques such as, but not limited to, differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), thermogravimetry (TGA), X-ray powder diffractometry (XRPD), single crystal X-ray diffractometry, vibrational spectroscopy, solution calorimetry, solid state nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), infrared (IR) spectroscopy, Raman spectroscopy, hot stage optical microscopy, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), electron crystallography and quantitative analysis, particle size analysis (PSA), surface area analysis, solubility, and rate of dissolution. As used herein to refer to the spectra or data presented in graphical form (e.g., XRPD, IR, Raman and NMR spectra), and unless otherwise indicated, the term “peak” refers to a peak or other special feature that one skilled in the art would recognize as not attributable to background noise. The term “significant peaks” refers to peaks at least the median size (e.g., height) of other peaks in the spectrum or data, or at least 1.5, 2, or 2.5 times the median size of other peaks in the spectrum or data. As used herein and unless otherwise indicated, the term “substantially pure” when used to describe a polymorph of a compound means a solid form of the compound that comprises that polymorph and is substantially free of other polymorphs of the compound. A representative substantially pure polymorph comprises greater than about 80% by weight of one polymorphic form of the compound and less than about 20% by weight of other polymorphic forms of the compound, more preferably greater than about 90% by weight of one polymorphic form of the compound and less than about 10% by weight of the other polymorphic forms of the compound, even more preferably greater than about 95% by weight of one polymorphic form of the compound and less than about 5% by weight of the other polymorphic forms of the compound, and most preferably greater than about 97% by weight of one polymorphic forms of the compound and less than about 3% by weight of the other polymorphic forms of the compound. 5.2 Polymorphic Forms This invention is directed to polymorphic forms of 3-(4-amino-1-oxo-1,3 dihydro-isoindol-2-yl)-piperidine-2,6-dione, which has the structure shown below: This compound can be prepared according to the methods described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,281,230 and 5,635,517, the entireties of which are incorporated herein by reference. For example, the compound can be prepared through catalytic hydrogenation of 3-(4-nitro-1-oxo-1,3 dihydro-isoindol-2-yl)-piperidine-2,6-dione. 3-(4-Nitro-1-oxo-1,3 dihydro-isoindol-2-yl)-piperidine-2,6-dione can be obtained by allowing 2,6-dioxopiperidin-3-ammonium chloride to react with methyl 2-bromomethyl-4-nitrobenzoate in dimethylformamide in the presence of triethylamine. The methyl 2-bromomethyl-4-nitrobenzoate in turn is obtained from the corresponding methyl ester of nitro-ortho-toluic acid by conventional bromination with N-bromosuccinimide under the influence of light. Polymorphs of 3-(4-amino-1-oxo-1,3 dihydro-isoindol-2-yl)-piperidine-2,6-dione can be obtained by techniques known in the art, including solvent recrystallization, desolvation, vapor diffusion, rapid evaporation, slow evaporation, rapid cooling and slow cooling. Polymorphs can be made by dissolving a weighed quantity of 3-(4-amino-1-oxo-1,3 dihydro-isoindol-2-yl)-piperidine-2,6-dione in various solvents at elevated temperatures. The solutions of the compound can then be filtered and allowed to evaporate either in an open vial (for fast hot evaporation) or in a vial covered with aluminum foil containing pinholes (hot slow evaporation). Polymorphs can also be obtained from slurries. Polymorphs can be crystallized from solutions or slurries using several methods. For example, a solution created at an elevated temperature (e.g., 60° C.) can be filtered quickly then allowed to cool to room temperature. Once at room temperature, the sample that did not crystallize can be moved to a refrigerator then filtered. Alternatively, the solutions can be crash cooled by dissolving the solid in a solvent at an increased temperature (e.g., 45-65° C.) followed by cooling in a dry ice/solvent bath. One embodiment of the invention encompasses Form A of 3-(4-amino-1-oxo-1,3 dihydro-isoindol-2-yl)-piperidine-2,6-dione. Form A is an unsolvated, crystalline material that can be obtained from non-aqueous solvent systems. Another embodiment of the invention encompasses Form B of 3-(4-amino-1-oxo-1,3 dihydro-isoindol-2-yl)-piperidine-2,6-dione. Form B is a hemihydrated, crystalline material that can be obtained from various solvent systems. Another embodiment of the invention encompasses Form C of 3-(4-amino-1-oxo-1,3 dihydro-isoindol-2-yl)-piperidine-2,6-dione. Form C is a hemisolvated crystalline material that can be obtained from solvents such as, but not limited to, acetone. Another embodiment of the invention encompasses Form D of 3-(4-amino-1-oxo-1,3 dihydro-isoindol-2-yl)-piperidine-2,6-dione. Form D is a crystalline, solvated polymorph prepared from a mixture of acetonitrile and water. Another embodiment of the invention encompasses Form E of 3-(4-amino-1-oxo-1,3 dihydro-isoindol-2-yl)-piperidine-2,6-dione. Form E is a dihydrated, crystalline material. Another embodiment of the invention encompasses Form F of 3-(4-amino-1-oxo-1,3 dihydro-isoindol-2-yl)-piperidine-2,6-dione. Form F is an unsolvated, crystalline material that can be obtained from the dehydration of Form E. Another embodiment of the invention encompasses Form G of 3-(4-amino-1-oxo-1,3 dihydro-isoindol-2-yl)-piperidine-2,6-dione. Form G is an unsolvated, crystalline material that can be obtained from slurrying forms B and E in a solvent such as, but not limited to, tetrahydrofuran (THF). Another embodiment of the invention encompasses Form H of 3-(4-amino-1-oxo-1,3 dihydro-isoindol-2-yl)-piperidine-2,6-dione. Form H is a partially hydrated crystalline material that can be obtained by exposing Form E to 0% relative humidity. Each of these forms is discussed in detail below. Another embodiment of the invention encompasses a composition comprising amorphous 3-(4-amino-1-oxo-1,3 dihydro-isoindol-2-yl)-piperidine-2,6-dione and crystalline 3-(4-amino-1-oxo-1,3 dihydro-isoindol-2-yl)-piperidine-2,6-dione of form A, B, C, D, E, F, G or H. Specific compositions can comprise greater than about 50, 75, 90 or 95 weight percent crystalline 3-(4-amino-1-oxo-1,3 dihydro-isoindol-2-yl)-piperidine-2,6-dione. Another embodiment of the invention encompasses a composition comprising at least two crystalline forms of 3-(4-amino-1-oxo-1,3 dihydro-isoindol-2-yl)-piperidine-2,6-dione (e.g., a mixture of polymorph forms B and E). 5.2.1 Form A The data described herein for Form A, as well as for Forms B-H, were obtained using the experimental methods described in Examples 6.3-6.7, provided below. Form A can be obtained from various solvents, including, but not limited to 1-butanol, butyl acetate, ethanol, ethyl acetate, methanol, methyl ethyl ketone, and THF. FIG. 1 shows a representative XRPD pattern of Form A. The pattern is characterized by peaks, preferably significant peaks, at approximately 8, 14.5, 16, 17.5, 20.5, 24, and 26 degrees 2θ. Representative IR and Raman spectra data are provided in FIGS. 2 and 3. Representative thermal characteristics of Form A are shown in FIG. 4. TGA data show a small weight increase up to about 150° C., indicating an unsolvated material. Weight loss above 150° C. is attributed to decomposition. The DSC curve of Form A exhibits an endotherm at about 270° C. Representative moisture sorption and desorption data are plotted in FIG. 5. Form A does not exhibit a significant weight gain from 5 to 95% relative humidity. Equilibrium can be obtained at each relative humidity step. As the form dries from 95% back down to 5% relative humidity, it tends to maintain its weight such that at 5% relative humidity it has typically lost only about 0.003% by weight from start to finish. Form A is capable of remaining a crystalline solid for about 11 days when stored at about 22, 45, 58, and 84% relative humidity. Interconversion studies show that Form A can convert to Form B in aqueous solvent systems and can convert to Form C in acetone solvent systems. Form A tends to be stable in anhydrous solvent systems. In water systems and in the presence of Form E, Form A tends to convert to Form E. When stored for a period of about 85 days under two different temperature/relative humidity stress conditions (room temperature/0% relative humidity (RH) and 40° C./93% RH), Form A typically does not convert to a different form. In sum, Form A is a crystalline, unsolvated solid that melts at approximately 270° C. Form A is weakly or not hygroscopic and appears to be the most thermodynamically stable anhydrous polymorph of 3-(4-amino-1-oxo-1,3 dihydro-isoindol-2-yl)-piperidine-2,6-dione discovered thus far. 5.2.2 Form B Form B can be obtained from many solvents, including, but not limited to, hexane, toluene, and water. FIG. 6 shows a representative XRPD pattern of Form B, characterized by peaks at approximately 16, 18, 22 and 27 degrees 2θ. Solution proton NMR confirm that Form B is a form of 3-(4-amino-1-oxo-1,3 dihydro-isoindol-2-yl)-piperidine-2,6-dione. Representative IR and Raman spectra are shown in FIGS. 7 and 8, respectively. Compared to Form A, the IR spectrum for Form B has peaks at approximately 3513 and 1960 cm−1. Representative DSC and TGA data for Form B are shown in FIG. 9. The DSC curve exhibits endotherms at about 146 and 268° C. These events are identified as dehydration and melting by hot stage microscopy experiments. Form B typically loses about 3.1% volatiles up to about 175° C. (per approximately 0.46 moles of water). Comparison of the IR spectrum of the volatiles with that of water indicates that they are water (See FIG. 10). Calculations from TGA data indicate that Form B is a hemihydrate. Karl Fischer water analysis also supports this conclusion. Representative moisture sorption and desorption data are shown in FIG. 11. Form B typically does not exhibit a significant weight gain from 5% to 95% relative humidity, when equilibrium is obtained at each relative humidity step. As Form B dries from 95% back down to 5% relative humidity, it tends to maintain its weight such that at 5% relative humidity it typically has gained only about 0.022% by weight (about 0.003 mg) from start to finish. Form B does not convert to a different form upon exposure to about 84% relative humidity for about ten days. Interconversion studies show that Form B typically converts to Form A in a THF solvent system, and typically converts to Form C in an acetone solvent system. In aqueous solvent systems such as pure water and 10% water solutions, Form B is the most stable of the polymorphic forms of 3-(4-amino-1-oxo-1,3 dihydro-isoindol-2-yl)-piperidine-2,6-dione. However, it can convert to Form E in the presence of water. Desolvation experiments show that upon heating at about 175° C. for about five minutes, Form B typically converts to Form A. When stored for a period of about 85 days under two different temperature/relative humidity stress conditions (room temperature/0% RH and 40° C./93% RH), Form B does not convert to a different form. In sum, Form B is a hemihydrated, crystalline solid that melts at about 267° C. Interconversion studies show that Form B converts to Form E in aqueous solvent systems, and converts to other forms in acetone and other anhydrous systems. 5.2.3 Form C Form C can be obtained from evaporations, slurries and slow cools in acetone solvent systems. A representative XRPD pattern of this form is shown in FIG. 12. The data are characterized by peaks at approximately 15.5 and 25 degrees 2θ. Solution proton NMR indicates that the 3-(4-amino-1-oxo-1,3 dihydro-isoindol-2-yl)-piperidine-2,6-dione molecule is intact. Representative IR and Raman spectra are shown in FIGS. 13 and 14, respectively. The IR spectrum of Form C is characterized by peaks at approximately 3466, 3373, and 3318 cm−1. The Raman spectrum of Form C is characterized by peaks at about 3366, 3321, 1101, and 595 cm−1. Representative thermal characteristics for Form C are plotted in FIG. 15. Form C loses about 10.02% volatiles up to about 175° C., indicating it is a solvated material. Weight loss above about 175° C. is attributed to decomposition. Identification of volatiles in Form C can be accomplished with TG-IR experiments. The representative IR spectrum captured after several minutes of heating, as depicted in FIG. 13, when compared with a spectral library, shows acetone to be the best match. Calculations from TGA data show that Form C is a hemisolvate (approximately 0.497 moles of acetone). The DSC curve for Form C, shown in FIG. 15, exhibits endotherms at about 150 and about 269° C. The endotherm at about 150° C. is attributed to solvent loss based on observations made during hot stage microscopy experiments. The endotherm at about 269° C. is attributed to the melt based on hot stage experiments. Representative moisture sorption and desorption balance data are shown in FIG. 17. Form C does not exhibit a significant weight gain from 5 to 85% relative humidity, when equilibrium is obtained at each relative humidity step up to 85% relative humidity. At 95% relative humidity, Form C experiences a significant weight loss of about 6.03%. As the sample dries from 95% back down to 5% relative humidity, the sample maintains the weight achieved at the end of the adsorption phase at each step down to 5% relative humidity. Form C is capable of converting to Form B when stored at about 84% relative humidity for approximately ten days. Interconversion studies show that Form C typically converts to Form A in a THF solvent system and typically converts to Form E in an aqueous solvent system. In an acetone solvent system, Form C is the most stable form of 3-(4-amino-1-oxo-1,3 dihydro-isoindol-2-yl)-piperidine-2,6-dione. Desolvation experiments performed on Form C show that upon heating at about 150° C. for about five minutes, Form C will typically convert to Form A. In sum, Form C is a crystalline, hemisolvated solid, which melts at approximately 269° C. Form C is not hygroscopic below about 85% RH, but can convert to Form B at higher relative humidities. 5.2.4 Form D Form D can be obtained from evaporation in acetonitrile solvent systems. A representative XRPD pattern of the form is shown in FIG. 18. The pattern is characterized by peaks at approximately 27 and 28 degrees 2θ. Solution proton NMR indicates that the 3-(4-amino-1-oxo-1,3 dihydro-isoindol-2-yl)-piperidine-2,6-dione molecule is intact. Representative IR and Raman spectra are shown in FIGS. 19 and 20, respectively. The IR spectrum of Form D is characterized by peaks at approximately 3509, 2299, and 2256 cm−1. The Raman spectrum of Form D is characterized by peaks at approximately 2943, 2889, 2297, 2260, 1646, and 1150 cm−1. Representative thermal characteristics for Form D are plotted in FIG. 21. Form D loses about 6.75% volatiles up to about 175° C., indicating a solvated material. Weight loss above about 175° C. is attributed to decomposition. TG-IR experiments indicate that the volatiles are water and acetonitrile. Calculations from TG data show that about one mole of water is present in the sample. A representative DSC curve for Form D exhibits endotherms at about 122 and about 270° C. The endotherm at about 122° C. is attributed to loss of volatiles based on observations made during hot stage microscopy experiments. The endotherm at about 270° C. is attributed to the melt based on hot stage experiments. Representative moisture sorption and desorption data are plotted in FIG. 22. Form D does not exhibit a significant weight gain from 5 to 95% relative humidity when equilibrium is obtained at each relative humidity step. As the form dries from 95% back down to 5% relative humidity, it maintains its weight such that at 5% relative humidity the form has typically gained only about 0.39% by weight (about 0.012 mg) from start to finish. Form A is capable of converting to Form B when stored at about 84% relative humidity for approximately ten days. Interconversion studies show that Form D is capable of converting to Form A in a THF solvent system, to Form E in an aqueous solvent system, and to Form C in an acetone solvent system. Desolvation experiments performed on Form D show that upon heating at about 150° C. for about five minutes Form D will typically convert to Form A. In sum, Form D is a crystalline solid, solvated with both water and acetonitrile, which melts at approximately 270° C. Form D is either weakly or not hygroscopic, but will typically convert to Form B when stressed at higher relative humidities. 5.2.5 Form E Form E can be obtained by slurrying 3-(4-amino-1-oxo-1,3 dihydro-isoindol-2-yl)-piperidine-2,6-dione in water and by a slow evaporation of 3-(4-amino-1-oxo-1,3 dihydro-isoindol-2-yl)-piperidine-2,6-dione in a solvent system with a ratio of about 9:1 acetone:water. A representative XRPD pattern is shown in FIG. 23. The data are characterized by peaks at approximately 20, 24.5 and 29 degrees 2θ. Representative thermal characteristics of Form E are plotted in FIG. 24. Form E typically loses about 10.58% volatiles up to about 125° C., indicating that it is a solvated material. A second weight loss of an additional about 1.38% was observed between about 125° C. and about 175° C. Weight loss above about 175° C. is attributed to decomposition. Karl Fischer and TG-IR experiments support the conclusion that the volatile weight loss in Form E is due to water. The representative DSC curve for Form E exhibits endotherms at about 99, 161 and 269° C. Based on observations made during hot stage microscopy experiments, the endotherms at about 99 and about 122° C. are attributed to loss of volatiles. The endotherm at about 269° C. is attributed to the melt based on hot stage experiments. Representative moisture sorption and desorption data are plotted in FIG. 25. Form E typically does not exhibit a significant weight change from 5 to 95% relative humidity when equilibrium is obtained at each relative humidity step. As the sample dried from 95% back down to 5% relative humidity, the sample continues to maintain weight such that at 5% relative humidity the sample has lost only about 0.0528% by weight from start to finish. Interconversion studies show that Form E can convert to Form C in an acetone solvent system and to Form G in a THF solvent system. In aqueous solvent systems, Form E appears to be the most stable form. Desolvation experiments performed on Form E show that upon heating at about 125° C. for about five minutes, Form E can convert to Form B. Upon heating at 175° C. for about five minutes, Form B can convert to Form F. When stored for a period of 85 days under two different temperature/relative humidity stress conditions (room temperature/0% RH and 40° C./93% RH) Form E typically does not convert to a different form. When stored for seven days at room temperature/0% RH, Form E can convert to a new form, Form H. 5.2.6 Form F Form F can be obtained by complete dehydration of Form E. A representative XRPD pattern of Form F, shown in FIG. 26, is characterized by peaks at approximately 19, 19.5 and 25 degrees 2θ. Representative thermal characteristics of Form A are shown in FIG. 27. The representative DSC curve for Form F exhibits an endotherm at about 269° C. preceded directly by two smaller endotherms indicative of a crystallized form of 3-(4-amino-1-oxo-1,3 dihydro-isoindol-2-yl)-piperidine-2,6-dione. The DSC thermogram does not show any thermal events prior to the melt, suggesting that it is an unsolvated material. 5.2.7 Form G Form G can be obtained by slurrying forms B and E in THF. A representative XRPD pattern of this form, shown in FIG. 28, is characterized by a peak at approximately 23 degrees 2θ. Two other peaks unique to Form G appear at approximately 21 and 24.5 degrees 2θ. Representative thermal characteristics of Form G are plotted in FIG. 29. A representative DSC curve for Form G exhibits an endotherm at about 248° C. followed by a small, broad exotherm at about 267° C. No thermal events are seen in the DSC thermogram at lower temperatures, suggesting that it is an unsolvated material. 5.2.8 Form H Form H can be obtained by storing Form E at room temperature and 0% RH for about 7 days. A representative XRPD pattern is shown in FIG. 30. The pattern is characterized by a peak at 15 degrees 2θ, and two other peaks at 26 and 31 degrees 2θ. Representative thermal characteristics are shown in FIG. 31. Form H loses about 1.67% volatiles up to about 150° C. Weight loss above about 150° C. is attributed to decomposition. Karl Fischer data shows that Form H typically contains about 1.77% water (about 0.26 moles), suggesting that the weight loss seen in the TG is due to dehydration. The DSC thermogram shows a broad endotherm between about 50° C. and about 125° C., corresponding to the dehydration of Form H and a sharp endotherm at about 269° C., which is likely due to a melt. When slurried in water with either Forms A or B, after about 14 days Form H can convert to Form E. When slurried in THF, Form H can convert to Form A. When slurried in acetone, Form H can convert to Form C. In sum, Form H is a crystalline solid, hydrated with about 0.25 moles of water, which melts at approximately 269° C. 5.3 Methods of Use and Pharmaceutical Compositions Polymorphs of the invention exhibit physical characteristics that are beneficial for drug manufacture, storage or use. All polymorphs of the invention have utility as pharmaceutically active ingredients or intermediates thereof. This invention encompasses methods of treating and preventing a wide variety of diseases and conditions using polymorphs of 3-(4-amino-1-oxo-1,3-dihydro-isoindol-2-yl)-piperidine-2,6-dione. In each of the methods, a therapeutically or prophylactically effective amount of the compound is administered to a patient in need of such treatment or prevention. Examples of such disease and conditions include, but are not limited to, diseases associated with undesired angiogenesis, cancer (e.g., solid and blood borne tumors), inflammatory diseases, autoimmune diseases, and immune diseases. Examples of cancers and pre-cancerous conditions include those described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,281,230 and 5,635,517 to Muller et al. and in various U.S. patent applications to Zeldis, including application Ser. No. 10/411,649, filed Apr. 11, 2003 (Treatment of Myelodisplastic Syndrome); Ser. No. 10/438,213 filed May 15, 2003 (Treatment of Various Types of Cancer); Ser. No. 10/411,656, filed Apr. 11, 2003 (Treatment of Myeloproliferative Diseases). Examples of other diseases and disorders that can be treated or prevented using compositions of the invention are described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,235,756 and 6,114,335 to D'Amato and in other U.S. patent applications to Zeldis, including Ser. No. 10/693,794, filed Oct. 23, 2003 (Treatment of Pain Syndrome) and Ser. No. 10/699,154, filed Oct. 30, 2003 (Treatment of Macular Degeneration). The entirety of each of the patents and patent applications cited herein is incorporated herein by reference. Depending on the disease to be treated and the subject's condition, polymorphs of the invention can be administered by oral, parenteral (e.g., intramuscular, intraperitoneal, intravenous, ICV, intracisternal injection or infusion, subcutaneous injection, or implantation), inhalation spray, nasal, vaginal, rectal, sublingual, or topical routes of administration and may be formulated, alone or together, in suitable dosage unit formulations containing conventional non-toxic pharmaceutically acceptable carriers, adjuvants and vehicles appropriate for each route of administration. Because individual polymorphs have different dissolution, stability, and other properties, the optimal polymorph used in methods of treatment may depend on the route of administration. For example, forms that are readily soluble in aqueous solutions are preferably used to provide liquid dosage forms, whereas forms that exhibit great thermal stability may be preferred in the manufacture of solid dosage forms (e.g., tablets and capsules). Although the physical characteristics of polymorphs can, in some cases, affect their bioavailability, amounts of the polymorphs that are therapeutically or prophylactically effective in the treatment of various disease and conditions can be readily determined by those of ordinary skill in the pharmacy or medical arts. In certain embodiments of the invention, a polymorph is administered orally and in a single or divided daily doses in an amount of from about 0.10 to about 150 mg/day, or from about 5 to about 25 mg/day. In other embodiments, a polymorph is administered every other day in an amount of from about 0.10 to about 150 mg/day, or from about 5 to about 25 mg/day. The invention encompasses pharmaceutical compositions and single unit dosage forms that can be used in methods of treatment and prevention, which comprise one or more polymorphs of 3-(4-amino-1-oxo-1,3-dihydro-isoindol-2-yl)-piperidine-2,6-dione and optionally one or more excipients or diluents. Specific compositions and dosage forms are disclosed in the various patents and patent applications incorporated herein by reference. In one embodiment, a single dosage form comprises a polymorph (e.g., Form B) in an amount of about 5, 10, 25 or 50 mg. 6. EXAMPLES 6.1 Polymorph Screen A polymorph screen to generate the different solid forms of 3-(4-amino-1-oxo-1,3 dihydro-isoindol-2-yl)-piperidine-2,6-dione was carried out as follows. A weighed sample of 3-(4-amino-1-oxo-1,3 dihydro-isoindol-2-yl)-piperidine-2,6-dione (usually about 10 mg) was treated with aliquots of the test solvent. Solvents were either reagent or HPLC grade. The aliquots were usually about 200 μL. Between additions, the mixture was usually shaken or sonicated. When the solids dissolved, as judged by visual inspection, estimated solubilities were calculated. Solubilities were estimated from these experiments based on the total solvent used to provide a solution. Actual solubilities may have been greater than those calculated due to the use of too-large solvent aliquots or to a slow rate of dissolution. Samples were created by generating solutions (usually about 30 mg in 20 mL) at elevated temperatures, filtering, and allowing the solution to evaporate whether in an open vial (hot fast evaporation) or in a vial covered with aluminum foil containing pinholes (hot slow evaporation). Slurry experiments were also performed. Usually about 25 mg of solid was placed in either 3 or 5 mL of solvent. The samples were then placed on orbital shakers at either ambient temperature or 40° C. for 4-10 days. Crystallizations were performed using various cooling methods. Solid was dissolved in a solvent at an elevated temperature (e.g., about 60° C.), filtered quickly and allowed to cool to room temperature. Once at room temperature, samples that did not crystallize were moved to a refrigerator. Solids were removed by filtration or decantation and allowed to dry in the air. Crash cools were performed by dissolving solid in a solvent at an increased temperature (e.g., about 45-65° C.) followed by cooling in a dry ice/acetone bath. Hygroscopicity studies were performed by placing portions of each polymorph in an 84% relative humidity chamber for approximately one week. Desolvation studies were carried out by heating each polymorph in a 70° C. oven for approximately one week. Interconversion experiments were carried out by making slurries containing two forms in a saturated solvent. The slurries were agitated for approximately 7-20 days at ambient temperature. The insoluble solids were recovered by filtration and analyzed using XRPD. 6.2 Preparation of Polymorphic Forms Eight solid forms of 3-(4-amino-1-oxo-1,3 dihydro-isoindol-2-yl)-piperidine-2,6-dione were prepared as described below. Form A was obtained by crystallization from various non-aqueous solvents including 1-butanol, butyl acetate, ethanol, ethyl acetate, methanol, methyl ethyl ketone, and tetrahydrofuran. Form B was also obtained by crystallization from the solvents hexane, toluene and water. Form C was obtained from evaporations, slurries, and slow cools in acetone solvent systems. Form D was obtained from evaporations in acetonitrile solvent systems. Form E was obtained most readily by slurrying 3-(4-amino-1-oxo-1,3 dihydro-isoindol-2-yl)-piperidine-2,6-dione in water. Form F was obtained by complete desolvation of Form E. It is found to be an unsolvated, crystalline material that melts at about 269° C. Form G was obtained by slurrying forms B and E in THF. Form H was obtained by stressing Form E at room temperature and 0% RH for 7 days. 6.2.1 Synthesis of Polymorphs B and E Form B is the desired polymorph for the active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) of 3-(4-amino-1-oxo-1,3 dihydro-isoindol-2-yl)-piperidine-2,6-dione. This form has been used in the formulation of API into drug product for clinical studies. Three batches were produced as apparent mixtures of polymorphs in the non-micronized API of 3-(4-amino-1-oxo-1,3 dihydro-isoindol-2-yl)-piperidine-2,6-dione. Development work was carried out to define a process that would generate polymorph B from this mixture of polymorphs and could be implemented for strict polymorphic controls in the validation batches and future manufacturing of API of 3-(4-amino-1-oxo-1,3 dihydro-isoindol-2-yl)-piperidine-2,6-dione. Characterization of polymorphic forms produced during the work was performed by XRPD, DSC, TGA and KF. A process was also developed for the large-scale preparation of Form E. Polymorph E material was prepared in order to carry out a comparison with polymorph B drug product in capsule dissolution testing of 3-(4-amino-1-oxo-1,3 dihydro-isoindol-2-yl)-piperidine-2,6-dione. 150 g of a mixture of polymorphs in 3 L of water was stirred at room temperature for 48 hours. The product was collected by filtration and dried at 25° C. for 24 hours under vacuum. XRPD, DSC, TGA, KF and HPLC analyses confirmed that the material isolated was polymorph E. In a preliminary work, it was demonstrated that stirring a suspension of a mixture of polymorphs of 3-(4-amino-1-oxo-1,3 dihydro-isoindol-2-yl)-piperidine-2,6-dione with water at high temperature (75° C.) for an extended period of time converted this mixture of polymorphs exclusively to form B. Several specific parameters were identified including temperature, solvent volume and drying parameters (temperature and vacuum). XRPD, DSC, TGA, KF and HPLC analyses were used to characterize all of the batches. After completing the optimization work, the optimized process was scaled-up to 100-200 g on three lots of API. Drying studies were carried out at 20° C., 30° C. and 40° C., and 65° C. with a vacuum of 150 mm of Hg. The results are shown in Tables 1-5. The cooling and holding periods of 3-(4-amino-1-oxo-1,3 dihydro-isoindol-2-yl)-piperidine-2,6-dione slurry were studied. The experimental laboratory data suggests that polymorph B seems to be forming first, and overtime equilibration to polymorph E at RT conditions occurs, therefore generating a mixture of polymorphs B and E. This result supports the fact that polymorph B seems to be a kinetic product, and that prolonged processing time converts the material to polymorph E resulting in a mixture of polymorphs B and E. A laboratory procedure was developed to exclusively produce polymorph B of 3-(4-amino-1-oxo-1,3 dihydro-isoindol-2-yl)-piperidine-2,6-dione. The procedure includes a stirred 10 volume water slurry at ˜75° C. for 6-24 hours. The following preferred process parameters have been identified: 1. Hot slurry temperature of 70-75° C. 2. Product filtration of 3-(4-amino-1-oxo-1,3 dihydro-isoindol-2-yl)-piperidine-2,6-dione at 65-75° C. 3. Drying under vacuum at 60-70° C. is preferred for an efficient removal of unbound water in 3-(4-amino-1-oxo-1,3 dihydro-isoindol-2-yl)-piperidine-2,6-dione wet cake. 4. The filtration step of 3-(4-amino-1-oxo-1,3 dihydro-isoindol-2-yl)-piperidine-2,6-dione may be a time sensitive operation. The use of efficient solid-liquid separation equipment is preferred. 5. Holding periods of water-wet cake of 3-(4-amino-1-oxo-1,3 dihydro-isoindol-2-yl)-piperidine-2,6-dione at KF higher than 5% may cause the kinetic equilibrations of polymorph B to mixed polymorphs of E and B. Drying to KF <4.0% water was achieved in ˜3 hours (30-70° C., 152 mm Hg). Polymorphs B and E were distinguished by the water levels as measured by KF and TGA. The reference sample of polymorph B is micronized API. In order to make accurate comparison by XRPD samples were gently grinded before submission for analysis. This increases the clarity of the identification of the polymorphic form. All samples were analyzed for XRPD, DSC, TGA, KF and HPLC. TABLE 1 Preliminary Studies Reaction Results/ Amount conditions Analysis conclusion 2 g Water, rt, 48 h XRPD, DSC, Polymorph E TGA, KF 25 g Water, rt, 48 h XRPD, DSC, Polymorph E TGA, KF 5 g Water, 70-75° C., XRPD, DSC, Polymorph B 24 h then rt 24 h TGA, KF 1 g 9:1 Acetone — XRPD, DSC, Polymorph water, Slow evpo. TGA, KF Mixture 1 g 175° C. 1 h in an XRPD, DSC, Polymorph A oven TGA, KF 0.5 g Water, rt, 24 h XRPD, DSC, Polymorph E (polymorph A) TGA, KF 1 g polymorph Water, rt, 48 h XRPD, DSC, Polymorph E B TGA, KF 1 g polymorph Water, 70-75° C., XRPD, DSC, Polymorph B E 24 h TGA, KF 1 g Slurry in heptane XRPD, DSC, No change TGA, KF TABLE 2 Optimization of Temperature, Time and Solvent Volume Amount Water Temp Time Results/ Amount (mL) (° C.) (h) conclusion 10 g 50 75 6 Mix 10 g 50 75 24 Polymorph B 10 g 100 70 6 Polymorph B 10 g 100 70 14 Polymorph B 10 g 100 70 21 Polymorph B 10 g 100 75 6 Polymorph B 10 g 100 75 24 Polymorph B 10 g 100 75 6 Polymorph B 10 g 100 75 19 Polymorph B 10 g 100 75 14 Polymorph B 10 g 100 75 24 Polymorph B 5 g 100 75 18 Polymorph B 10 g 100 80 6 Polymorph B 10 g 100 80 20 Polymorph B 10 g 200 45 6 Polymorph B + E 10 g 200 45 24 Polymorph E 10 g 200 60 48 Polymorph B 10 g 200 75 6 Mix 10 g 200 75 24 Polymorph B 10 g 200 75 13 Polymorph B 10 g 200 75 24 Polymorph B Optimum conditions were determined to be 10 volumes of solvent (H2O), 70-80° C. for 6-24 hours. TABLE 3 Holding Time Holding Holding Time Temp Results/ Amount Reaction Conditions (h) (° C.) Conclusion 5 g Water, 70-75° C., 24 h 24 23-25 Polymorph B 1 g Water, 70-75° C., 24 h 48 23-25 Polymorph E Polymorph B 2 g Water, 40 mL 16 23-25 Polymorph E 150 g Water, 3.0 L 24 23-25 Polymorph E 150 g Water, 3.0 L 48 23-25 Polymorph E 10 g Water, 100 mL, 24 h, 18 23-25 Polymorph B 75° C. 10 g Water, 100 mL, 24 h, 18 40 Polymorph B 75° C. 10 g Water, 200 mL, 24 h, 14 −5 Mix 75° C. 10 g Water, 200 mL, 24 h, 14 23-25 Polymorph E 75° C. 10 g Water, 200 mL, 24 h, 14 40 Mix 75° C. 10 g Water, 100 mL, 24 h, 21 23-25 Polymorph E 75° C. 10 g Water, 100 mL, 24 h, 21 40 Mix 75° C. 10 g Water, 100 mL, 14 h, 2 23-25 Mix 75° C. Holding time gave mixed results and it was determined that the material should be filtered at 60-65° C. and the material washed with 0.5 volume of warm (50-60° C.) water. TABLE 4 Scale-up Experiments Amount Water Temp Time Results/ Amount (L) (° C.) (h) Conclusion 100 g 1.0 75 6 Polymorph B 100 g 1.0 75 22 Polymorph B 100 g 1.0 75 6 Polymorph B 100 g 1.0 75 24 Polymorph B 100 g 1.0 75 6 Polymorph B 100 g 1.0 75 22 Polymorph B TABLE 5 Drying Studies Drying Drying Time Temp Vacuum KF§ Results/ Amount (h) (° C.) (mm Hg) (%) Conclusion 100 g 0 — — 3.690 Polymorph B 100 g 3 30 152 3.452 Polymorph B 100 g 8 30 152 3.599 Polymorph B 100 g 0 — — 3.917 Polymorph B 100 g 5 40 152 3.482 Polymorph B 100 g 22 40 152 3.516 Polymorph B 100 g 3 40 152 3.67 Polymorph B 100 g 22 40 152 3.55 Polymorph B * Reaction Conditions: Water 1 L, 75° C., 22-24 h; §Average of 2 runs. Drying studies determined that the material should be dried at 35-40° C., 125-152 mm Hg for 3 to 22 h or until the water content reaches ≦4% w/w. For a large scale preparation of polymorph E (5222-152-B), a 5-L round bottom flask was charged with 3-(4-amino-1-oxo-1,3 dihydro-isoindol-2-yl)-piperidine-2,6-dione (150 g, 0.579 mol) and water (3000 mL, 20 vol). The mixture was mechanically stirred at room temperature (23-25° C.) for 48 h under nitrogen atmosphere. Samples were taken after 24 h and 48 h before the mixture was filtered and air-dried on the filter for 1 h. The material was transferred to a drying tray and dried at room temperature (23-25° C.) for 24 h. KF analysis on the dried material showed water content of 11.9%. The material was submitted for XRPD, TGA, DSC and HPLC analysis. Analysis showed the material was pure polymorph E. For a large scale preparation of polymorph B (5274-104), a 2 L-3-necked round bottom flask was charged with 3-(4-amino-1-oxo-1,3 dihydro-isoindol-2-yl)-piperidine-2,6-dione (polymorph mixture, 100 g, 0.386 mol) and water (1000 mL, 10.0 vol). The mixture was heated to 75° C. over approximately 30 minutes with mechanical stirring under nitrogen atmosphere. Samples were taken after 6 h and 24 h before the mixture was allowed to cool to 60-65° C., filtered and the material washed with warm (50-60° C.) water (50 mL, 0.5 vol). The material was transferred to a drying tray and dried at 30° C., 152 mm Hg for 8 h. KF analysis on the dried material showed water content of 3.6%. After grinding the material was submitted for XRPD, TGA, DSC and HPLC analysis. Analysis showed the material was pure polymorph B. The results of the analyses are shown in FIGS. 32-46. 6.3 X-Ray Powder Diffraction Measurements X-ray powder diffraction analyses were carried out on a Shimadzu XRD-6000 X-ray powder diffractometer using Cu Kα radiation. The instrument is equipped with a fine-focus X-ray tube. The tube voltage and amperage were set at 40 kB and 40 mA, respectively. The divergence and scattering slits were set at 1° and the receiving slit was set at 0.15 mm. Diffracted radiation was detected by a NaI scintillation detector. A theta-two theta continuous scan at 3°/min (0.4 sec/0.02° step) from 2.5 degrees 2θ to 40 degrees 2θ was used. A silicon standard was analyzed each day to check the instrument alignment. X-ray powder diffraction analyses were also carried out using Cu Kα radiation on an Inel XRG-3000 diffractometer equipped with a curved position-sensitive detector. Data were collected in real time over a theta-two theta range of 120° at a resolution of 0.030. The tube voltage and current were 40 kV and 30 mA, respectively. A silicon standard was analyzed each day to check for instrument alignment. Only the region between 2.5 and 40 degrees 2θ is shown in the figures. 6.4 Thermal Analysis TG analyses were carried out on a TA Instrument TGA 2050 or 2950. The calibration standards were nickel and alumel. Approximately 5 mg of sample was placed on a pan, accurately weighed, and inserted into the TG furnace. The samples were heated in nitrogen at a rate of 10° C./min, up to a final temperature of 300 or 350° C. DSC data were obtained on a TA 2920 instrument. The calibration standard was indium. Approximately 2-5 mg samples were placed into a DSC pan and the weight accurately recorded. Crimped pans with one pinhole were used for analysis and the samples were heated under nitrogen at a rate of 10° C./min, up to a final temperature of 350° C. Hot-stage microscopy was carried out using a Kofler hot stage mounted on a Leica Microscope. The instrument was calibrated using USP standards. A TA Instruments TGA 2050 interfaced with a Nicolet model 560 Fourier transform IR spectrophotometer, equipped with a globar source, XT/KBr beamsplitter, and deuterated triglycine sulfate (DTGS) detector, was utilized for TG-IR experiments. The IR spectrometer was wavelength calibrated with polystyrene on the day of use while the TG was temperature and weight calibrated biweekly, using indium for the temperature calibration. A sample of approximately 10 mg of 3-(4-amino-1-oxo-1,3 dihydro-isoindol-2-yl)-piperidine-2,6-dione was weighed into an aluminum pan and heated from 25 to 30° C. to 200° C. at a rate of 20° C./min with a helium purge. IR spectra were obtained in series, with each spectrum representing 32 co-added scans at a resolution of 4 cm−1. Spectra were collected with a 17-second repeat time. TG/IR analysis data are presented as Gram-Schmidt plots and IR spectra linked to the time. Gram-Schmidt plots show total IR intensity vs. time; hence, the volatiles can be identified at each time point. They also show when the volatiles are detected. From the Gram-Schmidt plots, time points were selected and the IR spectra of these time points are presented in the stacked linked spectra. Each spectrum identifies volatiles evolving at that time point. Volatiles were identified from a search of the HR Nicolet TGA vapor phase spectral library. The library match results are also presented to show the identified vapor. 6.5 Spectroscopy Measurements Raman spectra were acquired on a Nicloet model 750 Fourier transform Raman spectrometer utilizing an excitation wavelength of 1064 nm and approximately 0.5 W of Nd:YAG laser power. The spectra represent 128 to 256 co-added scans acquired at 4 cm−1 resolution. The samples were prepared for analysis by placing the material in a sample holder and positioning this in the spectrometer. The spectrometer was wavelength calibrated using sulfur and cyclohexane at the time of use. The mid-IR spectra were acquired on a Nicolet model 860 Fourier transform IR spectrophotmeter equipped with a globar source XT/KBr beamsplitter and a deuterated triglycine sulfate (DTGS) detector. A Spectra-Tech, Inc. diffuse reflectance accessory was utilized for sampling. Each spectrum represents 128 co-added scans at a spectral resolution of 4 cm−1. A background data set was acquired with an alignment mirror in place. A single beam sample data set was then acquired. Subsequently, a log 1/R (where R=reflectance) spectrum was acquired by rationing the two data sets against each other. The spectrophotometer was calibrated (wavelength) with polystyrene at the time of use. 6.6 Moisture Sorption/Desorption Measurements Moisture sorption/desorption data were collected on a VTI SGA-100 moisture balance system. For sorption isotherms, a sorption range of 5 to 95% relative humidity (RH) and a desorption range of 95 to 5% RH in 10% RH increments was used for analysis. The sample was not dried prior to analysis. Equilibrium criteria used for analysis were less than 0.0100 weight percent change in 5 minutes with a maximum equilibration time of 3 hours if the weight criterion was not met. Data were not corrected for the initial moisture content of the samples. 6.7 Solution Proton NMR Measurements NMR spectra not previously reported were collected at SSCI, Inc, 3065 Kent Avenue, West Lafayette, Ind. Solution phase 1H NMR spectra were acquired at ambient temperature on a Bruker model AM spectrometer. The 1H NMR spectrum represents 128 co-added transients collected with a 4 μsec pulse and a relaxation delay time of 5 seconds. The free induction decay (FID) was exponentially multiplied with a 0.1 Hz Lorentzian line broadening factor to improve the signal-to-noise ratio. The NMR spectrum was processed utilizing GRAMS software, version 5.24. Samples were dissolved in dimethyl sulfoxide-d6. The scope of this invention can be understood with reference to the appended claims. 6.8 Intrinsic Dissolution and Solubility Studies Intrinsic dissolution experiments were conducted on Form A (anhydrous), Form B (hemihydrate), and Form E (dihydrate) of 3-(4-amino-1-oxo-1,3 dihydro-isoindol-2-yl)-piperidine-2,6-dione. Equilibrium solubility experiments were conducted on Forms A and B. Aliquots were analyzed by ultraviolet-visible spectrophotometry, and the solids remaining from each experiment were analyzed by X-ray powder diffraction (XRPD). 6.8.1 Experimental 6.8.1.1 Dissolution Dissolution experiments were carried out in a VanKel VK6010-8 dissolution apparatus equipped with a VK650A heater/circulator. An intrinsic dissolution apparatus (Woods apparatus) was used. Samples were compressed at 1.5 metric tons (1000 psi) for 1 min using the Woods apparatus in a hydraulic press, giving a sample surface of 0.50 cm2. A dissolution medium consisting of 900 mL HCl buffer, pH 1.8, with 1% sodium lauryl sulfate, was used for each experiment. The medium was degassed by vacuum filtration through a 0.22-μm nylon filter disk and maintained at 37° C. The apparatus was rotated at 50 rpm for each experiment. Aliquots were filtered immediately using 0.2-μm nylon syringe filters. In some cases, the undissolved solids were recovered and analyzed by X-ray powder diffraction (XRPD). 6.8.1.2 Solubility Equilibrium solubility experiments were conducted in a 100-mL, three-neck, round-bottom flask immersed in a constant temperature oil bath maintained at 25° C. A solid sample of 400-450 mg was stirred in 50 mL of dissolution medium (HCl buffer, pH 1.8, with 1% sodium lauryl sulfate) using a mechanical stir rod. Aliquots were filtered using 0.2-μm nylon syringe filters and immediately diluted 1 mL→50 mL, then 5 mL→25 mL with dissolution medium in Class A glassware, a final dilution factor of 250. 6.8.1.3 UV-Vis Spectrophotometry Dissolution and solubility samples solutions were analyzed by a Beckman DU 640 single-beam spectrophotometer. A 1.000-cm quartz cuvette and an analysis wavelength of 228.40 nm were utilized. The detector was zeroed with a cuvette filled with dissolution medium. 6.8.1.4 X-Ray Powder Diffraction XRPD analyses were carried out on a Shimadzu XRD-6000 X-ray powder diffractometer using Cu Kα radiation. The instrument is equipped with a fine focus X-ray tube. The tube power and amperage were set at 40 kV and 40 mA, respectively. The divergence and scattering slits were set at 1° and the receiving slit was set at 0.15 mm. Diffracted radiation was detected by a NaI scintillation detector. A theta-two theta continuous scan at 3°/min (0.4 sec/0.02° step) from 2.5 to 40° 2θ was used. A silicon standard was analyzed each day to check the instrument alignment. Samples were packed in an aluminum holder with silicon insert. 6.8.2 Results The results of these solubility and intrinsic studies are summarized in Table 6. Both the solubility and dissolution experiments were conducted in a medium of HCl buffer, pH 1.8, containing 1% sodium lauryl sulfate. Form A was found to be unstable in the medium, converting to Form E. The solubilities of Forms A, B, and E were estimated to be 6.2, 5.8, and 4.7 mg/mL, respectively. The dissolution rates of Forms A, B, and E were estimated to be 0.35, 0.34, and 0.23 mg/mL, respectively. 6.8.2.1 UV-Vis Spectrophotometry Method Development A UV-Vis scan of the dissolution medium (blanked with an empty cuvette) was done to identify any interfering peaks. A small peak at 225 nm was present as shown in FIG. 47. Solutions of 3-(4-amino-1-oxo-1,3 dihydro-isoindol-2-yl)-piperidine-2,6-dione at varying concentrations were analyzed by UV-Vis spectrophotometry. A preliminary scan of a 1.0 mg/mL solution was done, with the instrument blanked with dissolution medium. The solution was highly absorbing and noisy from 200-280 nm, making dilution necessary. A 0.04 mg/mL solution of 3-(4-amino-1-oxo-1,3 dihydro-isoindol-2-yl)-piperidine-2,6-dione was then scanned from 200-300 nm. The plot was still noisy between 200 and 230 nm as shown in FIG. 48. The sample was further diluted to 0.008 mg/mL. A wavelength scan of 200-350 nm for this sample showed a peak a 228.4 nm with no interference, as shown in FIG. 49. Therefore, a wavelength of 228.4 was chosen for analysis of the solubility and dissolution samples. A six-point calibration curve was generated with standards of the following concentrations: 0.001 mg/mL, 0.002 mg/mL, 0.005 mg/mL, 0.010 mg/mL, 0.015 mg/mL, and 0.020 mg/mL (Notebook 569-90). A linearity coefficient of R2=0.9999 was obtained as shown in FIG. 50. 6.8.2.2 Solubility A sample consisting of 449.4 mg Form A was slurried in dissolution medium. Particle size was not controlled. Aliquots were taken at 7, 15, 30, 60, 90, and 150 min. The concentration reached 6.0 mg/mL by the first time point. The highest concentration reached was 6.2 mg/mL, at 30 min. From that point the concentration decreased, reaching 4.7 mg/mL at 150 min as in FIG. 51. The solids remaining at the final time point were analyzed by XRPD and found to be Form E as shown in Table 7. No peaks attributed to Form A can be seen in the pattern. Since the concentration did not plateau at 4.7 mg/mL, the solubility of Form E may be lower than that. A sample consisting of 401.4 mg Form B was slurried in dissolution medium. Particle size was not controlled. Aliquots were taken at 7, 15, 30, 60, 90, 180, 420, and 650 min. Form B dissolved much more slowly than Form A, reaching 3.3 mg/mL in 90 min. The concentration stabilized at 5.6-5.7 mg/mL at the final three time points as in FIG. 52. The remaining solids were shown to be Form B as in Table 7, suggesting Form B has good stability in water. A summary of the solubilities is given in Table 6. The amounts dissolved at each time point are shown in Tables 8 and 9. TABLE 6 Summary of Results Intrinsic Dissolution Intrinsic Average Intrinsic Form Solubility #1 Dissolution #2 Dissolution Rate Form A 6.2 mg/mL 0.35 0.22a 0.29a Form B 5.8 mg/mL 0.35 0.32 0.34 Form E 4.7 mg/mL 0.21 0.25 0.23 aThe Form A dissolution experiment #2 may have converted to Form E on the surface of the disk, skewing the average rate lower. TABLE 7 Experimental Details Final Experiment Form Pressed Form A A Pressed Form B B Form A Solubility E Form B Solubility B Form A Dissolution — Form A Dissolution A Form B Dissolution — Form B Dissolution B Form E Dissolution E Form E Dissolution — TABLE 8 Form A Solubility Time Point (min) Concentration (mg/mL) 7 6.00 15 6.11 30 6.16 60 6.10 90 5.46 150 4.73 TABLE 9 Form B Solubility Time Point (min) Concentration (mg/mL) 7 1.63 15 2.14 30 2.33 60 2.94 90 3.34 180 5.67 420 5.76 650 5.61 6.8.2.3 Intrinsic Dissolution Approximately 200 mg each of Forms A and B were compressed into disks in the Woods apparatus using 2 metric tons of pressure. The samples were subsequently scraped out, ground gently, and analyzed by XRPD. The study showed that compression and grinding does not cause a form change in either case. (See Table 7). Two preliminary dissolution runs were performed. The disks fractured to some extent in both experiments, compromising the requirement of constant surface area. The first experiment of intrinsic dissolution that strictly followed the USP chapter on intrinsic dissolution utilized approximately 150 mg each of Forms A and B. Seven aliquots, beginning at 5 min and ending at 90 min, were taken to maintain sink conditions. The experiment resulted in linear dissolution profiles, with a rate of 0.35 mg per cm2 per minute for both forms. The Form E experiment was done later under the same conditions and added to the graph for comparison. (See FIG. 53). The Form E dissolution rate was 0.21 mg per cm2 per minute, significantly lower than the dissolution rate of Forms A and B. This is in line with expectations based on the solubility data. The crystal form of the remaining solids did not change in any case. The second experiment utilized approximately 250 mg each of Forms A and B. The Form E experiment (135 mg) was done later and added to the graph for comparison. (See FIG. 54). Nine aliquots were taken, beginning at 5 min and ending at 150 min. The dissolution rates were 0 22, 0.32, and 0.25 mg per cm2 per minute, respectively, for Forms A, B, and E. The dissolution rate for Form A in this experiment was low, while the rates for Forms B and E were similar to those found in the first experiment. It is believed that in this case, a thin layer of the Form A sample disk may have converted to Form E upon exposure to water. This is supported by the evidence of rapid conversion of Form A to Form E in the solubility experiment. The diffraction pattern of the undissolved solids does not indicate a form change. However, the bulk of the sample disk is not exposed to water. Therefore, the true intrinsic dissolution rate of Form A is believed to be close to 0.35 mg per cm2 per minute. An insufficient quantity of Form A was available to repeat the experiment. A summary of the intrinsic dissolution rates is given in Table 6. The amounts dissolved at each time point are summarized in Tables 10 and 11. TABLE 10 Intrinsic Dissolution Experiment #1 Results Time Point Form Aa Form Ba Form Ea 5 min 5.76 10.80b 2.70 10 min 7.73 6.85 4.13 20 min 11.31 10.25 6.96 30 min 15.59 14.35 9.60 45 min 21.98 20.57 12.57 60 min 27.11 25.70 15.16 90 min 34.17 34.34 20.82 aResults are reported as Cumulative Amount Dissolved per Unit Area (mg/cm2) bThis date point not included in graph since the value is higher than the next two data points. TABLE 11 Intrinsic Dissolution Experiment #2 Results Time Point Form Aa Form Ba Form Ea 5 min 4.50 5.04 3.06 10 min 5.22 6.12 4.31 20 min 7.54 7.73 11.40 30 min 11.46 12.72 11.93 45 min 15.01 17.33 14.72 60 min 18.38 21.93 18.52 90 min 24.38 31.64 26.24 120 min 30.35 41.31 33.56 150 min 35.26 49.54 40.82 aResults are reported as Cumulative Amount Dissolved per Unit Area (mg/cm2) 6.9 Analyses of Mixtures of Polymorphs This invention encompasses mixtures of different polymorphs. For example, an X-ray diffraction analysis of one production sample yielded a pattern that contained two small peaks seen at approximately 12.6° and 25.8° 2θ in addition to those representative of Form B. In order to determine the composition of that sample, the following steps were performed: 1) Matching of the new production pattern to known forms along with common pharmaceutical excipients and contaminants; 2) Cluster analysis of the additional peaks to identify if any unknown phase is mixed with the original Form B; 3) Harmonic analysis of the additional peaks to identify if any preferred orientation may be present or if any changes in the crystal habit may have occurred; and 4) Indexing of the unit cells for both Form B and the new production sample to identify any possible crystallographic relationships. Based on these tests, which can be adapted for the analysis of any mixture of polymorphs, it was determined that the sample contained a mixture of polymorph forms B and E. 6.10 Dosage Form Table 12 illustrates a batch formulation and single dosage formulation for a 25 mg single dose unit of a polymorphic form of 3-(4-amino-1-oxo-1,3 dihydro-isoindol-2-yl)-piperidine-2,6-dione. TABLE 12 Formulation for a 25 mg capsule Percent By Quantity Quantity Material Weight (mg/tablet) (kg/batch) Polymorphic Form of 3-(4- 40.0% 25 mg 16.80 kg amino-1-oxo-1,3 dihydro- isoindol-2-yl)-piperidine-2,6- dione Pregelatinized Corn Starch, NF 59.5% 37.2 mg 24.99 kg Magnesium Stearate 0.5% 0.31 mg 0.21 kg Total 100.0% 62.5 mg 42.00 kg The pregelatinized corn starch (SPRESS B-820) and polymorphic form of 3-(4-amino-1-oxo-1,3 dihydro-isoindol-2-yl)-piperidine-2,6-dione components are passed through a screen (i.e., a 710 μm screen) and then loaded into a Diffusion Mixer with a baffle insert and blended for about 15 minutes. The magnesium stearate is passed through a screen (i.e., a 210 μm screen) and added to the Diffusion Mixer. The blend is then encapsulated in capsules using a Dosator type capsule filling machine. The entire scope of this invention is not limited by the specific examples described herein, but is more readily understood with reference to the appended claims. | <SOH> 2. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION <EOH>Many compounds can exist in different crystal forms, or polymorphs, which exhibit different physical, chemical, and spectroscopic properties. For example, certain polymorphs of a compound may be more readily soluble in particular solvents, may flow more readily, or may compress more easily than others. See, e.g., P. DiMartino, et al., J. Thermal Anal., 48:447-458 (1997). In the case of drugs, certain solid forms may be more bioavailable than others, while others may be more stable under certain manufacturing, storage, and biological conditions. This is particularly important from a regulatory standpoint, since drugs are approved by agencies such as the U.S. Food and Drug Administration only if they meet exacting purity and characterization standards. Indeed, the regulatory approval of one polymorph of a compound, which exhibits certain solubility and physico-chemical (including spectroscopic) properties, typically does not imply the ready approval of other polymorphs of that same compound. Polymorphic forms of a compound are known in the pharmaceutical arts to affect, for example, the solubility, stability, flowability, fractability, and compressibility of the compound, as well as the safety and efficacy of drug products comprising it. See, e.g., Knapman, K. Modern Drug Discoveries, 2000, 53. Therefore, the discovery of new polymorphs of a drug can provide a variety of advantages. U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,635,517 and 6,281,230, both to Muller et al., disclose 3-(4-amino-1-oxo-1,3 dihydro-isoindol-2-yl)-piperidine-2,6-dione, which is useful in treating and preventing a wide range of diseases and conditions including, but not limited to, inflammatory diseases, autoimmune diseases, and cancer. New polymorphic forms of 3-(4-amino-1-oxo-1,3 dihydro-isoindol-2-yl)-piperidine-2,6-dione can further the development of formulations for the treatment of these chronic illnesses, and may yield numerous formulation, manufacturing and therapeutic benefits. | <SOH> 3. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION <EOH>This invention encompasses polymorphs of 3-(4-amino-1-oxo-1,3 dihydro-isoindol-2-yl)-piperidine-2,6-dione. In certain aspects, the invention provides polymorphs of the compound identified herein as forms A, B, C, D, E, F, G, and H. The invention also encompasses mixtures of these forms. In further embodiments, this invention provides methods of making, isolating and characterizing the polymorphs. This invention also provides pharmaceutical compositions and single unit dosage forms comprising a polymorph of 3-(4-amino-1-oxo-1,3 dihydro-isoindol-2-yl)-piperidine-2,6-dione. The invention further provides methods for the treatment or prevention of a variety of diseases and disorders, which comprise administering to a patient in need of such treatment or prevention a therapeutically effective amount of a polymorph of 3-(4-amino-1-oxo-1,3 dihydro-isoindol-2-yl)-piperidine-2,6-dione. | 20040903 | 20081216 | 20050505 | 99703.0 | 34 | CHANG, CELIA C | POLYMORPHIC FORMS OF 3-(4-AMINO-1-OXO-1,3 DIHYDRO-ISOINDOL-2-YL)-PIPERIDINE-2,6-DIONE | UNDISCOUNTED | 0 | ACCEPTED | 2,004 |
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10,935,046 | ACCEPTED | System and method for accessing host computer via remote computer | In a peer-to-peer fashion, various host computers communicate with various remote computers using the Internet so that user inputs from the remote computers are transferred to the host computers as if the user inputs occurred locally, and information generated by the host computers is displayed on the remote computers. Thus, a remote computer is able to access all of the information and application programs on the host computer. | 1. (canceled) 2. (canceled) 3. A method of enabling communication between a host and a remote using a controller, comprising: connecting to the host and the remote, the host and remote being in separate locations, validating digital identity certificates received from each of the host and the remote, each identity certificate containing (i) the public half of an asymmetric key algorithm key pair, (ii) identity information, and (iii) a digital signature of the issuing certificate authority, receiving a selection of the host from the validated remote, sending parameters for the validated remote to the validated host, and receiving notifications from the validated host and the validated remote that a connection exists therebetween. 4. The method of claim 3, further comprising sending, to the remote, a menu of hosts that the remote is authorized to communicate with. 5. The method of claim 3, further comprising receiving a poll from the host, and responding to the poll with messages waiting for the host. 6. The method of claim 3, wherein the parameters for the remote include an IP address of the remote. 7. The method of claim 3, further comprising receiving a parameter request from the host after the remote has failed to respond to a status request from the host. 8. The method of claim 7, further comprising sending at least one standby message to the host before sending a response to the parameter request to the host. 9. The method of claim 3, wherein data is exchanged between the validated host and the validated remote without assistance from the controller. 10. A method of enabling communication between a host and a remote using a controller, comprising: connecting to a remote, notifying all hosts that the remote is authorized to communicate with that there is a possible connection request from the remote, receiving a selection of a host from the remote, sending parameters for the remote to the selected host, and receiving notifications from the selected host and the remote that a connection exists therebetween. 11. The method of claim 10, further comprising sending, to the remote, a menu of hosts that the remote is authorized to communicate with. 12. The method of claim 10, further comprising receiving a poll from the host, and responding to the poll with messages waiting for the host. 13. The method of claim 10, wherein the parameters for the remote include an IP address of the remote. 14. The method of claim 10, further comprising validating digital identity certificates received from each of the host and the remote, each identity certificate containing (i) the public half of an asymmetric key algorithm key pair, (ii) identity information, and (iii) a digital signature of the issuing certificate authority. 15. The method of claim 10, further comprising receiving a parameter request from the host after the remote has failed to respond to a status request from the host. 16. The method of claim 15, further comprising sending at least one standby message to the host before sending a response to the parameter request to the host. 17. The method of claim 10, wherein data is exchanged between the host and the remote without assistance from the controller. 18. A method of enabling a remote to communicate with a host, comprising: connecting to a controller, sending a selection of a host to the controller, responding to a connection request from the host that was sent in response to a message from the controller, sending input to the host, and receiving screen display output from the host. 19. The method of claim 18, further comprising notifying the controller that a connection exists between the remote and the host. 20. The method of claim 18, further comprising receiving a menu of hosts from the controller. 21. The method of claim 18, further comprising retrieving a menu of hosts from storage in the remote. 22. The method of claim 18, further comprising sending, to the controller, a digital identity certificate containing (i) the public half of an asymmetric key algorithm key pair, (ii) identity information for the remote, and (iii) a digital signature of the issuing certificate authority. 23. The method of claim 18, further comprising sending, to the host, a digital identity certificate containing (i) the public half of an asymmetric key algorithm key pair, (ii) identity information for the remote, and (iii) a digital signature of the issuing certificate authority. 24. The method of claim 18, further comprising receiving, from the host, a digital identity certificate containing (i) the public half of an asymmetric key algorithm key pair, (ii) identity information for the pair consisting of the host and the remote, and (iii) a digital signature of the issuing certificate authority. 25. The method of claim 18, further comprising checking whether a connection with the host has been lost, and if so, sending a connection request to the controller. 26. The method of claim 18, wherein data is exchanged between the host and the remote without assistance from the controller. 27. A method of enabling a host to communicate with a remote, comprising: connecting to a controller, receiving, from the controller, parameters relating to a remote that requested communication with the host, sending a connection request to the remote using the received parameters, receiving, from the remote, input to the host, and sending, to the remote, screen display output from the host. 28. The method of claim 27, further comprising notifying the controller that a connection exists between the host and the remote. 29. The method of claim 27, further comprising sending, to the controller, a digital identity certificate containing (i) the public half of an asymmetric key algorithm key pair, (ii) identity information for the host, and (iii) a digital signature of the issuing certificate authority. 30. The method of claim 27, further comprising receiving, from the remote, a digital identity certificate containing (i) the public half of an asymmetric key algorithm key pair, (ii) identity information for the remote, and (iii) a digital signature of the issuing certificate authority. 31. The method of claim 27, further comprising sending, to the remote, a digital identity certificate containing (i) the public half of an asymmetric key algorithm key pair, (ii) identity information for the pair consisting of the host and the remote, and (iii) a digital signature of the issuing certificate authority. 32. The method of claim 27, further comprising sending a parameter request to the controller after the remote has failed to respond to a status request. 33. The method of claim 32, further comprising receiving at least one standby message from the controller before receiving a response to the parameter request from the controller. 34. The method of claim 27, wherein data is exchanged between the host and the remote without assistance from the controller. | BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to use of a host computer via a remote computer, and more particularly, is directed to enabling peer-to-peer communication between the host computer and remote computer over a communication network. Immediate access to centrally stored programs and information from a remote device continues to be a desirable goal. Conventionally, for a remote terminal to access a central computer, the terminal and computer needed to be coupled by a point-to-point communication line, either dedicated or dial-up. The widespread availability of the Internet has prompted introduction of methods for sharing information between a central device and a remote device using the Internet. A typical configuration involves a remote computer having a web browser, and a host computer coupled to a web server. The web server handles converting information from the host into hypertext transfer protocol and sending the hypertext messages to the remote. However, this configuration does not enable the remote device to use all applications of the host device that are available to a local user of the host device. One popular portable device enables a user to receive her email on the device. However, this device is not particularly useful for general access of the host computer's resources from the remote device. A known software product enables a user of a remote personal computer to access, via the Internet, a host personal computer such that the remote computer provides a visual duplicate of what is occurring at the host computer. This product assumes that the remote computer is in one place during its access session with the host computer. None of the configurations described above enables a mobile remote device to use all applications of a host computer. Thus, there is still room for improvement in enabling a remote device to access centrally stored programs and information. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In accordance with an aspect of this invention, there is provided a method of enabling communication between a remote computer and one of a plurality of host computers, comprising establishing, at the remote computer, a connection to a controller, and sending to the controller a selection of a host computer, then receiving identifying information from the selected host computer, and validating the identifying information to determine that a communication channel has been established between the remote computer and the selected host computer. In accordance with another aspect of this invention, there is provided a method of enabling communication between a host computer and one of a plurality of remote computers, comprising establishing, at the host computer, a connection to a controller, and receiving, at the host computer, parameters for a connection to a selected remote computer, then sending identifying information to the selected remote computer using the received connection parameters, and validating information received from the selected remote computer to determine that a communication channel has been established between the selected remote computer and the host computer. It is not intended that the invention be summarized here in its entirety. Rather, further features, aspects and advantages of the invention are set forth in or are apparent from the following description and drawings. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIGS. 1A-1C are configuration diagrams respectively showing a typical configuration, a logical configuration during set-up and a logical configuration during operation; FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing a set-up phase; FIGS. 3A-3C are flowcharts showing an operational phase; and FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a controller data structure. DETAILED DESCRIPTION In a peer-to-peer fashion, various host computers communicate with various remote computers using the Internet so that user inputs from the remote computers are transferred to the host computers as if the user inputs occurred locally, and information generated by the host computers is displayed on the remote computers. Thus, a remote computer is able to access all of the information and application programs on the host computer. FIG. 1A shows a typical configuration in which the present invention is embodied. Generally, remote computers, host computers and a controller are coupled to the Internet via communication channels. The communication channels can be wireless or wireline, and dedicated or temporary. In particular, FIG. 1A shows remote 10 having a wireless connection to antenna 20, which operates according to the 802.11(b) or 802.11(g) WiFi protocol. Antenna 20 is coupled to Internet 30 via conventional techniques. Remote 11 has a wireless connection to antenna 21, which operates according to a commercial cellular communication protocol such as carrier division multiple access (CDMA) or global service mobile/general packet radio service (GSM/GPRS); typically, remote 11 has its own data channel subscription with a communications carrier. Antenna 21 is coupled to Internet 30 via conventional techniques. Accordingly, remotes 10, 11 are able to send and receive information via Internet 30. Remotes 10, 11 may each be a general purpose computer programmed according to the present invention, and are preferably portable devices such as a tablet PC operating with a Microsoft Windows operating system, or a personal digital assistant (PDA) operating with a Microsoft PocketPC or Windows CE operating system. An iPAQ pocket PC is an instance of remote 10. Host 60 is coupled directly to Internet 30. That is, host 60 is coupled to an internet services provider (ISP) (not shown) that provides access to Internet 30, in a conventional manner. Host 70 is coupled to local area network 72 and, via firewall 71, to Internet 30. Firewall 71 serves to restrict information flow between Internet 30 and local area network 72. In other cases (not shown), a host computer is coupled to Internet 30 via a firewall, without the presence of a local area network. Hosts 60, 70 are a general purpose computer programmed according to the present invention, typically a personal computer executing a Windows operating system. Controller 50 is used for enabling dynamic coupling of various remote computers to various host computers. Controller 50 performs authentication, authorization and communications protocol management functions. Controller 50 is a general purpose computer programmed according to the present invention to function as a server with Java runtime environment capability. Controller 50 also executes a database program, such as Oracle. Certificate authority 40 issues digital identity certificates having public cryptography keys according to a public key infrastructure (PKI) arrangement. An identity certificate is a block of bits containing, in a specified format, the public half of an asymmetric key algorithm key pair (the “public key”), together with identity information, such as a person's name, email address, title, phone number and so on, together with the digital signature of the issuing certificate authority. Certificate authority 40 attests that the public key contained in the certificate belongs to the owner named in the certificate. Instances of certificate authorities include the Microsoft, Entrust, Thawte, RSA and Verisign companies. X.509 is the international standard for digital certificates used in PKI. Trusted third parties—known as Certificate Authorities (CA)—maintain and make the “certificates” accessible (e.g., in an LDAP or X.500 directory), thereby vouching for the authenticity of the signatures. The X.509 standard is provided by the International Telecommunications Union, and is available at http://www.itu.int/rec/recommendation.asp?type=folders&lang=e&parent=T-REC-X.509. The Internet Engineering Task Force has defined several X.509 Public Key Infrastructure standards, available at http://www.ietf.org/html.charters/pkix-charter.html. FIG. 1B shows a logical configuration during set-up. Remote 10 communicates directly with controller 50. Host 60 communicates directly with controller 50. A user (not shown) manually transfers an activation code from host 60 to remote 10. Controller 50 communicates with certificate authority 40 to procure certificates for each host computer and each remote computer, and for each authorized pairing of a remote computer and a host computer. FIG. 1C shows a logical configuration during operation. Controller 50 assists remote 10 and host 60 in setting up a communications connection, and then remote 10 and host 60 communicate directly with each other, without assistance from controller 50. If the communications connection is lost, controller 50 assists in reestablishing the connection. FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing a set-up phase. FIG. 2 shows controller 50 as having one processing sequence for interacting with a host computer, and another processing sequence for interacting with a remote computer. In other embodiments, controller 50 has a more monolithic processing sequence that interacts with both host and remote computers. At step 100, controller 50 generates a PKI key pair and a certificate request including its controller ID, and sends the certificate request to certificate authority 40. At step 101, certificate authority 40 generates a host certificate and sends it to controller 50. At step 102, controller 50 receives a digital identity certificate pertaining to itself, referred to hereafter as a “controller certificate”. The subject field of the controller certificate includes the controller ID. Set-up of a host computer will now be described. At step 103, a user (not shown) enters identifying information to host 60, such as name, email address, title, phone number, payment mechanism and so on. At step 110, host 60 sends the identifying information to controller 50 using an anonymous certificate that is part of the software according to the present invention installed on host 60 via a storage medium such as a compact disc (CD) or via download from a website (not shown). At step 110, host 60 generates its own host ID alphanumeric code. In some embodiments, controller 50 generates a host ID and sends it to host 60. At step 115, host 60 generates a PKI key pair and a certificate request and sends the certificate request to controller 50. At step 120, host 60 receives a digital identity certificate pertaining to itself, referred to hereafter as a “host certificate”. The subject field of the host certificate includes the host ID. At step 125, host 60 receives an activation ID from controller 50 and displays the activation ID to the user. Corresponding to the above-mentioned activity, at step 130, controller 50 receives the identifying information from host 60 and at step 132 creates a database entry for host 60. At step 135, controller 50 receives the certificate request from host 60, and forwards the request to certificate authority 40. At step 150, certificate authority 40 generates a host certificate and sends it to controller 50, which in turn, at step 140, sends it to host 60. At step 145, controller 50 generates an activation ID, sometimes referred to as a host activation ID, and sends it to host 60. The host activation ID is a large encoded number that is difficult to guess, such as a number having a length of 128 bits. At this point, controller 50 and host 60 are now configured to operate with each other. For each remote that is to be authorized to operate with host 60, steps 205-230 are performed. These steps are discussed below. Set-up of a remote computer will now be described. A remote computer is responsible for activating its association with each host computer that it wishes to communicate with. At step 155, the user activates software on remote 10, such as by clicking on an icon labelled “activation” and enters the host activation ID obtained at step 125 so that remote 10 receives the host activation ID. At step 160, remote 10 sends the activation ID to controller 50. At step 165, host 10 generates a PKI key pair and a certificate request and sends the certificate request to controller 50. At step 170, remote 10 receives a digital identity certificate pertaining to itself, referred to hereafter as a “remote certificate”. The subject field of the remote certificate includes a remote ID. The remote ID is generated by remote 10. In other embodiments, the remote ID is a number provided by the hardware of remote 10, or is generated by controller 50 and sent to remote 10. Corresponding to the above-mentioned activity, at step 175, controller 50 receives the host activation ID from remote 10, and at step 180, controller 50 updates its database to reflect that remote 10 is activating an association with host 60. At step 185, controller 50 receives the certificate request from remote 10, and forwards the request to certificate authority 40. At step 195, certificate authority 40 generates a remote certificate and sends it to controller 50, which in turn, at step 190, sends it to remote 10. Authorizing a host to communicate with a remote will now be described. At step 215, the user instructs host 60 to allow access from remote 10, and host 60 receives this instruction. In this embodiment, the user enters the remote ID for remote 10 directly to host 60. In other embodiments, the user at host 10 clicks on an icon that prompts host to get a list of newly activated remotes from controller 50, or a full list of activated remotes from controller 50, and then the user selects a remote from the list. In still other embodiments, remote 10 displays its own remote activation ID that must be entered at host 60 in a complementary manner as what was done to activate remote 10. At step 220, host 60 generates a PKI key pair and a certificate request and sends the certificate request to controller 50. At step 230, host 60 receives a digital identity certificate pertaining to the authorization access for remote 10, referred to hereafter as a “host/remote certificate”. The subject field of the host/remote certificate includes the host ID and the remote ID. Corresponding to the above-mentioned activity, at step 205, controller 50 receives the certificate request from host 60, and forwards the request to certificate authority 40. At step 200, certificate authority 40 generates a host certificate and sends it to controller 50, which in turn, at step 210, sends it to host 60. FIGS. 3A-3C, collectively referred to as FIG. 3, are flowcharts showing an operational phase. FIG. 3 shows controller 50 as having one processing sequence for interacting with a host computer, another processing sequence for interacting with a remote computer, and the ability for these processing sequences to exchange messages. In other embodiments, controller 50 has a more monolithic processing sequence that interacts with both host and remote computers. In the embodiment of FIG. 3, host 60 polls controller 50 for messages destined for host 60. This is particularly helpful if host 60 is behind a firewall, which would block unsolicited messages from controller 50. In other embodiments, the controller sends messages to the host computer in an asynchronous fashion rather than in the polling fashion described below. At step 300, at the end of a predetermined time interval, host 60 sends a message to controller 50, requesting messages destined for host 60. More specifically, host 60 sends a Unix Data Packet (UDP) message. At step 305, host 60 checks whether any messages have been received. If not, processing returns to step 300. If a message has been received, processing continues at step 310. At the start of its operation, controller 50 initiates a UDP listener role so that it can receive UDP messages, opens a TCP listener for messages from hosts and opens a TCP listener for messages from remotes. At step 500, controller 50 receives a message from host 60 requesting messages destined for host 60. At step 505, controller 50 checks whether any remote computers might be trying to communicate with host 60. If so, controller 50 sends the remote computer's message to host 60. If not, controller 50 sends a “no messages” message to host 60. In other embodiments, controller 50 simply does not respond, and host 60 interprets the lack of a response after a predetermined time interval as a “no messages” message. When a remote computer wants to interact with a host computer, the remote uses controller 50 to initiate a communications path to the host computer, as described below. The process of requesting and receiving a connection involves a TCP initialization request, then the controller responds by initializing a secure socket layer (SSL) port and sending its controller certificate to the requester. The requester validates the controller certificate and sends its own certificate, i.e., a host certificate or a remote certificate, to the controller. The controller validates the requester's certificate and extracts its ID from the certificate. The controller validates the requester's ID against its database. If the ID is not valid, a connection is refused. If the ID is valid, a connection is made. At step 400, remote 10 sends a message to controller 50 requesting a connection. At step 405, remote 10 receives a connection to controller 50. At step 410, remote 10 sends a message to controller 50 requesting a list of hosts that remote 10 is authorized to communicate with. At step 415, remote 10 receives an authorized hosts list from controller 50. At step 420, remote 10 selects one of the hosts from the list and sends a message indicating the selected host to controller 50. In other embodiments, remote 10 has a list of authorized hosts stored therein, and after a connection to controller 50 is established, remote 10 simply sends a message with its selected host. If the selected host is not authorized, controller 50 sends a new authorized hosts list to remote 10. Also, during set-up (discussed above with regard to FIG. 2), in these other embodiments, remote 10 updates its stored authorized hosts list when it becomes authorized to interact with each host. At step 600, controller 50 receives the connection request message from remote 10. At step 605, controller 50 establishes the connection. At step 610, controller 50 receives the request for an authorized hosts list. Controller 50 obtains the authorized hosts list from its database, and prepares a message for each host on the list indicating a possible connection from a remote. After such a message is prepared, at step 505, controller 50 forwards the message to host 60, as well as the other hosts on its list. This sequence corresponds to an early warning message to host 60 that a remote may wish to access the host; the early warning message is helpful in reducing the response time once a host is selected, that is, avoiding a delay due to the polled nature of communication between host 60 and controller 50. More specifically, controller 50 tells each host to establish a secure TCP connection to controller 50. At step 615, controller 50 sends the retrieved list of authorized hosts to remote 10. At step 620, controller 50 receives a message from remote 10 with the selected host, and makes this selection available to step 525, discussed below, along with the parameters for communicating with remote 10. In other embodiments wherein the remote has a stored list of authorized hosts and sends a selection to the controller, the controller simply forwards this message to the selected host the next time the selected host asks for its messages. Host processing relating to the early warning message of a possible remote connection will now be described. If there is an early warning message, at step 310, host 60 sends a message to controller 50 requesting a connection. At step 315, host 60 receives a connection to controller 50. At step 320, host 60 sends a message to controller 50 requesting parameters for the possible channel with a remote computer; the parameters include the remote's ID and the IP address of the remote. In some embodiments, the parameters also include a token identifying the connection. At step 325, host 60 checks whether any parameters have been received. Actually, controller 50's response to the message from host 60 is to return one of (i) a message to standby since nothing has been received, (ii) parameters for the connection, or (iii) a message to disconnect the TCP connection since another host has been selected by the remote that requested the host list. If a standby message is received, host 60 waits for a predetermined time and may resend a message to controller 50 asking for parameters of the remote. If a disconnect message is received, at step 330, host 60 closes the connection to controller 50 and processing returns to step 300. If parameters have been received, such as the parameters for remote 10, processing continues at step 335. At step 510, controller 50 receives the connection request message from host 60. At step 515, controller 50 establishes the connection. At step 520, controller 50 receives the parameter request message from host 60. At step 525, controller 50 checks whether any parameters have been received for this host from step 620. One of the hosts on the authorized host list will get parameters, the rest will not, since only one host-remote channel is being established. Controller 50 forwards the parameters to the selected host, and forwards a “disconnect” message to the rest of the hosts on the list. In other embodiments, a remote computer can simultaneously establish a connection to multiple hosts on its authorized host list, and so multiple hosts will get parameters from the remote. Setting up a communication channel between a remote computer and a host computer will now be described. At step 335, host 60 sends a handshake to remote 10. At step 340, host 60 validates the remote certificate sent by remote 110. In the embodiments where a token is used, it is validated at this point. At step 345, host 60 sends the host/remote certificate to remote 10, and at step 350, host 60 sends a notice to controller 50 that a connection has been established between itself and remote 10. At step 435, remote 10 receives the handshake from host 60. At step 430, remote 10 sends its remote certificate to host 60. At step 435, remote 10 validates the host/remote certificate received from host 60. At step 440, remote 10 sends a notice to controller 50 that a connection has been established between itself and host 60. At step 530 and 635, controller 50 receives the connection notices respectively sent by host 60 and remote 10. At steps 355 and 445, host 60 and remote 10 engage in a data session with each other. During this data session, input from remote 10 appears to be local input at host 60, and information that would be displayed at host 60 is actually sent to remote 10 for its local display. Virtual Network Computing (VNC), also known as remote frame buffer (RFB), remote control software makes it possible to view and fully-interact with one computer from any other computer or mobile device anywhere on the Internet. VNC software is cross-platform, allowing remote control between different types of computers. The open source version of VNC has been freely available since 1998, and more than 20 million copies of the software have been downloaded. In other embodiments, another technique is used to convert screen displays from host screen format to remote screen format. During a data session, host 60 and controller 50 may exchange “keep alive” messages, discussed with regard to FIG. 3C. Also during a data session, the channel between a remote computer and a host computer may be lost, and there is a processing sequence for reestablishing the channel, also discussed with regard to FIG. 3C. To disconnect a session, remote 10 notifies controller 50. When the user of remote 10 has finished with her session with host 60, she creates a disconnect message such as by clicking on an icon. At step 450, remote 10 sends the disconnect request to controller 50. At step 455, remote 10 disconnects the session and its processing is complete. In some embodiments, if the user does not take any action for a predetermined amount of time, the session is automatically terminated. At step 630, controller 50 receives the disconnect request from remote 10, and passes the message to step 535. In some embodiments, controller 50 tracks usage by remote 10 and updates its usage records. At step 535, controller 50 forwards the disconnect request to host 60. In some embodiments, controller 50 tracks usage by host 60 and updates its usage records. At step 360, host 60 receives the disconnect message from controller 50, and at step 365, disconnects the data session with remote 10. Processing returns to step 300. In other embodiments, to disconnect a session, remote 10 notifies host 60 directly. When usage tracking occurs in these other embodiments, at least one of remote 10 and host 60 notify controller 50 that the session has been disconnected. FIG. 3C depicts a technique employed for keeping the connection with host 60 alive even if remote 10 is inactive for awhile, and also depicts a technique for reestablishing communication when remote 10 switches IP addresses, thereby enabling remote 10 to be mobile. In some configurations, if host 60 does not receive any information from remote 10 for a predetermined amount of time, host 60 automatically closes the communication channel to remote 10. In other configurations, a firewall associated with host 60, either directly or through a local area network, automatically terminates the channel. Accordingly, the following technique ensures that there is activity on the channel so that undesired automatic termination is prevented. At step 900, controller 50 sets a timer, and at the conclusion of the timer interval, at step 905, sends a status request message to host 60. At step 910, controller 50 receives the status message and processing returns to step 900. At step 700, host 60 receives a status request message from controller 50, and at step 705, responds to the status request message. A similar “keep-alive” technique is performed by controller 50 for remote 10. At step 915, controller 50 sets a timer, and at the conclusion of the timer interval, at step 920, sends a status request message to remote 10. At step 925, controller 50 receives the status message and processing returns to step 915. At step 800, remote 10 receives a status request message from controller 50, and at step 805, responds to the status request message. Remote 10 may, during the course of its travels, lose its communications connection, such as when it moves from one WiFi area to another. Alternatively, the wireless channel for remote 10 may be dropped by the communications carrier. It is assumed that shortly thereafter, remote 10 will reestablish the connection, either automatically or via user intervention. This dropped connections situation is expected to occur regularly, so this embodiment provides a technique whereby hosts keep checking for a dropped connection, and coordinate with the controller for smooth re-establishing of the connection, and meanwhile remotes promptly engage with the controller to reestablish a dropped connection. In short, this technique enables dynamic tracking of remote 10 by controller 50. At step 710, host 60 sets a timer, and if a message from remote 10 is received prior to the end of the timer interval, processing returns to step 700. If, at the conclusion of the time interval, no messages have been received from remote 10, then at step 715, host 60 sends a status request message to remote 10. At step 720, host 60 sets another timer, and if a status message is received from remote 10 prior to the end of the timer interval, processing returns to step 700. If no messages have been received by the end of the timer interval, then host 60 concludes that the connection has been lost, and at step 730, host 60 sends a parameter request to controller 50 as discussed above with regard to step 320. At step 735, host 60 receives at least one standby message from controller 50; generally, many standby messages are received, until at step 740, host 60 receives the parameters for the connection from controller 50, and processing continues at step 335. At step 810, remote 10 receives the status request sent from host 60 at step 715, and at step 815, sends its status to host 60. Corresponding to this activity, at step 950, controller 50 receives the parameter request from host 60. At step 955, controller 50 sends at least one standby message to host 60. Generally, controller 50 sends a standby message at a predetermined interval of time, to keep the connection alive, until new parameters are received from remote 10, and then at step 960, controller 50 sends the new parameters to host 60. At step 820, remote 10 checks whether it has lost its communication connection. If not, processing returns to step 800. If so, at step 825, remote 10 requests a connection from controller 50, as generally described above with regard to step 400. At step 830, remote 10 receives a connection, and processing continues at step 425. Corresponding to the above-described activity, at step 965, controller 50 receives a connection request from remote 10, and at step 970, grants a connection to remote 10. Also at step 970, controller 50 sends the connection parameters to step 960 for relaying to host 60. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a controller data structure. Record 97 represents host 60. Record 99 represents remote 10. Record 98 represents the ability of remote 10 to access host 60. As shown in record 97, the primary key used to access the record is the host's public ID. Information stored in the record includes parameters provided during set-up, such as the host's name and address, as well as billing related information (not shown). Also present are a status field, indicating whether the host is currently active or inactive, and an activation key field, for the activation ID discussed above at step 145. As shown in record 99, the primary key used to access the record is the remote's public ID. In some embodiments, identifying information is stored in the record. A status field indicated whether the remote is currently active or inactive. If a remote activation ID is used, then it is stored in an activation key field (not shown). As shown in record 98, the primary key used to access the record is a subscription ID, which is a sequential number created when an association is made between a remote and a host. In some embodiments, a subscription ID is created when a host is activated prior to association of any remotes with the host. Information stored in the record includes the host's public ID, which serves as the primary key for the host's record in controller 50, the remote's public ID, which serves as the primary key for the remote's record in controller 50, and a status field indicating whether or not there is an active connection between the remote and the host. In the embodiment discussed above, controller 50 has no access to the data exchanged between remote 10 and host 60. Controller 50 facilitates public key management between remote 10 and host 60. In other embodiments, a security scheme such as Kerberos may be used, and in these embodiments, controller 50 can decrypt the data exchanged by remote 10 and host 60. In other embodiments, the SSL implementation uses the Diffie-Hellman algorithm so that the so-called perfect forward secrecy is achieved. Although an illustrative embodiment of the present invention, and various modifications thereof, have been described in detail herein with reference to the accompanying drawings, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to this precise embodiment and the described modifications, and that various changes and further modifications may be effected therein by one skilled in the art without departing from the scope or spirit of the invention as defined in the appended claims. | <SOH> BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION <EOH>The present invention relates to use of a host computer via a remote computer, and more particularly, is directed to enabling peer-to-peer communication between the host computer and remote computer over a communication network. Immediate access to centrally stored programs and information from a remote device continues to be a desirable goal. Conventionally, for a remote terminal to access a central computer, the terminal and computer needed to be coupled by a point-to-point communication line, either dedicated or dial-up. The widespread availability of the Internet has prompted introduction of methods for sharing information between a central device and a remote device using the Internet. A typical configuration involves a remote computer having a web browser, and a host computer coupled to a web server. The web server handles converting information from the host into hypertext transfer protocol and sending the hypertext messages to the remote. However, this configuration does not enable the remote device to use all applications of the host device that are available to a local user of the host device. One popular portable device enables a user to receive her email on the device. However, this device is not particularly useful for general access of the host computer's resources from the remote device. A known software product enables a user of a remote personal computer to access, via the Internet, a host personal computer such that the remote computer provides a visual duplicate of what is occurring at the host computer. This product assumes that the remote computer is in one place during its access session with the host computer. None of the configurations described above enables a mobile remote device to use all applications of a host computer. Thus, there is still room for improvement in enabling a remote device to access centrally stored programs and information. | <SOH> SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION <EOH>In accordance with an aspect of this invention, there is provided a method of enabling communication between a remote computer and one of a plurality of host computers, comprising establishing, at the remote computer, a connection to a controller, and sending to the controller a selection of a host computer, then receiving identifying information from the selected host computer, and validating the identifying information to determine that a communication channel has been established between the remote computer and the selected host computer. In accordance with another aspect of this invention, there is provided a method of enabling communication between a host computer and one of a plurality of remote computers, comprising establishing, at the host computer, a connection to a controller, and receiving, at the host computer, parameters for a connection to a selected remote computer, then sending identifying information to the selected remote computer using the received connection parameters, and validating information received from the selected remote computer to determine that a communication channel has been established between the selected remote computer and the host computer. It is not intended that the invention be summarized here in its entirety. Rather, further features, aspects and advantages of the invention are set forth in or are apparent from the following description and drawings. | 20040907 | 20101012 | 20061123 | 85742.0 | G06F1516 | 1 | SALAD, ABDULLAHI ELMI | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR ACCESSING HOST COMPUTER VIA REMOTE COMPUTER | SMALL | 0 | ACCEPTED | G06F | 2,004 |
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10,935,068 | ACCEPTED | Method and apparatus for remotely controlling a receiver according to content and user selection | System and method for automatically controlling a media receiver by instructing the media receiver to use a particular receiver connection and to play a selected media unit using one of a plurality of play modes according to characteristics of the media unit. Media units may be encoded using any of a variety of encoding formats. The media management system may interface with a media receiver to select media receiver connections in accordance with the media type of the media unit. The media management system may also interface with the media receiver to set media receiver settings for playing the selected media unit according to the media receiver settings selected for a play mode corresponding to the characteristics of the selected media unit. | 1. An apparatus for controlling a media receiver, the apparatus comprising: a media player interface comprising a plurality of receiver connections, each operable to communicate with the media receiver; a media database comprising a plurality of media unit records each identifying one of a plurality of media units by one or more characteristics, wherein a first characteristic of each media unit record identifies one media type of a plurality of media types; a play selection system to (i) retrieve a media unit record from the media database for a selected media unit, (ii) determine a media type of the selected media unit from the media unit record, and (iii) communicate, to a media play processor, a receiver connection selection for the selected media unit based on the media type of the selected media unit; and the media play processor to (i) configure the media receiver, and (ii) couple the selected media unit to a selected receiver connection, according to the receiver connection selection. 2. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising: a play mode record stored in the media database, wherein the play selection system (i) retrieves the play mode record for the selected media unit from the media database, (ii) determines a play mode selection for the selected media unit based on at least one of the one or more characteristics and the play mode record, and (iii) communicates the play mode selection to the media play processor, wherein the media play processor requests the media receiver to play the selected media unit according to the play mode selection. 3. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein the at least one of the one or more characteristics is a characteristic selected from the group consisting of: title, song, genre, location, label, artist, media type, and date. 4. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein the play mode selection is for a play mode selected from the group consisting of: rock arena, jazz club, classic concert, mono movie, matrix, 5-channel stereo, 7-channel stereo, stereo, pure direct, direct, super stadium, wide screen, cinema, Dolby Digital, Dolby Pro Logic, Digital Theater System, and THX. 5. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein the play mode selection defines one or more media receiver settings selected from the group of consisting of: tone settings, equalization settings, noise reduction settings, level adjustment settings, balance settings, and delay time settings, and bass settings. 6. The apparatus of claim 2, further comprising: a user interface for providing a configuration process for querying a user to choose the play mode selection to be requested by the media play processor when a characteristic of the selected media unit matches the at least one of the one or more characteristics, wherein the at least one of the one or more characteristics is a characteristic selected from the group consisting of: title, song, genre, location, label, artist, media type, and date. 7. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising: a user interface for providing a configuration process for querying a user to select a respective receiver connection for each of the plurality of media types. 8. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the media type of the selected media unit is a media type selected from the group consisting of: motion picture experts group—audio layer 3 (MP3), compact disc (CD), digital versatile disc audio (DVD-audio), DVD-movie, super audio CD (SACD), pulse code modulation (PCM), free lossless audio codec (FLAC), advanced audio coding (AAC), and waveform audio format (WAV). 9. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising: a media receiver type record stored in the media database, wherein the media receiver type record identifies the media receiver, and wherein the receiver connection selection is further based on the media receiver type record. 10. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising: a media type configuration record stored in the media database, wherein the play selection system retrieves the media type configuration record to determine the receiver connection selection. 11. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the media type of the selected media unit consists of a type selected from the group consisting of: compressed media, uncompressed media, and a combination of compressed and uncompressed media. 12. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the media type of the selected media unit consists of a type selected from the group consisting of encrypted media and unencrypted media. 13. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the selected receiver connections are connections selected from the group consisting of: digital connections and analog connections. 14. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising: a user interface for choosing the selected media unit. 15. An apparatus for controlling a media receiver, the apparatus comprising: a media player interface comprising a plurality of receiver connections, each operable to communicate with the media receiver; a media database comprising (i) a play mode record, and (ii) a plurality of media unit records each identifying one of a plurality of media units by one or more characteristics, wherein a first characteristic of each media unit record identifies a characteristic selected from the group consisting of: title, song, genre, location, label, artist, media type, and date, and wherein the play mode record identifies one of a plurality of play modes corresponding to the first characteristic; a play selection system to (i) retrieve the play mode record from the media database, (ii) retrieve a media unit record from the media database for a selected media unit, (ii) determine the first characteristic of the selected media unit from the media unit record, and (iii) communicate, to a media play processor, a play mode selection for the selected media unit based on at least the first characteristic and the play mode record; and the media play processor to request the media receiver to play the selected media unit according to the play mode selection. 16. The apparatus of claim 15, further comprising: wherein the media unit record further identifies a media type of the selected media unit, wherein the play selection system further (i) retrieves a media type configuration record stored in the media database, (ii) determines the media type of the selected media unit from the media unit record, (iii) determines a receiver connection selection based on the media type and the media type configuration record, and (iv) communicates, to the media play processor, the receiver connection selection, and wherein the media play processor (i) requests the media receiver to use a media receiver connection corresponding to the receiver connection selection, and (ii) couples the selected media unit to one of the plurality of receiver connections according to the receiver connection selection. 17. The apparatus of claim 16, wherein the media receiver connection corresponding to the receiver connection selection comprises a connection selected from the group consisting of a digital connection, and an analog connection. 18. The apparatus of claim 16, further comprising: a media receiver type record stored in the media database, wherein the media receiver type record identifies the media receiver, and wherein the receiver connection selection is further based on the media receiver type record. 19. A method for controlling a receiver, the method comprising: retrieving a media unit record for a media unit selected to be played by a receiver coupled to a media player interface, wherein the media unit record identifies a media type for the media unit; retrieving a media type configuration record, wherein the media type configuration record identifies one of a plurality of receiver connections corresponding to the media type; and requesting the receiver to use the one of a plurality of receiver connections to receive the media unit for play by the receiver. 20. The method of claim 19, further comprising: retrieving a play mode record, wherein the play mode record identifies one of a plurality of play modes corresponding to one of a plurality of characteristics identified in the media unit record, and requesting the receiver to play the media unit according to the one of a plurality of play modes. 21. The method of claim 20, further comprising: querying a user to select one of the plurality of play modes to correspond to one of the plurality of characteristics. 22. The method of claim 21, further comprising: continuing to query the user to select the play modes until each of the plurality of characteristics available corresponds to a selected play mode. 23. The method of claim 22, further comprising: displaying the query on a display terminal; and storing the selected play modes corresponding to the plurality of characteristics in the play mode record. 24. The method of claim 20, wherein the one of a plurality of play modes is a mode selected from the group consisting of: rock arena, jazz club, classic concert, mono movie, matrix, 5-channel stereo, 7-channel stereo, stereo, pure direct, direct, super stadium, wide screen, cinema, Dolby Digital, Dolby Pro Logic, Digital Theater System, and THX. 25. The method of claim 20, wherein each of the plurality of play modes defines one or more receiver settings selected from the group of consisting of: tone settings, equalization settings, noise reduction settings, level adjustment settings, balance settings, and delay time settings, and bass settings. 26. The method of claim 19, further comprising: querying a user to select one of the plurality of receiver connections to correspond to one of a plurality of media types, wherein the plurality of media types includes the media type for the media unit. 27. The method of claim 26, further comprising: continuing to query the user to select the receiver connections until each media type of the plurality of media types corresponds to a selected receiver connection. 28. The method of claim 27, further comprising: displaying the query on a display terminal; and storing the selected receiver connections corresponding to the media types in the media type configuration record. 29. The method of claim 19, wherein the retrieving a media unit record step occurs in response to loading a disc into a disc player. 30. The method of claim 19, wherein the retrieving a media unit record step occurs in response to receiving a stream of data from a data storage device. 31. A media management system comprising: a plurality of media source input/output (I/O) ports coupled to a plurality of media sources; a user interface coupled to at least one user interface device, the user interface operable to receive at least one media play instruction from a user; a media player interface comprising a plurality of receiver connections, each communicatively coupled to a media receiver; a media database comprising (i) a plurality of media unit records, (ii) a media type configuration record, (iii) a play mode record, and (iv) a media receiver type record that identifies the media receiver, wherein each of the media unit records identifies (a) one of a plurality of media units by a characteristic that corresponds to one of a plurality of play modes identified in the play mode record, and (b) a media type that corresponds to one of a plurality of receiver connections identified in the media type configuration record; a play selection system for (i) retrieving a media unit record for a selected media unit to be played by the media receiver, the media type configuration record, the play mode record, and the media receiver type record, (ii) determining a play mode for the selected media unit from the media unit record and the play mode record, (iii) determining a receiver connection selection based on the media type, the media type configuration record, and the media receiver type record, and (iv) communicating, to a media player processor, the receiver connection selection and the play mode for the selected media unit; and the media play processor to (i) configure the media receiver, and (ii) couple the selected media unit to a selected receiver connection, according to the receiver connection selection. | CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/500,582, filed on Sep. 4, 2003, entitled “Method and Apparatus for Remotely Controlling a Receiver according to Content and User Selection,” which is incorporated herein by reference. FIELD OF INVENTION The current invention relates to entertainment devices and, more specifically, to systems and methods for automatic control over peripheral equipment connected to media management systems. BACKGROUND Media management systems are becoming increasingly popular among consumers of entertainment media who need assistance in managing their ever-growing collections of CD's, DVD's, MP3 files and media-playing equipment. Media management systems interface with a variety of sources of media. For example, a media management system may receive media from different CD-changers, different DVD-changers, the Internet, a CD player, a DVD player, a personal computer and a hard disk drive. Media management systems also interface with a variety of media players. For example, the same media management system may play media on a monitor, a television, and on different audio receivers. Media management systems are also typically able to display information about the media available on the connected sources of media on a user interface. The user interface allows the user to communicate instructions to play selected pieces of media. Developers of media management systems aim to interface with as wide a variety of media sources as possible. Different media sources make media available in forms that provide different capabilities for enhancing the user experience. Web-sites on the Internet offer users the convenience of downloading music or other audio as MP3 files. Video works and music are now available on different types of discs such as DVD, CD, Super-Audio CD (SACD), WAV, MP3, DVD-Audio, etc. offering the user options such as choices in surround modes available to the user. In this regard, audio/video receivers now have a variety of inputs to allow a user to connect alternative media sources. A user may connect media sources, audio receivers and video players to a media management system to take advantage of the many options available to experience the media. Providing such variety of capabilities imposes on the user the burden of learning and understanding the capabilities available on the user's media management system. Moreover, the user typically manually configures the manner in which a selected piece of media will be played each time it is played. For example, a user may direct an SACD disc to a 6-channel analog input on the receiver when playing an SACD disc. Then, if the user wishes to listen to an MP3 file, the user may manually configure the media management system to direct the output to a 2-channel input on the receiver. Such manual configuration for each type of media source becomes burdensome to the user. Based on the foregoing, a need exists for automatically configuring receivers to play media using sound and video modes according to characteristics of the media. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The subject matter regarded as the invention is particularly pointed out and distinctly claimed in the concluding portion of the specification. The invention, however, both as to organization and method of operation, together with features and advantages thereof, may best be understood by reference to the following detailed description when read with the accompanying drawings in which: FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary media management system; FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary configuration process; and FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary system and method for playing media in accordance with a user configuration. DETAILED DESCRIPTION In the following detailed description, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the invention. However, it will be understood that the present invention may be practiced without these specific details. In other instances, well-known methods, procedures, components and circuits have not been described in detail, so as not to obscure the present invention. 1. Overview FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an exemplary media management system 10 that includes: (i) a plurality of media source input/output (I/O) ports 12, (ii) a control port system 14, (iii) a main processor 15, (iv) a user interface 16, (v) a mode configuration process 17, (vi) a media player interface 18, (vii) a media database 19, (viii) a control signal connection 51, (ix) a digital connection 52, (x) a 2-channel audio connection 54, (xi) a 6-channel audio connection 56, and (xii) a video connection 58. The control signal connection 51, the digital connection 52, the 2-channel analog connection 54, the 6-channel analog connection 56, and the video connection 58 are communicatively coupled to a media receiver 38. The media receiver 38 may be configured in various arrangements. For example, the media receiver 38 may comprise a pre-amplifier. As another example, the media receiver 38 may include a pre-amplifier and a decoder that decodes media for playing the media in one of a variety of play modes. As yet another example, the media receiver 38 may comprise a pre-amplifier and an amplifier. As still yet another example, the media receiver 38 may include a pre-amplifier, an amplifier, and a radio frequency tuner. Other examples of media receiver arrangements are also possible. The main processor 15 could comprise one or more processors, such as a general purpose processor and/or a digital signal processor. The main processor 15 executes program instructions in order to work cooperatively with the plurality of media source I/O ports 12, the control port system 14, the user interface 16, the mode configuration process 17, and the media player interface 18. The plurality of media source I/O ports 12 are coupled to a plurality of media source devices or systems. By way of example, the plurality of devices or systems may include the Internet 20, a personal computer 24, a first disc changer 26a, a second disc changer 26b, and a third disc changer 26c. Other examples of the devices or systems coupled to the plurality of media source I/O ports 12 are also possible. The Internet 20 is preferably connected to a network hub 22, which provides Internet access to the personal computer 24 in a local area network environment. The personal computer 24 may connect to the media management system 10 using any suitable data connection (e.g. RS232, Ethernet, wireless Ethernet, etc.). In a preferred embodiment, the personal computer 24 connects to the media management system 10 at an Ethernet connection over which the media management system 10 connects to the Internet 20. The first, second and third disc changers 26a-c may be any disc changer operable to hold a plurality of media discs such as audio CDs (compact discs), Super Audio CD's (SACD), and DVD's (digital versatile disc or digital video disc). The disc changers 26a-c connect to the media management system 10 at the media source I/O ports 12 to communicate media to the media management system 10. The media management system 10 may include a control port system 14 for controlling the disc changers 26a-c. The control port system 14 may provide control signals to disc changers 26a-c via infrared (IR) (e.g. wired IR or wireless IR), or serial connections (e.g. two-way serial or S-Link based connections). Other examples of control signal types provided by the control port system 14 to the disc changers 26a-c are also possible. The control port system 14 may interface (e.g. via an RS-232 serial cable) with a home remote control system 28. As an example, the home remote control system 28 may provide control for the media management system 10, as well as control for other systems, such as appliances and/or a furnace in a home. The media management system 10 accesses each of the plurality of media sources and organizes information about the media that is accessible to the user of the media management system 10 in the media database 19. The media database 19 may be any type of storage system. For example, the media database 19 may comprise a disc-based mass storage device, a flash memory system, or a combination of flash memory and disc-based memory. The media database 19 stores media unit records, i.e., records containing information about media units that may be received from the media sources. As used herein, the term media unit shall refer to any playable or renderable piece of media, such as a song, a movie, a picture, a track on a disc, a portion of audio/visual programming, or any other audio and/or video segment. In exemplary embodiments, a media unit record contains information in the form of characteristics such as a title (e.g. a CD title, a DVD title, or a movie title), a song, a genre, a location, an artist, a date, and/or a media type. The location defines the location of the media unit on the media source. For example, a media unit record for a song may denote that the song is located in a particular slot on a particular tray in a particular one of the CD changers that may be connected as a media source to the media management system 10. As another example, a media unit record for a song may denote that the song is located as a particular track on a disc, such as a CD, DVD, and/or SACD. An artist defines a performer's work or group of performers' work recorded as a media unit. A date, for example, may define the day which a media unit was recorded or a day the media unit was released by a recording studio. Other examples of the date are also possible. The media type defines the format used to encode a media unit. Various media types are available for encoding audio. For example, a media type may include the Motion Picture Experts Group—audio layer 3 (MP3) format, a CD format, a SACD format, a DVD format, a waveform audio (WAV) format, pulse code modulation (PCM) format, free lossless audio code (FLAC) format, or an advance audio coding (AAC) format. The media type may also define whether the media unit is encoded as (i) encrypted or unencrypted media, or (ii) compressed or uncompressed media. Other examples of formats for digitally encoding audio are also possible. Further, a media type format may have a variety of encoding characteristics. For example, an audio recording may be encoded as an MP3 file in mono format having a data rate of 96K bits per second (bps), or as an MP3 file in stereo format having a data rate of 96K bps, or as an MP3 file in stereo format having a data rate of 192K bps. As another example, the AAC format could be encoded using a variable bit rate or a constant bit rate and with a different amount of audio channels, (e.g. 1 channel, 2 channels, etc.). Other examples of encoding characteristics of the MP3 format, the AAC format, or other media type are also possible. The media management system 10 may display selected information about the media from the media unit records stored in the media database 19 on a display 32. The media management system 10 may also allow the user to configure and select media to play using a keyboard 34, an IR remote control 30 or another suitable input device. The media management system 10 may include a user interface 16 that processes user input and output via the display 32 and the keyboard 34 and provides configuration and execution processes to allow the user to manage and play the media obtained from the media sources. As an example, the display 32 may comprise a touch-screen that allows a user to (i) configure and select media, and (ii) select play modes, by touching the touch-screen while a configuration and selection screen is shown on the display 32. In a preferred embodiment, the user interface 16 may be coupled to a configuration process 17 that allows the user to configure the media receiver 38 to play the media in accordance with requirements specified in a play mode. The configuration process 17 may display screens to query the user prompting the user to enter information about play modes for the particular media types available. As an example, the user may specify that a song in an MP3 format will be played on a receiver via a 2-channel analog connection. In this regard, for 2-channel analog, the media management system 10 processes the MP3 song by extracting the left and right channel analog signals of the MP3 song and then sends the left and right analog signals 55 to a corresponding 2-channel analog connection at the media receiver 38. The media receiver 38 may process the left and right channel signals 55 by amplifying the signals before outputting the signals to a left speaker and a right speaker respectively. As another example, the MP3 song may also be communicated digitally (in MP3 or other digital format) to another digital player. In this regard, the user may specify a receiver connection that sends a digital signal 53 from the digital connection 52 to a corresponding digital connection at the media receiver 38. As yet another example, the user may specify a receiver connection that sends 6-channel audio signals 57 from the 6-channel audio connection 56 to a corresponding 6-channel audio connection at the media receiver 38. The 2-channel analog receiver connection is only one of many media receiver connections that may be specified for a given media type. Other examples of media receiver connections include: (i) 5.1 analog connections, and (ii) digital connections, such as a 2-channel digital connection, a 5-channel digital connection, or a 7-channel digital connections. Other examples of media receiver connections are also possible. These media receiver connections may correspond directly to the connections available on the media receiver 38. FIG. 1 shows a digital connection 52, a 2-channel analog connection 54, and a 6-channel audio connection (e.g. for use with 5.1 modes) 56. Audio signals received at the media receiver 38 may be played through one or more speakers coupled to the media receiver. As an example, the media receiver 38 is shown connected to a first speaker 40 (e.g. a speaker for a left-audio channel), a second speaker 42 (e.g. a right-channel speaker), and a third speaker 44 (e.g. a speaker for a center-audio channel). Other examples of the amount of speakers coupled to the media receiver 38 and/or the audio signal played through a particular speaker are also possible. The media receiver 38 may also drive video equipment, such as a television or monitor 36 via a video connection 58. In this regard, a video signal 59 is sent to the television or monitor 36. The video formats may include compressed media (video and/or audio content), uncompressed media, or a combination of compressed and uncompressed media. Examples of video formats include: (i) Motion Picture Experts Group (MPEG)-1, (ii) MPEG-2, (iii) MPEG-4, (iv) high definition television (HDTV), (v) National Television System Committee (NTSC), (vi) Phase Alternating Line (PAL), (vii) Joint Photographic Experts Group (JPEG), and (viii) Video-CD. Other examples of video formats are also possible. The media receiver 38 may also use play modes specific for different video formats as well. For example, a Denon receiver may be commanded to configure the receiver according to special play modes that the receiver is designed to understand. The media management system 10 may send commands specifying play modes, such as (i) Digital Theater System (DTS) (e.g. DTS-ES, DTS-Neo:6, DTS-Digital Surround, or DTS-96/24), (ii) Dolby Pro Logic (DPL) (e.g. DPL II, DPL Movie, or DPL Music), (iii) Dolby Digital (e.g. Dolby Digital EX) (iv) THX (e.g THX Cinema), (v) Wide Screen, (vi) Super Stadium, (vii) Rock Arena, (viii) Jazz Club, (ix) Classic Concert, (x) Mono Movie, (xi) Matrix, (xii) 5-Channel Stereo, (xiii) 7-Channel Stereo, (xiv) Stereo, (xv) Pure Direct, or (xvi) Direct. These play modes (and others that may be defined) may be used with media receivers (e.g. media receiver 38) that are able to interpret these play modes and configure characteristics about the receiver to play the media. Configurable characteristics include equalization (e.g. equalizer settings), level adjustments (e.g. input level, or speaker level), delay time, noise reduction, bass setting, and a balance setting. Other examples of configurable characteristics are also possible. In a preferred embodiment, the media management system 10 couples a control signal 50 to the media receiver 38 to communicate configuration instructions for playing a particular media unit. The control signal 50 may communicate commands to configure the receiver 38. The commands may be specific to the type (brand or make) of receiver based on the receiver's command set. For example, the media receiver 38 may be a Denon or Marantz receiver that may be controlled by the control signal 50. Examples of Denon receivers that may be controlled by the control signal 50 include: AVR-2803 AVR-3803 AVR-4802R AVR-5803 Examples of Marantz receivers that may be controlled by the control signal 50 include: SR7300 SR7300se SR8200 SR8300 SR9300 These Denon and Marantz receivers are controlled using an RS232 connection for the control signal 50. However, other receivers and other types of control connections may be used as well. In exemplary embodiments, the media management system 10 configures the media receiver 38 to play media using a selected receiver connection. The selected receiver connection is used to configure the receiver 38 by ensuring that the media is communicated on the receiver connections that correspond to the media type (e.g. encoding format such as MP3, SACD, DVD-Audio, FLAC, AAC, etc.). In exemplary embodiments, the user is provided with the configuration process 17 to configure how media will be played automatically as a function of its media type and/or genre, artist, or any other suitable characteristic that may be included in the media unit record. 2. An Exemplary Configuration Process FIG. 2 depicts operation of an exemplary configuration process 17 that may be used in the media management system 10 shown in FIG. 1. The configuration process 17 is preferably invoked during a setup stage during which the user configures the media management system 10 for operation. During the setup stage, the user may connect all of the necessary equipment to the media management system 10 and go through various interactive stages of inputting information to enable the media management system 10 to perform its functions. For example, one interactive stage may entail setting up service with an Internet Service Provider to be able to communicate with a web-site that provides media to download. In the configuration process 17 in FIG. 2, the user may enter a receiver configuration stage involving a receiver connection setting screen 80 and a play mode setting screen 82. Referring to the receiver connection setting screen 80, the user may select receiver connections from drop-down menus 84 for each media type listed. The user may then save the selections to a media type configuration record 100 by clicking on a ‘SAVE’ button 86. The user may click a ‘Cancel’ button 88 to start again, or a ‘Help’ button 90 to get interactive help services. The user may also select play modes from drop-down menus 92 on the play mode setting screen 82. As an example, the play modes may be correlated with a particular genre (or another one of the plurality of characteristics) of the media units available for play by the media receiver 38. The user may save play mode selections to a play mode record 102 by clicking on the ‘SAVE’ button 94. Those of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that the receiver connection setting screen 80 and the play mode setting screen 82 are shown as examples of configuration screens that a user may use to select how the media receiver 38 will be automatically configured to play a selected media unit. The play mode setting screen 82 may use other characteristics, such as artist, title, or location, to select the play that will be used by the media receiver 38 when playing the selected media unit. Other examples of the receiver connection setting screen 80 and/or the play mode setting screen 82 are also possible. 3. An Exemplary System and Method for Playing Media FIG. 3 depicts operation of a system in the media management system 10 for automatically selecting a play mode and a receiver connection for configuration of the media receiver 38. Various events and/or timing may be used to trigger the automatic selection of a play mode and receiver connection. For example, the automatic selection may occur in response to installing a disc into a disc player, such as the first CD changer 26a, shown in FIG. 1. As another example the automatic selection may occur in response to receiving a stream of media from a data storage device. In this regard, the data storage device could be local to the media management system 10 or remote from the media management system, such as at a data storage device at the personal computer 24 or on the Internet 20. Other examples of triggering the automatic selection of a play mode and receiver connection are also possible. As shown in FIG. 3, the system comprises a media player interface 18, a play selection function 110, a media play processor 170, a media unit record 190, a media type configuration record 192, a play mode record 194, and a media receiver type record 196. The media unit record 190, the media type configuration record 192, the play mode record 194, and the media receiver type record 196 may be stored in the media database 19 (shown in FIG. 1). Further, the system may comprise a plurality of media unit records, each corresponding to a particular media unit. Further still, the system may include a plurality of media type configuration records, play mode records, and media receiver type records, such as to accommodate the preferences of more than one user of the system. The play selection function 110 may retrieve one or more records from the media data base 19. For example, the play selection function 110 retrieves a media unit record 190 from the media database 19 for a selected media unit. The media unit may be selected directly when the user selects the media unit from the user interface. The media unit may also be selected as part of a playlist that contains the name of the media unit and retrieves the information while processing the songs on the playlist. The playlist may be user defined or pre-defined in an album or other type of collection of media units. The media unit record 190 contains information about the media unit that has been selected for play. As an example, the media unit record 190 may include information that identifies (i) a media unit as an audio (music) or a video media unit, (ii) an artist name, such as “Joe Smith” (iii) a title, such as “Joe Smith's First Album” (iv) a genre, (v) a date, such as a recording date, (vi) a label, such as Radio Corporation of America (RCA), (vii) a location, such as an internal hard drive in a personal computer, and (viii) a media type, such as MP3. Other examples of information in a media unit record 190 are also possible. As another example, the play selection function 110 may also retrieve a media type configuration record 192, which may be configured as described above with reference to the media type configuration record 100 in FIG. 2. The play selection function 110 determines the media type for the selected media unit from the media unit record 190. In the example shown in FIG. 3, the media type is MP3. The play selection function 110 then determines a receiver connection selection for the selected media type by reference to the media type record 192. For instance, the receiver connection shown in the media type configuration record 192 for MP3 is 2-Channel Analog. As additional examples, if the media type is CD-audio or a WAV file, then the receiver connection is 2-channel digital, or if the media type is DVD-audio or SACD, then the receiver connection is the analog 5.1 connection. Other examples of receiver connections identified in the media type configuration record 192 are also possible. As another example, the play selection function 110 may retrieve a play mode record 194. The play mode record 194 includes play modes that correspond to a genre characteristic of a media unit. As an example, a play mode “rock arena” corresponds to a rock genre, a play mode “classic concert” corresponds to a classical genre, and a play mode “jazz club” corresponds to a jazz genre. As another example, a user may select a play mode “rock arena” for a jazz genre. Other examples of play modes corresponding to a characteristic of a media unit are also possible. The play selection function 110 determines a play mode selection based on the media unit record 190 and the play mode record 194. For instance, since the genre characteristic of the media unit record 190 is Jazz and the play mode for the Jazz genre is Jazz Club (as defined by the play mode record 194), the play selection function 110 determines the play mode selection as being Jazz Club. The play selection function 110 interfaces to a media play processor 170 to communicate the play mode selection and the receiver connection selection for a selected media unit. The media play processor 170 receives the play mode selection, the receiver connection selection, as well as a media receiver type record 196. The media receiver type record 196 identifies the type of receiver coupled to a media management system. For example, the media receiver type record 196 may identify a receiver as being a Denon brand receiver having a model number of AVR-2803. The media play processor 170 receives the media signals 120 of the selected media unit from the media source I/O ports 12 shown in FIG. 1. The media play processor 170 uses the receiver connection selection and the media receiver type record to determine the selected receiver connection and to couple the media signals 120 to the selected receiver connections at the media player interface 18. The media play processor 170 uses the play mode selection, the receiver connection selection, and the media receiver type record to determine which instructions to send the media receiver 38 for configuration of the media receiver 38. In one exemplary embodiment, the media play processor 170 communicates a control signal 60 to the control signal connection 51, for transmission in turn to the media receiver 38. The control signal 60 communicates a control instruction to the media receiver 38 that instructs the media receiver 38 to use a particular receiver connection and one of a plurality of play modes in accordance with the instruction. For example, the media play processor 170 may request that the media receiver 38 use a play mode called “Rock Arena.” The media receiver 38 would be capable of using various specific settings of characteristics such as tone, equalizer settings, noise reduction, delay time, bass setting, balance setting, and level adjustments to output sound in a manner that may be characterized as sounding like “Rock Arena.” The media receiver 38 would also be compatible with the control instruction it receives. As another example, the media play processor 170 may request that the media receiver 38 switch an input source for media signals to a particular receiver connection. In this regard, the media play processor 170 requests the media receiver 38 to use receiver connections of the media receiver that are coupled to receiver connections at the media player interface 18. For example, the media play processor 170 may request the media receiver to use a 2-channel analog receiver connection that is coupled to the 2-channel analog connection 54. In this regard, the media play processor 170 will route the media signals 120 to the 2-channel analog connection 54 as 2-channel analog signals 62, for transmission in turn to the 2-channel analog receiver connection at the media receiver 38. Other signals that may be sent by the media play processor 170 are signals sent to the digital connection 52, the 6-channel analog connection 56, or the video connection 58. These signals are not shown for clarity of the example above. Specific media receivers are already capable of such functionality. Tables 1-10 contain categories of control instructions and other information that may be communicated to the media receiver 38 on a control signal 50 to configure the media receiver 38. The control instructions in Tables 1-10 are for a Denon AVR-SR9200. Those of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that Tables 1-10 shows just one example of the types of control instructions that may be defined for other media receivers. TABLE 1 Normal Command List (Sample Command ID = 1) Command Priority Character Sample Power Power LOW A0 “@1A0”,0x0D Power ON HIGH A1 Power OFF HIGH A2 INPUT DSS HIGH B0 TV HIGH B1 LD HIGH B2 DVD HIGH B3 VCR1 HIGH B4 VCR2/DVD-R HIGH B5 AUX1 HIGH B6 AUX2 HIGH B7 DVD-R (Not useable in this Model) — B8 CD HIGH B9 TAPE HIGH BA CD-R HIGH BB FM HIGH BC AM HIGH BD MW (Same as AM) HIGH BE LW HIGH BF TUNER HIGH BG MULTI CHANNEL M-ch. INPUT ON HIGH BH M-ch. INPUT OFF HIGH BI INPUT SIGNAL A_D HIGH BJ TUNNER FREQ AUTO-TUNE HIGH C0 FREQ UP HIGH C1 FREQ DOWN HIGH C2 TUNNER PRESET PRISET INFO LOW C3 P-SCAN LOW C4 PRESET UP HIGH C5 PRESET DOWN HIGH C6 F-DIRECT F-DIRECT LOW C7 TUNER MODE T-MODE LOW C8 MEMO/CLR CLR LOW D0 MEMO LOW D1 DIRECT KEY DIRECT KEY 0 LOW E0 (10 Key) DIRECT KEY 1 LOW E1 DIRECT KEY 2 LOW E2 DIRECT KEY 3 LOW E3 DIRECT KEY 4 LOW E4 DIRECT KEY 5 LOW E5 DIRECT KEY 6 LOW E6 DIRECT KEY 7 LOW E7 DIRECT KEY 8 LOW E8 DIRECT KEY 9 LOW E9 TABLE 2 Command Priority Character Sample SURROUND AUTO HIGH F0 “@1F0”,0x0D MODE THX 5.1MUSIC HIGH F1 THX SURR EX HIGH F2 THX CINEMA HIGH F3 DTS HIGH F4 DTS ES HIGH F5 DOLBY HIGH F6 DOLBY PROLOGIC HIGH F7 DOLBY PRO LOGIC II MOVIE HIGH F8 DOLBY PRO LOGIC II MUSIC HIGH F9 VIRTUAL HIGH FA S DIRECT HIGH FB MOVIE HIGH FC HALL HIGH FD MATRIX HIGH FE Mch-STEREO HIGH FF STEREO HIGH FG MONO — FH NEO6 CINEMA HIGH FI NEO6 MUSIC HIGH FJ THX Adv EX HIGH FK CS5.1 MUSIC HIGH FL C55.1 CINEMA HIGH FM SURR MODE HIGH FN VOLUME VOLUME UP(SLOW) HIGH G0 VOLUME DOWN(SLOW) HIGH G1 VOLUME UP(FAST) HIGH G2 VOLUME DOWN(FAST) HIGH G3 TONE BASS UP HIGH G0 BASS DOWN HIGH G1 TREBLE UP HIGH G2 TREBLE DOWN HIGH G3 SLEEP MODE SLEEP HIGH H0 MUTE MUTE OFF LOW H1 MUTE ON LOW H2 VIDEO MUTE VIDEO MUTE LOW H3 ATT ATT LOW H4 TEST TONE TEST TONE LOW I0 NIGHT NIGHT ON/OFF LOW J0 TABLE 3 Command Priority Character Sample DISPLAY DISP LOW J1 “@1S0”,0x0D OFF OSD OSD LOW J2 MENU MENU (OK) HIGH J3 MENU OFF HIGH J4 CURSOL CURSOL UP HIGH J5 CURSOL DOWN HIGH J6 CURSOL LEFT HIGH J7 CURSOL RIGHT HIGH J8 RDS RDS DISP MODE LOW J9 RDS PTY LOW JA VR VAL V RESET LOW JB RESET RE-EQ RE-EQ LOW JC CH SELECT CH SEL LOW JD CH LEVEL CH LEVEL UP LOW JE CH LEVEL DOWN LOW JF SELECT SELECT LOW JG ENTER ENTER LOW JH UP/DOWN UP>> LOW JI DOWN<< LOW JK TABLE 4 Special Command List Command Priority Character Sample MULTI MULTI ROOM OFF LOW L0 “@1L0”,0x0D MULTI ROOM ON LOW L1 MUTE (MULTI) MULTI ROOM MUTE LOW L2 VOLUME (MULTI) MULTI VOLUME UP(SLOW) LOW M0 MULTI VOLUME DOWN(SLOW) LOW M1 MULTI VOLUME UP(FAST) LOW M2 MULTI VOLUME DOWN(FAST) LOW M3 SLEEP MODE MULTI SLEEP — N0 (MULTI) MULTI SPEAKER MULTI SPEAKER ON LOW N1 MULTI SPEAKER OFF LOW N2 MULTI INPUT MULTI INPUT ON LOW N3 MULTI INPUT OFF LOW N4 TABLE 5 Command Priority Character Sample CONNECTION ON HIGH P0 — OFF HIGH P1 — TABLE 6 Request Status Command (Status Command) List Request Request Status Command Answer Character Power “@1?A”,0x0D Power ON A0 Status (“@1A0”,0x0D) Power OFF A1 NON A- Video IN “@1?B”,0x0D DSS B0 TV B1 LD B2 DVD B3 VCR-1 B4 VCR-2 B5 AUX1 B6 DVD-R B7 NON B- Audio IN “@1?C”,0x0D DSS C0 TV C1 LD C2 DVD C3 VCR-1 C4 VCR-2/DVD-R C5 AUX1 C6 AUX2 C7 DVD-R (Not usable) C8 CD C9 TAPE CA CD-R CB FM CC AM CD MW CE LW CF Mch INPUT CG TUNER CH NON C- Input “@1?D”,0x0D DIGIAL D0 Mode ANALOGUE D1 NON D- Tuner “@1?E”,0x0D XXXX (76.0-108.0)FM E0XXXX Frequency (153-1602)AM NON E- Tuner “@1?F”,0x0D PXX(Preset1˜50) F0XX Preset NON F- Tuner “@1?G”,0x0D AUTO STEREO G0 mode MONO G1 NON G- VOLUME “@1?H”,0x0D VOL XXXdB(−90˜+99) H0XXX Status max H1 min (∞) H2 NON H- Bass “@1?I”,0x0D BASSXXdB(−9˜+9) I0XX Status NON I- Treble “@1?J”,0x0D TREBLEXXdB(−9˜+9) J0XX Status NON J- ATT “@1?K”,0x0D ATT ON K0 ATT OFF K1 NON K- TABLE 7 Request Status Request Command Answer Sample SURROUND “@1?L”,0x0D AUTO L0 (“@1L0”,0x0D) MODE THX 5.1 L1 THX SURR EX L2 THX CINEMA L3 THX MUSIC L4 DTS MUSIC L5 DTS CINEMA L6 DTS ES L7 NEO 6 L8 NEO 6 MUSIC L9 D DIGITAL LA DD PRO LOGIC LB DD PRO LOGIC II MOVIE LC DD PRO LOGIC II MUSIC LD CS CINEMA LE CS MUSIC LF VIRTUAL LG S DIRECT LH MOVIE LI HALL LJ MATRIX LK Mch-STEREO LL STEREO LM MONO LN NON L- SLEEP Status “@1?M”,0x0D SLEEP OFF M0 SLEEP XXX(1˜120) M1XXX NON M- DISP Status “@1?N”,0x0D DISPLAY ON N0 DISPLAY OFF N1 NON N- OSD Status “@1?O”,0x0D OSD ON O0 OSD OFF O1 NON O- TEST TONE “@1?P”,0x0D TEST TONE L P1 TEST TONE C P2 TEST TONE R P3 TEST TONE SR P4 TEST TONE SBR P5 TEST TONE SBL P6 TEST TONE SL P7 TEST TONE SW P8 TEST TONE ALL P9 TEST TONE OFF P0 NON P- TEST TONE “@1?Q”,0x0D TEST TONE AUTO Q0 MODE TEST TONE MANUAL Q1 NON Q- NIGHT MODE “@1?R”,0x0D NIGHT MODE ON R0 NIGHT MODE OFF R1 NON R- MENU “@1?S”,0x0D MENU ON S0 MENU OFF S1 NON S- TABLE 8 Request Status Request Command Answer Sample F-DIRECT “@1?T”,0x0D F-DIRECT ON T0 F-DIRECT OFF T1 NON T- P-FORMAT “@1?U”,0x0D D DIGITAL(AC-3) U0 DD SURROUND U1 DD SURR EX U2 DTS U3 DTS ES U4 AAC U5 MPEG U6 MLP U7 PCM U8 HDCD U9 DSD UA OTHER UB NON_DETECTION UC NON U- SAMPLING “@1?V”,0x0D 32K V0 FREQ 44.1K V1 FS 48K V2 88.2K V3 96K V4 176.4K V5 192K V6 OUT OF RANGE V7 NON V- □Channel Status “@1?W”,0x0D XX(Bit 6-01: on 0: off) WXX NON W- TABLE 9 “ON/OFF” information is indicated “Bit” by ‘Bit’. TABLE 10 Request Request Status Command Answer Sample Multi Room “@1X?”,0x0D Power ON X0 Status OFF X1 NON X- Video IN(MR) “@1?Y”,0x0D DSS Y0 TV Y1 LD Y2 DVD Y3 VCR1 Y4 VCR2/DVD-R Y5 AUX1 Y6 DVD-R Y7 NON Y- Audio IN(MR) “@1?Z”,0x0D DSS Z0 TV Z1 LD Z2 DVD Z3 VCR1 Z4 VCR2/DVD-R) Z5 AUX1 Z6 AUX2 Z7 CD Z9 TAPE ZA CD-R ZB MD ZC FM ZD AM ZE MW ZF LW ZG TUNER ZH Tuner Frequency “@1?a”,0x0D NON Z- (MR) XXXX(76.0-108.0) a0XXXX FM (153-1602) AM Tuner Preset “@1?b”,0x0D NON a- (MR) PXX(Preset1˜50,255) b0XX VOLUME “@1?c”,0x0D NON b- Status(MR) VOL XXX(−90˜+99) c0XXX max c1 min (∞) c2 Volume Set “@1?d”,0x0D NON c- Status (MR) Variable d0 Fixed d1 SLEEP “@1?e”,0x0D NON d- Status(MR) SLEEP OFF e0 SLEEP XXX(1˜120) e1XXX MULTI OSD “@1?f”,0x0D NON e- MULTI OSD ON f0 MULTI OSD OFF f1 MULTI “@1?g”,0x0D NON f- SPEAKER MULTI SPEAKER ON g0 MULTI SPEAKER OFF g1 MUTE (MR) “@1?h”,0x0D NON g- MUTE ON (MR) h0 MUTE OFF (MR) h1 NON h- 4. Conclusion While certain features of the invention have been illustrated and described herein, many modifications, substitutions, changes and equivalents will now occur to those skilled in the art. It is, therefore, to be understood that the appended claims are intended to cover all such modifications and changes as fall within the true spirit of the invention. | <SOH> BACKGROUND <EOH>Media management systems are becoming increasingly popular among consumers of entertainment media who need assistance in managing their ever-growing collections of CD's, DVD's, MP3 files and media-playing equipment. Media management systems interface with a variety of sources of media. For example, a media management system may receive media from different CD-changers, different DVD-changers, the Internet, a CD player, a DVD player, a personal computer and a hard disk drive. Media management systems also interface with a variety of media players. For example, the same media management system may play media on a monitor, a television, and on different audio receivers. Media management systems are also typically able to display information about the media available on the connected sources of media on a user interface. The user interface allows the user to communicate instructions to play selected pieces of media. Developers of media management systems aim to interface with as wide a variety of media sources as possible. Different media sources make media available in forms that provide different capabilities for enhancing the user experience. Web-sites on the Internet offer users the convenience of downloading music or other audio as MP3 files. Video works and music are now available on different types of discs such as DVD, CD, Super-Audio CD (SACD), WAV, MP3, DVD-Audio, etc. offering the user options such as choices in surround modes available to the user. In this regard, audio/video receivers now have a variety of inputs to allow a user to connect alternative media sources. A user may connect media sources, audio receivers and video players to a media management system to take advantage of the many options available to experience the media. Providing such variety of capabilities imposes on the user the burden of learning and understanding the capabilities available on the user's media management system. Moreover, the user typically manually configures the manner in which a selected piece of media will be played each time it is played. For example, a user may direct an SACD disc to a 6-channel analog input on the receiver when playing an SACD disc. Then, if the user wishes to listen to an MP3 file, the user may manually configure the media management system to direct the output to a 2-channel input on the receiver. Such manual configuration for each type of media source becomes burdensome to the user. Based on the foregoing, a need exists for automatically configuring receivers to play media using sound and video modes according to characteristics of the media. | <SOH> BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS <EOH>The subject matter regarded as the invention is particularly pointed out and distinctly claimed in the concluding portion of the specification. The invention, however, both as to organization and method of operation, together with features and advantages thereof, may best be understood by reference to the following detailed description when read with the accompanying drawings in which: FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary media management system; FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary configuration process; and FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary system and method for playing media in accordance with a user configuration. detailed-description description="Detailed Description" end="lead"? | 20040907 | 20071204 | 20050512 | 65839.0 | 1 | SALCE, JASON P | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR REMOTELY CONTROLLING A RECEIVER ACCORDING TO CONTENT AND USER SELECTION | UNDISCOUNTED | 0 | ACCEPTED | 2,004 |
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10,935,262 | ACCEPTED | Method and apparatus to prepare listener-interest-filtered works | An embodiment of the present invention is a method for generating a listener-interest-filtered work for an audio or audio-visual work, which method includes steps of: (a) generating one or more average speed contours for one or more audio or audio-visual works for one or more categories of users; (b) converting the one or more average speed contours to one or more conceptual speed association data structures; and forming a listener-interest-filtered conceptual speed association data structure from the one or more conceptual speed association data structures. | 1. A method for teaching using audio or audio/visual works, comprising: providing a media work containing instructional information; and presenting one or more portions of the media work at one or more playback rates determined by comprehension of a viewing audience. 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the presenting includes: presenting the one or more portions containing material familiar to the viewing audience at a first playback rate; and presenting the one or more portions containing material unfamiliar to the viewing audience at a second playback rate different from the first playback rate. 3. The method of claim 1, further comprising: obtaining the first and second playback rates using a conceptual speed association (CSA) data structure. 4. The method of claim 1, further comprising: providing one or more speed contours corresponding to the media work. 5. The method of claim 4, further comprising: selecting one of the one or more speed contours based on information obtained from at least one member of the viewing audience. 6. A method for presenting an audio-visual work for a user, comprising: providing an audio-visual work having concept information associated with one or more portions of the audio-visual work; providing a conceptual speed association (CSA) data structure containing information related to content contained in the audio-visual works; and presenting the audio-visual work utilizing the CSA data structure to alter the presentation rate of at least one of the portions of the audio-visual work. 7. A method for presenting a version of an audio-visual work having a selected content rating, comprising: providing the audio-visual work with one or more speed contours specifying at least one of playback rates and filtering of one or more portions of the audio-visual work, the one or more speed contours relating to one or more content ratings; utilizing user input to select one of the one or more speed contours; and creating the version of the audio-visual work using the selected speed contour. 8. A method of content production for an audio-visual work containing one or more informational segments, comprising: presenting the audio-visual work to a target audience; determining a speed contour to maximize attention of the target audience to the audio-visual work; and utilizing the speed contour to maximize the attention of the target audience to the audio-visual work during presentation. 9. The method of claim 8, wherein the audio-visual work contains a concatenation of multiple disparate audio-visual work portions, the method further comprising: concatenating multiple speed contours corresponding to the multiple disparate audio-visual work portions to facilitate in maximizing the attention of the target audience to the concatenated disparate audio-visual work portions; and applying the concatenated speed contours to the concatenated multiple disparate audio-visual work portions. 10. A method for facilitating transcription of information likely to be transcribed from an audio message, comprising: performing speech recognition to detect the information likely to be transcribed in the audio message; providing a conceptual speed association (CSA) data structure associating slower playback rates with the information likely to be transcribed; and presenting portions of the audio message containing the information likely to be transcribed at the slower playback rates. 11. The method of claim 10, wherein the information is selected from the group consisting of digits, dates, times, names, locations, spellings, and addresses. 12. A method for teaching a foreign language, comprising: presenting material in the foreign language to a student on an apparatus that allows variable presentation rates; collecting speed contours from the student during the presenting of the material; and utilizing the speed contour to direct future study. 13. The method of claim 12, wherein the utilizing includes: identifying one or more portions which caused speed changes to direct further study. 14. The method of claim 12, wherein the utilizing includes: creating speed contours to provide further practice in listening to one or more rapidly spoken passages to aid in word parsing skills. 15. A method for teaching a foreign language, comprising: presenting material in the foreign language to a student on an apparatus that allows variable presentation rates and the creation of conceptual speed association (CSA) data structures; storing information in the CSA data structure identifying concepts, words or phrases that are troublesome; and directing further study based on the information in the CSA data structures. 16. The method of claim 15, wherein the directing includes manipulating a CSA data structure to create presentation rates which challenge the student during the future study. 17. The method of claim 15, wherein the directing includes utilizing at least one of the CSA data structures to present material at one or more presentation rates. 18. A method for presenting an audio or audio-visual work in conjunction with a conceptual speed association (CSA) data structure, comprising: presenting information to an online search facility; obtaining a reference to the audio or audio-visual work from the online search facility; obtaining the CSA data structure via the online search facility; and utilizing the CSA data structure to present at least a portion of the audio or audio-visual work at different presentation rates. 19. A method for presenting an audio or audio-visual work in conjunction with a speed contour, comprising: presenting information to an online search facility; obtaining a reference to the audio or audio-visual work from the online search facility; obtaining the speed contour via the online search facility; and utilizing the speed contour to present at least a portion of the audio or audio-visual work at different presentation rates. 20. A method for generating a new media work from an original media work in conjunction with a search engine, comprising: storing concept information for one or more portions of the original media work indexed by the search engine; accepting a user input to the search engine; processing the user input to determine search results, the search results include the original media work; processing the user input to create a conceptual speed association (CSA) data structure for the original media work; creating the new media work from the CSA data structure and the original media work; and providing a reference to the new media work. 21. The method of claim 20, wherein the creating the new media work includes presenting the CSA data structure to the user to allow the user to modify the CSA data structure. 22. A method for generating a new media work from an original media work in conjunction with a search engine, comprising: storing concept information for one or more portions of the original media work indexed by the search engine; accepting user input to the search engine; processing the user input to determine search results, the search results include the original media work; processing the user input to create a speed contour for the original media work; creating the new media work from the speed contour and the original media work; and providing a reference to the new media work. 23. The method of claim 22, wherein the creating the new media work includes presenting the speed contour to the user to allow the user to modify the speed contour. 24. A method for presenting an audio-visual work for a user, comprising: obtaining the audio-visual work having concept information associated with one or more portions of the audio-visual work; obtaining a conceptual speed association (CSA) data structure containing information related to content contained in the audio-visual work; and presenting the audio-visual work utilizing the CSA data structure to omit one or more portions of the audio-visual work. 25. A method for teaching a foreign language, comprising: presenting material in a foreign language to a student on an apparatus that allows variable presentation rates and the creation of conceptual speed association (CSA) data structures; storing information in the CSA data structure identifying presentation rates and at least one of concepts, words, and phrases; determining an aptitude of the student utilizing the presentation rates for the at least one of concepts, words and phrases; and directing further study based on the aptitude and information in the CSA data structures. | This is a continuation of a patent application entitled “Method and Apparatus to Prepare Listener-Interest-Filtered Works” having U.S. Ser. No. 09/169,031 which was filed on Oct. 9, 1998. TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention pertains to the field of speech, audio, and audio-visual works. In particular, the present invention pertains to method and apparatus for receiving listener input regarding desired speed of playback for portions of a speech, audio, and/or audio-visual work and for developing a “Speed Contour” or “Conceptual Speed Association” data structure which represents the listener input. The listener input serves as a proxy for the listener's interest in, and/or for the listener's ability to comprehend (and/or transcribe), the speech, audio, and/or audio-visual work and will be referred to herein as “listener interest.” For example, the listener might want to slow down some portion of the speech, audio, and/or audio-visual work if the listener was interested in enjoying it more fully, or if the listener was having a hard time comprehending the portion, or if the listener was transcribing information contained in the portion. In further particular, the present invention pertains to method and apparatus for replaying the speech, audio and/or audio-visual work in accordance with the Speed Contour or Conceptual Speed Association data structure to produce a “listener-interest-filtered” work (“LIF” work). The LIF work is useful in a number of applications such as, for example, education, advertising, news delivery, entertainment, public safety announcements and the like. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Presently known methods for Time-Scale Modification (“TSM”) enable digitally recorded audio to be modified so that a perceived articulation rate of spoken passages, i.e., a speaking rate, can be modified dynamically during playback. Typical applications of such TSM methods include, but are not limited to, speed reading for the blind, talking books, digitally recording lectures, slide shows, multimedia presentations and foreign language learning. In a typical such application, referred to. herein as a Listener-Directed Time-Scale Modification application (“LD-TSM”), a listener can control the speaking rate during playback of a previously recorded speaker. This enables the listener to “speed-up” or “slow-down” the articulation rate and, thereby, the information delivery rate provided by the previously recorded speaker. As is well known to those of ordinary skill in the art, the use of the TSM method in the above-described LD-TSM application enables the sped-up or slowed-down speech or audio to be presented intelligibly at the increased or decreased playback rates. Thus, for example, a listener can readily comprehend material through which he/she is fast-forwarding. In a typical LD-TSM system, input from the listener can be specified in a number of different ways. For example, input can be specified through the use of key presses (button pushes), mouse movements, or voice commands, all of which are referred to below as “keypresses.” As a result, one can readily appreciate that an LD-TSM system enables a listener to adjust the information delivery rate of a digital audio medium to suit his/her interests and speed of comprehension. As one can readily appreciate from the above, in order to optimize the use of such an LD-TSM system, there is a need for determining how listeners interact with audio media that provide TSM. In particular, the actual information delivery rate selected by a listener depends on diverse factors such as intelligibility of a speaker, listener interest in the subject matter, listener familiarity with the subject matter, whether the listener is transcribing the content, and the general amount of time the listener has allotted for receiving the contents of the material. Prior art methods for determining listener interest in portions of speech and/or audio are inherently inaccurate. Specifically, these methods involve detecting fast-forward and rewind patterns of, for example, a cassette tape produced by button pushes. The use of such fast-forward or rewind patterns suffers from various drawbacks. For example, the listener often alternates between fast-forwarding and rewinding over a particular piece of audio material because the information is either not presented, or is unintelligible while fast-forwarding or rewinding. In addition, whenever a playback location is advanced, this either interrupts playback while advancing through the audio material or presents unintelligible versions of the audio material (“chipmunk like” sounds for speed-up, etc.). As such, current methods of determining listener interest are of little use for determining an optimal information delivery rate. As one can readily appreciate from the above, a need exists in the art for a method and apparatus for determining listener interest in portions of speech, audio, and/or audio-visual works. In addition, a need exists in the art for a method and apparatus for replaying speech, audio and/or audio-visual works in accordance with the determination of listener interest to provide a listener-interest-filtered work (“LIF” work). SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION One or more embodiments of the present invention advantageously satisfy one or more of the above-identified needs in the art. In particular, one embodiment of the preset invention is a method for generating a listener-interest-filtered work for an audio or audio-visual work, which method comprises steps of: (a) generating one or more average speed contours for one or more audio or audio-visual works for one or more categories of users; (b) converting the one or more average speed contours to one or more conceptual speed association data structures; and forming a listener-interest-filtered conceptual speed association data structure from the one or more conceptual speed association data structures. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURE FIG. 1 shows a block diagram of an embodiment of a first aspect of the present invention which generates a Speed Contour for an audio or audio-visual work; FIG. 2 shows a flowchart of an algorithm used in one embodiment of a Speed Contour Generator shown in FIG. 1; FIG. 3 shows, in graphical form, Speed Contours for several different listening sessions of the same audio or audio-visual work; FIG. 4 shows, a graphical representation of Speed Contours produced using the first mathematical derivative of the TSM rate, or the playback rate, specified by the users for several different listening sessions of the same audio or audio-visual work; FIG. 5 shows a block diagram of an embodiment of a second aspect of the present invention which generates a Speed Contour for an audio or audio-visual work wherein user input and a word map of an audio or audio-visual work are used to provide a Speed Contour; FIG. 6 shows, in graphical form, a two dimensional graph that displays a speech waveform and corresponding text for an audio or audio-visual work; FIG. 7 shows a display of a transcript of an audio or audio visual work; FIG. 8 shows a block diagram of an embodiment of a third aspect of the present invention which generates a Conceptual Speed Association data structure (“CSA” data structure”) for an audio or audio-visual work; FIG. 9 shows a flowchart of an algorithm used in one embodiment of a CSADS Generator shown in FIG. 8 to generate a CSA data structure; FIG. 10 shows a block diagram of an embodiment of a fourth aspect of the present invention which utilizes a Speed Contour in conjunction with an audio or audio-visual work to produce an LIF work; FIG. 11 shows a block diagram of an embodiment of a fifth aspect of the present invention which utilizes a CSA data structure in conjunction with an audio or audio-visual work to produce an LIF work; and FIG. 12 shows a flowchart of an algorithm used in one embodiment of a TSM Rate Arbiter shown in FIG. 11 to provide a TSM rate, or playback rate. DETAILED DESCRIPTION Embodiments of the present invention pertain to method and apparatus for receiving listener input regarding desired speed of playback for portions of a speech, audio, and/or audio-visual work and for developing a “Speed Contour” or a “Conceptual Speed Association” data structure which represents the listener input. The listener input serves as a proxy for the listener's interest in, and/or for the listener's ability to comprehend, the speech, audio, and/or audio-visual work and will be referred to herein as “listener interest.” For example, the listener might want to slow down some portion of the speech, audio, and/or audio-visual work if the listener was interested in enjoying it more fully or if the listener was having difficulty comprehending the portion. Further embodiments of the present invention pertain to a method and apparatus for replaying a speech, audio and/or audio-visual work in accordance with the Speed Contour or Conceptual Speed Association data structure to produce a new work which is referred to herein as a “listener-interest-filtered” work (“LIF” work). As will described in detail below, the LIF work is useful in, for example, education, advertising, news delivery, public safety announcements and the like. Generation of a Speed Contour and a Conceptual Speed Association Data Structure: In accordance with the present invention, embodiments of a first aspect of the present invention generate a Speed Contour, which Speed Contour is optionally stored for later use. FIG. 1 shows a block diagram of embodiment 1000 of a first aspect of the present invention which generates a Speed Contour for an audio or audio-visual work. As shown in FIG. 1, embodiment 1000 comprises User Interface 100 (“UI 100”) which receives input from a user. UI 100 provides output signals which indicate input from the user. The user input is interpreted by User Input Processor/Playback Control 200 (“UIP/PC 200”) of embodiment 1000 to indicate the following options selected by the user: (a) select a file to play, which file corresponds to a particular audio or audio-visual work (the selected file can be input to embodiment 1000 directly or it can be a file that has been stored by embodiment 1000); (b) initiate playback of the selected file; (c) halt playback of the selected file; (d) pause playback of the selected file; (e) modify the Time-Scale Modification (“TSM”) rate, i.e., the playback rate, of a portion of the audio or audio-visual work being played; or (f) specify parameters Interval_Size, Speed_Change_Resolution, Average_or_Overwrite, and Log_Repeats that are used by the apparatus in a manner that will be explained in detail below in generating the Speed Contour. There exist many apparatus which are well known to those of ordinary skill in the art for receiving input from a user. For example, it is well known to those of ordinary skill in the art that commercially available equipment exists for detecting: (a) the pressing of a key; (b) the activation of a switch on a mouse; (c) the movement of a slider or position indicator; and (d) user speech commands and, in response, for sending digital data representing the keypress, the switch activation, the movement of the slider or position indicator, or the speech commands to a processing unit. UIP/PC 200 receives the user input from UI 100 and (a) converts the user input to numeric values; (b) interprets the user input to set the values of parameters and to control the creation, use, modification or overriding of the Speed Contour; and (c) directs accessing and loading of a data stream from an audio or audio-visual work by sending a stream data request to Digital Storage Device 75 or other audio or audio-visual data source (to perform playback control). In the case of Digital Storage Device 75, UIP/PC 200 may request access to a file of digital data representing an audio or audio-visual work stored in a file-system on the device. To direct accessing and loading of a data stream from an audio or audio-visual work, UIP/PC 200 interprets the user input and the location of digital samples representing the audio or audio-visual work stored on Digital Storage Device 75 to compute playback positions for the selected file at a particular sample. Digital Storage Device 75 receives the following as input: (a) stream data requests from UIP/PC 200; and optionally (b) Time-Scale Modified output from TSM Subsystem 300; and optionally (c) a stream of data representing the Speed Contour from Speed Contour Generator 500. Digital Storage Device 75 produces the following as output: (a) a stream of data representing an audio or audio-visual work and (b) a stream of location information, for example position in a file, of the data stream being output. There are many methods well known to those of ordinary skill in the art for utilizing digital storage devices, for example a “hard disk drive”, to store and retrieve general purpose data. The audio or audio-visual work is typically stored in digital form on Digital Storage Device 75. There exist many commercially available apparatus which are well known to those of ordinary skill in the art for use as a digital storage device such as, for example, a CD-ROM, a digital tape, a magnetic disc. Digital storage device 75 receives data requests from UIP/PC 200 in accordance with methods which are well known to those of ordinary skill in the art to provide a stream of digital samples representing the audio and/or audio-visual work. In alternative embodiments, the audio or audio-visual work is stored in analog form on an analog storage device. In such an alternative embodiment, a stream of analog signals is input to an apparatus, not shown, for transforming the analog samples into digital samples. There exist many commercially available apparatus which are well known to those of ordinary skill in the art for receiving an input analog signal such as a voice signal and for sampling the analog signal at a rate which is at least the Nyquist rate to provide a stream of digital signals which may be converted back into an analog signal without loss of fidelity. The digital samples are then transmitted to TSM Subsystem 300. TSM Subsystem 300 receives as input: (a) a stream of samples representing portions of the audio or audio-visual work from Digital Storage Device 75; (b) stream location information from Digital Storage Device 75 used to identify the position in the data stream of the samples being sent, for example, a sample count or time value; and (c) a desired TSM rate, or playback rate, from Time-Scale Modification Monitor 400 (“TSM Monitor 400”). Output from TSM Subsystem 300 is applied as input to: (a) Digital to Analog Converter/Audio and/or Audio-Visual Playback Device 600 (“DA/APD 600”) and, optionally, to (b) Digital Storage 75 for storage of the Time-Scale Modified output, i.e. the LIF work, if desired. DA/APD 600 is apparatus which is well known in the art for receiving digital samples and constructing an audio or audio-visual work. In accordance with the present invention, the output of TSM Subsystem 300 is a stream of digital samples representing an audio or audio-visual work whose playback rate, supplied from TSM Monitor 400, provides feedback to the user about his/her input TSM rate specification. In particular, the user listens to the Time-Scale Modified output and can change the TSM rate, or playback rate, by providing further input using UI 100. Specifically, if the user wishes to speed up or slow down a portion of the audio or audio-visual work just played, the user can provide input using UI 100 to rewind the audio or audio-visual work to a desired portion and replay it again with a modified TSM rate, or playback rate. In this manner, the user determines a desired TSM rate, or playback rate, for each portion of the audio or audio-visual work. TSM Subsystem 300 modifies the input stream of data in accordance with well known TSM methods to produce, as output, a stream of samples that represents a Time-Scale Modified signal. In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the TSM method used is a method disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,175,769 (the '769 patent), which '769 patent is incorporated by reference herein, the inventor of the present invention also being a joint inventor of the '769 patent. As one of ordinary skill in the art can readily appreciate, whenever embodiment 1000 provides playback for an audio-visual work, TSM Subsystem 300 speeds up or slows down visual information to match the audio in the audio-visual work. To do this in a preferred embodiment, the video signal is “Frame-subsampled” or “Frame-replicated” in accordance with any one of the many methods known to those of ordinary skill in the prior art to maintain synchronism between the audio and visual portions of the audio-visual work. Thus, if one speeds up the audio and samples are requested at a faster rate, the frame stream is subsampled, i.e. frames are skipped. TSM Monitor 400 receives the following as input to guide embodiment 1000 in generating a Speed Contour: (a) user input that has been translated by UIP/PC 200 to a desired TSM rate, or playback rate (which desired TSM rate, or playback rate, may indicate a change of TSM rate, or playback rate, for a portion of the input audio or audio-visual work being perceived); (b) a stream of samples representing portions of the audio or audio-visual work from Digital Storage Device 75; (c) current stream location information from Digital Storage Device 75 used to identify the position in the stream of the samples being sent, for example, a sample count or time value of the beginning of the group of samples transferred from Digital Storage Device 75; and (d) parameters Interval_Size and Speed_Change_Resolution from UIP/PC 200. A Speed Contour is information, for example, in the form of a stream of data, that represents a desired TSM rate, or playback rate, for an audio or audio-visual work for some or all points of the work. In practice, the time resolution required for embodiment 1000 to reproduce the desired TSM rate, or playback rate, for an audio or audio-visual work varies slowly compared with the sampling rate of the digital signal which comprises the audio or audio-visual work. As a result, and in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the Speed Contour comprises a single TSM value which is associated with a particular group of samples of the audio or audio-visual work that correspond to a particular segment of that work. Alternatively, one could associate a TSM value with each sample of the input audio-visual work. In practice the resolution required for reproducing the TSM rate, or playback rate, is limited. Thus, in a preferred embodiment of the present invention, instead of using a range of continuous TSM rates, or playback rates, the TSM rates are quantized into fixed intervals and the values of these quantized levels used to represent the TSM rates. This will be explained further below. Two parameters guide the described embodiment of TSM Monitor 400: 1. Interval_Size: this parameter determines the time interval, given in terms of a number of samples of the input audio or audio-visual work, that should elapse between analysis of changes in the TSM rate, or playback rate. 2. Speed_Change_Resolution: this parameter indicates the difference in amount between the quantized levels used to represent the TSM rate, or playback rate. TSM Monitor 400 uses the parameter Interval_Size to segment the input digital stream and to determine a single TSM rate for each segment of the input digital stream, for example, the TSM rate at the beginning or end of the segment or a mathematical average of the TSM rates over the segment. Note, the length of each segment is given by the value of the Interval_Size parameter. TSM Monitor 400 uses the parameter Speed_Change_Resolution to determine appropriate TSM rates to pass to TSM Subsystem 300 and to Speed Contour Generator 500. The input TSM rate desired by the user is converted to one of the quantized levels in a manner which is well known to those of ordinary skill in the art. This means that the output TSM rate, or playback rate, can change only if the input desired TSM rate changes by an amount that exceeds the difference between quantized levels, i.e., Speed_Change_Resolution. As a practical matter then, parameter Speed_Change_Resolution filters small changes in TSM rate, or playback rate, that would occur if the user changed the TSM rate, or playback rate, by a small amount and then immediately changed it back to its previous value. The parameters Interval_Size and Speed_Change_Resolution can be set as predetermined parameters for embodiment 1000 in accordance with methods which are well known to those of ordinary skill in the art or they can be entered and/or varied by receiving user input through UI 100 in accordance with methods which are well known to those of ordinary skill in the art. However, the manner in which these parameters are set and/or varied are not shown for ease of understanding the present invention. TSM Monitor 400 produces, as output, a pair of values for each segment of the input stream specified by Interval_Size: (a) one of the pair of values represents location information in the input digital stream for the segment and (b) the other of the pair of values represents the TSM rate, or playback rate, requested by the user for that segment. The pair of values is applied as input to Speed Contour Generator 500 and the other of the pair of values which represents the TSM rate is applied as input to TSM Subsystem 300. Speed Contour Generator 500 accepts as input: (a) one of the pair of values that represents location information in the input digital stream for a segment from TSM Monitor 400; (b) the other of the pair of values that represents the TSM rate, or playback rate, for the segment from TSM Monitor 400; and (c) and parameters Average_or_Overwrite and Log_Repeats from UIP/PC 200. Speed Contour Generator 500 uses a database or scratch-pad memory to maintain a list of records; each record stores information pertaining to the TSM rate and stream position information for the TSM rate. FIG. 2 shows a flowchart of an algorithm used in one embodiment of Speed Contour Generator 500 to generate the Speed Contour. The following fields are used in the records used by the embodiment: 1. Rec: a unique number identifying each record and its allocation/creation order. 2. Loc: a data field containing stream location information for a segment of the input stream. 3. Play_Cnt: a data field containing the number of times a segment has been played. Play_Cnt is set to 1 when a record is created. 4. TSM: a data field representing the TSM rate for the segment. In addition to the above-defined data fields, two parameters guide Speed Contour Generator 500 in generating a Speed Contour: 1. Average_or_Overwrite: this parameter specifies how information should be logged if the user “rewinds” or moves the playback location manually (i.e., with a mouse, slider or position indicator) so that a region of the input audio or audio-visual work previously played is replayed again. If the value of the parameter is “Average”, the TSM rate, or playback rate, for the repeated segment is calculated by averaging the TSM rate, or playback rate, specified each time the segment was played. If the value of the parameter is “Overwrite”, only the last TSM rate, or playback rate, specified for the repeated segment is used for the repeated segment in the Speed Contour. 2. Log_Repeats: this parameter is a Boolean variable which, if true, directs Speed Contour Generator 500 to record TSM rates each time a section of the input audio or audio-visual work is played by the user. The TSM rate, or playback rate, is stored each time the segment is played. The parameters Average_or Overwrite and Log_Repeats can be set as predetermined parameters for embodiment 1000 in accordance with methods which are well known to those of ordinary skill in the art or they can be entered and/or varied by receiving user input through UI 100 in accordance with methods which are well known to those of ordinary skill in the art. However, the manner in which these parameters are set and/or varied are not shown for ease of understanding the present invention. As shown in FIG. 2, segment location and TSM rate are applied as input to box 1500. At box 1500, a search is performed to locate any records in the database that contain identical segment location values. Control is then transferred to box 1510. At box 1510 a decision is made. If a record containing identical segment location information is found, the record is noted and control is transferred to box 1520. If no such record is found, control is transferred to box 1570. At box 1570, a new record in the database is created and an internal variable Record_Count is updated to reflect the count of records in the database (The internal variable Record_Count is initialized to 0 at the start of generation of each new Speed Contour.). Then, control is transferred to box 1580. At box 1580, data values are stored in fields of the newly created record and control is transferred to box 1550. At box 1520 a decision is made. If a parameter Log_Repeats is true, control is transferred to box 1570, and if the parameter Log_Repeats is false, control is transferred to box 1530. At box 1530 a decision is made. If the value of parameter Average_or_Overwrite equals “Average” control is transferred to box 1540. If the value of parameter Average_or_Overwrite equals “Overwrite” control is transferred to box 1560. At box 1540, data in fields TSM and Play_Cnt are replaced. As shown in FIG. 2, the previous value of Play_Cnt is used in computing a mathematical average of the TSM rates, and Play_Cnt is incremented. Then, control is transferred to box 1550. At box 1560, the data in fields TSM and Play_Cnt are replaced. As shown in FIG. 2, the current TSM rate overwrites the previous one and Play_Cnt is incremented. Then, control is transferred to box 1550. At box 1550, the newly created or modified record is stored in the database. Control is then suspended until new data values arrive at Speed Contour 500, at which time control is transferred to box 1500. Upon completion of playback of an audio or audio-visual work, the database is scanned and the TSM rates, or playback rates, for each segment of the input signal are extracted and used to construct the Speed Contour. Note that when no segments are repeated and the work is played in its entirety, the Speed Contour is obtained by sorting the database records in ascending order according to their allocation order stored in the Rec data field. Note also that the Speed Contour may be stored for later use in accordance with any one of the many methods which are well known to those of ordinary skilled in the art to store such a digital stream of data. For example, the Speed Contour may be stored on Digital Storage Device 75, or on some other storage medium, or is transmitted to another system via a transmission device such as a modem. Although FIG. 1 shows embodiment 1000 to be comprised of separate modules, in a preferred embodiment, UI 100, UIP/PC 200, TSM Subsystem 300, TSM Monitor 400, and Speed Contour Generator 500 are embodied as software programs or modules which run on a general purpose computer such as, for example, a personal computer. Furthermore, Digital Storage Device 75 is embodied as a disk drive or Random Access Memory and Digital to Analog Converter 600 is embodied as a typical accessory to a general purpose computer such as a soundcard on a personal computer. It should be well known to one of ordinary skill in the art, in light of the detailed description above, how to implement these programs or modules in software. In accordance with one embodiment of the present invention, the data represented in a Speed Contour for a particular user can be presented in a graphical format to display the TSM rates, or playback rates, selected by a user or by groups of users to help identify similarities or differences. In one embodiment, TSM rate is displayed on the vertical axis of a two-dimensional graph and segment number or time-value is displayed on the horizontal axis. FIG. 3 shows, in graphical form, Speed Contours for several different listening sessions of the same audio or audio-visual work. Note that by displaying these Speed Contours in a graphical format, information about user interest, user comprehension, and user confusion can be inferred. For example, note that all three users slowed down the TSM rate, or playback rate, at segment 1000 (marked A in FIG. 3) and then sped up the TSM rate, or playback rate, at approximately the same segment 2200 (marked B in FIG. 3) in the audio or audio-visual work. From this it can be inferred that the users were more interested in the material being presented in the interval between segments 1000 and 2200, or that the complexity of the material changed in such a manner that the TSM rate, or playback rate, for the prior segments was too rapid for comfortable and complete comprehension of the subject matter in that interval. It should be well known to those of ordinary skill in the art how to provide a graphical display of Speed Contours which are stored in accordance with embodiment 1000 described above and how to store such Speed Contours for several users and/or for several sessions for the same user with associated identification information to enable retrieval of the information related to particular ones of the stored Speed Contours in accordance with methods that are well known to those of ordinary skill in the art. An alternative embodiment of the present invention has identical components to those described above (and shown in FIG. 1) in conjunction with embodiment 1000 except for Speed Contour Generator 500. In this alternative embodiment of the present invention, Speed Contour Generator 500 outputs a “derivative” Speed Contour which comprises the derivative of the TSM rate, or playback rate, for each segment of the input audio or audio-visual work. FIG. 4 shows, a graphical representation of Speed Contours produced using the first mathematical derivative of the TSM rate, or the playback rate, specified by the users for several different listening sessions of the same audio or audio-visual work. In the two dimensional graphs shown in FIG. 4, the first derivative of the TSM rate is displayed on the vertical axis and time is displayed on the horizontal axis. The same data displayed in FIG. 3 was used to create the derivative Speed Contour for each user. As can be seen in FIG. 4, the derivative Speed Contour indicates changes in TSM rates, or playback rates, that are requested by users in a pronounced manner that is relatively easy to observe. Furthermore, one can readily appreciate that the derivative Speed Contour comprises less data than a Speed Contour since there are relatively few TSM rate, or playback rate, changes, and only segments associated with non-zero derivative TSM rates need be stored. It should be clear to those of ordinary skill in the art how to modify the algorithm illustrated in FIG. 2 to determine a derivative Speed Contour using methods which are well known to those of ordinary skill in the art or to derive a Derivative Speed Contour from a Speed Contour. The term Average Speed Contour refers to a Speed Contour obtained for a particular audio or audio-visual work by averaging several Speed Contours generated by use of an embodiment of the present invention, for example, embodiment 1000 described in detail above, when a particular user listens to the audio or audio-visual passage several times. The value of the TSM rate, or playback rate, for a particular segment of the Average Speed Contour is obtained by computing the mathematical average of the TSM rate, or playback rate, in each of the several Speed Contours for the corresponding segment of the audio or audio-visual work. It should be well known to those of ordinary skill in the art how to store Speed Contours which are generated in accordance with embodiment 1000 described above for several users and/or for several sessions for the same user with associated identification information to provide retrieval of the information related to particular ones of the stored Speed Contours in accordance with methods that are well known to those of ordinary skill in the art. Furthermore, it should be well known to those of ordinary skill in the art how to compute an Average Speed Contour from any number of stored Speed Contours. One use of the Average Speed Contour is by those producing commercial or informational audio or audio-visual works in which information, for example a telephone number, will be transcribed by listeners. To determine an optimal information delivery rate which best enables the listener to successfully transcribe the desired information, one would generate an Average Contour using Speed Contours generated by a representative user in the projected audience. Another use of the Average Speed Contour is by those desiring to provide information at a maximum delivery rate for an audio or audio-visual work, which maximum delivery rate will enable listeners to comprehend the information being delivered. For example, those producing commercials would use a rapid speaking rate, or information delivery rate, to convey as much information as possible in a given time-slot. A listener using the embodiment of the present invention could reduce the TSM rate over segments of the audio or audio-visual work in which the speaking rate was too rapid for the listener's comprehension or intelligibility. The term Democratic Speed Contour refers to a Speed Contour obtained for a particular audio or audio-visual work by averaging several Speed Contours or several Average Speed Contours obtained from different users while listening to that particular audio or audio-visual work. The value of the TSM rate, or playback rate, for a particular segment of the Democratic Speed Contour is obtained by computing the mathematical average of the TSM rate, or playback rate, in each of the several Speed Contours (each, for example, from a different listener) for the corresponding segment of the audio or audio-visual work. It should be well known to those of ordinary skill in the art how to store Speed Contours which are generated in accordance with embodiment 1000 described above for several users and/or for several sessions for the same user with associated identification information to provide retrieval of the information related to particular ones of the stored Speed Contours in accordance with methods that are well known to those of ordinary skill in the art. One use of the Democratic Speed Contour is by persons delivering information. To determine an optimal information delivery rate which best enables a particular demographic group of listeners to utilize the information, one would generate a Democratic Contour using Speed Contours generated by members of the particular demographic group of listeners. For example, the embodiment may be used to provide a Democratic Contour that takes advantage of the fact that listeners from one part of a country require a slower information delivery rate when listening to a speaker with an accent from another part of the country. In another use of a Democratic Contour, information about a particular demographic listener group is obtained, for example, by questionnaire. Then, target audiences are selected on the basis of responses to the questionnaire. For example, a group may be subdivided into a sub-group of listeners who use a personal computer at work and a sub-group of listeners who do not. Then an optimal information delivery rate regarding a computer software product is obtained from a Democratic Speed Contour generated by each sub-group. In this way, the optimal information delivery rate of a commercial or an informational audio or audio-visual work may be obtained for a particular demographic groups of listeners. FIG. 5 shows a block diagram of embodiment 2000 of a second aspect of the present invention which generates a Speed Contour for an audio or audio-visual work wherein user input and a word map of an audio or audio-visual work are used to provide a Speed Contour. In such embodiments, the Speed Contour can be created even without having the user listen to the audio or the audio portion of the audio-visual work. In accordance with the second aspect of the present invention, rather than sampling TSM rates, or playback rates, as was described above in conjunction with the first aspect of the present invention, the Speed Contour is obtained using an editor which displays and manipulates the Speed Contour in response to user input. As shown in FIG. 5, embodiment 2000 comprises User Interface 2100 (“UI 2100”) which receives input from a user. There exist many apparatus which are well known to those of ordinary skill in the art for receiving input from a user. For example, it is well known to those of ordinary skill in the art that commercially available equipment exists for detecting: (a) the pressing of a key; (b) the activation of a switch on a mouse; (c) the movement of a slider or position indicator; and (d) user speech commands and, in response, for sending digital data representing the keypress, the switch activation, the movement of the slider or position indicator, or the speech commands to a central processing unit. As is further shown in FIG. 5, embodiment 2000 comprises User Input Processor 2200 (“UIP 2200”) which receives user input from UI 2100 and data or signals from an input audio or audio-visual work that is stored on Digital Storage Device 2075. In response, UIP 2200 generates and outputs data to produce a two dimensional graph, for example, with: (a) time and possibly text or phonetic words, displayed on the horizontal axis and (b) TSM rates displayed on the vertical axis. Graphical Display 2300 receives as input from UIP 2200, data which provide a graphical screen display image. In response, Graphical Display 2300 displays a two dimensional representation of an input audio or audio-visual work with text or phonetic labels. For example, it is well known to those of ordinary skill in the art that text and/or phonetic information may be displayed as an overlay on top of a graphical representation of a speech waveform on a computer screen. Then, in accordance with embodiment 2000, the user can highlight regions of the text displayed on Graphical Display 2300 using, for example a cursor under the control of UI 2100 to identify specific portions of the input audio or audio-visual work that are associated with the highlighted text. Next, using UI 2100 in a manner that is well known to those of ordinary skill in the art, the user selects and/or specifies a TSM rate, or playback rate, for the specific portion of the input audio or audio-visual work associated with the highlighted text. In another embodiment of this second aspect of the present invention, UIP 2200 comprises a text editor that displays a transcript of an audio work or the audio portion of an audio-visual work. In response, using UI 2100 in a manner that is well known to those of ordinary skill in the art, the user selects regions of text and selects and/or specifies a TSM rate, or playback rate, for the selected regions of text. Next, samples or segments of the input audio or audio-visual work that correspond to boundaries of the selected regions of text are determined and used to construct the Speed Contour. FIG. 6 shows, in graphical form, a two dimensional graph that displays a speech waveform and corresponding text for an audio or audio-visual work. As shown in FIG. 6, the user has highlighted region 6100 of the input audio or audio-visual work which contains a telephone number. The user then used slider bar 6200 to indicate the desired TSM rate for the selected region of the input audio or audio-visual work. Lastly, FIG. 6 shows Speed Contour 6300 that is generated on the basis of TSM rates requested by the user. FIG. 7 shows a display of a transcript of an audio or audio visual work. As shown in FIG. 7, the user has highlighted region 7100 of the transcript of the input audio or audio-visual work which contains a telephone number. UIP 2200 constructs a Speed Contour using the same method (or a method similar to the method) described above for Speed Contour 500 (in conjunction with FIG. 2). Lastly, UIP 2200 stores the Speed Contour, for example, on Digital Storage Device 2075 or on some other storage medium or transmits the Speed Contour to another system via a transmission device such as a modem. Although FIG. 5 shows embodiment 1000 to be comprised of separate modules, in a preferred embodiment, UI 2100 and UIP 2200 are embodied as software programs or modules which run on a general purpose computer such as, for example, a personal computer. Furthermore, Digital Storage Device 2075 is embodied as a disk drive or Random Access Memory. It should be well known to one of ordinary skill in the art, in light of the detailed description above, how to implement these programs or modules in software. Further, the audio or audio visual work may be stored in analog form on Digital Storage Device 2075 and translated to digital form in accordance with many methods that are well known to those of ordinary skill in the art. In accordance with the first and second aspects of the present invention described above, a Speed Contour is temporal in nature, i.e., a TSM rate, or playback rate, is associated with each time interval of an audio or audio-visual work. This characterization of the Speed Contour requires some sort of preview of the audio or audio-visual work, either by the listener or an editor to determine the Speed Contour for the work. To eliminate this, in an embodiment of a third aspect of the present invention, a Conceptual Speed Association data structure (“CSA” data structure) is generated for use in creating an LIF work. A CSA data structure is, for example, a series of pairings of lists of Concept identifiers and lists of Speed Value identifiers. The CSA data structure is stored as a list of these pairs of sub-lists. A Concept identifier comprises a keyword, a string of words, or a phrase that expresses a concept such as “stock market,” “wall street,” and “financial.” These Concept identifiers are paired with Speed Value identifiers that represent a TSM rate, or playback rate, desired by a user while listening to an audio or audio-visual work which contains the Concept identifiers. Embodiments of the third aspect of the present invention utilize detection apparatus that detects conceptual information in a particular portion of an audio or audio-visual work, and retrieval apparatus that uses the conceptual information to retrieve TSM rate, or playback rate, information from the CSA data structure, which retrieved information is used to determine the TSM rate, or playback rate, to be utilized for the particular portion. In accordance with one embodiment of the present invention, the detection apparatus comprises speech recognition equipment which is well known to those of ordinary skill in the art. In accordance with another embodiment of the present invention, the detection apparatus comprises apparatus which detects conceptual information contained within closed captioning information which accompanies many TV broadcasts or is available on, for example, movie tapes. Such detection apparatus for detecting closed captioning information is well known to those of ordinary skill in the art. FIG. 8 shows a block diagram of embodiment 4000 of a third aspect of the present invention which generates a CSA data structure for an audio or audio-visual work. As shown in FIG. 8, embodiment 4000 comprises User Interface 4100 (“UI 4100”) which receives input from a user. An embodiment of UI 4100 is the same as UI 100 described above with respect to FIG. 1. UI 4100 provides output signals which indicate input from the user. The user input is interpreted by User Input Processor/Playback Control 4200 (“UIP/PC 4200”) to indicate the following options selected by the user: (a) select a file to play, which file corresponds to a particular audio or audio-visual work (the selected file can be input to embodiment 4000 directly or it can be a file that has been stored by embodiment 4000); (b) initiate playback of the selected file; (c) halt playback of the selected file; (d) pause playback of the selected file; (e) modify the TSM rate, or playback rate, of a portion of the audio or audio-visual work being played; or (f) specify parameters Refine_or_Average, Theta, and Sigma that are used by the apparatus in a manner that will be explained in detail below in generating a CSA data structure. UIP/PC 4200 receives input from UI 4100 and (a) converts the user input to numeric values; (b) interprets the user input to set the values of parameters and to control the creation, use, modification or overriding of the CSA data structure; and (c) directs accessing and loading of a data stream from an audio or audio-visual work by sending stream data requests to Digital Storage Device 4075 (to perform playback control). In the case of Digital Storage Device 4075, UIP/PC 4200 may request access to a file of digital data representing an audio or audio-visual work stored in a file-system on the device. To direct accessing and loading of a data stream from an audio or audio-visual work, UIP/PC 4200 interprets the user input and the location of digital samples representing the audio or audio-visual work stored on Digital Storage Device 4075 to compute playback positions for the selected file at a particular sample. Digital Storage Device 4075 receives the following as input: (a) stream data requests from UIP/PC 4200; and optionally (b) Time-Scale Modified output from TSM Subsystem 4300; and optionally (c) a stream of data representing the CSA data structure from CSA Data Structure Generator 4500 (“CSADS Generator 4500”). Digital Storage Device 4075 produces the following as output: (a) a stream of data representing an audio or audio-visual work; and (b) a stream of location information, for example position in a file, of the data stream being output. There are many methods well known to those of ordinary skill in the art for utilizing digital storage devices, for example a “hard disk drive”, to store and retrieve general purpose data. The audio or audio-visual work is typically stored in digital form on Digital Storage Device 4075. An embodiment of Digital Storage Device 4075 is the same as Digital Storage Device 75 described above with respect to FIG. 1. Digital storage device 4075 receives data requests from UIP/PC 4200 in accordance with methods which are well known to those of ordinary skill in the art to provide a stream of digital samples representing the audio and/or audio-visual work. In alternative embodiments, the audio or audio-visual work is stored in analog form on an analog storage device. In such an alternative embodiment, a stream of analog signals is input to an apparatus, not shown, for transforming the analog samples into digital samples. There exist many commercially available apparatus which are well known to those of ordinary skill in the art for receiving an input analog signal such as a voice signal and for sampling the analog signal at a rate which is at least the Nyquist rate to provide a stream of digital signals which may be converted back into an analog signal without loss of fidelity. The digital samples are then transmitted to TSM Subsystem 4300. TSM Subsystem 4300 receives as input: (a) a stream of samples representing portions of the audio or audio-visual work from Digital Storage Device 4075; (b) stream location information from Digital Storage Device 4075 used to identify the position in the data stream of the samples being sent, for example, a sample count or time value; and (c) a desired TSM rate, or playback rate, from Time-Scale Modification Concept Monitor 4400 (“TSM Concept Monitor 4400”). Output from TSM Subsystem 4300 is applied as input to: (a) Digital to Analog Converter/Audio and/or Audio-Visual Playback Device 4600 (“DA/APD 4600”) and, optionally, to (b) Digital Storage 4075 for storage of the Time-Scale Modified output, i.e. the LIF work, if desired. DA/APD 4600 is apparatus which is well known in the art for receiving digital samples and constructing an audio or audio-visual work. In accordance with the present invention, the output of TSM Subsystem 4300 is a stream of digital samples representing an audio or audio-visual work whose playback rate is supplied from TSM Concept Monitor 4400 to provide feedback to the user about his/her current TSM rate specification. The user listens to the Time-Scale Modified output and can change the TSM rate, or playback rate, by providing further input using UI 4100. Further, if the user wishes to speed up or slow down a portion of the audio or audio-visual work just played (or speed up or slow down other portions having a similar Concept identifier that have not yet been played), the user can provide input using UI 4100 to rewind the audio or audio-visual work to a desired portion and replay it again with a modified TSM, or playback rate (or specify the desired TSM rate, or playback rate, for the other portions). In this manner, the user determines a desired TSM rate, or playback rate, for each portion of the audio or audio-visual work. Embodiments of TSM Subsystem 4300 and DA/APD 4600 are the same as TSM Subsystem 300 and DA/APD 600 described above with respect to FIG. 1. As one of ordinary skill in the prior art can readily appreciate, whenever embodiment 4000 provides playback for an audio-visual work, TSM Subsystem 4300 speeds up or slows down visual information to match the audio in the audio-visual work. To do this in a preferred embodiment, the video signal is “Frame-subsampled” or “Frame-replicated” in accordance with any one of the many methods known to those of ordinary skill in the prior art to maintain synchronism between the audio and visual portions of the audio-visual work. Thus, if one speeds up the audio and samples are requested at a faster rate, the frame stream is subsampled, i.e. frames are skipped. Concept Determiner 4700 accepts as input different sets of data depending on certain options. In accordance with option 1, the input data comprises a stream of data representing text or concepts, for example, closed-captioning data or textual annotation, that is stored with the current segment of the input audio or audio-visual work being supplied to TSM Subsystem 4300. For the case of option 1, Concept Determiner 4700 passes the incoming stream of data representing text or concepts through as output to Concept Decoder 4800. In accordance with option 2, the input data comprises: (a) a stream of samples representing portions of the audio or audio-visual work from Digital Storage Device 4075 and (b) current stream location information from Digital Storage Device 4075 used to identify the position in the stream of the samples being sent, for example, a sample count or time value of the beginning of the group of samples transferred from Digital Storage Device 4075. For the case of option 2, Concept Determiner 4700 provides as output a stream of data representing concepts contained in the current portion of the audio or audio-visual work being supplied to TSM Subsystem 4300. The concepts and/or textual transcript of spoken passages are determined by extracting closed-captioning information from the audio or audio-visual work, or by use of speech recognition algorithms to obtain a stream of text from the input audio or audio-visual work. Many methods are well known to those of ordinary skill in the art for extracting closed-captioning information and many methods are well known to those of ordinary skill in the art for extracting text using speech recognition algorithms. Concept Information Decoder 4800 accepts as input from Concept Determiner 4700 a stream of data which represents conceptual information. In accordance with the present invention, and without limitation, the conceptual information comprises: written transcript, raw text, keywords, phrases, or other representations of conceptual information which are well known to those of ordinary skill in the art. In response, Concept Information Decoder 4800 generates as output a stream of data representing keywords and concepts for the current portion of the input audio or audio-visual work being sent to TSM Subsystem 4300. Concept Information Decoder 4800 processes the input to form concept data representations of the input data stream. For example, Concept Information Decoder 4800 may simply remove articles and adjectives from input which represents a transcript to provide output comprised only of nouns and noun phrases. Alternatively, Concept Information Decoder 4800 may employ natural language processing to extract conceptual content from a stream of spoken words. Many methods of implementing Concept Information Decoder 4800 are well known to those of ordinary skill in the art. For example, there exist many systems which utilize techniques known as clustering to develop data sets of multidimensional vectors in which each element of a vector represents a particular property or value associated with attributes of the overall data set. Clustering allows for the classification and grouping of concepts based on the N-dimensional Euclidean distance between vectors. It is often the case that objects in a clustered data set may not belong explicitly to any one cluster in which case the object could be associated with more than one cluster. In such situations the Euclidean distance may be used to represent the probability that an object is a member of each possible cluster. See for example, a Ph.D. Dissertation submitted to Mississippi State University, Mississippi by Rajeev Agarwal 1995 entitled “Semantic Feature Extraction from Technical Texts with Limited Human Intervention.” TSM Concept Monitor 4400 receives the following as input to guide embodiment 4000 in generating a CSA data structure: (a) user input that has been translated by UIP/PC 4200 to a desired TSM rate, or playback rate (which desired TSM rate, or playback rate, may indicate a change of TSM rate, or playback rate, for a portion of the input audio or audio-visual work being perceived); (b) data from Concept Information Decoder 4800 that represents concepts for the current portion of the input audio or audio-visual work being sent to TSM Subsystem 4300; and (c) the Speed_Change_Resolution parameter from UIP/PC 4200. TSM Concept Monitor 4400 processes the conceptual information and the TSM rate, or playback rate, requested by the user and derives a single TSM rate for the concept presented at its input. For example, the concept which is output from Concept Information Decoder 4800 may remain unchanged for several seconds due to the fact that an input concept such as “financial markets” may represent several words or phrases in the audio or audio-visual work being played. Because of this, the user may request a number of TSM rates over the interval of the input audio or audio-visual work associated with a single concept. In accordance with the present invention, TSM Concept Monitor 4400 creates a single TSM rate for a concept by, for example, performing a mathematical average of the TSM rates over the interval of the input audio or audio-visual work associated with that single concept. For example, a weighted average which emphasizes the most recent TSM values obtained during the interval in which a particular concept was present at the input to TSM Concept Monitor 4400 could be used. It should be understood that these are merely examples of many different methods which could be used. TSM Concept Monitor 4400 uses the parameter Speed_Change_Resolution to determine appropriate TSM rates to pass to TSM Subsystem 4300 and to CSADS Generator 4500. The TSM rate determined for a particular concept is converted to one of the quantized levels in a manner which is well known to those of ordinary skill in the art. This means that the output TSM rate, or playback rate, can change only if the input desired TSM rate changes by an amount that exceeds the difference between quantized levels, i.e., Speed_Change_Resolution and the number of possible TSM rates is limited for efficient representation in data structures. The Speed_Change_Resolution parameter can be set as a predetermined parameter for embodiment 4000 in accordance with methods which are well known to those of ordinary skill in the art or they can be entered and/or varied by receiving user input through UI 4100 in accordance with methods which are well known to those of ordinary skill in the art. However, the manner in which these parameters are set and/or varied are not shown for ease of understanding the present invention. TSM Concept Monitor 4400 produces as output: (a) a single TSM rate value and (b) concept information. The TSM rate is applied as input to TSM Subsystem 4300 and Conceptual Speed Association Data Structure Generator 4500 (“CSADS Generator 4500”) and the concept information is applied as input to CSADS Generator 4500. It should be clear to those of ordinary skill in the art that the following will describe an embodiment that utilizes an average to determine a single TSM rate for a concept only for ease of understanding the present invention. However, it should also be clear that embodiments of the present invention are not limited to any one algorithm for determining a TSM rate to associate with a concept and that embodiments of the present invention are not limited to associating a single TSM rate with a concept. For example, the TSM rate associated with a concept can change, for example, to speed up during a replay to reflect the fact that the listener becomes more familiar with the concept and does not need as much time to comprehend the information as the concept is repeated during replay of the work. CSADS Generator 4500 accepts the following as input from TSM Concept Monitor 4400: (a) concept information; (b) the TSM rate, or playback rate, for that concept; and (c) parameters (Refine_or_Average, Theta, and Sigma) values from UIP/PC 4200 used to control the process which creates the CSA data structure. Many methods are well known to those of ordinary skill in the art for implementing this data structure. For example, the CSA data structure may be implemented as a series of related keywords phrases, or concepts followed by the appropriate TSM value. ((“stock”, “bonds”, “stock market”, “wall street”, “currency”) 0.8) ((“Hollywood”, “actor”, “movie”) 1.5) where the TSM rate for the first group of concepts is 0.8 and the TSM rate for the second group of concepts is 1.5. Note that this data structure represents the desire of the listener to hear information about stock market and other financial concepts at a reduced playback rate (0.8) and specifies that information about Hollywood movies and actors should be presented at a more rapid playback rate (1.5 normal playback rate). CSADS Generator 4500 uses a database or scratch-pad memory to maintain a list of records in which each record stores information pertaining to concepts and TSM Rates associated with those concepts. FIG. 9 shows a flowchart of an algorithm used in one embodiment of CSADS Generator 4500 to generate the CSA data structure. As shown in FIG. 9, concept information and TSM rate are applied as input to box 9500. At box 9500, a search is performed to locate any records in a database that contain identical or similar concept information; then, control is transferred to box 9510. At box 9510, a numeric value is determined that reflects the similarity of the list of potential matches for the concept, if any, that were found at box 9500. A conceptual distance between two words or data values representing concepts can calculated using any number of methods known to those skilled in the arts. For example, in the simplest form a list of synonyms or other reference data may be employed for computing the distance. In another method a Euclidean distance may be used to gauge the similarity of multi-dimensional vector objects in a data set which employs clustering algorithms to classify concepts. In still another method, a “head-driven phrase structured grammar” is commonly used to parse sentences and word phrases for meaning. Control is then transferred to box 9520. At box 9520, a decision is made to determine if the record with the closest match is within an amount given by a parameter Theta. If the closest match is within the amount given by Theta, control is transferred to box 9530, otherwise control is transferred to box 9590. At box 9530, a decision is made to determine if a parameter Refine_or_Average is equal to “Refine” or “Average.” If Refine_or_Average equals “Refine,” control is transferred to box 9540. If Refine_or_Average equals “Average,” control is transferred to box 9580. At box 9580, the stored TSM value for a particular concept is updated by computing a mathematical average of the existing TSM value in the CSA data structure and the currently stored TSM rate. Control is then transferred to box 9570. At box 9590, a new record in the database is created; then, control is transferred to box 9600. At box 9600, values in the CSA data structure are installed as follows: (a) the current concept is stored in the concept field and (b) the current TSM rate is stored in the TSM field. Control is then transferred to box 9570. At box 9540, a decision is made which compares the difference between the TSM rate in the record with the closest match and the current TSM rate. If the difference is greater than a parameter Sigma, control is transferred to box 9560, otherwise control is transferred to box 9570. At box 9560, the current concept or keyword phrase is narrowed by appending previous concepts to the current concept in an attempt to further particularize and narrow the concept so that it is distinguished from existing concepts in the CSA data structure. For example, in one embodiment of the present invention, the concept or keyword “bond” may be included in the CSA data structure record corresponding to financial information, i.e., the concept field corresponding to financial information may comprise (“money”, “stock”, bond”). If the input audio or audio-visual work contained the phrase “actor James Bond” and the listener consistently speeds up playback during this phrase such that the TSM rate differs by more than Sigma from the value in the TSM field corresponding to the financial information concept field, then the concept or keyword “bond” would be prefixed with the existing concept or keyword, in this case “James.” Then the database would be searched again using this new concept, “James Bond”, as indicated by the transfer of control to box 9500. In accordance with this embodiment of the present invention, different entries are created for the keyword “bond.” One entry would correspond to its use in the context of financial reports and another entry would correspond to its use when paired with the name “James.” At box 9570, the newly created or updated record is stored in the database. In a further embodiment of the present invention the CSA data structure may be generated without using embodiment 4000 described above. Instead, the CSA data structure may generated by entering the data into a structure using, for example, a text editor or by filling out a questionnaire about concepts that are of interest. This CSA data structure can be used create an LIF work from an audio or audio-visual work without having the user listen to it previously. In a similar manner, the CSA data structure can be constructed using keywords and phrases of the type that are typically presented to “on-line” search engines and used to control data retrieval. A CSA data structure can also be used to control the playback rate of audio or audio-visual works retrieved by a search engine to create LIF works from previously unheard audio or audio-visual works that are retrieved by the search engine. In one such embodiment, the CSA data structure is obtained by use of user specified search criteria that was input to the search engine. For example, user input to a search engine requesting “all boats excluding yachts” would create LIF works that play information about boats at a normal rate but exclude or speed through items about yachts. In light the detailed description, it should be clear to those of ordinary skill in the art how to create a CSA data structure using information transferred from, for example, a search engine. In a still further embodiment of the present invention, the CSA data structure may contain TSM rate entries, for example, of “infinity” for particular concepts or keywords. In this embodiment of the present invention, a TSM rate of “infinity” (or some other indicium that will be similarly translated) directs the playback system to skip sections of an audio or audio-visual work whose concept has a corresponding TSM rate of infinity. In accordance with this embodiment, users can specify “no interest” in particular concepts or keywords when listening to or searching audio or audio-visual works. For example a user may specify the following CSA data structure for use in listening to a nightly news broadcast: ((“weather”, “partly cloudy”, “weather forecast”, “temperatures”, “dew point”) (“infinity”) ((“stock”, “bonds”, “stock market”, “wall street”, “currency”) 0.8) ((“Hollywood”, “actor”, “movie”) 1.5) This CSA data structure directs the playback to: (a) skip over weather forecasts and the reporting of temperatures during the broadcast; (b) playback financial information at 0.8 of the normal playback speed; and (c) speed through information regarding Hollywood movies, and actors by increasing the TSM rate to 1.5 times the normal playback rate. Note that embodiments of the present invention are not limited to static CSA data structures, in that, as will be described below, a user may supply input during playback to refine the TSM rates. For example if the CSA data structure contained entries as follows: ((“stock”, “bond”, “stock market”, “wall street”, “currency”) 0.8) ((“Hollywood”, “actor”, “movie”) 1.5) and the user consistently intervened to speed up the playback rate when the phrase “actor, James Bond” occurred in the input, as was explained above, embodiment 4000 of the present invention may make changes or refinements to the CSA data structure by adding a new entry so that the modified data structure would be: ((“stock”, “bond”, “stock market”, “wall street”, “currency”) 0.8) ((“Hollywood”, “actor”, “movie”) 1.5) ((“actor James Bond”) 2.0) In this manner, the CSA data structure can be continually refined to reflect the users interests while listening to new material and new concepts using an existing CSA data structure. As one can readily appreciate, the use of a CSA data structure is not limited to TSM rates, and in fact, as was described above, the first derivative of the TSM rate may also be used to effect the same result. For example, if a user consistently slows down when hearing the words “free sample” then a CSA data structure which stores the TSM rate changes rather than the TSM rates themselves would be equally useful for controlling the playback speed during previously unheard material. Although FIG. 8 shows embodiment 4000 to be comprised of separate modules, in a preferred embodiment, UI 4100, UIP/PC 4200, TSM Subsystem 4300, TSM Concept Monitor 4400, Concept Determiner 4700, Concept Information Decoder 4800, and CSADS Generator 4500 are embodied as software programs or modules which run on a general purpose computer such as, for example, a personal computer. Furthermore, Digital Storage Device 4075 is embodied as a disk drive or Random Access Memory and Digital to Analog Converter 4600 is embodied as a typical accessory to a general purpose computer such as a soundcard on a personal computer. It should be well known to one of ordinary skill in the art, in light of the detailed description above, how to implement these programs or modules in software. Embodiment 4000 shown in FIG. 8 may be modified to convert a previously generated Speed Contour for a particular audio or audio-visual work to a CSA data structure for that work. In this modification, TSM rates are obtained from the Speed Contour (to replace User TSM Rate values output from the UIP/PC 4200) and provided as input to TSM Concept Monitor 4400. In light of the detailed discussion herein, it should be clear to those of ordinary skill in the art how to input the Speed Contour and obtain the TSM rates. Similarly, embodiment 1000 shown in FIG. 1 may be modified to convert a previously generated CSA data structure for a particular audio or audio-visual work to a Speed Contour for that work. In this modification, TSM rates are obtained from the CSA data structure (to replace User TSM Rate output from UIP/PC 200) and provided as input to TSM Monitor 400. The TSM rates are obtained from CSA data structure in accordance with embodiment 6000 (to be described in detail below), i.e., the TSM rates are output from TSM Concept Look-Up 6500 of embodiment 6000. For ease of understanding, the embodiments described herein refer to TSM rates. However, the present invention is not so limited. It should be understood that embodiments of the present invention can use anything from which a TSM rate can be determined for use in fabricating or carrying out embodiments of the present invention, referred to herein as affinity information. For example, an indication of user interest or user information retrieval level could be used in place of TSM rate. Then, in order to provide a replay, a conversion is made between the user interest or user information retrieval level and the TSM rate. In such an embodiment, a conversion function would be used to map the user interest or user information retrieval levels to TSM rates. In some such embodiments, for example, the conversion function can be modified without changing the Speed Contour or CSA data structure. For ease of understanding, the embodiments herein refer to a Speed Contour which makes a correspondence between TSM rate and associated temporal position and a CSA data structure which makes a correspondence between TSM rate and associated concept. However, the present invention is not so limited. It should be understood that embodiments of the present invention refer to a Speed Contour or a CSA data structure which makes a correspondence between anything from which a TSM rate can be determined and anything from which one or more portions of a work with which the TSM rate is associated can be identified. Further, it should be understood that embodiments of the present invention refer to a Speed Contour or a CSA data structure wherein the identifier of the TSM rate and the identifier of the portion can have a functional dependence for determining the TSM rate to be used for a particular portion identifier. For example, in embodiments in which concepts are used to identify some portion of a work, the TSM rate associated with a particular concept could be computed as a function of the number of times a concept has appeared in a work so that the first playing of the concept uses a slower TSM rate and subsequent occurrences of the same concept are presented with increased TSM rates for faster playback. Application of Speed Contours and Conceptual Speed Association Data Structures to Produce a Listener-Interest-Filtered Work: In accordance with embodiments of a fourth aspect of the present invention, a Speed Contour is utilized in conjunction with an audio or audio-visual work to produce an LIF work wherein segments of the audio or audio-visual work are played back in accordance with TSM rates, or playback rates, specified by the Speed Contour. In addition, some of such embodiments also store the LIF work for later replay by the same embodiment or by other replay devices. As one of ordinary skill in the prior art can readily appreciate, embodiments of the present invention which provide an LIF work for the audio portion of an audio-visual work can also speed up or slow down visual information to match the audio in the audio-visual works as well. To do this in a preferred embodiment, the audio is processed using TSM methods as described above and the video signal is “Frame-subsampled” or “Frame-replicated” in accordance with any one of the many methods known to those of ordinary skill in the prior art to achieve the desired TSM rate and to maintain synchronism between the audio and visual portions of the audio-visual work. Thus, if one speeds up the audio and samples are requested at a faster rate, the frame stream is subsampled, i.e. frames are skipped. FIG. 10 shows a block diagram of embodiment 5000 of the fourth aspect of the present invention which utilizes a Speed Contour in conjunction with an audio or audio-visual work to produce an LIF work. As shown in FIG. 10, embodiment 5000 comprises User Interface 5100 (“UI 5100”) which receives input from a user. An embodiment of UI 5100 is the same as UI 100 described above with respect to FIG. 1. UI 5100 provides output signals which indicate input from the user. The user input is interpreted by User Input Processor 5200/Playback Control 5200 (“UIP/PC 5200”) to indicate the following options selected by the user: (a) select a file to play, which file corresponds to a particular audio or audio-visual work (the selected file can be input to embodiment 5000 directly or it can be a file that has been stored by embodiment 5000); (b) select a Speed Contour to control the TSM rate, or playback rate; (c) initiate playback of the selected file; (d) halt playback of the selected file; (e) pause playback of the selected file; (f) modify or override the TSM rate, or playback rate, obtained from the Speed Contour for a portion of the audio or audio-visual work being played; or (g) specify parameters Offset and Override which are used by the apparatus in a manner that will be explained in detail below. As shown in FIG. 10, UIP/PC 5200 receives the user input from UI 5100 and (a) converts the user input to numeric values; (b) interprets the user input to set the values of parameters and to control the use, modification or overriding of the Speed Contour; (c) directs accessing and loading of a data stream from an audio or audio-visual work by sending stream data requests to Digital Storage Device 5075 (to perform playback control); and (d) directs accessing and loading of a data stream from a Speed Contour by sending stream data requests to Digital Storage Device 5075. In the case of Digital Storage Device 5075, UIP/PC 5200 may request access to a file of digital data representing an audio or audio-visual work stored in a file-system on the device. To direct accessing and loading of a data stream from an audio or audio-visual work, UIP/PC 5200 interprets the user input and the location of digital samples representing the audio or audio-visual work stored on Digital Storage Device 5075 to compute playback positions for the selected file at a particular sample. In a preferred embodiment, the data requests for audio or audio-visual work and the data requests for the Speed Contour are issued such that data from the same temporal locations of each is provided as output from Digital Storage Device 5075. Digital Storage Device 5075 receives the following as input: (a) stream data requests from UIP/PC 5200; and optionally (b) Time-Scale Modified output from TSM Subsystem 5300. Digital Storage Device 5075 produces the following as output: (a) a stream of data representing an audio or audio-visual work; (b) a stream of location information, for example position in a file, of the data stream being output; and (c) a stream of data representing the Speed Contour. There are many methods well known to those of ordinary skill in the art for utilizing digital storage devices, for example a “hard disk drive”, to store and retrieve general purpose data. The audio or audio-visual work is typically stored in digital form on Digital Storage Device 5075. An embodiment of Digital Storage Device 5075 is the same as Digital Storage Device 75 described above with respect to FIG. 1. Digital storage device 5075 is accessed by UIP/PC 5200 in accordance with methods which are well known to those of ordinary skill in the art to provide a stream of digital samples representing the audio and/or audio-visual work. In alternative embodiments, the audio or audio-visual work is stored in analog form on an analog storage device. In such an alternative embodiment, a stream of analog signals is input to an apparatus, not shown, for transforming the analog samples into digital samples. There exist many commercially available apparatus which are well known to those of ordinary skill in the art for receiving an input analog signal such as a voice signal and for sampling the analog signal at a rate which is at least the Nyquist rate to provide a stream of digital signals which may be converted back into an analog signal without loss of fidelity. The digital samples are then transmitted to TSM Subsystem 5300. TSM Rate Determiner 5400 receives as input: (a) a Speed Contour selected by the user which is applied as input from Digital Storage Device 5075; (b) a TSM rate specified by the user which is applied as input from UIP/PC 5200; (c) Offset, an offset TSM rate specified by the user which is applied as input from UIP/PC 5200; (d) Override, a Boolean parameter specified by the user which is applied as input from UIP/PC 5200; and (e) current stream location information from Digital Storage Device 5075 used to identify the position in the stream of the samples being sent, for example, a sample count or time value of the beginning of the group of samples transferred from Digital Storage Device 5075. In response, TSM Rate Determiner 5400 produces as output a TSM rate which is received by TSM Subsystem 5300. TSM Rate Determiner 5400 uses the stream location information to select the closest corresponding temporal position in the Speed Contour in order to determine the associated TSM rate specified in the Speed Contour. This approach allows Speed Contours created with different Interval_Size values, or TSM sampling frequencies, to be used for any audio or audio-visual work, and insures a one-to-one temporal correspondence between data stream position and TSM rates obtained from the Speed Contour. TSM Rate Determiner 5400 determines the output TSM rate, or playback rate, using any one of the following modes of operation: 1. Speed Contour Driven Playback: In this mode, the output of TSM Rate Determiner 5400 are TSM rates obtained from the Speed Contour for the corresponding portions of the input audio or audio-visual work to be played. This mode outputs TSM rates that are identical to those specified by the Speed Contour. 2. Speed Contour Offset Playback: In this mode, the user specifies, via UI 5100, Offset, an offset parameter that is used to adjust the TSM rates specified by the Speed Contour. In this mode, the TSM rate output is given by the following formula: TSM_rate=TSM rate from Speed Contour*(1+Offset) For example, if a user specifies an offset factor of −0.4, TSM Rate Determiner 5400 will add the −0.4 offset value to the number 1.0 (resulting in the value 0.6) and scale each of the TSM rates specified in the Speed Contour to achieve a uniform decrease (slow down) in the TSM rate, or playback rate, for the output signal produced. Similarly a positive offset would increase (speed up) the TSM rate, or playback rate, for the output signal produced. Note that an offset value of zero has no effect on the TSM rate. As one can readily appreciate different offset strategies may be employed to achieve non-linear and linear scaling of the TSM rates. 3. User Override of Speed Contour: In this mode, the user can override the Speed Contour and manually control the TSM rate, or playback rate, over portions of the audio or audio-visual work. When the override is released by the user, the TSM rate used to determine the TSM rate, or playback rate, of the output signal is taken from the corresponding location in the Speed Contour. As shown in FIG. 10, TSM Subsystem 5300 receives as input: (a) a stream of samples representing portions of the audio or audio-visual work from Digital Storage Device 5075; (b) stream location information from Digital Storage Device 5075 used to identify the position in the data stream of the samples being sent, for example, a sample count or time value; and (c) the TSM rate from TSM Rate Determiner 5400. As described above, the input can be an analog which is transformed into a series of digital samples in accordance with method and apparatus which are well known to those of ordinary skill in the art. Output from TSM Subsystem 5300 is applied as input to: (a) Digital to Analog Converter/Audio and/or Audio-Visual Playback Device 5600 (“DA/APD 5600”) and, optionally, to (b) Digital Storage 5075 for storing the replay at the TSM rate if desired. DA/APD 600 is apparatus which is well known in the art for receiving digital samples and providing a replay of an audio or audio-visual work. The output from TSM apparatus 4300 is a stream of digital samples which comprise a digitized audio or audio-visual stream that is a Time-Scaled Modified version of the input audio or audio-visual work and, in accordance with the present invention, reflects the TSM rates, or playback rates, specified by the Speed Contour and/or user input. This output represents the LIF work. In some embodiments, the LIF work is stored for later replay by the same embodiment or by other replay devices. In addition, the digital output can be transformed to analog form for storage on analog devices. There are many apparatus which are well known to those of ordinary skill in the art for receiving a digitized input signal, such as a 16-bit Pulse Code Modulation, and for providing an analog signal output therefrom. For example, it is well known to those of ordinary skill in the art that commercially available equipment exists for receiving a stream of digitized samples representing a signal and for converting those samples to an analog signal without loss of fidelity. Embodiments of TSM Subsystem 5300 and DA/APD 5600 are the same as TSM Subsystem 300 and DA/APD 600 described above with respect to FIG. 1. As one of ordinary skill in the prior art can readily appreciate, whenever embodiment 5000 provides playback for an audio-visual work, TSM Subsystem 5300 speeds up or slows down visual information to match the audio in the audio-visual work. To do this in a preferred embodiment, the video signal is “Frame-subsampled” or “Frame-replicated” in accordance with any one of the many methods known to those of ordinary skill in the prior art to maintain synchronism between the audio and visual portions of the audio-visual work. Thus, if one speeds up the audio and samples are requested at a faster rate, the frame stream is subsampled, i.e. frames are skipped. Although FIG. 10 shows embodiment 5000 to be comprised of separate modules, in a preferred embodiment, UI 5100, UIP/PC 5200, TSM Subsystem 5300, and TSM Rate Determiner 5400 are embodied as software programs or modules which run on a general purpose computer such as, for example, a personal computer. Furthermore, Digital Storage Device 5075 is embodied as a disk drive or Random Access Memory and Digital to Analog Converter 5600 is embodied as a typical accessory to a general purpose computer such as a soundcard on a personal computer. It should be well known to one of ordinary skill in the art, in light of the detailed description above, how to implement these programs or modules in software. As one can readily appreciate, in the absence of user input the time-scale of a LIF work is fully determined by the Speed Contour. Furthermore the data fetch rate of the input signal is also determined by the Speed Contour: higher rates are required for speed-up, slower rates for slow-down. Since the Speed Contour has a temporal correspondence with the input signal, the data fetch rate, or read-rate, for the Speed Contour is identical to that of the input signal. In many embodiments, it is desirable to reduce the number of devices with variable read rates. In accordance with the present invention, variable read rates can be eliminated in the following manner. The data contained in the Speed Contour will be read at the rate specified by the previous values of the Speed Contour. By performing a time-scale modification of the input Speed Contour using the Speed Contour itself, a new Speed Contour is obtained. This Time-Scale Modified Speed Contour will share a temporal correspondence with the output signal created by applying the original Speed Contour to the input signal. Because the output is generated at a fixed rate regardless of the time-scale modification performed, the Time-Scale Modified Speed Contour values will be accessed at a fixed rate. In accordance with embodiments of a fifth aspect of the present invention, a CSA data structure is utilized in conjunction with an audio or audio-visual work to produce an LIF work wherein portions of the audio or audio-visual work are played back in accordance with TSM rates, or playback rates, specified by the CSA data structure. In addition, some of such embodiments also store the LIF work for later replay by the same embodiment or by other replay devices. FIG. 11 shows a block diagram of embodiment 6000 of the fifth aspect of the present invention which utilizes a CSA data structure in conjunction with an audio or audio-visual work to produce an LIF work. As shown in FIG. 11, embodiment 6000 comprises User Interface 6100 (“UI 6100”) which receives input from a user. An embodiment of UI 6100 is the same as UI 100 described above with respect to FIG. 1. UI 6100 provides output signals which indicate input from the user. The user input is interpreted by User Input Processor 6200/Playback Control (“UIP/PC 6200”) to indicate the following options selected by the user: (a) select a file to play, which file corresponds to a particular audio or audio-visual work (the selected file can be input to embodiment 6000 directly or it can be a file that has been stored by embodiment 6000); (b) select a CSA data structure to control the TSM rate, or playback rate; (c) initiate playback of the selected file; (d) halt playback of the selected file; (e) pause playback of the selected file; (f) modify or override the TSM rate, or playback rate, obtained from the CSA data structure for a portion of the audio or audio-visual work being played; or (g) to specify parameters Theta, Offset, Slew-Limit, and Override that are used by the apparatus in a manner that will be explained in detail below. In addition, embodiment can also receive an audio or audio-visual work that is input directly from, for example, TV. In that case, the audio portion is converted to digital format in the manner described above for analog input, and the close-captioning information, if any, can also be converted to an appropriate digital format in accordance with any one or the many methods which are well known to those of ordinary skill in the art. As shown in FIG. 11, UIP/PC 6200 receives input from UI 6100 and (a) converts the user input to numeric values; (b) interprets the user input to set the values of parameters and to control the use, modification or overriding of the TSM rates from the CSA data structure; and (c) directs accessing and loading of a data stream from an audio or audio-visual work by sending stream data requests to Digital Storage Device 5075 (to perform playback control). In the case of Digital Storage Device 6075, UIP/PC 6200 may request access to a file of digital data representing an audio or audio-visual work stored in a file-system on the device. To direct accessing and loading of a data stream from an audio or audio-visual work, UIP/PC 6200 interprets the user input and the location of digital samples representing the audio or audio-visual work stored on Digital Storage Device 6075 to compute playback positions for the selected file at a particular sample. Digital Storage Device 6075 receives the following as input: (a) stream data requests from UIP/PC 5200; and optionally (b) Time-Scale Modified output from TSM Subsystem 5300. Digital Storage Device 5075 produces the following as output: (a) a stream of data representing an audio or audio-visual work; (b) a stream of location information, for example position in a file, of the data stream being output; and (c) a stream of data representing the CSA data structure. There are many methods well known to those of ordinary skill in the art for utilizing digital storage devices, for example a “hard disk drive”, to store and retrieve general purpose data. The audio or audio-visual work is typically stored in digital form on Digital Storage Device 6075. An embodiment of Digital Storage Device 6075 is the same as Digital Storage Device 75 described above with respect to FIG. 1. Digital storage device 6075 is accessed by UIP/PC 6200 in accordance with methods which are well known to those of ordinary skill in the art to provide a stream of digital samples representing the audio and/or audio-visual work. In alternative embodiments, the audio or audio-visual work is stored in analog form on an analog storage device. In such an alternative embodiment, a stream of analog signals is input to an apparatus, not shown, for transforming the analog samples into digital samples. There exist many commercially available apparatus which are well known to those of ordinary skill in the art for receiving an input analog signal such as a voice signal and for sampling the analog signal at a rate which is at least the Nyquist rate to provide a stream of digital signals which may be converted back into an analog signal without loss of fidelity. The digital samples are then transmitted to TSM Subsystem 6300. Concept Determiner 6700 accepts as input different sets of data depending on certain options. In accordance with option 1, the input data comprises a stream of data representing text or concepts, for example, closed-captioning data or textual annotation, that is stored with the current segment of the input audio or audio-visual work being supplied to TSM Subsystem 6300. For the case of option 1, Concept Determiner 6700 passes the incoming stream of data representing text or concepts through as output to Concept Decoder 6800. In accordance with option 2, the input data comprises: (a) a stream of samples representing portions of the audio or audio-visual work from Digital Storage Device 6075 and (b) current stream location information from Digital Storage Device 6075 used to identify the position in the stream of the samples being sent, for example, a sample count or time value of the beginning of the group of samples transferred from Digital Storage Device 6075. For the case of option 2, Concept Determiner 6700 provides as output a stream of data representing concepts contained in the current portion of the audio or audio-visual work being supplied to TSM Subsystem 6300. The concepts and/or textual transcript of spoken passages are determined by extracting closed-captioning information from the audio or audio-visual work, or by use of speech recognition algorithms to obtain a stream of text from the input audio or audio-visual work. Many methods are well known to those of ordinary skill in the art for extracting closed-captioning information and many methods are well known to those of ordinary skill in the art for extracting text using speech recognition algorithms. Concept Information Decoder 6800 accepts as input from Concept Determiner 6700 a stream of data which represents conceptual information. In accordance with the present invention, and without limitation, the conceptual information comprises: written transcript, raw text, keywords, phrases, or other representations of conceptual information which are well known to those of ordinary skill in the art. In response, Concept Information Decoder 6800 generates as output a stream of data representing keywords and concepts for the current portion of the input audio or audio-visual work being sent to TSM Subsystem 6300. Concept Information Decoder 6800 processes the input to form concept data representations of the input data stream. For example, Concept Information Decoder 6800 may simply remove articles and adjectives from input which is a transcript to provide output comprised only nouns and noun phrases. Alternatively Concept Information Decoder 6800 may employ natural language processing to extract conceptual content from a stream of spoken words. Many methods of implementing Concept Information Decoder are well known to those of ordinary skill in the art. TSM Concept Look-Up 6500 accepts as input: (a) a CSA data structure which is received from Digital Storage Device 6075, (b) data from Concept Information Decoder 6800 that represents concepts for the current portion of the input audio or audio-visual work being sent to TSM Subsystem 6300; and (c) parameter Theta from UIP/PC 6200. TSM Concept Look-Up 6500 uses a database or scratch-pad memory to maintain a list of records in which each record stores information pertaining to the TSM rate and concept information for the TSM rate. TSM Concept Look-Up 6500 performs the follow steps in accordance with any one of the many methods which are well known to those of ordinary skill in the art. It searches the database containing the CSA data structure for the closest matching concept entry. If the difference between the closest matching entry is within a range specified by a parameter Theta, the TSM rate associated with that entry is provided as output. If no concept entries in the database containing the CSA data structure are within the distance specified by the parameter Theta, then the previously obtained TSM rate is provided as output which is received by TSM Rate Arbiter 6400. TSM Rate Arbiter 6400 receives as input: (a) a TSM rate from User Input Processor 6200 that is specified by the user; (b) a TSM rate from TSM Concept Look-Up 6500; and (c) parameters Offset, Slew-Limit, and Override from UIP/PC 6200 that will be described in detail below. In response, TSM Rate Arbiter 6400 produces as output a single TSM rate which is transmitted to TSM Subsystem 6300. TSM Rate Arbiter 6400 determines the TSM rate, or playback rate, using any one of the following modes of operation: 1. CSA data structure Driven Playback: In this mode, the TSM rate used is the TSM rate provided by TSM-Concept Look-Up 6500. 2. CSA data structure Offset Playback: In this mode, the user specifies, via UIP 6100, Offset, an offset parameter that is be used to adjust the TSM rate specified in the CSA data structure. The TSM Rate output is given by the following formula: TSM_rate=TSM rate from TSM-Concept Look-Up*(1+Offset) For example, if a user specifies an offset of −0.4, TSM Rate Arbiter 6400 will add the −0.4 offset to the number 1 (resulting in the value 0.6) and scale each of the TSM rates specified by TSM-Concept Look-Up 6500 to achieve a uniform decrease (slow down) in the TSM rate, or playback rate, for the output signal produced. Similarly a positive offset would increase (speed up) the TSM rate, or playback rate, for the output signal produced. Note that an offset value of zero has no effect on the TSM rate. As one can readily appreciate different offset strategies may be employed to achieve non-linear and linear scaling of the TSM rates. 3. User Override of CSA data structure: In this mode, the user can override a TSM rate obtained from the TSM-Concept Look-Up 6500 and manually control the TSM rate, or playback rate, for portions of the audio or audio-visual work. When the override is released by the user, the TSM rate used to determine the playback rate of the output signal is taken from the TSM-Concept Look-Up 6500 which utilizes the CSA data structure entry corresponding to the conceptual information in the current segment of the audio or audio-visual work. TSM Rate Arbiter 6400 uses a slew-rate parameter specified by the user to limit the rate of change of the TSM rate at its output in order to create smooth transitions between different TSM rates. TSM Arbiter 6400 may also scan ahead in the input stream to predict the appropriate rate of change over the audio or audio-visual work being played. In this manner, the time-lag associated with changes in TSM rate is reduced as described below. As one can readily appreciate, the TSM rates, or playback rates, output from TSM Concept Look-Up 6500 can vary rapidly. The input parameter Slew_Limit is used to control the rate of change of the playback rate. Slew_Limit filters out large transients in the TSM rate, or playback rate, by forcing a gradual change in the playback speed by insuring that the magnitude of any transition in TSM rate is below the amount specified in the Slew_Limit parameter. It is important to note, however, that when a small value of Slew_Limit is selected, the amount of time necessary to transition to a new TSM rate, or playback rate, is lengthened. This can have an undesirable side effect of causing the playback rate response to seem sluggish. For example, consider what happens if the input is being played back at twice the normal speed and an item of interest is encountered which causes TSM Concept Look-Up 6500 to output a TSM rate, or playback rate, of one-half normal speed. In this case, input parameter Slew_Limit may impose such a long transition time, that the word of interest will not be played back at the speed determined from the CSA data structure entry. One way to avoid this undesirable side effect is for TSM Concept Look-Up 6500 to scan ahead in the audio or audio-visual input stream and obtain future values of TSM rates, or playback rates, which can be used to determine the target TSM rate for upcoming sections of the audio or audio visual work. When the target TSM rate for an upcoming segment differs such that the Slew_Limit would prevent the TSM rate from adjusting quickly enough, TSM Rate Arbiter 6400 could initiate an earlier transition in the TSM rate, or playback rate by adjusting the TSM rate for current segments in a direction toward the future TSM rates specified. Another way to avoid the undesirable effect of long transition times due to small values for the Slew_Limit is to delay the audio or audio-visual input stream by buffering it by a fixed amount equal to the amount that TSM Concept Look-Up 6500 would read ahead. This shifts the TSM rate transitions slightly earlier in the audio or audio-visual input stream, resulting in an output stream in which speed changes occur early enough that the concepts are played at the rate specified from TSM Concept Look-Up 6500 and the speed transitions adhere to the Slew-Limit. FIG. 12 shows a flowchart of an algorithm used in one embodiment of TSM Rate Arbiter 6400 to provide a TSM rate, or playback rate. As shown in FIG. 12, the following are applied as input to box 7105: (a) a TSM rate specified by the user (TSM_USER) which is received from UIP/PC 6200; (b) a TSM rate output by TSM Concept Look-Up 6500 (TSM_LUS); (c) a slew limit parameter (Slew_Limit) specified by the user which is received from UIP/PC 6200; (d) an override flag (Override) specified by the user which is received from UIP/PC 6200; and (e) an offset value (Offset) specified by the user which is received from UIP/PC 6200. At box 7105 a decision is made to determine whether Override is true. If so, control is transferred to box 7900; otherwise, control is transferred to box 7200. At box 7200 a decision is made to determine whether Offset is equal to 0.0. If so, control is transferred to box 7300, otherwise, control is transferred to box 7110. At box 7300, the following variables are computed: Delta=|TSM_Prev−TSM_LUS| and Sign=sign[TSM_Prev−TSM_LUS], where TSM_Prev is the TSM rate previously determined. Control is then transferred to box 7400. At box 7400, a decision is made based on a comparison between Delta and Slew_Limit. If Delta is greater than Slew_Limit, control is transferred to box 7500; otherwise, control is transferred to box 7600. At box 7600, Delta is set equal to Sign*Delta and control is then transferred to box 7700. At box 7500, Delta is set equal to Sign*Slew_Limit and control is then transferred to box 7700. At box 7700, TSM_Prev is set equal to TSM_Prev+Delta and control is then transferred to box 7800. At box 7800, TSM_Prev is set equal to TSM and the value TSM is provided as output. At box 7900, TSM is set equal to TSM_User and control is then transferred to box 7800. Finally, at box 7110, TSM is set equal to TSM_LUS*(1+Offset) and control is then transferred to box 7300. Combinations of the above-described modes of operation are also within the scope of the present invention. For example, a user may elect to combine a user offset with the use of a CSA data structure for close-captioning information embedded in the audio or audio-visual work to be played to determine the TSM rate desired for the output signal. The output from embodiment 6000 is a stream of digital samples which comprise a digitized audio or audio-visual stream which is a Time-Scaled Modification of the input audio or audio-visual work and, in accordance with the present invention, reflects the TSM rates, or playback rates, specified by the CSA data structure and/or user input. This output represents the LIF work. In some embodiments, embodiment 6000 also stores the LIF work for later replay by the same embodiment or by other replay devices. In addition, the digital output can be transformed to analog form for storage on analog devices. There are many apparatus which are well known to those of ordinary skill in the art for receiving a digitized input signal, such as a 16-bit Pulse Code Modulation, and for providing an analog signal output therefrom. For example, it is well known to those of ordinary skill in the art that commercially available equipment exists for receiving a stream of digitized samples representing a signal and for converting those samples to an analog signal without loss of fidelity. As one of ordinary skill in the prior art can readily appreciate, whenever embodiment 6000 provides playback for an audio-visual work, TSM Subsystem 6300 speeds up or slows down visual information to match the audio in the audio-visual work. To do this in a preferred embodiment, the video signal is “Frame-subsampled” or “Frame-replicated” in accordance with any one of the many methods known to those of ordinary skill in the prior art to maintain synchronism between the audio and visual portions of the audio-visual work. Thus, if one speeds up the audio and samples are requested at a faster rate, the frame stream is subsampled, i.e. frames are skipped. Although FIG. 11 shows embodiment 6000 to be comprised of separate modules, in a preferred embodiment, UI 6100, UIP/PC 6200, TSM Subsystem 6300, TSM Rate Arbiter 6400, TSM Concept Look-Up 6500, Concept Determiner 6700, and Concept Information Decoder 6800 are embodied as software programs or modules which run on a general purpose computer such as, for example, a personal computer. Furthermore, Digital Storage Device 6075 is embodied as a disk drive or Random Access Memory and Digital to Analog Converter 6600 is embodied as a typical accessory to a general purpose computer such as a soundcard on a personal computer. It should be well known to one of ordinary skill in the art, in light of the detailed description above, how to implement these programs or modules in software. Applications of the Present Invention: The following describes examples of use of the inventive method and apparatus. A first example of use of the inventive method and apparatus is in conjunction with teaching using audio-visual works. The inventive apparatus allows the TSM rate, or playback rate, of a particular audio-visual work to be controlled on a per user basis or on a common basis that is targeted to specific groups of listeners. For example, assume an instructional audio-visual work is used to instruct viewers in details of how to setup and use an order entry accounting system on a particular operating system to enter and report specific types of financial transactions. Further assume the target audience for the instructional audio-visual work consists of two groups: (a) accountants who are novice computer users and (b) expert computer users who are unfamiliar with standard accounting practices. During playback of the audio-visual work, material is presented in following manner. A particular financial transaction is described along with appropriate actions in the user interface of the software program such as “select the pull-down menu and enter NEW”; then a demonstration of the actual process is performed. During playback of this audio-visual work at normal speed, accounting experts who are novice computer users would become impatient with the description of the financial transactions with which they are already familiar, but these same individuals might think the pace of the instruction is too fast during the demonstration of how entry in the software is performed since they are unfamiliar with the use of such interfaces. Similarly for those viewers who are expert computer users but novice accountants, the pace of the instruction (speaking rate) may seem too brisk during the discussion of particular financial transactions, but these same individuals would become impatient with the slow methodical demonstration of the entry process which has already been described verbally. Embodiments of the present invention solve this problem in the following manner. Two Speed Contours are shipped with the audio-visual work. One Speed Contour is for expert computer users who are novice accountants (FastCompSlowAcc.spdcon) and another Speed Contour is for expert accountants who are novice computer users (FastAccSlowComp.spdcon). Speed Contour FastCompSlowAcc.spdcon specifies TSM rates that speed through the audio-visual segments containing the demonstrations and slow-down the playback rate during the description of accounting transactions. Speed Contour FastAccSlowComp.spdcon specifies TSM rates that slow down the playback rate during the demonstrations and speed through the audio-visual segments describing accounting transactions. By loading the appropriate Speed Contour, each target audience can receive the information at a rate which suits their particular comprehension rate for appropriate segments of the audio-visual work. As a result, embodiments of the present invention obviate the need to produce multiple versions of the same audio-visual work for different target audiences. In the example presented above, viewers of the audio-visual work were divided into two specific groups. However, in many cases, the creators of an audio-visual work are not familiar with the comprehension rate of the audience that will be viewing the material presented in the work. In this case, each user may load a Conceptual Speed Association data structure that contains information about the ideal presentation rate for particular concepts and passages with key words and phrases. The Conceptual Speed Association data structure enables users to view information at a presentation rate that suits their own comprehension rates for different material. A second example of use of the inventive method and apparatus is in conjunction with entertainment using audio-visual works. It should be readily appreciated by those of ordinary skill in the art that embodiments of the present invention are not limited to the pairing of presentation rate with comprehension rates during instructional audio-visual works. In fact, embodiments of the present invention also solves the problem of pairing presentation rate with interest level or entertainment level of a particular audio-visual work to provide greater enjoyment for listener/viewers. For example, listeners and movie viewers may employ CSA data structures or Speed Contours in accordance with the present invention to control the playback rate of an audio or audio-visual work so that passages or scenes of violence and suspense are played at a faster rate to avoid undue anxiety. Similarly, those listeners and movie viewers interested in romantic dialog may elect to use CSA data structures or Speed Contours in accordance with the present invention to have the playback rate reduced for these passages. As one can readily appreciate each user or family may utilize CSA data structures which reflect their interests to act as a “filter” and use embodiments of the present invention to create LIF works for ordinary movies, television shows, and other entertainment audio or audio-visual works. Furthermore, as one can readily appreciate, a valuable service in accordance with the present invention would provide CSA data structures or Speed Contours for specific audio or audio-visual works which could be used to change the content of the work. For example, the Movie Rating could be changed from “R” to “PG-13” by use of a Speed Contour which eliminated certain passages containing adult language or concepts. It should be noted that once a CSA data structure is generated, it thereafter be used to guide playback rates for audio or audio-visual works which are previously unheard by the listener. In this manner the concept and TSM rate pairings representing interest, comprehension rate, and the like obtained by listening to various audio and audio-visual works can be captured, stored and later used to guide the TSM rate, or playback rate, for audio and audio-visual works being played for the first time by a listener. Thus, a CSA data structure can be used to control the playback rate or to create Speed Contours which are tailored to the interest of a user automatically for works which have never been heard by the user. This ability to control the playback rate or to create Speed Contours for unheard works, enables embodiments of the present invention to act as information filters which tailor the delivery rate of all audio and audio-visual works presented to the user in accordance with the user's interest level for concepts contain in the CSA data structure. A third example of use of the inventive method and apparatus is in conjunction with content production and advertising. In this example, a Speed Contour which captures the interest and maintains listener/viewer attention may be determined by sampling a particular target audience or market segment. For instance, if a commercial is targeted toward people who own a particular brand or model of computer, the commercial producers can shoot one commercial and adjust the Speed Contour to capture the attention of its target audience by delivering the information at a presentation rate appropriate for that target audience. Furthermore, different Speed Contours could be developed and sent to different radio or television stations and/or time-slots depending on familiarity of the stations' audience with the subject matter presented in the commercial. Thus, in accordance with the present invention, a particular commercial may be compressed to 20 seconds when it is played during a talk show on home-computer maintenance using a first Speed Contour, and the same commercial may be expanded to 30 seconds when played during the evening news using a second Speed Contour to allow for the slower comprehension rate of those listeners who are unfamiliar with computer terminology. A fourth example of use of the inventive method and apparatus is the application of a CSA data structure containing concept entries for numeric digits which are paired with TSM rates specifying slow playback rates. In this case the inventive method could be applied to voice mail systems when listeners retrieve their voice-mail messages. The Concept Determiner would perform simple speech recognition to determine the presence of numeric digits in the message. In this manner, all phone-numbers and numeric amounts would be slowed down automatically, and ease the transcription process for the user. Further, embodiments of the present invention can also be used to specify playback rates for concepts such as, without limitation, dates and addresses and the like. A fifth example of use of the inventive method and apparatus is in conjunction with instruction and learning of foreign languages. Students listening to an audio or audio-visual work containing the foreign language of study would utilize embodiments of the present invention to create a Speed Contour while listening to various passages. The Speed Contour would reflect their comprehension rate for the material by showing passages that were requested to be played more slowly than others, or were repeated. The Speed Contour could then be used to score students, and to direct their future study. For example, they could listen to audio or audio-visual works using customized Speed Contours which would provide further practice in listening to rapidly spoken passages to aid in developing word parsing skills. Furthermore, a CSA data structure created while using embodiments of the present invention to listen to material presented in foreign or native languages could be used to analyze which concepts are troublesome for particular students. In this manner, identical audio or audio-visual works could be presented to a class in which each student utilizes the invention to obtain CSA data structures which contain information about the comprehension rates for concepts in the material contained in the works. CSA data structures could then be presented graphically or ordered by concept to allow instructors to grade individuals and/or to gauge the comprehension rate of each student or groups of students. For example, the one would develop a metric related to user requested playback speed and comprehension or familiarity with subject matter embodied in concepts. Those skilled in the art will recognize that the foregoing description has been presented for the sake of illustration and description only. As such, it is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise form disclosed. For example, it should be clear to those of ordinary skill in the art that the audio or audio-visual works described herein can be input to embodiments of the present invention from the internet. It should also be clear to those of ordinary skill in the art that embodiments of Speed Contours or CSA data structures may be used to filter information accessed on the internet. Still further, it should be clear that embodiments of the present invention may be included as parts of search engines used to access audio or audio-visual works on the internet. As a further example, in embodiments of the present invention, a Speed Contour may contain TSM rate entries, for example, of “infinity” for particular portions of an audio or audio-visual work. In such embodiments of the present invention, a TSM rate of “infinity” (or some other indicium that will be similarly translated) directs a playback system to skip sections of an audio or audio-visual work associated with a TSM rate of infinity. Thus, in accordance with such embodiments, users can specify “no interest” in particular portions when listening to or searching audio or audio-visual works. As a further example, it should be clear to those of ordinary skill in the art that embodiments of the present invention include: (a) a computer-readable medium encoded with a CSA data structure; (b) a computer-readable medium encoded with a Speed Contour; (c) a computer-readable medium encoded with an audio or audio visual work together with a CSA data structure; and (d) a computer-readable medium encoded with an audio or audio visual work together with a Speed Contour. In the case of a computer-readable medium encoded with an audio or audio visual work together with a CSA data structure or a Speed Contour, many methods exist that are well known to those of ordinary skill in the art for storing an audio or audio visual work together with a CSA data structure or a Speed Contour. | <SOH> BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION <EOH>Presently known methods for Time-Scale Modification (“TSM”) enable digitally recorded audio to be modified so that a perceived articulation rate of spoken passages, i.e., a speaking rate, can be modified dynamically during playback. Typical applications of such TSM methods include, but are not limited to, speed reading for the blind, talking books, digitally recording lectures, slide shows, multimedia presentations and foreign language learning. In a typical such application, referred to. herein as a Listener-Directed Time-Scale Modification application (“LD-TSM”), a listener can control the speaking rate during playback of a previously recorded speaker. This enables the listener to “speed-up” or “slow-down” the articulation rate and, thereby, the information delivery rate provided by the previously recorded speaker. As is well known to those of ordinary skill in the art, the use of the TSM method in the above-described LD-TSM application enables the sped-up or slowed-down speech or audio to be presented intelligibly at the increased or decreased playback rates. Thus, for example, a listener can readily comprehend material through which he/she is fast-forwarding. In a typical LD-TSM system, input from the listener can be specified in a number of different ways. For example, input can be specified through the use of key presses (button pushes), mouse movements, or voice commands, all of which are referred to below as “keypresses.” As a result, one can readily appreciate that an LD-TSM system enables a listener to adjust the information delivery rate of a digital audio medium to suit his/her interests and speed of comprehension. As one can readily appreciate from the above, in order to optimize the use of such an LD-TSM system, there is a need for determining how listeners interact with audio media that provide TSM. In particular, the actual information delivery rate selected by a listener depends on diverse factors such as intelligibility of a speaker, listener interest in the subject matter, listener familiarity with the subject matter, whether the listener is transcribing the content, and the general amount of time the listener has allotted for receiving the contents of the material. Prior art methods for determining listener interest in portions of speech and/or audio are inherently inaccurate. Specifically, these methods involve detecting fast-forward and rewind patterns of, for example, a cassette tape produced by button pushes. The use of such fast-forward or rewind patterns suffers from various drawbacks. For example, the listener often alternates between fast-forwarding and rewinding over a particular piece of audio material because the information is either not presented, or is unintelligible while fast-forwarding or rewinding. In addition, whenever a playback location is advanced, this either interrupts playback while advancing through the audio material or presents unintelligible versions of the audio material (“chipmunk like” sounds for speed-up, etc.). As such, current methods of determining listener interest are of little use for determining an optimal information delivery rate. As one can readily appreciate from the above, a need exists in the art for a method and apparatus for determining listener interest in portions of speech, audio, and/or audio-visual works. In addition, a need exists in the art for a method and apparatus for replaying speech, audio and/or audio-visual works in accordance with the determination of listener interest to provide a listener-interest-filtered work (“LIF” work). | <SOH> SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION <EOH>One or more embodiments of the present invention advantageously satisfy one or more of the above-identified needs in the art. In particular, one embodiment of the preset invention is a method for generating a listener-interest-filtered work for an audio or audio-visual work, which method comprises steps of: (a) generating one or more average speed contours for one or more audio or audio-visual works for one or more categories of users; (b) converting the one or more average speed contours to one or more conceptual speed association data structures; and forming a listener-interest-filtered conceptual speed association data structure from the one or more conceptual speed association data structures. | 20040907 | 20071120 | 20050210 | 64046.0 | 1 | ARMSTRONG, ANGELA A | METHOD AND APPARATUS TO PREPARE LISTENER-INTEREST-FILTERED WORKS | SMALL | 1 | CONT-ACCEPTED | 2,004 |
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10,935,342 | ACCEPTED | Peer-to-peer mobile instant messaging method and device | A technique is provided for establishing peer-to-peer session-based instant messaging between mobile devices without the need for using an instant messaging registration or log-in server to provide presence information. Session-based instant messaging communications between mobile devices are established by embedding necessary address information in the telephony ringing signal between mobile devices. | 1. A method of establishing session-based instant messaging communications between mobile devices that support a data packet-based communications service over a digital mobile network system, the method comprising: opening a listening port on an initiating mobile device to receive communications through the data packet-based communications service; embedding an invitation message containing the address and the listening port of the initiating mobile device in a telephony ringing signal transmitted to a target mobile device. receiving a response from the target mobile device at the listening port on the initiating mobile device through the data packet-based communications service; and establishing a virtual connection through the data packet-based communications service for the session-based instant messaging session between the initiating mobile device and the target mobile device. 2. The method of claim 1 wherein FSK is utilized to embed the address and the listening port of the initiating mobile device into the telephone ringing signal. 3. The method of claim 1 wherein the data packet-based communications service is GPRS and the digital mobile network system is GSM. 4. The method of claim 1 wherein the initiating mobile device and the target mobile device include QWERTY keyboards. 5. The method of claim 1 wherein the address of the initiating mobile device is an IP address and the listening port is a TCP port. 6. The method of claim 1 wherein the virtual reliable connection is a TCP connection. 7. The method of claim 6 wherein instant messaging communications through the virtual connection utilizes MSRP. 8. A mobile device enabled to establish session-based instant messaging communications with other mobile devices in a digital mobile network system, the mobile device comprising: programming means to support a data packet-based communications service over the digital mobile network system; programming means to extract an invitation message embedded in a telephony ringing signal initiated by the an initiating mobile device, the invitation message containing the address and a listening port of the initiating mobile device; programming means to send a response through the data packet-based communications service to the address and listening port of the initiating mobile device; and programming means to establish a virtual connection through the data packet-based communications service for session-based instant messaging communications between the mobile device and the initiating mobile device. 9. The mobile device of claim 8 wherein the invitation message is embedded in the telephony ringing signal using FSK. 10. The mobile device of claim 8 wherein the data packet-based communications service is GPRS and the digital mobile network system is GSM. 11. The mobile device of claim 8 further comprising a QWERTY keyboard. 12. The mobile device of claim 8 wherein the address of the initiating mobile device is an IP address and the listening port is TCP port. 13. The mobile device of claim 8 wherein the virtual connection is a TCP connection. 14. A computer program for establishing a session-based instant messaging communications between mobile devices that supports a data packet-based communications service over a digital mobile network system, the computer program comprising program code means for performing all the steps of claim 1 when the program is run on a computer. 15. The computer program of claim 14 wherein FSK is utilized to embed the address and the listening port of the initiating mobile device into the telephony ringing signal. 16. The computer program of claim 14 wherein the data packet-based communications service is GPRS and the digital mobile network system is GSM. 17. The computer program of claim 14 wherein the initiating mobile device and the target mobile device include QWERTY keyboards. 18. The computer program of claim 14 wherein the address of the initiating mobile device is an IP address and the listening port is a TCP port. 19. The computer program of claim 14 wherein the virtual connection is a TCP connection. 20. The computer program of claim 14 wherein the program code is distributed between the initiating mobile device and its supporting telephone company. | CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS This application is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/817,994, filed Apr. 4, 2004. FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates generally to messaging techniques for mobile devices, and more specifically, a technique to establish peer-to-peer session-based instant messaging (“IM”) communications among mobile devices without the need for IM registration. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Current instant messaging (“IM”) technologies depend upon a registration system to enable end users to communicate with one another. For example, to establish an IM session on AOL's Instant Messenger (“AIM”), each participating end user must have registered with AOL and must log into an AIM server in order to use the service. This registration system creates a virtual network of registered users and the value to a new user in joining an IM service is directly related to the number of existing users already registered on the service. As more users register to use an IM service, the value of the IM service to registered users increases since registered users will be able establish IM sessions with an increasing number of users. Known as a “network effect,” this phenomenon causes a further tipping effect, which is the natural tendency for few (or even a single) IM services to pull away from their competitors once they have gained an initial edge by registering a critical mass of users. This tipping effect tends to occur rapidly and stems, in part, from users' inclination to gravitate towards the IM services that they expect will be become dominant. This tipping effect gives proprietary IM services such as AIM, Microsoft's NET Messenger Service, and Yahoo! Messenger, that have achieved a large network of registered users, a strong barrier to entry into the IM market. As such, proprietary IM services may be reluctant to provide interoperability to other less established IM services since providing such access could cannibalize their competitive network advantage. From a technical perspective, the registration system used in IM services is necessary to provide presence capabilities. In order to establish an IM session, an end user must be registered with the IM service so that the end user can log into the service's IM server, which broadcasts the end user's availability to engage in IM sessions to an authorized group of the end users peers that have also registered and logged into the IM server. The IM server also similarly provides the end user with a list of registered peers that are available to engage in an IM session. When end users engage in IM sessions over a traditional connected network environment, presence capabilities are a critical characteristic of an IM service because such capabilities are needed to provide an end users peers with sufficient presence information (i.e., IP address and port number) in order to locate the end user within the network and establish a connection between the end user and a peer for an IM session. Furthermore, logging into an IM server also enables an end user to indicate whether or not he or she is physically present (e.g., sitting in front of a networked workstation or in front of a laptop that is connected the network) and willing to engage in an IM session. However, IM services for mobile devices, such as smartphones, appear to have less a need for presence capabilities. Unlike establishing an IM session on a laptop, desktop or workstation, where the end user must broadcast his or her availability and presence information on the network when he or she is physically sifting in front of the laptop, desktop or workstation, establishing an IM session on a mobile device does not suffer from the same presence issues because the end user is presumed to be carrying the mobile device at all times. So long as the mobile device has enough contact information (e.g., cellular telephone number, PIN number, etc.) to directly communicate with other mobile devices through the underlying wireless network technology (e.g., cellular technology, etc.), an IM session could be initiated and established in a manner similar to making and answering mobile phone calls without the need for registering with or logging into an IM server in order to broadcast presence information to other end users for IM purposes. Furthermore, unlike IM services in a traditional connected network environment, successful end user adoption of an IM service between mobile devices would not suffer from reliance upon establishing a critical mass of end users through a registration system. In contrast, such an IM service would be instantly usable to any and all end users of mobile devices so long as such mobile devices are already capable of directly communicating with other mobile devices through the underlying wireless mobile technology without needing further presence information (e.g., cellular phones directly communicating with other cellular phones through cellular telephone numbers). As such, what is needed is a method to establish IM sessions directly between mobile devices, where such mobile devices are capable of directly communicating with other mobile devices through the underlying wireless technology, such that no IM registration or log-in server is needed to provide presence information to other mobile devices for IM purposes. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention provides a method for establishing a peer-to-peer session-based IM communications between mobile devices over a digital mobile network system that supports data packet-based communications. Under the present invention, no IM registration or IM log-in server need be used to provide presence information. Instead, a mobile device initiating an IM session opens a listening port defined by an underlying data packet based network protocol. The initiating mobile device sends an invitation message containing the network address, including the listening port, of the initiating device to a target mobile device through a page-mode messaging service supported by the digital mobile network system. The initiating mobile device further utilizes and incorporates a unique identification number (e.g., telephone number, PIN number, etc.) associated with the target mobile device into the invitation message to locate and contact the target mobile device within the wireless mobile network. Alternatively, the invitation message may be embedded in the telephony ringing signal sent to the target mobile device. Once the initiating mobile device receives a response from the target mobile device at the listening port, the two mobile devices are able to establish a reliable virtual connection through the underlying data packet-based network protocol in order to exchange text messages directly between the two mobile devices through a session-based communication. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 depicts a diagram of an environment for establishing an IM session in accordance with the present invention between a first mobile device and a second mobile device in a GSM mobile network system supporting GPRS as a data packet-based communications service, SMS as a text messaging service, and TCP/IP as an underlying data packet based network protocol. FIG. 2 depicts a flow chart for a first embodiment for establishing a peer-to-peer session-based IM system in accordance with the present invention. FIG. 3 depicts a flow chart for a second embodiment for establishing a peer-to-peer session-based IM system in accordance with the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION FIG. 1 depicts one environment to deploy an embodiment of the present invention. As depicted, the underlying digital mobile network system in this environment is the Global System for Mobile communications (GSM) 100 standard. Under the GSM standard, each of the mobile devices 105 and 110 includes a Subscriber Information Module (SIM) card that contains unique identification information that enables the GSM system to locate the mobile devices within the network and route data to them. A current commercial example of a mobile device (e.g., smartphone, PDA, handheld, etc.) that might be used in FIG. 1 could be Research In Motion's (RIM) BlackBerry handheld devices, which includes a QWERTY keyboard to facilitate the typing of text. As depicted, a GSM architecture includes the following components: base transceiver stations (BTS) 115 and base station controllers (BSC) (120A or 120B) for managing the transmission of radio signals between the MSC (defined below) and the mobile devices, mobile service-switching centers (MSC) (125A and 125B) for performing the all switching functions and controlling calls to and from other telephone and data systems, a home location register (HLR) 130 for containing all the administrative, routing and location information of each subscriber registered in the network, visitor location registers (VLR) (135A and 135B) for containing selected administrative information about subscribers registered in one HLR who are roaming in a another HLR, and an equipment identity register (EIR) (not shown) for containing a list of all valid mobile equipment on the network). As depicted in FIG. 1, in one architecture of a GSM network, there may be exist one HLR while there may exist multiple MSCs (each with a related VLR) which each serves a different geographic area. The MSCs also provide the interface for the GSM network to more traditional voice networks 170 such as the PSTN. This underlying GSM architecture provides radio resources management (e.g., access, paging and handover procedures, etc.), mobility management (e.g., location updating, authentication and security, etc.), and communication management (e.g., call routing, etc.) in order to enable mobile devices in the GSM network to send and receive data through a variety of services, including the Short Message Service (SMS), an asynchronous bi-directional text messaging service for short alphanumeric messages (up to 160 bytes) that are transported from one mobile device to another mobile device in a store-and-forward fashion. A GSM network within which the present invention may be deployed would also support a page-mode messaging service, such as SMS, that relies upon the underlying GSM mechanisms to resolve routing information in order to locate destination mobile devices. Page-mode messaging services such as SMS transmit messages that are independent or asynchronous with each other, but there is no formal relationship between one message and another. In contrast, an IM session that is implemented in accordance with the present invention is a session-mode or session-based messaging service where exchanged messages are formally associated in a session thereby minimizing the overhead costs of transmitting independent messages. A GSM network supporting SMS text messaging may further include the following SMS specific components: a short message service center (SMSC) (140A or 140B) for storing and forwarding messages to and from one mobile device to another, an SMS Gateway-MSC (SMS GMSC) for receiving the short message from the SMSC (140A or 140B) and interrogating the destination mobile device's HLR 130 for routing information to determine the current location of the destination device to deliver the short message to the appropriate MSC (125A or 125B). The SMS GMSC is typically integrated with the SMSC 140. In a typical transmission of an SMS text message from an originating mobile device 105 to a receiving mobile device 110, (i) the text message is transmitted from the mobile 105 to the MSC 125A, (ii) the MSC 125A interrogates its VLR 135A to verify that the message transfer does not violate any supplementary services or restrictions, (iii) the MSC 125A sends the text message to the SMSC 140A, (iv) the SMSC 140A, through the SMS GMSC, interrogates the receiving mobile device's HLR 130 (by accessing the SS7 network) to receive routing information for the receiving mobile device 110, (v) the SMSC sends the text message to the MSC 125B servicing receiving mobile device 110, (vi) the MSC 125B retrieves subscriber information from the VLR 135B, and (vii) the MSC 125A transmits the text message to the receiving mobile device 110. Similar to other transactions on the GSM network, SMS text messaging utilizes telephone numbers as identifying addresses for mobile devices and as such, utilizes the SS7 network signaling system through which cellular service providers share information from the HLR with other service providers. As depicted in FIG. 1, SS7 based signaling communication is represented by the broken lines. In contrast, the solid lines in FIG. 1 represent data or voice based communications. In addition to a page-mode messaging service such as SMS, a GSM network within which the present invention may be deployed would also support a data packet based communications service, such as the General Packet Radio Service (GPRS), that enables TCP/IP transmission protocol based communications between mobile devices within the network. As depicted in FIG. 1, a core GPRS network exists in parallel to the existing GSM core network. The BSC 120 may direct voice traffic through the MSC (125A or 125B) to the GSM network and data traffic through the Serving GPRS Support Note (SGSN) (145A or 145B) to the GPRS network. Such communication between the BSC (125A or 125B) and the SGSN (145A or 145B) may be, for example, based upon the IP network protocol communication 155. As such, GPRS signaling and data traffic do not flow through the core GSM network. Instead, the core GSM network is used by GPRS only for table look-up in the HLR 130 and VLR (135A or 135B) to obtain routing, location and other subscriber information in order to handle user mobility. The SGSN (145A or 145B) serves as a “packet-switched MSC,” delivering data packets to mobile devices in its service area. The Gateway GPRS Support Note (GGSN) (150A or 150B) communicates with the SGSN (145A or 145B) through an IP based GPRS backbone 160 and serves as an interface to other external IP networks 165 such as the Internet and other mobile service providers' GPRS services. When an IM service is offered in a traditional online packet based network environment such as the Internet, the initiating computer must have knowledge of the IP address (and possibly, a port) that has been opened on the listening computer to receive IM communications. In order to provide such IP address information, an IM service will set up a log-on or registration server through which end users can record the IP address on which they are currently listening for instant messaging communications. Because all end users have access to (i.e., know the IP address of) the registration server, they are able to obtain the IP addresses of other end users who have also logged-on or registered on the server and thereby initiate IM sessions directly with another end users computer. Alternatively, the log-on or registration server may serve as a forwarding agent between the two end users engaged in an instant messaging session. In contrast, in accordance with the present invention, a log-on or registration server for IM or presence purposes can be eliminated on a mobile network environment such as that depicted on FIG. 1. Through the use of a page-mode messaging service, such as SMS, which transmits messages to mobile devices based upon their telephone numbers, an initiating mobile device can transmit its IP address (and a listening port) in an invitation message to a target mobile device through the target device's telephone number. Once the target device receives the invitation message, it is able to contact the initiating mobile device through the received IP address and the two devices can establish a reliable virtual connection, such as a TCP connection, for session-based IM communications. FIG. 2 depicts a flow chart depicting the steps taken by an initiating and target mobile device to establish an IM session in accordance with the present invention. Initially, the initiating mobile device opens a TCP port to listen for communications from the target mobile device 210. The target mobile device has also similarly opened an SMS listening port to receive invitation SMS text messages at the specified SMS port 220. The initiating mobile device then transmits its IP address (and TCP port) in an invitation SMS text message to the telephone phone number and a specified SMS port of the target mobile device 230. The target mobile device receives the SMS text message containing the initiating mobile device's IP address (and TCP port) at the specified SMS port 240. The target mobile device extracts the IP address and TCP port from the SMS text message and opens its own TCP port 250. The target mobile device then transmits a request to establish a TCP connection to the initiating mobile device's IP address and TCP port 260. The initiating mobile device receives this request 270 and a TCP connection is established between the IP addresses and TCP ports of the initiating and listening mobile devices and these devices are able to engage in an IM session over a reliable virtual connection 280. Alternatively, FIG. 3 depicts a flow chart for an alternative embodiment depicting steps to establish an IM session in accordance with the present invention. Initially, the initiating mobile device opens a TCP port to listen for communications from the target mobile device 310. The initiating mobile device, through its supporting telephone company, then embeds its IP address (and TCP port) in the telephony ringing signal that is transmitted to the target mobile device 320. For example and without limitation, the telephone company may use a frequency shift keyed (FSK) signal to embed the IP address (and TCP port) into the telephony signal, similar to the traditional techniques used to embed other special service information, such as a caller ID, in the traditional telephony context. The target mobile device receives the telephony ringing signal from the initiating mobile device 330. The target mobile device extracts the IP address and TCP port from the telephone ringing signal and opens its own TCP port 340. The target mobile device then transmits a request to establish a TCP connection to the initiating mobile device's IP address and TCP port 350. The initiating mobile device receives this request 360 and a TCP connection is established between the IP addresses and TCP ports of the initiating and listening mobile devices and these devices are able to engage in an IM session over a reliable virtual connection 370. While the foregoing detailed description has described the present invention using SMS, GSM, GPRS, and TCP/IP, other similar services and protocols may be used in a variety of similar environments in which the present invention may be implemented. For example and without limitation, rather than using SMS to transmit an IP address (and port) from the initiating mobile device to the listening mobile device through the devices' telephone numbers, an alternative embodiment of the present invention might use a PIN-to-PIN messaging technology (as, for example, offered in RIM's Blackberry handheld devices) to transmit the IP address (and port) through unique PIN numbers associated with the mobile devices, or an alternative paging protocol using telephone numbers. Similarly, rather than using FSK to embed the IP address (and port) into the telephony ringing signal, an alternative embodiment of the present invention might use a Duel Tone Multi-Frequency (DTMF) transmission to embed the IP address and port. Furthermore, the present invention contemplates that the actual protocol used during an established IM session may also vary depending upon the preference of the implementation. For example and without limitation, Message Session Relay Protocol (MSRP) or any proprietary based protocol may be used during the IM session that is established in accordance with the present invention. Thus, various modifications, additions and substitutions and the like can be made without departing from the spirit of the invention and these are therefore considered to be within the scope of the invention as defined in the following claims. | <SOH> BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION <EOH>Current instant messaging (“IM”) technologies depend upon a registration system to enable end users to communicate with one another. For example, to establish an IM session on AOL's Instant Messenger (“AIM”), each participating end user must have registered with AOL and must log into an AIM server in order to use the service. This registration system creates a virtual network of registered users and the value to a new user in joining an IM service is directly related to the number of existing users already registered on the service. As more users register to use an IM service, the value of the IM service to registered users increases since registered users will be able establish IM sessions with an increasing number of users. Known as a “network effect,” this phenomenon causes a further tipping effect, which is the natural tendency for few (or even a single) IM services to pull away from their competitors once they have gained an initial edge by registering a critical mass of users. This tipping effect tends to occur rapidly and stems, in part, from users' inclination to gravitate towards the IM services that they expect will be become dominant. This tipping effect gives proprietary IM services such as AIM, Microsoft's NET Messenger Service, and Yahoo! Messenger, that have achieved a large network of registered users, a strong barrier to entry into the IM market. As such, proprietary IM services may be reluctant to provide interoperability to other less established IM services since providing such access could cannibalize their competitive network advantage. From a technical perspective, the registration system used in IM services is necessary to provide presence capabilities. In order to establish an IM session, an end user must be registered with the IM service so that the end user can log into the service's IM server, which broadcasts the end user's availability to engage in IM sessions to an authorized group of the end users peers that have also registered and logged into the IM server. The IM server also similarly provides the end user with a list of registered peers that are available to engage in an IM session. When end users engage in IM sessions over a traditional connected network environment, presence capabilities are a critical characteristic of an IM service because such capabilities are needed to provide an end users peers with sufficient presence information (i.e., IP address and port number) in order to locate the end user within the network and establish a connection between the end user and a peer for an IM session. Furthermore, logging into an IM server also enables an end user to indicate whether or not he or she is physically present (e.g., sitting in front of a networked workstation or in front of a laptop that is connected the network) and willing to engage in an IM session. However, IM services for mobile devices, such as smartphones, appear to have less a need for presence capabilities. Unlike establishing an IM session on a laptop, desktop or workstation, where the end user must broadcast his or her availability and presence information on the network when he or she is physically sifting in front of the laptop, desktop or workstation, establishing an IM session on a mobile device does not suffer from the same presence issues because the end user is presumed to be carrying the mobile device at all times. So long as the mobile device has enough contact information (e.g., cellular telephone number, PIN number, etc.) to directly communicate with other mobile devices through the underlying wireless network technology (e.g., cellular technology, etc.), an IM session could be initiated and established in a manner similar to making and answering mobile phone calls without the need for registering with or logging into an IM server in order to broadcast presence information to other end users for IM purposes. Furthermore, unlike IM services in a traditional connected network environment, successful end user adoption of an IM service between mobile devices would not suffer from reliance upon establishing a critical mass of end users through a registration system. In contrast, such an IM service would be instantly usable to any and all end users of mobile devices so long as such mobile devices are already capable of directly communicating with other mobile devices through the underlying wireless mobile technology without needing further presence information (e.g., cellular phones directly communicating with other cellular phones through cellular telephone numbers). As such, what is needed is a method to establish IM sessions directly between mobile devices, where such mobile devices are capable of directly communicating with other mobile devices through the underlying wireless technology, such that no IM registration or log-in server is needed to provide presence information to other mobile devices for IM purposes. | <SOH> SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION <EOH>The present invention provides a method for establishing a peer-to-peer session-based IM communications between mobile devices over a digital mobile network system that supports data packet-based communications. Under the present invention, no IM registration or IM log-in server need be used to provide presence information. Instead, a mobile device initiating an IM session opens a listening port defined by an underlying data packet based network protocol. The initiating mobile device sends an invitation message containing the network address, including the listening port, of the initiating device to a target mobile device through a page-mode messaging service supported by the digital mobile network system. The initiating mobile device further utilizes and incorporates a unique identification number (e.g., telephone number, PIN number, etc.) associated with the target mobile device into the invitation message to locate and contact the target mobile device within the wireless mobile network. Alternatively, the invitation message may be embedded in the telephony ringing signal sent to the target mobile device. Once the initiating mobile device receives a response from the target mobile device at the listening port, the two mobile devices are able to establish a reliable virtual connection through the underlying data packet-based network protocol in order to exchange text messages directly between the two mobile devices through a session-based communication. | 20040907 | 20100727 | 20051006 | 65471.0 | 2 | MIAH, LITON | PEER-TO-PEER MOBILE INSTANT MESSAGING METHOD AND DEVICE | UNDISCOUNTED | 1 | CONT-ACCEPTED | 2,004 |
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10,935,384 | ACCEPTED | SILVER SALT-TONER CO-PRECIPITATES AND IMAGING MATERIALS | Thermally developable materials such as thermographic and photo-thermographic materials include a co-precipitate comprising first and second organic silver salts, the first organic silver salt comprising a silver salt of a nitrogen-containing heterocyclic compound containing an imino group, and the second organic silver salt comprising a silver salt of a mercaptotriazole. The first organic silver salt can be used in the imaging process as a source of reducible silver ions, and the second organic silver salt can be a source of a toning agent. The co-precipitate can be prepared using double-jet precipitation techniques to provide an aqueous dispersion that can be used in imaging formulations. | 1. A co-precipitate particle comprising first and second organic silver salts, said first organic silver salt comprising a silver salt of a nitrogen-containing heterocyclic compound containing an imino group, and said second organic silver salt being uniformly distributed throughout the volume of said particle and comprising a silver salt of a mercaptotriazole, wherein said second organic silver salt comprises a silver salt of a mercaptotriazole having the following Structure (I): wherein R1 and R2 independently represent hydrogen, an alkyl group, an alkenyl group, a cycloalkyl group, an aromatic or non-aromatic heterocyclyl group, an amino or amide group, an aryl group, or a Y1—(CH2)k-group wherein Y1 is an aryl group or an aromatic or non-aromatic heterocyclyl group, and k is 1-3, or R1 and R2 taken together can form a 5- to 7-membered aromatic or non-aromatic nitrogen-containing heterocyclic ring, or still again, R1 or R2 can represent a divalent linking group linking two mercaptotriazole groups, and R2 may further represent carboxy or its salts, provided that R1 and R2 are not simultaneously hydrogen, and when R1 is an unsubstituted phenyl group, R2 is not hydrogen. 2. The co-precipitate particle of claim 1 having an aspect ratio of at least 2 and said first organic silver salt comprises a silver salt of a benzotriazole. 3. The co-precipitate particle of claim 1 wherein R1 is an alkyl or phenyl group and R2 is hydrogen. 4.-7. (canceled) 8. The co-precipitate particle of claim 1 that has an aspect ragtio of at least 3 and a width index for particle diameter of 1.25 or less. 9. The co-precipitate particle of claim 1 wherein the molar ratio of said first organic silver salt to said second organic silver salt is from about 100:1 to about 15:1. 10. A co-precipitate particle comprising first and second organic silver salts, said first organic silver salt comprising a silver salt of a benzotriazole, and said second organic silver salt comprising a silver salt of a mercaptotriazole represented by the following Structure (T-1), wherein the molar ratio of said first organic silver salt to said second organic silver salt is from about 100:1 to about 15:1, and at least 95 mol % of said second organic silver salt is present within a localized portion that is from about 90 to 100 volume % of said co-precipitate particle wherein 100 volume % represents the outer surface of said co-precipitate particle: 11. (canceled) 12. A method of making a co-precipitate particle of first and second organic silver salts, said first organic silver salt comprising a silver salt of a nitrogen-containing heterocyclic compound containing an imino group, and said second organic silver salt uniformly distributed throughout the volume of said particle and comprising a silver salt of a mercaptotriazole, said method comprising: A) preparing aqueous solution A containing a nitrogen-containing heterocyclic compound containing an imino group, A′) preparing aqueous solution A′ containing a mercaptotriazole, wherein solutions A and A′ are the same solution, B) preparing aqueous solution B of silver nitrate, and C) simultaneously adding said aqueous solutions A and B to a reaction vessel containing an aqueous dispersion of a hydrophilic polymer binder or a water-dispersible polymer latex binder that has a pH of from about 7.5 to about 10, via controlled double-jet precipitation, while maintaining a constant temperature of from about 30 to about 75° C., a constant pH, and a constant vAg equal to or greater than −50 mV in said reaction vessel, thereby preparing in said reaction vessel a dispersion of said hydrophilic polymer binder or said water-dispersible polymer latex binder and co-precipitate particles of said first and second silver salts, and said hydrophilic polymer binder or said water-dispersible polymer latex binder being present in said dispersion in an amount of from about 2 to about 10 weight %, wherein said second organic silver salt comprises a silver salt of a mercaptotriazole having the following Structure (I): wherein R1 and R2 independently represent hydrogen, an alkyl group, an alkenyl group, a cycloalkyl group, an aromatic or non-aromatic heterocyclyl group, an amino or amide group, an aryl group, or a Y1—(CH2)k-group wherein Y1 is an aryl group or an aromatic or non-aromatic heterocyclyl group, and k is 1-3, or R1 and R2 taken together can form a 5- to 7-membered aromatic or non-aromatic nitrogen-containing heterocyclic ring, or still again, R1 or R2 can represent a divalent linking group linking two mercaptotriazole groups, and R2 may further represent carboxy or its salts, provided that R1 and R2 are not simultaneously hydrogen, and when R1 is an unsubstituted phenyl group, R2 is not hydrogen. 13. The method of claim 12 wherein the ratio of the molar flow rate (A1) of the nitrogen-containing heterocyclic compound containing an imino group in Solution A to the total Ag moles precipitated is from about 0.004 to about 0.04 mol/min/mol Ag and the ratio of the molar flow rate (B1) of Solution B to the total Ag moles precipitated is from about 0.004 to about 0.04 mol/min/mol Ag. 14. The method of claim 12 wherein solutions A and A′ are different and solution A′ is added to said reaction vessel such that the ratio of molar flow rate (A′1) of the mercaptotriazole in Solution A′ to the total Ag moles precipitated is from about 0.004 to about 0.04 mol/min/mol Ag and the ratio of the molar flow rate of Solution B to the total Ag moles precipitated is from about 0.004 to about 0.04 mol/min/mol Ag. 15. The method of claim 12 wherein said nitrogen-containing heterocyclic compound containing an imino group is present in said Solution A at a concentration of at least 0.1 mol/l and said mercaptotriazole is present in said Solution A at a concentration of at least 0.1 mol/l. 16. The method of claim 12 wherein the pH in said reaction vessel is maintained at from about 7.5 to about 10, and said vAg is maintained in said reaction vessel from about ±51 to about 0 mV. 17. (canceled) 18. The method of claim 12 wherein said co-precipitate particle has an aspect ratio of at least 2, said first organic silver salt comprises a silver salt of a benzotriazole, and said second organic silver salt comprises a silver salt of a mercaptotriazole that is the silver salt of Compound T-1, 19. A method of making a co-precipitate comprising: A) preparing aqueous solution A containing a benzotriazole at a concentration of from about 2 to about 4 mol/l, A′) preparing aqueous solution A′ that is different from solution A and contains a mercaptotriazole of Structure (T-1) at a concentration of from about 0.5 to about 3 mol/l, B) preparing aqueous solution B of silver nitrate, and C) simultaneously adding said aqueous solutions A and B to a reaction vessel containing an aqueous dispersion of a hydrophilic polymer binder or a water-dispersible polymer latex binder that has a pH of from about 7.5 to about 10, via controlled double-jet precipitation, while maintaining a constant temperature of from about 30 to about 75° C., a constant pH, and a constant vAg equal to or greater than −50 mV in said reaction vessel, E) adding solution A′ to said reaction vessel during step C but only after at least 75 volume % of solution B has been added to said reaction vessel, thereby preparing in said reaction vessel a dispersion of said hydrophilic polymer binder or said water-dispersible polymer latex binder and particles of the co-precipitate of said first and second organic silver salts, and said hydrophilic polymer binder or said water-dispersible polymer latex binder being present in said dispersion in an amount of from about 2 to about 10 weight %, 20. A black-and-white, non-photosensitive thermographic material comprising a support and having thereon at least one non-photosensitive thermally developable imaging layer comprising a hydrophilic polymer binder or a water-dispersible polymer latex binder and in reactive association: a. a non-photosensitive source of reducible silver ions, and b. a reducing agent for said reducible silver ions, wherein said non-photosensitive source of reducible silver ions predominantly comprises a co-precipitate particle comprising first and second organic silver salts, said first organic silver salt comprising a silver salt of a nitrogen-containing heterocyclic compound containing an imino group, and said second organic silver salt being uniformly distributed throughout the volume of said particle and comprising a silver salt of a mercaptotriazole. 21. A black-and-white photothermographic material comprising a support and having thereon at least one thermally developable imaging layer comprising a hydrophilic polymer binder or a water-dispersible polymer latex binder and in reactive association: a. a photosensitive silver halide that is spectrally sensitized to a wavelength of from about 300 to about 450 nm, b. a non-photosensitive source of reducible silver ions, and c. a reducing agent for said reducible silver ions, wherein said non-photosensitive source of reducible silver ions predominantly comprises a co-precipitate particle comprising first and second organic silver salts, said first organic silver salt comprising a silver salt of a nitrogen-containing heterocyclic compound containing an imino group, and said second organic silver salt being uniformly distributed throughout the volume of said particle and comprising a silver salt of a mercaptotriazole. 22. The material of claim 21 wherein first organic silver salt comprises a silver salt of a benzotriazole and said second organic silver salt comprises a silver salt of a mercaptotriazole having the following Structure (I): wherein R1 and R2 independently represent hydrogen, an alkyl group, an alkenyl group, a cycloalkyl group, an aromatic or non-aromatic heterocyclyl group, an amino or amide group, an aryl group, or a Y1—(CH2)k-group wherein Y1 is an aryl group or an aromatic or non-aromatic heterocyclyl group, and k is 1-3, or R1 and R2 taken together can form a 5- to 7-membered aromatic or non-aromatic nitrogen-containing heterocyclic ring, or still again, R1 or R2 can represent a divalent linking group linking two mercaptotriazole groups, and R2 may further represent carboxy or its salts, provided that R1 and R2 are not simultaneously hydrogen, and when R1 is an unsubstituted phenyl group, R2 is not hydrogen. 23. The material of claim 21 wherein said mercaptotriazole is a silver salt of one or more of the following Compounds T-1 through T-59: 24. A black-and-white photothermographic material comprising a support and having thereon at least one thermally developable imaging layer comprising a hydrophilic polymer binder or a water-dispersible polymer latex binder and in reactive association: a. a photosensitive silver halide, b. a non-photosensitive source of reducible silver ions, and c. a reducing agent for said reducible silver ions, wherein said non-photosensitive source of reducible silver ions predominantly comprises a co-precipitate particle comprising first and second organic silver salts, said first organic silver salt comprising a silver salt of a nitrogen-containing heterocyclic compound containing an imino group, and said second organic silver salt comprising a silver salt of a mercaptotriazole, wherein said first organic silver salt comprising a silver salt of a benzotriazole and said second organic silver salt is present within a localized portion that is from about 75 to 100 volume % of said co-precipitate particle wherein 100 volume % represents its outer surface and comprises a silver salt of a mercaptotriazole that is the silver salt of Compound (T-1), 25. (canceled) 26. The material of claim 24 wherein said second organic silver salt is present within a localized portion that is from about 90 to 100 volume % of said co-precipitate particle wherein 100 volume % represents its outer surface, and said co-precipitate particle has an aspect ratio of at least 3 and a width index for particle diameter of 1.25 or less. 27. (canceled) 28. A black-and-white photothermographic material comprising a support and having thereon at least one thermally developable imaging layer comprising a hydrophilic polymer binder or a water-dispersible polymer latex binder and in reactive association: a. a photosensitive silver halide present as ultrathin tabular grains, b. a non-photosensitive source of reducible silver ions, and c. a reducing agent for said reducible silver ions, wherein said non-photosensitive source of reducible silver ions comprises a co-precipitate particle comprising first and second organic silver salts, said first organic silver salt comprising a silver salt of a nitrogen-containing heterocyclic compound containing an imino group, and said second organic silver salt being uniformly distributed throughout the volume of said particle and comprising a silver salt of a mercaptotriazole. 29. The material of claim 28 wherein said first organic silver salt comprises a silver salt of a benzotriazole and said second organic silver salt comprises a silver salt of a mercaptotriazole having the following Structure (I): wherein R1 and R2 independently represent hydrogen, an alkyl group, an alkenyl group, a cycloalkyl group, an aromatic or non-aromatic heterocyclyl group, an amino or amide group, an aryl group, or a Y1—(CH2)k-group wherein Y1 is an aryl group or an aromatic or non-aromatic heterocyclyl group, and k is 1-3, or R1 and R2 taken together can form a 5- to 7-membered aromatic or non-aromatic nitrogen-containing heterocyclic ring, or still again, R1 or R2 can represent a divalent linking group linking two mercaptotriazole groups, and R2 may further represent carboxy or its salts, provided that R1 and R2 are not simultaneously hydrogen, and when R1 is an unsubstituted phenyl group, R2 is not hydrogen. 30. The material of claim 28 wherein said co-precipitate has an aspect ratio of at least 3 and a width index for particle diameter of 1.25 or less. 31. The material of claim 28 wherein said reducing agent is an ascorbic acid or reductone. 32. The material of claim 31 wherein said reducing agent is a fatty acid ester of ascorbic acid, and said hydrophilic binder is gelatin, a gelatin derivative, or a cellulosic material, and said one or more thermally developable imaging layers has a pH of less than 7. 33.-34. (canceled) 35. A black-and-white photothermographic material comprising a support having on a frontside thereof, a) one or more frontside thermally developable imaging layers comprising a hydrophilic polymer binder or a water-dispersible polymer latex binder, and in reactive association, a photosensitive silver halide, a non-photo-sensitive source of reducible silver ions, and a reducing agent for said non-photosensitive source of reducible silver ions, b) said material comprising on the backside of said support, one or more backside thermally developable imaging layers having the same or different composition as said frontside thermally developable imaging layers, and c) optionally, an outermost protective layer disposed over said one or more thermally developable imaging layers on either or both sides of said support, wherein said non-photosensitive source of reducible silver ions comprises a co-precipitate particle comprising first and second organic silver salts, said first organic silver salt comprising a silver salt of a nitrogen-containing heterocyclic compound containing an imino group, and said second organic silver salt comprising a silver salt of a mercaptotriazole being uniformly distributed throughout the volume of said particle. 36. The material of claim 35 wherein said co-precipitate comprises rod-shaped particles that have a length of from about 0.1 to about 0.5 μm, a diameter of from about 0.03 to about 0.07 μm, an aspect ratio of from about 3 to about 10, and a width index for particle diameter of from about 1.1 to about 1.2. 37. The material of claim 35 wherein said photosensitive silver halide is sensitive to electromagnetic radiation of from about 300 to about 450 nm. 38. The material of claim 35 wherein said first organic silver salt is a silver benzotriazole and said silver salt of said mercaptotriazole is represented by a silver salt of the following Structure (I): wherein R1 and R2 independently represent hydrogen, an alkyl group, an alkenyl group, a cycloalkyl group, an aromatic or non-aromatic heterocyclyl group, an amino or amide group, an aryl group, or a Y1—(CH2)k-group wherein Y1 is an aryl group or an aromatic or non-aromatic heterocyclyl group, and k is 1-3, or R1 and R2 taken together can form a 5- to 7-membered aromatic or non-aromatic nitrogen-containing heterocyclic ring, or still again, R1 or R2 can represent a divalent linking group linking two mercaptotriazole groups, and R2 may further represent carboxy or its salts, provided that R1 and R2 are not simultaneously hydrogen. 39. A black-and-white photothermographic material comprising a support having on a frontside thereof, a) one or more frontside thermally developable imaging layers comprising a hydrophilic polymer binder or a water-dispersible polymer latex binder, and in reactive association, a photosensitive silver halide, a non-photo-sensitive source of reducible silver ions, and a reducing agent for said non-photosensitive source of reducible silver ions, b) said material comprising on the backside of said support, one or more backside thermally developable imaging layers having the same or different composition as said frontside thermally developable imaging layers, and c) optionally, an outermost protective layer disposed over said one or more thermally developable imaging layers on either or both sides of said support, wherein said non-photosensitive source of reducible silver ions comprises a co-precipitate particle comprising first and second organic silver salts, said first organic silver salt comprising a silver salt of a nitrogen-containing heterocyclic compound containing an imino group, and said second organic silver salt being uniformly distributed throughout the volume of said particle and comprising a silver salt of a mercaptotriazole, wherein said thermally developable imaging layers on both sides of said support are essentially the same, said reducing agent is a fatty acid ester of ascorbic acid, said photosensitive silver halide is present as tabular grains of silver bromide or silver iodobromide, said first organic silver salt is silver benzotriazole, and said silver salt of said mercaptotriazole is the silver salt of Compound T-1, 40. The material of claim 35 wherein each of said thermally developable imaging layers on both sides of said support has been coated out of an aqueous formulation comprising an aqueous solvent. 41. The black-and-white photothermographic material of claim 39 wherein at least 95 mol % of said second organic silver salt is present within a localized portion that is from about 95 to 100 volume % of said co-precipitate particle wherein 100 volume % represents its outer surface. 42. The black-and-white photothermographic material of claim 41 wherein at least part of the outer surface of said co-precipitate particle is covered by said second organic silver salt. 43.-47. (canceled) 48. A method of forming a visible image comprising: A) imagewise exposing the photothermographic material of claim 21 to form a latent image, B) simultaneously or sequentially, heating said exposed photothermographic material to develop said latent image into a visible image. 49. A method of forming a visible image comprising: A) imagewise exposing the photothermographic material of claim 24 to form a latent image, B) simultaneously or sequentially, heating said exposed photothermographic material to develop said latent image into a visible image. 50. The method of claim 49 wherein said thermally developable material comprises a transparent support, and said image-forming method further comprises: C) positioning said exposed and thermally-developed material with the visible image therein between a source of imaging radiation and an imageable material that is sensitive to said imaging radiation, and D) exposing said imageable material to said imaging radiation through the visible image in said exposed and thermally-developed material to provide an image in said imageable material. 51. The method of claim 49 wherein said imagewise exposing is carried out using visible or X-radiation. 52. The method of claim 49 wherein said photothermographic material is arranged in association with one or more phosphor intensifying screens during imaging. 53. The method of claim 49 further comprising using said exposed photothermographic material for medical diagnosis. 54. An imaging assembly comprising the photothermographic material of claim 24 that is arranged in association with one or more phosphor intensifying screens. 55. An imaging assembly comprising the photothermographic material of claim 35 that is arranged in association with a phosphor intensifying screens on each side thereof. 56. The imaging assembly of claim 55 wherein said photothermographic material comprises a photosensitive silver halide that is spectrally sensitive to a wavelength of from about 360 to about 420 nm, and said phosphor intensifying screens are capable of emitting radiation in the range of from about 360 to about 420 nm. 57. A dispersion of a hydrophilic polymer binder or a water-dispersible polymer latex binder and one or more co-precipitate particles comprising first and second organic silver salts, said first organic silver salt comprising a silver salt of a nitrogen-containing heterocyclic compound containing an imino group, and said second organic silver salt being uniformly distributed throughout the volume of said particle and comprising a silver salt of a mercaptotriazole, and said hydrophilic polymer binder or said water-dispersible polymer latex binder being present in said dispersion in an amount of from about 2 to about 10 weight %, wherein said mercaptotriazole is represented by the following Structure (I): wherein R1 and R2 independently represent hydrogen, an alkyl group, an alkenyl group, a cycloalkyl group, an aromatic or non-aromatic heterocyclyl group, an amino or amide group, an aryl group, or a Y1—(CH2)k-group wherein Y1 is an aryl group or an aromatic or non-aromatic heterocyclyl group, and k is 1-3, or R1 and R2 taken together can form a 5- to 7-membered aromatic or non-aromatic nitrogen-containing heterocyclic ring, or still again, R1 or R2 can represent a divalent linking group linking two mercaptotriazole groups, and R2 may further represent carboxy or its salts, provided that R1 and R2 are not simultaneously hydrogen, and when R1 is an unsubstituted phenyl group, R2 is not hydrogen. 58. The dispersion of claim 57 wherein said first organic silver salt is silver benzotriazole, said mercaptotriazole is the silver salt of Compound T-1, and said hydrophilic binder is gelatin or a gelatin derivative, 59. The material of claim 21 wherein at least 75 weight % of the total binders in said at least one thermally developable imaging layer is gelatin or a gelatin derivative, and said material further comprises a protective topcoat layer in which at least 75 weight % of the total binders is gelatin or a gelatin derivative. 60. The material of claim 35 comprising an outermost protective layer disposed over said one or more thermally developable imaging layers on both sides of said support, and at least 75 weight % of the total binders in both said outermost protective layers and said one or more thermally developable imaging layers on both sides of said support is gelatin or a gelatin derivative. 61. The material of claim 21 further comprising a 2-alkylphthalazinium salt. 62. The material of claim 61 wherein said 2-alkylphthalazinium salt is 2-butylphthalazinium chloride. | FIELD OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to co-precipitates in the form of nano-crystals or particles containing two or more of specific organic silver salts. This invention also relates to a method of making these co-precipitates and to their use in thermally developable materials such as thermographic and photothermographic materials. It also relates to methods of forming images using the thermally developable materials. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Silver-containing photothermographic imaging materials (that is, thermally developable photosensitive imaging materials) that are imaged with actinic radiation and then developed using heat and without liquid processing have been known in the art for many years. Such materials are used in a recording process wherein an image is formed by imagewise exposure of the photothermographic material to specific electromagnetic radiation and developed by the use of thermal energy. These materials, also known as “dry silver” materials, generally comprise a support having coated thereon: (a) a photocatalyst (that is, a photo-sensitive compound such as silver halide) that upon such exposure provides a latent image in exposed grains that are capable of acting as a catalyst for the subsequent formation of a silver image in a development step, (b) a relatively or completely non-photosensitive source of reducible silver ions, (c) a reducing composition (usually including a developer) for the reducible silver ions, and (d) a hydrophilic or hydrophobic binder. The latent image is then developed by application of thermal energy. In photothermographic materials, exposure of the photographic silver halide to light produces small clusters containing silver atoms (Ag0)n. The imagewise distribution of these clusters, known in the art as a latent image, is generally not visible by ordinary means. Thus, the photosensitive material must be further developed to produce a visible image by the reduction of silver ions that are in catalytic proximity to silver halide grains bearing the silver-containing clusters of the latent image. This produces a black-and-white image. The non-photosensitive silver source is catalytically reduced to form the visible black-and-white negative image while much of the silver halide, generally, remains as silver halide and is not reduced. In most instances, the source of reducible silver ions is an organic silver salt in which silver ions are complexed with organic silver coordinating ligands. Thermographic materials are similar in nature except that the photocatalyst is omitted and imaging and development are carried out simultaneously using a thermal imaging means. Such materials also include an organic silver salt that provides reducible silver ions required for imaging. Differences Between Photothermography and Photography The imaging arts have long recognized that the field of photothermography is clearly distinct from that of photography. Photothermographic materials differ significantly from conventional silver halide photographic materials that require processing with aqueous processing solutions. In photothermographic imaging materials, a visible image is created by heat as a result of the reaction of a developer incorporated within the material. Heating at 50° C. or more is essential for this dry development. In contrast, conventional photographic imaging materials require processing in aqueous processing baths at more moderate temperatures (from 30° C. to 50° C.) to provide a visible image. In photothermographic materials, only a small amount of silver halide is used to capture light and a non-photosensitive source of reducible silver ions (for example a silver carboxylate or a silver benzotriazole) is used to generate the visible image using thermal development. Thus, the imaged photosensitive silver halide serves as a catalyst for the physical development process involving the non-photosensitive source of reducible silver ions and the incorporated reducing agent. In contrast, conventional wet-processed, black-and-white photographic materials use only one form of silver (that is, silver halide) that, upon chemical development, is itself at least partially converted into the silver image, or that upon physical development requires addition of an external silver source (or other reducible metal ions that form black images upon reduction to the corresponding metal). Thus, photothermographic materials require an amount of silver halide per unit area that is only a fraction of that used in conventional wet-processed photographic materials. In photothermographic materials, all of the “chemistry” for imaging is incorporated within the material itself. For example, such materials include a developer (that is, a reducing agent for the reducible silver ions) while conventional photographic materials usually do not. Even in so-called “instant photography,” the developer chemistry is physically separated from the photo-sensitive silver halide until development is desired. The incorporation of the developer into photothermographic materials can lead to increased formation of various types of “fog” or other undesirable sensitometric side effects. Therefore, much effort has gone into the preparation and manufacture of photothermographic materials to minimize these problems. Moreover, in photothermographic materials, the unexposed silver halide generally remains intact after development and the material must be stabilized against further imaging and development. In contrast, silver halide is removed from conventional photographic materials after solution development to prevent further imaging (that is in the aqueous fixing step). Because photothermographic materials require dry thermal processing, they present distinctly different problems and require different materials in manufacture and use, compared to conventional, wet-processed silver halide photographic materials. Additives that have one effect in conventional silver halide photographic materials may behave quite differently when incorporated in photothermographic materials where the chemistry is significantly more complex. The incorporation of such additives as, for example, stabilizers, antifoggants, speed enhancers, supersensitizers, and spectral and chemical sensitizers in conventional photographic materials is not predictive of whether such additives will prove beneficial or detrimental in photothermographic materials. For example, it is not uncommon for a photographic antifoggant useful in conventional photographic materials to cause various types of fog when incorporated into photothermographic materials, or for supersensitizers that are effective in photographic materials to be inactive in photothermographic materials. These and other distinctions between photothermographic and photographic materials are described in Imaging Processes and Materials (Neblette's Eighth Edition), noted above, Unconventional Imaging Processes, E. Brinckman et al. (Eds.), The Focal Press, London and New York, 1978, pp. 74-75, in Zou et al., J. Imaging Sci. Technol. 1996, 40, pp. 94-103, and in M. R. V. Sahyun, J. Imaging Sci. Technol. 1998, 42, 23. Problem to be Solved As noted above, non-photosensitive sources of reducible silver ions are critical to the imaging mechanism of both photothermographic and thermographic materials. Various organic silver salts are useful for this purpose including silver carboxylates (both aliphatic and aromatic), silver salts of nitrogen-containing heterocyclic compounds, silver sulfonates, and many others known in the art as described for example in U.S. Pat. No. 6,576,410 (Zou et al.). Aqueous-based photothermographic materials have been known for many years in which the imaging components and binders are formulated in and coated from solvents comprising primarily water. It has been necessary in designing such materials that the various imaging components be compatible with water and other water-soluble or -dispersible components. Silver benzotriazole has been found particularly useful in aqueous-based materials because of the hydrophilic nature of silver benzotriazole crystal surfaces and its compatability with most water-soluble binders. One challenge in photothermographic materials is the need to prevent image artifacts known as “black spots” after thermal development. Black spots are believed to be caused by crystallization of active toners or agglomeration of toner particles during dispersion, melt preparation, coating, and drying of thermographic and photothermographic materials. Upon thermal development, the local concentration of active toner where these toner particles reside is so high as to cause spontaneous development in the non-imaged areas, resulting in high-density black spots. Another challenge in photothermographic materials is the need to improve their stability after use. This is referred to as “Archival Stability” or “Dark Stability.” It is desirable that the Dmin not increase, and that the Dmax, tint, and tone of the image not change. A further challenge in photothermographic materials is the need to improve their stability at ambient temperature and relative humidity during storage prior to use. This stability is referred to as “Natural Age Keeping” (NAK) or as “Raw Stock Keeping” (RSK). It is desirable that photothermographic materials be capable of maintaining imaging properties, including photospeed and Dmax, while minimizing any increase in Dmin during storage periods. Natural Age Keeping is a problem especially for photothermographic films compared to conventional silver halide photographic films because, as noted above, all the components needed for development and image formation in photothermographic systems are incorporated into the imaging element, in intimate proximity, prior to development. Thus, there are a greater number of potentially reactive components that can prematurely react during storage. Mercaptotriazoles have been described for use as toners in photothermographic materials in U.S. Pat. No. 3,832,186 (Masuda et al.), U.S. Pat. No. 4,201,582 (White), U.S. Pat. No. 4,105,451 (Smith et al.), and U.S. Pat. No. 6,713,240 (Lynch et al.). The mercaptotriazoles described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,713,240 are especially useful toners (or toning agents) and development accelerators for photothermographic materials. Mercaptotriazoles suitable for thermally developable imaging materials often have poor water solubility and cause undesirable precipitation when added to aqueous-based imaging formulations, thereby adversely affecting coating quality and density uniformity. Moreover, the presence of such toners in photothermographic materials during storage before use also may accelerate the increase in Dmin. Thus, photothermographic materials that include large quantities of mercaptotriazole toners to accelerate the development reaction may be susceptible to keeping problems, leading to reduced “NAK.” U.S. Pat. No. 6,576,414 (Irving et al.) and U.S. Pat. No. 6,548,236 (Irving et al.) describe both color and black-and-white photothermographic materials containing core/shell particles having two or more different organic silver salts. The particles function as silver sources. There remains a need to effectively incorporate specific organic silver salts and mercaptotriazole toners into aqueous-based photothermographic imaging formulations and materials so that formation of black spots is reduced and sensitometric properties are not changed during Natural Age Keeping, and so that Archival Stability is improved, all without sacrifice of desired photospeed and other sensitometric properties. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION This invention provides a co-precipitate particle comprising first and second organic silver salts, the first organic silver salt comprising a silver salt of a nitrogen-containing heterocyclic compound containing an imino group, and the second organic silver salt comprising a silver salt of a mercaptotriazole, wherein the second organic silver salt comprises a silver salt of a mercaptotriazole having the following Structure (I): wherein R1 and R2 independently represent hydrogen, an alkyl group, an alkenyl group, a cycloalkyl group, an aromatic or non-aromatic heterocyclyl group, an amino or amide group, an aryl group, or a Y1—(CH2)k-group wherein Y1 is an aryl group or an aromatic or non-aromatic heterocyclyl group, and k is 1-3, or R1 and R2 taken together can form a 5- to 7-membered aromatic or non-aromatic nitrogen-containing heterocyclic ring, or still again, R1 or R2 can represent a divalent linking group linking two mercaptotriazole groups, and. R2 may further represent carboxy or its salts, provided that R1 and R2 are not simultaneously hydrogen, and when R1 is an unsubstituted phenyl group, R2 is not hydrogen. Preferred embodiments comprise a co-precipitate particle comprising first and second organic silver salts, the first organic silver salt comprising a silver salt of a benzotriazole, and the second organic silver salt comprising a silver salt of a mercaptotriazole represented by Structure (I) noted above, wherein R1 is an alkyl or phenyl group and R2 is hydrogen, provided that when R1 is an unsubstituted phenyl group, R2 is not hydrogen, and wherein the molar ratio of the first organic silver salt to the second organic silver salt is from about 100:1 to about 15:1, and at least 95 mol % ofthe second organic silver salt is present within a localized portion that is from about 90 to 100 volume % of the co-precipitate particle wherein 100 volume % represents the outer surface of the co-precipitate particle. This invention also provides a method of making a co-precipitate particle of first and second organic silver salts, the first organic silver salt comprising a silver salt of a nitrogen-containing heterocyclic compound containing an imino group, and the second organic silver salt comprising a silver salt of a mercaptotriazole, the method comprising: A) preparing aqueous solution A containing a nitrogen-containing heterocyclic compound containing an imino group, A′) preparing aqueous solution A′ containing a mercaptotriazole, wherein solutions A and A′ are the same or different solutions, B) preparing aqueous solution B of silver nitrate, and C) simultaneously adding the aqueous solutions A and B to a reaction vessel containing an aqueous dispersion of a hydrophilic polymer binder or a water-dispersible polymer latex binder that has a pH of from about 7.5 to about 10, via controlled double-jet precipitation, while maintaining a constant temperature of from about 30 to about 75° C., a constant pH, and a constant vAg equal to or greater than −50 mV in the reaction vessel, and E) adding solution A′, if different from solution A, to the reaction vessel during or after step C while maintaining a constant temperature of from about 30 to about 75° C., a constant pH, and a constant vAg equal to or greater than −50 mV in the reaction vessel, thereby preparing in the reaction vessel a dispersion of the hydrophilic polymer binder or the water-dispersible polymer latex binder and particles of a co-precipitate particle of the first and second silver salts, and the hydrophilic polymer binder or the water-dispersible polymer latex binder being present in the dispersion in an amount of from about 2 to about 10 weight %, wherein the second organic silver salt comprises a silver salt of a mercaptotriazole having Structure (I) noted above. Preferred embodiments of this method of making the co-precipitate comprise: A) preparing aqueous solution A containing a nitrogen-containing heterocyclic compound containing an imino group at a concentration of from about 2 to about 4 mol/l, A′) preparing aqueous solution A′ that is different from solution A and contains a mercaptotriazole of Structure (I) at a concentration of from about 0.5 to about 3 mol/l, B) preparing aqueous solution B of silver nitrate, and C) simultaneously adding aqueous solutions A and B to a reaction vessel containing an aqueous dispersion of a hydrophilic polymer binder or a water-dispersible polymer latex binder that has a pH of from about 7.5 to about 10, via controlled double-jet precipitation, while maintaining a constant temperature of from about 30 to about 75° C., a constant pH, and a constant vAg equal to or greater than −50 mV in the reaction vessel, E) adding solution A′ to the reaction vessel during step C but only after at least 75 volume % of solution B has been added to the reaction vessel, thereby preparing in the reaction vessel a dispersion of the hydrophilic polymer binder or the water-dispersible polymer latex binder and particles of the co-precipitate of the first and second organic silver salts, and the hydrophilic polymer binder or the water-dispersible polymer latex binder being present in the dispersion in an amount of from about 2 to about 10 weight %. This invention also provides a black-and-white, non-photosensitive thermographic material comprising a support and having thereon at least one non-photosensitive thermally developable imaging layer comprising a hydrophilic polymer binder or a water-dispersible polymer latex binder and in reactive association: a. a non-photosensitive source of reducible silver ions, and b. a reducing agent for the reducible silver ions, wherein the non-photosensitive source of reducible silver ions predominantly comprises a co-precipitate particle comprising first and second organic silver salts, the first organic silver salt comprising a silver salt of a nitrogen-containing heterocyclic compound containing an imino group, and the second organic silver salt comprising a silver salt of a mercaptotriazole. In addition, a black-and-white photothermographic material comprising a support and having thereon at least one thermally developable imaging layer comprising a hydrophilic polymer binder or a water-dispersible polymer latex binder and in reactive association: a. a photosensitive silver halide that is spectrally sensitized to a wavelength of from about 300 to about 450 nm, b. a non-photosensitive source of reducible silver ions, and c. a reducing agent for the reducible silver ions, wherein the non-photosensitive source of reducible silver ions predominantly comprises a co-precipitate particle comprising first and second organic silver salts, the first organic silver salt comprising a silver salt of a nitrogen-containing heterocyclic compound containing an imino group, and the second organic silver salt comprising a silver salt of a mercaptotriazole. In addition, a black-and-white photothermographic material of this invention comprises a support and having thereon at least one thermally developable imaging layer comprising a hydrophilic polymer binder or a water-dispersible polymer latex binder and in reactive association: a. a photosensitive silver halide, b. a non-photosensitive source of reducible silver ions, and c. a reducing agent for the reducible silver ions, wherein the non-photosensitive source of reducible silver ions predominantly comprises a co-precipitate particle comprising first and second organic silver salts, the first organic silver salt comprising a silver salt of a nitrogen-containing heterocyclic compound containing an imino group, and the second organic silver salt comprising a silver salt of a mercaptotriazole, wherein the second organic silver salt comprises a silver salt of a mercaptotriazole having Structure (I) noted above. Still again, a black-and-white photothermographic material of this invention comprises a support and having thereon at least one thermally developable imaging layer-comprising a hydrophilic polymer binder or a water-dispersible polymer latex binder and in reactive association: a. a photosensitive silver halide present as ultrathin tabular grains, b. a non-photosensitive source of reducible silver ions, and c. a reducing agent for the reducible silver ions, wherein the non-photosensitive source of reducible silver ions comprises a co-precipitate particle comprising first and second organic silver salts, the first organic silver salt comprising a silver salt of a nitrogen-containing heterocyclic compound containing an imino group, and the second organic silver salt comprising a silver salt of a mercaptotriazole. In preferred embodiments, a black-and-white photothermographic material comprises a support having on a frontside thereof, a) one or more frontside thermally developable imaging layers comprising a hydrophilic polymer binder or a water-dispersible polymer latex binder, and in reactive association, a photosensitive silver halide, a non-photo-sensitive source of reducible silver ions, and a reducing agent for the non-photosensitive source reducible silver ions, b) the material comprising on the backside of the support, one or more backside thermally developable imaging layers having the same or different composition as the frontside thermally developable imaging layers, and c) optionally, an outermost protective layer disposed over the one or more thermally developable imaging layers on either or both sides of the support, wherein the non-photosensitive source of reducible silver ions comprises a co-precipitate particle comprising first and second organic silver salts, the first organic silver salt comprising a silver salt of a nitrogen-containing heterocyclic compound containing an imino group, and the second organic silver salt comprising a silver salt of a mercaptotriazole. In still other embodiments of this invention a black-and-white photothermographic material comprises a support and has therein at least one thermally developable imaging layer comprising a hydrophilic polymer binder or a water-dispersible polymer latex binder and in reactive association: a. a photosensitive silver halide present as ultrathin tabular grains, b. a non-photosensitive source of reducible silver ions, and c. a reducing agent for the reducible silver ions, wherein the non-photosensitive source of reducible silver ions comprises a co-precipitate particle comprising first and second organic silver salts, the first organic silver salt comprising a silver salt of a nitrogen-containing heterocyclic compound containing an imino group, and the second organic silver salt comprising a silver salt of a mercaptotriazole, and wherein at least part of the outer surface of the co-precipitate particle is covered by the second organic silver salt. Yet again, other embodiments include a black-and-white photo-thermographic material comprising a support having on a frontside thereof, a) one or more frontside thermally developable imaging layers comprising a hydrophilic polymer binder or a water-dispersible polymer latex binder, and in reactive association, a photosensitive silver halide, a non-photo-sensitive source of reducible silver ions, and a reducing agent for the non-photosensitive source reducible silver ions, b) the material comprising on the backside of the support, one or more backside thermally developable imaging layers having the same or different composition as the frontside thermally developable imaging layers, and c) optionally, an outermost protective layer disposed over the one or more thermally developable imaging layers on either or both sides of the support, wherein the non-photosensitive source of reducible silver ions comprises a co-precipitate particle comprising first and second organic silver salts, the first organic silver salt comprising a silver salt of a nitrogen-containing heterocyclic compound containing an imino group, and the second organic silver salt comprising a silver salt of a mercaptotriazole, and wherein at least part of the outer surface of the co-precipitate particle is covered by the second organic silver salt. A black-and-white photothermographic material also comprises a support and having thereon at least one thermally developable imaging layer comprising a hydrophilic polymer binder or a water-dispersible polymer latex binder and in reactive association: a. a photosensitive silver halide, b. a non-photosensitive source of reducible silver ions, and c. a reducing agent for the reducible silver ions, wherein the non-photosensitive source of reducible silver ions predominantly comprises a co-precipitate particle comprising first and second organic silver salts, the first organic silver salt comprising a silver salt of a nitrogen-containing heterocyclic compound containing an imino group, and the second organic silver salt comprising a silver salt of a mercaptotriazole that is represented by the following Structure (I): wherein R1 is an alkyl or phenyl group and R2 is hydrogen, provided that when R1 is an unsubstituted phenyl group, R2 is not hydrogen. This invention also provides a method of forming a visible image comprising: A) imagewise exposing a photothermographic material of this invention to form a latent image, B) simultaneously or sequentially, heating the exposed photothermographic material to develop the latent image into a visible image. An imaging assembly of this invention comprises a photothermographic material of this invention that is arranged in association with one or more phosphor intensifying screens. Still again, this invention provides a dispersion of a hydrophilic polymer binder or a water-dispersible polymer latex binder and co-precipitate particles comprising first and second organic silver salts, the first organic silver salt comprising a silver salt of a nitrogen-containing heterocyclic compound containing an imino group, and the second organic silver salt comprising a silver salt of a mercaptotriazole, and the hydrophilic polymer binder or the water-dispersible polymer latex binder being present in the dispersion in an amount of from about 2 to about 10 weight %, wherein the mercaptotriazole is represented by Structure (I) noted above. We have found that certain organic silver salts (such as silver benzotriazoles) and silver salts of toners (such as silver salts of certain mercaptotriazoles) can be made and co-precipitated as a mixture of two organic silver salts in the same particles. The resulting mixed silver salts are stable amorphous particles or crystals. Although not wishing to be bound by theory, we believe that upon thermal development, the silver mercaptotriazole decomposes, releasing the mercaptotriazole toner to help form a dense black silver image, and also to accelerate thermal development. Non-released mercaptotriazole remains immobilized as its silver salt in the co-precipitate particles and cannot contribute either to black spots or increased Dmin upon storage. Natural Age Keeping and Archival Stability are improved while photospeed and other sensitometric properties in the thermally developable imaging materials are not affected. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The thermally developable materials can be used in black-and-white photothermography and in electronically generated black-and-white hardcopy recording. They can be used in microfilm applications, in radiographic imaging (for example digital medical imaging), X-ray radiography, and in industrial radiography. Furthermore, in some embodiments, the absorbance of these materials between 350 and 450 nm is desirably low (less than 0.5), to permit their use in the graphic arts area (for example, imagesetting and phototypesetting), in the manufacture of printing plates, in contact printing, in duplicating (“duping”), and in proofing. The photothermographic materials are particularly useful for medical imaging of human or animal subjects in response to visible or X-radiation for use in medical diagnosis. Such applications include, but are not limited to, thoracic imaging, mammography, dental imaging, orthopedic imaging, general medical radiography, therapeutic radiography, veterinary radiography, and autoradiography. When used with X-radiation, the photothermographic materials may be used in association with one or more phosphor intensifying screens, with phosphors incorporated within the photothermographic emulsion, or with a combination thereof. The photothermographic materials can be made sensitive to radiation of any suitable wavelength. Thus, in some embodiments, the materials are sensitive at ultraviolet, visible, near infrared, or infrared wavelengths, of the electromagnetic spectrum. In these embodiments, the materials are preferably sensitive to radiation greater than 300 nm (such as sensitivity to, from about 300 nm to about 750 nm, preferably from about 300 to about 600 nm, and more preferably from about 300 to about 450 nm). In other embodiments they are sensitive to X-radiation. Increased sensitivity to X-radiation can be imparted through the use of phosphors. The photothermographic materials are also useful for non-medical uses of visible or X-radiation (such as X-ray lithography and industrial radiography). In these and other imaging applications, it is particularly desirable that the photothermographic materials be “double-sided.” In some embodiments of the thermally developable materials, the components needed for imaging can be in one or more imaging or emulsion layers on one side (“frontside”) of the support. The layer(s) that contain the photo-sensitive photocatalyst (such as a photosensitive silver halide) for photothermographic materials or the co-precipitate containing the non-photosensitive source of reducible silver ions, or both, are referred to herein as the emulsion layer(s). In photothermographic materials, the photocatalyst and non-photosensitive source of reducible silver ions are in catalytic proximity and preferably are in the same emulsion layer. Where the thermally developable materials contain imaging layers on one side of the support only, various non-imaging layers can also be disposed on the “backside” (non-emulsion or non-imaging side) of the materials, including, conductive layers, antihalation layer(s), protective layers, antistatic layers, and transport enabling layers. In such instances, Various non-imaging layers can also be disposed on the “frontside” or imaging or emulsion side of the support, including protective topcoat layers, primer layers, interlayers, opacifying layers, antistatic layers, antihalation layers, acutance layers, auxiliary layers, and other layers readily apparent to one skilled in the art. For preferred embodiments, the thermally developable materials are “double-sided” or “duplitized” and have the same or different emulsion coatings (or thermally developable imaging layers) on both sides of the support. Such constructions can also include one or more protective topcoat layers, primer layers, interlayers, antistatic layers, acutance layers, antihalation layers, auxiliary layers, conductive layers, and other layers readily apparent to one skilled in the art on either or both sides of support. Preferably, such thermally developable materials have essentially the same layers on each side of the support. When the thermally developable materials are heat-developed as described below in a substantially water-free condition after, or simultaneously with, imagewise exposure, a silver image (preferably a black-and-white silver image) is obtained. DEFINITIONS As used herein: In the descriptions of the thermally developable materials, “a” or “an” component refers to “at least one” of that component (for example, the first and second organic silver salts). The “co-precipitate” particles of this invention can also be referred to as “crystals”, wherein each particle or crystal comprises a mixture of silver salts as described herein. Unless otherwise indicated, the terms “thermally developable materials,” “thermographic materials,” “photothermographic materials,” and “imaging assemblies” are used herein in reference to embodiments of the present invention: Heating in a substantially water-free condition as used herein, means heating at a temperature of from about 50° C. to about 250° C. with little more than ambient water vapor present. The term “substantially water-free condition” means that the reaction system is approximately in equilibrium with water in the air and water for inducing or promoting the reaction is not particularly or positively supplied from the exterior to the material. Such a condition is described in T. H. James, The Theory of the Photographic Process, Fourth Edition, Eastman Kodak Company, Rochester, N.Y., 1977, p. 374. “Photothermographic material(s)” means a construction comprising at least one photothermographic emulsion layer or a photothermographic set of emulsion layers (wherein the photosensitive silver halide and the source of reducible silver ions, that is the co-precipitate, are in one layer and the other essential components or desirable additives are distributed, as desired, in the same layer or in an adjacent coated layer). These materials also include multilayer constructions in which one or more imaging components are in different layers, but are in “reactive association.” For example, one layer can include the non-photosensitive source of reducible silver ions and another layer can include the reducing agent and/or photosensitive silver halide. “Thermographic material(s)” can be similarly constructed but are intentionally non-photosensitive (thus no photosensitive silver halide is intentionally added). When used in photothermography, the term, “imagewise exposing” or “imagewise exposure” means that the material is imaged using any exposure means that provides a latent image using electromagnetic radiation. This includes, for example, by analog exposure where an image is formed by projection onto the photosensitive material as well as by digital exposure where the image is formed one pixel at a time such as by modulation of scanning laser radiation. When used in thermography, the term, “imagewise exposing” or “imagewise exposure” means that the material is imaged using any means that provides an image using heat. This includes, for example, analog exposure where an image is formed by differential contact heating through a mask using a thermal blanket or infrared heat source, as well as by digital exposure where the image is formed one pixel at a time such as by modulation of a thin film thermal printhead or by heating with a modulated scanning laser beam. The thermographic materials are “direct” thermographic materials and thermal imaging is carried out in a single thermographic material containing all of the necessary imaging chemistry. Direct thermal imaging is distinguishable from what is known in the art as thermal transfer imaging (such as dye transfer imaging) in which the image is produced in one material (“donor”) and transferred to another material (“receiver”) using thermal means. “Catalytic proximity” or “reactive association” means that the materials are in the same layer or in adjacent layers so that they readily come into contact with each other during thermal imaging and development. “Emulsion layer,” “imaging layer,” or “photothermographic (or thermographic) emulsion layer,” means a layer of a photothermographic (or thermographic) material that contains the photosensitive silver halide (not present in thermographic materials) and/or non-photosensitive source of reducible silver ions (contained in the co-precipitate). It can also mean a layer of the material that contains, in addition to the photosensitive silver halide and/or non-photosensitive source of reducible ions, additional essential components and/or desirable additives such as the reducing agent(s). These layers are usually on what is known as the “frontside” of the support but they can be on both sides of the support. In addition, “frontside” also generally means the side of a thermally developable material that is first exposed to imaging radiation, and “backside” generally refers to the opposite side of the thermally developable material. “Photocatalyst” means a photosensitive compound such as silver halide that, upon exposure to radiation, provides a compound that is capable of acting as a catalyst for the subsequent development of the thermally developable material. Many of the materials used herein are provided as a solution. The term “active ingredient” means the amount or the percentage of the desired material contained in a sample. All amounts listed herein are the amount of active ingredient added. “Ultraviolet region of the spectrum” refers to that region of the spectrum less than or equal to 410 nm, and preferably from about 100 nm to about 410 nm, although parts of these ranges may be visible to the naked human eye. More preferably, the ultraviolet region of the spectrum is the region of from about 190 nm to about 405 nm. “Visible region of the spectrum” refers to that region of the spectrum of from about 400 nm to about 700 nm. “Short wavelength visible region of the spectrum” refers to that region of the spectrum of from about 400 nm to about 450 nm. “Blue region of the spectrum” refers to that region of the spectrum of from about 400 nm to about 500 nm. “Green region of the spectrum” refers to that region of the spectrum of from about 500 nm to about 600 nm. “Red region of the spectrum” refers to that region of the spectrum of from about 600 nm to about 700 nm. “Infrared region of the spectrum” refers to that region of the spectrum of from about 700 nm to about 1400 nm. “Non-photosensitive” means not intentionally light sensitive. “Transparent” means capable of transmitting visible light or imaging radiation without appreciable scattering or absorption. The sensitometric terms “photospeed,”“speed,” or “photographic speed” (also known as sensitivity), absorbance, contrast, Dmin, and Dmax have conventional definitions known in the imaging arts. In photothermographic materials, Dmin is considered herein as image density achieved when the photothermographic material is thermally developed without prior exposure to radiation. It is the average of eight lowest density values on the exposed side of the fiducial mark. In thermographic materials, Dmin is considered herein as the image density in the areas with the minimum application of heat by the thermal printhead. In photothermographic materials, the term Dmax is the maximum image density achieved when the photothermographic material is exposed to a particular radiation source and a given amount of radiation energy and then thermally developed. In thermographic materials, the term Dmax is the maximum image density achieved when the thermographic material is thermally imaged with a given amount of thermal energy. The terms “density,” “optical density (OD),” and “image density” refer to the sensitometric term absorbance. “Spd-1” (Speed-1) is Log1/E+4 corresponding to the density value of 0.25 above Dmin where E is the exposure in ergs/cm2. “Spd-2” (Speed-2) is Log1/E+4 corresponding to the density value of 1.0 above Dmin where E is the exposure in ergs/cm2. Average Contrast-1 (“AC-1”) is the absolute value of the slope of the line joining the density points of 0.60 and 2.00 above Dmin. “Archival Stability” or “Dark stability” is the stability of the imaged film when stored for a period of time under temperature and relative humidity conditions defined in the Examples. “Aspect ratio” refers to the ratio of particle or grain “ECD” to particle or grain thickness wherein ECD (equivalent circular diameter) refers to the diameter of a circle having the same projected area as the particle or grain. “Width index” is a measure of particle size distribution within a defined range [See, T. Allen, Particle Size Measurement, Vol I, Chapman & Hall, London, UK, 1997, p. 54]. As used herein, the width index is determined from the 14th, 50th, and 86th percentile of the cumulative frequency distribution for the characteristic particle dimension under consideration, defined by the following formula: [ ( 50 percentile / 14 percentile ) + ( 86 percentile / 50 percentile ) ] 2 Using this formula, a dispersion of completely monodisperse particles would have a width index of one. The phrase “organic silver coordinating ligand” refers to an organic molecule capable of forming a bond with a silver atom. Although the compounds so formed are technically silver coordination complexes or silver compounds they are also often referred to as silver salts. In the compounds described herein, no particular double bond geometry (for example, cis or trans) is intended by the structures drawn unless otherwise specified. Similarly, in compounds having alternating single and double bonds and localized charges their structures are drawn as a formalism. In reality, both electron and charge delocalization exists throughout the conjugated chain. As is well understood in this art, for the chemical compounds herein described, substitution is not only tolerated, but is often advisable and various substituents are anticipated on the compounds used in the present invention unless otherwise stated. Thus, when a compound is referred to as “having the structure” of, or as “a derivative” of, a given formula, any substitution that does not alter the bond structure of the formula or the shown atoms within that structure is included within the formula, unless such substitution is specifically excluded by language. As a means of simplifying the discussion and recitation of certain substituent groups, the term “group” refers to chemical species that may be substituted as well as those that are not so substituted. Thus, the term “alkyl group” is intended to include not only pure hydrocarbon alkyl chains, such as methyl, ethyl, n-propyl, t-butyl, cyclohexyl, iso-octyl, and octadecyl, but also alkyl chains bearing substituents known in the art, such as hydroxyl, alkoxy, phenyl, halogen atoms (F, Cl, Br, and I), cyano, nitro, amino, and carboxy. For example, alkyl group includes ether and thioether groups (for example CH3—CH2—CH2—O—CH2— and CH3—CH2—CH2—S—CH2—), hydroxyalkyl (such as 1,2-dihydroxyethyl), haloalkyl, nitroalkyl, alkylcarboxy, carboxyalkyl, carboxamido, sulfoalkyl, and other groups readily apparent to one skilled in the art. Substituents that adversely react with other active ingredients, such as very strongly electrophilic or oxidizing substituents, would, of course, be excluded by the ordinarily skilled artisan as not being inert or harmless. Research Disclosure is a publication of Kenneth Mason Publications Ltd., Dudley House, 12 North Street, Emsworth, Hampshire PO10 7DQ England (also available from Emsworth Design Inc., 147 West 24th Street, New York, N.Y. 10011). Other aspects, advantages, and benefits of the present invention are apparent from the detailed description, examples, and claims provided in this application. The Photocatalyst The photothermographic materials include one or more photocatalysts in the photothermographic emulsion layer(s). Useful photocatalysts are typically photosensitive silver halides such as silver bromide, silver iodide, silver chloride, silver bromoiodide, silver chlorobromoiodide, silver chlorobromide, and others readily apparent to one skilled in the art. Mixtures of silver halides can also be used in any suitable proportion. Silver bromide and silver bromoiodide are more preferred silver halides, with the latter silver halide having up to 10 mol % silver iodide based on total silver halide. In some embodiments, higher amounts of iodide may be present in the photosensitive silver halide grains up to the saturation limit of iodide as described in U.S. patent application Publication 2004/0053173 (Maskasky et al.). The shape (morphology) of the photosensitive silver halide grains used in the present need not be limited. The silver halide grains may have any crystalline habit including cubic, octahedral, tetrahedral, orthorhombic, rhombic, dodecahedral, other polyhedral, tabular, laminar, twinned, or platelet morphologies and may have epitaxial growth of crystals thereon. If desired, a mixture of these crystals can be employed. Silver halide grains having cubic and tabular morphology (or both) are preferred. More preferably, the silver halide grains are predominantly (at least 50% based on total silver halide) present as tabular grains. The silver halide grains may have a uniform ratio of halide throughout. They may have a graded halide content, with a continuously varying ratio of, for example, silver bromide and silver iodide or they may be of the core-shell type, having a discrete core of one or more silver halides, and a discrete shell of one of more different silver halides. Core-shell silver halide grains useful in photothermographic materials and methods of preparing these materials are described for example in U.S. Pat. No. 5,382,504 (Shor et al.), incorporated herein by reference. Iridium and/or copper doped core-shell and non-core-shell grains are described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,434,043 (Zou et al.) and U.S. Pat. No. 5,939,249 (Zou), both incorporated herein by reference. In some instances, it may be helpful to prepare the photosensitive silver halide grains in the presence of a hydroxytetraazaindene or an N-heterocyclic compound comprising at least one mercapto group as described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,413,710(Shor et al.), that is incorporated herein by reference. The photosensitive silver halide can be added to (or formed within) the emulsion layer(s) in any fashion as long as it is placed in catalytic proximity to the non-photosensitive source of reducible silver ions in the co-precipitate. It is preferred that the silver halide grains be preformed and prepared by an ex-situ process, chemically and spectrally sensitized, and then be added to and physically mixed with the non-photosensitive source of reducible silver ions. It is also possible to form the source of reducible silver ions in the presence of ex-situ-prepared silver halide grains. In this process, the co-precipitated source of reducible silver ions is formed in the presence of the preformed silver halide grains. Co-precipitation of the reducible source of silver ions in the presence of silver halide provides a more intimate mixture of the two materials [see, for example U.S. Pat. No. 3,839,049 (Simons)] to provide a “preformed emulsion.” This method is useful when non-tabular silver halide grains are used. In general, the non-tabular silver halide grains used in this invention can vary in average diameter of up to several micrometers (μm) and they usually have an average particle size of from about 0.01 to about 1.5 μm (preferably from about 0.03 to about 1.0 μm, and more preferably from about 0.05 to about 0.8 μm). The average size of the photosensitive silver halide grains is expressed by the average diameter if the grains are spherical, and by the average of the diameters of equivalent circles for the projected images if the grains are cubic, tabular, or other non-spherical shapes. Representative grain sizing methods are described by in Particle Size Analysis, ASTM Symposium on Light Microscopy, R. P. Loveland, 1955, pp. 94-122, and in C. E. K. Mees and T. H. James, The Theory of the Photographic Process, Third Edition, Macmillan, New York, 1966, Chapter 2. In most preferred embodiments of this invention, the silver halide grains are provided predominantly (based on at least 50 mol % silver) as tabular silver halide grains that are considered “ultrathin” and have an average thickness of at least 0.02 μm and up to and including 0.10 μm (preferably an average thickness of at least 0.03 μm and more preferably of at least 0.04 μm, and up to and including 0.08 μm and more preferably up to and including 0.07 μm). In addition, these ultrathin tabular grains have an equivalent circular diameter (ECD) of at least 0.5 μm (preferably at least 0.75 μm, and more preferably at least 1 μm). The ECD can be up to and including 8 μm (preferably up to and including 6 μm, and more preferably up to and including 4 μm). The aspect ratio of the useful tabular grains is at least 5:1 (preferably at least 10:1, and more preferably at least 15:1) and generally up to 50:1. The grain size of ultrathin tabular grains may be determined by any of the methods commonly employed in the art for particle size measurement, such as those described above. Ultrathin tabular grains and their method of preparation and use in photothermographic materials are described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,576,410 (Zou et al.) and U.S. Pat. No. 6,673,529 (Daubendiek et al.) that are incorporated herein by reference. The ultrathin tabular silver halide grains can also be doped using one or more of the conventional metal dopants known for this purpose including those described in Research Disclosure item 38957, September, 1996 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,503,970 (Olm et al.), incorporated herein by reference. Preferred dopants include iridium (III or IV) and ruthenium (II or III) salts. Particularly preferred silver halide grains are ultrathin tabular grains containing iridium-doped azole ligands. Such tabular grains and their method of preparation are described in copending and commonly assigned U.S. Ser. No. 10/826,708 (filed on Apr. 16, 2004 by Olm et al.) that is incorporated herein by reference. It is also possible to form some in-situ silver halide, by a process in which an inorganic halide- or an organic halogen-containing compound is added to an organic silver salt to partially convert the silver of the organic silver salt to silver halide as described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,457,075 (Morgan et al.). The one or more light-sensitive silver halides used in the photothermographic materials are preferably present in an amount of from about 0.005 to about 0.5 mole (more preferably from about 0.01 to about 0.25 mole, and most preferably from about 0.03 to about 0.15 mole) per mole of non-photosensitive source of reducible silver ions. Chemical Sensitizers If desired, the photosensitive silver halides used in the photothermographic materials can be chemically sensitized using any useful compound that contains sulfur, tellurium, or selenium, or may comprise a compound containing gold, platinum, palladium, ruthenium, rhodium, iridium, or combinations thereof, a reducing agent such as a tin halide or a combination of any of these. The details of these materials are provided for example, in T. H. James, The Theory of the Photographic Process, Fourth Edition, Eastman Kodak Company, Rochester, N.Y., 1977, Chapter 5, pp. 149-169. Suitable conventional chemical sensitization procedures and compounds are also described in U.S. Pat. No. 1,623,499 (Sheppard et al.), U.S. Pat. No. 2,399,083 (Waller et al.), U.S. Pat. No. 3,297,447 (McVeigh), U.S. Pat. No. 3,297,446 (Dunn), U.S. Pat. No. 5,049,485 (Deaton), U.S. Pat. No. 5,252,455 (Deaton), U.S. Pat. No. 5,391,727 (Deaton), U.S. Pat. No. 5,912,111 (Lok et al.), U.S. Pat. No. 5,759,761 (Lushington et al.), U.S. Pat. No. 6,296,998 (Eikenberry et al), and U.S. Pat. No. 5,691,127 (Daubendiek et al.), and EP 0 915 371 A1 (Lok et al.), all incorporated herein by reference. Certain substituted or and unsubstituted thioureas can be used as chemical sensitizers including those described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,296,998 (Eikenberry et al.), U.S. Pat. No. 6,322,961 (Lam et al.), U.S. Pat. No. 4,810,626 (Burgmaier et al.), and U.S. Pat. No. 6,368,779 (Lynch et al.), all of the which are incorporated herein by reference. Still other useful chemical sensitizers include tellurium- and selenium-containing compounds that are described in and U.S. Pat. No. 5,158,892 (Sasaki et al.), U.S. Pat. No. 5,238,807 (Sasaki et al.), U.S. Pat. No. 5,942,384 (Arai et al.) U.S. Pat. No. 6,620,577 (Lynch et al.), and U.S. Pat. No. 6,699,647 (Lynch et al.), all of which are incorporated herein by reference. Noble metal sensitizers for use in the present invention include gold, platinum, palladium and iridium. Gold (I or III) sensitization is particularly preferred, and described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,858,637 (Eshelman et al.) and U.S. Pat. No. 5,759,761 (Lushington et al.). Combinations of gold(III) compounds and either sulfur- or tellurium-containing compounds are useful as chemical sensitizers and are described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,423,481 (Simpson et al.). All of the above references are incorporated herein by reference. In addition, sulfur-containing compounds can be decomposed on silver halide grains in an oxidizing environment according to the teaching in U.S. Pat. No. 5,891,615 (Winslow et al.). Examples of sulfur-containing compounds that can be used in this fashion include sulfur-containing spectral sensitizing dyes. Other useful sulfur-containing chemical sensitizing compounds that can be decomposed in an oxidized environment are the diphenylphosphine sulfide compounds described in copending and commonly assigned U.S. Ser. No. 10/731,251 (filed Dec. 9, 2003 by Simpson, Burleva, and Sakizadeh), incorporated herein by reference. The chemical sensitizers can be used in making the silver halide emulsions in conventional amounts that generally depend upon the average size of silver halide grains. Generally, the total amount is at least 10−10 mole per mole of total silver, and preferably from about 10−8 to about 10−2 mole per mole of total silver. The upper limit can vary depending upon the compound(s) used, the level of silver halide, and the average grain size and grain morphology. Spectral Sensitizers The photosensitive silver halides used in the photothermographic materials may be spectrally sensitized with one or more spectral sensitizing dyes that are known to enhance silver halide sensitivity to ultraviolet, visible, and/or infrared radiation of interest. Non-limiting examples of sensitizing dyes that can be employed include cyanine dyes, merocyanine dyes, complex cyanine dyes, complex merocyanine dyes, holopolar cyanine dyes, hemicyanine dyes, styryl dyes, and hemioxanol dyes. They may be added at any stage in chemical finishing. of the photothermographic emulsion, but are generally added after chemical sensitization. It is particularly useful that the photosensitive silver halides be spectrally sensitized to a wavelength of from about 300 to about 750 nm, preferably from about 300 to about 600 nm, more preferably to a wavelength of from about 300 to about 450 nm, even more preferably from a wavelength of from about 360 to 420 nm, and most preferably from a wavelength of from about 380 to about 420 nm. A worker skilled in the art would know which dyes would provide the desired spectral sensitivity. Suitable sensitizing dyes such as those described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,719,495 (Lea), U.S. Pat. No. 4,396,712 (Kinoshita et al.), U.S. Pat. No. 4,439,520 (Kofron et al.), U.S. Pat. No. 4,690,883 (Kubodera et al.), U.S. Pat. No. 4,840,882 (Iwagaki et al.), U.S. Pat. No. 5,064,753 (Kohno et al.), U.S. Pat. No. 5,281,515 (Delprato et al.), U.S. Pat. No. 5,393,654 (Burrows et al), U.S. Pat. No. 5,441,866 (Miller et al.), U.S. Pat. No. 5,508,162 (Dankosh), U.S. Pat. No. 5,510,236 (Dankosh), and U.S. Pat. No. 5,541,054 (Miller et al.), and Japanese Kokai 2000-063690 (Tanaka et al.), 2000-112054 (Fukusaka et al.), 2000-273329 (Tanaka et al.), 2001-005145 (Arai), 2001-064527 (Oshiyama et al.), and 2001-154305 (Kita et al.), and Research Disclosure, item 308119, Section IV, December, 1989. All of these publications are incorporated herein by reference. Teachings relating to specific combinations of spectral sensitizing dyes also provided in U.S. Pat. No. 4,581,329 (Sugimoto et al.), U.S. Pat. No. 4,582,786 (Ikeda et al.), U.S. Pat. No. 4,609,621 (Sugimoto et al.), U.S. Pat. No. 4,675,279 (Shuto et al.), U.S. Pat. No. 4,678,741 (Yamada et al.), U.S. Pat. No. 4,720,451 (Shuto et al.), U.S. Pat. No. 4,818,675 (Miyasaka et al.), U.S. Pat. No. 4,945,036 (Arai et al.), and U.S. Pat. No. 4,952,491 (Nishikawa et al.), all of which are incorporated herein by reference. Also useful are spectral sensitizing dyes that decolorize by the action of light or heat as described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,524,128 (Edwards et al.), and Japanese Kokai 2001-109101 (Adachi), 2001-154305 (Kita et al.), and 2001-183770 (Hanyu et al.), all of which are incorporated herein by reference. Dyes may be selected for the purpose of supersensitization to attain much higher sensitivity than the sum of sensitivities that can be achieved by using each dye alone. An appropriate amount of spectral sensitizing dye added is generally about 10−10 to 10−1 mole, and preferably, from about 10−7 to 10−2 mole per mole of silver halide. Non-Photosensitive Source of Reducible Silver Ions The non-photosensitive source of reducible silver ions used in the thermally developable materials includes one or more organic silver salts of nitrogen-containing heterocyclic compounds containing an imino group. Such silver(I) salts are comparatively stable to light and form a silver image when heated to 50° C. or higher in the presence of an exposed silver halide (for photothermographic materials) and a reducing agent. These salts are also used in thermographic materials where they directly participate in thermal image formation. Representative organic silver salts include, but are not limited to, silver salts of benzotriazole and substituted derivatives thereof (for example, silver methylbenzotriazole and silver 5-chlorobenzotriazole), silver salts of nitrogen acids selected from the group consisting of imidazole, pyrazole, urazole, 1,2,4-triazole and 1H-tetrazole nitrogen acids or combinations thereof, as described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,220,709 (deMauriac). Also included are the silver salts of imidazole and imidazole derivatives as described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,260,677 (Winslow et al.). Both of these patents are incorporated herein by reference. A nitrogen acid as described herein is intended to include those compounds which have the moiety —NH— in the heterocyclic nucleus. Particularly useful silver salts are the silver salts of benzotriazole, substituted derivatives thereof, or mixtures of two or more of these salts. A silver salt of benzotriazole is most preferred. While the noted organic silver salts are the predominant silver salts in the materials, secondary organic silver salts can be used if present in “minor” amounts (less than 40 mol % based on the total moles of organic silver salts). However, these secondary organic silver salts are not generally part of the co-precipitate. Such secondary organic silver salts include silver salts of heterocyclic compounds containing mercapto or thione groups and derivatives thereof such as silver triazoles, oxazoles, thiazoles, thiazolines, imidazoles, diazoles, pyridines, and triazines as described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,123,274 (Knight et al.) and U.S. Pat. No. 3,785,830 (Sullivan et al.). Examples of other useful silver salts of mercapto or thione substituted compounds that do not contain a heterocyclic nucleus include silver salts of thioglycolic acids, dithiocarboxylic acids, and thioamides. Silver salts of organic acids including silver salts of long-chain aliphatic or aromatic carboxylic acids may also be included as secondary silver salts. Secondary organic silver salts can also be core-shell silver salts as described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,355,408 (Whitcomb et al.), that is incorporated herein by reference wherein a core has one or more silver salts and a shell has one or more different silver salts. Other secondary organic silver salts can be silver dimer compounds that comprise two different silver salts as described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,566,045 (Whitcomb) that is incorporated herein by reference. Still other useful secondary silver salts are the silver core-shell compounds comprising a primary core comprising one or more photosensitive silver halides, or one or more non-photosensitive inorganic metal salts or non-silver containing organic salts, and a shell at least partially covering the primary core, wherein the shell comprises one or more non-photosensitive silver salts, each of which silver salts comprises a organic silver coordinating ligand. Such compounds are described in U.S. patent application Publication 2004/0023164 (Bokhonov et al.) that is incorporated herein by reference. The one or more non-photosensitive sources of reducible silver ions (both primary and secondary organic silver salts) are preferably present in a total amount of about 5% by weight to about 70% by weight, and more preferably, about 10% to about 50% by weight, based on the total dry weight of the emulsion layers. Alternatively, the total amount of reducible silver ions is generally present in an amount of from about 0.001 to about 0.2 mol/m2 of the dry thermally developable material (preferably from about 0.01 to about 0.05 mol/m2). The total amount of silver (from all silver sources) in the photothermographic materials is generally at least 0.002 mol/m2 and preferably from about 0.01 to about 0.05 mol/m2 for single-sided materials. For double-sided coated materials, total amount of silver from all sources would be doubled. The amount of silver in the thermographic materials is generally from about 0.01 to about 0.05 mol/m2. The Silver Salt of Mercaptotriazole Toners Toners are compounds that when added to the photothermographic imaging layer(s) shift the color of the developed silver image from yellowish-orange to brown-black or blue-black. Many toners also increase the rate of development of the silver image. Compounds useful in this invention are silver salts of mercaptotriazole toner compounds. Thus, the second organic silver salts useful in the present invention include one or more silver salts of mercaptotriazoles. Numerous mercaptotriazoles are described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,832,186 (Masuda et al.), U.S. Pat. No. 4,451,561 (Hirabayshi et al.), U.S. Pat. No. 5,149,620 (Simpson et al.), and U.S. Pat. No. 6,713,240 (Lynch et al.), all incorporated herein by reference. In preferred embodiments, the useful mercaptotriazoles can be represented by the following Structure (I): wherein R1 and R2 independently represent hydrogen, a substituted or unsubstituted alkyl group of from 1 to 7 carbon atoms (such as methyl, ethyl, isopropyl, t-butyl, n-hexyl, hydroxymethyl, and benzyl), a substituted or unsubstituted alkenyl group having 2 to 5 carbon atoms in the hydrocarbon chain (such as ethenyl, 1,2-propenyl, methallyl, and 3-buten-1-yl), a substituted or unsubstituted cycloalkyl group having 5 to 7 carbon atoms forming the ring (such as cyclopenyl, cyclohexyl, and 2,3-dimethylcyclohexyl), a substituted or unsubstituted aromatic or non-aromatic heterocyclyl group having 5 or 6 carbon, nitrogen, oxygen, or sulfur atoms forming the aromatic or non-aromatic heterocyclyl group (such as pyridyl, furanyl, thiazolyl, and thienyl), an amino or amide group (such as amino or acetamido), and a substituted or unsubstituted aryl group having 6 to 10 carbon atoms forming the aromatic ring (such as phenyl, tolyl, naphthyl, and 4-ethoxyphenyl). In addition, R1 and R2 can be a substituted or unsubstituted Y1-(CH2)k-group wherein Y1 is a substituted or unsubstituted aryl group having 6 to 10 carbon atoms as defined above for R1 and R2, or a substituted or unsubstituted aromatic or non-aromatic heterocyclyl group as defined above for R1. Also, k is 1-3. In particular, R1 and R2 can represent a divalent linking group (such as a 1,4-phenylene, methylene, or ethylene group) that links two mercaptotriazole groups (that is Y1 is another mercaptotriazole group). Alternatively, R1 and R2 taken together can form a substituted or unsubstituted, saturated or unsaturated 5- to 7-membered aromatic or non-aromatic nitrogen-containing heterocyclic ring comprising carbon, nitrogen, oxygen, or sulfur atoms in the ring (such as pyridyl, diazinyl, triazinyl, piperidine, morpholine, pyrrolidine, pyrazolidine, and thiomorpholine). Additionally, R2 may represent a carboxy group or its salts. The definition of mercaptotriazoles of Structure (I) also includes the following provisos: 1) R1 and R2 are not simultaneously hydrogen, and 2) When R1 is unsubstituted phenyl, R2 is not hydrogen. Preferably, R1 is a substituted or unsubstituted alkyl group (such as methyl, t-butyl, and benzyl), or a substituted phenyl group (such as, o-, m-, and p-tolyl or o-, m-, and p-chloro). More preferably, R1 is benzyl. Preferably, R2 is hydrogen, acetamido, or hydroxymethyl. More preferably, R2 is hydrogen. It is well known that heterocyclic compounds exist in tautomeric forms. Both annular (ring) tautomerism and substituent tautomerism are possible. In 1,2,4-mercaptotriazoles, at least three tautomers (a 1H form, a 2H form, and a 4H form) are possible. Thiol-thione substituent tautomerism is also possible. Interconversion among these tautomers can occur rapidly and individual tautomers are usually not isolatable, although one tautomeric form may predominate. For the 1,2,4-mercaptotriazoles of this invention, the 4H-thiol structural formalism is used with the understanding that other tautomers do exist. The exact crystal structure of the co-precipitate of the first organic silver salt comprising a nitrogen-containing heterocyclic compound containing an imino group, and the second organic silver salt comprising a silver salt of a mercaptotriazole, is not known. However, we believe that the following Structure (II) is one fair representation of a silver salt of a mercaptotriazole molecule. wherein R1 and R2 are as defined above. Representative mercaptotriazoles useful in the practice of the present invention include the silver salts (that is, silver coordination complexes or silver compounds) of the following compounds T-1 through T-59: Compounds T-1, T-2, T-11, T-12, T-16, T-37, T-41, and T-44 are more preferred in the practice of this invention, and Compound T-1 is most preferred. The mercaptotriazole compounds described herein can be readily prepared using known synthetic methods. For example, compound T-1 can be prepared as described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,628,059 (Finkelstein et al.). Additional preparations of various mercaptotriazoles are described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,769,411 (Greenfield et al.), U.S. Pat. No. 4,183,925 (Baxter et al.), and U.S. Pat. No. 6,074,813 (Asanuma et al.), DE 1 670 604 (Korosi), and in Chem. Abstr. 1968, 69, 52114j. Some mercaptotriazole compounds are commercially available. Co-Precipitates The non-photosensitive source of reducible silver ions and the mercaptotriazole toner compound are incorporated into the thermally developable materials as co-precipitated silver salts. Thus, the co-precipitate is a mixture of “first” and “second” organic silver salts in which the “first” organic silver salt comprises one or more silver salts of nitrogen-containing heterocyclic compounds containing an imino group (described above). The “second” organic silver salt comprises one or more silver salts of mercaptotriazoles (described above). Preferably, the first organic silver salt is a silver salt of a benzotriazole (described above) and the second organic silver salt is a silver salt of a mercaptotriazole compound defined by Structure (I) identified above. The co-precipitate particles can have various shapes. For example, they can be rod-shaped, cubic, tabular, or platelet in form. Preferably, they are rod-shaped and have an aspect ratio of at least 2, more preferably at least 3 and up to 20, and most preferably of from about 3 to about 10. The particles (any shape) generally have largest dimensions (length or diameter) ranging from about 0.2 to about 0.8 μm. The rod-shaped particles generally have a diameter of less than or equal to 0.1 μm and a length that is less than 1 μm. Preferably, the particles have a diameter of from about 0.03 to about 0.07 μm and a length of from about 0.1 to about 0.5 μm. Where the co-precipitate particles are rod-shaped, the distribution of co-precipitate crystals is relatively uniform in size as defined by a width index for particle diameter of 1.25 or less, and preferably from about 1.1 to about 1.2. The most preferred co-precipitate particles are composed of silver benzotriazole as the first organic silver salt and a silver salt of the mercaptotriazole identified as Compound T-1 above as the second organic silver salt. These particles have an aspect ratio of from about 4 to about 7.5, a width index for grain diameter of from about 1.1 to about 1.2, a length of from about 0.1 to about 0.3 μm, and a diameter of from about 0.04 to about 0.06 μm. The distribution of the first and second organic silver salts throughout the co-precipitate may take many forms so long as at least some second organic silver salt is present within 25 volume % of the outer surface of the co -precipitate Thus, in some embodiments, the first and second organic silver salts are uniformly distributed throughout the co-precipitate particle volume. These particles are substantially homogenous in composition. However, in other embodiments, there is a concentration gradient of the second organic silver salt throughout the co-precipitate particle. This concentration gradient can be continuous and increase steadily in concentration from the center of the particle to its outer surface. For example, the concentration gradient can be defined using “volume % ” of the co-precipitate particle wherein 0 volume % represents the center of the particle and 100 volume % represents the outer surface. Instead of continuous concentration gradient, there can be discrete bands of specific concentrations of the second organic silver salt at specific volume regions of the particle, which bands are interrupted by bands of the first organic silver salt. The continuous gradients or discrete bands can be obtained by adding the mercaptotriazole to the reaction mixture at particular times using specific flow rates as one skilled in the art would appreciate. In preferred embodiments, there is more of the second organic silver salt closer to the outer surface than towards the center of the co-precipitate crystal. Thus, the second organic silver salt is distributed predominantly near the co-precipitate outer surface. For example, at least 95 mol % of the second organic silver salt can be present within a localized portion that is from about 75 to 100 volume % of the co-precipitate particle. Preferably, at least 95 mol % of the second organic silver salt can be present within a localized portion that is from about 90 to 100 volume % of the co-precipitate particle. More preferably, at least 95 mol % of the second organic silver salt can be present within a localized portion that is from about 95 to 100 volume % of the co-precipitate particle. Even more preferably, 100% of the second organic silver salt is present within the defined localized portions. In still other preferred embodiments, the second organic silver salt is at least partially covering the surface of the co-precipitate, and more preferably, it completely covers the outer particle surface. The molar ratio of the first organic silver salt to the second organic silver salt in the co-precipitate particle is generally from about 100:1 to about 15:1 and preferably from about 60:1 to about 25:1. As noted above, these molar ratios can be constant throughout the crystal (homogeneous), or vary within regions and it is particularly different at the outer surface compared to the particle center. The co-precipitates of this invention are generally prepared using certain conditions and procedure that will provide particles with desired morphology and concentration gradients of the second organic silver salt, depending upon amounts and times of addition of various organic silver salts. Thus, the method of making the co-precipitate is carried out by first preparing an aqueous solution (solution A) of one or more suitable nitrogen-containing heterocyclic compounds containing an imino group. These heterocyclic compounds are generally present in solution A at a concentration of at least 0.1 mol/l, and preferably from about 2 to about 4 mol/l. The one or more mercaptotriazoles are included within Solution A or in a separate Solution A′ at a concentration of at least 0.1 mol/l, and preferably from about 0.5 to about 3 moles/liter. Solution A or A′ can also contain one or more bases (such as hydroxides) to adjust the pH. Preferably, solutions A and A′ are different so that upon addition the various organic silver salts are formed at different rates and in different regions of the co-precipitate particle. An aqueous solution (Solution B) of one or more aqueous soluble inorganic silver salts (such as silver nitrate) is also prepared. A suitable reaction vessel is used to make the primary silver salts. In this vessel is an aqueous solution of from about 2 to about 10 weight % of one or more hydrophilic polymer binders (see below) or water-dispersible hydrophobic polymer binders (in latex form). Suitable bases (such as a hydroxide) may be included to adjust the pH of this vessel solution to from about 7.5 to about 10 (preferably from about 8 to about 9.5). Solutions A and B are then simultaneously added to the reaction vessel at constant flow rates A1 and B1, respectively, for up to 240 minutes while maintaining a constant pH (generally from about 7.5 to about 10 and preferably from about 8 to about 9.5) and a constant vAg equal to or greater than −50 mV in the reaction vessel. By greater than −50 mV is meant more positive than −50 mV. The vAg is preferably maintained at greater than or equal to 0 mV and more preferably greater than or equal to +50 mV. The ratio of the molar flow rate Ato the total moles of silver precipitated is generally from about 0.004 to about 0.04 mol/min/mol Ag of the imino-group-containing compound and the ratio of the molar flow rate B1 to the total moles of silver precipitated is generally from about 0.004 to about 0.04 mol Ag/min/mol Ag. Optimum flow rates can be readily determined to obtain particles of a desired aspect ratio and size with routine experimentation. The contents of the reaction vessel are generally kept at a constant temperature of from about 30 to about 75° C. and preferably from about 35 to about 55° C. Either or both of Solutions A and B can be introduced into the reaction vessel at steady flow rates, or at variable flow rates. For example, the flow rate of the addition of solution B can be increased to flow rate B2 for up to 60 minutes while maintaining constant temperature, pH, and vAg in the reaction vessel. The ratio of flow rate B2 to flow rate B1 is from about 1.4:1 to about 1.8:1. A further change in the flow rate of Solution B can also be made by increasing it to flow rate B3 for up to 60 minutes while maintaining constant temperature, pH and vAg in the reaction vessel. The ratio flow rate B3 to flow rate B2 is from about 1.8:1 to about 2.2:1. Solution A′, if different from solution A, can be similarly added to the reaction vessel at a steady or variable flow. For example, the ratio of the molar flow rate A′1 to the total moles of silver can be from about 0.004 to about 0.04 mol/min/mol Ag. Solution A′ may be added to the reaction vessel so that the second organic silver salt is present within a localized portion of the co-precipitate particle. For example, solution A′ can be added after at least 75 volume % of solution B has been added to the reaction vessel. More preferably, solution A′ is added to provide at least 95 mol % of the second organic silver salt from within about 90 to about 100 volume % of the particle. The addition of solutions A (and A′) and B to the reaction vessel then produces a dispersion or a co-precipitate containing two or more different organic silver salts within the hydrophilic polymer binder or the water-dispersible polymer latex binder. The one or more binders are generally present in the silver salt dispersion in an amount preferably of from about 2 to about 10 weight %. Particularly useful hydrophilic polymer binders include those hydrophilic binders described below in the “Binders” section, and are preferably gelatin or a gelatin derivative. In addition to the silver salts of one or more suitable nitrogen-containing heterocyclic compounds containing an imino group and the one or more silver salts of mercaptotriazoles,-the co-precipitate can contain small amounts of other silver salts. Thus, ternary and quaternary co-precipitates are envisioned. Representative preparatory conditions and procedures are illustrated in below in the Examples. Reducing Agents The thermally developable materials can include one or more suitable reducing agents that would be apparent to one skilled in the art to reduce silver(I) to metallic silver. Preferably, such reducing agents are reductones or ascorbic acids. A “reductone” reducing agent means a class of unsaturated, di- or poly-enolic organic compounds which, by virtue of the arrangement of the enolic hydroxyl groups with respect to the unsaturated linkages, possess characteristic strong reducing power. The parent compound, “reductone” is 3-hydroxy-2-oxo-propionaldehyde (enol form) and has the structure HOCH═CH(OH)—CHO. In some reductones, an amino group, a mono-substituted amino group or an imino group may replace one or more of the enolic hydroxyl groups without affecting the characteristic reducing behavior of the compound. Examples of reductone reducing agents can be found in U.S. Pat. No. 2,691,589 (Henn et al), U.S. Pat. No. 3,615,440 (Bloom), U.S. Pat. No. 3,664,835 (Youngquist et al.), U.S. Pat. No. 3,672,896 (Gabrielson et al.), U.S. Pat. No. 3,690,872 (Gabrielson et al.), U.S. Pat. No. 3,816,137 (Gabrielson et al.), U.S. Pat. No. 4,371,603 (Bartels-Keith et al.), U.S. Pat. No. 5,712,081 (Andriesen et al.), and U.S. Pat. No. 5,427,905 (Freedman et al.), all of which references are incorporated herein by reference. An “ascorbic acid” reducing agent (also referred to as a developer or developing agent) means ascorbic acid, complexes thereof, and derivatives thereof. Ascorbic acid reducing agents are described in a considerable number of publications in photographic processes, including U.S. Pat. No. 5,236,816 (Purol et al.) and references cited therein. Useful ascorbic acid and reductone reducing agents include ascorbic acid and the analogues, isomers, complexes, and derivatives thereof. Such compounds include, but are not limited to, D- or L-ascorbic acid, 2,3-dihydroxy-2-cyclohexen-1-one, 3,4-dihydroxy-5-phenyl-2(5H)-furanone, sugar-type derivatives thereof (such as sorboascorbic acid, y-lactoascorbic acid, 6-desoxy-L-ascorbic acid, L-rhamnoascorbic acid, imino-6-desoxy-L-ascorbic acid, glucoascorbic acid, fucoascorbic acid, glucoheptoascorbic acid, maltoascorbic acid, L-arabosascorbic acid), sodium ascorbate, niacinamide ascorbate, potassium ascorbate, isoascorbic acid (or L-erythroascorbic acid), and salts thereof (such as alkali metal, ammonium or others known in the art), endiol type ascorbic acid, an enaminol type ascorbic acid, a thioenol type ascorbic acid, and an enamin-thiol type ascorbic acid, as described for example in EP 0 585 792 A1 (Passarella et al.), EP 0 573 700 A1 (Lingier et al.), EP 0 588 408 A1 (Hieronymus et al.), U.S. Pat. No. 5,498,511 (Yamashita et al.), U.S. Pat. No. 5,089,819 (Knapp), U.S. Pat. No. 5,278,035 (Knapp), U.S. Pat. No. 5,384,232 (Bishop et al.), U.S. Pat. No. 5,376,510 (Parker et al.), and U.S. Pat. No. 2,688,549 (James et al.), Japanese Kokai 7-56286 (Toyoda), and Research Disclosure, publication 37152, March 1995. Mixtures of these developing agents can be used if desired. Particularly useful reducing agents are ascorbic acid mono- or di-fatty acid esters such as the monolaurate, monomyristate, monopalmitate, monostearate, monobehenate, diluarate, distearate, dipalmitate, dibehenate, and dimyristate derivatives of ascorbic acid as described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,832,186 (Masuda et al.) and U.S. Pat. No. 6,309,814 (Ito). Preferred ascorbic acid reducing agents and their methods of preparation are those described in copending and commonly assigned U.S. Ser. No. 10/764,704 (filed on Jan. 26, 2004 by Ramsden et al.) and those described in copending and commonly assigned U.S. Ser. No. 10/_____ (filed on even date herewith by Brick, Ramsden, and Lynch and entitled “Developer Dispersions for Thermally Developable Materials”) and having Attorney Docket D-88215/JLT, both of which are incorporated herein by reference. A preferred reducing agent is L-ascorbic acid 6-O-palmitate. The reducing agent (or mixture thereof) described herein is generally present as 1 to 10% (dry weight) of the emulsion layer. In multilayer constructions, if the reducing agent is added to a layer other than an emulsion layer, slightly higher proportions, of from about 2 to 15 weight % may be more desirable. Co-developers may be present generally in an amount of from about 0.001% to about 1.5% (dry weight) of the emulsion layer coating. Other Addenda The photothermographic materials can also contain other additives such as shelf-life stabilizers, antifoggants, contrast enhancing agents, development accelerators, acutance dyes, post-processing stabilizers or stabilizer precursors, thermal solvents (also known as melt formers), humectants, and other image-modifying agents as would be readily apparent to one skilled in the art. To further control the properties of photothermographic materials, (for example, contrast, Dmin, speed, or fog), it may be preferable to add one or more heteroaromatic mercapto compounds or heteroaromatic disulfide compounds of the formulae Ar—S-M1 and Ar—S—S—Ar, wherein M1 represents a hydrogen atom or an alkali metal atom and Ar represents a heteroaromatic ring or fused hetero-aromatic ring containing one or more of nitrogen, sulfur, oxygen, selenium, or tellurium atoms. Preferably, the heteroaromatic ring comprises benzimidazole, naphthimidazole, benzothiazole, naphthothiazole, benzoxazole, naphthoxazole, benzoselenazole, benzotellurazole, imidazole, okazole, pyrazole, triazole, thiazole, thiadiazole, tetrazole, triazine, pyrimidine, pyridazine, pyrazine, pyridine, purine, quinoline, or quinazolinone. Useful heteroaromatic mercapto compounds are described as supersensitizers in EP 0 559 228 B1 (Philip Jr. et al.). The photothermographic materials can be further protected against the production of fog and can be stabilized against loss of sensitivity during storage. Suitable antifoggants and stabilizers that can be used alone or in combination include thiazolium salts as described in U.S. Pat. No. 2,131,038 (Brooker et al.) and U.S. Pat. No. 2,694,716 (Allen), azaindenes as described in U.S. Pat. No. 2,886,437 (Piper), triazaindolizines as described in U.S. Pat. No. 2,444,605 (Heimbach), urazoles as described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,287,135 (Anderson), sulfocatechols as described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,235,652 (Kennard), oximes as described in GB 623,448 (Carrol et al.), polyvalent metal salts as described in U.S. Pat. No. 2,839,405 (Jones), thiuronium salts as described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,220,839 (Herz), compounds having —SO2CBr3 groups as described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,594,143 (Kirk et al.) and U.S. Pat. No. 5,374,514 (Kirk et al.), and 2-(tribromomethyl-sulfonyl)quinoline compounds as described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,460,938 (Kirk et al.). The photothermographic materials may also include one or more polyhalo antifoggants that include one or more polyhalo substituents including but not limited to, dichloro, dibromo, trichloro, and tribromo groups. The antifoggants can be aliphatic, alicyclic or aromatic compounds, including aromatic heterocyclic and carbocyclic compounds. Particularly useful antifoggants of this type are polyhalo antifoggants, such as those having a —SO2C(X′)3 group wherein X′ represents the same or different halogen atoms. Another class of useful antifoggants includes those compounds described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,514,678 (Burgmaier et al.), incorporated herein by reference. Advantageously, the photothermographic materials also include one or more thermal solvents (also called “heat solvents,” “thermosolvents,” “melt formers,” “melt modifiers,” “eutectic formers,” “development modifiers,” “waxes,” or “plasticizers”). By the term “thermal solvent” is meant an organic material that becomes a plasticizer or liquid solvent for at least one of the imaging layers upon heating at a temperature above 60° C. Useful for that purpose are polyethylene glycols having a mean molecular weight in the range of 1,500 to 20,000, urea, methyl sulfonamide, ethylene carbonate, and compounds described as thermal solvents in Research Disclosure, December 1976, item 15027, pp. 26-28. Other representative examples of such compounds include niacinamide, hydantoin, 5,5-dimethylhydantoin, salicylanilide, succinimide, phthalimide, N-potassium-phthalimide, N-hydroxyphthalimide, N-hydroxy-1,8-naphthalimide, phthalazine, 1-(2H)-phthalazinone, 2-acetylphthalazinone, benzanilide, 1,3-dimethylurea, 1,3-diethylurea, 1,3-diallylurea, meso-erythritol, D-sorbitol, tetrahydro-2-pyrimidone, glycouril, 2-imidazolidone, 2-imidazolidone-4-carboxylic acid, and benzenesulfonamide. Combinations of these compounds can also be used including, for example, a combination of succinimide and 1,3-dimethylurea. It may be advantageous to include a base-release agent or base precursor in the photothermographic materials. Representative base-release agents or base precursors include guanidinium compounds, such as guanidinium trichloroacetate, and other compounds that are known to release a base but do not adversely affect photographic silver halide materials, such as phenylsulfonyl acetates as described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,123,274 (Knight et al.). Phosphors In some embodiments, it is also effective to incorporate X-radiation-sensitive phosphors in the photothermographic materials as described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,573,033 (Simpson et al.) and U.S. Pat. No. 6,440,649 (Simpson et al.), both of which are incorporated herein by reference. Other useful phosphors are primarily “activated” phosphors known as phosphate phosphors and borate phosphors. Examples of these phosphors are rare earth phosphates, yttrium phosphates, strontium phosphates, or strontium fluoroborates (including cerium activated rare earth or yttrium phosphates, or europium activated strontium fluoroborates) as described in U.S. Ser. No. 10/826,500 (filed Apr. 16, 2004 by Simpson, Sieber, and Hansen). The one or more phosphors used in the practice of this invention are present in the photothermographic materials in an amount of at least 0.1 mole per mole, and preferably from about 0.5 to about 20 mole per mole, of total silver in the photothermographic material. Binders The photosensitive silver halide (if present), the co-precipitate of the first and second organic silver salts described above, the reducing agent, antifoggant(s), and any other additives used in the present invention are added to and coated in one or more binders using a suitable aqueous solvent. Thus, aqueous-based formulations are used to prepare the thermographic and photothermographic materials. Mixtures of different types of hydrophilic and/or hydrophobic binders can also be used. Preferably, hydrophilic polymer binders and water-dispersible polymeric latexes are used to provide aqueous-based formulations and thermally developable materials. Examples of useful hydrophilic polymer binders include, but are not limited to, proteins and protein derivatives, gelatin and gelatin derivatives (hardened or unhardened), cellulosic materials, acrylamide/methacrylamide polymers, acrylic/methacrylic polymers, polyvinyl pyrrolidones, polyvinyl alcohols, poly(vinyl lactams), polymers of sulfoalkyl acrylate or methacrylates, hydrolyzed polyvinyl acetates, polyamides, polysaccharides, and other naturally occurring or synthetic vehicles commonly known for use in aqueous-based photographic emulsions (see for example Research Disclosure, item 38957, noted above). Particularly useful hydrophilic polymer binders are gelatin, gelatin derivatives, polyvinyl alcohols, and cellulosic materials. Gelatin and its derivatives are most preferred, and comprise at least 75 weight % of total binders when a mixture of binders is used. Aqueous dispersions of water-dispersible polymeric latexes may also be used, alone or with hydrophilic or hydrophobic binders described herein. Such dispersions are described in, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,504,575 (Lee), U.S. Pat. No. 6,083,680 (Ito et al), U.S. Pat. No. 6,100,022 (Inoue et al.), U.S. Pat. No. 6,132,949 (Fujita et al.), U.S. Pat. No. 6,132,950 (Ishigaki et al.), U.S. Pat. No. 6,140,038 (Ishizuka et al.), U.S. Pat. No. 6,150,084 (Ito et al.), U.S. Pat. No. 6,312,885 (Fujita et al.), and U.S. Pat. No. 6,423,487 (Naoi), all of which are incorporated herein by reference. Minor amounts (less than 50 weight % based on total binder weight) of hydrophobic binders (not in latex form) may also be used. Examples of typical hydrophobic binders include polyvinyl acetals, polyvinyl chloride, polyvinyl acetate, cellulose acetate, cellulose acetate butyrate, polyolefins, polyesters, polystyrenes, polyacrylonitrile, polycarbonates, methacrylate copolymers, maleic anhydride ester copolymers, butadiene-styrene copolymers, and other materials readily apparent to one skilled in the art. The polyvinyl acetals (such as polyvinyl butyral and polyvinyl formal), cellulose ester polymers, and vinyl copolymers (such as polyvinyl acetate and polyvinyl chloride) are preferred. Particularly suitable binders are polyvinyl butyral resins that are available under the name BUTVAR® from Solutia, Inc. (St. Louis, Mo.) and PIOLOFORM® from Wacker Chemical Company (Adrian, Mich.) and cellulose ester polymers. Hardeners for various binders may be present if desired. Useful hardeners are well known and include diisocyanates as described for example, in EP 0 600 586B1 (Philip, Jr. et al.) and vinyl sulfone compounds as described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,143,487 (Philip, Jr. et al.), and EP 0 640 589A1 (Gathmann et al.), aldehydes and various other hardeners as described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,190,822 (Dickerson et al.). Where the proportions and activities of the photothermographic materials require a particular developing time and temperature, the binder(s) should be able to withstand those conditions. Generally, it is preferred that the binder does not decompose or lose its structural integrity at 120° C. for 60 seconds. It is more preferred that it does not decompose or lose its structural integrity at 177° C. for 60 seconds. The binder(s) is used in an amount sufficient to carry the components dispersed therein. Preferably, a binder is used at a level of about 10% by weight to about 90% by weight, and more preferably at a level of about 20% by weight to about 70% by weight, based on the total dry weight of the layer in which it is included. The amount of binders on opposing sides of the support in double-sided materials may be the same or different. Support Materials The thermally developable materials comprise a polymeric support that is preferably a flexible, transparent film that has any desired thickness and is composed of one or more polymeric materials. They are required to exhibit dimensional stability during thermal development and to have suitable adhesive properties with overlying layers. Useful polymeric materials for making such supports include, but are not limited to, polyesters, cellulose acetate and other cellulose esters, polyvinyl acetal, polyolefins, polycarbonates, and polystyrenes. Preferred supports are composed of polymers having good heat stability, such as polyesters and polycarbonates. Polyethylene terephthalate film is a particularly preferred support. Support materials may also be treated or annealed to reduce shrinkage and promote dimensional stability. It is also useful to use supports comprising dichroic mirror layers as described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,795,708 (Boutet), incorporated herein by reference. Also useful are transparent, multilayer, polymeric supports comprising numerous alternating layers of at least two different polymeric materials that preferably reflect at least 50% of actinic radiation in the range of wavelengths to which the photothermographic material is sensitive. Such polymeric supports are described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,630,283 (Simpson et al.) that is incorporated herein by reference. Support materials can contain various colorants, pigments, antihalation or acutance dyes if desired. For example, blue-tinted supports are particularly useful for providing images useful for medical diagnosis. Support materials may be treated using conventional procedures (such as corona discharge) to improve adhesion of overlying layers, or subbing or other adhesion-promoting layers can be used. Thermographic and Photothermographic Formulations and Constructions The imaging components are prepared in a formulation containing a hydrophilic polymer binder (such as gelatin, a gelatin-derivative, or a cellulosic material) or a water-dispersible polymer in latex form in an aqueous solvent such as water or water-organic solvent mixtures to provide aqueous-based coating formulations. Thus, the thermally developable imaging layers on one or both sides of the support are prepared and coated out of aqueous formulations. In preferred embodiments, each thermally developable imaging layers has a pH less than 7. This pH value can be determined using a surface pH electrode after placing a drop of KNO3 solution on the sample surface. Such electrodes are available from Corning (Corning, N.Y.). The thermally developable materials can contain plasticizers and lubricants such as poly(alcohols) and diols as described in U.S. Pat. No. 2,960,404 (Milton et al.), fatty acids or esters as described in U.S. Pat. No. 2,588,765 (Robijns) and U.S. Pat. No. 3,121,060 (Duane), and silicone resins as described in GB 955,061 (DuPont). The materials can also contain inorganic or organic matting agents as described in U.S. Pat. No. 2,992,101 (Jelley et al.) and U.S. Pat. No. 2,701,245 (Lynn). Polymeric fluorinated surfactants may also be useful in one or more layers as described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,468,603 (Kub). U.S. Pat. No. 6,436,616 (Geisler et al.), incorporated herein by reference, describes various means of modifying photothermographic materials to reduce what is known as the “woodgrain” effect, or uneven optical density. The thermally developable materials can include one or more antistatic agents in any of the layers on either or both sides of the support. Conductive components include soluble salts, evaporated metal layers, or ionic polymers as described in U.S. Pat. No. 2,861,056 (Minsk) and U.S. Pat. No. 3,206,312 (Sterman et al.), insoluble inorganic salts as described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,428,451 (Trevoy), electroconductive underlayers as described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,310,640 (Markin et al.), electronically-conductive metal antimonate particles as described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,368,995 (Christian et al.), and electrically-conductive metal-containing particles dispersed in a polymeric binder as described in EP 0 678 776 A1 (Melpolder et al.). Particularly useful conductive particles are the non-acicular metal antimonate particles described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,689,546 (LaBelle et al.). All of the above patents and patent applications are incorporated herein by reference. Still other conductive compositions include one or more fluoro-chemicals each of which is a reaction product of Rf—CH2CH2—SO3H with an amine wherein Rf comprises 4 or more fully fluorinated carbon atoms as described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,699,648 (Sakizadeh et al.) that is incorporated herein by reference. Additional conductive compositions include one or more fluoro-chemicals described in more detail in U.S. Pat. No. 6,762,013 (Sakizadeh et al.) that is incorporated herein by reference. For duplitized thermally developable materials, each side of the support can include one or more of the same or different imaging layers, interlayers, and protective topcoat layers. In such materials preferably a topcoat is present as the outermost layer on both sides of the support. The thermally developable layers on opposite sides can have the same or different construction and can be overcoated with the same or different protective layers. The co-precipitates can be the same or different on opposite sides of the support. Layers to promote adhesion of one layer to another are also known, as described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,891,610 (Bauer et al.), U.S. Pat. No. 5,804,365 (Bauer et al.), and U.S. Pat. No. 4,741,992 (Przezdziecki). Adhesion can also be promoted using specific polymeric adhesive materials as described for example in U.S. Pat. No. 5,928,857 (Geisler et al.). Layers to reduce emissions from the film may also be present, including the polymeric barrier layers described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,352,819 (Kenney et al.), U.S. Pat. No. 6,352,820 (Bauer et al.), U.S. Pat. No. 6,420,102 (Bauer et al.), U.S. Pat. No. 6,667,148 (Rao et al.), and U.S. Pat. No. 6,746,831 (Hunt), all incorporated herein by reference. The formulations described herein (including the thermally developable formulations) can be coated by various coating procedures including wire wound rod coating, dip coating, air knife coating, curtain coating, slide coating, or extrusion coating using hoppers of the type described in U.S. Pat. No. 2,681,294 (Beguin). Layers can be coated one at a time, or two or more layers can be coated simultaneously by the procedures described in U.S. Pat. No. 2,761,791 (Russell), U.S. Pat. No. 4,001,024 (Dittman et al.), U.S. Pat. No. 4,569,863 (Keopke et al.), U.S. Pat. No. 5,340,613 (Hanzalik et al.), U.S. Pat. No. 5,405,740 (LaBelle), U.S. Pat. No. 5,415,993 (Hanzalik et al.), U.S. Pat. No. 5,525,376 (Leonard), U.S. Pat. No. 5,733,608 (Kessel et al.), U.S. Pat. No. 5,849,363 (Yapel et al.), U.S. Pat. No. 5,843,530 (Jerry et al.), and U.S. Pat. No. 5,861,195 (Bhave et al.), and GB 837,095 (Ilford). Atypical coating gap for the emulsion layer can be from about 10 to about 750 μm, and the layer can be dried in forced air at a temperature of from about 20° C. to about 100° C. It is preferred that the thickness of the layer be selected to provide maximum image densities greater than about 0.2, and more preferably, from about 0.5 to 5.0 or more, as measured by a MacBeth Color Densitometer Model TD 504. Simultaneously with or subsequently to application of an emulsion formulation to the support, a protective overcoat formulation can be applied over the emulsion formulation. Preferably, two or more layer formulations are applied simultaneously to a film support using slide coating techniques, the first layer being coated on top of the second layer while the second layer is still wet. In other embodiments, a “carrier” layer formulation comprising a single-phase mixture of the two or more polymers may be applied directly onto the support and thereby located underneath the emulsion layer(s) as described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,355,405 (Ludemann et al.), incorporated herein by reference. The carrier layer formulation can be applied simultaneously with application of the emulsion layer formulation. Mottle and other surface anomalies can be reduced in the materials by incorporation of a fluorinated polymer as described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,532,121 (Yonkoski et al.) or by using particular drying techniques as described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,621,983 (Ludemann et al.). While the first and second layers can be coated on one side of the film support, manufacturing methods can also include forming on the opposing or backside of the polymeric support, one or more additional layers, including a conductive layer, antihalation layer, or a layer containing a matting agent (such as silica), or a combination of such layers. Alternatively, one backside layer can perform all of the desired functions. To promote image sharpness, photothermographic materials can contain one or more layers containing acutance and/or antihalation dyes that are chosen to have absorption close to the exposure wavelength and are designed to absorb scattered light. One or more antihalation compositions may be incorporated into one or more antihalation backing layers, antihalation underlayers, or as antihalation overcoats. Dyes useful as antihalation and acutance dyes include squaraine dyes described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,380,635 (Gomez et al.) and U.S. Pat. No. 6,063,560 (Suzuki et al.), and EP 1 083 459A1 (Kimura), indolenine dyes described in EP 0 342 810A1 (Leichter), and cyanine dyes described in U.S. patent application Publication 2003/0162134 (Hunt et al.), all incorporated herein by reference. It may also be useful to employ compositions including acutance or antihalation dyes that will decolorize or bleach with heat during processing, as described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,135,842 (Kitchin et al.), U.S. Pat. No. 5,266,452 (Kitchin et al.), U.S. Pat. No. 5,314,795 (Helland et al.), and U.S. Pat. No. 6,306,566, (Sakurada et al.), and Japenese Kokai 2001-142175 (Hanyu et al.) and 2001-183770 (Hanye et al.). Useful bleaching compositions are also described in Japanese Kokai 11-302550 (Fujiwara), 2001-109101 (Adachi), 2001-51371 (Yabuki et al.), and 2000-029168 (Noro). All of the noted publications are incorporated herein by reference. Other useful heat-bleachable backside antihalation compositions can include an infrared radiation absorbing compound such as an oxonol dye or other compounds used in combination with a hexaarylbiimidazole (also known as a “HABI” ), or mixtures thereof. HABI compounds are described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,196,002 (Levinson et al.), U.S. Pat. No. 5,652,091 (Perry et al.), and U.S. Pat. No. 5,672,562 (Perry et al.), all incorporated herein by reference. Examples of such heat-bleachable compositions are described for example in U.S. Pat. No. 6,455,210 (Irving et al.), U.S. Pat. No. 6,514,677 (Ramsden et al.), and U.S. Pat. No. 6,558,880 (Goswami et al.), all incorporated herein by reference. Under practical conditions of use, these compositions are heated to provide bleaching at a temperature of at least 90° C. for at least 0.5 seconds (preferably, at a temperature of from about 100° C. to about 200° C. for from about 5 to about 20 seconds). Imaging/Development The photothermographic materials can be imaged in any suitable manner consistent with the type of material, using any suitable imaging source (typically some type of radiation or electronic signal). In some embodiments, the materials are sensitive to radiation in the range of from about at least 100 nm to about 1400 nm, and normally from about 300 nm to about 750 nm (preferably from about 300 to about 600 nm, more preferably from about 300 to about 450 nm, even more preferably from a wavelength of from about 360 to 420 nm, and most preferably from about 380 to about 420 nm), using appropriate spectral sensitizing dyes. Imaging can be achieved by exposing the photothermographic materials to a suitable source of radiation to which they are sensitive, including ultraviolet radiation, visible light, near infrared radiation, and infrared radiation to provide a latent image. Suitable exposure means are well known and include incandescent or fluorescent lamps, xenon flash lamps, lasers, laser diodes, light emitting diodes, infrared lasers, infrared laser diodes, infrared light-emitting diodes, infrared lamps, or any other ultraviolet, visible, or infrared radiation source readily apparent to one skilled in the art such as described in Research Disclosure, item 38957 (noted above). In preferred embodiments, the photothermographic materials can be indirectly imaged using an X-radiation imaging source and one or more prompt-emitting or storage X-ray sensitive phosphor screens adjacent to the photothermographic material. The phosphors emit suitable radiation to expose the photothermographic material. Preferred X-ray screens are those having phosphors emitting in the blue region of the spectrum (from 400 to 500 nm) and those emitting in the green region of the spectrum (from 500 to 600 nm). In other embodiments, the photothermographic materials can be imaged directly using an X-radiation imaging source to provide a latent image. Thermal development conditions will vary, depending on the construction used but will typically involve heating the photothermographic material at a suitably elevated temperature, for example, at from about 50° C. to about 250° C. (preferably from about 80° C. to about 200° C. and more preferably from about 100° C. to about 200° C.) for a sufficient period of time, generally from about 1 to about 120 seconds. Heating can be accomplished using any suitable heating means. A preferred heat development procedure for photothermographic materials includes heating at from 130° C. to about 165° C. for from about 3 to about 25 seconds. Imaging of the thermographic materials is carried out using a suitable imaging source of thermal energy such as a thermal print head or a modulated scanning laser beam. Use as a Photomask In some embodiments, the photothermographic and thermographic materials are sufficiently transmissive in the range of from about 350 to about 450 nm in non-imaged areas to allow their use in a method where there is a subsequent exposure of an ultraviolet or short wavelength visible radiation sensitive imageable medium. The heat-developed materials absorb ultraviolet or short wavelength visible radiation in the areas where there is a visible image and transmit ultraviolet or short wavelength visible radiation where there is no visible image. The materials may then be used as a mask and positioned between a source of imaging radiation (such as an ultraviolet or short wavelength visible radiation energy source) and an imageable material that is sensitive to such imaging radiation, such as a photopolymer, diazo material, photoresist, or photosensitive printing plate. These embodiments of the imaging method of this invention are carried out using the following Steps A through D: A) imagewise exposing a photothermographic material having a transparent support to form a latent image, B) simultaneously or sequentially, heating the exposed photothermographic material to develop the latent image into a visible image, C) positioning the exposed and photothermographic material with the visible image therein between a source of imaging radiation and an imageable material that is sensitive to the imaging radiation, and D) exposing the imageable material to the imaging radiation through the visible image in the exposed and photothermographic material to provide an image in the imageable material. Imaging Assemblies In some embodiments, the photothermographic materials are used or arranged in association with one or more phosphor intensifying screens and/or metal screens in what is known as “imaging assemblies.” Duplitized visible light sensitive photothermographic materials are preferably used in combination with two adjacent intensifying screens, one screen in the “front” and one screen in the “back” of the material. The front and back screens can be appropriately chosen depending upon the type of emissions desired, the desired photicity, and emulsion speeds. The imaging assemblies can be prepared by arranging the photothermographic material and one or more phosphor intensifying screens in a suitable holder (often known as a cassette), and appropriately packaging them for transport and imaging uses. There are a wide variety of phosphors known in the art that can be formulated into phosphor intensifying screens as described in hundreds of publications. U.S. Pat. No. 6,573,033 (noted above) describes phosphors that can be used in this manner. Particularly useful phosphors are those that emit radiation having a wavelength of from about 300 to about 450 nm and preferably radiation having a wavelength of from about 360 to about 420 nm. Preferred phosphors useful in the phosphor intensifying screens include one or more alkaline earth fluorohalide phosphors and especially the rare earth activated (doped) alkaline earth fluorohalide phosphors. Particularly useful phosphor intensifying screens include a europium-doped barium fluorobromide (BaFBr2:Eu) phosphor. Other useful phosphors are described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,682,868 (Dickerson et al.) and references cited therein, all incorporated herein by reference. The following examples are provided to illustrate the practice of the present invention and the invention is not meant to be limited thereby. Materials and Methods for the Examples: All materials used in the following examples can be prepared using known synthetic procedures or are readily available from standard commercial sources, such as Aldrich Chemical Co. (Milwaukee, Wis.) unless otherwise specified. All percentages are by weight unless otherwise indicated. BZT is benzotriazole. AGBZT is silver benzotriazole. BYK-022 is a defoamer and is available from Byk-Chemie Corp. (Wallingford, Conn.). CELVOL® V203S is a polyvinyl alcohol and is available from Celanese Corp. (Dallas, Tex.). L-Ascorbic acid 6-O-palmitate is available from Alfa Aesar Corp., (Ward Hill, Mass.). TRITON® X-114 is a surfactant and is available from Dow Chemical Corp. (Midland Mich.). Densitometry measurements were carried out on an X-Rite® Model 301 densitometer that is available from X-Rite Inc. (Grandville, Mich.). Compounds A-1 and A-2 are described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,605,418 (noted above) and are believed to have the following structures: Compound SS-1a is described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,296,998 (Eikenberry et al.) and is believed to have the following structure: Bisvinyl sulfonyl methane (VS-1) is 1,1′(methylenebis(sulfonyl))-bis-ethene and is described in EP 0 640 589 A1 (Gathmann et al.). It is believed to have the following structure: Compound T-1 is 2,4-dihydro-4-(phenylmethyl)-3H-1,2,4-triazole-3-thione. It is believed to have the structure shown above. It may also exist as the thione tautomer. The silver salt of this compound is referred to as AgT-1. The sodium salt of this compound is referred to as NaT-1. Gold sensitizer Compound GS-1 is believed to have the following structure. Blue sensitizing dye SSD-1 is believed to have the following structure. Densitometry Densitometry measurements were made on a custom built computerized scanning-densitometer that meets ISO Standards 5-2 and 5-3 and takes an optical density reading every 0.33 mm. The results are believed to be comparable to measurements from commercially available densitometers. Density of the wedges was measured using a filter appropriate to the sensitivity of the photothermographic material to obtain graphs of density versus log exposure (that is, D log E curves). Dmin is the density of the non-exposed areas after development and it is the average of the eight lowest density values. Preparation of Silver Benzotriazole Emulsions Preparation of Pure AGBZT Emulsions: Comparative gelatin emulsions C-1 and C-4 of silver benzotriazole (AgBZT) were prepared as described below. Amounts listed as g/kg refer to grams of material per kilogram of solution of that material. A stirred reaction vessel was charged with 900 g of lime-processed gelatin, and 6 kg of deionized water. Solution A: A solution containing 216 g/kg of benzotriazole, 710 g/kg of deionized water, and 74 g/kg of sodium hydroxide was prepared. The mixture in the reaction vessel was adjusted to a pH of 8.9 with 2.5N sodium hydroxide solution. The small amount of Solution A shown in TABLE II was added to adjust the solution vAg. The temperature of the reaction vessel was maintained at approximately 50° C. Solution B: A second solution containing 362 g/kg of silver nitrate and 638 g/kg of deionized water was prepared. Solutions A and B were then added to the reaction vessel by conventional controlled double-jet addition at the Solution B flow rates given in TABLE III. The rate of addition of Solution A was controlled to maintain constant vAg and pH in the reaction vessel. For example, in the preparation of comparative emulsion C-1, Solution B was initially added at a flow rate of about 25 ml/min for 20 minutes, the flow rate of Solution B was then accelerated over 41 minutes to about 40 ml/min, and finally the flow rate of Solution B was further accelerated over 30 minutes to about 80 ml/min. The AgBZT emulsions were washed by conventional ultrafiltration process as described in Research Disclosure, Vol. 131, March 1975, Item 13122. The pH of AgBZT emulsions was adjusted to 6.0 using 2.0N sulfuric acid. Preparation of AgBZT/AgT-1 Co-Precipitated Emulsions: Co-precipitated AgBZT/AgT-1 comparative emulsions C-2 and C-3, and inventive emulsion samples I-1 through I-9 were prepared as described below. A stirred reaction vessel was charged with 900 g of lime-processed gelatin, and 6 kg of deionized water. Solution A: A solution containing 216 g/kg of benzotriazole, 710 g/kg of deionized water, and 74 g/kg of sodium hydroxide was prepared The mixture in the reaction vessel was adjusted to a pH of 8.9 with 2.5N sodium hydroxide solution. The small amount of Solution A shown in TABLE II, was added to adjust the solution vAg. The temperature of the reaction vessel was maintained at approximately 50° C. Solution B: A second solution containing 362 g/kg of silver nitrate and 638 g/kg of deionized water was prepared. Solution A′: A third series of solutions containing benzotriazole, compound T-1, sodium hydroxide and de-ionized water was prepared having the compositions shown in TABLE IV. Solutions A and B were then added to the reaction vessel by conventional controlled double-jet addition at the Solution B flow rates given in TABLE III. The rate of addition of Solution A was controlled to maintain constant vAg and pH in the reaction vessel. For the proportion of the silver nitrate (Solution B) addition, indicated in TABLE IV, Solution A was replaced with Solution A′. Solutions B and A′ were then added to the reaction vessel by conventional controlled double-jet addition, while maintaining constant vAg and pH in the reaction vessel. For example, in the preparation of comparative emulsion C-2, Solution B was added at a flow rate of about 50 ml/min for 22 minutes, along with Solution A, by conventional controlled double-jet addition. At this point, about 30% of the total amount of Solution B had been added during the precipitation. Solution A was then replaced with Solution A′. Solutions B and A′ were then added at a flow rate of about 50 ml/min for 7.5 minutes by conventional controlled double-jet addition, while maintaining constant vAg and pH in the reaction vessel. At this point, the about 40% of the total amount of Solution B had been added during the precipitation. Solution A′ was then replaced with Solution A. Solutions A and B were then added at a flow rate of about 50 ml/min for 7.5 minutes by conventional controlled double-jet addition, while maintaining constant vAg and pH in the reaction vessel. The flow rate of Solution B was then accelerated over 27 minutes to about 85 ml/min, while maintaining constant vAg and pH in the reaction vessel. The AgBZT/AgT-1 co-precipitated emulsions were washed by conventional ultrafiltration process as described in Research Disclosure, Vol. 131, March 1975, Item 13122. The pH of AgBZT/AgT-1 emulsions was adjusted to 6.0 using 2.0N sulfuric acid. Emulsion C-1 contained no AgT-1. Emulsions C-2 and C-3 had a core-shell construction with a core of AgBZT surrounded by a shell of AgBZT/AgT-1, further surrounded by a surface shell of AgBZT. The AgT-1 was not within 75 volume % of the surface of the particle. Emulsion C-4 contained no AgT-1. Emulsions I-1 through I-7 and I-9 had core-shell structures with a core of AgBZT surrounded by a shell containing a various quantities of silver AgBZT/AgT-1. The AgT-1 was in the surface layer. Emulsion I-8 had 95 mol % of AgT-1 within 75 to 85 volume % of the surface. TABLE II Amount of Solution A Measured vAg Emulsion Added [g] [mV] pAg C-1 0.8 80 8.26 C-2 38.5 0 9.50 C-3 38.5 0 9.50 C-4 5.0 60 8.58 I-1 0.8 80 8.26 I-2 0.8 80 8.26 I-3 0.8 80 8.26 I-4 38.5 0 9.50 I-5 38.5 0 9.50 I-6 38.5 0 9.50 I-7 5.0 60 8.58 I-8 38.5 0 9.50 I-9 5.0 60 8.58 TABLE III Growth Solution B flow rate Time [mV] [ml/min] [min] Emulsions C-1, I-1, I-2, I-3 80 Addition 1 25 20 80 Addition 2 25-40 41 80 Addition 3 40-80 30 Emulsions C-4, I-7, I-9 60 Addition 1 40 12 60 Addition 2 40-50 30 60 Addition 3 50-85 27 Emulsions C-2, C-3, I-4, I-5, I-6, I-8 0 Addition 1 50 37 0 Addition 2 50-85 27 TABLE IV Percent of Silver Percent of Silver Solution A′: Solution A′: Solution A′: Solution A′: Added at Start of Added at End of Amount of Amount of Amount of Amount of Addition of Addition of Emulsion BZT [g/kg] T-1 [g/kg] NaOH [g/kg] H2O [g/kg] Solution A′ Solution A′ C-2 195 79 83 643 30 40 C-3 195 79 83 643 50 60 I-1 0 336 70 594 97.7 100 I-2 0 336 70 594 97.4 100 I-3 0 336 70 594 96.9 100 I-4 0 336 70 594 96.9 100 I-5 190 99 85 626 90 100 I-6 185 119 87 609 90 100 I-7 0 336 70 594 96.9 100 I-8 195 79 83 643 75 85 I-9 0 336 70 594 97.9 100 TABLE V Diameter Emulsion Length [μm] Diameter [μm] Aspect Ratio Width Index C-1 0.153 0.049 3.15 1.17 C-2 0.153 0.085 1.82 1.17 C-3 0.171 0.073 2.34 1.15 C-4 0.254 0.046 5.59 1.17 I-1 0.392 0.058 6.78 1.15 I-2 0.364 0.051 7.14 1.14 I-3 0.363 0.054 6.77 1.17 I-4 0.232 0.059 3.95 1.13 I-5 0.230 0.057 4.02 1.13 I-6 0.232 0.058 4.02 1.13 I-7 0.235 0.048 4.92 1.12 I-8 0.194 0.063 3.11 1.12 I-9 0.259 0.047 5.58 1.14 EXAMPLE 1 Preparation of Photothermographic Materials Photothermographic materials of this invention and comparative materials were prepared and evaluated as follows: Preparation of Ultra-Thin Tabular Grain Silver Halide Emulsions An ultrathin tabular grain silver halide emulsion was prepared as described in copending and commonly assigned U.S. Ser. No. 10/826,708 (filed on Apr. 16, 2004 by Olm et al.) and incorporated herein by reference. A vessel equipped with a stirrer was charged with 6 liters of water containing 4.21 g of lime-processed bone gelatin, 4.63 g of sodium bromide, 75.6 mg of potassium iodide, a known antifoamant, and 1.25 ml of 0.1 molar sulfuric acid. It was then held at 39° C. for 5 minutes. Simultaneous additions were then made of 25.187 ml of 0.6 molar silver nitrate and 19.86 ml of 0.75 molar sodium bromide over 30 seconds. Following nucleation, 50 ml of a 0.58% solution of the oxidant Oxone was added. Next, a mixture of 0.749 g of sodium thiocyanate and 30.22 g of sodium chloride dissolved in 136.4 g of water were added and the temperature was increased to 54° C. over 9 minutes. After a 5-minute hold, 100 g of oxidized methionine lime-processed bone gelatin in 1.412 liters of water containing additional antifoamant at 54° C. were then added to the vessel. During the next 38 minutes, the first growth stage took place wherein solutions of 0.6 molar silver nitrate, 0.75 molar sodium bromide, and a 0.29 molar suspension of silver iodide (Lippmann) were added to maintain a nominal uniform iodide level of 4.2 mole %. The flow rates during this growth segment were linearly increased from 9 to 42 ml/min (silver nitrate), from 11.4 to 48.17 ml/min (sodium bromide) and from 0.8 to 3.7 ml/min (silver iodide). The flow rates of the sodium bromide were unbalanced from the silver nitrate in order to increase the pBr during the segment. During the next 64 minutes, the second growth stage took place wherein solutions of 3.5 molar silver nitrate and 4.5 molar sodium bromide and a 0.29 molar suspension of silver iodide (Lippmann) were added to maintain a nominal iodide level of 4.2 mole %. The flow rates during this segment were increased from 8.6 to 38 ml/min (silver nitrate) and from 5.2 to 22.0 ml/min (silver iodide). The flow rates of the sodium bromide were allowed to fluctuate as needed to maintain a constant pBr. During the next 38 minutes, the third growth stage took place wherein solutions of 3.5 molar silver nitrate, 4.5 molar sodium bromide, and a 0.29 molar suspension of silver iodide (Lippmann) were added to maintain a nominal iodide level of 4.2 mole %. The flow rates during this segment were 42 ml/min (silver nitrate), nominally 32 ml/min (sodium bromide)-pBr control, and 22 ml/min (silver iodide). The temperature was decreased from 54° C. to 35° C. during this segment. At a point approximately 13.5 minutes after the start of this segment, 1 ml of a 2.06 millimolar aqueous solution of K2 [IrCl5(5-bromo-thiazole)] was added. This corresponds to a concentration of 0.164 ppm to silver halide. K2 [IrCl5(5-bromo-thiazole)] A total of 12.6 moles of silver iodobromide (4.2% bulk iodide) were formed. The resulting emulsion was washed via ultrafiltration. Lime-processed bone gelatin (269.3 g) was added along with a biocide and pH and pBr were adjusted to 6 and 2.5, respectively. The resulting emulsion was examined by Transmission Electron Microscopy. Tabular grains accounted for greater than 99% of the total projected area. The mean ECD of the grains was 2.6 μm. The mean tabular thickness was 0.063 μm. This emulsion was spectrally sensitized with 1.0 mmol of blue sensitizing dye SSD-1 per mole of silver halide. Chemical sensitization was carried out using 0.0055 mmol of sulfur sensitizer (compound SS-1a) per mole of silver halide at 60° C. for 10 minutes. Preparation of Photothermographic Emulsion Formulations: Component A (Comparative Samples 1-CS-1 and 1-CS-2): A portion of the AgBZT emulsion prepared above and hydrated gelatin (35% gelatin/65% water) were placed in a beaker and heated to 50° C. for 15 minutes to form a homogeneous dispersion. A 5% aqueous solution of 3-methyl-benzothiazolium iodide was added and heated for 15 minutes at 50° C. The sodium salt of benzotriazole was added and stirring was continued for 15 minutes at 50° C. At this point, for Comparative Sample 1-CS-1 solution of Compound NaT-1 was added. For Comparative Sample 1-CS-2, no compound T-1 was added. 2.5 N sulfuric acid was added to the resulting melt at 40° C. to adjust the dispersion pH to 5.5. Component B (Inventive Samples 1-IN-6 through 1-IN-12): A portion of AgBZT/AgT-1 mixed crystal emulsion prepared above and hydrated gelatin (35% gelatin/65% water) were used to prepare a dispersion similar to that of Component A except the addition of Compound T-1 was omitted. Component C: A portion of the tabular-grain silver halide emulsion prepared above was placed in a beaker and melted by heating at 40° C. Component D: The materials listed in TABLE VI below were added to water and heated to 50° C. Coating of Samples: Components A, C, and D (Comparative) or Components B, C and D (Inventive) were mixed immediately before coating to form a photothermographic emulsion formulation. Each formulation was coated as a single layer on a 7 mil (178 μm) transparent, blue-tinted poly(ethylene terephthalate) film support using a knife coater to form an imaging layer having the dry composition shown below in TABLE VI. Samples were dried at 116° F. (47° C.) for 7 minutes. TABLE VI Dry Coating Component Compound Weight [g/m2] A AgBZT 3.21 A Lime processed gelatin 1.28 A Sodium benzotriazole 0.10 A 3-Methyl-benzothiazolium 0.08 iodide A Compound NaT-1 0.08 B AgBZT/AgT-1 mixed crystals 3.21 B Lime processed gelatin 1.28 B Sodium benzotriazole 0.10 B 3-Methyl-benzothiazolium 0.08 iodide C Silver (from silver halide 0.27 emulsion) D Succinimide 0.14 D 1,3-Dimethylurea 0.17 D A-1 0.07 D VS-1 0.07 D meso-Erythritol 0.42 D L-ascorbic acid 6-O-pivalate 2.90 Evaluation of Samples: Samples of each of the resulting photothermographic materials were imagewise exposed for 10−2 seconds using an EG&G flash sensitometer equipped with a P-16 filter and a 0.7 neutral density filter. Following exposure, the samples were thermally developed using a heated flatbed processor for 18 seconds at 150° C. to generate continuous tone wedges. These samples provided initial Dmin, Dmax, and photospeed values. TABLES VII and VIII summarize the initial sensitometry and keeping stability for AgBZT/AgT-1 co-precipitated emulsions. Comparative sample 1-CS-1 has toner compound T-1 physically mixed with the AgBZT coating melt as would be done in conventional procedures where toners and developer are added into emulsion layer in solution or as solid particle dispersions. The coatings of Comparative Sample 1-CS-1 show a large number of black spots after thermal development, indicating agglomeration of T-1 particles in the coating layer. Comparative Sample 1-CS-2 contained no toner compound T-1. This sample gave a faint image. Comparative samples 1-CS-3 and 1-CS-4 contained AgT-1 buried within the particle as an inner layer not within 75 volume % of the surface of the particle. Inventive samples 1-IN-6 through 1-IN-11 all had at least some portion of AgT-1 on the surface of AgBZT/AgT-1 particle. Inventive sample 1-IN-12 had 95 mol % of AgT-1 within 75 to 85 volume % of the surface. The results, shown below in TABLES VII and VIII, demonstrate that AgBZT/AgT-1 co-precipitated emulsions gave excellent sensitometry under various preparative conditions. In addition, samples having AgT-1 on the surface of the co-precipitate provided higher photospeed and density than samples having AgT-1 located within 75 to 85 volume % of the outer surface, while maintaining low Dmin. No black spots were found after thermal development. TABLE VII Amount Amount of of NaT-1 T-1 in Co- Invention/ in AgBZT precipitated AgBZT Sample Emulsion Comparative [g/mol Ag] [g/mol Ag] 1-CS-1 C-1 Comparative 5.0 0.0 1-CS-2 C-1 Comparative 0.0 0.0 1-CS-3 C-2 Comparative 0.0 4.0 1-CS-4 C-3 Comparative 0.0 4.0 1-IN-6 I-1 Invention 0.0 4.4 1-IN-7 I-2 Invention 0.0 5.0 1-IN-8 I-3 Invention 0.0 6.0 1-IN-9 I-4 Invention 0.0 6.0 1-IN-10 I-5 Invention 0.0 5.0 1-IN-11 I-6 Invention 0.0 6.0 1-IN-12 I-8 Invention 0.0 4.0 TABLE VIII Invention/ Sample Emulsion Comparative Dmin Dmax Spd-1 Spd-2 Image Quality 1-CS-1 C-1 Comparative 0.257 2.857 5.243 4.851 black spots 1-CS-2 C-1 Comparative 0.301 0.434 **** **** Faint Image 1-CS-3 C-2 Comparative 0.237 0.529 4.176 **** no black spots 1-CS-4 C-3 Comparative 0.244 0.854 4.539 **** no black spots 1-IN-6 I-1 Invention 0.254 2.683 5.144 4.663 no black spots 1-IN-7 I-2 Invention 0.250 2.835 5.227 4.900 no black spots 1-IN-8 I-3 Invention 0.265 2.756 5.275 4.911 no black spots 1-IN-9 I-4 Invention 0.261 2.447 5.194 4.846 no black spots 1-IN-10 I-5 Invention 0.248 2.489 5.114 4.634 no black spots 1-IN-11 I-6 Invention 0.252 2.208 5.047 4.462 no black spots 1-IN-12 I-8 Invention 0.248 1.305 4.754 4.085 no black spots **** - Could not be measured Natural Age Keeping: Non-imaged samples were stored in a black polyethylene bag for 6 weeks at ambient room temperature and relative humidity to determine their Natural Age Keeping properties. The samples were then imaged and compared with the freshly imaged samples. The results, shown below in TABLES IX and X demonstrate that photothermographic materials incorporating a physical mixture of silver benzotriazole (AgBZT) with a 1,2,4-triazine compound (compound T-1) exhibit a greater increase in Dmin, and a greater decrease in Dmax and Speed-2 upon Natural Age Keeping than photothermographic materials incorporating co-precipitated particles of AgBZT/AgT-1. TABLE IX NAK NAK Invention/ Initial 6 Week 6 Week Initial 6 Week 6 Week Sample Emulsion Comparative Dmin Dmin Δ Dmin Dmax Dmax Δ Dmax 1-CS-1 C-1 Comparative 0.257 0.386 +0.229 2.857 1.573 −1.284 1-IN-6 I-1 Invention 0.254 0.280 +0.026 2.683 2.142 −0.541 1-IN-7 I-2 Invention 0.250 0.282 +0.032 2.835 1.609 −1.226 1-IN-8 I-3 Invention 0.265 0.329 +0.064 2.756 1.848 −0.908 1-IN-9 I-4 Invention 0.261 0.279 +0.018 2.447 1.105 −1.342 TABLE X NAK NAK Invention/ Initial 6 Week 6 Week Initial 6 Week 6 Week Sample Emulsion Comparative Spd-1 Spd-1 Δ Spd-1 Spd-2 Spd-2 Δ Spd-2 1-CS-1 C-1 Comparative 5.243 5.220 −0.023 4.851 3.848 −1.003 1-IN-6 I-1 Invention 5.144 5.318 +0.174 4.663 4.726 +0.099 1-IN-7 I-2 Invention 5.227 5.151 −0.086 4.900 4.130 −0.770 1-IN-8 I-3 Invention 5.275 5.372 +0.097 4.911 4.517 −0.394 1-IN9 I-4 Inventive 5.194 5.076 −0.118 4.846 **** **** **** - Could not be measured EXAMPLE 2 Preparation of Photothermographic Materials Photothermographic materials of this invention and comparative materials were prepared and evaluated as follows. Preparation of Ultra-Thin Tabular Grain Silver Halide Emulsion: A reaction vessel equipped with a stirrer was charged with 6 liters of water containing 2.1 g of deionized oxidized-methionine lime-processed bone gelatin, 3.49 g of sodium bromide, and an antifoamant (at pH=5.8). The solution was held at 39° C. for 5 minutes. Simultaneous additions were then made of 50.6 ml of 0.3 molar silver nitrate and 33.2 ml of 0.448 molar sodium bromide over 1 minute. Following nucleation, 3.0 ml of a 0.1 M solution of sulfuric acid was added. After 1 minute 15.62 g sodium chloride plus 375 mg of sodium thiocyanate were added and the temperature was increased to 54° C. over 9 minutes. After a 5-minute hold, 79.6 g of deionized oxidized-methionine lime-processed bone gelatin in 1.52 liters of water containing additional antifoamant at 54° C. were then added to the reactor. The reactor temperature was held for 7 minutes (pH=5.6). During the next 36.8 minutes, the first growth stage took place (at 54° C.), in three segments, wherein solutions of 0.3 molar AgNO3, 0.448 molar sodium bromide, and a 0.16 molar suspension of silver iodide (Lippmann) were added to maintain a nominal uniform iodide level of 3.2 mole %. The flow rates during this growth stage were increased from 9 to 42 ml/min (silver nitrate) and from 0.73 to 3.3 ml/min (silver iodide). The flow rates of the sodium bromide were allowed to fluctuate as needed to affect a monotonic pBr shift of 2.45 to 2.12 over the first 12 minutes, of 2.12 to 1.90 over the second 12 minutes, and of 1.90 to 1.67 over the last 12.8 minutes. This was followed by a 1.5 minute hold. During the next 59 minutes the second growth stage took place (at 54° C.) during which solutions of 2.8 molar silver nitrate, and 3.0 molar sodium bromide, and a 0.16 molar suspension of silver iodide (Lippmann) were added to maintain a nominal iodide level of 3.2 mole %. The flow rates during this segment were increased from 10 to 39.6 ml/min (silver nitrate) and from 5.3 to 22.6 ml/min (silver iodide). The flow rates of the sodium bromide were allowed to fluctuate as needed to affect a monotonic pBr shift of 1.67 to 1.50. This was followed by a 1.5 minute hold. During the next 34.95 minutes, the third growth stage took place during which solutions of 2.8 molar silver nitrate, 3.0 molar sodium bromide, and a 0.16 molar suspension of silver iodide (Lippmann) were added to maintain a nominal iodide level of 3.2 mole %. The flow rates during this segment were 39.6 ml/min (silver nitrate) and 22.6 ml/min (silver iodide). The temperature was linearly decreased to 35° C. during this segment. At the 23rd minute of this segment a 50 ml aqueous solution containing 0.85mg of an Iridium dopant (K2[Ir(5-Br-thiazole)Cl5]) was added. The flow rate of the sodium bromide was allowed to fluctuate to maintain a constant pBr of 1.50. K2 [IrCl5(5-bromo-thiazole)] A total of 8.5 moles of silver iodobromide (3.2% bulk iodide) were formed. The resulting emulsion was washed using ultrafiltration. Deionized lime-processed bone gelatin (326.9 g) was added along with a biocide and pH and pBr were adjusted to 6 and 2.5 respectively. The resulting emulsion was examined by Scanning Electron Microscopy. Tabular grains accounted for greater than 99% of the total projected area. The mean ECD of the grains was 2.522 μm. The mean tabular thickness was 0.049 μm. This emulsion was spectrally sensitized with 3.31 mmol of blue sensitizing dye SSD-1 per mole of silver halide. This dye quantity was split 80%/20% with the majority being added before chemical sensitization and the remainder afterwards. Chemical sensitization was carried out using 0.0085 mmol of sulfur sensitizer (compound SS-1a) and 0.00079 mmol per mole of silver halide of gold sensitizer (compound GS-1) at 60° C. for 6.3 minutes. Preparation of Photothermographic Emulsion Formulations: Component E (Samples 2-CS-1 and 2-CS-2): A portion of AgBZT emulsion C-4 prepared above and hydrated gelatin (35% gelatin/65% water) were placed in a beaker and heated to 50° C. for 15 minutes to form a homogeneous dispersion. A 5% aqueous solution of 3-methylbenzothiazolium iodide was added and heated for 15 minutes at 50° C. The sodium salt of benzotriazole was added and the dispersions were stirred again for 15 minutes at 50° C. Comparative samples 2-CS-1A and 2-CS-1B contained no compound T-1. Comparative samples 2-CS-2A and 2-CS-2B contained compound T-1 physically mixed with AgBZT as would be done in conventional procedures where toner and developer are added into the emulsion layer in solution or as a solid particle dispersion. For this sample a solution of Compound NaT-1 was added with stirring. 2.5 N sulfuric acid was added to all of the resulting melts at 40° C. to adjust the dispersion pH to 5.0. Addition of a solution of compound A-2 was followed by addition of a solution of ZONYL FS300 surfactant. Component F (Inventive Sample 2-IN-3 and 2-IN-4): A portion of AgBZT/AgT-1 mixed crystal emulsions I-7 and I-9 prepared above and hydrated gelatin (35% gelatin/65% water) were used to prepare a dispersion similar to that of Component E except the addition of Compound T-1 was omitted. Component G: A portion of the tabular-grain silver halide emulsion, prepared as described above, was placed in a beaker and melted by heating at 40° C. Component H: Succinimide, 1,3-dimethylurea, and pentaerythritol listed in TABLE XI below were added to water and dissolved by sonication at 50° C. To this was added an aqueous dispersion of 29.2% L-ascorbic acid-6-O-palmitate, 2.92% polyvinyl alcohol (CELVOL® V 203S), 0.87% TRITON® X-114, and 0.03% BYK-022. The dispersion was prepared by circulating the materials in a Netzsch mill until the average particle size was 0.46 μm. Topcoat Formulation: An aqueous gelatin topcoat formulation was prepared. Coating and Evaluation of Samples: Components E, G, and H (Comparative) or Components F, G and H (Inventive) were mixed immediately before coating to form a photothermographic emulsion formulation. Each photothermographic emulsion and the topcoat formulation was dual knife coated onto a 7-mil (178 μm) transparent, blue-tinted poly(ethylene terephthalate) film support. The coating gap for the photothermographic layer was adjusted to achieve the dry coating weights shown below in TABLE XI. The dry coating weight of the gelatin topcoat layer was approximately 0.81 g/m2. Samples were dried at 116° F. (47° C.) for 10 minutes. TABLE XI Dry Coating Component Compound Weight [g/m2] E AgBZT 2.98 E Lime processed gelatin 2.24 E Sodium benzotriazole 0.09 E 3-Methyl-benzothiazolium 0.07 iodide E Compound A-2 0.07 E Compound T-1 0.08 F AgBZT/AgT-1 mixed crystals 3.06 F Lime processed gelatin 2.24 F Sodium benzotriazole 0.09 F 3-Methyl-benzothiazolium 0.07 iodide F Compound A-2 0.07 G Silver (from silver halide 0.26 emulsion) H Succinimide 0.15 H 1,3-Dimethylurea 0.33 H Pentaerythritol 0.47 H L-ascorbic acid 6-O-palmitate 3.79 The resulting photothermographic films were imagewise exposed for 10−2 seconds using an EG&G flash sensitometer equipped with a P-16 filter and a 0.7 neutral density filter. Following exposure, samples of each film were thermally developed using a heated flatbed processor for both 18 and 23 seconds at 150° C. Sensitometry results, shown below in TABLE XII and TABLE XIII, demonstrate that photothermographic materials containing a co-precipitate of AgBZT/AgT-1 show high Dmax, low Dmin, and excellent photospeed. As noted above, samples of each photothermographic material were also developed at 150° C. for 23 seconds rather than 18 seconds. This determines the process latitude of the photothermographic material. The results, shown below in TABLE XIII, demonstrate that materials incorporating the co-precipitate of AgBZT/AgT-1 exhibit less increase in Dmin than materials incorporating the AgBZT emulsion with AgT-1 physically added, when subjected to more severe development conditions. Archival Stability: Imaged samples of each film were illuminated with 100 foot-candles (1076 lux) at 70° F. (21.2° C.) and 50% relative humidity for 2 hours. The samples were then sealed in a light and humidity tight aluminum bag and stored for 48 hours at 120° F. (48.9° C.) and 50% relative humidity. The Dmin of the samples was measured before and after storage. Two measurements were made on each sample. For the first measurement, the densitometer was equipped with a visible filter with a transmittance peak at about 530 nm. In the second measurement, the densitometer was fitted with a blue filter with a transmission peak at about 440 nm. The difference in density before and after storage using these filters is reported below in TABLE XIII as “Archival Stability” (Δ Blue and Δ Visible) and demonstrates that inventive samples containing a co-precipitate of AgBZT/AgT-1 showed less increase in Dmin (increased background density or “print-out”) when subjected to accelerated aging conditions when compared to control samples not incorporating a co-precipitate of AgBZT/AgT-1. TABLE XII Amount Amount of of NaT-1 T-1 in Co- Invention/ in AgBZT precipitated AgBZT Sample Emulsion Comparative [g/mol Ag] [g/mol Ag] 2-CS-1A C-4 Comparative 0.0 0.0 2-CS-1B C-4 Comparative 0.0 0.0 2-CS-2A C-4 Comparative 6.0 0.0 2-CS-2B C-4 Comparative 6.0 0.0 2-IN-3A I-9 Inventive 0.0 4.0 2-IN-3B I-9 Inventive 0.0 4.0 2-IN-4A I-7 Invention 0.0 6.0 2-IN-4B I-7 Invention 0.0 6.0 TABLE XIII Devel- opment Archival Stability Time Δ Vis- Sample [seconds] Dmin Dmax Spd-1 Spd-2 Δ Blue ible 2-CS-1A 18 0.27 0.51 **** **** +3.41 +2.08 2-CS-1B 23 0.28 0.56 **** **** NM NM 2-CS-2A 18 0.33 3.18 4.96 4.65 +0.65 +0.56 2-CS-2B 23 0.41 3.38 5.06 4.79 NM NM 2-IN-3A 18 0.27 2.48 4.92 4.43 +1.48 +1.29 2-IN-3B 23 0.27 3.13 5.07 4.75 NM NM 2-IN-4A 18 0.30 3.08 5.11 4.78 +0.55 +0.47 2-IN-4B 23 0.32 3.31 5.22 4.96 NM NM **** - Could not be measured. NM - Was not measured. EXAMPLE 3 Preparation of Photothermographic Materials Containing Phenylmercaptotetrazole (PMT Compounds) The following example demonstrates that phenylmercaptotetrazole (PMT) and 1-(3-acetamidophenyl)-5-mercaptotetrazole (Ac-PMT), two compounds taught to be useful as co-precipitated silver sources in U.S. Pat. No. 6,576,414 (Irving et al.) and U.S. Pat. No. 6,548,236 (Irving et al.), but whose non-silver parent compounds are not toners in photothermographic materials, do not function as toner-release agents in photothermographic materials. Co-precipitated crystals of silver benzotriazole and silver phenylmercaptotriazole (AgBZT/AgPMT) or silver benzotriazole and 1-(3-acetamido-phenyl)5-mercaptotetrazole (AgBZT/AgAc-PMT) were prepared in a manner similar to that described for emulsion I-2 in Example 1 above, except that a portion of the BZT was replaced with PMT. Three samples were prepared for each PMT compound using PMT levels of 0%, 1%, and 2% of total silver. The AgBZT/AgPMT/AgT-1 emulsions were prepared as core/shell crystals, as taught in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,576,414 and 6,548,236 (both noted above) with an inner core of AgBZT, followed by a shell of AgPMT, followed by a surface shell of AgT-1, spanning the last 2.6% of Ag. The AgBZT/AgAc-PMT+AgT-1 emulsions were prepared as core/shell crystals, also as taught in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,576,414 and 6,548,236 (both noted above), with an inner core of AgBZT, followed by a mixed shell containing both AgAc-PMT and AgT-1, where the amount of AgT-1 corresponds to 2.6% of the total Ag. Photothermographic formulations were prepared, coated, dried, and imaged in a manner also similar to that described in Example 2. No topcoat was used. Samples containing 0% of PMT derivatives contained only co-precipitated AgBZT/AgT-1 and were essentially similar to Inventive Sample 2-IN-4 of Example 2. The results, shown below in TABLES XIV, XV, and XVI demonstrate that the presence of a phenylmercaptotetrazole (PMT) in the crystal actually provides materials with higher Dmin and lower Dmax, Speed-1, Speed-2, and Average Contrast (AC-1) than materials containing only AgBZT/AgT-1. Non-imaged samples of each material were stored in a black polyethylene bag for 2 months at ambient room temperature and relative humidity to determine their Natural Age Keeping properties. The samples were then imaged and compared with the freshly imaged samples. The results, shown below in TABLES XIV, XV, and XVI demonstrate that photothermographic materials incorporating mixed crystals of AgBZT/AgPMT/AgT-1 or AgBZT/AgAc-PMT+AgT-1, have poorer Natural Age Keeping and exhibit a greater increase in Dmin, and a greater decrease in Dmax, Speed-2, and Average Contrast-1 upon Natural Age Keeping than photothermographic materials incorporating co-precipitated particles of AgBZT/AgT-1. TABLE XIV NAK NAK Invention/ Initial 2 Month 2 Month Initial 2 Month 2 Month Sample Comparative Dmin Dmin Δ Dmin Dmax Dmax Δ Dmax Amount of PMT (%) 3-IN-1 0 Invention 0.283 0.298 +0.015 3.119 2.834 −0.285 3-CS-2 1 Comparative 0.294 0.305 +0.011 2.820 2.314 −0.505 3-CS-3 2 Comparative 0.290 0.326 +0.036 2.101 1.715 −0.386 Amount of Ac-PMT (%) 3-IN-4 0 Invention 0.278 0.300 +0.022 3.243 2.688 −0.554 3-CS-5 1 Comparative 0.288 0.296 +0.007 2.399 1.201 −1.198 3-CS-6 2 Comparative 0.294 0.296 +0.003 1.423 1.149 −0.275 TABLE XV NAK NAK Invention/ Initial 2 Month 2 Month Initial 2 Month 2 Month Sample Comparative Spd-1 Spd-1 Δ Spd-1 Spd-2 Spd-2 Δ Spd-2 Amount of PMT (%) 3-IN-1 0 Invention 5.006 5.210 +0.204 4.709 4.774 +0.065 3-CS-2 1 Comparative 5.048 5.202 +0.154 4.688 4.628 −0.060 3-CS-3 2 Comparative 4.792 4.956 +0.164 4.097 3.767 −0.330 Amount of Ac-PMT (%) 3-IN-4 0 Invention 5.157 5.127 +0.022 4.891 4.632 −0.259 3-CS-5 1 Comparative 5.010 4.582 −0.428 4.482 **** **** 3-CS-6 2 Comparative 4.558 3.614 −0.944 3.332 **** **** TABLE XVI NAK Invention/ Initial 2 Month 2 Month Sample Comparative AC-1 AC-1 Δ AC-1 Amount of PMT (%) 3-IN-1 0 Invention 3.507 1.869 −1.638 3-CS-2 1 Comparative 1.978 0.934 −1.044 3-CS-3 2 Comparative *** *** *** Amount of Ac-PMT (%) 3-IN-3 0 Invention 3.918 1.400 −1.638 3-CS-4 1 Comparative 1.354 **** **** 3-CS-5 2 Comparative **** **** **** **** - Could not be measured. The invention has been described in detail with particular reference to certain preferred embodiments thereof, but it will be understood that variations and modifications can be effected within the spirit and scope of the invention. | <SOH> BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION <EOH>Silver-containing photothermographic imaging materials (that is, thermally developable photosensitive imaging materials) that are imaged with actinic radiation and then developed using heat and without liquid processing have been known in the art for many years. Such materials are used in a recording process wherein an image is formed by imagewise exposure of the photothermographic material to specific electromagnetic radiation and developed by the use of thermal energy. These materials, also known as “dry silver” materials, generally comprise a support having coated thereon: (a) a photocatalyst (that is, a photo-sensitive compound such as silver halide) that upon such exposure provides a latent image in exposed grains that are capable of acting as a catalyst for the subsequent formation of a silver image in a development step, (b) a relatively or completely non-photosensitive source of reducible silver ions, (c) a reducing composition (usually including a developer) for the reducible silver ions, and (d) a hydrophilic or hydrophobic binder. The latent image is then developed by application of thermal energy. In photothermographic materials, exposure of the photographic silver halide to light produces small clusters containing silver atoms (Ag 0 ) n . The imagewise distribution of these clusters, known in the art as a latent image, is generally not visible by ordinary means. Thus, the photosensitive material must be further developed to produce a visible image by the reduction of silver ions that are in catalytic proximity to silver halide grains bearing the silver-containing clusters of the latent image. This produces a black-and-white image. The non-photosensitive silver source is catalytically reduced to form the visible black-and-white negative image while much of the silver halide, generally, remains as silver halide and is not reduced. In most instances, the source of reducible silver ions is an organic silver salt in which silver ions are complexed with organic silver coordinating ligands. Thermographic materials are similar in nature except that the photocatalyst is omitted and imaging and development are carried out simultaneously using a thermal imaging means. Such materials also include an organic silver salt that provides reducible silver ions required for imaging. Differences Between Photothermography and Photography The imaging arts have long recognized that the field of photothermography is clearly distinct from that of photography. Photothermographic materials differ significantly from conventional silver halide photographic materials that require processing with aqueous processing solutions. In photothermographic imaging materials, a visible image is created by heat as a result of the reaction of a developer incorporated within the material. Heating at 50° C. or more is essential for this dry development. In contrast, conventional photographic imaging materials require processing in aqueous processing baths at more moderate temperatures (from 30° C. to 50° C.) to provide a visible image. In photothermographic materials, only a small amount of silver halide is used to capture light and a non-photosensitive source of reducible silver ions (for example a silver carboxylate or a silver benzotriazole) is used to generate the visible image using thermal development. Thus, the imaged photosensitive silver halide serves as a catalyst for the physical development process involving the non-photosensitive source of reducible silver ions and the incorporated reducing agent. In contrast, conventional wet-processed, black-and-white photographic materials use only one form of silver (that is, silver halide) that, upon chemical development, is itself at least partially converted into the silver image, or that upon physical development requires addition of an external silver source (or other reducible metal ions that form black images upon reduction to the corresponding metal). Thus, photothermographic materials require an amount of silver halide per unit area that is only a fraction of that used in conventional wet-processed photographic materials. In photothermographic materials, all of the “chemistry” for imaging is incorporated within the material itself. For example, such materials include a developer (that is, a reducing agent for the reducible silver ions) while conventional photographic materials usually do not. Even in so-called “instant photography,” the developer chemistry is physically separated from the photo-sensitive silver halide until development is desired. The incorporation of the developer into photothermographic materials can lead to increased formation of various types of “fog” or other undesirable sensitometric side effects. Therefore, much effort has gone into the preparation and manufacture of photothermographic materials to minimize these problems. Moreover, in photothermographic materials, the unexposed silver halide generally remains intact after development and the material must be stabilized against further imaging and development. In contrast, silver halide is removed from conventional photographic materials after solution development to prevent further imaging (that is in the aqueous fixing step). Because photothermographic materials require dry thermal processing, they present distinctly different problems and require different materials in manufacture and use, compared to conventional, wet-processed silver halide photographic materials. Additives that have one effect in conventional silver halide photographic materials may behave quite differently when incorporated in photothermographic materials where the chemistry is significantly more complex. The incorporation of such additives as, for example, stabilizers, antifoggants, speed enhancers, supersensitizers, and spectral and chemical sensitizers in conventional photographic materials is not predictive of whether such additives will prove beneficial or detrimental in photothermographic materials. For example, it is not uncommon for a photographic antifoggant useful in conventional photographic materials to cause various types of fog when incorporated into photothermographic materials, or for supersensitizers that are effective in photographic materials to be inactive in photothermographic materials. These and other distinctions between photothermographic and photographic materials are described in Imaging Processes and Materials ( Neblette's Eighth Edition ), noted above, Unconventional Imaging Processes , E. Brinckman et al. (Eds.), The Focal Press, London and New York, 1978, pp. 74-75, in Zou et al., J. Imaging Sci. Technol. 1996, 40, pp. 94-103, and in M. R. V. Sahyun, J. Imaging Sci. Technol. 1998, 42, 23. Problem to be Solved As noted above, non-photosensitive sources of reducible silver ions are critical to the imaging mechanism of both photothermographic and thermographic materials. Various organic silver salts are useful for this purpose including silver carboxylates (both aliphatic and aromatic), silver salts of nitrogen-containing heterocyclic compounds, silver sulfonates, and many others known in the art as described for example in U.S. Pat. No. 6,576,410 (Zou et al.). Aqueous-based photothermographic materials have been known for many years in which the imaging components and binders are formulated in and coated from solvents comprising primarily water. It has been necessary in designing such materials that the various imaging components be compatible with water and other water-soluble or -dispersible components. Silver benzotriazole has been found particularly useful in aqueous-based materials because of the hydrophilic nature of silver benzotriazole crystal surfaces and its compatability with most water-soluble binders. One challenge in photothermographic materials is the need to prevent image artifacts known as “black spots” after thermal development. Black spots are believed to be caused by crystallization of active toners or agglomeration of toner particles during dispersion, melt preparation, coating, and drying of thermographic and photothermographic materials. Upon thermal development, the local concentration of active toner where these toner particles reside is so high as to cause spontaneous development in the non-imaged areas, resulting in high-density black spots. Another challenge in photothermographic materials is the need to improve their stability after use. This is referred to as “Archival Stability” or “Dark Stability.” It is desirable that the D min not increase, and that the D max , tint, and tone of the image not change. A further challenge in photothermographic materials is the need to improve their stability at ambient temperature and relative humidity during storage prior to use. This stability is referred to as “Natural Age Keeping” (NAK) or as “Raw Stock Keeping” (RSK). It is desirable that photothermographic materials be capable of maintaining imaging properties, including photospeed and D max , while minimizing any increase in D min during storage periods. Natural Age Keeping is a problem especially for photothermographic films compared to conventional silver halide photographic films because, as noted above, all the components needed for development and image formation in photothermographic systems are incorporated into the imaging element, in intimate proximity, prior to development. Thus, there are a greater number of potentially reactive components that can prematurely react during storage. Mercaptotriazoles have been described for use as toners in photothermographic materials in U.S. Pat. No. 3,832,186 (Masuda et al.), U.S. Pat. No. 4,201,582 (White), U.S. Pat. No. 4,105,451 (Smith et al.), and U.S. Pat. No. 6,713,240 (Lynch et al.). The mercaptotriazoles described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,713,240 are especially useful toners (or toning agents) and development accelerators for photothermographic materials. Mercaptotriazoles suitable for thermally developable imaging materials often have poor water solubility and cause undesirable precipitation when added to aqueous-based imaging formulations, thereby adversely affecting coating quality and density uniformity. Moreover, the presence of such toners in photothermographic materials during storage before use also may accelerate the increase in D min . Thus, photothermographic materials that include large quantities of mercaptotriazole toners to accelerate the development reaction may be susceptible to keeping problems, leading to reduced “NAK.” U.S. Pat. No. 6,576,414 (Irving et al.) and U.S. Pat. No. 6,548,236 (Irving et al.) describe both color and black-and-white photothermographic materials containing core/shell particles having two or more different organic silver salts. The particles function as silver sources. There remains a need to effectively incorporate specific organic silver salts and mercaptotriazole toners into aqueous-based photothermographic imaging formulations and materials so that formation of black spots is reduced and sensitometric properties are not changed during Natural Age Keeping, and so that Archival Stability is improved, all without sacrifice of desired photospeed and other sensitometric properties. | <SOH> SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION <EOH>This invention provides a co-precipitate particle comprising first and second organic silver salts, the first organic silver salt comprising a silver salt of a nitrogen-containing heterocyclic compound containing an imino group, and the second organic silver salt comprising a silver salt of a mercaptotriazole, wherein the second organic silver salt comprises a silver salt of a mercaptotriazole having the following Structure (I): wherein R 1 and R 2 independently represent hydrogen, an alkyl group, an alkenyl group, a cycloalkyl group, an aromatic or non-aromatic heterocyclyl group, an amino or amide group, an aryl group, or a Y 1 —(CH 2 ) k -group wherein Y 1 is an aryl group or an aromatic or non-aromatic heterocyclyl group, and k is 1-3, or R 1 and R 2 taken together can form a 5- to 7-membered aromatic or non-aromatic nitrogen-containing heterocyclic ring, or still again, R 1 or R 2 can represent a divalent linking group linking two mercaptotriazole groups, and. R 2 may further represent carboxy or its salts, provided that R 1 and R 2 are not simultaneously hydrogen, and when R 1 is an unsubstituted phenyl group, R 2 is not hydrogen. Preferred embodiments comprise a co-precipitate particle comprising first and second organic silver salts, the first organic silver salt comprising a silver salt of a benzotriazole, and the second organic silver salt comprising a silver salt of a mercaptotriazole represented by Structure (I) noted above, wherein R 1 is an alkyl or phenyl group and R 2 is hydrogen, provided that when R 1 is an unsubstituted phenyl group, R 2 is not hydrogen, and wherein the molar ratio of the first organic silver salt to the second organic silver salt is from about 100:1 to about 15:1, and at least 95 mol % ofthe second organic silver salt is present within a localized portion that is from about 90 to 100 volume % of the co-precipitate particle wherein 100 volume % represents the outer surface of the co-precipitate particle. This invention also provides a method of making a co-precipitate particle of first and second organic silver salts, the first organic silver salt comprising a silver salt of a nitrogen-containing heterocyclic compound containing an imino group, and the second organic silver salt comprising a silver salt of a mercaptotriazole, the method comprising: A) preparing aqueous solution A containing a nitrogen-containing heterocyclic compound containing an imino group, A′) preparing aqueous solution A′ containing a mercaptotriazole, wherein solutions A and A′ are the same or different solutions, B) preparing aqueous solution B of silver nitrate, and C) simultaneously adding the aqueous solutions A and B to a reaction vessel containing an aqueous dispersion of a hydrophilic polymer binder or a water-dispersible polymer latex binder that has a pH of from about 7.5 to about 10, via controlled double-jet precipitation, while maintaining a constant temperature of from about 30 to about 75° C., a constant pH, and a constant vAg equal to or greater than −50 mV in the reaction vessel, and E) adding solution A′, if different from solution A, to the reaction vessel during or after step C while maintaining a constant temperature of from about 30 to about 75° C., a constant pH, and a constant vAg equal to or greater than −50 mV in the reaction vessel, thereby preparing in the reaction vessel a dispersion of the hydrophilic polymer binder or the water-dispersible polymer latex binder and particles of a co-precipitate particle of the first and second silver salts, and the hydrophilic polymer binder or the water-dispersible polymer latex binder being present in the dispersion in an amount of from about 2 to about 10 weight %, wherein the second organic silver salt comprises a silver salt of a mercaptotriazole having Structure (I) noted above. Preferred embodiments of this method of making the co-precipitate comprise: A) preparing aqueous solution A containing a nitrogen-containing heterocyclic compound containing an imino group at a concentration of from about 2 to about 4 mol/l, A′) preparing aqueous solution A′ that is different from solution A and contains a mercaptotriazole of Structure (I) at a concentration of from about 0.5 to about 3 mol/l, B) preparing aqueous solution B of silver nitrate, and C) simultaneously adding aqueous solutions A and B to a reaction vessel containing an aqueous dispersion of a hydrophilic polymer binder or a water-dispersible polymer latex binder that has a pH of from about 7.5 to about 10, via controlled double-jet precipitation, while maintaining a constant temperature of from about 30 to about 75° C., a constant pH, and a constant vAg equal to or greater than −50 mV in the reaction vessel, E) adding solution A′ to the reaction vessel during step C but only after at least 75 volume % of solution B has been added to the reaction vessel, thereby preparing in the reaction vessel a dispersion of the hydrophilic polymer binder or the water-dispersible polymer latex binder and particles of the co-precipitate of the first and second organic silver salts, and the hydrophilic polymer binder or the water-dispersible polymer latex binder being present in the dispersion in an amount of from about 2 to about 10 weight %. This invention also provides a black-and-white, non-photosensitive thermographic material comprising a support and having thereon at least one non-photosensitive thermally developable imaging layer comprising a hydrophilic polymer binder or a water-dispersible polymer latex binder and in reactive association: a. a non-photosensitive source of reducible silver ions, and b. a reducing agent for the reducible silver ions, wherein the non-photosensitive source of reducible silver ions predominantly comprises a co-precipitate particle comprising first and second organic silver salts, the first organic silver salt comprising a silver salt of a nitrogen-containing heterocyclic compound containing an imino group, and the second organic silver salt comprising a silver salt of a mercaptotriazole. In addition, a black-and-white photothermographic material comprising a support and having thereon at least one thermally developable imaging layer comprising a hydrophilic polymer binder or a water-dispersible polymer latex binder and in reactive association: a. a photosensitive silver halide that is spectrally sensitized to a wavelength of from about 300 to about 450 nm, b. a non-photosensitive source of reducible silver ions, and c. a reducing agent for the reducible silver ions, wherein the non-photosensitive source of reducible silver ions predominantly comprises a co-precipitate particle comprising first and second organic silver salts, the first organic silver salt comprising a silver salt of a nitrogen-containing heterocyclic compound containing an imino group, and the second organic silver salt comprising a silver salt of a mercaptotriazole. In addition, a black-and-white photothermographic material of this invention comprises a support and having thereon at least one thermally developable imaging layer comprising a hydrophilic polymer binder or a water-dispersible polymer latex binder and in reactive association: a. a photosensitive silver halide, b. a non-photosensitive source of reducible silver ions, and c. a reducing agent for the reducible silver ions, wherein the non-photosensitive source of reducible silver ions predominantly comprises a co-precipitate particle comprising first and second organic silver salts, the first organic silver salt comprising a silver salt of a nitrogen-containing heterocyclic compound containing an imino group, and the second organic silver salt comprising a silver salt of a mercaptotriazole, wherein the second organic silver salt comprises a silver salt of a mercaptotriazole having Structure (I) noted above. Still again, a black-and-white photothermographic material of this invention comprises a support and having thereon at least one thermally developable imaging layer-comprising a hydrophilic polymer binder or a water-dispersible polymer latex binder and in reactive association: a. a photosensitive silver halide present as ultrathin tabular grains, b. a non-photosensitive source of reducible silver ions, and c. a reducing agent for the reducible silver ions, wherein the non-photosensitive source of reducible silver ions comprises a co-precipitate particle comprising first and second organic silver salts, the first organic silver salt comprising a silver salt of a nitrogen-containing heterocyclic compound containing an imino group, and the second organic silver salt comprising a silver salt of a mercaptotriazole. In preferred embodiments, a black-and-white photothermographic material comprises a support having on a frontside thereof, a) one or more frontside thermally developable imaging layers comprising a hydrophilic polymer binder or a water-dispersible polymer latex binder, and in reactive association, a photosensitive silver halide, a non-photo-sensitive source of reducible silver ions, and a reducing agent for the non-photosensitive source reducible silver ions, b) the material comprising on the backside of the support, one or more backside thermally developable imaging layers having the same or different composition as the frontside thermally developable imaging layers, and c) optionally, an outermost protective layer disposed over the one or more thermally developable imaging layers on either or both sides of the support, wherein the non-photosensitive source of reducible silver ions comprises a co-precipitate particle comprising first and second organic silver salts, the first organic silver salt comprising a silver salt of a nitrogen-containing heterocyclic compound containing an imino group, and the second organic silver salt comprising a silver salt of a mercaptotriazole. In still other embodiments of this invention a black-and-white photothermographic material comprises a support and has therein at least one thermally developable imaging layer comprising a hydrophilic polymer binder or a water-dispersible polymer latex binder and in reactive association: a. a photosensitive silver halide present as ultrathin tabular grains, b. a non-photosensitive source of reducible silver ions, and c. a reducing agent for the reducible silver ions, wherein the non-photosensitive source of reducible silver ions comprises a co-precipitate particle comprising first and second organic silver salts, the first organic silver salt comprising a silver salt of a nitrogen-containing heterocyclic compound containing an imino group, and the second organic silver salt comprising a silver salt of a mercaptotriazole, and wherein at least part of the outer surface of the co-precipitate particle is covered by the second organic silver salt. Yet again, other embodiments include a black-and-white photo-thermographic material comprising a support having on a frontside thereof, a) one or more frontside thermally developable imaging layers comprising a hydrophilic polymer binder or a water-dispersible polymer latex binder, and in reactive association, a photosensitive silver halide, a non-photo-sensitive source of reducible silver ions, and a reducing agent for the non-photosensitive source reducible silver ions, b) the material comprising on the backside of the support, one or more backside thermally developable imaging layers having the same or different composition as the frontside thermally developable imaging layers, and c) optionally, an outermost protective layer disposed over the one or more thermally developable imaging layers on either or both sides of the support, wherein the non-photosensitive source of reducible silver ions comprises a co-precipitate particle comprising first and second organic silver salts, the first organic silver salt comprising a silver salt of a nitrogen-containing heterocyclic compound containing an imino group, and the second organic silver salt comprising a silver salt of a mercaptotriazole, and wherein at least part of the outer surface of the co-precipitate particle is covered by the second organic silver salt. A black-and-white photothermographic material also comprises a support and having thereon at least one thermally developable imaging layer comprising a hydrophilic polymer binder or a water-dispersible polymer latex binder and in reactive association: a. a photosensitive silver halide, b. a non-photosensitive source of reducible silver ions, and c. a reducing agent for the reducible silver ions, wherein the non-photosensitive source of reducible silver ions predominantly comprises a co-precipitate particle comprising first and second organic silver salts, the first organic silver salt comprising a silver salt of a nitrogen-containing heterocyclic compound containing an imino group, and the second organic silver salt comprising a silver salt of a mercaptotriazole that is represented by the following Structure (I): wherein R 1 is an alkyl or phenyl group and R 2 is hydrogen, provided that when R 1 is an unsubstituted phenyl group, R 2 is not hydrogen. This invention also provides a method of forming a visible image comprising: A) imagewise exposing a photothermographic material of this invention to form a latent image, B) simultaneously or sequentially, heating the exposed photothermographic material to develop the latent image into a visible image. An imaging assembly of this invention comprises a photothermographic material of this invention that is arranged in association with one or more phosphor intensifying screens. Still again, this invention provides a dispersion of a hydrophilic polymer binder or a water-dispersible polymer latex binder and co-precipitate particles comprising first and second organic silver salts, the first organic silver salt comprising a silver salt of a nitrogen-containing heterocyclic compound containing an imino group, and the second organic silver salt comprising a silver salt of a mercaptotriazole, and the hydrophilic polymer binder or the water-dispersible polymer latex binder being present in the dispersion in an amount of from about 2 to about 10 weight %, wherein the mercaptotriazole is represented by Structure (I) noted above. We have found that certain organic silver salts (such as silver benzotriazoles) and silver salts of toners (such as silver salts of certain mercaptotriazoles) can be made and co-precipitated as a mixture of two organic silver salts in the same particles. The resulting mixed silver salts are stable amorphous particles or crystals. Although not wishing to be bound by theory, we believe that upon thermal development, the silver mercaptotriazole decomposes, releasing the mercaptotriazole toner to help form a dense black silver image, and also to accelerate thermal development. Non-released mercaptotriazole remains immobilized as its silver salt in the co-precipitate particles and cannot contribute either to black spots or increased D min upon storage. Natural Age Keeping and Archival Stability are improved while photospeed and other sensitometric properties in the thermally developable imaging materials are not affected. detailed-description description="Detailed Description" end="lead"? | 20040907 | 20060307 | 20060316 | 93675.0 | G03C100 | 0 | SCHILLING, RICHARD L | SILVER SALT-TONER CO-PRECIPITATES AND IMAGING MATERIALS | UNDISCOUNTED | 0 | ACCEPTED | G03C | 2,004 |
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10,935,579 | ACCEPTED | Clumping animal litter and method for making same | A clumping animal litter comprises an organic material, a surfactant, and a clumping agent. The clumping agent may be a combination of carboxymethylcellulose (CMC) and guar gum. The material may comprise 1-2% CMC, 3-6% guar gum, 1-5% surfactant, and the remainder wood fiber. The material is formed into pellets with a uniform distribution of the various ingredients. The pellets are then crumbled to improve absorption characteristics. The mixture results in a fully-biodegradable, organic-based litter product with improved clumping abilities, natural odor control, and ease of litter pan maintenance. | 1. A clumping animal litter, comprising: (a) an organic base material; (b) a surfactant; and (c) a clumping agent, wherein said litter is formed of granules, and said organic base material, said surfactant, and said clumping agent are distributed approximately evenly throughout said granules. 2. The animal litter of claim 1, wherein said organic base material is wood fiber. 3. The animal litter of claim 2, wherein said organic base material is yellow pine wood fiber. 4. The animal litter of claim 2, wherein the litter comprises a total moisture content of 5-8% by total product weight. 5. The animal litter of claim 2, wherein said clumping agent is one of CMC and guar gum. 6. The animal litter of claim 5, wherein said clumping agent is a combination of CMC and guar gum. 7. The animal litter of claim 6, wherein said clumping agent is comprised of 1-2% CMC by total product weight. 8. The animal litter of claim 7, wherein said clumping agent is comprised of 3-6% guar gum by total product weight. 9. The animal litter of claim 6, wherein said litter is composed of at least 90% wood fiber by total product weight. 10. The animal litter of claim 9, wherein said litter is composed of 1-5% surfactant by total product weight. 11. The animal litter of claim 2, wherein said granules are crumbled pellets. 12. The animal litter of claim 11, wherein said granules are predominantly of a size in the range of 0.010 to 0.180 inches. 13. A process for manufacturing a clumping animal litter, comprising the steps of: (a) grinding a wood material such that said wood material is reduced to wood fibers; (b) mixing the fibers, a surfactant, and a clumping agent to form an approximately uniform mixture; (c) pelletizing said mixture to form pellets, wherein said pellets comprise a uniform mixture of the fibers, the surfactant, and the clumping agent throughout the pellets; and (d) cooling the pellets. 14. The process of claim 13, further comprising the step of crumbling the pellets. 15. The process of claim 14, wherein said crumbling step comprises the passing of the pellets between rollers with a gap in the range of 0.015 to 0.025 inches. 16. The process of claim 14, wherein said crumbling step results in the production of crumbles predominantly of a size in the range of 0.010 to 0.180 inches. 17. The process of claim 15, further comprising the step of metering the wood material, the surfactant, and the clumping agent prior to said mixing step. 18. The process of claim 17, further comprising the step of screening crumbled pellets to separate crumbles from fines, and returning any fines to said pelletizing step. 19. The process of claim 18, further comprising the step of collecting the mixture in a holding bin prior to said pelletizing step. 20. The process of claim 13, wherein said grinding and mixing steps occur simultaneously. | This application claims the benefit of U.S. provisional patent application No. 60/539,229 entitled “Clumping Pine Wood Cat Litter” and filed on Jan. 26, 2004 by inventor William R. Weaver, and U.S. provisional patent application No. 60/539,216, entitled “Fast Absorption Animal Litter” and also filed on Jan. 26, 2004 by William R. Weaver. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to animal litters, and in particular to clumping animal litters based on organic materials. Various clays (primarily bentonite) have been used as a base material for absorbent animal litters for some time. These materials become tacky when wetted, thereby forming a “clump” that is easily removed when cleaning a litter box. Many animals, cats in particular, will often refuse to use a litter box that is not kept scrupulously clean. Clumping animal litters facilitate ease of cleaning since otherwise the litter box must be periodically dumped and refilled to maintain appropriate cleanliness. An important disadvantage of clay-based litters is that they aggressively stick to the sides and bottom of the litter pan when wetted. This tendency makes removal of the clumped litter more difficult, partially defeating the purpose of the clumping action. Litter stuck to the sides and bottom of the litter pan also requires more frequent replacement of the litter box itself, since the animal urine odor will be imparted to the plastic or other porous or semi-porous material from which the litter box is formed. It would thus be desirable to develop a litter material that results in “softer” clumps, that is, clumps that stick together sufficiently for removal from the litter pan but that do not stick as easily to the sides and bottom of the litter pan. It has been recognized that a litter based on organic materials rather than clays would be highly desirable. Organic materials, such as sawdust and lumber mill scraps, are readily available and inexpensive. They are more absorbent than clay materials, and naturally contain chemicals that will control odor. Organic materials may be formed into pelletized shapes using a pellet mill; such mills have long been used in the manufacture of animal feed. A significant drawback of organic materials, however, is that litters based on organic materials have historically lacked the highly desirable clumping feature of clay litters. Attempts to develop clumping organic litters have been unsuccessful due to the techniques of production attempted, and the high cost of the various ingredients used to create the clumping action in an organic-based litter. The related art includes a number of attempts to develop cellulosic materials in the manufacture of animal litter, and in particular the use of wood particles. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,941,090 to Fry teaches a cedar-based animal litter with an alfalfa binding agent. U.S. Pat. No. 4,258,659 to Rowell teaches a cat litter comprising soft wood particles formed from waste wood material, including sawdust and wood pieces, collected from sawmills. U.S. Pat. No. 5,044,324 to Morgan et al. teaches the manufacture of wood fiber “crumbles” that may be used as animal litter; the crumbles are formed from the grinding of pelletized wood fiber. U.S. Pat. No. 5,271,355 teaches the combination of ground wood chips and peat to form animal litter. The related art also includes a class of improved clay-based clumpable litters, that is, litters that have an especially strong tendency to agglomerate in the presence of moisture. These litters materials are generally composed of a substrate material to which a coating is applied; the coating portion of the material provides the clumping action. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,014,650 to Sowle et al. teaches an animal litter with a porous, inert solid substrate, such as clay, and a coating composed of a water-absorbent polymer. U.S. Pat. No. 5,339,769 to Toth et al. teaches a method of forming such a litter in which a liquid clumping agent is distributed over a dry blend of materials that may include an inert solid substrate and a clumping agent. This pellet coating technology has also been applied to litters based on organic materials; for example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,970,916 to Yoder et al. teaches a litter material composed of a cellulosic substrate with a first layer of xanthan gum and a second layer of guar gum. Also, U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2002/0038633 to Hayakawa teaches a cellulose ether as a binder that is responsible for a clumping action in a litter composed partially of organic material. As noted in Hayakawa, however, the use of cellulose ether increases the manufacturing cost of the product, and the goal of Hayakawa was to develop a product that required the use of cellulose ether in smaller quantities. Hayakawa teaches that this is achieved through the selection of high molecular weight—that is, high viscosity—cellulose ethers. The base material or substrate taught by Hayakawa includes inorganic minerals, such as bentonite clays, as well as organic materials. The use of various gums, including guar gum, and carboxymethylcellulose (CMC) are known in the manufacture of animal litters, and in particular in the manufacture of animal litters that contain organic materials. U.S. Pat. No. 5,664,523 to Ochi et al. teaches a base litter material that includes both organic and inorganic components, but also includes 15-55% guar gum by weight. U.S. Pat. No. 6,053,125 to Kory et al. teaches a clumpable cat litter formed of corncob grit and components that are coated with guar gum. U.S. Pat. No. 6,089,189 to Goss et al. teaches a cellulose-based litter product wherein cellulosic granules are treated with an adhesive and mixed with a particulate polymeric clumping agent, preferably guar or locust bean gum. A significant drawback of all known animal litters with clumping action is that they are not readily flushable. To the inventor's knowledge, all of those commercially available litters that are advertised as flushable, including both clay-based and grain-based litters, also require a soaking period before flushing, typically ten minutes or so. None of these products allow the pet owner to simply scoop the clumped litter from the box, dispose of the clump in the toilet, and flush immediately without substantial risk of a clog or damage to plumbing. This is a significant inconvenience, since the pet owner must remember to return at a later time in order to flush the material. Failure to allow sufficient soaking time with these litters may result in clogged plumbing. The inventor's experiments have determined that none of the available and tested litter products are fully successful in combining the advantages of an organic litter material with the clumping action of a clay litter, to result in a product that may be manufactured at a competitive cost. The inventor has recognized that an ideal clumping litter would eliminate the use of clay or other inorganic base materials, and would maximize the quantity of inexpensive organic materials with respect to any required additives. The limitations of the related art as described herein are overcome by the present invention as described below. BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention is directed to an animal litter composed primarily of organic materials, preferably wood fiber, with the addition of a surfactant and one or more clumping agents. The surfactant improves the absorption qualities of the material, thereby making the product's natural odor control properties most effective, and allows the use of a greater percentage of base organic material, thereby controlling cost. In one aspect of a preferred embodiment of the invention, a particular blend of two clumping agents may be used for maximum effectiveness. No inorganic base materials are required in this formulation in order to achieve a product with the desired properties. Unlike related art materials that comprise a substrate and a coating that provides clumping action, the present invention utilizes a mix of the base organic material, surfactant, and clumping agent throughout the product. No separate coating is used, thereby reducing the manufacturing cost of the product. Further, in the preferred embodiment the product includes more than 90% wood fiber, further reducing the cost of the product given the very low cost of wood fiber as waste from lumber mills and the like. The product is pelletized, then crumbled in order to increase surface area and thus improve moisture absorption. The minimum size of the crumbles is limited, however, since if the particle size drops too small the product will be easily tracked by an animal out of the litter pan and excessive dust may result when the product is transferred. The litter exhibits the desired clumping action, but does not readily stick to the sides of the litter pan. In other words, the formulation may achieve a “soft” clumping action to optimize the ease of use of the product. The material is non-toxic and fully biodegradable, and thus may be disposed of in any standard manner, or even used as compost. The material is flushable, and because of its re-wetting action may be flushed immediately upon deposit in the toilet. Because the product allows easy removal of clumps, it will last longer than traditional litters, and thus results in an effectively less expensive product for the user. The present invention also comprises a method of manufacturing the animal litter described herein. Wood fiber is purchased as waste from the lumber or paper industry. The material is metered with the surfactant and clumping agent or agents by weight, and mixed as the mill grinds the wood fibers to a consistent size. The mixture is then pelletized, and the resulting pellets are cooled before crumbling. It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide for a clumping animal litter based on low-cost organic materials. It is a further object of the present invention to provide for a litter that is biodegradable. It is also an object of the present invention to provide for a litter that is flushable without any required wait before flushing. It is also an object of the present invention to provide for a litter that forms “soft” clumps, that is, it does not readily stick to the litter pan upon being wetted. It is also an object of the present invention to provide for a litter that does not require the use of clays or other inorganic base materials. It is also an object of the present invention to provide for a litter that has its clumping agent mixed throughout the litter pellets rather than present in a separate coating on the outside of the pellets in order to contain manufacturing costs. It is also an object of the present invention to provide a litter that naturally contains chemicals to control odor. These and other features, objects and advantages of the present invention will become better understood from a consideration of the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments and appended claims in conjunction with the drawing as described following: BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIG. 1 is a flow chart describing a process for manufacturing animal litter according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION A preferred embodiment of the present invention may now be described. The preferred embodiment is formed of three constituent components: kiln-dried, yellow pine wood fiber, a nonionic surfactant, and one or more clumping agents. Yellow pine is a commonly used lumber and pulpwood material, and lumber mill scraps of material are available for use in the production of litter at low cost. The yellow pine is preferably purchased as a kiln dried material, but will be in various sizes ranging from wood pieces to sawdust. The litter manufacturing facility should ideally be located near a dimension lumber mill operation or other facility that produces yellow pine scraps in order to reduce transportation costs. The purpose of the non-ionic surfactant is to increase the rate of moisture absorption. Quick absorption reduces the likelihood that the material will stick to the sides or bottom of the litter pan, and also makes clumps easier to remove since they will be found more near the litter surface. Quick absorption also improves the odor control exhibited by the product, since urine is quickly absorbed into the litter and odor is thereby trapped within. Several different surfactants may be used in alternative embodiments of the invention. These surfactants include T-Det N9 or T-Det NP9 from Harcros Chemicals; Standapol WAQ-LC from the Cognis Corporation; and Wickit 1362 by Hercules Corporation. The absorption rates of each of these surfactants are quite close to one another, and any may be used with the present invention with success. Alternative embodiments may comprise a combination of two or more surfactant formulations based on availability and cost considerations. In the preferred embodiment, the percentage of surfactant in the product by total product weight is in the range of 1-5%. This range is sufficient to ensure sufficient absorption qualities of the product, including sufficient absorption to allow immediate flushing of the product upon deposit in a toilet. A higher rate of surfactant usage will result in quicker absorption in the product. The clumping agents employed in the preferred embodiment of the invention are carboxymethylcellulose (CMC) and guar gum. CMC is available commercially in a myriad of forms. The inventor has found that CMC with a high viscosity is more desirable for use as a tacking or clumping agent in litter, preferably CMC with 8000 cps or higher. If CMC is used as the sole clumping agent, without the addition of guar gum, the best clumping action is achieved. The clumps will form more quickly and will become harder. A high percentage of CMC in the product, however, results in a greater tendency for moisture to puddle on the surface of the litter. Once exposed to an initial amount of moisture, the CMC appears to form a moisture barrier, and actually retards or, in very high percentages of total product by weight, even prohibits total moisture absorption. Also, a hard clumping may lead to the sticking of clumps to the sides of a litter box. Finally, CMC is relatively expensive compared to other components in the mixture. The preferred percentage by total weight of CMC as a proportion of the total product is thus in the range of 1-2%. Guar gum, like CMC, is commercially available in a wide variety of forms, including food grade and technical grade and many variations as to grind (that is, particle size). It has been found by the inventor that finer grinds are preferred. When used without other tacking or clumping agents, guar gum is not satisfactory as a clumping agent, since the clumps formed by guar gum do not maintain integrity sufficiently for easy removal from a litter box. Clumps that break apart during removal are highly undesirable, and may defeat the purpose of using a clumping agent in the litter material entirely. In addition, when only guar gum is used as a clumping agent the percentage of guar gum by weight as a proportion of the total product must be very high in order to be effective, around 10-15% at a minimum. An advantage of guar gum, however, is that it does not form a barrier to moisture at any percentage of total product by weight. In the preferred embodiment, the clumping agent used with respect to the invention is a combination of CMC and guar gum in a mix that optimizes the best properties of both agents. It has been found that a 1-2% by weight addition of CMC improves the clumping characteristics of the guar gum, thus allowing the amount of guar gum to be reduced and still result in acceptable “soft” clumping. The clumps will remain intact during ordinary removal, but will not readily stick to the sides of the litter pan. Further in the preferred embodiment, the amount of guar gum may be in the range of 3-6% by total weight of product. This combination of CMC and guar gum still results in more than 90% of the total product weight as wood fiber, thereby maintaining the production cost of the product at a level where it may feasibly be introduced onto the market in competition with clay- and grain-based animal litter products. It may be further noted that the preferred total moisture content of the pellets according to the preferred embodiment is between 5-8% by total product weight. The animal litter formed according to the preferred embodiment of the invention is made entirely from non-toxic products and is fully biodegradable. It may thus be disposed of in any conventional and convenient manner without concern about harm to the environment. The animal litter may alternatively be composted. The product does not form clumps that are as hard as the clumps produced by clay- and grain-based litters, and thus will not adhere aggressively to the litter pan. The clumps are hard enough, however, to be easily scooped from a litter pan while maintaining their integrity. The clumps serve to encapsulate wastes, thus reducing and inhibiting the growth of bacteria and controlling the related odors. Although the clumps do become harder over time as they dry, the clumps readily and quickly absorb additional moisture, and thus may be deposited into a toilet and flushed immediately. Because of its quick-clumping action, less litter is used in order to remove a given amount of waste, and thus the life of the product is extended. It was found in testing that 3-4 pounds of the preferred embodiment of the present invention would last for approximately one month of use by an average-sized cat in a standard litter pan, while approximately 7 pounds of non-clumping pine pellets were required over the same period. Finally, because the pellet crumbles of the preferred embodiment resemble traditional clay litters, the product encourages acceptance by animals accustomed to clay litters. Now with reference to FIG. 1, the preferred embodiment of the present invention for producing the animal litter as described above may be described. At step 10, wood fiber is metered by weight into the production facility. Surfactant and clumping agent materials are metered by weight at step 12. The wood fiber, surfactant, and clumping agent are brought together at step 14, where the wood fiber is ground to a uniform fiber consistency. The grinding action results in the simultaneous mixing of the wood fiber, surfactant, and clumping agent, such that a uniform mixture of the three materials may result. It should be noted that while the metering of surfactant and the clumping agent are shown as a single step 12, each ingredient is actually metered separately. In various embodiments, there may be only one material used for each of the surfactant and a clumping agent, or various materials may be used together in a mixture to form each of these components. In alternative embodiments, the grinding and ingredient mixing steps may be performed separately. Material is moved from a holding bin above the pellet mill into the mill itself at pelletizing step 16. In step 16, pellets of material are formed by extrusion. Due to the thorough mixing at step 14, the resulting pellets will have a uniform distribution of each material throughout their volume. The extrusion process in the pellet mill generates significant heat, and the resulting pellets are quite hot. The pellets are thus transported, by conveyor or other means, to a cooling step at block 18. Once cooled, the pellets are crumbled at block 20, preferably using an adjustable, dual-roller pellet crumbling mechanism. As pellets pass between the tightly-spaced rollers of such a device, the pellets are broken into smaller pieces, but they are not ground into a dust. Preferably, the gap between the rollers in the crumbling mechanism is between 0.015 and 0.025 inches. At this setting, the crumbles are not so small that they are easily tracked by an animal using the litter box. The crumbles are small enough, however, to readily absorb moisture. The expected particle size range for most crumbles with this roller gap setting is between 0.010 and 0.180 inches. The screening process at step 20 results in both pellet crumbles and some fine, dusty material. The screening step at block 22 is used to separate the crumbles from the fines. The fines are returned to the pelletizing step at block 16 for reuse in the formation of pellets. The finished crumbles are passed to step 24, which may include storage as an intermediate step and eventual packaging for shipment to distribution points. As noted above, finished crumble size is an important factor for optimal clumping and dust control. The present invention has been described with reference to certain preferred and alternative embodiments that are intended to be exemplary only and not limiting to the full scope of the present invention as set forth in the appended claims. | <SOH> BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION <EOH>The present invention relates to animal litters, and in particular to clumping animal litters based on organic materials. Various clays (primarily bentonite) have been used as a base material for absorbent animal litters for some time. These materials become tacky when wetted, thereby forming a “clump” that is easily removed when cleaning a litter box. Many animals, cats in particular, will often refuse to use a litter box that is not kept scrupulously clean. Clumping animal litters facilitate ease of cleaning since otherwise the litter box must be periodically dumped and refilled to maintain appropriate cleanliness. An important disadvantage of clay-based litters is that they aggressively stick to the sides and bottom of the litter pan when wetted. This tendency makes removal of the clumped litter more difficult, partially defeating the purpose of the clumping action. Litter stuck to the sides and bottom of the litter pan also requires more frequent replacement of the litter box itself, since the animal urine odor will be imparted to the plastic or other porous or semi-porous material from which the litter box is formed. It would thus be desirable to develop a litter material that results in “softer” clumps, that is, clumps that stick together sufficiently for removal from the litter pan but that do not stick as easily to the sides and bottom of the litter pan. It has been recognized that a litter based on organic materials rather than clays would be highly desirable. Organic materials, such as sawdust and lumber mill scraps, are readily available and inexpensive. They are more absorbent than clay materials, and naturally contain chemicals that will control odor. Organic materials may be formed into pelletized shapes using a pellet mill; such mills have long been used in the manufacture of animal feed. A significant drawback of organic materials, however, is that litters based on organic materials have historically lacked the highly desirable clumping feature of clay litters. Attempts to develop clumping organic litters have been unsuccessful due to the techniques of production attempted, and the high cost of the various ingredients used to create the clumping action in an organic-based litter. The related art includes a number of attempts to develop cellulosic materials in the manufacture of animal litter, and in particular the use of wood particles. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,941,090 to Fry teaches a cedar-based animal litter with an alfalfa binding agent. U.S. Pat. No. 4,258,659 to Rowell teaches a cat litter comprising soft wood particles formed from waste wood material, including sawdust and wood pieces, collected from sawmills. U.S. Pat. No. 5,044,324 to Morgan et al. teaches the manufacture of wood fiber “crumbles” that may be used as animal litter; the crumbles are formed from the grinding of pelletized wood fiber. U.S. Pat. No. 5,271,355 teaches the combination of ground wood chips and peat to form animal litter. The related art also includes a class of improved clay-based clumpable litters, that is, litters that have an especially strong tendency to agglomerate in the presence of moisture. These litters materials are generally composed of a substrate material to which a coating is applied; the coating portion of the material provides the clumping action. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,014,650 to Sowle et al. teaches an animal litter with a porous, inert solid substrate, such as clay, and a coating composed of a water-absorbent polymer. U.S. Pat. No. 5,339,769 to Toth et al. teaches a method of forming such a litter in which a liquid clumping agent is distributed over a dry blend of materials that may include an inert solid substrate and a clumping agent. This pellet coating technology has also been applied to litters based on organic materials; for example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,970,916 to Yoder et al. teaches a litter material composed of a cellulosic substrate with a first layer of xanthan gum and a second layer of guar gum. Also, U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2002/0038633 to Hayakawa teaches a cellulose ether as a binder that is responsible for a clumping action in a litter composed partially of organic material. As noted in Hayakawa, however, the use of cellulose ether increases the manufacturing cost of the product, and the goal of Hayakawa was to develop a product that required the use of cellulose ether in smaller quantities. Hayakawa teaches that this is achieved through the selection of high molecular weight—that is, high viscosity—cellulose ethers. The base material or substrate taught by Hayakawa includes inorganic minerals, such as bentonite clays, as well as organic materials. The use of various gums, including guar gum, and carboxymethylcellulose (CMC) are known in the manufacture of animal litters, and in particular in the manufacture of animal litters that contain organic materials. U.S. Pat. No. 5,664,523 to Ochi et al. teaches a base litter material that includes both organic and inorganic components, but also includes 15-55% guar gum by weight. U.S. Pat. No. 6,053,125 to Kory et al. teaches a clumpable cat litter formed of corncob grit and components that are coated with guar gum. U.S. Pat. No. 6,089,189 to Goss et al. teaches a cellulose-based litter product wherein cellulosic granules are treated with an adhesive and mixed with a particulate polymeric clumping agent, preferably guar or locust bean gum. A significant drawback of all known animal litters with clumping action is that they are not readily flushable. To the inventor's knowledge, all of those commercially available litters that are advertised as flushable, including both clay-based and grain-based litters, also require a soaking period before flushing, typically ten minutes or so. None of these products allow the pet owner to simply scoop the clumped litter from the box, dispose of the clump in the toilet, and flush immediately without substantial risk of a clog or damage to plumbing. This is a significant inconvenience, since the pet owner must remember to return at a later time in order to flush the material. Failure to allow sufficient soaking time with these litters may result in clogged plumbing. The inventor's experiments have determined that none of the available and tested litter products are fully successful in combining the advantages of an organic litter material with the clumping action of a clay litter, to result in a product that may be manufactured at a competitive cost. The inventor has recognized that an ideal clumping litter would eliminate the use of clay or other inorganic base materials, and would maximize the quantity of inexpensive organic materials with respect to any required additives. The limitations of the related art as described herein are overcome by the present invention as described below. | <SOH> BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION <EOH>The present invention is directed to an animal litter composed primarily of organic materials, preferably wood fiber, with the addition of a surfactant and one or more clumping agents. The surfactant improves the absorption qualities of the material, thereby making the product's natural odor control properties most effective, and allows the use of a greater percentage of base organic material, thereby controlling cost. In one aspect of a preferred embodiment of the invention, a particular blend of two clumping agents may be used for maximum effectiveness. No inorganic base materials are required in this formulation in order to achieve a product with the desired properties. Unlike related art materials that comprise a substrate and a coating that provides clumping action, the present invention utilizes a mix of the base organic material, surfactant, and clumping agent throughout the product. No separate coating is used, thereby reducing the manufacturing cost of the product. Further, in the preferred embodiment the product includes more than 90% wood fiber, further reducing the cost of the product given the very low cost of wood fiber as waste from lumber mills and the like. The product is pelletized, then crumbled in order to increase surface area and thus improve moisture absorption. The minimum size of the crumbles is limited, however, since if the particle size drops too small the product will be easily tracked by an animal out of the litter pan and excessive dust may result when the product is transferred. The litter exhibits the desired clumping action, but does not readily stick to the sides of the litter pan. In other words, the formulation may achieve a “soft” clumping action to optimize the ease of use of the product. The material is non-toxic and fully biodegradable, and thus may be disposed of in any standard manner, or even used as compost. The material is flushable, and because of its re-wetting action may be flushed immediately upon deposit in the toilet. Because the product allows easy removal of clumps, it will last longer than traditional litters, and thus results in an effectively less expensive product for the user. The present invention also comprises a method of manufacturing the animal litter described herein. Wood fiber is purchased as waste from the lumber or paper industry. The material is metered with the surfactant and clumping agent or agents by weight, and mixed as the mill grinds the wood fibers to a consistent size. The mixture is then pelletized, and the resulting pellets are cooled before crumbling. It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide for a clumping animal litter based on low-cost organic materials. It is a further object of the present invention to provide for a litter that is biodegradable. It is also an object of the present invention to provide for a litter that is flushable without any required wait before flushing. It is also an object of the present invention to provide for a litter that forms “soft” clumps, that is, it does not readily stick to the litter pan upon being wetted. It is also an object of the present invention to provide for a litter that does not require the use of clays or other inorganic base materials. It is also an object of the present invention to provide for a litter that has its clumping agent mixed throughout the litter pellets rather than present in a separate coating on the outside of the pellets in order to contain manufacturing costs. It is also an object of the present invention to provide a litter that naturally contains chemicals to control odor. These and other features, objects and advantages of the present invention will become better understood from a consideration of the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments and appended claims in conjunction with the drawing as described following: | 20040907 | 20061024 | 20050728 | 75849.0 | 1 | BERONA, KIMBERLY SUE | CLUMPING ANIMAL LITTER AND METHOD FOR MAKING SAME | SMALL | 0 | ACCEPTED | 2,004 |
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10,935,629 | ACCEPTED | High-efficiency adaptive DC/AC converter | A CCFL power converter circuit is provided using a high-efficiency zero-voltage-switching technique that eliminates switching losses associated with the power MOSFETs. An optimal sweeping-frequency technique is used in the CCFL ignition by accounting for the parasitic capacitance in the resonant tank circuit. Additionally, the circuit is self-learning and is adapted to determine the optimum operating frequency for the circuit with a given load. An over-voltage protection circuit can also be provided to ensure that the circuit components are protected in the case of open-lamp condition. | 1. A DC to AC cold cathode fluorescent lamp inverter circuit comprising: a plurality of switches for selective coupling to a voltage line; a transformer coupled to said switches for increasing voltage; a feedback signal line receiving a feedback signal indicative of a current through a cold cathode fluorescent lamp load; and a feedback control circuit coupled to said feedback signal line and said switches for adjusting the power delivered to said load only if said current is above a predetermined threshold. 2. A circuit as claimed in claim 1, wherein said feedback control circuit reduces power to said load to a first power level when said current is below said predetermined threshold. 3. A circuit as claimed in claim 1, wherein said feedback control circuit reduces power to said load to zero when said current is below said predetermined threshold. 4. A circuit as claimed in claim 1, wherein said predetermined threshold indicates an open lamp condition at said load. 5. A DC to AC cold cathode fluorescent lamp inverter circuit comprising: a plurality of switches for selective coupling to a voltage line; a transformer coupled to said switches for increasing voltage; a feedback signal line receiving a feedback signal indicative of a voltage across a cold cathode fluorescent lamp load; and a feedback control circuit coupled to said feedback signal line and said switches for adjusting the power delivered to said load only if said voltage across said cold cathode fluorescent lamp load is below a predetermined threshold. 6. A circuit as claimed in claim 5, wherein said feedback control circuit reduces power to said load to a first power level when said voltage across said cold cathode fluorescent lamp load is above said predetermined threshold. 7. A circuit as claimed in claim 5, wherein said feedback control circuit reduces power to said load to zero when said voltage across said cold cathode fluorescent lamp load is above said predetermined threshold. 8. A circuit as claimed in claim 5, wherein said feedback control circuit reduces power to said load to zero when said voltage across said cold cathode fluorescent lamp load exceeds said predetermined threshold for a predetermined period of time 9. A circuit as claimed in claim 5, wherein said predetermined threshold indicates an open lamp condition at said load. 10. A liquid crystal display unit comprising: a liquid crystal display panel; a cold cathode fluorescent lamp for illuminating said liquid crystal display panel; a plurality of switches for selective coupling to a voltage line; a transformer coupled to said switches for increasing voltage; a feedback signal line receiving a feedback signal indicative of a current through said cold cathode fluorescent lamp; and a feedback control circuit coupled to said feedback signal line and said switches for adjusting the power delivered to said cold cathode fluorescent lamp only if said current is above a predetermined threshold. 11. A display unit as claimed in claim 10, wherein said feedback control circuit reduces power to said load to a first power level when said current is below said predetermined threshold. 12. A display unit as claimed in claim 10, wherein said feedback control circuit reduces power to said load to zero when said current is below said predetermined threshold. 13. A display unit as claimed in claim 10, wherein said predetermined threshold indicates an open lamp condition at said load. 14. A liquid crystal display unit comprising: a liquid crystal display panel; a cold cathode fluorescent lamp for illuminating said liquid crystal display panel; a plurality of switches for selective coupling to a voltage line; a transformer coupled to said switches for increasing voltage; a feedback signal line receiving a feedback signal indicative of a voltage across said cold cathode fluorescent lamp; and a feedback control circuit coupled to said feedback signal line and said switches for adjusting the power delivered to said cold cathode fluorescent lamp only if said voltage across said cold cathode fluorescent lamp is below a predetermined threshold. 15. A display unit as claimed in claim 14, wherein said feedback control circuit reduces power to said load to a first power level when said voltage across said cold cathode fluorescent lamp load is above said predetermined threshold. 16. A display unit as claimed in claim 14, wherein said feedback control circuit reduces power to said load to zero when said voltage across said cold cathode fluorescent lamp load is above said predetermined threshold. 17. A display unit as claimed in claim 14, wherein said feedback control circuit reduces power to said load to zero when said voltage across said cold cathode fluorescent lamp load exceeds said predetermined threshold for a predetermined period of time 18. A display unit as claimed in claim 14, wherein said predetermined threshold indicates an open lamp condition at said load. 19. A method for controlling a DC to AC cold cathode fluorescent lamp inverter circuit comprising: providing a first pulse signal to a first transistor; selectively coupling said first transistor to a voltage; providing a second pulse signal to a second transistor; selectively coupling said second transistor to said voltage; receiving a feedback signal indicative of a current through a cold cathode fluorescent lamp load; and adjusting the power delivered to said load only if said current is above a predetermined threshold. 20. A method as claimed in claim 19 further comprising: reducing power to said load to a first power level when said current is below said predetermined threshold. 21. A method as claimed in claim 19 further comprising: reducing power to said load to zero when said current is below said predetermined threshold. 22. A method as claimed in claim 19 further comprising: detecting an open lamp condition at said load; and reducing power delivered to said load after such open lamp condition. 23. A method for controlling a DC to AC cold cathode fluorescent lamp inverter circuit comprising: providing a first pulse signal to a first transistor; selectively coupling said first transistor to a voltage; providing a second pulse signal to a second transistor; selectively coupling said second transistor to said voltage; receiving a feedback signal indicative of a voltage across a cold cathode fluorescent lamp load; and adjusting the power delivered to said load only if said voltage across said cold cathode fluorescent lamp load is below a predetermined threshold. 24. A method as claimed in claim 23 further comprising: reducing power to said load to a first power level when said voltage across said cold cathode fluorescent lamp load is above said predetermined threshold. 25. A method as claimed in claim 23 further comprising: reducing power to said load to zero when said voltage across said cold cathode fluorescent lamp load is above said predetermined threshold. 26. A method as claimed in claim 23 further comprising: detecting an open lamp condition at said load; and reducing power delivered to said load after such open lamp condition. | CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS This application is a continuation application of copending application Ser. No. 10/776,417 filed Feb. 11, 2004, which itself is a continuation application of Ser. No. 10/132,016 filed Apr. 24, 2002, which itself is a continuation application of application Ser. No. 09/850,222 filed May 7, 2001, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,396,722, which itself is a continuation application of application Ser. No. 09/437,081 filed Nov. 9, 1999, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,259,615, all of which claim priority to Provisional Application Ser. No. 60/145,118, filed Jul. 22, 1999, all of which are incorporated herein by reference. FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention is directed to a DC to AC power converter circuit. More particularly, the present invention provides a high efficiency controller circuit that regulates power delivered to a load using a zero-voltage-switching technique. General utility for the present invention is found as a circuit for driving one or more Cold Cathode Fluorescent Lamps (CCFLs), however, those skilled in the art will recognize that the present invention can be utilized with any load where high efficiency and precise power control is required. DESCRIPTION OF RELATED ART FIG. 1 depicts a convention CCFL power supply system 10. The system broadly includes a power supply 12, a CCFL driving circuit 16, a controller 14, a feedback loop 18, and one or more lamps CCFL associated with an LCD panel 20. Power supply 12 supplies a DC voltage to circuit 16, and is controlled by controller 14, through transistor Q3. Circuit 16 is a self-resonating circuit, known as a Royer circuit. Essentially, circuit 16 is a self-oscillating dc to ac converter, whose resonant frequency is set by L1 and C1, and N1-N4 designate transformer windings and number of turns of the windings. In operation, transistors Q1 and Q2 alternately conduct and switch the input voltage across windings N1 and N2, respectively. If Q1 is conducting, the input voltage is placed across winding N1. Voltages with corresponding polarity will be placed across the other windings. The induced voltage in N4 makes the base of Q2 positive, and Q1 conducts with very little voltage drop between the collector and emitter. The induced voltage at N4 also holds Q2 at cutoff. Q1 conducts until the flux in the core of TX1 reaches saturation. Upon saturation, the collector of Q1 rises rapidly (to a value determined by the base circuit), and the induced voltages in the transformer decrease rapidly. Q1 is pulled further out of saturation, and VCE rises, causing the voltage across N1 to further decrease. The loss in base drive causes Q1 to turn off, which in turn causes the flux in the core to fall back slightly and induces a current in N4 to turn on Q2. The induced voltage in N4 keeps Q1 conducting in saturation until the core saturates in the opposite direction, and a similar reversed operation takes place to complete the switching cycle. Although the inverter circuit 16 is composed of relatively few components, its proper operation depends on complex interactions of nonlinearities of the transistors and the transformer. In addition, variations in C1, Q1 and Q2 (typically, 35% tolerance) do not permit the circuit 16 to be adapted for parallel transformer arrangements, since any duplication of the circuit 16 will produce additional, undesirable operating frequencies, which may resonate at certain harmonics. When applied to a CCFL load, this circuit produces a “beat” effect in the CCFLs, which is both noticeable and undesirable. Even if the tolerances are closely matched, because circuit 16 operates in self-resonant mode, the beat effects cannot be removed, as any duplication of the circuit will have its own unique operating frequency. Some other driving systems can be found in U.S. Pat. Nos.: 5,430,641; 5,619,402; 5,615,093; 5,818,172. Each of these references suffers from low efficiency, two-stage power conversion, variable-frequency operation, and/or load dependence. Additionally, when the load includes CCFL(s) and assemblies, parasitic capacitances are introduced, which affects the impedance of the CCFL itself. In order to effectively design a circuit for proper operation, the circuit must be designed to include consideration of the parasitic impedances for driving the CCFL load. Such efforts are not only time-consuming and expensive, but it is also difficult to yield an optimal converter design when dealing with various loads. Therefore, there is a need to overcome these drawbacks and provide a circuit solution that features high efficiency, reliable ignition of CCFLs, load-independent power regulation and single frequency power conversion. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Accordingly, the present invention provides an optimized system for driving a load, obtains an optimal operation for various LCD panel loads, thereby improving the reliability of the system. Broadly defined, the present invention provides A DC/AC converter circuit for controllably delivering power to a load, comprising an input voltage source; a first plurality of overlapping switches and a second plurality of overlapping switches being selectively coupled to said voltage source, the first plurality of overlapping switches defining a first conduction path, the second plurality of overlapping switches defining a second conduction path. A pulse generator is provided to generate a pulse signal. Drive circuitry receives the pulse signal and controls the conduction state of the first and second plurality of switches. A transformer is provided having a primary side and a secondary side, the primary side is selectively coupled to the voltage source in an alternating fashion through the first conduction path and, alternately, through the second conduction path. A load is coupled to the secondary side of the transformer. A feedback loop circuit is provided between the load and the drive circuitry that supplies a feedback signal indicative of power being supplied to the load. The drive circuitry alternates the conduction state of the first and second plurality of switches, and the overlap time of the switches in the first plurality of switches, and the overlap time of the switches in the second plurality of switches, to couple the voltage source to the primary side based at least in part on the feedback signal and the pulse signal. The drive circuitry is constructed to generate a first complimentary pulse signal from the pulse signal, and a ramp signal from the pulse signal. The pulse signal is supplied to a first one of the first plurality of switches to control the conduction state thereof, and the ramp signal is compared with at least the feedback signal to generate a second pulse signal, where a controllable conduction overlap condition exists between the conduction state of the first and second switches of the first plurality of switches. The second pulse signal is supplied to a second one of the first plurality of switches and controlling the conduction state thereof. The drive circuitry further generates a second complimentary pulse signal based on the second pulse signal, wherein said first and second complimentary pulse signals control the conduction state of a first and second ones of the second plurality of switches, respectively. Likewise, a controllable conduction overlap condition exists between the conduction state of the first and second switches of the second plurality of switches. In method form, the present invention provides a method for controlling a zero-voltage switching circuit to deliver power to a load comprising the steps of supplying a DC voltage source; coupling a first and second transistor defining a first conduction path and a third and fourth transistor defining a second conduction path to the voltage source and a primary side of a transformer; generating a pulse signal to having a predetermined pulse width; coupling a load to a secondary side of said transformer; generating a feedback signal from the load; and controlling the feedback signal and the pulse signal to determine the conduction state of said first, second, third and fourth transistors. In the first embodiment, the present invention provides a converter circuit for delivering power to a CCFL load, which includes a voltage source, a transformer having a primary side and a secondary side, a first pair of switches and a second pair of switches defining a first and second conduction path, respectively, between the voltage source and the primary side, a CCFL load circuit coupled to the secondary side, a pulse generator generating a pulse signal, a feedback circuit coupled to the load generating a feedback signal, and drive circuitry receiving the pulse signal and the feedback signal and coupling the first pair of switches or the second pair of switches to the voltage source and the primary side based on said pulse signal and said feedback signal to deliver power to the CCFL load. Additionally, the first embodiment provides a pulse generator that generates a pulse signal having a predetermined frequency. The drive circuitry includes first, second, third and fourth drive circuits; and the first pair of switches includes first and second transistors, and the second pair of switches includes third and fourth transistors. The first, second, third and fourth drive circuits are connected to the control lines of the first, second, third and fourth transistors, respectively. The pulse signal is supplied to the first drive circuit so that the first transistor is switched in accordance with the pulse signal. The third drive circuit generates a first complimentary pulse signal and a ramp signal based on the pulse signal, and supplies the first complimentary pulse signal to the third transistor so that the third transistor is switched in accordance with the first complimentary pulse signal. The ramp signal and the feedback signal are compared to generate a second pulse signal. The second pulse signal is supplied to the second drive circuit so that the second transistor is switched in accordance with the second pulse signal. The forth driving circuit generates a second complementary pulse signal based on the second pulse signal and supplies the second complementary pulse signal to the fourth transistor so that the fourth transistor is switched in accordance with the second complimentary pulse signal. In the present invention, the simultaneous conduction of the first and second transistors, and the third and fourth transistors, respectively, controls the amount of power delivered to the load. The pulse signal and the second pulse signal are generated to overlap by a controlled amount, thus delivering power to the load along the first conduction path. Since the first and second complementary pulse signals are generated from the pulse signal and second pulse signal, respectively, the first and second complementary pulse signals are also generated to overlap by a controlled amount, power is delivered to the load along the second conduction path, in an alternating fashion between the first and second conduction paths. Also, the pulse signal and first complementary pulse signal are generated to be approximately 180° out of phase, and the second pulse signal and the second complementary signal are generated to be approximately 180° out of phase, so that a short circuit condition between the first and second conduction paths is avoided In addition to the converter circuit provided in the first embodiment, the second embodiment includes a flip-flop circuit coupled to the second pulse signal, which triggers the second pulse signal to the second drive signal only when the third transistor is switched into a conducting state. Additionally, the second embodiment includes, a phase-lock loop (PLL) circuit having a first input signal from the primary side and a second input signal using the feedback signal. The PLL circuit compares the phase difference between these two signals and supplies a control signal to the pulse generator to control the pulse width of the pulse signal based on the phase difference between the first and second inputs. In both embodiments, the preferred circuit includes the feedback control loop having a first comparator for comparing a reference signal with the feedback signal and producing a first output signal. A second comparator is provided for comparing said first output signal with the ramp signal and producing said second pulse signal based on the intersection of the first output signal and the ramp signal. The feedback circuit also preferably includes a current sense circuit receiving the feedback signal and generating a trigger signal, and a switch circuit between the first and second comparator, the switch circuit receiving the trigger signal and generating either the first output signal or a predetermined minimum signal, based on the value of the trigger signal. The reference signal can include, for example, a signal that is manually generated to indicate a desires power to be delivered to the load. The predetermined minimum voltage signal can include a programmed minimum voltage supplied to the switches, so that an overvoltage condition does not appear across the load. Likewise, in both embodiments described herein, an overcurrent protection circuit can be provided that receives the feedback signal and controls the pulse generator based on the value of said feedback signal. An overvoltage protection can be provided to receive a voltage signal from across the load and the first output signal and compare the voltage signal from across the load and the first output signal, to control the pulse generator based on the value of the voltage signal from across the load. It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that although the following Detailed Description will proceed with reference being made to preferred embodiments and methods of use, the present invention is not intended to be limited to these preferred embodiments and methods of use. Rather, the present invention is of broad scope and is intended to be limited as only set forth in the accompanying claims. Other features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent as the following Detailed Description proceeds, and upon reference to the Drawings, wherein like numerals depict like parts, and wherein: BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a conventional DC/AC converter circuit; FIG. 2 is one preferred embodiment of a DC/AC converter circuit of the present invention; FIG. 2a-2f is an exemplary timing diagram of the circuit of FIG. 2; FIG. 3 is another preferred embodiment of a DC/AC converter circuit of the present invention; FIG. 3a-3f is an exemplary timing diagram of the circuit of FIG. 3; and FIGS. 4a-4f depict emulation diagrams for the circuits shown in FIGS. 2 and 3. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION While not wishing to be bound by example, the following Detailed Description will proceed with reference to a CCFL panel as the load for the circuit of the present invention. However, it will be apparent that the present invention is not limited only to driving one or CCFLs, rather, the present invention should be broadly construed as a power converter circuit and methodology independent of the particular load for a particular application. As an overview, the present invention provides circuitry to controllably deliver power to a load using feedback signals and pulse signals to adjust the ON time of two pairs of switches. When one pair of switches are controllably turned ON such that their ON times overlap, power is delivered to a load (via a transformer), along a conduction path defined by the pair of switches. Likewise, when the other pair of switches are controllably turned ON such that their ON times overlap, power is delivered to a load (via a transformer), along a conduction path defined by other pair of switches. Thus, by selectively turning ON switches and controlling the overlap between-switches, the present invention can precisely control power delivered to a given load. Additionally, the present invention includes over-current and over-voltage protection circuits, which discontinues power to the load in the event of a short circuit or open circuit condition. Moreover, the controlled switching topology described herein enables the circuit to operate irrespective of the load, and with a single operating frequency independent of the resonant effects of the transformer arrangement. These features are discussed below with reference to the drawings. The circuit diagram shown in FIG. 2 illustrates one preferred embodiment of a phase-shift, full-bridge, zero-voltage-switching power converter of the present invention. Essentially, the circuit shown in FIG. 2 includes a power source 12, a plurality of switches 80 arranged as diagonal pairs of switches defining alternating conduction paths, drive circuitry 50 for driving each of the switches, a frequency sweeper 22 which generates a square wave pulse to the drive circuitry 50, a transformer TX1 (with an associated resonant tank circuit defined by the primary side of TX1 and C1) and a load. Advantageously, the present invention also includes an overlap feedback control loop 40 which controls the ON time of at least one of each pair of switches, thereby permitting controllable power to be delivered to the load. A power source 12 is applied to the system. Initially, a bias/reference signal 30 is generated for the control circuitry (in control loop 40) from the supply. Preferably, a frequency sweeper 22 generates a 50% duty-cycle pulse signal, starting with an upper frequency and sweeping downwards at a pre-determined rate and at pre-determined steps (i.e., square wave signal of variable pulse width). The frequency sweeper 22 preferably is a programmable frequency generator, as is known in the art. The pulse signal 90 (from the sweeper 22) is delivered to B_Drive (which drives the Switch_B, i.e., controls the gate of Switch_B), and is delivered to A_Drive, which generates a complementary pulse signal 92 and a ramp signal 26. The complementary pulse signal 92 is approximately 180° out of phase with pulse signal 90, and the ramp signal 26 is approximately 90° out of phase with pulse signal, as will be described below. The ramp signal is preferably a sawtooth signal, as shown in the Figure. The ramp signal 26 is compared with the output signal 24 (referred to herein as CMP) of the error amplifier 32, through comparator 28, thus generating signal 94. The output signal 94 of the comparator 28 is likewise a 50% duty pulse delivered to C_Drive to initiate the turning on of Switch_C which, in turn, determines the amount of overlap between the switches B and C, and switches A and D. Its complimentary signal (phased approximately 180°) is applied to Switch_D, via D_Drive. It will be understood by those skilled in the art that circuits Drive_A-Drive_D are connected to the control lines (e.g., gate) of Switch_A-Switch_D, respectively, which permits each of the switches to controllably conduct, as described herein. By adjusting the amount of overlap between switches B, C and A, D, lamp-current regulation is achieved. In other words, it is the amount of overlapping in the conduction state of the pairs of switches that determines the amount of power processed in the converter. Hence, switches B and C, and switches A and D, will be referred to herein as overlapping switches. While not wishing to be bound by example, in this embodiment, B_Drive is preferably formed of a totem pole circuit, generic low-impedance op-amp circuit, or emitter follower circuit. C_Drive is likewise constructed. Since both A-Drive and D_Drive are not directly connected to ground (i.e., floating), it is preferred that these drives are formed of a boot-strap circuit, or other high-side drive circuitry known in the art. Additionally, as stated above, A_Drive and D_Drive include an inverter to invert (i.e., phase) the signal flowing from B_Drive and C_Drive, respectively. High-efficiency operation is achieved through a zero-voltage-switching technique. The four MOSFETs (Switch_A-Switch_D) 80 are turned on after their intrinsic diodes (D1-D4) conduct, which provides a current flowing path of energy in the transformer/capacitor (TX1/C1) arrangement, thereby ensuring that a zero voltage is across the switches when they are turned on. With this controlled operation, switching loss is minimized and high efficiency is maintained. The preferred switching operation of the overlapping switches 80 is shown with reference to the timing diagrams of FIGS. 2a-2f. Switch_C is turned off at certain period of the conduction of both switches B and C (FIG. 2f). The current flowing in the tank (refer to FIG. 2) is now flowing through diode D4 (FIG. 2e) in Switch_D, the primary of transformer, C1, and Switch_B, after Switch_C is turned off, thereby resonating the voltage and current in capacitor C1 and the transformer as a result of the energy delivered when switches B and C were conducting (FIG. 2f). Note that this condition must occur, since an instantaneous change in current direction of the primary side of the transformer would violate Faraday's Law. Thus, current must flow through D4 when Switch_C turns off. Switch_D is turned on after D4 has conducted. Similarly, Switch_B is turned off (FIG. 2a), the current diverts to Diode D1 associated with Switch_A before Switch_A is turned on (FIG. 2e). Likewise, Switch_D is turned off (FIG. 2d), and the current is now flowing now from Switch_A, through C1, the transformer primary and Diode D3. Switch_C is turned on after D3 has conducted (FIG. 2e). Switch_B is turned on after Switch_A is turned off which allows the diode D2 to conduct first before it is turned on. Note that the overlap of turn-on time of the diagonal switches B,C and A,D determines the energy delivered to the transformer, as shown in FIG. 2f. In this embodiment, FIG. 2b shows that the ramp signal 26 is generated only when Switch_A is turned on. Accordingly, Drive_A, which generates the ramp signal 26, preferably includes a constant current generator circuit (not shown) that includes a capacitor having an appropriate time constant to create the ramp signal. To this end, a reference current (not shown) is utilized to charge the capacitor, and the capacitor is grounded (via, for example a transistor switch) so that the discharge rate exceeds the charge rate, thus generating the sawtooth ramp signal 26. Of course, as noted above, this can be accomplished by integrating the pulse signal 90, and thus, the ramp signal 26 can be formed using an integrator circuit (e.g., op-amp and capacitor). In the ignition period, a pre-determined minimum overlap between the two diagonal switches is generated (i.e., between switches A,D and B,C). This gives a minimum energy from the input to the tank circuit including C1, transformer, C2, C3 and the CCFL load. Note that the load can be resistive and/or capacitive. The drive frequency starts at a predetermined upper frequency until it approaches the resonant frequency of the tank circuit and equivalent circuit reflected by the secondary side of the transformer, a significant amount of energy is delivered to the load where the CCFL is connected. Due to its high-impedance characteristics before ignition, the CCFL is subjected to high voltage from the energy supplied to the primary side. This voltage is sufficient to ignite the CCFL. The CCFL impedance decreases to its normal operating value (e.g., about 100 Kohm to 130 Kohm), and the energy supplied to the primary side based on the minimum-overlap operation is no longer sufficient to sustain a steady state operation of the CCFL. The output of the error amplifier 26 starts its regulating function to increase the overlap. It is the level of the error amplifier output determines the amount of the overlap. For example: Referring to FIGS. 2b and 2c and the feedback loop 40 of FIG. 2, it is important to note that Switch_C is turned on when the ramp signal 26 (generated by Drive_A) is equal to the value of signal CMP 24 (generated by error amplifier 32), determined in comparator 28. This is indicated as the intersection point 36 in FIG. 2b. To prevent a short circuit, switches A,B and C,D must never be ON simultaneously. By controlling the CMP level, the overlap time between switches A,D and B,C regulates the energy delivered to the transformer. To adjust the energy delivered to the transformer (and thereby adjust the energy delivered to the CCFL load), switches C and D are time-shifted with respect to switches A and B, by controlling the error amplifier output, CMP 24. As can be understood by the timing diagrams, if the driving pulses from the output of comparator 28 into switches C and D are shifted to the right by increasing the level of CMP, an increase in the overlap between switches A,C and B,D is realized, thus increasing the energy delivered to the transformer. In practice, this corresponds to the higher-lamp current operation. Conversely, shifting the driving pulses of switches C and D to the left (by decreasing the CMP signal) decreases the energy delivered. To this end, error amplifier 32 compares the feedback signal FB with a reference voltage REF. FB is a measure of the current value through the sense resistor Rs, which is indicative of the total current through the load 20. REF is a signal indicative of the desired load conditions, e.g., the desired current to flow through the load. During normal operation, REF=FB. If, however, load conditions are intentionally offset, for example, from a dimmer switch associated with an LCD panel display, the value of REF will increase/decrease accordingly. The compared value generates CMP accordingly. The value of CMP is reflective of the load conditions and/or an intentional bias, and is realized as the difference between REF and FB (i.e., REF-FB). To protect the load and circuit from an open circuit condition at the load (e.g., open CCFL lamp condition during normal operation), the FB signal is also preferably compared to a reference value (not shown and different from the REF signal described above) at the current sense comparator 42, the output of which defines the condition of switch 28, discussed below. This reference value can be programmable, and/or user-definable, and preferably reflects the minimum or maximum current permitted by the system (for example, as may be rated for the individual components, and, in particular, the CCFL load). If the value of the feedback FB signal and the reference signal is within a permitted range (normal operation), the output of the current sense comparator is 1 (or, HIGH). This permits CMP to flow through switch 38, and the circuit operates as described herein to deliver power to the load. If, however, the value of the FB signal and the reference signal is outside a predetermined range (open circuit or short circuit condition), the output of the current sense comparator is 0 (or, LOW), prohibiting the CMP signal from flowing through the switch 38. (Of course, the reverse can be true, in which the switch triggers on a LOW condition). Instead a minimal voltage Vmin is supplied by switch 38 (not shown) and applied to comparator 28 until the current sense comparator indicates permissible current flowing through Rs. Accordingly, switch 38 includes appropriate programmable voltage selection Vmin for when the sense current is 0. Turning again to FIG. 2b, the effect of this operation is a lowering of the CMP DC value to a nominal, or minimum, value (i.e., CMP=Vmin) so that a high voltage condition is not appearing on the transformer TX1. Thus, the crossover point 36 is shifted to the left, thereby decreasing the amount of overlap between complementary switches (recall Switch_C is turned ON at the intersection point 36). Likewise, current sense comparator 42 is connected to the frequency generator 22 to turn the generator 22 off when the sense value is 0 (or some other preset value indicative of an open-circuit condition). The CMP is fed into the protection circuit 62. This is to shut off the frequency sweeper 22 if the CCFL is removed during operation (open-circuit condition). To protect the circuit from an over-voltage condition, the present embodiment preferably includes protection circuit 60, the operation of which is provided below (the description of the over current protection through the current sense comparator 42 is provided above). The circuit 60 includes a protection comparator 62 which compares signal CMP with a voltage signal 66 derived from the load 20. Preferably, voltage signal is derived from the voltage divider C2 and C3 (i.e., in parallel with load 20), as shown in FIG. 2. In the open-lamp condition, the frequency sweeper continues sweeping until the OVP signal 66 reaches a threshold. The OVP signal 62 is taken at the output capacitor divider C2 and C3 to detect the voltage at the output of the transformer TX1. To simplify the analysis, these capacitors also represent the lump capacitor of the equivalent load capacitance. The threshold is a reference and circuit is being designed so that the voltage at the secondary side of the transformer is greater than the minimum striking voltage (e.g., as may be required by the LCD panel) while less than the rated voltage of the transformer. When OVP exceeds the threshold, the frequency sweeper stops the frequency sweeping. Meanwhile, the current-sense 42 detects no signal across the sense resistor Rs. Therefore the signal at 24, the output of a switch block 38, is set to be at minimum value so that minimum overlap between switches A,C and B,D is seen. Preferably, a timer 64 is initiated once the OVP exceeds the threshold, thereby initiating a time-out sequence. The duration of the time-out is preferably designed according to the requirement of the loads (e.g., CCFLs of an LCD panel), but could alternately be set at some programmable value. Drive pulses are disabled once the time-out is reached, thus providing safe-operation output of the converter circuit. That is, circuit 60 provides a sufficient voltage to ignite the lamp, but will shut off after a certain period if the lamp is not connected to the converter, so that erroneous high voltage is avoided at the output. This duration is necessary since a non-ignited lamp is similar to an open-lamp condition. FIGS. 3 and 3a-3f depict another preferred embodiment of the DC/AC circuit of the present invention. In this embodiment, the circuit operates in a similar manner as provided in FIG. 2 and FIGS. 2a-2f, however this embodiment further includes a phase lock loop circuit (PLL) 70 for controlling the frequency sweeper 22, and a flip-flop circuit 72 to time the input of a signal into C_Drive. As can be understood by the timing diagrams, if the 50% driving pulses of switches C and D are shifted to the right by increasing the level of CMP, an increase in the overlap between switches A,C and B,D is realized, thus increasing the energy delivered to the transformer. In practice, this corresponds to the higher-lamp current operation (as may be required, e.g., by a manual increase in the REF voltage, described above). Conversely, shifting the driving pulses of switches C and D to the left (by decreasing the CMP signal) decreases the energy delivered. The phase-lock-loop circuit 70 maintains the phase relationship between the feedback current (through Rs) and tank current (through TX1/C1) during normal operation, as shown in FIG. 3. The PLL circuit 70 preferably includes input signals from the tank circuit (C1 and the primary of TX1) signal 98 and Rs (FB signal, described above). Once the CCFL is ignited, and the current in the CCFL is detected through Rs, the PLL 70 circuit is activated which locks the phase between the lamp current and the current in the primary resonant tank (C1 and transformer primary). That is, the PLL is provided to adjust the frequency of the frequency sweeper 22 for any parasitic variations such as temperature effect, mechanical arrangement like wiring between the converter and the LCD panel and distance between the lamp and metal chassis of LCD panel that affect the capacitance and inductance. Preferably, the system maintains a phase difference of 180 degrees between the resonant tank circuit and the current through Rs (load current). Thus, irrespective of the particular load conditions and/or the operating frequency of the resonant tank circuit, the system finds an optimal operation point. The operation of the feedback loop of FIG. 3 is similar to the description above for FIG. 2. However, as shown in FIG. 3b, this embodiment times the output of an initiating signal through C_Drive through flip-flop 72. For instance, during normal operation, the output of the error amplifier 32 is fed through the controlled switch block 38 (described above), resulting in signal 24. A certain amount of overlap between switches A,C and B,D is seen through comparator 28 and flip-flop 72 which drives switches C and D (recall D_Drive produces the complementary signal of C_Drive). This provides a steady-state operation for the CCFL (panel) load. Considering the removal of the CCFL (panel) during the normal operation, CMP rises to the rail of output of the error amplifier and triggers the protection circuit immediately. This function is inhibited during the ignition period. Referring briefly to FIGS. 3a-3f, the triggering of switches C and D, through C-Drive and D_Drive, is, in this embodiment, alternating as a result of the flip-flop circuit 72. As is shown in FIG. 3b, the flip-flop triggers every other time, thereby initiating C_Drive (and, accordingly, D_Drive). The timing otherwise operates in the same way as discussed above with reference to FIG. 2a-2f. Referring now to FIGS. 4a-4f, the output circuit of FIG. 2 or 3 is emulated. For example, FIG. 4a shows that at 21V input, when the frequency sweeper approaches 75.7 KHz (0.5 us overlapping), the output is reaching 1.67 KVp-p. This voltage is insufficient to turn on the CCFL if it requires 3300 Vp-p to ignite. As the frequency decreases to say 68 KHz, the minimum overlap generates about 3.9 KVp-p at the output, which is sufficient to ignite the CCFL. This is illustrated in FIG. 4b. At this frequency, the overlap increases to 1.5 us gives output about 1.9 KVp-p to operate the 130 Kohm lamp impedance. This has been shown in FIG. 4c. As another example, FIG. 4d illustrates the operation while the input voltage is 7V. At 71.4 KHz, output is 750Vp-p before the lamp is striking. As the frequency decreases, the output voltage increases until the lamp ignites. FIG. 4e shows that at 65.8 KHz, the output reaches 3500Vp-p. The regulation of the CCFL current is achieved by adjusting the overlap to support 130 Kohm impedance after ignition. The voltage across the CCFL is now 1.9 KVp-p for a 660Vrms lamp. This is also illustrated in FIG. 4f. Although not shown, the emulation of the circuit of FIG. 3 behaves in a similar manner. It should be noted that the difference between the first and second embodiments (i.e., by the addition of the flip flop and the PLL in FIG. 3) will not effect the overall operational parameters set forth in FIG. 4a-4f. However, the addition of the PLL has been determined to account for non-ideal impedances that develop in the circuit, and may be added as an alternative to the circuit shown in FIG. 2. Also, the addition of the flip-flop permits the removal of the constant current circuit, described above. Thus, it is evident that there has been provided a high efficiency adaptive DC/AC converter circuit that satisfies the aims and objectives stated herein. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that modifications are possible. For example, although the present invention has described the use of MOSFETs for the switched, those skilled in the art will recognize that the entire circuit can be constructed using BJT transistors, or a mix of any type of transistors, including MOSFETs and BJTs. Other modifications are possible. For example, the drive circuitry associated with Drive_B and Drive_D may be comprised of common-collector type circuitry, since the associated transistors are coupled to ground and are thus not subject to floating conditions. The PLL circuit described herein is preferably a generic PLL circuit 70, as is known in the art, appropriately modified to accept the input signal and generate the control signal, described above. The pulse generator 22 is preferably a pulse width modulation circuit (PWM) or frequency width modulation circuit (FWM), both of which are well known in the art. Likewise, the protection circuit 62 and timer are constructed out of known circuits and are appropriately modified to operate as described herein. Other circuitry will become readily apparent to those skilled in the art, and all such modifications are deemed within the spirit and scope of the present invention, only as limited by the appended claims. | <SOH> FIELD OF THE INVENTION <EOH>The present invention is directed to a DC to AC power converter circuit. More particularly, the present invention provides a high efficiency controller circuit that regulates power delivered to a load using a zero-voltage-switching technique. General utility for the present invention is found as a circuit for driving one or more Cold Cathode Fluorescent Lamps (CCFLs), however, those skilled in the art will recognize that the present invention can be utilized with any load where high efficiency and precise power control is required. | <SOH> SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION <EOH>Accordingly, the present invention provides an optimized system for driving a load, obtains an optimal operation for various LCD panel loads, thereby improving the reliability of the system. Broadly defined, the present invention provides A DC/AC converter circuit for controllably delivering power to a load, comprising an input voltage source; a first plurality of overlapping switches and a second plurality of overlapping switches being selectively coupled to said voltage source, the first plurality of overlapping switches defining a first conduction path, the second plurality of overlapping switches defining a second conduction path. A pulse generator is provided to generate a pulse signal. Drive circuitry receives the pulse signal and controls the conduction state of the first and second plurality of switches. A transformer is provided having a primary side and a secondary side, the primary side is selectively coupled to the voltage source in an alternating fashion through the first conduction path and, alternately, through the second conduction path. A load is coupled to the secondary side of the transformer. A feedback loop circuit is provided between the load and the drive circuitry that supplies a feedback signal indicative of power being supplied to the load. The drive circuitry alternates the conduction state of the first and second plurality of switches, and the overlap time of the switches in the first plurality of switches, and the overlap time of the switches in the second plurality of switches, to couple the voltage source to the primary side based at least in part on the feedback signal and the pulse signal. The drive circuitry is constructed to generate a first complimentary pulse signal from the pulse signal, and a ramp signal from the pulse signal. The pulse signal is supplied to a first one of the first plurality of switches to control the conduction state thereof, and the ramp signal is compared with at least the feedback signal to generate a second pulse signal, where a controllable conduction overlap condition exists between the conduction state of the first and second switches of the first plurality of switches. The second pulse signal is supplied to a second one of the first plurality of switches and controlling the conduction state thereof. The drive circuitry further generates a second complimentary pulse signal based on the second pulse signal, wherein said first and second complimentary pulse signals control the conduction state of a first and second ones of the second plurality of switches, respectively. Likewise, a controllable conduction overlap condition exists between the conduction state of the first and second switches of the second plurality of switches. In method form, the present invention provides a method for controlling a zero-voltage switching circuit to deliver power to a load comprising the steps of supplying a DC voltage source; coupling a first and second transistor defining a first conduction path and a third and fourth transistor defining a second conduction path to the voltage source and a primary side of a transformer; generating a pulse signal to having a predetermined pulse width; coupling a load to a secondary side of said transformer; generating a feedback signal from the load; and controlling the feedback signal and the pulse signal to determine the conduction state of said first, second, third and fourth transistors. In the first embodiment, the present invention provides a converter circuit for delivering power to a CCFL load, which includes a voltage source, a transformer having a primary side and a secondary side, a first pair of switches and a second pair of switches defining a first and second conduction path, respectively, between the voltage source and the primary side, a CCFL load circuit coupled to the secondary side, a pulse generator generating a pulse signal, a feedback circuit coupled to the load generating a feedback signal, and drive circuitry receiving the pulse signal and the feedback signal and coupling the first pair of switches or the second pair of switches to the voltage source and the primary side based on said pulse signal and said feedback signal to deliver power to the CCFL load. Additionally, the first embodiment provides a pulse generator that generates a pulse signal having a predetermined frequency. The drive circuitry includes first, second, third and fourth drive circuits; and the first pair of switches includes first and second transistors, and the second pair of switches includes third and fourth transistors. The first, second, third and fourth drive circuits are connected to the control lines of the first, second, third and fourth transistors, respectively. The pulse signal is supplied to the first drive circuit so that the first transistor is switched in accordance with the pulse signal. The third drive circuit generates a first complimentary pulse signal and a ramp signal based on the pulse signal, and supplies the first complimentary pulse signal to the third transistor so that the third transistor is switched in accordance with the first complimentary pulse signal. The ramp signal and the feedback signal are compared to generate a second pulse signal. The second pulse signal is supplied to the second drive circuit so that the second transistor is switched in accordance with the second pulse signal. The forth driving circuit generates a second complementary pulse signal based on the second pulse signal and supplies the second complementary pulse signal to the fourth transistor so that the fourth transistor is switched in accordance with the second complimentary pulse signal. In the present invention, the simultaneous conduction of the first and second transistors, and the third and fourth transistors, respectively, controls the amount of power delivered to the load. The pulse signal and the second pulse signal are generated to overlap by a controlled amount, thus delivering power to the load along the first conduction path. Since the first and second complementary pulse signals are generated from the pulse signal and second pulse signal, respectively, the first and second complementary pulse signals are also generated to overlap by a controlled amount, power is delivered to the load along the second conduction path, in an alternating fashion between the first and second conduction paths. Also, the pulse signal and first complementary pulse signal are generated to be approximately 180° out of phase, and the second pulse signal and the second complementary signal are generated to be approximately 180° out of phase, so that a short circuit condition between the first and second conduction paths is avoided In addition to the converter circuit provided in the first embodiment, the second embodiment includes a flip-flop circuit coupled to the second pulse signal, which triggers the second pulse signal to the second drive signal only when the third transistor is switched into a conducting state. Additionally, the second embodiment includes, a phase-lock loop (PLL) circuit having a first input signal from the primary side and a second input signal using the feedback signal. The PLL circuit compares the phase difference between these two signals and supplies a control signal to the pulse generator to control the pulse width of the pulse signal based on the phase difference between the first and second inputs. In both embodiments, the preferred circuit includes the feedback control loop having a first comparator for comparing a reference signal with the feedback signal and producing a first output signal. A second comparator is provided for comparing said first output signal with the ramp signal and producing said second pulse signal based on the intersection of the first output signal and the ramp signal. The feedback circuit also preferably includes a current sense circuit receiving the feedback signal and generating a trigger signal, and a switch circuit between the first and second comparator, the switch circuit receiving the trigger signal and generating either the first output signal or a predetermined minimum signal, based on the value of the trigger signal. The reference signal can include, for example, a signal that is manually generated to indicate a desires power to be delivered to the load. The predetermined minimum voltage signal can include a programmed minimum voltage supplied to the switches, so that an overvoltage condition does not appear across the load. Likewise, in both embodiments described herein, an overcurrent protection circuit can be provided that receives the feedback signal and controls the pulse generator based on the value of said feedback signal. An overvoltage protection can be provided to receive a voltage signal from across the load and the first output signal and compare the voltage signal from across the load and the first output signal, to control the pulse generator based on the value of the voltage signal from across the load. It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that although the following Detailed Description will proceed with reference being made to preferred embodiments and methods of use, the present invention is not intended to be limited to these preferred embodiments and methods of use. Rather, the present invention is of broad scope and is intended to be limited as only set forth in the accompanying claims. Other features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent as the following Detailed Description proceeds, and upon reference to the Drawings, wherein like numerals depict like parts, and wherein: | 20040907 | 20080826 | 20050210 | 60418.0 | 1 | PATEL, RAJNIKANT B | HIGH-EFFICIENCY ADAPTIVE DC/AC CONVERTER | UNDISCOUNTED | 1 | CONT-ACCEPTED | 2,004 |
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10,935,984 | ACCEPTED | Apparatus and method for hybrid network access | A system in which a personal computer sends messages into a TCP/IP network using a conventional dial-up link and downloads data from the TCP/IP network using a high-speed one-way satellite link. A preferred embodiment uses a conventional SLIP provider to connect to the TCP/IP network and uses a commercial software TCP/IP package that has a standard driver interface. A spoofing protocol compensates for the long propagation delays inherent to satellite communication. | 1-19. (Cancelled) 20. A driver for use in a computing device having a TCP/IP stack, said driver being configured to send a first IP packet from the TCP/IP stack through an IP tunnel across a network, wherein the source IP address of an IP packet of the IP tunnel is different from the source IP address of the first IP packet. 21. A driver according to claim 20, wherein the network is the Internet. 22. A driver according to claim 20, wherein an apparatus on the network receives the IP packet of the IP tunnel, and obtains the first IP packet from the IP packet of the IP tunnel. 23. A driver according to claim 22, wherein the apparatus on the network sends the received first IP packet towards its destination via a network. 24. A driver according to claim 20, wherein the computing device is a personal computing device. 25. A driver according to claim 24, wherein the personal computing device is a personal computer. 26. An apparatus comprising: an internet browser; and a TCP/IP stack for use with said internet browser, wherein said internet browser sends a packet across the Internet to a second apparatus through (a) said TCP/IP stack, (b) a Network layer tunnel between said TCP/IP stack of said apparatus and a gateway apparatus, and (c) means for transmitting packets from the gateway apparatus to the second apparatus, wherein a Network layer source address of a packet of the Network layer tunnel is different from a source IP address of an IP packet received by the Network layer tunnel from said TCP/IP stack. 27. An apparatus according to claim 26, wherein the Network layer tunnel comprises an IP tunnel, and wherein the means for transmitting packets from the gateway apparatus to the second apparatus is an IP network. 28. A personal computing device comprising: a TCP/IP stack; and a driver according to claim 20. 29. A driver according to claim 20, wherein said driver interfaces to the TCP/IP stack of the computing device using an ethernet device driver interface. 30. A driver according to claim 20, wherein said driver interfaces to the TCP/IP stack of the computing device using a network driver interface specification. 31. An apparatus according to claim 26, wherein the connection between the gateway apparatus and the second apparatus is a network connection. 32. A driver according to claim 20, wherein the data field of the IP packet of the IP tunnel consists of the first IP packet as received by said driver from the TCP/IP stack. 33. An apparatus according to claim 26, wherein the Network layer packet is an IP packet, the data field of which consists of an IP packet as received by the Network layer tunnel from said TCP/IP stack. | This application is a continuation of application Ser. No. 09/559,118 filed Apr. 26, 2000, which is a division of application Ser. No. 09/204,436 filed Dec. 3, 1998, Pat. No. 6,161,141, which is a division of application Ser. No. 08/901,152 filed Jul. 28, 1997, Pat. No. 5,995,725, which is a continuation of application Ser. No. 08/257,670 filed Jun. 8, 1994, now abandoned. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This application relates to a computer network and, more specifically, to a method and apparatus for allowing both high-speed and regular-speed access to a computer network. The Internet is an example of a TCP/IP network. The Internet has over 10 million users. Conventionally, access to the Internet is achieved using a slow, inexpensive method, such as a terrestrial dial-up modem using a protocol such as SLIP (Serial Line IP), PPP, or by using a fast, more expensive method, such as a switched 56 Kbps, frame relay, ISDN (Integrated Services Digital Network), or T1. Users generally want to receive (download) large amounts of data from networks such as the Internet. Thus, it is desirable to have a one-way link that is used only for downloading information from the network. A typical user will receive much more data from the network than he sends. Thus, it is desirable that the one-way link be able to carry large amounts of data very quickly. What is needed is a high bandwidth one-way link that is used only for downloading information, while using a slower one-way link to send data into the network. Currently, not all users have access to high speed links to networks. Because it will take a long time to connect all users to networks such as the Internet via physical high-speed lines, such as fiber optics lines, it is desirable to implement some type of high-speed line that uses the existing infrastructure. Certain types of fast network links have long propagation delays. For example, a link may be transmitting information at 10 Mbps, but it may take hundreds of milliseconds for a given piece of information to travel between a source and a destination on the network. In addition, for even fast low-density links, a slow speed return-link may increase the round trip propagation time, and thus limit throughput. The TCP/IP protocol, as commonly implemented, is not designed to operate over fast links with long propagation delays. Thus, it is desirable to take the propagation delay into account when sending information over such a link. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention overcomes the problems and disadvantages of the prior art by allowing a user to download data using a fast one-way satellite link, while using a conventional low-speed Internet connection for data being sent into the network. The invention uses a “spoofing” technique to solve the problem of the long propagation delays inherent in satellite communication. In accordance with the purpose of the invention, as embodied and broadly described herein, the invention is a network system that forms a part of a network, comprising: a source computer, having a link to the network; a destination computer, having a link to the network; a satellite interface between the source computer and the destination computer, wherein information passes from the source computer to the destination computer; means in the destination computer for requesting information from the source computer over the network; means for receiving an information packet sent from the source computer in response to the request and for sending the information packet to the destination computer over the satellite interface; and means for sending an ACK message to the source computer in response to receipt of the information packet, wherein the ACK message appears to the source computer to have come from the destination computer. In further accordance with the purpose of the invention, as embodied and broadly described herein, the invention is a gateway in a network system that forms a part of a TCP/IP network, wherein the network includes a source computer having a link to the TCP/IP network and a link to a high speed satellite interface, and a destination computer having a link to the TCP/IP network and a link to the high speed satellite interface, the gateway comprising: means for receiving an information packet sent from the source computer and for sending the information packet to the destination computer over the satellite interface; and means for sending an ACK message to the source computer in response to receipt of the information packet, wherein the ACK message appears to the source computer to have come from the destination computer. Objects and advantages of the invention will be set forth in part in the description which follows and in part will be obvious from the description or may be learned by practice of the invention. The objects and advantages of the invention will be realized and attained by means of the elements and combinations particularly pointed out in the appended claims. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification, illustrate several embodiments of the invention and, together with the description, serve to explain the principles of the invention. FIG. 1 is a hardware block diagram of a preferred embodiment of the invention; FIG. 2 is a diagram of a portion of a hybrid terminal of FIG. 1; FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an IP packet format; FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a plurality of packet formats, including an Ethernet packet format; FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a tunneling packet format; FIG. 6 is a diagram of steps performed by the hybrid terminal of FIG. 1; FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example of partial data in a tunneling packet; FIG. 8 is a flowchart of steps performed by the hybrid terminal of FIG. 1; FIG. 9 is a diagram of steps performed by a hybrid gateway of FIG. 1; FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a format of packets sent to a satellite gateway of FIG. 1; FIG. 11 is a diagram showing a TCP packet format; FIG. 12 is a ladder diagram showing packets sent from an application server to the hybrid gateway and from the hybrid gateway to the hybrid terminal over a satellite link; and FIGS. 13(a) through 13(e) are flowcharts of steps performed by the hybrid gateway of FIG. 1. FIGS. 14 and 15 are figures from the Phase A Data Sheet incorporated herein. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Reference will now be made in detail to the preferred embodiments of the invention, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings. Wherever possible, the same reference numbers will be used throughout the drawings to refer to the same or like parts. a. General Overview A preferred embodiment of the present invention uses satellite technology to implement a high-speed one way link between a user's computer and a TCP/IP network, such as the Internet or a private TCP/IP network. This high-speed link is used to download data from the network. The user's computer also has a conventional TCP/IP link for sending data to the network. The invention can use various forms of high-speed, one-way links, such as satellites, and cable television lines. The invention can use various forms of low-speed networks, such as TCP/IP networks, dialup telephones, ISDN D-channel, CPDP, and low-speed satellite paths. The described embodiment of the present invention uses satellites to provide a high-speed one-way link. Satellites can cover large geographical areas and are insensitive to the distance between a transmitter and a receiver. In addition, satellites are very efficient at point-to-point and broadcast applications, and are resilient and resistant to man-made disasters. Two-way satellites are expensive to use, however, because of the costs involved in purchasing and installing satellite earth station hardware. In the past, these costs have placed satellite communications outside the reach of the consumer. The present invention allows a personal computer to receive downloaded information from the network via a satellite at a very practical cost. In the present invention, the cost of satellite communications is reduced because a one-way satellite link is used. Receive-only earth station equipment is cheaper to manufacture because it requires less electronics than send/receive antennae. As is well-known in the art, communication over the Internet and similar TCP/IP networks is achieved through a group (suite) of protocols called Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP). The TCP/IP protocol is described in the book “Internetworking With TCP/IP, Vol I” by Douglas Corner, published by Prentice-Hall, Inc., of Englewood Cliffs, N.J., 1991, which is incorporated by reference. b. Hybrid TCP/IP Access FIG. 1 is a hardware block diagram of a preferred embodiment of the invention. FIG. 1 includes five subsystems: a hybrid terminal 110, a SLIP provider (Internet connection) 130, an application server 140, a hybrid gateway 150, and a satellite gateway 160. Hybrid terminal 110 is connected to a modem 190, e.g., a 9600 baud modem, which connects to SLIP provider 130 through a telephone line 192. A satellite transmitter 170, a satellite 175, and a satellite receiver 180 provide a fast, one-way link for transferring data from satellite gateway 160 to hybrid terminal 110. Each of SLIP provider 130, application server 140, and hybrid gateway 150 are connected to the Internet 128. As is well-known in the art, the Internet 128 is a “network of networks” and can be visually depicted only in general terms, as seen in FIG. 1. Each of hybrid terminal 110, SLIP provider 130, application server 140, hybrid gateway 150 and satellite gateway 160 includes a processor (not shown) that executes instructions stored in a memory (not shown). Other parts of the invention also include processors that are not discussed herein, such as I/O processors, etc. Preferably, hybrid terminal 110, hybrid gateway 150, and satellite gateway 160 are implemented as personal computers including an 80386/80486 based personal computer operating at least 33 MHz, but these elements can be implemented using any data processing system capable of performing the functions described herein. In the described embodiment, SLIP provider 130 is a conventional SLIP provider and application server 140 is any application server that can connect to the Internet 128 via TCP/IP. As shown in FIG. 1, hybrid terminal 110 preferably includes application software 112, driver software 114, a serial port 122 for connecting hybrid terminal 110 to modem 190, and satellite interface hardware 120 for connecting hybrid terminal 110 to satellite receiver 180. FIG. 2 shows a relationship between software in application 112, software in driver 114, serial port 122, and satellite interface 120. Application software 112 includes TCP/IP software, such as SuperTCP, manufactured by Frontier, Inc., Chameleon, manufactured by Netmanager, and IRNSS, manufactured by Spry, Inc. The described embodiment preferably operates with the SuperTCP TCP/IP package and, thus, uses a standard interface 212 between the TCP/IP software 210 and driver 114. Examples of standard interface 212 between TCP/IP software 210 and driver 114 includes the Crynson-Clark Packet Driver Specification and the 3Com/Microsoft Network Driver Interface Specification (NDIS). Other embodiments use other standard or non-standard interfaces between TCP/IP software 210 and driver 114. As shown in FIG. 2, application software preferably 112 also includes well-known Internet utilities, such as FTP 230, and well-known user interfaces, such as Mosaic and Gopher (shown). Application software 112 can also include other utilities, e.g., News and Archie (not shown). The following paragraphs describe how a request from hybrid terminal 110 is carried through the Internet 128 to application server 140 and how a response of application server 140 is carried back to the user at hybrid terminal 110 via the satellite link. The operation of each subsystem will be described below in detail in separate sections. In the present invention, hybrid terminal 110 is given two IP addresses. One IP packet address corresponds to SLIP provider 130 and is assigned by a SLIP service provider. The other IP address corresponds to satellite interface 120 and is assigned by a hybrid service provider. IP addresses are assigned by the SLIP and satellite network managers and loaded into hybrid terminal 110 as part of an installation configuration of the hybrid terminal's hardware and software. These two IP addresses correspond to completely different physical networks. SLIP provider 130 does not “know” anything about the satellite IP address or even whether the user is using the satellite service. If a host somewhere in the Internet is trying to deliver a packet to the satellite interface IP address by using the Internet routing scheme of routers, gateways, and ARPs (Address Resolution protocol), the only way that the packet can reach the satellite IP interface is to traverse the satellite by being routed through satellite gateway 160. The following example assumes that a user at hybrid terminal 110 desires to send a request to a remote machine, such as application server 140, that is running FTP (File Transfer protocol) server software. The FTP software running on application server 140 receives file transfer requests and responds to them in an appropriate fashion. FIG. 3 shows the contents of a source field (SA) and of a destination field (DA) of packets sent between the elements of FIG. 1. A request for a file and a response of a file sent from application server 140 to hybrid terminal 110 takes the following path. 1) Within hybrid terminal 110, FTP client software 230 generates a request and passes it to TCP/IP software 210. TCP/IP software 210 places the request in a TCP packet (see FIG. 11). Next, the TCP packet is placed in an IP packet, having a format shown in FIG. 3. TCP/IP software 210 places the IP packet in an Ethernet packet, as shown in FIG. 4, and passes the Ethernet packet to driver 114. This packet has a source IP address corresponding to satellite interface 120 and a destination IP address of application server 140. 2) In driver 114, the Ethernet header and checksum are stripped off the packet and the IP packet is encapsulated, or “tunneled,” inside of another IP packet and sent over serial port 122 to SLIP provider 130. FIG. 5 shows a format of a tunnelled packet. FIG. 7 shows an example of a tunnelled packet. The encapsulation adds a new IP header 530 in front of the original packet 540 with a source address corresponding to SLIP provider 130 and a destination address corresponding to hybrid gateway 150. 3) SLIP provider 130 receives the IP packet, analyzes the tunneling header and, thinking it is destined for hybrid gateway 150, uses standard Internet routing to send the packet to hybrid gateway 150. 4) When hybrid gateway 150 receives the packet, it strips off the tunneling header, revealing the true header with application server 140 as the destination. The packet is then sent back out into the Internet 128. 5) Internet routing takes the packet to application server 140, which replies with the requested file and addresses the reply to the request's source IP address, i.e., the IP address of the hybrid terminal's satellite interface 120. 6) In order to find the hybrid terminal's satellite interface 120, the Internet routing protocol will send the packet to the subnet containing a router/gateway connected to hybrid gateway 150. When a router on the same physical network as satellite gateway 160 and hybrid gateway 150 sends out an ARP for the IP address of satellite interface 120 (to find a physical address of satellite interface 120), hybrid gateway 150 responds and says “send it to me.” Thus, application server 140 and the rest of the Internet 128 think that packets sent to hybrid gateway 150 will reach the hybrid terminal's satellite interface. 7) Once hybrid gateway 150 receives a reply packet from application server 140, it sends it to satellite gateway 160. In the described embodiment, hybrid gateway 150 encapsulates the packet in a special packet format that is used over the satellite link and uses the satellite interface IP address to uniquely identify the satellite packet's destination. Then hybrid gateway 150 sends the packet over the Ethernet to satellite gateway 160. 8) Satellite gateway 160 broadcasts over the satellite link any packets it receives from hybrid gateway 150. 9) Driver 114 in hybrid terminal 110 that services satellite interface 120 scans all packets broadcast over satellite transmitter 170 looking for its satellite interface IP address in the header. Once it identifies one, it captures it, strips off the satellite header revealing the reply IP packet, and sends it to driver 114. Thus, IP packets sent into Internet 128 are carried by the SLIP connection, while IP packets from the Internet 128 are carried by the satellite link. The following paragraphs describe the operation of each subsystem in more detail. 1. The Hybrid Terminal Hybrid terminal 110 is the terminal with which the user interacts. Thus, hybrid terminal 110 includes a user interface device (not shown) such as a mouse, keyboard, etc. As shown in FIG. 1, hybrid terminal 110 includes one or more application programs 112 (including TCP/IP software 210), and driver software 114, which communicates with SLIP provider 130 through a serial port 122 and modem 190, using a driver portion 118, and which communicates with satellite receiver 180 through a satellite interface 120, using a driver portion 116. To TCP/IP software 210, driver 114 appears to be an Ethernet card, although driver 114 is actually connected to satellite receiver 180 (via satellite interface 120) and to SLIP provider 130 (via serial line 122 and modem 190). Thus, TCP/IP software 210 believes that it is communicating with a single physical network, when it is, in reality, communicating with two physical networks (the SLIP dial-up network and a satellite network). Ethernet is a packet switching protocol standardized by Xerox Corporation, Intel Corporation, and Digital Equipment Corporation, which is described in “The Ethernet: A Local Area Network Data Link Layer and Physical Layer Specification,” September 1980, which is available from any of these three companies, and which is incorporated by reference. FIG. 6 is a diagram of steps performed by driver 114 of hybrid terminal 110 of FIG. 1. As shown in FIG. 6, driver 114 receives packets of data from TCP/IP software 210 and passes them to SLIP provider 130 via serial port 122 and modem 190. A packet sent by application server 140 is received through satellite receiver 180, passed through the satellite interface 120, passed to the satellite driver 220, and passed to driver 114, which passes the received packet to TCP/IP software 210. The following paragraphs discuss two basic functions performed by driver 114 (tunneling and ARP handling) and discuss various implementation details for the preferred embodiment. A. “Tunneling” As discussed above, hybrid terminal 110 has two IP addresses associated with it: one for SLIP provider 130 and one for the satellite interface 120. Packets containing requests are sent from hybrid terminal 110 to application server 140 via the Internet 128, while packets containing a reply are sent back via the satellite link. Tunneling is the method by which application server 140 is “fooled” into sending a reply to a different IP address (satellite interface 120) than that of the sender (serial port 122). A packet received by driver 114 from the TCP/IP software 210 has a source address of satellite gateway 160 and a destination address of application server 140. As shown in step 610 of FIG. 6, driver 114 removes the Ethernet header and checksum and encapsulates the IP header into an IP tunneling header having a source address of SLIP provider 130 and a destination address of hybrid gateway 150 (see FIG. 7). As described above, at hybrid gateway 150, the tunneling header is removed and the packet is sent back into the Internet 128 to be sent to application server 140. When forming a tunneling header, driver 114 copies all the values from the old header into the new one with the following exceptions. The source and destination addresses of the tunneling header change, as described above. In addition, a total packet length field 510 is changed to contain the contents of length field 310 plus the length of the tunneling header. Lastly, the driver 114 recalculates checksum 520 of the tunneling header because some of the fields have changed. B. ARP Handling ARP (Address Resolution Protocol) is used by TCP/IP to dynamically bind a physical address, such as an Ethernet address, to an IP address. When TCP/IP finds an IP address for which it does not know a physical address, TCP/IP broadcasts an ARP packet to all nodes, expecting a response that tells TCP/IP what physical address corresponds to the IP address. During initialization, driver 114 declares to TCP/IP software 210 that driver 114 is an Ethernet card to ensure that the packets that TCP/IP package sends are Ethernet packets and that the TCP/IP package will be prepared to receive packets at a high-rate of speed. As shown in step 620 of FIG. 6, when driver 114 detects that TCP/IP has sent an ARP packet, driver 114 creates a physical address and sends a reply packet to TCP/IP software 210. The contents of the physical address are irrelevant, because driver 114 strips off the Ethernet header on packets from TCP/IP before the packets are sent to SLIP provider 130. C. Other Functions As shown in step 630 of FIG. 6, packets received by driver 114 from satellite receiver 180 (via satellite driver 114) are merely passed to TCP/IP software 210. The following paragraphs discuss implementation details for the described embodiment. In a preferred embodiment, TCP/IP software 210 (e.g., Frontier's SuperTCP) sends an ACK (acknowledge) for every packet it receives, even though this action is not required by the TCP/IP protocol. In this situation, many packets compete for the slow link to SLIP provider 130. In TCP/IP, the ACK scheme is cumulative. This means that when a transmitter receives an ACK stating that the receiver has received a packet with sequence number N, then the receiver has received all packets with sequence numbers up to N as well, and there is no reason why every packet needs to be ACK'ed. FIG. 8 is a flowchart of steps performed in a preferred embodiment by driver 114 of hybrid terminal 110. FIG. 11 is a diagram showing preferred a TCP packet format. FIG. 11 includes a sequence number field 1102, an acknowledgment (ACK) number field 1104, and a checksum field 1106. In step 810 of FIG. 8, driver 114 receives an ACK packet with sequence number N from TCP/IP software 210. The packet is queued along with other packets waiting to be sent to SLIP provider 130. In step 820 driver 114 checks to determine whether there is a “run” of sequential packets waiting to be sent. If so, in step 830, driver 114 deletes ACK packets for the same TCP connection that have sequence numbers in the run from the queue and sends an ACK only for the highest sequence number in the run. This action alleviates the bottleneck caused by the relatively slow modem speeds. Serial port 122 provides a physical connection to modem 190 and, through it, to the terrestrial network via a SLIP protocol as described below in connection with SLIP provider 130. Serial data is sent and received through an RS-232 port connector by a UART (Universal Asynchronous Receiver Transmitter), such as a U8250, which has a one byte buffer and is manufactured by National Semiconductor, or a U16550, which has a 16 byte buffer and is also manufactured by National Semiconductor. The invention preferably operates under the DOS operating system and Windows, but also can operate under other operating systems. Satellite driver software 220 receives packets from satellite 180, and passes them to driver 114 using a DOS call. Thus, the two physical links are combined within driver 114 and the existence of two physical links is transparent to TCP/IP software 210. Satellite driver 220 scans all packets transmitted over the satellite channel for a packet with a header corresponding to the IP address of the satellite interface 122, performs some error detection and correction on the packet, buffers the received packet, and passes the packet to driver 114 using a DOS call, e.g., IOCTL-output-cmd( ). Driver 114 copies data from satellite driver 220 as quickly as possible and passes it to TCP/IP software 210. As discussed above, TCP/IP software 210 is fooled into thinking that it is connected to an Ethernet network that can send and receive at 10 Mbps. This concept is helpful on the receive side because data from the satellite is being received at a high rate. On the transmit side, however, modem 190 is not capable of sending at such a high rate. In addition, TCP/IP software 210 sends Ethernet packets to driver 114, i.e., an IP packet is encapsulated into an Ethernet packet. Because SLIP provider 130 expects IP packets, driver 114 must strip the Ethernet header before the packet is sent to SLIP provider 130. As described above in connection with FIG. 8, driver 114 also includes a transmit and receive queue. As data is received from TCP/IP software 210 and received from the satellite driver 220, it is buffered within the queue. When the queue is full, e.g., when TCP/IP is sending packets faster than modem 190 can send them, driver 114 drops the packets and returns an error so that TCP/IP software 210 will decrease its rate of transmission. In a first preferred embodiment, a SLIP connection is initiated with an automatic logon procedure. In another preferred embodiment, driver 114 executes instructions to allow a user to perform a SLIP logon manually. Because TCP/IP software 210 preferably is configured to talk to Ethernet and it is desirable to receive the largest packet size possible, driver 114 configures TCP/IP so that the MTU (Maximum Transmission Unit) of the network is as large as possible, e.g., 1500 bytes. Some SLIP providers 130 have a smaller MTU, e.g., 512 bytes. To handle the disparity in size, driver 114 segments large packets received from TCP/IP software 210 into segments the size of the SLIP MTU. Once a packet is segmented, it is reassembled in hybrid gateway 150. Only the tunneling header is copied as the header of the segments. 2. The SLIP Provider SLIP provider 130 performs the function of connecting hybrid terminal 110 to the Internet 128. As described above, other protocols, such as PPP, could also be used to perform the connecting function. SLIP server 130 receives SLIP encoded IP packets from modem 190, uncodes them, and forwards them to hybrid gateway 150 via the Internet 128. In its most basic form, SLIP provider 130 delimits IP packets by inserting a control character hex 0xC0 between them. To insure that a data byte is not mistaken for the control character, all outgoing data is scanned for instances of the control character, which is replaced by a two character string. The SLIP protocol is described in detail in J. Romkey, “A Nonstandard for Transmission of IP Datagrams over Serial Lines: SLIP,” RFC 1055, June 1988, pp. 1-6, which is incorporated by reference. 3. The Application Server Application server 140 is a computer system running any combination of known application programs available on the Internet using the TCP/IP protocol suite. For example, application server 140 may be transferring files to requesting users via FTP. Although hybrid terminal 110 Actually has two IP addresses (a serial port address and an address for the satellite interface), the software executing on application server 140 thinks that it is receiving requests over the satellite network and sending responses over the satellite network. Hybrid terminal is completely transparent to application server 140. 4. The Hybrid Gateway Although only one hybrid terminal 110 is shown in FIG. 1, the invention can include a plurality of hybrid terminals 110. Preferably, all packets sent from all hybrid terminals 110 pass through hybrid gateway 150 to get untunnelled. Thus, hybrid gateway 150 is a potential system bottleneck. Because of this potential bottleneck, the functions of hybrid gateway 150 are as simple as possible and are performed as quickly as possible. Hybrid gateway 150 also has good Internet connectivity to minimize the accumulated delay caused by packets waiting to be processed by hybrid gateway 150. A. Untunnelling FIG. 9 is a diagram of steps performed by hybrid gateway 150 of FIG. 1. In step 910, hybrid gateway 150 receives a tunneled packet having a format shown in FIG. 5. Hybrid gateway 150 “untunnels” the packet by stripping off the tunneling header and passes the packet back to the Internet 128. As described above, packets are sometimes broken into segments when they are sent in order to accommodate a small MTU of SLIP provider 130. Packets may also be segmented as they pass through other elements of the Internet 128 having small MTUs. For fragmented packets, only the tunnelled header is copied into the header of each segment. Hybrid gateway 150 stores fragmented packets in a memory (not shown) and reassembles them in order before untunnelling the original packet and passing it to the Internet 128. Preferably, a “time to live” value is assigned to each packet when it is sent by driver 114 and if all segments do not arrive before a time to live timer expires, the packet is discarded. B. ARP Responding Preferably, satellite gateway 160 is on a same physical network as hybrid gateway 150. As shown in step 920 of FIG. 9, when a router on the same physical network as satellite gateway 160 and hybrid gateway 150 sends out an ARP for the IP address of satellite interface 120 (to find a physical address of satellite interface 120), hybrid gateway 150 responds and says “send it to me.” Hybrid gateway 150 needs to intercept packets intended for satellite interface 120 because it needs to encapsulate packets for satellite gateway 160 as follows. C. Satellite Packetizing The following paragraphs describe how packets travel from application server 140 through hybrid gateway 150 and to satellite gateway 160. The following explanation is given by way of example and is not intended to limit the scope of the present invention. As shown in step 930 of FIG. 9, hybrid gateway 150 encapsulates replies from application server 140 into a satellite packet format. FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a format of a satellite packet sent to satellite gateway 160 of FIG. 1. A satellite packet includes the data 1010 of an original IP packet and two headers 1020, 1030 added by hybrid gateway 150. Satellite gateway 160 expects IP packets to be encapsulated first in a special satellite packet and then within an LLC-1 IEEE 802.2 link level control, type 1 packet. Satellite header 1020 identifies the downlink and contains a sequence number and the packet length. An LLC-1 header 1030 preferably is used to send the packet to satellite gateway 160, in an Ethernet LAN. Hybrid gateway 150 prepares packets for satellite gateway 160 by appending headers 1020 and 1030 to the front of an IP packet 1010. The receiver in hybrid terminal 110 does not receive the LLC-1 header 1030. Hybrid terminal 110 identifies packets intended for it by checking a least significant byte in the satellite IP address. Thus, a six byte satellite destination address is determined by reversing an order of bytes of the satellite IP address for hybrid terminal 110 and then padding the rest of the address with zeroes. 5. The Satellite Gateway Satellite gateway 160 can include any combination of hardware and software that connects satellite transmitter 170 to hybrid gateway 150. Satellite transmitter 170 and satellite receiver 180 can be any combination of hardware and software that allows data to be transmitted by satellite transmitter 170 and received by satellite receiver 180, and to be input to hybrid terminal 110. For example, satellite gateway 160 preferably is a personal computer with a high-speed Ethernet connection to hybrid terminal 110. When satellite gateway 160 receives a packet from hybrid gateway 150, it sends it over the satellite link. Satellite communication may be effected by, for example, the Personal Earth station manufactured by Hughes Network Systems Inc. In a preferred embodiment, a one-way version of the Personal Earth Station is used. Another embodiment uses a satellite communication system manufactured by Comstream. Yet another embodiment uses a system that allows hybrid terminal 110 to be connected directly to satellite receiver 180 via Hughes Network Systems' DirecPC product. The DirecPC satellite interface card is described in “DirecPC, Phase A Data Sheet,” dated Jun. 7, 1993, which is incorporated by reference and by the inclusion of its contents which read as follows: “DirecPC is a satellite, one-way broadcast network offering three services to the IBM compatible PC: 1. Digital package delivery—Software, games, multi-media news, electronic documents and any other data in the form of a collection of PC files are made available to the PC on a scheduled or on-demand basis. 2. Data Pipe—provides multiple independent digital streams to carry video, audio, etc. 3. Hybrid Internet Access—high-speed, low-cost Internet connection where DirecPC carries packets from the Internet and dial-up modem carries packets into the Internet. See FIG. 14. To receive the DirecPC broadcast, a PC is equipped with a PC plug-in card and a 24 inch antenna. DirecPC uses a full Galaxy class Ku-Band transponder to provide an 11 Mbps broadcast channel. DES encryption based conditional access ensures that a receiver PC may only access data it is authorized to receive. Section 1 PC User Perspective The PC hardware consists of the DirecPC adapter, an antenna and a TVRO standard coaxial cable. The DirecPC adapter is a 16-bit ISA adapter providing throughput comparable to a 16-bit ISA ethernet adapter. The software appears to the user as a set of Windows applications. The applications: assist installation and service registration. support package delivery by allowing the user to select packages for reception, be notified when packages are received. The software also supports billing for packages received. provide a TCP/IP protocol stack and set of applications for Hybrid Internet access. provide a driver DLL on which third party software may layer data pipe applications. The software for a data pipe service is provided by the enterprise providing the service. Communications back to the uplink is required for billing purposes and also for Hybrid Internet access. These communications take place via the PC's dial-up AT command-set modem. Section 2 Open Interfaces and APIs The DirecPC architecture is open, allowing content providers complete control over their content and the user interface to their content. DirecPC provides interfaces to content providers at the uplink and Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) on the receiving PC. The specifications and APIs are available on request. See FIG. 15. Section 3 Content Providers A content provider is an organization that supplies the data sent over the DirecPC system. A content provider can be categorized as being either a: 1. Package Publisher—uses the DirecPC system as a means of selling and distributing software packages or data packages where a package consists of a set of PC files. 2. Data Pipe Provider—uses the DirecPC system as a data pipe transport mechanism. User services (News Feeds, Internet Access, Broadcast Video and Audio, etc.) are layered on top of a datagram transport. DirecPC supports multiple content providers of both kinds. Section 4 DirecPC Package Distribution The DirecPC system allows data packages to be distributed and purchased. The term “package” refers to any data (including electronic documents, multi-media data, software packages, games, etc.) which can take the form of a group of PC files. To prepare a package for transmission, a publisher merges the package's files into a single file using the appropriate utility (e.g. PKZIP or ARJ) and loads the package into the uplink using an off-the-shelf file transfer mechanism (e.g. TCP/IP's FTP, floppy-disk, CD-ROM, X-Modem, etc.). Scheduling, pricing and conditional access restrictions can be performed either manually or automatically under publisher control when the package is loaded into the uplink. DirecPC's conditional access mechanism ensures that a user may only receive authorized packages. As part of initial registration, the user is provided a credit limit. The PC locally maintains a credit account. When the user selects a package for reception, the PC records the transaction and debits the account. A log of all package receptions is maintained on the PC's hard disk and can be browsed by the graphical front-end. On uplink operator command, when the local credit limit is exceeded or when the user has purchased a certain number of packages, the PC makes a dial-up call to the DirecPC billing service. The call reports the billing information as well as usage information of packages received. The usage information is used to provide feedback for future scheduling of packages. The reports given to publishers include for each package reception, the name, address etc. of the recipient, the ID of the package and when package delivery took place. A software package may either be transmitted on a scheduled basis or on-demand. Scheduled transfers are perfect for: 1. Periodical Distribution—examples include news and weather updates, electronic newspaper, magazine and catalog distribution. 2. Popular Package Delivery—packages for which there are expected to be multiple recipients. The most popular (or highest profit) packages would be scheduled more frequently to reduce the average time spent waiting, while less popular packages may be scheduled for overnight delivery. Scheduled delivery is lower cost than delivering a package on-request to each buyer. The schedule for individual packages is manually set by hub operators with the submission of the package. Phase A package delivery allows a single transmission at any given time. The rate of transmission is settable under operator control at speeds up to 2 Mbits/sec. Support for simultaneous transmissions will be provided in a subsequent release of DirecPC software. A software package may be transmitted on-demand in the gaps between scheduled transmissions. Such a transfer delivers the information more quickly to the requesting PC, but at greater cost as the package is not broadcast. A PC uses its modem to request the package. DirecPC's low bit error rate and high availability ensure that packages are reliably delivered with one transmission. For even grater reliability, each package may be set to employ one or more of the following methods to ensure fail-safe delivery: 1. Repeated Transmission—A package may be scheduled to be sent more than once to ensure its delivery. A receiving PC, if any packets are lost on the first transmission, fills in the gaps on subsequent transmissions. This mechanism ensures extremely high probability of delivery without requiring use of a return link. 2. Retransmission requests—a PC, if it misses parts of a package, may request retransmission of those parts. The missing parts are multi-cast so that parts need only be retransmitted once even though they were missed by multiple PCS. Retransmission requests are most appropriate for scheduled individual package transmissions where the package is scheduled less frequently. 3. Delivery confirmation—a PC, after successfully receiving and installing a package, may send a confirmation to the hub. These confirmations are tabulated and provided in the form of reports to the publisher. This method is more expensive in that it requires that a delivery confirmation (entailing a separate call) be sent by every receiving PC. Section 5 Data Pipe Transmission DirecPC's data pipe services are modelled on Local Area Network multi-cast transmission. The data pipe provider passes 802.2 LLC1 Token-Ring or Ethernet multi-cast packets to the uplink. This allows off-the-shelf bridges and routers to be used to support a terrestrial backhaul. It also allows some LAN based applications to operate across the spacelink with little or no modification. The uplink relays these packets across the spacelink. The DirecPC driver passes received packets to the applications. To prevent unauthorized access, each multi-cast address is encrypted under a different key. The DirecPC device driver API allows applications to designate which multi-cast addresses are of interest. Hardware filtering in the DirecPC adapter allows the reception of any 100 different multi-cast addresses. DirecPC network management allocates to each service provider: 1. a Committed Information Rate (CIR)—a fraction of broadcast channel bandwidth which is guaranteed to the data pipe provider, and 2. one or more multi-cast 48 bit addresses—each address operates as a separate data stream multiplexed on the one broadcast channel. Section 6 Hybrid Internet Access Hybrid Internet access allows a PC high-speed (over 100 Kbps) access to the Internet. An HNS (Hughes Network Systems) provided NDIS device driver operates with an off-the-shelf TCP/IP package. Reception from the Internet takes place via DirecPC. Transmission into the Internet takes place via a dial-up SLIP connection into the uplink. Hybrid Internet Access allows operation of all the standard Internet applications including SMTP EMAIL, NNTP Usenet News, FTP, GOPHER and Mosaic. As part of initial registration, each receiving PC is provided a permanently assigned IP address. Hybrid Internet Access is the result of joint development by HNS and the University of Maryland funded in part by a MIPs grant. Continuing development will increase performance and allow receive-only reception of Usenet News. Section 7 Performance Specifications Averaged across a whole year, each DirecPC receiver should be expected to have a BER less than 10E—10 more than 99.5% of the time where a single bit error causes the loss of an entire packet. Section 8 User Characteristics The receiver (antenna, cabling and PC plug-in card) is intended to be self-installable by consumers and small business. In cases where self-installation is not desirable, the DirecPC adapter will be installed by the customer and the antenna and cable will be installed by the HNS VSAT installers. The customer uses diagnostic software provided with the adapter to ensure that the PC as a whole is ready for the antenna to be installed. Maintenance will be performed either by the user swapping components (DirecPC adapter, LNB, etc. with telephone support). HNS's nationwide VSAT field-service network may also be contracted for.” At the downlink, satellite receiver 180 includes a 0.6 meter receive-only antenna receiving HDLC encapsulated LAN packets. Satellite interface 120 includes rate 2/3 Viterbi/Reed-Soloman concatenated forward error correction. Although only one hybrid terminal 110 and one application server 140 are shown in FIG. 1, the invention can include a plurality of hybrid terminals 110 and/or a plurality of application servers 140. Preferably, all packets sent from all application servers 140 to a hybrid interface 110 pass through satellite gateway 160. Thus, satellite gateway 160 is a potential system bottleneck. Because of this potential bottleneck, the functions of satellite gateway 160 are as simple as possible and are performed as quickly as possible. c. Protocol Spoofing TCP/IP protocol specifies that only a predetermined number of packets can be outstanding during transmission, i.e., that only a limited number of packets can be sent before an ACK (acknowledgment) is received. The high bandwidth and long delays incurred in sending packets to an orbiting satellite and back means that at any given time, a large number of packets are “in the pipe” between transmitter and receiver. When using conventional TCP/IP protocol, application server 140 sends a predetermined number of packets in accordance with a predetermined window size, and then waits to receive ACKs over the modem link before sending additional packets. The purpose of windowing is to limit a number of packets that must be re-sent if no ACK is received and to provide flow control, e.g., to prevent sending packets faster than they can be received. The packets that have not been ACK'ed are stored in a memory so that they can be re-sent if no ACK is received. In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, hybrid gateway 150 “spoofs” application server 140 to improve the throughput over the satellite link. Specifically, hybrid gateway 150 sends an ACK to application server 140, even though a corresponding packet may not have been received by hybrid terminal 110 via the satellite at the time. FIG. 12 is a ladder diagram showing packets sent from application server 140 to hybrid gateway 150 and from hybrid gateway to hybrid terminal 110 through the satellite link. FIG. 12 is not drawn to scale. In FIG. 12, application server 140 sends a message #1 to hybrid gateway 150. The propagation time for this transmission is relatively short. Hybrid gateway 150 immediately creates an ACK packet and sends it to application server 140. Hybrid gateway 150 also sends packet #1 to hybrid terminal 110 through the satellite link. This transmission has a long propagation delay. When hybrid terminal 110 receives the packet, it sends an ACK #1 back to hybrid gateway 150 (e.g., using the tunneling mechanism described above). In a system that does not use tunneling, hybrid gateway 150 needs to intercept the ACK packets from hybrid terminal 110. FIGS. 13(a) through 13(e) are flowcharts of steps performed by hybrid gateway 150 of FIG. 1 during protocol spoofing. In step 1302 of FIG. 13(a), hybrid gateway 150 receives a packet from application server 140 indicating that a new connection is being formed between application server 140 and hybrid terminal 110. In step 1304, hybrid gateway 150 sets up a queue or similar data structure in memory to save un-ACK'ed packets for the new connection. FIG. 13(b) shows corresponding steps performed by hybrid gateway 150 when the connection is closed. Hybrid gateway 150 receives a packet indicating the closure in step 1306 and deletes the queue and saved values for the connection in step 1308. In step 1310 of FIG. 13(c), hybrid gateway 150 fails to receive an ACK for a packet number X from hybrid terminal 110 before an end of a predetermined timeout period. Hybrid gateway 150 maintains a timer for each un-ACK'ed packet. At the end of the predetermined period, hybrid gateway 150 retransmits a packet corresponding to the expired timer. In step 1312, hybrid gateway 150 re-sends packet number X, which it previously saved in the memory queue for this connection (see FIG. 13(d) below). In step 1314 of FIG. 13(d), hybrid gateway 150 receives a packet from application server 140. In step 1316, hybrid gateway 150 sends the received packet to satellite gateway 160, where it is transmitted over the satellite link, and saves the packet in case it needs to be retransmitted (see FIG. 13(c)). Hybrid gateway 150 then creates an ACK packet to send to application server 140 in step 1318. The created ACK packet incorporates a format shown in FIG. 11. Hybrid gateway 150 creates an ACK number for field 1104. The ACK number is determined as follows: Hybrid gateway 150 saves the following information for each connection: 1) Send sequence number—a highest in-sequence sequence number of packets sent by application server 140 over the connection. 2) ACK sequence number—the ACK sequence number from the most recent packet sent by hybrid terminal 110 over this connection. 3) ACK window size—the window size from the most recent packet from hybrid terminal 110 over this connection. 4) ACK number—the ACK sequence number that is relayed to application server 140. The ACK number is set to: minimum (send sequence number, ACK sequence number+spoofed window size−ACK window size). 5) spoofed window size—predetermined maximum number window size to be allowed on this connection. When hybrid gateway 150 inserts the ACK number in the packet, it also calculates the packet's checksum 1106. In step 1320 of FIG. 13(e), hybrid gateway 150 receives an ACK packet over the modem link from hybrid terminal 110. In step 1322, hybrid gateway 150 removes from the queue the packet for which the ACK was received. Because an ACK was received, the packet does not need to be re-sent. In the TCP/IP protocol, a packet containing an ACK may or may not contain data. Hybrid gateway 150 edits the received packet to replace the packet's ACK number 1104 with a “spoofed” ACK number in step 1326. The spoofed ACK number is determined in the same way as the ACK number in step 1318 of FIG. 13(d). When hybrid gateway 150 substitutes the spoofed ACK number 1104 in the packet, it also recalculates the packet's checksum 1106 in step 1326. In step 1328, hybrid gateway 150 forwards the received ACK packet to application server 140. Application server 140 may simply disregard the packet if it contains an ACK and no data. In another embodiment, hybrid gateway 150 simply discards a packet received from hybrid terminal 110 that contains an ACK, but no data. If the connection goes down, either explicitly or after a predetermined period of time, hybrid gateway 150 deletes the saved packets for the connection. d. Summary In summary, the present invention allows a personal computer to send messages into the Internet using a conventional dial-up link and to download data from the Internet using a high-speed one-way satellite link. In a preferred embodiment, the invention uses a conventional SLIP provider to connect to the Internet and uses a commercial software TCP/IP package that has a standard driver interface. A spoofing protocol compensates for the long propagation delays inherent to satellite communication. Other embodiments will be apparent to those skilled in the art from consideration of the specification and practice of the invention disclosed herein. It is intended that the specification and examples be considered as exemplary only, with a true scope of the invention being indicated by the following claims. | <SOH> BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION <EOH>This application relates to a computer network and, more specifically, to a method and apparatus for allowing both high-speed and regular-speed access to a computer network. The Internet is an example of a TCP/IP network. The Internet has over 10 million users. Conventionally, access to the Internet is achieved using a slow, inexpensive method, such as a terrestrial dial-up modem using a protocol such as SLIP (Serial Line IP), PPP, or by using a fast, more expensive method, such as a switched 56 Kbps, frame relay, ISDN (Integrated Services Digital Network), or T1. Users generally want to receive (download) large amounts of data from networks such as the Internet. Thus, it is desirable to have a one-way link that is used only for downloading information from the network. A typical user will receive much more data from the network than he sends. Thus, it is desirable that the one-way link be able to carry large amounts of data very quickly. What is needed is a high bandwidth one-way link that is used only for downloading information, while using a slower one-way link to send data into the network. Currently, not all users have access to high speed links to networks. Because it will take a long time to connect all users to networks such as the Internet via physical high-speed lines, such as fiber optics lines, it is desirable to implement some type of high-speed line that uses the existing infrastructure. Certain types of fast network links have long propagation delays. For example, a link may be transmitting information at 10 Mbps, but it may take hundreds of milliseconds for a given piece of information to travel between a source and a destination on the network. In addition, for even fast low-density links, a slow speed return-link may increase the round trip propagation time, and thus limit throughput. The TCP/IP protocol, as commonly implemented, is not designed to operate over fast links with long propagation delays. Thus, it is desirable to take the propagation delay into account when sending information over such a link. | <SOH> SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION <EOH>The present invention overcomes the problems and disadvantages of the prior art by allowing a user to download data using a fast one-way satellite link, while using a conventional low-speed Internet connection for data being sent into the network. The invention uses a “spoofing” technique to solve the problem of the long propagation delays inherent in satellite communication. In accordance with the purpose of the invention, as embodied and broadly described herein, the invention is a network system that forms a part of a network, comprising: a source computer, having a link to the network; a destination computer, having a link to the network; a satellite interface between the source computer and the destination computer, wherein information passes from the source computer to the destination computer; means in the destination computer for requesting information from the source computer over the network; means for receiving an information packet sent from the source computer in response to the request and for sending the information packet to the destination computer over the satellite interface; and means for sending an ACK message to the source computer in response to receipt of the information packet, wherein the ACK message appears to the source computer to have come from the destination computer. In further accordance with the purpose of the invention, as embodied and broadly described herein, the invention is a gateway in a network system that forms a part of a TCP/IP network, wherein the network includes a source computer having a link to the TCP/IP network and a link to a high speed satellite interface, and a destination computer having a link to the TCP/IP network and a link to the high speed satellite interface, the gateway comprising: means for receiving an information packet sent from the source computer and for sending the information packet to the destination computer over the satellite interface; and means for sending an ACK message to the source computer in response to receipt of the information packet, wherein the ACK message appears to the source computer to have come from the destination computer. Objects and advantages of the invention will be set forth in part in the description which follows and in part will be obvious from the description or may be learned by practice of the invention. The objects and advantages of the invention will be realized and attained by means of the elements and combinations particularly pointed out in the appended claims. | 20040908 | 20100810 | 20050310 | 72298.0 | 1 | BRUCKART, BENJAMIN R | NETWORK LAYER TUNNEL APPARATUS HAVING TRANSPORT LAYER/NETWORK LAYER STACK AND NETWORK LAYER TUNNEL AND METHOD USING NETWORK LAYER TUNNEL | UNDISCOUNTED | 1 | CONT-ACCEPTED | 2,004 |
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10,936,173 | ACCEPTED | Method for operating a multi family/commercial plumbing system | A method for operating a multi-family/commercial plumbing system includes sensing an event and recording for each sensed event at least one parameter selected from the group consisting of date, day of the week, start time, duration of the event, water flow, water temperature, and humidity. The parameters are analyzed to determine a pattern and thereafter water flow, circulation, water temperature, and water use are controlled in accordance with the determined pattern. | 1. Method for operating a multi family/commercial plumbing system, the method comprising: sensing an event, said event comprising at least one of a group consisting of measurement of water temperature in water flow between a storage tank and boiler; measurement of water flow in and out of said boiler; detection of water leaking in hot and cold water lines, measurement of water temperature in hot water flow from a hot water heater; measurement of moisture in walls and floors; detection of activation of dampers; measurement of room temperature in each of a plurality of rooms; detection of operation of a water circulating pump; recording for each sensed events at least one parameter selected from a group consisting of date, day of the week, start time, duration of the event, water flow, with temperature and humidity; analyzing the searched parameters to determine patters; and controlling water flow, circulation, water temperature, and water use in accordance with the determined pattern. 2. The method according to claim 1 further comprises reiterating the steps of sensing, recording, analyzing, and activating. 3. The method according to claim 1 further comprising analyzing the determined patterns for potential problems and reporting therein. 4. The method according to claim 3 wherein the potential problem is excessive running of the pump. 5. The method according to claim 3 wherein the potential problem is a non-seasonal change in a relationship between hot and cold water use. 6. The method according to claim 2 further comprising analyzing the determined patterns for potential problems and reporting therein. 7. The method according to claim 6 wherein the potential problem is excessive running of the pump. 8. The method according to claim 7 wherein the potential problem is a non-seasonal change in a relationship between hot and cold water use. | The present invention is generally directed to plumbing systems and more particularly to operation of plumbing systems to attain high thermal and economic efficiency. Water and energy conservation is of utmost importance. This is true for both home and commercial plumbing systems. In the home, a considerable amount of thermal energy may be wastefully dissipated from hot water lines which provide hot water to plumbing fixtures, such as domestic wash basins, showers, dishwashers, washing machines, etc. Commercial establishments also experience wasteful water and energy losses due to continuously running recirculation systems or for timing or delivering hot water to numerous fixtures, such as in hotels and the like. In both home and commercial establishments, if water is allowed down the drain while waiting for hot water to be delivered to the fixture from a remote hot water source, a substantial water loss may occur. In some homes and many commercial establishments, such water loss is reduced by providing plumbing systems which continuously circulate hot water from a hot water source to the fixture and back to the hot water source. In this arrangement, a supply of hot water is always adjacent to a plumbing fixture despite the remote position of the hot water source. While this arrangement reduces water loss, it is not energy efficient because the array of pipes interconnecting the plumbing fixtures and the hot water source provide an enormous surface area for thermal radiation. In addition, the electrical expense of running a circulation pump may be prohibitive in view of the latest energy costs. Thermal losses in both circulating and non-circulating plumbing systems have been reduced by insulation of the hot water lines a well as the hot water heaters which feed the plumbing fixtures. While such insulation slows the dissipation of heat, no savings occur over an extended period of time in non-circulating systems because intermittent use of hot water through the lines still allows hot water to cool to ambient temperatures. That is, the insulation merely delays the heat dissipation but does not reduce is. Hot water demand systems have been developed, such as for example, set forth in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,277,119, 5,385,161 and 5,829,475. The system described in these patents significantly reduces water and energy loss through the use of a demand control. That is, whether a recirculation conduit is utilized or a cold water line is utilized for circulation of water, such circulation is initiated only upon demand by a user. Such demand may be a manual switch, temperature sensor or the like. The present invention provides for a demand for hot water recovery, or recirculation system which utilizes a controller to provide a method to activate recirculation of hot water based upon analyses of actual use of hot water. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION A method of operating a plumbing system having a circulating pump in accordance with the present invention generally includes sensing activation of the pump and thereafter recording for each sensed activation at least one parameter selected from a group consisting of date, day of the week, start time, duration of pump activation, hot water flow, and temperature and cold water flow in temperature. Thereafter analyzing the recorded parameters to determine patterns of pump activity and activating the pump in accordance with the term and patterns. Preferably, the method according to the present invention includes reiterating the hereinabove noted steps for providing updated patterns of pump activity, thus enabling pump activation to be continually changed in response to usage of the system. More particularly, the present invention may also include analyzing the determined patterns for potential problems, such potential problems including, but not limited to identifying a leak in the plumbing system, excess running of the pump, and non-seasonal changes in a relationship between hot and cold water use. Also, temperature sensors may be used to detect freezing temperature and circulating water to avoid damage. Thus, the present invention provides a method for managing water usage and reducing water waste and energy waste which is dependent upon actual use of the plumbing system. In addition, the present invention encompasses a hot water recirculation system which includes a hot water source, at least one plumbing fixture having a hot water inlet, a conduit in fluid communication with the hot water source and the plumbing fixture hot water inlet for enabling circulation of hot water from the hot water source to the plumbing fixture and returned to the hot water source, a pump for circulating hot water through the conduit and a controller for sensing activation of the pump, recording for each sensed activation at least parameter selected from the group consisting of date, day of the week, start time, duration of pump activation, hot water flow, and temperature and cold water flow in temperature. Controller is further functional for analyzing the recorded parameters to determine a pattern of pump activation and activating the pump in accordance with the determined pattern. In another embodiment of the present invention, a method for operating a multi-family/commercial plumbing system generally includes sensing events with each event comprising at least one of a group consisting of measurement of water temperature and water flow between a storage tank water, and a boiler, measurement of water flow in and out of the boiler, detection of water leaks in hot and cold water lines, measurement of water temperature in hot water flow from a hot water heater, measurement of moisture in walls and floors, detection of activation of dampers, measurement of room temperature in each of a plurality of rooms, and detection of operation of a water circulation pump. The method further comprises recording for each of the sensed events at least one parameter selected from a group consisting of a date, day of the week, start time, duration of the event, water flow, water temperature and humidity. Thereafter, in accordance with the present invention, the record parameters are analyzed to determine patterns and water flow, circulation, water temperature and efficient water use is effected with conservation of energy. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The advantages and features of the present invention will appear from the following description when considered in conjunction with accompanying drawings in which: FIG. 1 is a flow diagram of a demand hot water recirculation system in accordance with the present invention generally showing hot water source and a conduit in communication with at least one plumbing fixture along with a pump, switches and a controller for activating the pump based upon a statical analysis of control signal timing; FIG. 2 is a flow diagram of an alternative embodiment of the present invention directed to a demand hot water recovery system utilizing a hot water source, a hot water delivery line connected between the hot water source and at least one plumbing fixture, a cold water delivery line between the plumbing fixture, cold water source and hot water source, a pump for circulation of water from the hot water delivery line through the cold water delivery line and into the hot water source, a switch for generating control signals and a controller responsive to a plurality of control signals for activating the pump based upon a statistical analysis of control signal timing; FIG. 3 is a block diagram of the method of operating a plumbing system in accordance with the present invention; and FIG. 4 is a block diagram of the method of operating a multi-family or commercial plumbing system in accordance with the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION With reference to FIG. 1, a hot water recirculation system 10 is shown in accordance with the present invention. The system 10 generally comprises a hot water source, for example a water heater 12, such as for example, a gas, oil, solar or electric tanks or tankless heater, interconnected by means of pipes 14 with plumbing fixtures 18, 19, 20, 22, said pipes providing conduit means for enabling circulation of hot water from said hot water source 12 to each plumbing fixture 18, 19, 20 and return to the hot water source 12. The pipes 14 are thus in fluid communication with the hot water source 12 and the plumbing fixtures 18, 19, 20 in such a way as to establish a hot water loop 24. More particularly, the pipes 14 may be comprised of a hot water supply line 26 which provides means for transferring hot water from the water heater 12 to each of the fixtures 18, 19, 20, 22 and a separate hot water return line 28 which provides means for enabling recovery of hot water in the pipes 14 and into the water heater 12, after usage of any one of the fixtures 18, 19, 20. The hot water source 12 may be connected to a cold water source through inlet pipe 32. The hot water source 12 may be heated in any conventional manner. It should be appreciated that the hot water source 12 may be a conventional gas, electric, solar tank or tankless water heater, heater coils or other apparatus as described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,798,224, entitled “Automatic Hot Water Recovery System” or the apparatus described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,042,524, entitled “Demand Recovery System”. These patents are incorporated herein by specific reference thereto for the purpose of identifying and describing such hot water recovery apparatus. A pump 30 may be installed in the hot water loop 24 or as part of a water heater for providing means for circulating hot water through the loop 24. In addition, a switch 36 provides means for generating a control signal and activating the pump 30. More particularly, the switch 36 may comprise a flow switch which detects water flow through the pipes 14, for example, when a user opens a hot water valve, such as a faucet 38, on one of the plumbing fixtures 18, 19, 20, 22. The control signal is provided to a controller 40 by wire or wireless means. In this manner, the activating of the pump 30 is sensed. Alternatively, a manual switch 42A, a proximity switch 42B, a motion detector 42C, a temperature sensor 42D, an appliance switch 42E or a sound or voice activated switch may be utilized to generate control signals indicating use of a fixture 18, 19, 20, 22. The appliance switch 42E may be a microchip which is programmed to send a signal when the appliance 22 is activated for use but before actual start of an appliance cycle. The switch 36 may be a flow switch of conventional construction which generates a signal, for example an electrical signal, in response to water flow through the pipe 14. Although the flow switch is shown disposed adjacent the hot water source 12, it may alternatively be disposed beneath any one of the fixture 18, 19, 20, 22. Alternative to, or in addition to, the flow switch 36, the control signal may be generated by means of a manually activated switch 42 interconnected with the controller 40. The controller 40 which may include a processing microchip, is responsive to a plurality of control signals through an electrical line 44, or by wireless communication, for activating the pump 30, by providing electrical power thereto. The microchip is preferably a programmable microprocessor and performs one or more statistical analysis of the activation of any of the switches 36, 42A-42E as a function of time to determine, for example, the average time of day a fixture 18, 19, 20, 22 used. The microprocessor collects data from the switches for a predetermined period of time, days or weeks, for example, and updates the analysis on a timely basis to determine turn on times. The pump 30 is then turned on, or activated, shortly before actual average use time. The interval of anticipation can be adjusted so that hot water is circulated to the future 18, 19, 20, 22 prior to use. As the time of use may change, for example a switch to daylight saving, the controller automatically adjusts pump 30 activation. Thus, no manual setting or resetting is required. If the fixtures are not used, the controller will adjust to a non-activating cycle of pump 30 activation. This is particularly useful in commercial establishments such as hotels certainly and the like, as well as for home use. A valve 48 may be provided for preventing any flow of water through the hot water pipes 14. The zone valve 48 may be disposed, as shown in FIG. 1, directly between the hot water source 12 and the pump 30 or in the pump 30 or in the hot water source. The valve 48 may be of a conventional type, such as, for example a zone valve which provides complete closure of the pipe 14 at a valve junction 50. The zone valve may be built into the pump 30 or water tank 48 and is preferably comprised of a suitable material and structure that will provide an insulating barrier between water on either side of the valve 48 when the valve 48 is in the closed to flow position, thus minimizing loss of heat from the hot water source 12 into water in the adjacent return line 28. When the zone valve 48 is in the closed position, the hot water source 12 is physically isolated from standing water in the return line 28. The zone valve 48 may, if desired, as noted above, be incorporated into the pump 30 or hot water source 12. The zone valve 48 is normally closed to a flow of water therethrough. During periods of nonuse of a plumbing fixture 18, the zone valve 48 is in a closed position, thus providing a positive barrier between the hot water source 12 and water in the return line 28. This prevents any circulation which may be caused by temperature differences. The controller 40 is interconnected with the switch 36 42A-42E and the zone valve 48 and provides means for causing the zone valve 48 to open and allow water flow therethrough in response to the control signal. Preferably both the pump 30 and the zone valve 48 may be electrically activated in response to the control signals as hereinabove described. It should be appreciated that once the pump 30 has drawn a sufficient amount of hot water from the water heater 12 to reach all of the fixtures 18, 19, 20, 22, particularly the fixture most remote from the water heater 12, operation of the pump 30 may be stopped. The controller 40 may be also electronically programmed to control a sequence of operation of the pump 30 and zone valve 48. For example, when the temperature sensor 62 has detected a temperature increase of between about 1° C. and about 15° C. the entire loop 24 may be filled with hot water, and a control signal may be sent to the controller and cause the pump 30 to stop. At this point, the zone valve means 48 will close shortly or immediately thereafter and the system 10 will resume a standby position. The controller function may be overridden, if desired, by appropriate manual switches (not shown). With reference to FIG. 2, there is shown, as an alternative embodiment of the present invention, a hot water recovery system 110 which generally includes a hot water source 110 such as a gas or electric hot water heater, connected to a plumbing fixture such as a sink 114 by a hot water deliver line 116. It is to be appreciated that the hot water source 112 may be a heater 112 as shown or an apparatus as described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,798,224, entitled “Automatic Hot Water Recovery System,” or that shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,042,524, entitled “Demand Recovery System”. Also provided in the conventional manner is a cold water delivery line 118 interconnecting the sink 14 with a cold water source 120 which is also interconnected with the hot water source 112 via a feed line 122. Optional plumbing fixtures such as sinks 128, 130 and washing machine 132 may be provided along with many other common plumbing fixture utilized in residences and businesses, all such fixtures being connected in a parallel configuration with the hot water delivery line 116 and cold water delivery line 118 by feed lines 140 and 142, respectively. At a selected plumbing fixture, such as the sink 114 which is most remote from the hot water source 112, a pump 146 is interconnected between the hot water delivery line 116 and the cold water delivery line 118 via the feed lines 140, 142 respectively. The pump provides means for circulating water from the hot water delivery line 116 through the cold water delivery line 118 and back into the hot water source 112 via line 122, by utilizing the cold water delivery line as a return feeder to the hot water source 112. No separate circulation line need be implemented in new systems. In order for the pump 146 to effect flow in a reverse manner through the cold water delivery line 118 and into the hot water tank 112, the pump 146 must, of course, develop sufficient heat to overcome static water pressure in the line. The hot water delivery system 110 of the present invention can be used in conjunction with an existing system, which may include the hot water source 112, hot and cold water delivery lines 116, 118, and a plumbing fixture 114. In this instance, the pump 146 and controller 150, to be described hereinafter in greater detail, may be installed approximately fixture 114 without disturbing the reminder of the existing plumbing system. The advantages of this embodiment is significant in that no unwanted disruption of the home or business is needed in order to implement the hot water recovery system in accordance with the present invention. The control system, or controller, 150 is the same in function as hereinabove described controller 140 and provides a means for switching electrical current outlet 152 to the pump 146 in order to cause the pump 146 to circulate water from the hot water line 16 to the cold water line 118. A temperature sensor 154 may be disposed in a line 156 interconnecting the pump 146 with the hot water delivery line 116 through the feeder 140, providing means for causing the control means to stop the pump 146 to prevent heated water from being circulated through the cold water delivery line 118 as will be hereinafter described. The temperature sensor 154 may be of conventional or of special design inserted into the line 156 for water flow thereover, or it may be a thermostat type of detector strapped to the outside of the line 156 or incorporated into the hot water source 12 or pump 30. The sensor 154 may be of a type for detecting a selected water temperature and in response thereto causing the control system to stop the pump 146. However, it has been found that the sensitivity of such sensors may not be sufficient to prevent unwanted hot water from entering the cold water delivery line 118. Thus, a preferred embodiment of the present invention is a temperature sensor 154 which is configured for detecting a temperature increase, or gradient, such a one or two degrees and in response thereto, causing the control system 152 stop 146. Thus, no matter what the actual temperature of the water in the line 156 is, an increase of one or two degrees will cause the pump 146 to stop. The temperature sensor 154 may also be operative for detecting freezing temperature thus enabling the control system 152 to circulate water and avoid freeze damage. Preferably, the pump 146 is activated by the controller 150 in a manner hereinabove described for controller 40 by statistically analyzing a plurality of control signals generated by switch 160. As hereinabove noted, the switch 160 may be manual, motion detection, proximity detection, temperature detection a flow detector 164, or by microphone sensitive to voice or other sounds, as herein described. Although the flow detector 164 is shown adjacent to the hot water source 112, it may be alternatively disposed in the line 140 beneath the fixture 114 for reducing the electrical interconnection required and for enabling all of the apparatus of the present invention to be disposed beneath the fixture 114. It should be appreciated that if the pump 146 is not a positive displacement type which does not allow water to flow in a reverse manner through it, then a one-way valve 170 should be provided to prevent such flow and preferably a solenoid 172, controlled by the control system 150, should be inserted upstream of the pump 146 to prevent water flow through the pump 146 when the control system 150 turns off pump 146. It should also be appreciated that the temperature sensor 152 should be disposed in the hot water line or attached to it as hereinbefore described to prevent a rescission between the hot water delivery line 116 and the cold water delivery line 118. However, the pump can be located anywhere throughout the system 110 between the hot water delivery line 116 and cold water delivery line 118. In another embodiment of the present invention, a microphone 180 may be attached to the hot water delivery line 116 which provides a sound sensing means for detecting water flow in the hot water delivery line 116 and generating a control signal corresponding thereto which is fed into the control system 150 in order to turn on the pump 146 as hereinabove described. In addition, a sound-producing element 182 may be installed in the hot water delivery line 116, preferably proximate to hot water source 112, for generating a characteristic sound in response to water flow in the hot water delivery line 116. Such an element may include any rotatable device such as a propeller, not shown, which produces a sound when rotated by water flowing therepast. However, any suitable sound-generating element 182 may be utilized in the present invention. Since the sound naturally travels through the delivery line 116 with water therein no separate wiring is necessary, and the microphone 80 is preferably configured in any conventional manner for being sensitive to the sound generated by the element 182. As hereinabove noted, a separate microphone, or sound sensitive device, 80 may be utilized for voice or sound activation for production of a control signal for inputting to the controller. While the present invention has been described as a whole home or commercial plumbing installation, it should be appreciated that, the present invention may be used in zones of a larger plumbing system as hereinafter described. That is, rooms may be zoned if the plumbing is in a “Trunk and Branch” line system. In other words, if the plumbing (not shown) is set up where the pipes (hot water) were not in a loop but plumbed in direction associated with certain sections of the home and at the end of the hot water line a valve is placed that could pick up a signal when hot water was demanded or anticipated by the user. This way hot water would only flow to that zone or part of the home. The zones could be on dedicated loops or use the cold water return line as we do in hot to cold. As illustrated in FIG. 3, a method in accordance with the present invention includes sensing activation of said pump 30, recording for each sensed activation at least one parameter selected from a group consisting of date, day of the week, start time, duration of pump activation, hot water flow and temperature and cold water flow and temperature; analyzing the recorded parameter to determine positions of pump activation; and activating the pump in accordance with the determined patterns. Preferably, the method further includes reiterating the steps of sensing, recording, analyzing, and activating. In addition, the method may include analyzing the determined patterns for potential problems and reporting therein. Such problems may include leaks, excessive running of the pump 30, and non-seasonal changes in a selection between hot water and cold water use among others. As illustrated in FIG. 4, a method for operating a multi-family or commercial plumbing system in accordance with the present invention includes sensing an event and recording for each sensed event at least parameter selected from a group consisting of date, day of the week, start time, duration of the event, water flow, water temperature and humidity. Thereafter, the recorded parameters are analyzed to determine patterns and water flow circulation, water temperature, water use are controlled in accordance with the determined patterns. The events sensed in accordance with the present invention may include, but are not limited, measurement of water temperature and water flow between a storage tank and a boiler, measurement of water flow in and out of the boiler, detection of water leaks and hot and cold water lines, measurement of water temperature and hot water flow from hot water heater, measurement of moisture in walls and floors, detection of activation of dampers, measurement of room temperature in each of plurality of rooms, detection of operation of water circulation pump. All of this structure, or portions thereof, are commonly found in multi-family homes, apartments, condo complexes, hotels and other commercial properties. Specific illustration of each of these known structures is not included here for the sake of clarity. As in the hereinabove described methods of the present invention, the plumbing security method in accordance with the present invention further includes reiterating the steps of sensing, recording, analyzing, and controlling on a continuous or repetitive basis. Although there has been hereinabove described a specific method for operating a multi family/commercial plumbing system in accordance with the present invention for the purpose of illustrating the manner in which the invention may be used to advantage, it should be appreciated that the invention is not limited thereto. That is, the present invention may suitably comprise, consist of, or consist essentially of the recited elements. Further, the invention illustratively disclosed herein suitably may be practiced in the absence of any element which is not specifically disclosed herein. Accordingly, any and all modifications, variations or equivalent arrangements which may occur to those skilled in the art, should be considered to be within the scope of the present invention as defined in the appended claims. | <SOH> SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION <EOH>A method of operating a plumbing system having a circulating pump in accordance with the present invention generally includes sensing activation of the pump and thereafter recording for each sensed activation at least one parameter selected from a group consisting of date, day of the week, start time, duration of pump activation, hot water flow, and temperature and cold water flow in temperature. Thereafter analyzing the recorded parameters to determine patterns of pump activity and activating the pump in accordance with the term and patterns. Preferably, the method according to the present invention includes reiterating the hereinabove noted steps for providing updated patterns of pump activity, thus enabling pump activation to be continually changed in response to usage of the system. More particularly, the present invention may also include analyzing the determined patterns for potential problems, such potential problems including, but not limited to identifying a leak in the plumbing system, excess running of the pump, and non-seasonal changes in a relationship between hot and cold water use. Also, temperature sensors may be used to detect freezing temperature and circulating water to avoid damage. Thus, the present invention provides a method for managing water usage and reducing water waste and energy waste which is dependent upon actual use of the plumbing system. In addition, the present invention encompasses a hot water recirculation system which includes a hot water source, at least one plumbing fixture having a hot water inlet, a conduit in fluid communication with the hot water source and the plumbing fixture hot water inlet for enabling circulation of hot water from the hot water source to the plumbing fixture and returned to the hot water source, a pump for circulating hot water through the conduit and a controller for sensing activation of the pump, recording for each sensed activation at least parameter selected from the group consisting of date, day of the week, start time, duration of pump activation, hot water flow, and temperature and cold water flow in temperature. Controller is further functional for analyzing the recorded parameters to determine a pattern of pump activation and activating the pump in accordance with the determined pattern. In another embodiment of the present invention, a method for operating a multi-family/commercial plumbing system generally includes sensing events with each event comprising at least one of a group consisting of measurement of water temperature and water flow between a storage tank water, and a boiler, measurement of water flow in and out of the boiler, detection of water leaks in hot and cold water lines, measurement of water temperature in hot water flow from a hot water heater, measurement of moisture in walls and floors, detection of activation of dampers, measurement of room temperature in each of a plurality of rooms, and detection of operation of a water circulation pump. The method further comprises recording for each of the sensed events at least one parameter selected from a group consisting of a date, day of the week, start time, duration of the event, water flow, water temperature and humidity. Thereafter, in accordance with the present invention, the record parameters are analyzed to determine patterns and water flow, circulation, water temperature and efficient water use is effected with conservation of energy. | 20040908 | 20051108 | 20050203 | 99855.0 | 1 | CHAMBERS, A MICHAEL | METHOD FOR OPERATING A MULTI FAMILY/COMMERCIAL PLUMBING SYSTEM | SMALL | 1 | CONT-ACCEPTED | 2,004 |
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10,936,174 | ACCEPTED | Bubble machine | A bubble machine having a housing, a bubble generator positioned adjacent the front opening of the housing, a fan positioned inside the housing, and a motor positioned inside the housing and operatively coupled to the fan and the bubble generator. Actuation of the motor causes the fan and the bubble generator to be simultaneously actuated. | 1. An apparatus comprising: a housing having a hollow interior and a front opening; a bubble generator positioned adjacent the front opening; a fan positioned inside the hollow interior; a motor positioned inside the hollow interior and operatively coupled to the fan and the bubble generator; and wherein actuation of the motor causes the fan and the bubble generator to be simultaneously actuated. 2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the bubble generator is positioned inside the hollow interior. 3. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the bubble generator comprises a plurality of double-rings. 4. The apparatus of claim 1, further including a reservoir positioned adjacent the front opening for retaining bubble solution. 5. The apparatus of claim 4, wherein the bubble generator is partially positioned in the reservoir. 6. The apparatus of claim 3, wherein the bubble generator rotates when it is actuated. 7. The apparatus of claim 5, wherein the bubble generator rotates when it is actuated. 8. The apparatus of claim 1, further including: a power source; and a switch operatively coupled to the power source and the motor for actuating the motor. 9. The apparatus of claim 4, further including a bubble generator housing positioned adjacent the front opening, wherein: the bubble generator housing defines the reservoir, the bubble generator is retained inside the bubble generator housing, and an air opening is defined in the bubble generator housing. 10. The apparatus of claim 1, further including a gear system that couples the motor to the bubble generator. 11. The apparatus of claim 8, further including a switch assembly coupled to the switch, with the switch assembly allowing for the motor to be turned on and off by merely pressing the switch. 12. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the switch is positioned at the top of the housing. 13. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the bubble generator comprises a plurality of rings, with each ring having a thickness and having a cylindrical configuration. 14. The bubble generator of claim 1, wherein the bubble generator has a plurality of separate and spaced-apart sections, with at least one section has at least two bubble rings provided thereat, and wherein the bubble rings at the one section have different sizes. 15. The bubble generator of claim 1, wherein the bubble generator has a plurality of separate and spaced-apart sections, with at least one section has at least two bubble rings provided thereat, and wherein the bubble rings at the one section have different shapes. 16. The bubble generator of claim 1, wherein the bubble generator has a plurality of bubble rings, each having a diameter that is greater than one inch. 17. A bubble generator comprising a plurality of separate and spaced-apart sections, wherein at least one section has at least two bubble rings provided thereat. 18. The bubble generator of claim 17, wherein each bubble ring has a thickness and having a cylindrical configuration. 19. The bubble generator of claim 17, wherein each bubble ring has a body with ridges provided thereon. 20. The bubble generator of claim 17, wherein the bubble rings at the one sections are positioned one on top of the other when the section is aligned vertically. 21. The bubble generator of claim 17, wherein the bubble rings at the one section have different sizes. 22. The bubble generator of claim 17, wherein the bubble rings at the one section have different shapes. | BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to bubble toys, and in particular, to a bubble generating machine which automatically generates numerous bubbles at the same time. 2. Description of the Prior Art Bubble producing toys are very popular among children who enjoy producing bubbles of different shapes and sizes. Many bubble producing toys have previously been provided. Perhaps the simplest example has a stick with a circular opening or ring at one end, resembling a wand. A bubble solution film is produced when the ring is dipped into a dish that holds bubble solution or bubble producing fluid (such as soap) and then removed therefrom. Bubbles are then formed by blowing carefully against the film. Such a toy requires dipping every time a bubble is to created, and the bubble solution must accompany the wand from one location to another. Recently, the market has provided a number of different bubble generating assemblies that are capable of producing a plurality of bubbles. Examples of such assemblies are illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 6,149,486 (Thai), U.S. Pat. No. 6,331,130 (Thai) and U.S. Pat. No. 6,200,184 (Rich et al.). The bubble rings in the bubble generating assemblies in U.S. Pat. No. 6,149,486 (Thai), U.S. Pat. No. 6,331,130 (Thai) and U.S. Pat. No. 6,200,184 (Rich et al.) need to be dipped into a dish that holds bubble solution to produce films of bubble solution across the rings. The motors in these assemblies are then actuated to generate air against the films to produce bubbles. All of these aforementioned bubble generating assemblies require that one or more bubble rings be dipped into a dish of bubble solution. In particular, the child must initially pour bubble solution into the dish, then replenish the solution in the dish as the solution is being used up. After play has been completed, the child must then pour the remaining solution from the dish back into the original bubble solution container. Unfortunately, this continuous pouring and re-pouring of bubble solution from the bottle to the dish, and from the dish back to the bottle, often results in unintended spillage, which can be messy, dirty, and a waste of bubble solution. Thus, there remains a need to provide an apparatus for automatically generating multiple bubbles without the need for a user to repeatedly dip the bubble ring into a dish of bubble solution. SUMMARY OF THE DISCLOSURE It is an object of the present invention to provide an apparatus for generating multiple bubbles in a convenient and clean manner. It is another object of the present invention to provide an apparatus for generating multiple bubbles at the same time. The objectives of the present invention are accomplished by providing a bubble machine having a housing, a bubble generator positioned adjacent the front opening of the housing, a fan positioned inside the housing, and a motor positioned inside the housing and operatively coupled to the fan and the bubble generator. Actuation of the motor causes the fan and the bubble generator to be simultaneously actuated. The present invention also provides a bubble generator having a plurality of separate and spaced-apart sections, with at least one section having at least two bubble rings provided thereat. The bubble rings can positioned one on top of the other when the section is aligned vertically. In addition, the bubble rings at a section can have different sizes and shapes. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a bubble machine according to one embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of the machine of FIG. 1. FIG. 3 is a rear perspective view of the front housing frame of the machine of FIG. 1. FIG. 4 is an exploded perspective view of the bubble generator housing of the machine of FIG. 1. FIG. 5 ilustrates a bubble generator according to one embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 6 ilustrates a bubble generator according to another embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 7 is a perspective sectional view of the engine of the bubble machine of FIG. 1. FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view of the engine of FIG. 7. FIG. 9 is an exploded perspective view of the engine of FIG. 7. FIG. 10 illustrates the switch and switch assembly of the machine of FIG. 1. FIGS. 11A-11D illustrate the operation of the switch assembly of the machine of FIG. 1. FIG. 12 is a side plan view of the hook member of the switch assembly of the machine of FIG. 1. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The following detailed description is of the best presently contemplated modes of carrying out the invention. This description is not to be taken in a limiting sense, but is made merely for the purpose of illustrating general principles of embodiments of the invention. The scope of the invention is best defined by the appended claims. In certain instances, detailed descriptions of well-known devices and mechanisms are omitted so as to not obscure the description of the present invention with unnecessary detail. FIGS. 1-11D illustrate one embodiment of a bubble machine 20 according to the present invention. The machine 20 has a housing that is made up of a front housing frame 22 and a rear housing frame 24 that are connected together by, for example, screws or welding or glue. These frames 22, 24 together define a hollow interior for housing the internal components of the machine 20, as described below. A pivotable handle 26 is secured to one of the frames 22, 24. The front housing frame 22 has a front opening 28 through which generated bubbles BB can be released. Referring to FIGS. 2-4, a receiving wall 30 is provided on the inner side of the front housing frame and defines a receiving space 32 that receives a bubble generator housing 34. The bubble generator housing 34 is comprised of an upper shell 36 and a lower shell 38 that are coupled together to receive the bubble generator 40, as described in greater detail below. The upper shell 36 has an air opening 42 which allows air generated by the fan 44 to pass. The lower shell 38 has a cut-away section 46 for receiving a drive shaft 48 that is adapted to be connected to a hub 70 of the bubble generator 40 (see FIGS. 6 and 9). The lower shell 38 has a front wall 50 and a rear wall 52 connected together by side walls 54 so as to define a reservoir 56 that holds bubble solution. Two extensions 58 extend from the rear wall 52, with each extension 58 having a groove 60 that is adapted to receive a connecting screw 62 therethrough. An on/off switch 64 is provided at the top of the front housing frame 22. A switch assembly 66 is provided adjacent the switch 64 inside the front housing frame 22, and is operatively coupled to the switch 64 in the manner described in connection with FIGS. 10 and 11A-11D below. The bubble generator 40 is illustrated in FIG. 5, and has a central hub 70 that is connected to a segmented outer loop 72 by a plurality of spokes 74. A plurality of separate sections are provided, with each section has one or more bubble rings that are attached in spaced-apart manner to the outer loop 72 and the spokes 74. Two types of bubble rings can be provided in this embodiment, individual bubble rings 76 in a given section, and sets of double bubble rings 78 in other sections. The double rings 78 can have different shapes and sizes. Each of the bubble rings 76, 78 has a generally annular body that defines an opening (which can be greater than one inch in diameter) that allows air to pass unimpeded therethrough. The annular body can have a certain thickness so that it becomes somewhat cylindrical. The outer loop 72 is segmented because the outer loop 72 does not extend through the opening of any of the bubble rings 76, 78. The body of each bubble ring 76, 78 is serrated such that ridges or bumps 82 are provided on the body. The ridges 82 function to hold the bubble solution against the body to form a solution film that is blown to form the bubble. The body can have any desired shape, such as circular (as shown), oval, square, rectangular, etc. The individual bubble rings 76 and sets of double bubble rings 78 can be provided in any manner along the outer ring 72 and the spokes 74, although FIG. 5 illustrates them being provided in alternating fashion. FIG. 6 illustrates another bubble generator 40a according to the present invention. The bubble generator 40a is similar to the bubble generator 40, and also has a central hub 70a that is connected to a non-segmented outer loop 72a by a plurality of spokes 74a. A plurality of separate sections are provided, with each section has a plurality of bubble rings 76a, 78a that are attached in spaced-apart manner to the outer loop 72a and the spokes 74a. Each bubble ring 76a, 78a of each section is attached on opposite sides of the outer loop 72a, in a manner opposing each other, via branches 84. Thus, the bubble rings 76a, 78a at a given section are positioned one on top of the other when the section is aligned vertically. Some of the bubble rings 78a can be attached directly to a spoke 74a. Each of the bubble rings 76a, 78a can have the same construction as the bubble rings 76, 78 described above. The rear housing frame 24 has a grilled opening 90 that allows air to be received into the housing. A power source 92 (which can include a plurality of conventional batteries) is secured to the rear housing frame 24. Referring to FIG. 2, an engine 100 is retained inside the hollow interior of the machine housing between the housing frames 22, 24, and can be secured to one of the housing frames 22, 24. In this embodiment, the engine is illustrated as being secured to the front housing frame 22 by screws 62 that extend through corresponding grooves 60 in the extensions 58 to be threadably secured to screw holes 102 in the engine housing 104. Referring now to FIGS. 2 and 7-9, the engine 100 includes a motor 106, a fan 44, and a gear system 110 that are all housed inside the engine housing 104. The fan 44 and the gear system 110 are both operatively coupled to the motor 106 so that the motor 106 can simultaneously drive both the fan 44 and the gear system 110. The fan 44 is coupled to one end of the motor 106 and is positioned adjacent an opening 108 of the engine housing 104, which is in turn positioned adjacent the grilled opening 90, so that the fan 44 can circulate the air received through the grilled opening 90 inside the machine housing. The gear system 110 is coupled to another end of the motor 106 and the drive shaft 48, so as to rotate the drive shaft 48 and the bubble generator 40 that is connected at the end of the drive shaft 48. The motor 106 is electrically coupled to the power source 92 via a first wire 114, a second wire 116 couples an electrical contact 117 of the switch assembly 66 and the motor 106, and a third wire 118 couples the power source 92 to an electrical contact 120 of the switch assembly 66, which is adapted to releasably contact the other electrical contact 117 to form a closed electrical circuit. The fan 44 has a plurality of blades 122 that are spaced apart around a hub 124. The gear system 110 has a plurality of gears 126, 128, 130, 132 that are operatively coupled to a worm gear 134 that is carried on a shaft 136 of the motor 106, and a worm gear 138 that is provided at an inner end of the drive shaft 48. The switch assembly 66 has a housing 150 with the electrical contact 117 fixedly secured to one side of the housing 150, and with the electrical contact 120 movably attached to another side of the housing 150. The housing 150 retains therein a hook member 152 (see also FIG. 12), a biasing member 154, a sliding plate 156, an electrical connector 158 that is secured to the contact 120, and another electrical connector 160 that is secured to the contact 117. The hook member 152 is a generally L-shaped member having an upper hooked end 162 and a lower end 164 that is pivotably secured to the housing 150. The biasing member 154 can be a spring, and is positioned in the housing 150 and secured with the sliding plate 156 so that the biasing member 154 normally biases the sliding plate 156 upwardly. The electrical connector 158 is connected to the contact 120 and the sliding plate 156, so that the electrical connector 158 (and its contact 120 on the outside of the housing 150) is slid downwardly when the sliding plate 156 is pushed downwardly. Similarly, the electrical connector 158 (and its contact 120 on the outside of the housing 150) is biased upwardly when the sliding plate 156 is biased upwardly by the biasing member 154. The electrical connector 160 is fixedly connected to the contact 117, and has a tail 166 that is positioned to be releasably engaged with the electrical connector 158. FIGS. 11A and 11D show the connectors 158, 160 disengaged, so that the electrical circuit is opened, and FIGS. 11B and 11C show the connectors 158, 160 engaged to form a closed electrical circuit. The sliding plate 156 has a guide member 168. The guide member 168 has two angled outside surfaces 170, 172 that are connected to form an outer V-shaped configuration. The guide member 168 also has two angled inner surfaces 174, 176 that are connected to form an inner V-shaped configuration, with the angled inner surface 176 having a corner edge 178. A further angled surface 180 connects the corner edge 178 and the top of the angled surface 172. The guide member 168 is adapted to releasably engage the hook member 152 so as to open and close the electrical circuit. This is best illustrated in FIGS. 11A-11D as follows. When the switch assembly 66 is in the normal “off” position as shown in FIG. 11A, the biasing member 154 normally biases the sliding plate 156 upwardly, so that the connector 158 is disengaged from the connector 160. In this position, the hooked end 162 of the hook member 152 is positioned adjacent the bottom of the surface 170. When the user presses once on the switch 64 (see FIG. 11B), the electrical circuit will be closed to turn on the machine 20. Specifically, pressing the switch 64 will also push the sliding plate 156 downwardly, which concurrently pushes the connector 158 downwardly until it engages the tail 166 of the other connector 160 to close the electrical circuit. As the sliding plate 156 is pushed downwardly, the hooked end 162 slides upwardly along the angled surface 170 as the hook member 152 is pivoted sideways. Eventually, the hooked end 162 will reach the top of the surface 170 and slide downwardly along the angled surface 174 until the hooked end 162 is seated at the bottom of the angled surfaces 174 and 176, as shown in FIG. 11C. In this position, the hooked end 162 engages the guide member 168 to maintain the sliding plate 156 (and the connector 158) in a downward position against the bias of the biasing member 154, so that the connectors 158, 160 are constantly engaged, thereby keeping the electrical circuit closed. In addition, the corner edge 178 prevents the hooked end 162 from sliding past the top of the angled surface 176. When the user presses the switch 64 again, the electrical circuit will be opened to turn off the machine 20. See FIG. 11D. Specifically, pressing the switch 64 in the position of FIG. 11C will cause the hooked end 162 to travel upwardly along the angled surface 176, over the corner edge 178, and downwardly along the angled surface 180. This causes the hooked end 162 to disengage the guide member 168, which allows the biasing member 154 to normally bias the sliding plate 156 (and the connector 158) upwardly to disengage the contact between the connectors 158, 160, thereby opening the electrical circuit. The operation of the bubble machine 20 will now be described. First, the user can introduce bubble solution into the reservoir 56 via the front opening 28. Some of the bubble rings 76 and 78 of the bubble generator 40 are always positioned inside the reservoir 56 (see FIGS. 1, 3 and 4), and are therefore dipped inside the bubble solution. When a bubble ring 76, 78 is dipped in the bubble solution, a thin film of bubble solution will be formed that extends across the opening of each bubble ring 76, 78. The ridges 82 are effective in maintaining the film of bubble solution against the bubble ring 76, 78. When the user wishes to turn on the bubble machine 20, the user merely presses the switch 64 a first time. This closes the electrical circuit in the manner described above in connection with FIGS. 10 and 11A-11D, thereby powering the motor 106. The motor 106 will simultaneously (i) cause the fan 44 to rotate (thereby generating a stream of air that will be blown through the air opening 42), and (ii) will drive the gear system 110 to rotate the bubble generator 40. As the bubble generator 40 rotates, the bubble rings 76, 78 will pass in front of the air opening 42 so that the air generated by the fan 44 will be directed through the opening of each bubble ring 76, 78 and the film of bubble solution extending there-across. The air that is directed at the films of bubble solution will create a plurality of bubbles BB as shown in FIG. 1. In this position, the bubble machine 20 will continue to generate a plurality of continuous streams of bubbles BB. In this regard, the provision of the sets of double bubble rings 78 and 76a+78a allows the machine 20 to produce two or more streams of continuous bubbles BB. When the user wishes to turn off the bubble machine 20, the user merely presses the switch 64 a second time. This opens the electrical circuit in the manner described above in connection with FIGS. 10 and 11A-11D, thereby cutting power to the motor 106. The fan 44 stops generating air, and the bubble generator 40 stops rotating, so that no further bubbles BB will be generated. Thus, the present invention provides a bubble machine 20 where the air generator (i.e., fan 44) and the bubble generator 40 can be simultaneously actuated. The present invention also provides a bubble machine 20 that has a single button 64 that can function to turn the machine 20 on and off. While the description above refers to particular embodiments of the present invention, it will be understood that many modifications may be made without departing from the spirit thereof. The accompanying claims are intended to cover such modifications as would fall within the true scope and spirit of the present invention. | <SOH> BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION <EOH>1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to bubble toys, and in particular, to a bubble generating machine which automatically generates numerous bubbles at the same time. 2. Description of the Prior Art Bubble producing toys are very popular among children who enjoy producing bubbles of different shapes and sizes. Many bubble producing toys have previously been provided. Perhaps the simplest example has a stick with a circular opening or ring at one end, resembling a wand. A bubble solution film is produced when the ring is dipped into a dish that holds bubble solution or bubble producing fluid (such as soap) and then removed therefrom. Bubbles are then formed by blowing carefully against the film. Such a toy requires dipping every time a bubble is to created, and the bubble solution must accompany the wand from one location to another. Recently, the market has provided a number of different bubble generating assemblies that are capable of producing a plurality of bubbles. Examples of such assemblies are illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 6,149,486 (Thai), U.S. Pat. No. 6,331,130 (Thai) and U.S. Pat. No. 6,200,184 (Rich et al.). The bubble rings in the bubble generating assemblies in U.S. Pat. No. 6,149,486 (Thai), U.S. Pat. No. 6,331,130 (Thai) and U.S. Pat. No. 6,200,184 (Rich et al.) need to be dipped into a dish that holds bubble solution to produce films of bubble solution across the rings. The motors in these assemblies are then actuated to generate air against the films to produce bubbles. All of these aforementioned bubble generating assemblies require that one or more bubble rings be dipped into a dish of bubble solution. In particular, the child must initially pour bubble solution into the dish, then replenish the solution in the dish as the solution is being used up. After play has been completed, the child must then pour the remaining solution from the dish back into the original bubble solution container. Unfortunately, this continuous pouring and re-pouring of bubble solution from the bottle to the dish, and from the dish back to the bottle, often results in unintended spillage, which can be messy, dirty, and a waste of bubble solution. Thus, there remains a need to provide an apparatus for automatically generating multiple bubbles without the need for a user to repeatedly dip the bubble ring into a dish of bubble solution. | <SOH> SUMMARY OF THE DISCLOSURE <EOH>It is an object of the present invention to provide an apparatus for generating multiple bubbles in a convenient and clean manner. It is another object of the present invention to provide an apparatus for generating multiple bubbles at the same time. The objectives of the present invention are accomplished by providing a bubble machine having a housing, a bubble generator positioned adjacent the front opening of the housing, a fan positioned inside the housing, and a motor positioned inside the housing and operatively coupled to the fan and the bubble generator. Actuation of the motor causes the fan and the bubble generator to be simultaneously actuated. The present invention also provides a bubble generator having a plurality of separate and spaced-apart sections, with at least one section having at least two bubble rings provided thereat. The bubble rings can positioned one on top of the other when the section is aligned vertically. In addition, the bubble rings at a section can have different sizes and shapes. | 20040908 | 20061205 | 20060309 | 74020.0 | A63H3328 | 0 | NGUYEN, KIEN T | BUBBLE MACHINE | SMALL | 0 | ACCEPTED | A63H | 2,004 |
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10,936,184 | ACCEPTED | Power supplies and methods of installing power supplies | The present invention relates to power supplies and methods of installing power supplies. More particularly, one embodiment of the present invention relates to a power supply adapted for installation within a computer case for receiving AC current from an AC current source and providing DC current from the power supply to a component disposed inside of the computer case via a removable cable attached to the power supply, comprising: a housing having an interior volume defined by a top panel, a bottom panel and a plurality of side panels; AC to DC circuitry disposed within the interior volume of the housing; and a DC output socket, wherein the DC output socket is fixed to one of the top panel, bottom panel and side panels defining the interior volume in which the AC to DC circuitry is disposed; wherein the AC to DC circuitry receives AC current from the AC current source; wherein the AC to DC circuitry converts the received AC current into DC current and supplies the DC current to the DC output socket; and wherein the DC output socket is fixed to one of the panels of the housing in a position such that when the power supply is installed within the computer case the DC output socket is disposed inside of the computer case for mating with the removable cable. | 1. A power supply adapted for installation within a computer case for receiving AC current from an AC current source and providing DC current from the power supply to at least two components disposed inside of the computer case via a at least two removable cables attached to the power supply, comprising: a housing having an interior volume defined by a top panel, a bottom panel and a plurality of side panels; AC to DC circuitry disposed within the interior volume of the housing; and a at least two DC output sockets, wherein each DC output socket is fixed to one of the top panel, bottom panel and side panels defining the interior volume in which the AC to DC circuitry is disposed; wherein the AC to DC circuitry receives AC current from the AC current source; wherein the AC to DC circuitry converts the received AC current into DC current and supplies the DC current to each DC output socket; and wherein each DC output socket is fixed to one of the panels of the housing in a position such that when the power supply is installed within the computer case the each DC output socket is disposed inside of the computer case to allow a respective removable cable to be removably connected between a single respective DC output socket and a single respective one of the components disposed inside of the computer case. 2. The power supply of claim 1, wherein each DC output socket is fixed to one of the panels of the housing in a position such that when the power supply is installed within the computer case each DC output socket is disposed inside of the computer case to allow a respective removable cable to be: (a) removably connected between the single respective DC output socket and the single respective one of the components disposed inside of the computer case; and (b) to reside entirely within the computer case. 3. (canceled) 4. The power supply of claim 1, wherein the power supply is adapted for installation within a personal computer. 5. The power supply of claim 1, wherein each removable cable is removably connected to a respective DC output socket via a plug. 6. The power supply of claim 5, wherein the plug is formed by plastic injection molding. 7. The power supply of claim 6, wherein the plug is formed of a first plug half and a second plug half which interface in a cooperative manner to form the plug. 8. The power supply of claim 1, wherein each component disposed within the computer case is selected from the group including: (a) a motherboard; (b) a magnetic disc drive; (c) an optical disc drive; (d) an input/output card; (e) a memory card; (f) a sound card; (g) a gaming card; (h) a video card; (i) a network card; (j) network hub; and (k) a cooling device. 9. The power supply of claim 1, wherein the housing is formed from a plurality of housing elements which interface in a cooperative manner to define the top panel, the bottom panel and the plurality of side panels. 10. The power supply of claim 9, wherein the housing is formed from two housing elements which interface in a cooperative manner to define the top panel, the bottom panel and the plurality of side panels. 11. The power supply of claim 1, wherein at least one of the top panel, the bottom panel and one of the plurality of side panels includes an insert element which is reactive to UV light. 12. The power supply of claim 11, wherein the insert element gives off visible light when UV light is applied thereto. 13. The power supply of claim 12, wherein the insert element gives off visible light of a color selected from the group including: (a) green; (b) blue; (c) red; (d) orange; (e) yellow; and (f) white. 14. The power supply of claim 1, wherein the power supply includes at least one fan assembly including a fan housing and a fan blade and at least one of the fan housing and the fan blade is reactive to UV light. 15. The power supply of claim 14, wherein at least one of the fan housing and the fan blade gives off visible light when UV light is applied thereto. 16. The power supply of claim 15, wherein at least one of the fan housing and the fan blade gives off visible light of a color selected from the group including: (a) green; (b) blue; (c) red; (d) orange; (e) yellow; and (f) white. 17. The power supply of claim 1, wherein at least a portion of at least one of the removable cables is reactive to UV light. 18. The power supply of claim 17, wherein at least a portion of at least one of the removable cables gives off visible light when UV light is applied thereto. 19. The power supply of claim 18, wherein at least a portion of at least one of the removable cables gives off visible light of a color selected from the group including: (a) green; (b) blue; (c) red; (d) orange; (e) yellow; and (f) white. 20. A power supply, comprising: a housing having an interior volume defined by a top panel, a bottom panel and a plurality of side panels; AC to DC circuitry disposed within the interior volume of the housing; at least two DC output sockets, wherein each DC output socket is fixed to one of the top panel, bottom panel and side panels defining the interior volume in which the AC to DC circuitry is disposed; and at least two removable cables, each having a first end with a first plug affixed thereto and a second end with a second plug affixed thereto; wherein the housing is adapted for installation within a computer case; wherein the AC to DC circuitry receives AC current from an AC current source, converts the received AC current into DC current and supplies the DC current to each DC output socket; and wherein each DC output socket is fixed to one of the panels of the housing in a position such that when the power supply is installed within the computer case each DC output socket is disposed inside of the computer case to allow a respective removable cable to be: (a) removably connected, via the first and second plugs, between a single respective DC output socket and a single respective one of a plurality of components disposed inside of the computer case; and (b) to reside entirely within the computer case. 21. (canceled) 22. The power supply of claim 20, wherein at least one of the first and second plugs is formed by plastic injection molding. 23. The power supply of claim 22, wherein at least one of the first and second plugs is formed of a first plug half and a second plug half which interface in a cooperative manner to form the plug. 24. The power supply of claim 20, wherein the housing is adapted for installation within a personal computer. 25. The power supply of claim 20, wherein the each component disposed within the computer case is selected from the group including: (a) a motherboard; (b) a magnetic disc drive; (c) an optical disc drive; (d) an input/output card; (e) a memory card; (f) a sound card; (g) a gaming card; (h) a video card; (i) a network card; (j) network hub; and (k) a cooling device. 26. The power supply of claim 20, wherein the housing is formed from a plurality of housing elements which interface in a cooperative manner to define the top panel, the bottom panel and the plurality of side panels. 27. The power supply of claim 26, wherein the housing is formed from two housing elements which interface in a cooperative manner to define the top panel, the bottom panel and the plurality of side panels. 28. The power supply of claim 20, wherein at least one of the top panel, the bottom panel and one of the plurality of side panels includes an insert element which is reactive to UV light. 29. The power supply of claim 28, wherein the insert element gives off visible light when UV light is applied thereto. 30. The power supply of claim 29, wherein the insert element gives off visible light of a color selected from the group including: (a) green; (b) blue; (c) red; (d) orange; (e) yellow; and (f) white. 31. The power supply of claim 20, wherein the power supply includes at least one fan assembly including a fan housing and a fan blade and at least one of the fan housing and the fan blade is reactive to UV light. 32. The power supply of claim 31, wherein at least one of the fan housing and the fan blade gives off visible light when UV light is applied thereto. 33. The power supply of claim 32, wherein at least one of the fan housing and the fan blade gives off visible light of a color selected from the group including: (a) green; (b) blue; (c) red; (d) orange; (e) yellow; and (f) white. 34. The power supply of claim 20, wherein at least a portion of at least one of the removable eable cables is reactive to UV light. 35. The power supply of claim 34, wherein at least a portion of at least one of the removable eable cables gives off visible light when UV light is applied thereto. 36. The power supply of claim 35, wherein at least a portion of at least one of the removable cables gives off visible light of a color selected from the group including: (a) green; (b) blue; (c) red; (d) orange; (e) yellow; and (f) white. 37. A method of installing a power supply in a computer, comprising: (a) providing a power supply including: (i) a housing having an interior volume defined by a top panel, a bottom panel and a plurality of side panels; (ii) AC to DC circuitry disposed within the interior volume of the housing, wherein the AC to DC circuitry receives AC current from an AC current source and converts the received AC current into DC current; (iii) at least two DC output sockets, wherein each DC output socket is fixed to one of the top panel, bottom panel and side panels defining the interior volume in which the AC to DC circuitry is disposed; (iv) a mechanism for supplying the DC current from the AC to DC circuitry to each DC output socket; and (v) a at least two removable cables each having a first end with a first plug affixed thereto and a second end with a second plug affixed thereto; (b) installing the housing within a computer case such that each DC output socket is disposed inside of the computer case; and (c) connecting each removable cable, via the respective first and second plugs, between a single respective DC output socket and a single respective one of a plurality of components disposed inside of the computer case, wherein the each removable cable resides entirely within the computer case. 38. (canceled) 39. The method of claim 37, wherein at least one of the first and second plugs is formed by plastic injection molding. 40. The method of claim 39, wherein at least one of the first and second plugs is formed of a first plug half and a second plug half which interface in a cooperative manner to form the plug. 41. The method of claim 37, wherein the housing is adapted for installation within a personal computer. 42. The method of claim 37, wherein the each component disposed within the computer case is selected from the group including: (a) a motherboard; (b) a magnetic disc drive; (c) an optical disc drive; (d) an input/output card; (e) a memory card; (f) a sound card; (g) a gaming card; (h) a video card; (i) a network card; ( ) network hub; and (k) a cooling device. 43. The method of claim 37, wherein the housing is formed from a plurality of housing elements which interface in a cooperative manner to define the top panel, the bottom panel and the plurality of side panels. 44. The method of claim 43, wherein the housing is formed from two housing elements which interface in a cooperative manner to define the top panel, the bottom panel and the plurality of side panels. 45. The method of claim 37, wherein at least one of the top panel, the bottom panel and one of the plurality of side panels includes an insert element which is reactive to UV light. 46. The method of claim 45, wherein the insert element gives off visible light when UV light is applied thereto. 47. The method of claim 46, wherein the insert element gives off visible light of a color selected from the group including: (a) green; (b) blue; (c) red; (d) orange; (e) yellow; and (f) white. 48. The method of claim 37, wherein the power supply includes at least one fan assembly including a fan housing and a fan blade and at least one of the fan housing and the fan blade is reactive to UV light. 49. The method of claim 48, wherein at least one of the fan housing and the fan blade gives off visible light when UV light is applied thereto. 50. The method of claim 49, wherein at least one of the fan housing and the fan blade gives off visible light of a color selected from the group including: (a) green; (b) blue; (c) red; (d) orange; (e) yellow; and (f) white. 51. The method of claim 37, wherein at least a portion of at least one of the removable cables is reactive to UV light. 52. The method of claim 51, wherein at least a portion of at least one of the removable cables gives off visible light when UV light is applied thereto. 53. The method of claim 52, wherein at least a portion of at least one of the removable cables gives off visible light of a color selected from the group including: (a) green; (b) blue; (c) red; (d) orange; (e) yellow; and (f) white. 54. The power supply of claim 1, further comprising at least one exterior facing power output socket fixed to one of the panels of the housing in a position such that when the power supply is installed within the computer case the exterior facing power output socket is disposed outside of the computer case to allow an exterior cable to be: (a) removably connected to the exterior facing power output socket; and (b) to reside entirely outside the computer case. 55. The power supply of claim 54, wherein the exterior facing power output socket is selected from the group including a DC output socket and an AC output socket. 56. The power supply of claim 54, wherein the exterior facing power output socket is a switched output socket. 57. The power supply of claim 20, further comprising at least one exterior facing power output socket fixed to one of the panels of the housing in a position such that when the power supply is installed within the computer case the exterior facing power output socket is disposed outside of the computer case to allow an exterior cable to be: (a) removably connected to the exterior facing power output socket; and (b) to reside entirely outside the computer case. 58. The power supply of claim 57, wherein the exterior facing power output socket is selected from the group including a DC output socket and an AC output socket. 59. The power supply of claim 57, wherein the exterior facing power output socket is a switched output socket. 60. The method of claim 37, wherein the power supply further comprises at least one exterior facing power output socket fixed to one of the panels of the housing in a position such that when the power supply is installed within the computer case the exterior facing power output socket is disposed outside of the computer case to allow an exterior cable to be: (a) removably connected to the exterior facing power output socket; and (b) to reside entirely outside the computer case. 61. The method of claim 60, wherein the exterior facing power output socket is selected from the group including a DC output socket and an AC output socket. 62. The method of claim 60, wherein the exterior facing power output socket is a switched output socket. | CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS This application is a continuation-in-part application of U.S. Ser. No. 29/195,186, filed Dec. 5, 2003. FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to power supplies and methods of installing power supplies. More particularly, one embodiment of the present invention relates to a power supply adapted for installation within a computer case for receiving AC current from an AC current source and providing DC current from the power supply to a component disposed inside of the computer case via a removable cable attached to the power supply, comprising: a housing having an interior volume defined by a top panel, a bottom panel and a plurality of side panels; AC to DC circuitry disposed within the interior volume of the housing; and a DC output socket, wherein the DC output socket is fixed to one of the top panel, bottom panel and side panels defining the interior volume in which the AC to DC circuitry is disposed; wherein the AC to DC circuitry receives AC current from the AC current source; wherein the AC to DC circuitry converts the received AC current into DC current and supplies the DC current to the DC output socket; and wherein the DC output socket is fixed to one of the panels of the housing in a position such that when the power supply is installed within the computer case the DC output socket is disposed inside of the computer case for mating with the removable cable. For the purposes of describing and claiming the present invention, the term “socket” is intended to refer to a device which cooperates with a “plug” (defined below) to provide a connectable/breakable electrical connection. Such a socket may have, for example, a male or female electrical terminal configuration and a male or female physical body configuration. Further, such a socket is intended to refer to a device attached to a relatively fixed structure, such as a housing. Further, for the purposes of describing and claiming the present invention, the term “plug” is intended to refer to a device which cooperates with a “socket” (defined above) to provide a connectable/breakable electrical connection. Such a plug may have, for example, a male or female electrical terminal configuration and a male or female physical body configuration. Further, such a plug is intended to refer to a device attached to a relatively movable structure, such as an electrical cable. Further still, for the purposes of describing and claiming the present invention, the term “component” is intended to refer to any interior element or part of a computer (e.g., personal computer) requiring a supply of power. Thus, as used herein, the term “component” is intended to include, but not be limited to: one or more motherboards, floppy disc drives, hard disc drives, CD-ROMs, CD-RWs, DVDs, sound cards, video cards, gaming cards, network cards, cooling devices, and/or network hubs. Further still, for each term which is identified herein as “intended to include” certain definitions, when such term is used in the claims the term is to be construed more specifically as “intended to include at least one of the definitions”. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Various mechanisms for supplying power (e.g., to a computer system or other electrical device) have been proposed. Examples include the mechanisms described in the following patent documents. U.S. Pat. No. 4,886,979 relates to a power source device for monitors and host computers. The device includes a first power source arrangement having a plug at one end and a capacitor parallel-connected at the other end which is electrically coupled with an internal circuit of a monitor for supplying a DC power to the monitor; and a second power source arrangement with a connecting component having input terminals electrically coupled with an internal switching power supply circuit of a host computer for obtaining a DC power therefrom, and output terminals connected to a socket fixed in a housing unit wall of the host computer; thereby, with the first and second power source arrangements connected together, DC power source will be directly supplied to the monitor from the host computer so as to eliminate any low-frequency and high-frequency interferences on the screen of the monitor. U.S. Pat. No. 5,321,580 relates to an expansion device which includes a device body which has first and second side surfaces and a bottom surface continuous with the first and second side surfaces. A power cord of the device leads out from the first side surface, and a plug is provided at an extended end of the power cord. The plug is adapted to be connected to a power socket of the electronic apparatus. The device body includes a guide groove formed in the bottom surface, in which part of the power cord is removably fitted. The guide groove includes a first portion having one end open to the first side surface and the other end in the bottom surface, a second portion extending from the other end of the first portion to the first side surface, and a third portion extending from the other end of the first portion to the second side surface. U.S. Pat. No. 5,761,029 relates to an audio power amplifier module which fits in a disk bay of a computer and bolts to the frame of the computer. The module is powered from the power supply in the computer and uses the frame of the computer as a heat sink. The module includes connectors for attachment to an internal sound board and to external speakers. A volume control is provided on the power module, in addition to the volume control typically included in a sound board. U.S. Pat. No. 5,822,181 relates to a computer system having a unitary housing structure for containing a display unit, a power supply, and a docking bay receptacle to accommodate an insertion of a main computer body; and an electrical power/signal connection assembly installed to provide electrical power/signal connections between the power supply, the display unit and the main computer body. The electrical power/signal connection assembly includes a connector plug mounted on one side of the unitary housing structure and a corresponding connector socket mounted on the main computer body so that, when the main computer body is inserted into the docking bay receptacle of the unitary housing structure, the corresponding connector socket as mounted on said main computer body is visibly coupled to the connector plug mounted on one side of the unitary housing structure in order to prevent any misalignment that would cause damage to the connector plug. U.S. Pat. No. 5,880,932 relates to a modular power supply to be used in a personal computer or other similar device. The preferred embodiment of the present invention includes a base assembly, a power supply housing, a power supply, and a fan assembly. The base assembly provides a foundation for the modular power supply and includes a terminal board attached thereto and a system common quick-disconnect embedded therein which serves as a central junction for the distribution of power to the various electrical components. The power supply housing provides a protective structure for the power supply contained therein. The fan assembly provides cooling for the power supply and is mounted on the outside of the power supply housing. The power supply is electrically connected to the system common quick disconnect which in turn feeds the terminal board attached to the base assembly, the fan assembly, and any other components located within the base assembly. The terminal board provides access to power for peripheral components such as logic cards, I/O boards, and the like. The use of multiple quick-disconnect electrical connectors allows components such as the power supply and fans to be replaced without detaching the components which are normally “hard wired” to the power supply. U.S. Pat. No. 6,535,377 relates to a power distribution unit (PDU) for supplying power to at least one electrical device (APP1-APP12). The PDU comprises at least one distribution point (P) for the power supply, and at least one female outlet (J1-J12) on its accessible side. The outlet is adapted to receive a male connector of a cable of an electrical device (APP1-APP12). The point (P) is electrically connected by a respective electrical cable to at least one manually resettable circuit breaker (BRK1-BKR6). The at least one circuit breaker comprises a respective push button (POU1-POU6) for resetting the circuit breaker. The circuit breaker (BRK1-BRK6) is connected by a respective electrical cable to the at least one female outlet (J1-J12). The circuit breaker (BRK1-BRK6) is located inside the unit and at least one reset mechanism capable of resetting the at least one circuit breaker is provided. Several circuit breakers may be supported in line and the reset mechanism is capable of resetting all of the circuit breakers simultaneously. The push button may be responsive to the condition of the circuit breaker with an end extending beyond the wall for the distribution power unit so as to provide a visual indication that an electrical failure has occurred in one of the electrical devices. U.S. Pat. No. 6,677,687 relates to a system for distributing power in a compact peripheral component interconnect (CPCI) computer architecture. A CPCI computer architecture comprises a plurality of CPCI systems each having respective backplanes. The backplanes further have respective local power rails providing power for a corresponding one of the plurality of CPCI systems. The power distribution system provides power to the backplanes, and comprises a common power rail connected to each one of the local power rails of the backplanes. A plurality of power supplies is connected to the common power rail of the power distribution system. Power taken from any one of the plurality of power supplies is available to any one of the backplanes. U.S. Pat. No. 6,744,628 relates to a multi-directional power distribution unit (PDU) which provides flexibility in the configuration of a computer system, disk drive array or other enclosure. The power distribution unit may be installed in one orientation for a power feed having a first configuration (e.g., from the front of the enclosure), and may be installed in a second orientation for a power feed in a second configuration (e.g., from the rear of the enclosure). In either orientation, a set of external power connectors couples to one or more external power feeds. Depending on the orientation, either a first or second internal connector will interface with the system or enclosure (e.g., a midplane, a power supply). The PDU may include circuitry for filtering electrical power and may also include a heat sink. U.S. Patent Publication No. U.S. 2003222503 relates to automatic voltage selection in a DC power distribution apparatus. Provision is made in the housing of a host to provide a socket, or sockets, to which a peripheral piece of equipment can be connected for receiving directly from the host the low voltage DC power it requires. The socket(s) are connected electrically to the outputs of a power supply (or regulator) of a host for providing the low voltage needed to power the peripheral. The power supply may be mounted on the rear face of a computer. The principal feature of the invention resides in the use of a connector for connecting the host DC power to the peripheral DC power usage device. The connector comprises pins connected to a selected resistor in the power supply. The resistor value (i.e., resistance) is selected to produce a pre-determined control voltage which is fed back to a DC to DC converter in the host's internal power supply. The converter comprises a pulse width modulation control device. The control voltage determines the duty cycle (i.e., pulse width) of the modulation to reduce the output from a maximum voltage to an appropriate voltage suitable for the particular peripheral power usage device. Thus, by simply selecting the appropriate connector (or cable) having the proper pins correlated to a selected resistor previously installed in the power supply, the voltage level for the corresponding peripheral device is automatically selected. In an alternative embodiment, the DC power distribution apparatus of the invention comprises a stand-alone unit having one or more universal ports for receiving a cable with a connector containing the appropriate pins for a selected DC power usage device. UK Patent Application GB 2,322,972 relates to a universal computer power supply unit. A DC power output access panel (1) is included in a computer power supply unit or a computer power supply system to provide DC power to the external devices connected to the host computer system, such as printers, external fax modems, multimedia speakers, scanners, video conference cameras and many other external media drives. An AC power output socket may also be provided (FIGS. 2,4). The panel (1) may include DC sockets of different sizes (eg A2,A4), LED indicators (A1) and fuses (A3). The panel may be embodied as a separate unit (10, FIG. 5) connected to the rest of the supply unit (9) by a cable (11). UK Patent Application GB 2,256,319 relates to a computer system having a power supply unit 2 comprising a cabinet 4 carrying a fan 24 on a removable front panel 18, and a slidably removable circuit board 28 carrying the power supply circuitry 30, whereby the circuit board can be readily replaced/repaired. The computer system includes a disk drive module received in aperture (51) (e.g. FIG. 57) in the front panel of a cabinet (48). The module can be in either of three alternative orientations relative to the cabinet so that the cabinet can be used in different orientations with the disk drive module remaining the same way up. The computer system can receive plug-in cards in sockets (64, 68) (FIGS. 8, 9) on alternative mounting housings (82) located adjacent the back of the cabinet (48). BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a front view of a computer power supply according to an embodiment of the present invention (wherein the power supply is shown with a wired motherboard cable and with integral sockets for receiving removable plugs of power cables); FIG. 2 is a front view of a computer power supply according to an embodiment of the present invention (wherein the power supply is shown with a motherboard socket for receiving a removable motherboard cable and with integral power sockets for receiving removable plugs of power cables); FIG. 3 is a table illustrating conventional form factors commonly employed for terminating personal computer power cables; FIG. 4 is a rear view of the power supply of FIG. 2 (showing a rear ventilation fan, a power input, a voltage selector and a main power switch); FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a computer power supply according to another embodiment of the present invention (showing the clamshell nature of the housing of this embodiment); FIGS. 6A-6E are front perspective, rear perspective, left side perspective, right side perspective, and top views of the bottom portion of the power supply shown in FIG. 5 (showing the internal components thereof and the manner in which the power supply is constructed); FIG. 7 is a perspective view showing the ease of plugging power supply cables into the respective sockets of the power supply of FIGS. 5 and 6A-6E; FIG. 8 is a rear perspective view of a computer power supply according to another embodiment of the present invention (in which a portion of various panels of the enclosure are formed of a translucent or clear material which is ultraviolet reactive so as to glow when subjected to ultraviolet radiation). FIGS. 9A and 9B show views of a cable/plug assembly for use with a power supply according to an embodiment of the present invention; FIGS. 10A-10H show views of covers for plastic injection molded type plugs according to embodiments of the present invention; FIG. 11 shows another embodiment of a power supply according to the present invention; and FIG. 12 shows another embodiment of a power supply according to the present invention. Among those benefits and improvements that have been disclosed, other objects and advantages of this invention will become apparent from the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying figures. The figures constitute a part of this specification and include illustrative embodiments of the present invention and illustrate various objects and features thereof. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Detailed embodiments of the present invention are disclosed herein; however, it is to be understood that the disclosed embodiments are merely illustrative of the invention that may be embodied in various forms. In addition, each of the examples given in connection with the various embodiments of the invention are intended to be illustrative, and not restrictive. Further, the figures are not necessarily to scale, some features may be exaggerated to show details of particular components. Therefore, specific structural and functional details disclosed herein are not to be interpreted as limiting, but merely as a representative basis for teaching one skilled in the art to variously employ the present invention. Referring now to a brief description of a number of embodiments of the present invention, it is noted that one of these embodiments relates to a computer power supply including at least one electrical socket which is electrically coupled to a DC source by way of an electrically conductive path which includes no wires disposed exteriorly of the housing of the power supply. This socket may be accessible from the exterior of the power supply housing to permit the physical and electrical connection of the socket to a plug of a removable cable for providing DC power to any desired component of a computer. The socket and plug may be of any desired form factor and may include any number and configuration of electrical terminals as required for making connections to a given component disposed within the computer. Further, another embodiment of the present invention relates to a computer power supply having output sockets configured to reduce or eliminate the presence of unsightly and/or wasteful unused power supply cables within the enclosure of the computer. Further still, another embodiment of the present invention relates to a method of installing a power supply in a computer using only the number of necessary power supply cables for a given computer configuration (e.g., for a computer configuration utilizing a given number and type of components). That is, only the number of cables needed at a given time may need be installed. Further still, another embodiment of the present invention relates to a method of installing a power supply in a computer using power supply cables of a specific length appropriate for a given computer configuration (e.g., for a computer configuration utilizing a given number and type of components). That is, such removable cables may be selected to be of a sufficient length to reach a given component without excess (which excess may be unsightly and/or wasteful (e.g., in terms of wasted material and/or in terms of a needless amount of electrical resistance being added to the power distribution path)). Referring now to FIG. 1, a front view showing a modular cable configuration of a power supply according to one embodiment of the present invention is shown. Specifically, the power supply 110 comprises a housing including front panel 112 through which is formed a grommeted hole 114. The grommeted hole 114 receives a motherboard cable 116 having a motherboard plug 118 on an end thereof. The front panel 112 further includes a plurality of holes for receiving sockets 120, 122 and 124 for supplying 12 volt power, auxiliary power and peripheral power, respectively. In one example (which example is intended to be illustrative and not restrictive), the sockets 120, 122 and 124 may be mounted on a printed circuit board (such printed circuit board may be in turn affixed to the inside of the front panel (e.g., via mounting screws 125)). The invention may further comprise a plurality of cables configured with plugs 132, 134 and 136 at both ends to form a 12 volt power cable 126, an auxiliary power cable 128 and peripheral power cables 130, respectively. The plugs 132, 134 and 136 may be configured to plug at one end of a respective cable into respective sockets 120, 122 and 124. In addition, the plugs 132, 134 and 136 may be configured to plug at the other end of a respective cable into corresponding sockets formed in certain components contained within the device (e.g., personal computer) in which the power supply 110 is used. In one example (which example is intended to be illustrative and not restrictive), sockets 120, 122 and 124 as well as plugs 132, 134 and 136 may be of a conventional form factor and may be male or female as required. In another example (which example is intended to be illustrative and not restrictive), motherboard cable 116 and motherboard socket 118 may be of a conventional form factor (the socket 118 may be male or female as required). In another example (which example is intended to be illustrative and not restrictive), sockets 120, 122 and 124 may be positioned through individual holes, appropriately configured, formed in the front panel 112 of the power supply 110 (see FIG. 1). In another example (which example is intended to be illustrative and not restrictive), sockets 132, 134 and 136 may be integrally formed with each other as an integral connector 138 (see FIG. 2). In another example (which example is intended to be illustrative and not restrictive), an individual socket and/or an integral connector may be attached to the power supply 110 with a flange. In a more specific example (which example is intended to be illustrative and not restrictive), the socket or integral connector may be positioned through a correspondingly configured hole in the front panel 112 such that the flange rests on the outside surface of the front panel 112 with the socket or integral connector being held into position (e.g., by spring-loaded tabs). Of note, while the motherboard cable 116 is hard-wired to the power supply 110 in the embodiment shown in FIG. 1, the motherboard cable would be configured as a modular cable (not shown) with plugs formed on both ends in the embodiment shown in FIG. 2. More particularly, the embodiment shown in FIG. 2 includes a motherboard socket 140 positioned through a corresponding hole formed in the front panel 112 of the power supply 110. This motherboard socket 140 would, of course, be configured to receive one plug of the modular motherboard cable (while the other plug of the modular motherboard cable would be received by a socket fixed to the motherboard). Referring now to FIG. 3, it is noted that this Fig. illustrates a number of conventional connector form factors typically employed in power supplies (e.g., power supplies for personal computers). Specifically, power supplies typically include a motherboard (or main power) cable with a plug of the type of plug 118, an auxiliary power cable (or aux power) with a plug of the type of plug 134, a 12 volt power cable with a plug of the type of plug 132 and peripheral power cable with a plug of the type of plug 136. In addition, while floppy drives have been widely used in the past, their prevalence has dwindled over the years. Nevertheless, the power supply 110 of the invention may include a floppy power cable having a plug of the type of plug 142 formed on the ends thereof such that one end plugs into a corresponding floppy power socket positioned through a hole in the front panel 112 of the power supply 110 and the other end plugs into the floppy drive. Of course, it should be appreciated that while the plugs shown in FIG. 5 may be in common use today, other plugs may be employed in the future and may, without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention, be utilized. Referring now to FIG. 4, a rear panel of power supply 110 according to an embodiment of the present invention is shown. As seen in this Fig., mounted to the rear panel 144 of the power supply 110 may be a conventional input socket 146 (e.g., a 115V or 230V input socket), a conventional voltage selection switch 148 (e.g., 115V versus 230V) and a conventional on/off switch 150. The input socket 146 may be, for example, of the conventional type used within the personal computer industry which allows connection of a power cord thereto to supply current from a receptacle or other outlet to the power supply 110. Further, the supply of power may be controlled by the on/off switch 150. Further still, the voltage switch 148 may be, for example, of the conventional type in the industry to allow selection of 115V versus 230V operation of the power supply 110. FIG. 4 also illustrates a circulation fan 152 mounted to the rear panel 144 (e.g., with appropriate grill work that allows the flow of air through the power supply 110 to exit the same via vent holes 154 formed in the front panel 112 of the power supply 110 (see FIG. 2). In one example (which example is intended to be illustrative and not restrictive), another circulation fan 156 may be provided in the top panel 158 of the power supply 110. Referring now to FIG. 5, one example (which example is intended to be illustrative and not restrictive), of the construction of the power supply housing is shown. More particularly, it is seen in this example that the power supply 110 may comprise two complementary U-shaped portions 110U and 110L that fit together in a clamshell manner (to be secured together by appropriate fasteners) to thereby essentially fully enclose the power supply circuitry therein. This FIG. 5 also shows that in one example (which example is intended to be illustrative and not restrictive), a removable cap may be snapped into each unused socket to prevent contamination thereof. Of note, the power supply 110 may facilitate the compact and efficient positioning of the power supply circuitry within the interior of the power supply 110. In this regard, it must first be pointed out that the present invention is not limited to any particular power supply circuit type, topography, or rating. For example, existing power supply circuit designs may be employed to provide output power in different voltages (e.g., 3.3V, 5V, 12V) and/or in different amounts (e.g., 300 or 400 watts). In addition, it is contemplated that future designs of power supply circuits will be developed and may be incorporated into the power supply of the present invention without departing from the spirit and scope thereof. In any case, it is known today that typical power supply circuits will generally comprise some basic components. FIGS. 6A, 6B, 6C, 6D and 6E illustrate a layout for the basic components of a typical power supply that may employed. As shown, a power supply circuit may be conventionally mounted on a printed circuit board permanently affixed to the bottom panel of the lower portion 110L of the power supply 110 by appropriate stand-offs or insulators common in the industry. Line voltage from the input socket 146 is connected through the on/off switch 150 to the input power line of the printed circuit board. Connected to the printed circuit board are the input filter capacitors 164 and transformer 166 (heat sinks 168 may be thermally connected to the power transistors). Output circuitry 170 is also mounted to the printed circuit board. The motherboard socket 140 is wired to the printed circuit board. Likewise, the 12 volt power socket, the auxiliary power socket and the peripheral power socket (collectively identified as integrated connector 138) are wired to the printed circuit board. Further, the voltage selection switch 148 is wired to the printed circuit board. Further still, circulation fans 152 and 156 are either wired to the printed circuit board or otherwise configured to receive power. In one example (which example is intended to be illustrative and not restrictive), the heat sinks 168 may comprise a generally elongated design aligned relative to the airflow created between the circulation fan 152 and vent holes 154 to facilitate the flow of air across the heat sinks 168 upon operation of the circulation fan 152. As mentioned above, the 12 volt power, auxiliary power and peripheral power sockets may be formed together as an integral unit. In one example (which example is intended to be illustrative and not restrictive), the integral unit may be produced by injection molding or other manufacturing technique to define the integral connector 138. In another example, terminals of the 12 volt power, auxiliary power and peripheral power sockets may be connected by means of buses 172, 174 and 176 (see FIG. 6B) to supply ground and plus and minus voltages to the respective terminals of the sockets. That the sockets may be integrally formed together as the integral connector 138 may help achieve a substantial degree of modularity, and aesthetic benefits. Similarly, motherboard socket 140 may be molded as an integral unit which may be mounted through its corresponding hole in the front panel 112. Further, motherboard socket 140 may be connected to the printed circuit board by means of connector 178 (see FIGS. 6B and 6C). Referring now to FIG. 7, it is again seen that the power supply 110 may facilitate the use of a separate modular motherboard cable 116 (connected to power supply 110 via plug 118 and socket 140) as well as separate modular 12 volt power, auxiliary power and peripheral cables, which can be individually plugged at one end into their respective sockets of the power supply 110 and at their other ends to the respective components inside the device receiving the power, such as a personal computer (this FIG. 7 shows use of only peripheral power cable 130 in addition to modular motherboard cable 116—of course, any other desired combination of cables may be utilized). Accordingly, only those cables that are needed for a particular configuration need be utilized (in one example (which example is intended to be illustrative and not restrictive), only those cables that are needed for a particular configuration of a personal computer with certain installed components need be utilized). Of course, as additional components are added, additional cables may simply be plugged into the power supply 110 and into the component for use. Likewise, as any components are removed, the respective cables may simply be unplugged from the power supply 110. Further benefits (e.g., aesthetic benefits) may be attained by providing one or more elements that are reactive to ultraviolet (UV) light. For example (which example is intended to be illustrative and not restrictive), one or more panels (e.g., the top panel 158 and/or the side panels 180) may include a transparent or translucent panel insert 182 that is reactive to UV light (see e.g., FIG. 8). In another example (which example is intended to be illustrative and not restrictive), all or part of fan 152 and/or 156 (e.g., the fan housing and/or the fan blades) may be reactive to UV light (see e.g., FIG. 5). In another example (which example is intended to be illustrative and not restrictive), all or part of one or more of the cables removably connected to the power supply may be reactive to UV light. Of note, any element described herein as being reactive to UV light may be made so by appropriate manufacturing and/or treatment (e.g., an element may have a UV light reactive coating applied thereto and/or an element may be formed (entirely or in part) of a material which is UV light reactive). Further, any element described herein as being reactive to UV light may give off visible light when UV light is applied thereto. In one example (which example is intended to be illustrative and not restrictive), the visible light given off may be of a color selected from the group including, but not limited to: (a) green; (b) blue; (c) red; (d) orange; (e) yellow; and (f) white. In another example (which example is intended to be illustrative and not restrictive), any element described herein as being reactive to UV light may give off visible light of a color which differs from a color of the element when it is not subjected to UV light (e.g., an element which appears clear, transparent, translucent or white in the presence of visible light may appear green, blue or red in the presence of UV light). In another example (which example is intended to be illustrative and not restrictive), the UV light may be provided at least in part by a UV light source disposed within the power supply (e.g., by an annular UV light positioned concentrically about a fan hub and/or disposed elsewhere within the power supply). In another example (which example is intended to be illustrative and not restrictive), the UV light may be provided at least in part by a UV light source disposed outside of the power supply. Referring now to FIG. 9A, one example (which example is intended to be illustrative and not restrictive) of a cable/plug assembly for use with a power supply according to an embodiment of the present invention is shown. As seen in this FIG. 9A, the cable assembly 900 includes first plug 902 and second plug 904. As further seen in this FIG. 9A, individual wires 906 may be bundled together within casing 908 and metallic sheath 910 may be utilized to help eliminate or reduce electromagnetic interference. Of note, this FIG. 9A depicts two types of plugs—first plug 902 (which is a unique plastic injection molded type plug) and second plug 904 (which is a conventional type of plug). While this example shows cable assembly 900 utilizing one of each type of plug, other combinations may, of course, be utilized (e.g., the cable assembly may utilize two unique plastic injection molded type plugs or the cable assembly may utilize two conventional type plugs). Referring now to FIG. 9B, a more detailed view of the individual wires 906 in the vicinity of each of first plug 902 and second plug 904 is shown. More particularly, the tight containment of individual wires 906 by casing 908 and metallic sheath 910 in the vicinity of first plug 902 is contrasted with the uncontained individual wires 906 in the vicinity of second plug 904. Referring now to FIGS. 10A-10H, various examples (which examples are intended to be illustrative and not restrictive) of covers for unique plastic injection molded type plugs according to embodiments of the present invention are shown. More particularly, FIGS. 10A and 10B show, respectively, a perspective view and a top view of a 24 PIN plastic injection molded cover. Further, FIGS. 10C and 10D show, respectively, perspective views of two types of 4 PIN plastic injection molded covers. Further still, FIG. 10E shows a perspective view of an SATA plastic injection molded cover. Further still, FIG. 10F shows a perspective view of a 3 PIN (for fan) plastic injection molded cover. Further still, FIGS. 10G and 10H show various views of 4 PIN plastic injection molded covers. Referring now to FIG. 11, another embodiment of a power supply according to the present invention is shown. More particularly, as seen in this FIG. 11, the power supply 1100 may include 24 pin motherboard socket(s) 1101, SATA2 socket(s) 1103, 12V socket(s) 1105, P4/12V socket(s) 1107 and/or PCI Express socket(s) 1109. Referring now to FIG. 12, another embodiment of a power supply according to the present invention is shown (this embodiment is similar to the embodiment shown in FIG. 4, with the following additions). More particularly, as seen in this FIG. 12, the power supply may include output switch 1201, AC output socket 1203 (e.g., for outputting 115V or 230V) and/or DC output socket 1205 (e.g., for outputting 3.3V, 5V, 12V). Of note, such output switch 1201, AC output socket 1203 and/or DC output socket 1205 may be accessible from outside of the device in which the power supply is installed (e.g., personal computer). Of further note, either or both of AC output socket 1203 and/or DC output socket 1205 may be switched, that is, capable of being turned on and off (e.g., the AC output socket 1203 and the DC output socket 1205 may be switched together by output switch 1201 or separately by distinct dedicated switches (not shown)). Of still further note, there may be any desired number of AC output sockets 1203 and/or DC output sockets 1205. Of still further note, the AC output socket 1203 and/or DC output socket 1205 may each be of any desired physical and/or electrical configuration (e.g., AC output voltage of 115V and/or 230V; DC output voltage of 3.3V, 5V and/or 12V). While a number of embodiments of the present invention have been described, it is understood that these embodiments are illustrative only, and not restrictive, and that many modifications may become apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art. For example, while the present invention has been described primarily for use with a computer (e.g., a personal computer), the invention may be used in any device requiring a power supply. Further, each socket may include one or more electrically conductive terminals for interfacing with corresponding electrically conductive terminal(s) of a mating plug (e.g., each socket may have one or more electrically conductive pins for interfacing with corresponding electrically conductive receptacles(s) of a mating plug or each socket may have one or more electrically conductive receptacles for interfacing with corresponding electrically conductive pins(s) of a mating plug). Further still, when multiple sockets are formed into an integral connector, each of the sockets of the integral connector may be of the same type (or form factor) or the integral connector may include sockets of different types (or form factors). Further still, multiple sockets may be provided by forming multiple recesses within an integral connector. Further still, the socket(s) may be mounted to (and/or accessible through) a panel of the housing of the power supply. Further still, each socket may be mounted by being mechanically coupled to a panel of the power supply housing, by being mounted to a printed circuit board located inside the housing and/or by being made integral with one or more other sockets (e.g., as part of an integral connector). Further still, the sockets may include one or more electrical terminals disposed within a recess in the socket (whereby the terminals disposed within the recess are protected from making electrical contact with anything other than a mating plug which may be plugged into the socket). Further still, any desired number of sockets may be utilized. Further still, a power supply according to the present invention may receive one or more input voltage/current levels and may supply one or more output voltage/current levels (dedicated input and/or output circuitry may be utilized). Further still, the present invention may utilize one or more proprietary sockets/plugs (as opposed to sockets/plugs of a conventional form factor/electrical configuration). Further still, the sockets may be installed essentially flush with the outer surface of the panel in which they are placed. Further still, the present invention may provide improved airflow within the case of the device being powered by the power supply (e.g., improved airflow within a computer). This improved airflow may result at least in part from the absence of unnecessary cabling and/or the use of the shortest possible cabling. Further still, while 115V and 230V have primarily been used herein with reference to the AC voltage level, it should be appreciated that these may be considered nominal voltages and other voltages may of course be used with the invention (e.g., 110V, 120V, 220V, 240V). Further still, one or more of the sockets may be covered by one or more removable covers (e.g., to help prevent the shorting-out of the electrical terminals and/or to help prevent dust or debris from collecting in the sockets). Further still, any other part(s) of the power supply may be UV light reactive. Further still, any steps described herein may be carried out in any desired order. | <SOH> BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION <EOH>Various mechanisms for supplying power (e.g., to a computer system or other electrical device) have been proposed. Examples include the mechanisms described in the following patent documents. U.S. Pat. No. 4,886,979 relates to a power source device for monitors and host computers. The device includes a first power source arrangement having a plug at one end and a capacitor parallel-connected at the other end which is electrically coupled with an internal circuit of a monitor for supplying a DC power to the monitor; and a second power source arrangement with a connecting component having input terminals electrically coupled with an internal switching power supply circuit of a host computer for obtaining a DC power therefrom, and output terminals connected to a socket fixed in a housing unit wall of the host computer; thereby, with the first and second power source arrangements connected together, DC power source will be directly supplied to the monitor from the host computer so as to eliminate any low-frequency and high-frequency interferences on the screen of the monitor. U.S. Pat. No. 5,321,580 relates to an expansion device which includes a device body which has first and second side surfaces and a bottom surface continuous with the first and second side surfaces. A power cord of the device leads out from the first side surface, and a plug is provided at an extended end of the power cord. The plug is adapted to be connected to a power socket of the electronic apparatus. The device body includes a guide groove formed in the bottom surface, in which part of the power cord is removably fitted. The guide groove includes a first portion having one end open to the first side surface and the other end in the bottom surface, a second portion extending from the other end of the first portion to the first side surface, and a third portion extending from the other end of the first portion to the second side surface. U.S. Pat. No. 5,761,029 relates to an audio power amplifier module which fits in a disk bay of a computer and bolts to the frame of the computer. The module is powered from the power supply in the computer and uses the frame of the computer as a heat sink. The module includes connectors for attachment to an internal sound board and to external speakers. A volume control is provided on the power module, in addition to the volume control typically included in a sound board. U.S. Pat. No. 5,822,181 relates to a computer system having a unitary housing structure for containing a display unit, a power supply, and a docking bay receptacle to accommodate an insertion of a main computer body; and an electrical power/signal connection assembly installed to provide electrical power/signal connections between the power supply, the display unit and the main computer body. The electrical power/signal connection assembly includes a connector plug mounted on one side of the unitary housing structure and a corresponding connector socket mounted on the main computer body so that, when the main computer body is inserted into the docking bay receptacle of the unitary housing structure, the corresponding connector socket as mounted on said main computer body is visibly coupled to the connector plug mounted on one side of the unitary housing structure in order to prevent any misalignment that would cause damage to the connector plug. U.S. Pat. No. 5,880,932 relates to a modular power supply to be used in a personal computer or other similar device. The preferred embodiment of the present invention includes a base assembly, a power supply housing, a power supply, and a fan assembly. The base assembly provides a foundation for the modular power supply and includes a terminal board attached thereto and a system common quick-disconnect embedded therein which serves as a central junction for the distribution of power to the various electrical components. The power supply housing provides a protective structure for the power supply contained therein. The fan assembly provides cooling for the power supply and is mounted on the outside of the power supply housing. The power supply is electrically connected to the system common quick disconnect which in turn feeds the terminal board attached to the base assembly, the fan assembly, and any other components located within the base assembly. The terminal board provides access to power for peripheral components such as logic cards, I/O boards, and the like. The use of multiple quick-disconnect electrical connectors allows components such as the power supply and fans to be replaced without detaching the components which are normally “hard wired” to the power supply. U.S. Pat. No. 6,535,377 relates to a power distribution unit (PDU) for supplying power to at least one electrical device (APP 1 -APP 12 ). The PDU comprises at least one distribution point (P) for the power supply, and at least one female outlet (J 1 -J 12 ) on its accessible side. The outlet is adapted to receive a male connector of a cable of an electrical device (APP 1 -APP 12 ). The point (P) is electrically connected by a respective electrical cable to at least one manually resettable circuit breaker (BRK 1 -BKR 6 ). The at least one circuit breaker comprises a respective push button (POU 1 -POU 6 ) for resetting the circuit breaker. The circuit breaker (BRK 1 -BRK 6 ) is connected by a respective electrical cable to the at least one female outlet (J 1 -J 12 ). The circuit breaker (BRK 1 -BRK 6 ) is located inside the unit and at least one reset mechanism capable of resetting the at least one circuit breaker is provided. Several circuit breakers may be supported in line and the reset mechanism is capable of resetting all of the circuit breakers simultaneously. The push button may be responsive to the condition of the circuit breaker with an end extending beyond the wall for the distribution power unit so as to provide a visual indication that an electrical failure has occurred in one of the electrical devices. U.S. Pat. No. 6,677,687 relates to a system for distributing power in a compact peripheral component interconnect (CPCI) computer architecture. A CPCI computer architecture comprises a plurality of CPCI systems each having respective backplanes. The backplanes further have respective local power rails providing power for a corresponding one of the plurality of CPCI systems. The power distribution system provides power to the backplanes, and comprises a common power rail connected to each one of the local power rails of the backplanes. A plurality of power supplies is connected to the common power rail of the power distribution system. Power taken from any one of the plurality of power supplies is available to any one of the backplanes. U.S. Pat. No. 6,744,628 relates to a multi-directional power distribution unit (PDU) which provides flexibility in the configuration of a computer system, disk drive array or other enclosure. The power distribution unit may be installed in one orientation for a power feed having a first configuration (e.g., from the front of the enclosure), and may be installed in a second orientation for a power feed in a second configuration (e.g., from the rear of the enclosure). In either orientation, a set of external power connectors couples to one or more external power feeds. Depending on the orientation, either a first or second internal connector will interface with the system or enclosure (e.g., a midplane, a power supply). The PDU may include circuitry for filtering electrical power and may also include a heat sink. U.S. Patent Publication No. U.S. 2003222503 relates to automatic voltage selection in a DC power distribution apparatus. Provision is made in the housing of a host to provide a socket, or sockets, to which a peripheral piece of equipment can be connected for receiving directly from the host the low voltage DC power it requires. The socket(s) are connected electrically to the outputs of a power supply (or regulator) of a host for providing the low voltage needed to power the peripheral. The power supply may be mounted on the rear face of a computer. The principal feature of the invention resides in the use of a connector for connecting the host DC power to the peripheral DC power usage device. The connector comprises pins connected to a selected resistor in the power supply. The resistor value (i.e., resistance) is selected to produce a pre-determined control voltage which is fed back to a DC to DC converter in the host's internal power supply. The converter comprises a pulse width modulation control device. The control voltage determines the duty cycle (i.e., pulse width) of the modulation to reduce the output from a maximum voltage to an appropriate voltage suitable for the particular peripheral power usage device. Thus, by simply selecting the appropriate connector (or cable) having the proper pins correlated to a selected resistor previously installed in the power supply, the voltage level for the corresponding peripheral device is automatically selected. In an alternative embodiment, the DC power distribution apparatus of the invention comprises a stand-alone unit having one or more universal ports for receiving a cable with a connector containing the appropriate pins for a selected DC power usage device. UK Patent Application GB 2,322,972 relates to a universal computer power supply unit. A DC power output access panel ( 1 ) is included in a computer power supply unit or a computer power supply system to provide DC power to the external devices connected to the host computer system, such as printers, external fax modems, multimedia speakers, scanners, video conference cameras and many other external media drives. An AC power output socket may also be provided ( FIGS. 2,4 ). The panel ( 1 ) may include DC sockets of different sizes (eg A 2 ,A 4 ), LED indicators (A 1 ) and fuses (A 3 ). The panel may be embodied as a separate unit ( 10 , FIG. 5 ) connected to the rest of the supply unit ( 9 ) by a cable ( 11 ). UK Patent Application GB 2,256,319 relates to a computer system having a power supply unit 2 comprising a cabinet 4 carrying a fan 24 on a removable front panel 18 , and a slidably removable circuit board 28 carrying the power supply circuitry 30 , whereby the circuit board can be readily replaced/repaired. The computer system includes a disk drive module received in aperture ( 51 ) (e.g. FIG. 57 ) in the front panel of a cabinet ( 48 ). The module can be in either of three alternative orientations relative to the cabinet so that the cabinet can be used in different orientations with the disk drive module remaining the same way up. The computer system can receive plug-in cards in sockets ( 64 , 68 ) ( FIGS. 8, 9 ) on alternative mounting housings ( 82 ) located adjacent the back of the cabinet ( 48 ). | <SOH> BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS <EOH>FIG. 1 is a front view of a computer power supply according to an embodiment of the present invention (wherein the power supply is shown with a wired motherboard cable and with integral sockets for receiving removable plugs of power cables); FIG. 2 is a front view of a computer power supply according to an embodiment of the present invention (wherein the power supply is shown with a motherboard socket for receiving a removable motherboard cable and with integral power sockets for receiving removable plugs of power cables); FIG. 3 is a table illustrating conventional form factors commonly employed for terminating personal computer power cables; FIG. 4 is a rear view of the power supply of FIG. 2 (showing a rear ventilation fan, a power input, a voltage selector and a main power switch); FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a computer power supply according to another embodiment of the present invention (showing the clamshell nature of the housing of this embodiment); FIGS. 6A-6E are front perspective, rear perspective, left side perspective, right side perspective, and top views of the bottom portion of the power supply shown in FIG. 5 (showing the internal components thereof and the manner in which the power supply is constructed); FIG. 7 is a perspective view showing the ease of plugging power supply cables into the respective sockets of the power supply of FIGS. 5 and 6 A- 6 E; FIG. 8 is a rear perspective view of a computer power supply according to another embodiment of the present invention (in which a portion of various panels of the enclosure are formed of a translucent or clear material which is ultraviolet reactive so as to glow when subjected to ultraviolet radiation). FIGS. 9A and 9B show views of a cable/plug assembly for use with a power supply according to an embodiment of the present invention; FIGS. 10A-10H show views of covers for plastic injection molded type plugs according to embodiments of the present invention; FIG. 11 shows another embodiment of a power supply according to the present invention; and FIG. 12 shows another embodiment of a power supply according to the present invention. detailed-description description="Detailed Description" end="lead"? Among those benefits and improvements that have been disclosed, other objects and advantages of this invention will become apparent from the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying figures. The figures constitute a part of this specification and include illustrative embodiments of the present invention and illustrate various objects and features thereof. | 20040908 | 20061107 | 20050922 | 98338.0 | 5 | DINH, TUAN T | PERSONAL COMPUTER POWER SUPPLY INSTALLED WITHIN A CASE OF A PERSONAL COMPUTER | UNDISCOUNTED | 1 | CONT-ACCEPTED | 2,004 |
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10,936,412 | ACCEPTED | Card shuffler with staging area for collecting groups of cards | The present invention provides an apparatus and method for moving playing cards from a first group of cards into plural hands of cards, wherein each of the hands contains a random arrangement of cards. The apparatus comprises a card receiver for receiving the first group of cards, a single stack of card-receiving compartments generally adjacent to the card receiver, the stack generally vertically movable, an elevator for moving the stack, a card-moving mechanism between the card receiver and the stack, and a microprocessor that controls the card-moving mechanism and the elevator so that an individual card is moved into an identified compartment. The number of compartments receiving cards and the number of cards moved to each compartment may be selected. An apparatus for feeding cards, comprising a surface for supporting a stack of cards, a feed roller with a frictional outer surface, a drive mechanism for causing rotation of the feed roller, a pair of speed-up rollers to advance the cards out of the feed roller, and a clutch mechanism for disengaging the feed roller from the drive mechanism as the card comes into contact with the speed up rollers. | 1-35. (canceled) 36. A method for delivering subsets of randomly mixed cards from a first group of cards, comprising: providing at least one first group of multiple playing cards to a playing card randomization apparatus; forming at least one subset of randomized playing cards within the apparatus from the first group of playing cards; delivering to a single delivery tray a first at least one subset of randomized playing cards for use in a game, the first at least one subset of randomized playing cards being delivered to the delivery tray as a whole first at least one subset of randomized playing cards; forming at least one additional; subset of randomized playing cards within the apparatus from remaining playing cards from the at least one first group of playing cards; and upon manual removal of the first at least one subset of randomized playing cards from the delivery tray, delivering the at least one additional subset of randomized playing cards into the delivery tray as a second group. 37. The method of claim 1 wherein the playing card randomization apparatus comprises a plurality of adjacent card receiving compartments used to form the at least one subset of randomized playing cards and the at least one additional subset of randomized playing cards, and wherein at least one of the at least one subset of randomized playing cards and the at least one additional subset of randomized playing cards becomes units of cards in a card game wherein the units are selected from the group consisting of players' hands, dealer's hands, partial hands, discards and excess cards. 38. The method of claim 1 wherein the playing card randomization apparatus comprises a plurality of adjacent card receiving compartments used to form the at least one subset of randomized playing cards and the at least one additional subset of randomized playing cards, and wherein each of the at least one of the at least one subset of randomized playing cards and the at least one additional subset of randomized playing cards is used to form specific subsets selected from the group consisting of players' hands, dealer's hands, partial hands, discards and excess cards. 39. The method of claim 37 wherein a separator is located between each adjacent card-receiving compartment, and there is an edge of the separator such that a playing card moved into playing card receiving compartments contacts the edge of the separator before that playing card is fully inserted into the card receiving compartment. 40. The method of claim 36 wherein the card randomizing apparatus comprises a plurality of adjacent playing card-receiving compartments in a configuration selected from the group consisting of a carousel, a vertical mixing stack, and a fan shape. 41. The method of claim 36 wherein the first group of playing cards comprises one or more decks of playing cards. 42. The method of claim 36 wherein each individual subset of randomly mixed playing cards is delivered to the delivery tray, and wherein the delivery tray can be accessed so that playing cards in the delivery tray can be contacted by a hand of a dealer. 43. The method of claim 41 wherein the total number of playing cards in at least some subsets of randomized playing cards delivered to the delivery tray consist of hands delivered from the card randomization apparatus, and the hands comprise a total number of playing cards that are less than the total number of cards in the first group of cards. 44. The method of claim 36 wherein at least one, but less than all individual subsets of randomized playing cards, is a subgroup of the first group of cards that is delivered individually to the delivery tray. 45. The method of claim 36 wherein each individual subset of randomized playing cards is formed prior to a first subset of randomized playing cards is delivered to the delivery tray. 46. The method of claim 36 wherein the first group of playing cards is a single deck of playing cards or a double deck of playing cards. 47. The method of claim 46 wherein the single deck of playing cards is selected from the group consisting of a 52 card deck, a 52 card deck with one or more jokers, and a special deck. 48. An apparatus for delivering shuffled plural hands of playing cards in a card game, comprising: a playing card in-feed tray capable of receiving a first group of playing cards to be shuffled; a first card moving mechanism capable of delivering playing cards from the card in-feed tray to a playing card randomization apparatus; the card randomization apparatus having at least one staging area for receiving subsets of randomized playing cards; a single playing card receiving tray; a second playing card moving mechanism capable of moving a subset of randomized playing cards from the at least one staging area to the single playing card receiving tray as a second group of playing cards; a sensing mechanism for sensing at least a presence of playing cards in the single playing card receiving tray; and a processor programmed to control the playing card randomization apparatus and the playing card moving mechanisms so that subsets of playing cards are delivered to the single playing card receiving tray, one subset at a time. 49. The apparatus of claim 48 wherein the processor is programmed to control the playing card randomization apparatus and the playing card moving mechanisms so that subsets of cards are delivered to the tray and only one subset of playing cards at a time is present in the single playing card receiving tray until a predetermined number of hands of playing cards are delivered to the single playing card receiving tray. 50. The apparatus of claim 48 wherein the at least one staging area comprises a plurality of staging areas. 51. The apparatus of claim 50 wherein the plurality of staging areas comprises a group of adjacent compartments in an arrangement selected from the group consisting of a rack, a carousel and a fan. 52. The apparatus of claim 48 wherein the single playing card receiving tray is of a configuration that permits manual removal of playing cards as the second group of playing cards. 53. The apparatus of claim 48 wherein the sensing mechanism is an optical sensor. 54. The apparatus of claim 48 further comprising controls capable of instructing the processor to direct unloading of all playing cards in the apparatus. 55. The apparatus of claim 51 further comprising a drive mechanism capable of moving the at least one card staging area relative to a stationary card in-feed tray during shuffling. 56. The apparatus of claim 55 wherein the drive mechanism comprises a motor, a drive belt and an elevator. 57. The apparatus of claim 50 wherein a first subset of playing cards is delivered to the single playing card receiving tray automatically after shuffling all playing cards in the first group of playing cards. 58. The apparatus of claim 57 wherein additional subsets of playing cards are delivered to the single playing card receiving tray on demand. 59. The apparatus of claim 58 wherein a subset of cards is delivered to the single playing card receiving tray for each player position. 60. The apparatus of claim 58 wherein the processor contains programming so that one more subset of playing cards is delivered than is needed for each player position and the dealer position. | RELATED APPLICATIONS This Application is a continuation-in-part of pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/688,597, filed on Oct. 16, 2000, titled “DEVICE AND METHOD FOR FORMING HANDS OF RANDOMLY ARRANGED CARDS,” which is in turn a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/060,627, filed on Apr. 15, 1998, titled “DEVICE AND METHOD FOR FORMING HANDS OF RANDOMLY ARRANGED CARDS,” now U.S. Pat. No. 6,149,154. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to devices for handling cards, including cards known as “playing cards”. In particular, the invention relates to an electromechanical machine for organizing or arranging playing cards into a plurality of hands, wherein each hand is formed as a selected number of randomly arranged cards. The invention also relates to a mechanism for feeding cards into a shuffling apparatus and also to a method of delivering individual hands from the apparatus to individual players or individual player positions. 2. Background of the Art Wagering games based on the outcome of randomly generated or selected symbols are well known. Such games are widely played in gaming establishments such as casinos and the wagering games include card games wherein the symbols comprise familiar, common playing cards. Card games such as twenty-one or blackjack, poker and variations of poker and the like are excellent card games for use in casinos. Desirable attributes of casino card games are that the games are exciting, they can be learned and understood easily by players, and they move or are played rapidly to a wager-resolving outcome. From the perspective of players, the time the dealer must spend in shuffling diminishes the excitement of the game. From the perspective of casinos, shuffling time reduces the number of hands placed, reduces the number of wagers placed and resolved in a given amount of time, thereby reducing revenue. Casinos would like to increase the amount of revenue generated by a game without changing games, particularly a popular game, without making obvious changes in the play of the game that affect the hold of the casino, and without increasing the minimum size of wagers. One approach to speeding play is directed specifically to the fact that playing time is decreased by shuffling and dealing events. This approach has lead to the development of electromechanical or mechanical card shuffling devices. Such devices increase the speed of shuffling and dealing, thereby increasing playing time. Such devices also add to the excitement of a game by reducing the time the dealer or house has to spend in preparing to play the game. U.S. Pat. No. 4,513,969 (Samsel, Jr.) and U.S. Pat. No. 4,515,367 (Howard) disclose automatic card shufflers. The Samsel, Jr. patent discloses a card shuffler having a housing with two wells for receiving stacks of cards. A first extractor selects, removes and intermixes the bottommost card from each stack and delivers the intermixed cards to a storage compartment. A second extractor sequentially removes the bottommost card from the storage compartment and delivers it to a typical shoe from which the dealer may take it for presentation to the players. The Howard patent discloses a card mixer for randomly interleaving cards including a carriage supported ejector for ejecting a group of cards (approximately two playing decks in number) which may then be removed manually from the shuffler or dropped automatically into a chute for delivery to a typical dealing shoe. U.S. Pat. No. 4,586,712 (Lorber et al.) discloses an automatic shuffling apparatus designed to intermix multiple decks of cards under the programmed control of a computer. The Lorber et al. apparatus is a carousel-type shuffler having a container, a storage device for storing shuffled playing cards, a removing device and an inserting device for intermixing the playing cards in the container, a dealing shoe and supplying means for supplying the shuffled playing cards from the storage device to the dealing shoe. U.S. Pat. No. 5,000,453 (Stevens et al.) discloses an apparatus for automatically shuffling cards. The Stevens et al. machine includes three contiguous magazines with an elevatable platform in the center magazine only. Unshuffled cards are placed in the center magazine and the spitting rollers at the top of the magazine spit the cards randomly to the left and right magazines in a simultaneous cutting and shuffling step. The cards are moved back into the center magazine by direct lateral movement of each shuffled stack, placing one stack on top of the other to stack all cards in a shuffled stack in the center magazine. The order of the cards in each stack does not change in moving from the right and left magazines into the center magazine. U.S. Pat. No. 3,897,954 (Erickson et al.) discloses the concept of delivering cards one at a time, into one of a number vertically stacked card-shuffling compartments. The Erickson patent also discloses using a logic circuit to determine the sequence for determining the delivery location of a card, and that a card shuffler can be used to deal stacks of shuffled cards to a player. U.S. Pat. No. 5,240,140 (Huen) discloses a card dispenser which dispenses or deals cards in four discrete directions onto a playing surface, and U.S. Pat. No. 793,489 (Williams), U.S. Pat. No. 2,001,918 (Nevius), U.S. Pat. No. 2,043,343 (Warner) and U.S. Pat. No. 3,312,473 (Friedman et al.) disclose various card holders some of which include recesses (e.g., Friedman et al.) to facilitate removal of cards. U.S. Pat. No. 2,950,005 (MacDonald) and U.S. Pat. No. 3,690,670 (Cassady et al.) disclose card-sorting devices that require specially marked cards, clearly undesirable for gaming and casino play. U.S. Pat. No. 4,770,421 (Hoffman) discloses a card-shuffling device including a card loading station with a conveyor belt. The belt moves the lowermost card in a stack onto a distribution elevator whereby a stack of cards is accumulated on the distribution elevator. Adjacent to the elevator is a vertical stack of mixing pockets. A microprocessor preprogrammed with a finite number of distribution schedules sends a sequence of signals to the elevator corresponding to heights called out in the schedule. Each distribution schedule comprises a preselected distribution sequence that is fixed as opposed to random. Single cards are moved into the respective pocket at that height. The distribution schedule is either randomly selected or schedules are executed in sequence. When the microprocessor completes the execution of a single distribution cycle, the cards are removed a stack at a time and loaded into a second elevator. The second elevator delivers cards to an output reservoir. Thus, the Hoffman patent requires a two-step shuffle, i.e., a program is required to select the order in which stacks are loaded and moved onto the second elevator and delivers a shuffled deck or decks. The Hoffman patent does not disclose randomly selecting a location within the vertical stack for delivering each card. Nor does the patent disclose a single stage process that randomly delivers hands of shuffled cards with a degree of randomness satisfactory to casinos and players. Further, there is no disclosure in the Hoffman patent about how to deliver a preselected number of cards to a preselected number of hands ready for use by players or participants in a game. Another card handling apparatus with an elevator is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,683,085 (Johnson et al.). U.S. Pat. No. 4,750,743 (Nicoletti) discloses a playing card dispenser including an inclined surface and a card pusher for urging cards down the inclined surface. Other known card shuffling devices are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 2,778,644 (Stephenson), U.S. Pat. No. 4,497,488 (Plevyak et al.), U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,807,884 and 5,275,411 (both Breeding) and U.S. Pat. No. 5,695,189 (Breeding et al.). The Breeding patents disclose machines for automatically shuffling a single deck of cards including a deck-receiving zone, a carriage section for separating a deck into two deck portions, a sloped mechanism positioned between adjacent corners of the deck portions, and an apparatus for snapping the cards over the sloped mechanism to interleave the cards. The Breeding single deck shufflers used in connection with LET IT RIDE® Stud Poker are programmed to first shuffle a deck of cards, and then sequentially deliver hands of a preselected number of cards for each player. LET IT RI]DE® stud poker is the subject of U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,288,081 and 5,437,462 (Breeding), which are herein incorporated by reference. The Breeding single deck shuffler delivers three cards from the shuffled deck in sequence to a receiving rack. The dealer removes the first hand from the rack. Then, the next hand is automatically delivered. The dealer inputs the number of players, and the shuffler deals out that many hands plus a dealer hand. The Breeding single deck shufflers are capable of shuffling a single deck and delivering seven player hands plus a dealer hand in approximately 60 seconds. The Breeding shuffler is a complex electromechanical device that requires tuning and adjustment during installation. The shufflers also require periodic adjustment. The Breeding et al. device, as exemplified in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,068,258; 5,695,189; and 5,303,921 are directed to shuffling machines for shuffling multiple decks of cards with three magazines wherein unshuffled cards are cut then shuffled. Although the devices disclosed in the preceding patents, particularly the Breeding machines, provide improvements in card shuffling devices, none discloses or suggests a device and method for providing a plurality of hands of cards, wherein the hands are ready for play and wherein each comprises a randomly selected arrangement of cards, without first randomly shuffling the entire deck. A device and method which provides a plurality of ready-to-play hands of a selected number of randomly arranged cards at a greater speed than known devices without shuffling the entire deck or decks would speed and facilitate the casino play of card games. U.S. Pat. No. 6,149,154 describes an apparatus for moving playing cards from a first group of cards into plural groups, each of said plural groups containing a random arrangement of cards, said apparatus comprising: a card receiver for receiving the first group of unshuffled cards; a single stack of card-receiving compartments generally adjacent to the card receiver, said stack generally adjacent to and movable with respect to the first group of cards; and a drive mechanism that moves the stack by means of translation relative to the first group of unshuffled cards; a card-moving mechanism between the card receiver and the stack; and a processing unit that controls the card-moving mechanism and the drive mechanism so that a selected quantity of cards is moved into a selected number of compartments. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention provides an electromechanical card handling apparatus and method for creating or generating a plurality of hands of cards from a group of unshuffled cards wherein each hand contains a predetermined number of randomly selected or arranged cards. The apparatus and, thus, the card handling method or process, is controlled by a programmable microprocessor and may be monitored by a plurality of sensors and limit switches. While the card handling apparatus and method of the present invention is well suited for use in the gaming environment, particularly in casinos, the apparatus and method may find use in homes, card clubs, or for handling or sorting sheet material generally. In one embodiment, an apparatus moves playing cards from a first group of unshuffled cards into shuffled hands of cards, wherein at least one and usually all of the hands contains a random arrangement or random selection of a preselected number of cards. In one embodiment, the total number of cards in all of the hands is less than the total number of cards in the first group of unshuffled cards (e.g., one or more decks of playing cards). In another embodiment, all of the cards in the first group of unshuffled cards are distributed into hands. The apparatus comprises a card receiver for receiving the first group of cards, a stack of card receiving compartments (e.g., a generally vertical stack of horizontally disposed card-receiving compartments or carousel of rotating stacks) generally adjacent to the card receiver (the vertical stack generally is vertically movable and a carousel is generally rotatable), an elevator for raising and lowering the vertical stack or a drive to rotate the carousel, a card-moving mechanism between the card receiver and the card receiving compartments for moving cards, one at a time, from the card receiver to a selected card-receiving compartment, and a microprocessor that controls the card-moving mechanism and the elevator or drive mechanism so that each card in the group of unshuffled cards is placed randomly into one of the card-receiving compartments. Sensors may monitor and may trigger at least certain operations of the apparatus, including activities of the microprocessor, card moving mechanisms, security monitoring, and the elevator or carousel. The controlling microprocessor, including software, randomly selects or identifies which slot or card-receiving compartment will receive each card in the group before card-handling operations begin. For example, a card designated as card 1 may be directed to a slot 5 (numbered here by numeric position within an array of slots), a card designated as card 2 may be directed to slot 7, a card designated as card 3 may be directed to slot 3, etc. Each slot or compartment may therefore be identified and treated to receive individual hands of defined numbers of randomly selected cards or the slots may be later directed to deliver individual cards into a separate hand forming slot or tray. In the first example, a hand of cards is removed as a group from an individual slot. In the second example, each card defining a hand is removed from more than one compartment (where one or more cards are removed from a slot), and the individual cards are combined in a hand-receiving tray to form a randomized hand of cards. Another feature of the present invention is that it provides a programmable card handling machine with a display and appropriate inputs for adjusting the machine to any of a number of games wherein the inputs include one or more of a number of cards per hand or the name of the game selector, a number of hands delivered selector and a trouble-shooting input. Residual cards after all designated hands are dealt may be stored within the machine, delivered to an output tray that is part of the machine, or delivered for collection out of the machine, usually after all hands have been dealt and/or delivered. Additionally, there may be an elevator speed or carousel drive speed adjustment and position sensor to accommodate or monitor the position of the elevator or carousel as cards wear or become bowed or warped. These features also provide for interchangeability of the apparatus, meaning the same apparatus can be used for many different games and in different locations, thereby reducing the number of back-up machines or units required at a casino. The display may include a game mode or selected game display, and use a cycle rate and/or hand count monitor and display for determining or monitoring the usage of the machine. Another feature of the present invention is that it provides an electromechanical playing card handling apparatus for more rapidly generating multiple random hands of playing cards as compared to known devices. The preferred device may complete a cycle in approximately 30 seconds, which is double the speed (half the time) of the Breeding single deck shuffler disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,807,884, which has itself achieved significant commercial success. Although some of the groups of playing cards (including player and dealer hands and discarded or unused cards) arranged by the apparatus in accordance with the method of the present invention may contain the same number of cards, the cards within any one group or hand are randomly selected and placed therein. Other features of the invention include a reduction of set up time, increased reliability, lower maintenance and repair costs, and a reduction or elimination of problems such as card counting, possible dealer manipulation and card tracking. These features increase the integrity of a game and enhance casino security. Yet another feature of the card handling apparatus of the present invention is that it converts at least a single deck of unshuffled cards into a plurality of hands ready for use in playing a game. The hands converted from the at least a single deck of cards are substantially completely randomly ordered, i.e., the cards comprising each hand are randomly placed into that hand. To accomplish this random distribution, a preferred embodiment of the apparatus includes a number of vertically stacked, horizontally disposed card-receiving compartments one above another or a carousel arrangement of adjacent radially disposed stacks into which cards are inserted, one at a time, until an entire group of cards is distributed. In this preferred embodiment, each card-receiving compartment is filled (that is, filled to the assigned number of cards for a hand, with the residue of cards being fed into the discard compartment or compartments, or discharged from the apparatus at a card discharge port, for example), regardless of the number of players participating in a particular game. For example, when the card handling apparatus is being used for a seven-player game, at least seven player compartments, a dealer compartment and at least one compartment for cards not used in forming the random hands to be used in the seven-player game are filled. After the last card from the unshuffled group is delivered into these various compartments, the hands are ready to be removed from the compartments and put into play, either manually, automatically, or with a combined automatic feed and hand removal. For example, the cards in the compartments may be so disposed as they are removable by hand by a dealer (a completely manual delivery from the compartment), hands are discharged into a readily accessible region (e.g., tray or support) for manual removal (a combination of mechanical/automatic delivery and manual delivery), or hands are discharged and delivered to a specific player/dealer/discharge position (completely automatic delivery). The device can also be readily adapted for games that deal a hand or hands only to the dealer, such as David Sklansky's Hold 'Em Challenge™ poker game, described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,382,025. One type of device of the present invention may include jammed card detection and recovery features, and may include recovery procedures operated and controlled by the microprocessor. Generally, the operation of the card handling apparatus of the present invention will form at least a fixed number of hands of cards corresponding to the maximum number of players at a table, optionally plus a dealer hand (if there is a dealer playing in the game), and usually a discard pile. For a typical casino table having seven player stations, the device of the present invention would preferably have at least or exactly nine compartments (if there are seven players and a dealer) or at least or exactly eight compartments (if there are seven players and no dealer playing in the game) that are actually utilized in the operation of the apparatus in dealing a game, wherein each of seven player compartments contains the same number of cards. Depending upon the nature of the game, the compartments for the dealer hand may have the same or different number of cards as the player compartments, and the discard compartment may contain the same or different number of cards as the player compartments and/or the dealer compartment, if there is a dealer compartment. However, it is most common for the discard compartment to contain a different number of cards than the player and/or dealer compartments and examples of the apparatus having this capability enables play of a variety of games with a varying number of players and/or a dealer. In another example of the invention, more than nine compartments are provided and more than one compartment can optionally be used to collect discards. Providing extra compartments also increases the possible uses of the machine. For example, a casino might want to use the shuffler for an 8-player over-sized table. Most preferably, the device is programmed to deliver a fixed number of hands, or deliver hands until the dealer (whether playing in the game or operating as a house dealer) presses an input button. The dealer input tells the microprocessor that the last hand has been delivered (to the players or to the players and dealer), and then the remaining cards in the compartments (excess player compartments and/or discard compartment and/or excess card compartment) will be unloaded into an output or discard compartment or card collection compartment outside the shuffler (e~g., where players' hands are placed after termination or completion of play with their hands in an individual game). The discard, excess or unused card hand (i.e., the cards placed in the discard compartment or slot) may contain more cards than player or dealer hand compartments and, thus, the discard compartment may be larger than the other compartments. In a preferred embodiment, the discard compartment is located in the middle of the generally vertically arranged stack of compartments. In another example of the invention, the discard compartment or compartments are of the same size as the card receiving compartments. The specific compartment(s) used to receive discards or cards can also change from shuffle to shuffle. Another feature of the invention is that the apparatus of the present invention may provide for the initial top feeding or top loading of an unshuffled group of cards, thereby facilitating use by the dealer. The hand receiving portion of the machine may also facilitate use by the dealer, by having cards displayed or provided so that a dealer is able to conveniently remove a randomized hand from the upper portion of the machine or from a tray, support or platform extending from the machine to expose the cards to a vertical or nearly vertical access (within 0 to 30 or 50 degrees of horizontal, for example) by the dealer's hand. An additional feature of the card handling apparatus of the present invention is that it facilitates and significantly speeds the play of casino wagering games, particularly those games calling for a certain, fixed number of cards per hand (e.g., Caribbean Stud® poker, Let It Ride® poker, Pai Gow Poker, Tres Card™ poker, Three Card Poker®, Hold 'Em Challenge™ poker, stud poker games, wild card poker games, match card games and the like), making the games more exciting and less tedious for players, and more profitable for casinos. The device of the present invention is believed to deliver random hands at an increased speed compared to other shufflers, such as approximately twice the speed of known devices. In use, the apparatus of the present invention is operated to process playing cards from an initial, unshuffled or used group of cards into a plurality of hands, each hand containing the same number of randomly arranged cards. If the rules of the game require delivery of hands of unequal numbers of cards, the device of the present invention could be programmed to distribute the cards according to any preferred card count. It should be understood that the term ‘unshuffled’ is a relative term. A deck is unshuffled a) when it is being recycled after play and b) after previous mechanical or manual shuffling before a previous play of a game, as well as c) when a new deck is inserted into the machine with or without ever having been previously shuffled either manually or mechanically. The first step of this process is affected by the dealer placing the initial group of cards into a card receiver of the apparatus. The apparatus is started and, under the control of the integral microprocessor, assigns each card in the initial group to a compartment (randomly selecting compartments separately for each card), based on the selected number of hands, and a selected number of cards per hand. Each hand is contained in a separate compartment of the apparatus, and each is delivered (upon the dealer's demand or automatically) by the apparatus from that compartment to a hand receiver, hand support or hand platform, either manually or automatically, for the dealer to distribute it to a player. The number of hands created by the apparatus within each cycle is preferably selected to correspond to the maximum number of hands required to participate in a game (accounting for player hands, dealer hands, or house hands), and the number or quantity of cards per hand is programmable according to the game being played. The machine can also be programmed to form a number of hands corresponding to the number of players at the table. The dealer could be required to input the number of players at the table. The dealer would be required to input the number of players at the table, at least as often as the number of players change. The keypad input sends a signal to the microprocessor and then the microprocessor in turn controls the components to produce only the desired number of hands. Alternatively, bet sensors are used to sense the number of players present. The game controller communicates the number of bets placed to the shuffler, and a corresponding number of hands are formed. Each time a new group of unshuffled cards, hand shuffled cards, used cards or a new deck(s) of cards is loaded into the card receiver and the apparatus is activated, the operation of the apparatus involving that group of cards, i.e., the forming of that group of cards into hands of random cards, comprises a new cycle. Each cycle is unique and is effected by the microprocessor, which microprocessor is programmed with software to include random number generating capability. The software assigns a card number to the each card and then randomly selects or correlates a compartment to each card number. Under the control of the microprocessor, the elevator or carousel aligns the selected compartment with the card feed mechanism in order to receive the next card. The software then directs each numbered card to the selected slots by operating the elevator or carousel drive to position that slot to receive a card. The present invention also describes an alternative and optional unique method and component of the system for aligning the feed of cards into respective compartments and for forming decks of randomly arranged cards. The separators between compartments may have an edge facing the direction from which cards are fed, that edge having two acute angled surfaces (away from parallelism with the plane of the separator) so that cards may be deflected in either direction (above/below, left/right, top/bottom) with respect to the plane of the separator. When there are already one or more cards within a compartment, such deflection by the edge of the separator may insert cards above or below the card(s) in the compartment. The component that directs, moves, and/or inserts cards into the compartments may be controllably oriented to direct a leading edge of each card towards the randomly selected edge of a separator so that the card is inserted in the randomly selected compartment and in the proper orientation (above/below, left/right, top/bottom) with respect to a separator, the compartments, and card(s) in the compartments. The apparatus of the present invention is compact, easy to set up and program and, once programmed, can be maintained effectively and efficiently by minimally trained personnel who cannot affect the randomness of the card delivery. This means that the machines are more reliable in the field. Service costs are reduced, as are assembly costs and set up costs. The preferred device also has fewer parts, which should provide greater reliability than known devices. Another optional feature of the present invention is to have all compartments of equal size and fed into a final deck-forming compartment so that the handling of the cards effects a shuffling of the deck, without creating actual hands for play by players and/or the dealer. The equipment is substantially similar, with the compartments that were previously designated as hands or discards, having the cards contained therein subsequently stacked to form a shuffled deck(s). Another feature of the present invention is a mechanism that feeds cards into the compartments with a high rate of accuracy and that minimizes or eliminates wear on the cards, extending the useful life of the cards. The mechanism comprises a feed roller that remains in contact with the moving card (and possibly the subsequently exposed, underlying card) as cards are moved towards the second card-moving system (e.g., a pair of speed-up rollers), but advantageously disengages from the contact roller drive mechanism when a leading edge of the moving card contacts or is grasped and moved forward by the second card-moving system. Other features and advantages of the present invention will become more fully apparent and understood with reference to the following specification and to the appended drawings and claims. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a front perspective view depicting the apparatus of the present invention as it might be disposed ready for use in a casino on a gaming table. FIG. 2 is a rear perspective view depicting the apparatus of the present invention. FIG. 3 is a front perspective view of the card handling apparatus of the present invention with the exterior shroud removed. FIG. 4 is a side elevation view of the present invention with the shroud and other portions of the apparatus removed to show internal components. FIG. 5 is a side elevation view, largely representational, of the transport mechanism of the apparatus of the present invention. FIG. 5A is a detailed cross-sectional view of a shelf of one example of the invention. FIG. 5B is a cross-sectional view of a shelf with cards fully inserted. FIG. 6 is an exploded assembly view of the transport mechanism. FIG. 7 is a top plan view, partially in section, of the transport mechanism. FIG. 8 is a top plan view of the pusher assembly of the present invention. FIG. 9 is a front elevation view of a first rack and elevator assembly of the present invention. FIG. 10 is an exploded view of the rack and elevator assembly. FIG. 11 depicts an alternative embodiment of the shelves or partitions for forming the stack of compartments of the present invention. FIG. 12 depicts the card stop in an open position. FIG. 13 depicts the card stop in a closed position. FIG. 14 is a simplified side elevational view, largely representational, of the first card handler of the present invention. FIG. 15 is an exploded view of the hand receiving assembly of the apparatus of the present invention. FIG. 16 is a schematic diagram of an electrical control system for one embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 17 is a schematic diagram of the electrical control system. FIG. 18 is a schematic diagram of an electrical control system with an optically isolated bus. FIG. 19 is a detailed schematic diagram of a portion of the control system illustrated in FIG. 18. FIG. 20 schematically depicts an alternative embodiment of the apparatus of the present invention. FIG. 21 is a flow diagram, comprising two parts, parts 21a and 21b, depicting a homing sequence. FIG. 22 is a flow diagram, comprising three parts, parts 22a, 22b and 22c, depicting a sequence of operation of the present invention. FIG. 23 shows a side cutaway view of a rack comprising a series of compartments with separators having two acute surfaces on an edge of the separators facing a source of cards to be inserted into the compartments. FIG. 24 shows an explosion image of three adjacent acute surface edges of separators in the rack of separators. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION This detailed description is intended to be read and understood in conjunction with appended Appendices A, B and C, which are incorporated herein by reference. Appendix A provides an identification key correlating the description and abbreviation of certain non-limiting examples of motors, switches and photo eyes or sensors with reference character identifications of the same components in the Figures, and gives the manufacturers, addresses and model designations of certain components (motors, limit switches and sensors). Appendix B outlines steps in a homing sequence, part of one embodiment of the sequence of operations as outlined in Appendix C. With regard to mechanisms for fastening, mounting, attaching or connecting the components of the present invention to form the apparatus as a whole, unless specifically described as otherwise, such mechanisms are intended to encompass conventional fasteners such as machine screws, rivets, nuts and bolts, toggles, pins and the like. Other fastening or attachment mechanisms appropriate for connecting components include adhesives, welding and soldering, the latter particularly with regard to the electrical system of the apparatus. All components of the electrical system and wiring harness of the present invention may be conventional, commercially available components unless otherwise indicated, including electrical components and circuitry, wires, fuses, soldered connections, chips, boards, microprocessors, computers, and control system components. The software may be developed simply by hired programming without undue experimentation, the software merely directing physical performance without unique software functionality. Generally, unless specifically otherwise disclosed or taught, the materials for making the various components of the present invention are selected from appropriate materials such as metal, metallic alloys, ceramics, plastics, fiberglass, composites and the like. In the following description, the Appendices and the claims, any references to the terms right and left, top and bottom, upper and lower and horizontal and vertical are to be read and understood with their conventional meanings and with reference to viewing the apparatus from whatever convenient perspective is available to the viewer, but generally from the front as shown in perspective in FIG. 1. One method according to the present invention relates to a card delivery assembly or subcomponent that comprises a preliminary card-moving element that temporarily disengages or stops its delivery action or card control action upon sensing or as a result of a card coming into contact with a second card moving or card delivery element, component or subcomponent, or in response to an increase in linear speed of the card. That is, a first card-moving component moves individual cards from a first location (e.g., the card-receiving stack) towards a second card-moving element or subcomponent (e.g., a set of speed up rollers) and the second card-moving element places the cards in a compartment after the card delivery assembly is brought into alignment with a selected component. When the second card-moving element, component or subcomponent intercepts an individual card or begins to grasp, guide or move an individual card, the first card-moving element, component or subcomponent must disengage its card-moving action to prevent that card-moving action from either jamming the apparatus, excessively directing or controlling an individual card, or moving too many cards (e.g., more than one card) at the same time. A general method of the invention provides for randomly mixing cards comprising: a) providing at least one deck of playing cards; b) removing cards one-at-a-time from the at least one deck of cards; c) randomly inserting each card removed one-at-a-time into one of a number of distinct storage areas, each storage area defining a distinct subset of cards; and d) at least one of the storage areas receives at least two randomly inserted cards one-at-a-time to form a random, distinct subset of at least two cards. Cards in random, distinct subsets may be removed from at least one of the distinct storage areas. The cards removed from at least one of the distinct storage areas may define a subset of cards that is delivered to a player as a hand. One set of the cards removed from at least one of the distinct storage areas may also define a subset of cards that is delivered to a dealer as a hand. Distinct subsets of cards may be removed from at least one distinct storage area and be delivered into a receiving area. Each distinct subset of cards may be removed from the storage area and delivered to a position on a gaming table that is distinct from a position where another removed subset is delivered. All removed subsets may be delivered to the storage area without removal of previous subsets being removed from the receiving area. At least one received subset may become a hand of cards for use in a game of cards. The subsets may be delivered, one-at-a-time to a subset delivery position or station (e.g., delivery tray, delivery support, delivery container or delivery platform). The hands are delivered from the subset compartments either by moving cards from the subset compartment one-at-a-time, multiple cards at-a-time, or complete subsets at a single time. Moving single cards at a time can be accomplished with pick-off rollers, for example. The movement of a complete subset of cards can be accomplished by pushing the group out of the compartment with a pushing mechanism, as described below in the section entitled “Second Card Moving Mechanism.” Referring to the Figures, particularly FIGS. 1, 3 and 4, the card handling apparatus 20 of the present invention includes a card receiver 26 for receiving a group of cards, a single stack of card-receiving compartments 28 (see FIGS. 3 and 4) generally adjacent to the card receiver 26, a card moving or transporting mechanism 30 between and linking the card receiver 26 and the compartments 28, and a processing unit, indicated generally at 32, that controls the apparatus 20. The apparatus 20 includes a second card mover 34 (see FIG. 4) for emptying the compartments 28 into a second receiver 36. Referring now to FIG. 1, the card handling apparatus 20 includes a removable, substantially continuous exterior housing, casing or shroud 40. The exterior design features of the device of the present invention are disclosed in U.S. Design Pat. No. D414,527. The shroud or casing 40 may be provided with appropriate vents 42 for cooling, if needed. The card receiver or initial loading region, indicated generally at 26, is at the top, rear of the apparatus 20, and a deck, card or hand receiving platform 36 is at the front of the apparatus 20. The platform 36 has a surface 35 for supporting a deck, card or hand. The surface 35 allows ready access by a dealer or player to the deck, card or hand handled, shuffled or discharged by the apparatus 20. Surface 35, in one example of the present invention, lies at an angle with respect to the base 41 of the apparatus 20. That angle is preferably approximately 5 degrees with respect to the horizontal, but may also conveniently be at an angle of from 0 to up to ±60 degrees with respect to the base 41, to provide convenience and ergonomic considerations to the dealer. Controls and/or display features 44 are generally located toward the rear or dealer-facing end of the machine 20. FIG. 2 provides a perspective view of the rear of the apparatus 20 and more clearly shows the display 44A and control inputs 44, including a power input module 45/switch 45A and a communication port. FIG. 3 depicts the apparatus 20 with the shroud 40 removed, as it might be for servicing or programming, whereby the internal components may be visualized. The apparatus is shown as including a generally horizontal frame floor 50 and internal frame supports for mounting and supporting operational components, such as upright 52. A control (input and display) module 56 is cantilevered at the rear of the apparatus 20, and is operably connected to the operational portions of the apparatus 20 by suitable wiring 58. The inputs and display portion 44, 44A of the module 56 are fitted to corresponding openings in the shroud 40, with associated circuitry and programming inputs located securely within the shroud 40 when it is in place as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. Card Receiver The card-loading region 26 includes a card receiving well 60. The well 60 is defined by upright, generally parallel card guiding sidewalls 62 (although one or both walls may be sloped inwardly to guide the cards into position within the well) and a rear wall 64. The card-loading region includes a floor surface 66 which, in one example of the present invention, is preferably pitched or angled downwardly toward the front of the apparatus 20. Preferably, the floor surface is pitched from the horizontal at an angle ranging from approximately 5 to 20 degrees, with a pitch of about 7 degrees being preferred. A removable, generally rectangular weight or block 68 is generally freely movably received in the well 60 for free forward and rearward movement along the floor surface 66. 5 Under the influence of gravity, the block 68 will tend to move toward the forward end of the well 60. The block 68 has an angled, card-contacting front face 70 for contacting the face (i.e., the bottom of the bottommost card) of the last card in a group of cards placed into the well, and urges cards (i.e., the top card of a group of cards) forward into contact with the card transporting mechanism 30. The card-contacting face 70 of the block 68 is at an angle complimentary to the floor surface 66 of the well 60, for example, an angle of between approximately 10 and 80 degrees, and this angle and the weight of the block keep the cards urged forwardly against the transport mechanism 30. In one embodiment, card-contacting face 70 is rough and has a high coefficient of friction. The selected angle of the floor 66 and the weight of the block 68 allow for the free floating rearward movement of the cards and the block 68 to compensate for the forces generated as the transport mechanism 30 contacts the front card to move it. In another embodiment, a spring is provided to maintain tension against block 68. As shown in FIG. 4, the well 60 includes a card present sensor 74 to sense the presence or absence of cards in the well 60. Preferably, the block 68 is mounted on a set of rollers 69 (FIG. 5) which allows the block to glide more easily along floor surface 66 and/or the floor surface 66 and floor contacting bottom of the block 68 may be formed of or coated with suitable low friction materials. Card Receiving Compartments A first preferred assembly or stack of card receiving compartments 28 is depicted in FIGS. 9 and 10, and for purposes of this disclosure this stack of card receiving compartments is also referred to as a rack assembly or rack. The rack assembly 28 is housed in an elevator and rack assembly housing 78 generally adjacent to the well 60, but horizontally spaced therefrom (see FIG. 4). An elevator motor 80 is provided to position the rack assembly 28 vertically under control of a microprocessor, which microprocessor is generally part of the module 32. The motor 80 is linked to the rack assembly 28 by a timing belt 82. Referring now to FIG. 10, the rack assembly 28 includes a bottom plate 92, a left hand rack 94 carrying a plurality of half shelves 96, a right hand rack 98 including a plurality of half shelves 100 and a top plate 102. Together the right and left hand racks 94, 98 and their respective half shelves 96, 100 form the individual plate-like shelf pieces 104 for forming the top and bottom walls of individual compartments 106. Not shown are carousel or partial carousel or fan arrangements of card or hand receiving compartments. A carousel arrangement of card receiving stacks or compartments, as known in the art, is a circular arrangement of compartments, with the compartments arranged in about 350-360 degrees, with from five to 52 or more compartments in the carousel. A partial carousel or fan arrangement would be a segment of a carousel (e.g., 30 degrees of a circle, 45 degrees, 60 degrees, 75 degrees, 90 degrees, 110 degrees, 120 degrees, 145 degrees, 180 degrees or more or less, with compartments distributed within the segment. This arrangement has an advantage over the carousel of enabling lower space or lower volumes for the card receiving compartments as a semicircle takes up less space than a complete carousel. Rather than rotating 360 degrees (or having a ±180 degree alternating movement capability), the partial carousel or fan arrangement may not need to rotate 360 degrees, and may alternatively rotate ±one half the total angular distribution of the partial carousel or fan. For example, if the partial carousel covers only sixty degrees of a circular carousel, the partial carousel needs to have a rotational capability of only about ±30 degrees from the center of the partial carousel to enable access to all compartments. In other words, it could be capable of rotating in two directions, reducing-the distance in which the carousel must travel to distribute cards. Preferably, a vertical rack assembly 28 or the carousel or partial carousel assembly (not shown) has nine compartments 106. Seven of the nine compartments 106 are for forming player hands, one compartment 106 forms dealer hands and the last compartment 106 is for accepting unused or discard cards. It should be understood that the device the present invention is not limited to rack assembly with seven compartments 106. For example, although it is possible to achieve a random distribution of cards delivered to eight compartments with a fifty-two card deck or group of cards, if the number of cards per initial unshuffled group is greater than 52, more compartments than nine may be provided to achieve sufficient randomness in eight formed hands. Also, additional compartments may be provided to form hands for a gaming table having more than seven player positions. For example, some card rooms and casinos offer stud poker games to up to twelve people at a single table. The apparatus 20 may then have thirteen or more compartments, as traditional poker does not permit the house to play, with one or more compartments dedicated to collect unused cards. In one example of the invention, thirteen compartments are provided, and all compartments not used to form hands receive discard cards. For example, in a game in which seven players compete with a dealer, eight compartments are used to form hands and the five remaining compartments accept discards. In each example of the present invention, at least one stack of unused cards is formed which may not be sufficiently randomized for use in a card game. These unused cards should be combined if necessary, with the cards used in game play and returned to the card receiver for distribution in the next cycle. The rack assembly 28 is operably mounted to the apparatus 20 by a left side rack plate 107 and a linear guide 108. The rack assembly 28 is attached to the guide 108 by means of a guide plate 110. The belt 82 is driven by the motor 80 and engages a pulley 112 for driving the rack assembly 28 up and down. A hall effect switch assembly 114 is provided to sense the location of the rack assembly 28. The rack assembly 28 may include a card present sensor 116 mounted to an underside of plate 78 (see FIG. 4) and which is electrically linked to the microprocessor. FIG. 9 depicts a rack assembly 28 having nine individual compartments 106 including a comparatively larger central compartment 120 for receiving discard or unused cards. A larger discard rack is shown in this example because in a typical casino game, either three or five cards are delivered to seven players and optionally a dealer, leaving from 12 to 28 discards. In other examples of the invention, multiple discard racks of the same configuration and size as hand-forming compartments are provided instead of a larger discard rack. FIG. 7 provides a top plan view of one of the shelf members 104 and shows that each includes a pair of rear tabs 124. The tabs 124 align a leading edge of the card with the opening of the compartment so that the cards are moved from the transporting mechanism 30 into the rack assembly 28 without jamming. FIG. 11 depicts an alternative embodiment of plate-like shelf members 104 comprising a single-piece plate member 104′. An appropriate number of the single-piece plates, corresponding to the desired number of compartments 106 are connected between the sidewalls of the rack assembly 28. The plate 104′ depicted in FIG. 11 includes a curved or arcuate edge portion 126 on the rear edge 128 for removing cards or clearing jammed cards, and also includes the two bilateral tabs 124, also a feature of the shelf members 104 of the rack assembly 28 depicted in FIG. 7. The tabs 124 act as card guides and permit the plate-like shelf members 104 forming the compartments 106 to be positioned effectively as closely as possible to the card transporting mechanism 30 to ensure that cards are delivered into the selected compartment 106 (or 120) even though they may be warped or bowed. Referring back to FIG. 5, an advantage of the plates 104 (and/or the half plates 96, 100) forming the compartments 106 is depicted. Each plate 104 includes a beveled or angled underside rearmost surface 130 in the space between the shelves or plates 104, i.e., in each compartment 106, 120. The distance between the forward edge 132 of the bevel and the forward edge 134 of a shelf 104 preferably is less than the width of a typical card. As shown in FIG. 5A, the leading edge 136 of a card being driven into a compartment 106, 120 hits the beveled surface 130 and is driven onto the top of the stack of cards supported by next shelf member 104. As shown in FIG. 5B, when the cards are fully inserted, a trailing edge 133 of each card is positioned between edge 132 and edge 135. To facilitate forming a bevel 130 at a suitable angle 135 and of a suitable size, a preferred thickness 137 for the plate-like shelf members is approximately {fraction (3/32)} of an inch, but this thickness and/or the bevel angle can be changed or varied to accommodate different sizes and thicknesses of cards, such as poker and bridge cards. Preferably, the bevel angle 135 is between 10 degrees and 45 degrees, and most preferably between approximately 15 degrees and 20 degrees. Whatever bevel angle and thickness is selected, it is preferred that cards should come to rest with their trailing edge 133 rearward of the forward edge 132 of the bevel 130 (see FIG. 5). Referring now to the FIGS. 12 and 13, the front portion of the rack assembly 28 includes a solenoid or motor operated gate 144 and a door (card stop) 142 for controlling the unloading of the cards into the second receiver 36. Although a separate, vertically movable gate 144 and card door stop 142 are depicted, the function, stopping the forward movement of the cards, could be accomplished either by a lateral moving gate or card stop alone (not shown) or by other means. In FIG. 12, the gate 144 is shown in its raised position and FIG. 13 depicts it in its lowered open position. The position of the gate 144 and stop 142 is related by the microprocessor to the rack assembly 28 position. Card Moving Mechanism Referring now to FIGS. 4, 5 and 6, a preferred card transporting or moving mechanism 30 is positioned between the card receiving well 60 and the compartments 106, 120 of the rack assembly 28 and includes a card pickup roller assembly 149. The card pick-up roller assembly 149 includes a pick-up roller 150 and is located generally at the forward portion of the well 60. The pick-up roller 150 is supported by a bearing mounted axle 152 extending generally transversely across the well 60 whereby the card contacting surface of the roller 150 is in close proximity to the forward portion of the floor surface 66. The roller 150 is driven by a pick up motor 154 operably coupled to the axle 152 by a suitable continuous connector 156 such as a belt or chain. In operation, the front card in the well 60 is urged against the roller 150 by block 68 so that when the roller 150 is activated, the frictional surface draws the front card downwardly and forwardly. The internal operation and inter-component operation of the pick-up roller can provide important performance characteristics to the operation of the apparatus. As previously mentioned, one method according to the present invention relates to a card delivery subcomponent that comprises a preliminary card-moving element that temporarily disengages or stops its delivery action or card control action upon sensing, upon acceleration of the card by a second card moving mechanism or as a result of card contact with a second card moving or card delivery component or subcomponent. That is, a first card-moving component moves individual cards from a first location (e.g., the card-receiving stack) towards a second location (e.g., towards a hand receiving compartment) and a second card-moving component receives or intercepts the individual cards. When the second card-moving component intercepts an individual card or begins to guide or move an individual card, the first card-moving component must disengage its card-moving action to prevent that card-moving action from either jamming the apparatus, causing drag and excessive wear on the card, excessively directing or controlling an individual card, or moving too many cards (e.g., more than one card) at the same time. These methods are effected by the operation of the pick-up roller 150 and it's operating relationship with other card motivating or receiving components (such as rollers 162 and 164). For example, a dynamic clutch, slip clutch mechanism or release gearing may be provided within the pick-up roller 150. Alternatively a sensor, gearing control, clutch control or pick-up roller motor drive control may be provided to control the rotational speed, rotational drive or torque, or frictional engagement of the pick-up roller 150. These systems operate to reduce or essentially eliminate any adverse or significant drag forces that would be maintained on an individual card (C) in contact with pick-up roller 150 at the time when other card motivating components or subcomponents begin to engage the individual card (e.g., rollers 162 and 164). There are a number of significant and potential problems that can be engendered by multiple motivation forces on a single card and continuous motivating forces from the pick-up roller 150. If the pick-up roller stopped rotating without disengaging from the drive mechanism, the speed-up rollers 162 and 164 would need to apply a sufficient force on the card to overcome a drag caused by the stationary pick-up roller 150. The drag forces cause the cards to wear prematurely. If the pick-up roller 150 were to continuously provide torque or moving forces against surfaces of individual cards, the speed of rotation of that pick-up roller must be substantially identical to the speed of moving forces provided by any subsequent card moving components or subcomponents. If that were not the case, stress would be placed on the card or the surface of the card to deteriorate the card, abrade the card, compress the card, damage printing or surface finishes on the cards (even to a point of providing security problems with accidental card marking), and jam the apparatus. By a timely disengaging of forces provided by the pick-up roller against a card or card surface, this type of damage is reduced or eliminated. Additional problems from a configuration that attempts to provide continuous application of a driving force by the pick-up roller against cards is the inability of a pick-up roller to distinguish between one card and an underlying card or groups of cards. If driving forces are maintained by the pick-up roller against card surfaces, once card C passes out of control or contact with the pick-up roller 150, the next card is immediately contacted and moved, with little or no spacing between cards. In fact, after card C has immediately left contact with pick-up roller 150, because of its tendency to be positioned inwardly along card C and away from the edge of card C when firmly within the stack of cards (not shown) advanced by block 68, the pickup roller 150 immediately is pressed into engagement with the next card (not shown) underlying card C. This next underlying card may therefore be advanced along the same path as card C, even while card C still overlays the underlying card. This would therefore offer the distinct likelihood of at least two cards being transferred into the second card-moving components (e.g., rollers 162 and 164) at the same time, those two cards being card C and the next underlying card. These cards would also be offset, and not identically positioned. This could easily lead to multiple cards being inserted into individual compartments or cards jamming the apparatus as the elevator or carousel moves to another position to accept different cards. The sensors can also read multiple cards being fed as a single card, causing an error message, and leading to misdeals. The apparatus preferably counts the cards being arranged, and verifies that the correct number of cards are present in the deck. When multiple cards pass the sensors at the same time, the machine will produce an error message indicating that one or more cards is missing. Misdeals slow the play of the game, and reduce casino revenue. The practice of the present invention of disengaging the moving force of the pick-up roller when other individual card moving elements are engaging individual cards can be a very important function in the performance and operation of the hand delivering apparatus of this invention. This disengaging function may operate in a number of ways as described herein, with the main objective being the reduction or elimination of forward-moving forces or drag forces on the individual card once a second individual card moving element, component or subcomponent has begun to engage the individual card or will immediately engage the individual card. For example, the pick-up roller may be automatically disengaged after a specific number of revolutions or distance of revolutions of the roller (sensed by the controller or computer, and identifying the assumption that such degree of movement has impliedly engaged a second card moving system), a sensor that detects a specific position of the individual card indicating that the individual card has or is imminently about to engage a second card moving component, a timing system that allows the pick-up roller to operate for only a defined amount of time that is assumed to move the individual card into contact with the second card moving component, a tension detecting system on the pick-up roller that indicates either a pressure/tension increase (e.g., from a slowed movement of the individual card because of contact with a second card moving component) or a tension decrease (e.g., from an increased forward force or movement of the individual card as it is engaged by a more rapidly turning set of rollers 162 and 164), or any other sensed information (such as acceleration of the card) that would indicate that the individual card, especially while still engaged by the pick-up roller, has been addressed or treated or engaged or directed or moved by a second card-moving component or subcomponent. The disengagement may be effected in a number of different ways. It is reasonably assumed that all pick-up rollers have a drive mechanism that rotates the pick-up roller, such as an axel engaging drive or a roller engaging drive. These drives may be belts, contact rollers, gears, friction contact drives, magnetic drives, pneumatic drives, piston drives or the like. In one example of the invention, a dynamic clutch mechanism may be used that allows the drive mechanism to disengage from the roller or allows the roller to freely rotate at the same speed as the engaging drive element, the pick-up roller 150 will rotate freely or with reduced tension against the forward movement of the individual card, and the card can be freely moved by the second card-moving component. The use of a dynamic clutch advantageously keeps the card in motion compressed against the stack of cards being distributed, providing more control and virtually eliminating the misfeeding of cards into the second card moving components. This “positive control” enables the cards to be fed at faster speeds and with more accuracy than with other known card feed mechanisms. Clutch systems may be used to remove the engaging action of the drive mechanism against the pick-up roller 150. Gears may disengage, pneumatic or magnetic pressure/forces may be diminished, friction may be reduced or removed, or any other disengagement procedure may be used. A preferred mechanism is the use of a speed release clutch, also known in the art as a speed drop clutch, a drag clutch, a free-rolling clutch or a draft clutch. This type of clutch is used particularly in gear driven roller systems where, upon the occurrence of increased tension (or increased resistance) against the material being driven by a roller, a clutch automatically disengages the roller drive mechanism, allowing the roller to freely revolve so that the external roller surface actually increases its speed of rotation as the article (in this case, the playing card) is sped up by the action of the second card-moving component. At the same time, the pick-up roller 150 remains in contact with the card, causing a more reliable and positive feeding action into the second card moving components. The clutch may also be designed to release if there is increased resistance, so that the pick-up roller turns more slowly if the second card-moving element moves the individual card more slowly than does the pick-up roller. In one example of the invention, cards are moved in response to the microprocessor calling for the next card. The rate at which each card is fed is not necessarily or usually constant. Activation of the pick-up roller 150 is therefore intermittent. Although it is typical to rotate the axis 152 upon which pick-up roller 150 is mounted at one angular speed, the timing of the feeding of each individual card to each compartment may vary. Since a random number generator determines the location of insertion of each card into individual compartments, the time between initiation of each rotation of the pick-up roller and the insertion of each card into a compartment may vary. It is possible to impose a uniform time interval of initiation (e.g. equal to the maximum time interval possible between inserting a card into the uppermost compartment and then the lowermost compartment) of the movement of the rotation of the pick-up roller but the shuffling time would increase. Similarly, when the compartments are in a carousel-type arrangement, the operation of pick-up roller 150 is also intermittent—that is, not operating at a constant timed interval. Referring now to FIGS. 4 and 5, the preferred card moving mechanism 30 also includes a pinch roller card accelerator or speed-up system 160 located adjacent to the front of the well 60 between the well 60 and the rack assembly 28 and forwardly of the pick-up roller 150. The speed-up system 160 comprises a pair of axle supported, closely adjacent speed-up rollers, one above the other, including a lower roller 162 and an upper roller 164. The upper idling roller 164 is urged toward the lower roller 162 by a spring assembly 166. Alternatively, it may be weighted or drawn toward the lower roller by a resilient member (not shown). The lower roller 162 is driven by a speed-up motor 167 operably linked to the lower driven roller 162 by a suitable connector 168 such as a belt or a chain. The mounting bracket 170 for the speed-up rollers also supports a rearward card-in sensor 174 and a forward card-out sensor 176. When the individual card C is engaged by these rollers 162 and 164 that are rotating with a linear surface speed that exceeds the linear surface speed of the pick-up roller 150, the forward tension on the pick-up roller 150 exerted by card C is one characteristic that can be sensed by the controller to release the clutch (not shown) that releases the pick-up roller 150 and allows the pick-up roller 150 to rotate freely. In the event that a dynamic clutch is utilized, the increase in speed of the motivated card caused by the surface speed of rollers 162 and 164 relative to the surface speed of the motivated card effected by the pick-up roller 150 when axle 152 is being driven causes disengagement of the clutch. FIG. 5 is a largely representational view depicting the relationship between the card receiving well 60 and the card transporting mechanism 30, and also shows a card Cbeing picked up by the pick-up roller 150 moving in rotational direction 151 and being moved into the pinch roller system 160 for acceleration into a compartment 104 of the rack assembly 28. In a preferred embodiment, the pick-up roller 150 is not continuously driven, but rather indexes in response to instructions from the microprocessor and includes a one-way clutch mechanism. After initially picking up a card and advancing it into the pinch roller system 160, the motor 154 operably coupled to the pick-up roller 150 stops driving the roller, and the roller 150 free-wheels as the card is accelerated through the pinch roller system 160. The speed-up pinch roller system 160 is preferably continuous in operation once a hand-forming cycle starts and, when a card is sensed by the adjacent card out sensor 176, the pick-up roller 150 stops and free-wheels while the card is accelerated through the pinch roller system 160. When the trailing edge of the card is sensed by the card out sensor 176, the rack assembly 28 moves to the next position for the next card and the pick-up roller 150 is re-activated. Additional components and details of the transport mechanism 30 are depicted in FIG. 6, an exploded assembly view thereof. In FIG. 6 the inclined floor surface 66 of the well 60 is visible, as are the axle mounted pickup and pinch roller system 150, 160, respectively, and their relative positions. Referring to FIGS. 4 and 5, the transport assembly 30 includes a pair of generally rigid stopping plates including an upper stop plate and a lower stop plate, 180, 182, respectively. The plates 180, 182 are positioned between the rack assembly 28 and the speed-up system 160 immediately forward of and above and below the pinch rollers 162, 164. The stop plates 180, 182 stop the cards from rebounding or bouncing rearwardly, back toward the pinch rollers, as they are driven against and contact the gate 144 and/or the stop 142 at the front of the rack assembly 28. Processing/Control Unit FIG. 16 is a block diagram depicting an electrical control system that may be used in one embodiment of the present invention. The control system includes a controller 360, a bus 362, and a motor controller 364. Also represented in FIG. 16 are inputs 366, outputs 368, and a motor system 370. The controller 360 sends signals to both the motor controller 364 and the outputs 368 while monitoring the inputs 366. The motor controller 364 interprets signals received over the bus 362 from the controller 360. The motor system 370 is driven by the motor controller 364 in response to the commands from the controller 360. The controller 360 controls the state of the outputs 368 and the state of the motor controller 364 by sending appropriate signals over the bus 362. In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the motor system 370 comprises motors that are used for operating components of the card handling apparatus 20. Motors operate the pick-up roller, the pinch, speed-up rollers, the pusher and the elevator. The gate and stop may be operated by a motor, as well. In such an embodiment, the motor controller 364 would normally comprise one or two controllers and driver devices for each of the motors used. However, other configurations are possible. The outputs 368 include, for example, alarm, start, and reset indicators and inputs and may also include signals that can be used to drive a display device (e.g., a LED display—not shown). Such a display device can be used to implement a timer, a card counter, or a cycle counter. Generally, an appropriate display device can be configured and used to display any information worthy of display. The inputs 366 are information from the limit switches and sensors described above. The controller 360 receives the inputs 366 over the bus 362. Although the controller 360 can be any digital controller or microprocessor-based system, in a preferred embodiment, the controller 360 comprises a processing unit 380 and a peripheral device 382 as shown in FIG. 17. The processing unit 380 in a preferred embodiment may be an 8-bit single-chip microcomputer such as an 80C52 manufactured by the Intel Corporation of Santa Clara, Calif. The peripheral device 382 may be a field programmable micro controller peripheral device that includes programmable logic devices, EPROMs, and input-output ports. As shown in FIG. 17, peripheral device 382 serves as an interface between the processing unit 380 and the bus 362. The series of instructions are stored in the controller 360 as shown in FIG. 17 as program logic 384. In a preferred embodiment, the program logic 384 is RAM or ROM hardware in the peripheral device 382. (Since the processing unit 380 may have some memory capacity, it is possible that some or all of the instructions may be stored in the processing unit 380.) As one skilled in the art will recognize, various implementations of the program logic 384 are possible. The program logic 384 could be either hardware, software, or a combination of both. Hardware implementations might involve hardwired code or instructions stored in a ROM or RAM device. Software implementations would involve instructions stored on a magnetic, optical, or other media that can be accessed by the processing unit 380. Under certain conditions, it is possible that a significant amount of electrostatic charge may build up in the card handler 20. Significant electrostatic discharge could affect the operation of the handler 20. It is preferable to isolate some of the circuitry of the control system from the rest of the machine. In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, a number of optically-coupled isolators are used to act as a barrier to electrostatic discharge. As shown in FIG. 18, a first group of circuitry 390 can be electrically isolated from a second group of circuitry 392 by using optically-coupled logic gates that have light-emitting diodes to optically (rather than electrically) transmit a digital signal, and photo detectors to receive the optically transmitted data. An illustration of electrical isolation through the use of optically-coupled logic gates is shown in FIG. 19, which shows a portion of FIG. 18 in greater detail. Four Hewlett-Packard HCPL-2630 optocouplers (labeled 394, 396, 398 and 400) are used to provide an 8-bit isolated data path to the output devices 368. Each bit of data is represented by both an LED 402 and a photo detector 404. The LEDs emit light when energized and the photo detectors detect the presence or absence of the light. Data may thus transmitted without an electrical connection. Second Card Moving Mechanism Referring to FIGS. 4 and 8, the apparatus 20 includes a second card moving-mechanism 34 comprising, by way of example only, a reciprocating card compartment unloading pusher 190. The pusher 190 includes a substantially rigid pusher arm 192 in the form of a rack having a plurality of linearly arranged apertures 194 along its length. The arm 192 operably engages the teeth of a pinion gear 196 driven by an unloading motor 198, which is in turn controlled by the microprocessor 360. At its leading or card contacting end, the pusher arm 192 includes a blunt, enlarged card-contacting end portion 200. The end portion 200 is greater in height than the space between the shelf members 104 forming the compartments 106 to make sure that all the cards (i.e., the hand) contained in a selected compartment are contacted and pushed out as it is operated, even when the cards are bowed or warped. The second card moving mechanism 34 is operated intermittently (upon demand or automatically) to empty full compartments 106 at or near the end of a cycle. Second Card/Hand Receiver When actuated, the second card moving mechanism 190 empties a compartment 106, 120 by pushing the group of cards therein into a card receiving platform 36. The card receiving platform 36 is shown in FIGS. 1, 4, 14 and 16, among others. In this way, a complete hand is pushed out, with usually one hand at a time fed to the card receiving platform 36 (or more properly, card retrieving platform). The hands are then, usually, manually retrieved by a dealer and placed at player positions. In one example of the invention, the card receiving platform 36 has a card present sensor. As a hand of cards is removed, the sensor senses the absence of cards and sends a signal to the microprocessor. The microprocessor in turn instructs the device to deliver another hand of cards. Referring to FIG. 15, the second card or hand receiving platform 36 includes a shoe plate 204 and a solenoid assembly 206, including a solenoid plate 208, carried by a rear plate 210, which is also the front plate of the rack assembly 28. In an alternate embodiment, a motor drives the gate. The shoe plate 204 also carries an optical sensing switch 212 for sensing the presence or absence of a hand of cards and for triggering the microprocessor to drop the gate 144 and actuate the pusher 190 of the second transport assembly 34 to unload another hand of cards from a compartment 106, 120 when the hand receiver 36 is empty. In a first preferred embodiment, all hands are unloaded sequentially. In another embodiment, the dealer delivers cards to each player, and the dealer hand is delivered last, then he or she presses a button that instructs any remaining hands and the discard pile to unload. According to a third preferred embodiment, the microprocessor is programmed to randomly select and unload all player hands, then the dealer hand, and last the discard pile or piles. FIG. 14 is a largely representational view depicting the apparatus 20 and the relationship of its components including the card receiver 26 for receiving a group of cards for being formed into hands, including the well 60 and block 68, the rack assembly 28 and its single stack of card-receiving compartments 106, 120, the card moving or transporting mechanism 30 between and linking the card receiver 26 and the rack assembly 28, the second card mover 190 for emptying the compartments 106, 120, and the second receiver 36 for receiving hands of cards. ALTERNATIVE EMBODIMENTS FIG. 20 represents an alternative embodiment of the present invention wherein the card handler 200 includes an initial staging area 230 for receiving a vertically stacked deck or group of unshuffled cards. Preferably beneath the stack is a card extractor 232 that picks up a single card and moves it toward a grouping device 234. The picked up card moves through a card separator 236, which is provided in case more than one card is picked up, and then through a card accelerator 238. The grouping device 234 includes a plurality of compartments 240 defined, in part, by a plurality of generally horizontally disposed, parallel shelf members 242. In one embodiment there are two more compartments than player positions at the table at which the device is being used. In one preferred embodiment the grouping device 234 includes nine compartments (labeled 1-9), seven of which correspond to the player positions, one that corresponds to the dealers position and the last for discards. The grouping device is supported by a generally vertically movable elevator 244, the height of which is controlled by a stepper motor 246, linked by means of a belt drive 248 to the elevator 244. A microprocessor 250 randomly selects the location of the stepper motor and instructs the stepper motor to move the elevator 244 to that position. The microprocessor 250 is programmed to deliver a predetermined number of cards to each compartment 240. After the predetermined number of cards is delivered to a compartment 240, no additional cards will be delivered to that compartment. Each time a group of unshuffled cards are handled by this embodiment of the present invention, the order in which the cards are delivered to the compartments 240 is different due to the use of a random number generator to determine which compartment receives each card in the group. Making hands of cards in this particular fashion serves to randomize the cards to an extent sufficient to eliminate the need to shuffle the entire deck prior to forming hands. A feature of the embodiment of the present invention depicted in FIG. 20 is a card pusher or rake 260A. The rake 260A may be either an arm with a head which pushes horizontally from the trailing edge of a card or group of cards, or a roller and belt arrangement 260B which propels a card or group of cards by providing frictional contact between one or more rollers and a lower surface of a card or the bottom-most card. In one other example of the invention, a spring device 261 holds the cards against the roller 260A causing one card at a time to be removed into tray 262. The purpose of the rake 260A is to move the cards toward an open end of the elevator. In this embodiment of the invention, the compartments are staggered so that if the card rake 260A only pushes the dealt cards a portion of the way out the dealer can still lift out each hand of cards and deliver the hand to a player. The rake 260A can also be set to push a hand of cards completely out of a compartment whereby the cards fall onto a platform 262. The hand delivered to platform 262 may be then removed and handed to the player. A sensor may be provided adjacent to the platform 262 whereby an empty platform is sensed so that the rake 260A pushes or propels another hand of cards onto the platform 262. In another embodiment the microprocessor 250 is programmed so that the card rake 260A moves the cards to a point accessible to the dealer and then, upon optional activation of a dealer control input, pushes the cards out of the compartment 240 onto the receiver 262. In a preferred embodiment of the device depicted in FIG. 20, although the microprocessor 250 can be programmed to deliver a different number of cards to the dealer compartment than to the player compartments, it is contemplated that the microprocessor will cause the apparatus to deliver the same number of cards to each compartment. The dealer, however, may discard cards until he or she arrives at the desired number of dealer cards for the particular game being played. For example, for the poker game known as the LET IT RIDE® game, the players and dealer initially receive a three-card hand. The dealer then discards or burns one of his cards and plays with the remaining two cards. With continued reference to FIG. 20, nine card compartments or slots are depicted. The card extractor/separator combination delivers a selected number of player cards into each of the compartments labeled 1-7. Preferably, the same number of dealers cards may be delivered into compartment 8. Alternatively, the microprocessor 250 can be programmed so that slot 8 will receive more than or fewer than the same number of cards as the playerscompartments 1-7. In the embodiment depicted in FIG. 20, card-receiving compartment 9, which may or may not be larger than the others, receives all extra cards from a deck. Preferably, the MPU instructs the device 200 to form only the maximum number of player hands plus a dealer hand. The number of cards delivered to each position may depend upon the game and the number of cards required. Operation/Use With reference to FIGS. 21 and 22, and Appendix C, which depict an operational program flow of the method and apparatus of the present invention, in use, cards are loaded into the well 60 by sliding or moving the block 68 generally rearwardly. The group of cards to be formed into hands is placed into the well 60 generally sideways, with the plane of the cards generally vertical, on one of the long side edges of the cards. The block 68 is released or replaced to urge the cards into an angular position generally corresponding to the angle of the angled card contacting face of the block 68, and into contact with the pick-up roller 150. According to the present invention, the group of cards to be formed into hands is one or more decks of standard playing cards. Depending upon the game, the group of cards can contain one or more wild cards, can be a standard deck with one or more cards removed, can comprise a special deck such as a Canasta or Spanish 21® deck, for example, can include more than one deck, or can be a partial deck not previously recognized by those skilled in the art as a special deck. The present invention contemplates utilizing any group of cards suitable for playing a card game. For example, one use of the device of the present invention is to form hands for a card game that requires the use of a standard deck of cards with all cards having a face value of 2-5 removed. The card handling device of the present invention is well-suited for card games that deliver a fixed number of cards to each player. For example, the LET IT RIDE® stud poker game requires that the dealer deliver three cards to each player, and three cards to the dealer. For this application, the microprocessor is set so that only three card hands are formed. When the power is turned on, the apparatus 20 homes (see FIG. 21 and Appendix B). The start input is actuated and the process cycle begins. As the cards are picked-up, i.e., after the separation of a card from the remainder of the group of cards in the well 60 is started, a card is accelerated by the speed-up system 160 and spit or moved past the plates 180, 182 into a selected compartment 106, 120. Substantially simultaneously, movement of subsequent cards is underway. The rack assembly 28 position relative to the position of the transport mechanism 30 is monitored, selected and timed by the microprocessor whereby a selected number of cards is delivered randomly to selected compartments until the selected number of compartments 106 each contain a randomized hand of a selected number of cards. The remainder of the cards are delivered to the discard compartment 120, either before, during or after delivering the card forming hands. Because the order in which the cards are delivered is completely random, the device may or may not deliver all cards in the initial group of cards to all compartments before the first player hand is pushed out of its compartment. Before or when all the cards have been delivered to the compartments, upon demand or automatically, the pusher 190 unloads one randomly selected hand at a time from a compartment 106 into the second card receiving platform 36. The pusher 190 may be triggered by the dealer or by the hand present sensor 212 associated with the second receiver 36. When the last hand is picked up and delivered to players and/or dealer, the larger discard compartment 120 automatically unloads. It should be appreciated that each cycle or operational sequence of the machine 20 goes through an entire group or deck of cards placed in the well 60 each time, even if only two players, i.e., two hands, are used. FIG. 23 also shows a clearly optional method of controlling the entry of cards into the rack 3 of card-receiving compartments 13. A card delivery system 15 is shown wherein two nip rollers 17 accept individual cards 19 from a stack of cards 16 and direct the individual cards 19 into a single card-receiving compartment 13. As shown in a lower portion of FIG. 23, a single card 9 is directed into one of the card-receiving compartments so that the individual card 9 strikes one of the acute angle surfaces 21 of the separator 23. The single card 9 is shown with a double bend 11 caused by the forces from the single card 9 striking the acute angle surface 21 and then the top 11 of cards 7 already positioned within the card-receiving compartment. The card delivery system 15 and/or the rack 3 may move vertically (and/or angularly, as explained later) to position individual cards (e.g., 9) at a desired elevation and/or angle in front of individual card-receiving compartments 13. The specific distance or angle that the card delivery system 15 and/or rack 3 moves are controlled (when acute angle surfaces 21 of the separators 23 are available) to position the individual card 9 so that it deflects against a specific acute angle surface 21. An alternative method of assisting in the guidance of an individual card 9 against an acute angle surface 21 is the system shown that is enabled by bars 2 and 4. The bars 2 and 4 operate so that as they move relative to each other, the separators 23 may swivel around pins 6 causing the separators 23 to shift, changing the effective angle of the deflecting acute angle surfaces 21 with respect to individual cards 9. This is not as preferred as the mechanism by which the rack and/or the card delivery system 15 move relatively vertically to each other. FIG. 24 shows a blown-up view of a set of three separators 23. These separators are shown with acute angles (less than 90° with respect to horizontal or the plane of the separator 23 top surfaces 29) on both sides of the separators. An upward deflecting surface 27 and downward deflecting surface 25 is shown on each separator 23. In one section of FIG. 24, a single card 9a is shown impacting an upward deflecting surface 27, deflecting (and bending) individual card 9a in a two way bend 11a, the second section of the bend caused by the impact/weight of the cards 7 already within the compartment 13a. In a separate area of FIG. 24, a second individual card 9b is shown in compartment 13b, striking downward deflecting acute angle surface 25, with a double bend 11b caused by deflection off the surface 25 and then deflection off the approximately horizontal support surface 29 (or if cards are present, the upper surface of the top card) of the separator 23. The surface 29 does not have to be horizontal, but is shown in this manner for convenience. The card delivery system (not shown) moves relative to the separators (by moving the card delivery system and/or the rack (not shown in entirety) to position individual cards (e.g., 9a and 9b) with respect to the appropriate surfaces (e.g., 25 and 27). The capability of addressing or positioning cards into compartments at either the top or bottom of the compartment (and consequently at the top or bottom of other cards within the compartment) enables an effective doubling of potential positions where each card may be inserted into compartments. This offers the designer of the device options on providing available alternative insert positions without adding additional card-receiving compartments or additional height to the stack. More options available for placement of cards in the compartments further provides randomness to the system without increasing the overall size of the device or increasing the number of compartments. In this embodiment of the invention, the original rack has been replaced with rack 3 consisting of ten equally sized compartments. Cards are delivered in a random fashion to each rack. If the random number generator selects a compartment that is full, another rack is randomly selected. In this embodiment, each stack of cards is randomly removed and stacked in tray 36, forming a randomly arranged deck of cards. Although ten compartments is a preferred number of compartments for shuffling a fifty-two card deck, other numbers of compartments can be used to accomplish random or near random shuffling. If more than one deck is shuffled at a time, more compartments could be added, if needed. Although a description of preferred embodiments has been presented, various changes including those mentioned above could be made without deviating from the spirit of the present invention. It is desired, therefore, that reference be made to the appended claims rather than to the foregoing description to indicate the scope of the invention. Appendix A Switches and Sensors (Inputs) Item Name Description 212 SCPS Shoe Card Present Sensor Omron * EE-SPY 302 116 RCPS Rack Card Present Sensor Optek * OP598A OP506A RHS Rack Home Switch Microswitch * SS14A RPS Rack Position Sensor Omron * EE-SPZ401Y.01 UHS Unloader Home Switch Microswitch * SS14A DPS Door Present Switch Microswitch * SS14A PCPS Platform Card Omron * EE-SPY401 Present Sensor 170 CIS Card In Sensor Optek * OP506A 176 COS Card Out Sensor Optek * OP598A GUS Gate Up Switch Microswitch * SS14A 44 GDS Gate Up Switch Microswitch SS14-A SS Start Switch EAO * 84-8512.5640 84- 1101.0 84-7111.500 Motors, Solenoid and Switches (Outputs) Item Name Description 154 POM Pick-off Motor Superior * M041-47103 166 SUM Speed-up Motor Superior * M041-47103 80 RM Rack Motor Oriental * C7009 - 9012K 198 UM Unloader Motor Superior * M041-47103 FM Fan Motor Mechatronics * F6025L24B 143 GS Gate Solenoid Shindengen * F10308H w/return spring GM Gate Motor NMB 14PM-MZ-02 SSV Scroll Switch - EAO * 18 - 187.035 18 - 982.8 Vertical 18 - 920.1 SSH Scroll Switch - EAO * 18 - 187.035 18 - 982.8 Horizontal 18 - 920.1 AL Alarm Light Dialight * 557 - 1505 - 203 Display Noritake * CU20025ECPB - UIJ Power Supply Shindengen * ZB241R8 Linear Guide THK * RSR12ZMUU + 145 M Comm. Port Digi * HR021 - ND Power Switch Digi * SW 323 - ND Power Entry Bergquist * LT - 101 - 3P Appendix B Homing/Power-up i. Unloader Home UHS Made Return unloader to home position. If it times out (jams), turn the alarm light on/off. Display “UNLOADER NOT HOME” “UHS FAULT”. ii. Door Present DPS Made Check door present switch (DPS). If it's not made, display “Door Open”, “DPS Fault” and turn the alarm light on/off. iii. Card Out Sensor (COS) Clear COS Made If card out sensor is blocked: A. Check if Rack Card Present Sensor (RCPS) is blocked. If it is, drive card back (reverse both Pick-off Motor (POM) and Speed-up Motor (SUM)) until COS is clear. Keep the card in the pinch. Align rack and load card into one of the shelves. Then go through the rack empty sequence (3 below). B. If Rack Card Present Sensor (RCPS) is clear, drive card back towards the input shoe. Turn both the Speed Up Motor (SUM) and the Pick Off Motor on (reverse) until Card Out Sensor is clear plus time delay to drive the card out of the pinch. iv. Gate Up GUS Made Move rack up until the rack position sensor sees the top rack (RPS on). Gate up switch should be made (GUS). If not, display “GATE NOT UP”, “GUS FAULT” and turn the alarm light on/off. v. Rack Empty and Home RCPS Check Rack Card Present Sensor (RCPS). If blocked, see emptying Made the racks. Return rack home when done. RHS Made INTERLOCK: Do not move rack if card out sensor is blocked (see 2 to clear) or when door is not present. Emptying the racks: Go through the card unload sequence. Move rack down to home position. Energize solenoid. Move rack through the unload positions and unload all the cards. vi. Input Shoe Empty SCPS Clear If Shoe/Card Present Sensor (SCPS) is blocked, display “remove card from shoe” or “SCPS fault” and turn the alarm light on/off. vii. Platform Empty PCPS Clear If Platform Card Present Sensor (PCPS) is blocked, display “remove card from platform” or “PCPS Fault” and turn alarm light on/off. viii. Card in Sensor (CIS) Clear. CIS Made If Card In Sensor (CIS) is blocked, display “remove card from shoe” or “CIS fault” and turn the alarm light on/off. Appendix B (Continued) Start Position Unloader Home UHS Made Rack Home RHS Made Rack Empty RCPS Made Door In Place DPS Made Card In Sensor Clear CIS Made Card Out Sensor Clear COS Made Gate Up GUS Made Platform Empty PCPS Clear Input Shoe Empty SCPS Clear Start Button Light On Appendix C Recovery Routine Problem: Card Jam—COS blocked too long. Recovery: 1. Stop rack movement. 2. Reverse both pick-off and speed-up motors until “COS” is unblocked. Stop motors. 3. If“COS” is unblocked, move rack home and back to the rack where the cards should be inserted. 4. Try again with a lower insertion point (higher rack) and slower insertion speed. If card goes in, continue insertion. If card jams, repeat with the preset positions, auto adjust to the new position. If jams become too frequent, display “check cards”, replace cards. If it does not, repeat 1 and 2. 5. If“COS” is unblocked, move rack up to the top position and display “Card Jam” and turn alarm light on/off. 6. If “COS” is not unblocked after 2 or 4, display “card jam” and turn . . . (do not move rack to up position). Problem: Unloader jams on the way out. Recovery: Move unloader back home. Reposition rack with a small offset up or down and try again, lower speed if necessary. If unloader jams, keep repeating at the preset location, set a new value based on the offset that works (auto adjust). | <SOH> BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION <EOH>1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to devices for handling cards, including cards known as “playing cards”. In particular, the invention relates to an electromechanical machine for organizing or arranging playing cards into a plurality of hands, wherein each hand is formed as a selected number of randomly arranged cards. The invention also relates to a mechanism for feeding cards into a shuffling apparatus and also to a method of delivering individual hands from the apparatus to individual players or individual player positions. 2. Background of the Art Wagering games based on the outcome of randomly generated or selected symbols are well known. Such games are widely played in gaming establishments such as casinos and the wagering games include card games wherein the symbols comprise familiar, common playing cards. Card games such as twenty-one or blackjack, poker and variations of poker and the like are excellent card games for use in casinos. Desirable attributes of casino card games are that the games are exciting, they can be learned and understood easily by players, and they move or are played rapidly to a wager-resolving outcome. From the perspective of players, the time the dealer must spend in shuffling diminishes the excitement of the game. From the perspective of casinos, shuffling time reduces the number of hands placed, reduces the number of wagers placed and resolved in a given amount of time, thereby reducing revenue. Casinos would like to increase the amount of revenue generated by a game without changing games, particularly a popular game, without making obvious changes in the play of the game that affect the hold of the casino, and without increasing the minimum size of wagers. One approach to speeding play is directed specifically to the fact that playing time is decreased by shuffling and dealing events. This approach has lead to the development of electromechanical or mechanical card shuffling devices. Such devices increase the speed of shuffling and dealing, thereby increasing playing time. Such devices also add to the excitement of a game by reducing the time the dealer or house has to spend in preparing to play the game. U.S. Pat. No. 4,513,969 (Samsel, Jr.) and U.S. Pat. No. 4,515,367 (Howard) disclose automatic card shufflers. The Samsel, Jr. patent discloses a card shuffler having a housing with two wells for receiving stacks of cards. A first extractor selects, removes and intermixes the bottommost card from each stack and delivers the intermixed cards to a storage compartment. A second extractor sequentially removes the bottommost card from the storage compartment and delivers it to a typical shoe from which the dealer may take it for presentation to the players. The Howard patent discloses a card mixer for randomly interleaving cards including a carriage supported ejector for ejecting a group of cards (approximately two playing decks in number) which may then be removed manually from the shuffler or dropped automatically into a chute for delivery to a typical dealing shoe. U.S. Pat. No. 4,586,712 (Lorber et al.) discloses an automatic shuffling apparatus designed to intermix multiple decks of cards under the programmed control of a computer. The Lorber et al. apparatus is a carousel-type shuffler having a container, a storage device for storing shuffled playing cards, a removing device and an inserting device for intermixing the playing cards in the container, a dealing shoe and supplying means for supplying the shuffled playing cards from the storage device to the dealing shoe. U.S. Pat. No. 5,000,453 (Stevens et al.) discloses an apparatus for automatically shuffling cards. The Stevens et al. machine includes three contiguous magazines with an elevatable platform in the center magazine only. Unshuffled cards are placed in the center magazine and the spitting rollers at the top of the magazine spit the cards randomly to the left and right magazines in a simultaneous cutting and shuffling step. The cards are moved back into the center magazine by direct lateral movement of each shuffled stack, placing one stack on top of the other to stack all cards in a shuffled stack in the center magazine. The order of the cards in each stack does not change in moving from the right and left magazines into the center magazine. U.S. Pat. No. 3,897,954 (Erickson et al.) discloses the concept of delivering cards one at a time, into one of a number vertically stacked card-shuffling compartments. The Erickson patent also discloses using a logic circuit to determine the sequence for determining the delivery location of a card, and that a card shuffler can be used to deal stacks of shuffled cards to a player. U.S. Pat. No. 5,240,140 (Huen) discloses a card dispenser which dispenses or deals cards in four discrete directions onto a playing surface, and U.S. Pat. No. 793,489 (Williams), U.S. Pat. No. 2,001,918 (Nevius), U.S. Pat. No. 2,043,343 (Warner) and U.S. Pat. No. 3,312,473 (Friedman et al.) disclose various card holders some of which include recesses (e.g., Friedman et al.) to facilitate removal of cards. U.S. Pat. No. 2,950,005 (MacDonald) and U.S. Pat. No. 3,690,670 (Cassady et al.) disclose card-sorting devices that require specially marked cards, clearly undesirable for gaming and casino play. U.S. Pat. No. 4,770,421 (Hoffman) discloses a card-shuffling device including a card loading station with a conveyor belt. The belt moves the lowermost card in a stack onto a distribution elevator whereby a stack of cards is accumulated on the distribution elevator. Adjacent to the elevator is a vertical stack of mixing pockets. A microprocessor preprogrammed with a finite number of distribution schedules sends a sequence of signals to the elevator corresponding to heights called out in the schedule. Each distribution schedule comprises a preselected distribution sequence that is fixed as opposed to random. Single cards are moved into the respective pocket at that height. The distribution schedule is either randomly selected or schedules are executed in sequence. When the microprocessor completes the execution of a single distribution cycle, the cards are removed a stack at a time and loaded into a second elevator. The second elevator delivers cards to an output reservoir. Thus, the Hoffman patent requires a two-step shuffle, i.e., a program is required to select the order in which stacks are loaded and moved onto the second elevator and delivers a shuffled deck or decks. The Hoffman patent does not disclose randomly selecting a location within the vertical stack for delivering each card. Nor does the patent disclose a single stage process that randomly delivers hands of shuffled cards with a degree of randomness satisfactory to casinos and players. Further, there is no disclosure in the Hoffman patent about how to deliver a preselected number of cards to a preselected number of hands ready for use by players or participants in a game. Another card handling apparatus with an elevator is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,683,085 (Johnson et al.). U.S. Pat. No. 4,750,743 (Nicoletti) discloses a playing card dispenser including an inclined surface and a card pusher for urging cards down the inclined surface. Other known card shuffling devices are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 2,778,644 (Stephenson), U.S. Pat. No. 4,497,488 (Plevyak et al.), U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,807,884 and 5,275,411 (both Breeding) and U.S. Pat. No. 5,695,189 (Breeding et al.). The Breeding patents disclose machines for automatically shuffling a single deck of cards including a deck-receiving zone, a carriage section for separating a deck into two deck portions, a sloped mechanism positioned between adjacent corners of the deck portions, and an apparatus for snapping the cards over the sloped mechanism to interleave the cards. The Breeding single deck shufflers used in connection with LET IT RIDE® Stud Poker are programmed to first shuffle a deck of cards, and then sequentially deliver hands of a preselected number of cards for each player. LET IT RI]DE® stud poker is the subject of U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,288,081 and 5,437,462 (Breeding), which are herein incorporated by reference. The Breeding single deck shuffler delivers three cards from the shuffled deck in sequence to a receiving rack. The dealer removes the first hand from the rack. Then, the next hand is automatically delivered. The dealer inputs the number of players, and the shuffler deals out that many hands plus a dealer hand. The Breeding single deck shufflers are capable of shuffling a single deck and delivering seven player hands plus a dealer hand in approximately 60 seconds. The Breeding shuffler is a complex electromechanical device that requires tuning and adjustment during installation. The shufflers also require periodic adjustment. The Breeding et al. device, as exemplified in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,068,258; 5,695,189; and 5,303,921 are directed to shuffling machines for shuffling multiple decks of cards with three magazines wherein unshuffled cards are cut then shuffled. Although the devices disclosed in the preceding patents, particularly the Breeding machines, provide improvements in card shuffling devices, none discloses or suggests a device and method for providing a plurality of hands of cards, wherein the hands are ready for play and wherein each comprises a randomly selected arrangement of cards, without first randomly shuffling the entire deck. A device and method which provides a plurality of ready-to-play hands of a selected number of randomly arranged cards at a greater speed than known devices without shuffling the entire deck or decks would speed and facilitate the casino play of card games. U.S. Pat. No. 6,149,154 describes an apparatus for moving playing cards from a first group of cards into plural groups, each of said plural groups containing a random arrangement of cards, said apparatus comprising: a card receiver for receiving the first group of unshuffled cards; a single stack of card-receiving compartments generally adjacent to the card receiver, said stack generally adjacent to and movable with respect to the first group of cards; and a drive mechanism that moves the stack by means of translation relative to the first group of unshuffled cards; a card-moving mechanism between the card receiver and the stack; and a processing unit that controls the card-moving mechanism and the drive mechanism so that a selected quantity of cards is moved into a selected number of compartments. | <SOH> SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION <EOH>The present invention provides an electromechanical card handling apparatus and method for creating or generating a plurality of hands of cards from a group of unshuffled cards wherein each hand contains a predetermined number of randomly selected or arranged cards. The apparatus and, thus, the card handling method or process, is controlled by a programmable microprocessor and may be monitored by a plurality of sensors and limit switches. While the card handling apparatus and method of the present invention is well suited for use in the gaming environment, particularly in casinos, the apparatus and method may find use in homes, card clubs, or for handling or sorting sheet material generally. In one embodiment, an apparatus moves playing cards from a first group of unshuffled cards into shuffled hands of cards, wherein at least one and usually all of the hands contains a random arrangement or random selection of a preselected number of cards. In one embodiment, the total number of cards in all of the hands is less than the total number of cards in the first group of unshuffled cards (e.g., one or more decks of playing cards). In another embodiment, all of the cards in the first group of unshuffled cards are distributed into hands. The apparatus comprises a card receiver for receiving the first group of cards, a stack of card receiving compartments (e.g., a generally vertical stack of horizontally disposed card-receiving compartments or carousel of rotating stacks) generally adjacent to the card receiver (the vertical stack generally is vertically movable and a carousel is generally rotatable), an elevator for raising and lowering the vertical stack or a drive to rotate the carousel, a card-moving mechanism between the card receiver and the card receiving compartments for moving cards, one at a time, from the card receiver to a selected card-receiving compartment, and a microprocessor that controls the card-moving mechanism and the elevator or drive mechanism so that each card in the group of unshuffled cards is placed randomly into one of the card-receiving compartments. Sensors may monitor and may trigger at least certain operations of the apparatus, including activities of the microprocessor, card moving mechanisms, security monitoring, and the elevator or carousel. The controlling microprocessor, including software, randomly selects or identifies which slot or card-receiving compartment will receive each card in the group before card-handling operations begin. For example, a card designated as card 1 may be directed to a slot 5 (numbered here by numeric position within an array of slots), a card designated as card 2 may be directed to slot 7 , a card designated as card 3 may be directed to slot 3 , etc. Each slot or compartment may therefore be identified and treated to receive individual hands of defined numbers of randomly selected cards or the slots may be later directed to deliver individual cards into a separate hand forming slot or tray. In the first example, a hand of cards is removed as a group from an individual slot. In the second example, each card defining a hand is removed from more than one compartment (where one or more cards are removed from a slot), and the individual cards are combined in a hand-receiving tray to form a randomized hand of cards. Another feature of the present invention is that it provides a programmable card handling machine with a display and appropriate inputs for adjusting the machine to any of a number of games wherein the inputs include one or more of a number of cards per hand or the name of the game selector, a number of hands delivered selector and a trouble-shooting input. Residual cards after all designated hands are dealt may be stored within the machine, delivered to an output tray that is part of the machine, or delivered for collection out of the machine, usually after all hands have been dealt and/or delivered. Additionally, there may be an elevator speed or carousel drive speed adjustment and position sensor to accommodate or monitor the position of the elevator or carousel as cards wear or become bowed or warped. These features also provide for interchangeability of the apparatus, meaning the same apparatus can be used for many different games and in different locations, thereby reducing the number of back-up machines or units required at a casino. The display may include a game mode or selected game display, and use a cycle rate and/or hand count monitor and display for determining or monitoring the usage of the machine. Another feature of the present invention is that it provides an electromechanical playing card handling apparatus for more rapidly generating multiple random hands of playing cards as compared to known devices. The preferred device may complete a cycle in approximately 30 seconds, which is double the speed (half the time) of the Breeding single deck shuffler disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,807,884, which has itself achieved significant commercial success. Although some of the groups of playing cards (including player and dealer hands and discarded or unused cards) arranged by the apparatus in accordance with the method of the present invention may contain the same number of cards, the cards within any one group or hand are randomly selected and placed therein. Other features of the invention include a reduction of set up time, increased reliability, lower maintenance and repair costs, and a reduction or elimination of problems such as card counting, possible dealer manipulation and card tracking. These features increase the integrity of a game and enhance casino security. Yet another feature of the card handling apparatus of the present invention is that it converts at least a single deck of unshuffled cards into a plurality of hands ready for use in playing a game. The hands converted from the at least a single deck of cards are substantially completely randomly ordered, i.e., the cards comprising each hand are randomly placed into that hand. To accomplish this random distribution, a preferred embodiment of the apparatus includes a number of vertically stacked, horizontally disposed card-receiving compartments one above another or a carousel arrangement of adjacent radially disposed stacks into which cards are inserted, one at a time, until an entire group of cards is distributed. In this preferred embodiment, each card-receiving compartment is filled (that is, filled to the assigned number of cards for a hand, with the residue of cards being fed into the discard compartment or compartments, or discharged from the apparatus at a card discharge port, for example), regardless of the number of players participating in a particular game. For example, when the card handling apparatus is being used for a seven-player game, at least seven player compartments, a dealer compartment and at least one compartment for cards not used in forming the random hands to be used in the seven-player game are filled. After the last card from the unshuffled group is delivered into these various compartments, the hands are ready to be removed from the compartments and put into play, either manually, automatically, or with a combined automatic feed and hand removal. For example, the cards in the compartments may be so disposed as they are removable by hand by a dealer (a completely manual delivery from the compartment), hands are discharged into a readily accessible region (e.g., tray or support) for manual removal (a combination of mechanical/automatic delivery and manual delivery), or hands are discharged and delivered to a specific player/dealer/discharge position (completely automatic delivery). The device can also be readily adapted for games that deal a hand or hands only to the dealer, such as David Sklansky's Hold 'Em Challenge™ poker game, described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,382,025. One type of device of the present invention may include jammed card detection and recovery features, and may include recovery procedures operated and controlled by the microprocessor. Generally, the operation of the card handling apparatus of the present invention will form at least a fixed number of hands of cards corresponding to the maximum number of players at a table, optionally plus a dealer hand (if there is a dealer playing in the game), and usually a discard pile. For a typical casino table having seven player stations, the device of the present invention would preferably have at least or exactly nine compartments (if there are seven players and a dealer) or at least or exactly eight compartments (if there are seven players and no dealer playing in the game) that are actually utilized in the operation of the apparatus in dealing a game, wherein each of seven player compartments contains the same number of cards. Depending upon the nature of the game, the compartments for the dealer hand may have the same or different number of cards as the player compartments, and the discard compartment may contain the same or different number of cards as the player compartments and/or the dealer compartment, if there is a dealer compartment. However, it is most common for the discard compartment to contain a different number of cards than the player and/or dealer compartments and examples of the apparatus having this capability enables play of a variety of games with a varying number of players and/or a dealer. In another example of the invention, more than nine compartments are provided and more than one compartment can optionally be used to collect discards. Providing extra compartments also increases the possible uses of the machine. For example, a casino might want to use the shuffler for an 8-player over-sized table. Most preferably, the device is programmed to deliver a fixed number of hands, or deliver hands until the dealer (whether playing in the game or operating as a house dealer) presses an input button. The dealer input tells the microprocessor that the last hand has been delivered (to the players or to the players and dealer), and then the remaining cards in the compartments (excess player compartments and/or discard compartment and/or excess card compartment) will be unloaded into an output or discard compartment or card collection compartment outside the shuffler (e~g., where players' hands are placed after termination or completion of play with their hands in an individual game). The discard, excess or unused card hand (i.e., the cards placed in the discard compartment or slot) may contain more cards than player or dealer hand compartments and, thus, the discard compartment may be larger than the other compartments. In a preferred embodiment, the discard compartment is located in the middle of the generally vertically arranged stack of compartments. In another example of the invention, the discard compartment or compartments are of the same size as the card receiving compartments. The specific compartment(s) used to receive discards or cards can also change from shuffle to shuffle. Another feature of the invention is that the apparatus of the present invention may provide for the initial top feeding or top loading of an unshuffled group of cards, thereby facilitating use by the dealer. The hand receiving portion of the machine may also facilitate use by the dealer, by having cards displayed or provided so that a dealer is able to conveniently remove a randomized hand from the upper portion of the machine or from a tray, support or platform extending from the machine to expose the cards to a vertical or nearly vertical access (within 0 to 30 or 50 degrees of horizontal, for example) by the dealer's hand. An additional feature of the card handling apparatus of the present invention is that it facilitates and significantly speeds the play of casino wagering games, particularly those games calling for a certain, fixed number of cards per hand (e.g., Caribbean Stud® poker, Let It Ride® poker, Pai Gow Poker, Tres Card™ poker, Three Card Poker®, Hold 'Em Challenge™ poker, stud poker games, wild card poker games, match card games and the like), making the games more exciting and less tedious for players, and more profitable for casinos. The device of the present invention is believed to deliver random hands at an increased speed compared to other shufflers, such as approximately twice the speed of known devices. In use, the apparatus of the present invention is operated to process playing cards from an initial, unshuffled or used group of cards into a plurality of hands, each hand containing the same number of randomly arranged cards. If the rules of the game require delivery of hands of unequal numbers of cards, the device of the present invention could be programmed to distribute the cards according to any preferred card count. It should be understood that the term ‘unshuffled’ is a relative term. A deck is unshuffled a) when it is being recycled after play and b) after previous mechanical or manual shuffling before a previous play of a game, as well as c) when a new deck is inserted into the machine with or without ever having been previously shuffled either manually or mechanically. The first step of this process is affected by the dealer placing the initial group of cards into a card receiver of the apparatus. The apparatus is started and, under the control of the integral microprocessor, assigns each card in the initial group to a compartment (randomly selecting compartments separately for each card), based on the selected number of hands, and a selected number of cards per hand. Each hand is contained in a separate compartment of the apparatus, and each is delivered (upon the dealer's demand or automatically) by the apparatus from that compartment to a hand receiver, hand support or hand platform, either manually or automatically, for the dealer to distribute it to a player. The number of hands created by the apparatus within each cycle is preferably selected to correspond to the maximum number of hands required to participate in a game (accounting for player hands, dealer hands, or house hands), and the number or quantity of cards per hand is programmable according to the game being played. The machine can also be programmed to form a number of hands corresponding to the number of players at the table. The dealer could be required to input the number of players at the table. The dealer would be required to input the number of players at the table, at least as often as the number of players change. The keypad input sends a signal to the microprocessor and then the microprocessor in turn controls the components to produce only the desired number of hands. Alternatively, bet sensors are used to sense the number of players present. The game controller communicates the number of bets placed to the shuffler, and a corresponding number of hands are formed. Each time a new group of unshuffled cards, hand shuffled cards, used cards or a new deck(s) of cards is loaded into the card receiver and the apparatus is activated, the operation of the apparatus involving that group of cards, i.e., the forming of that group of cards into hands of random cards, comprises a new cycle. Each cycle is unique and is effected by the microprocessor, which microprocessor is programmed with software to include random number generating capability. The software assigns a card number to the each card and then randomly selects or correlates a compartment to each card number. Under the control of the microprocessor, the elevator or carousel aligns the selected compartment with the card feed mechanism in order to receive the next card. The software then directs each numbered card to the selected slots by operating the elevator or carousel drive to position that slot to receive a card. The present invention also describes an alternative and optional unique method and component of the system for aligning the feed of cards into respective compartments and for forming decks of randomly arranged cards. The separators between compartments may have an edge facing the direction from which cards are fed, that edge having two acute angled surfaces (away from parallelism with the plane of the separator) so that cards may be deflected in either direction (above/below, left/right, top/bottom) with respect to the plane of the separator. When there are already one or more cards within a compartment, such deflection by the edge of the separator may insert cards above or below the card(s) in the compartment. The component that directs, moves, and/or inserts cards into the compartments may be controllably oriented to direct a leading edge of each card towards the randomly selected edge of a separator so that the card is inserted in the randomly selected compartment and in the proper orientation (above/below, left/right, top/bottom) with respect to a separator, the compartments, and card(s) in the compartments. The apparatus of the present invention is compact, easy to set up and program and, once programmed, can be maintained effectively and efficiently by minimally trained personnel who cannot affect the randomness of the card delivery. This means that the machines are more reliable in the field. Service costs are reduced, as are assembly costs and set up costs. The preferred device also has fewer parts, which should provide greater reliability than known devices. Another optional feature of the present invention is to have all compartments of equal size and fed into a final deck-forming compartment so that the handling of the cards effects a shuffling of the deck, without creating actual hands for play by players and/or the dealer. The equipment is substantially similar, with the compartments that were previously designated as hands or discards, having the cards contained therein subsequently stacked to form a shuffled deck(s). Another feature of the present invention is a mechanism that feeds cards into the compartments with a high rate of accuracy and that minimizes or eliminates wear on the cards, extending the useful life of the cards. The mechanism comprises a feed roller that remains in contact with the moving card (and possibly the subsequently exposed, underlying card) as cards are moved towards the second card-moving system (e.g., a pair of speed-up rollers), but advantageously disengages from the contact roller drive mechanism when a leading edge of the moving card contacts or is grasped and moved forward by the second card-moving system. Other features and advantages of the present invention will become more fully apparent and understood with reference to the following specification and to the appended drawings and claims. | 20040908 | 20060613 | 20050519 | 91820.0 | 2 | LAYNO, BENJAMIN | CARD SHUFFLER WITH STAGING AREA FOR COLLECTING GROUPS OF CARDS | UNDISCOUNTED | 1 | CONT-ACCEPTED | 2,004 |
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10,936,821 | ACCEPTED | Wireless protocol converter | Methods and systems for interfacing between broadband wireless communication systems and Local Area Network (LAN) systems includes a repeater station placed at a location that receives sufficient signal strength from a broadband wireless service provider. LAN devices interface with the broadband wireless service provider through the repeater station. The LAN devices are able to operate within the operating range of the repeater station. The repeater station includes a protocol converter that interfaces between a first protocol associated with the broadband wireless service provider, and one or more protocols associated with the devices. For example, and without limitation, the protocol converter converts between a first protocol associated with a Wide Area Network (WAN) service provider, such as a cellular telephone protocol, and one or more LAN protocols associated with the one or more devices. The one or more devices optionally include one or more wireless devices. | 1. A method for communicating comprising: receiving broadband wireless data formatted according to a cellular telephone protocol; converting said broadband wireless data from said cellular telephone protocol to a local area network (LAN) protocol; and transmitting said data converted to said LAN protocol. 2. The method according to claim 1, further comprising: receiving data formatted according to said LAN protocol; converting said data formatted according to said LAN protocol to said cellular telephone protocol; and transmitting said data converted to said cellular telephone protocol as broadband wireless data. 3. The method according to claim 2, wherein said LAN protocol complies with IEEE standard 802.11. 4. The method according to claim 2, wherein said method is performed at a substantially fixed position. 5. The method of claim 4, wherein said method is performed at one or more of a building, train station, subway, oil rig, church, prison, lamp post, bus shelter, school, office building, house, monument, telephone pole, tower, hotel, crane, warehouse, hanger, terminal, drydock, dam, jetway, bridge, dock, lock, marina, emergency services facility, police station, fire station, central office, equipment shelter, observation tower, power plant, factory, silo, research facility, shopping center, shopping mall, cellular communication system tower, traffic signal, fire escape, scaffold, bridge, convention center, sports arena, stadium, and stage. 6. The method according to claim 2, wherein said method is performed within a mobile platform. 7. The method of claim 6, wherein said method is performed within one or more of a bus, taxi, car, truck, tractor, van, multi-purpose vehicle, sport utility vehicle, police vehicle, fire truck, ambulance, train car, locomotive, airplane, helicopter, blimp, hovercraft, boat, ship, barge, tugboat, construction machinery, naval vessel, motorcycle, subway car, pullman, trolley, lawnmower, race car, all-terrain vehicle, golf cart, forklift, segway, scooter, bicycle, pedal car, rickshaw, sled, tractor-trailer, delivery truck, trailer, submarine, raft, and pushcart. 8. The method of claim 2, wherein said steps of transmitting and receiving said LAN protocol data comprise wirelessly transmitting and receiving said LAN protocol data. 9. The method of claim 8, wherein said steps of transmitting and receiving said LAN protocol data comprise wirelessly transmitting and receiving said LAN protocol data to and from a portable device. 10. The method of claim 9, wherein said steps of transmitting and receiving said LAN protocol data comprise wirelessly transmitting and receiving said LAN protocol data to and from a transportable computer. 11. The method of claim 8, wherein said steps of transmitting and receiving said LAN protocol data comprise wirelessly transmitting and receiving said LAN protocol data to and from a fixed-location device. 12. The method of claim 11, wherein said steps of transmitting and receiving said LAN protocol data comprise at least one of wirelessly transmitting and receiving said LAN protocol data to and from a home security system. 13. A method for communicating comprising: receiving data formatted according to a LAN protocol; converting said data formatted according to said LAN protocol to a cellular telephone protocol; and transmitting said data converted to said cellular telephone protocol as broadband wireless data. 14. A converter for interfacing between a cellular telephone system and local area network (LAN) system, comprising: a first transceiver configured to interface with a cellular telephone system; a second transceiver configured to interface with a LAN device; and a converter coupled between said first and second transceivers, said first converter configured to convert data between a cellular telephone protocol and a LAN protocol. 15. A method for communicating, comprising: receiving broadband wireless data formatted according to a wide area network protocol; converting said broadband wireless data from said wide area network protocol to a local area network (LAN) protocol; and transmitting said data converted to said LAN protocol. 16. A method for communicating, comprising: receiving data formatted according to a LAN protocol; converting said data formatted according to said LAN protocol to a wide area network protocol; and transmitting said data converted to said wide area network protocol as broadband wireless data. 17. The method according to claim 15, further comprising: receiving data formatted according to said LAN protocol; converting said data formatted according to said LAN protocol to said wide area network protocol; and transmitting said data converted to said wide area network protocol as broadband wireless data. 18. The method according to claim 17, wherein said LAN protocol complies with IEEE standard 802.11. 19. The method according to claim 17, wherein said wide area network protocol complies with at least one of a IEEE standard 802.16 or a satellite communication protocol. | BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates generally to wireless data communication and, more particularly, to broadband wireless data communication. 2. Related Art There is an increasing demand for broadband wireless communications, such as wireless internet access, which service providers are attempting to provide. Cellular telephone companies are advertising future availability of broadband wireless internet access. According to the advertising, users will be able to connect to the internet at ever increasing speeds using cellular telephone systems. Conventional cellular telephone systems do not provide uniform indoor or outdoor coverage. For example, a cellular telephone may work well in one part of a building but not in another part of the building or in one part of a city, but not the other. Thus, it is expected that broadband wireless technology, such as cellular broadband wireless technology, will suffer from at least the same and most likely more of the location limitations as conventional cellular telephone technology. In fact, for a number of reasons, it is expected that cellular broadband wireless technology will suffer even greater location limitations due to factors such as increased bandwidth and additional users. For example, broadband wireless communication will require transmissions at higher bandwidths to extend the available data rates. The higher the bandwidth, the more signal to noise ratio will be required to accurately transmit and receive the information. Given that all other factors remain the same, the distance and reliability will be reduced as the bandwidth increases. In addition, other cell phone frequency bands are being considered, at even higher frequencies. Cell phone systems deploying higher frequency technology will have increased distance and reliability problems due to increased directionally and free space loss. In many locations, the current coverage area is unacceptable for low speed voice applications. Higher bandwidth and higher frequency wireless signals will reduce the current coverage area even more. As a result, in some environments and locations, reception of broadband wireless communications is expected to be poor or non-existent. In other words, broadband wireless communications, such as planned internet access through cellular telephone systems, will not provide adequate coverage in many locations and situations. What is needed, therefore, is a method and system for extending the coverage area for broadband wireless communications, such as, but not limited to, planned internet access through cellular telephone systems. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention is directed to methods and systems for extending the coverage area for broadband wireless communications such as planned internet access through cellular telephone systems. The invention is not, however, limited to planned internet access through cellular telephone systems. A wireless repeater station is provided to interface between a broadband wireless service provider and one or more wireless devices. The wireless repeater station is placed at a location that receives sufficient signal strength from the broadband wireless service provider to enable the one or more wireless devices operate within the operating range of the repeater station. The repeater station includes a protocol converter that interfaces between a first protocol associated with the broadband wireless service provider, and one or more protocols associated with the devices. For example, and without limitation, the protocol converter converts between a first protocol associated with a wireless internet service provider, such as a cellular telephone protocol, and one or more Local Area Network (“LAN”) protocols associated with the one or more devices. The one or more devices optionally include one or more wireless devices. The devices are able to operate within a range of the repeater station. The present invention thus extends the coverage area of the broadband wireless service to the range of the repeater station. These and other features of the present invention will become readily apparent upon further review of the following specification and drawings or may be learned by practice of the invention. It is to be understood that both the foregoing summary and the following detailed description are exemplary, and are intended to provide further explanation of the invention as claimed. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS/FIGURES The present invention is described with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein generally like reference numbers indicate identical or functionally similar elements. Also generally, the leftmost digit(s) of the reference numbers identify the drawings in which the associated elements are first introduced. FIG. 1 is an exemplary illustration of a wireless LAN communication environment. FIG. 2 is an exemplary illustration of broadband wireless communication environment. FIG. 3 is a process flowchart for converting from a broadband wireless protocol to a wireless LAN protocol. FIG. 4 is a process flowchart for bi-directionally converting between a broadband wireless protocol and a wireless LAN protocol. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION I. Introduction The present invention is directed to methods and systems for extending the coverage area of broadband wireless communications, such as internet access through cellular telephone systems. FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an example local area network (“LAN”) system 100. The LAN system 100 includes an access point (“AP”) 102, such as a wired and/or wireless router. The AP 102 is connected via physical connection 104 to an internet service provider (“ISP”) 116. The physical connection 104 can be, for example, a hardwired broadband connection or a wireless broadband connection. The internet service provider (“ISP”) 116 is connected to the internet 106 through a connection 118. The AP 102 interfaces between the ISP 116 and one or more devices 112. The AP 102 optionally includes a wireless router and an antenna 108. In this embodiment, the AP 102 transmits and receives an electromagnetic wave 110 to communicate data with one or more of the devices 112, such as computers or other data processing devices with wireless LAN capability. Alternatively, or additionally, the AP 102 includes a physical connection 114 to one or more of the devices 112. Cellular telephone companies are attempting to design broadband wireless systems that will communicate wirelessly between the ISP 116 and devices 112, thus eliminating the need for physical connection 104 and/or AP 102. FIG. 2 is an illustration of a broadband wireless system 200. The broadband wireless system 200 includes the ISP 116 and System 100 as described above with reference to FIG. 1. In the example of FIG. 2, the ISP 116 is coupled to a transceiver apparatus or tower 206, such as a conventional cellular telephone transceiver tower. The cellular telephone transceiver tower 206 provides a broadband wireless communication link 210 in addition to wireless voice services and to a variety of wireless devices. For example, the transceiver tower 206 interfaces with a wireless device 214 (e.g., a laptop computer) via broadband wireless communications channel 210B. The transceiver tower 206 provides broadband wireless service (e.g., internet access) to the wireless device 214. The wireless communication channel 2101B has, for example, a cellular telephone protocol. Thus, the wireless device 214 need to contain, or be modified to include a communication device, such as a PCMCIA card or internal circuit card, plus associated software, to communicate with the transceiver tower 206 via wireless communication channel 210B. To be commercially effective, many wireless devices 214 will need to be equipped with additional hardware and/or software to be compatible with the cell phone network There are locations where the wireless device 214 does not effectively communicate with transceiver tower 206. For example, the electromagnetic wave of broadband wireless communications link 210 may not for whatever reason (obstructions, multi-path, increased bandwidth, etc.) reach all desired coverage areas. As a result, in some environments and locations, wireless communications is poor or non-existent due to poor propagation. In the example of FIG. 2, the transceiver tower 206 also communicates with a cellular telephone 212 via communication channel 210A. The communication channel 210A includes conventional cellular telephone service. Alternatively, or additionally, the communication channel 210A includes broadband wireless service (e.g., internet access). The communication channel 210A potentially suffers from the same drawbacks that affect communication channel 210B. II. Repeater Station In accordance with an aspect of the invention, the wireless system 200 includes a repeater station 226. The repeater station 226 is positioned to effectively communicate with the transceiver tower 206 through a wireless communication channel 210C. The repeater station 226 interfaces between the transceiver tower 206 and one or more devices 222. The repeater station 226 communicates with the one or more devices 222, or a portion thereof, via wireless communication link 230. Alternatively, or additionally, the repeater station 226 communicates with the one or more devices 222, or a portion thereof, via a physical link 228, which can be a wire, optic fiber, infra-red, and/or any other type of physical link. As described below with respect to FIGS. 3 and 4, the repeater station 226 is implemented to receive information from the transceiver tower 206, and/or to transmit the information to the one or more devices 222. Based on the description herein, one skilled in the relevant art(s) will understand that the repeater station 226 can be implemented in a variety of ways. III. Protocol Conversion In accordance with an embodiment of the invention, the repeater station 226 includes a protocol converter 220 that converts between a first protocol associated with the broadband wireless communication 210C, and one or more additional protocols associated with the one or more devices 222, or a portion thereof. For example, and without limitation, the first protocol of the communication channel 210C includes a cellular telephone protocol and at least one of the devices 222 operate with a second protocol, such as a LAN protocol. In this embodiment, the protocol converter 220 converts between the cellular telephone protocol and the LAN protocol. Example LAN protocols are described below. The protocol converter 220 permits the one or more devices 222 to utilize conventional LAN hardware, software, and/or firmware. Thus, where a device 222 includes pre-existing LAN capabilities, no special upgrades are required to the device 222. The invention is not limited, however, to existing LAN hardware, software, and/or firmware. Based on the description herein, one skilled in the relevant art(s) will understand that the protocol converter can be implemented to interface with conventional and/or future developed protocols. As noted above, aspects of the invention can be implemented for unidirectional or bi-directional operation. FIG. 3 is an example process flowchart 300 for converting from a first protocol to a second protocol, in accordance with an embodiment of the invention. Flowchart 300 is described below with reference to FIG. 2. The invention is not, however, limited to the example of FIG. 2. Based on the description herein, one skilled in the relevant art(s) will understand that the invention can be implemented with other systems. The flowchart 300 is now described for converting from a protocol associated with broadband wireless communication channel 210C, to a second protocol, such as a LAN protocol, associated with the one or more devices 222. The process begins at step 302, which includes receiving a broadband wireless communication having a first protocol. In the example of FIG. 2, the repeater station 226 receives information over communication channel 210C from the transceiver tower 206. The information on communication channel 210C is formatted according to, for example, a cellular telephone protocol. Step 304 includes converting the received broadband wireless communication from the first protocol to a second protocol. In FIG. 2, the protocol converter 220 converts information in communication channel 210C from the cellular telephone protocol to a LAN protocol. The LAN protocol can be, for example, a protocol in accordance with IEEE Standard 802.11 et sequens. IEEE Standard 802.11 is available, for example, at: <http://grouper.ieee.org/groups/802/11/>. Step 306 includes transmitting the protocol-converted communication to a device via wireless or wired means. In FIG. 2, the repeater station 226 transmits protocol-converted communication 230 to the device 222. Alternatively, or additionally, steps 302, 304, and 306 are implemented to communicate from one or more of the devices 222 to the tower 206. FIG. 4 is an example process flowchart 400 for bi-directional protocol conversion, in accordance with the aspects of the invention. Flowchart 400 is described below with reference to FIG. 2. The invention is not, however, limited to the example of FIG. 2. Based on the description herein, one skilled in the relevant art(s) will understand that the invention can be implemented with other systems. The process flowchart 400 begins with steps 302, 304, and 306, substantially as described above with respect to FIG. 3. The process flowchart 400 further includes step 402, which includes receiving a broadband communication formatted according to the second protocol, from a device. In the example of FIG. 2, the repeater station 226 receives communication 230 from the device 222. Alternatively, or additionally, the repeater station 226 receives a communication via physical link 228. The received communication is formatted according to a protocol associated with the device 222 (i.e., the second protocol, e.g., a LAN protocol). Step 404 includes converting the received communication from the second protocol to the first protocol. In the example of FIG. 2, the protocol converter 226 converts communication 230 from the LAN protocol to the cellular telephone protocol. Step 406 includes transmitting the protocol-converted communication. In FIG. 2, the repeater station 226 transmits protocol-converted information in communication channel 210C to the transceiver tower 206. Steps 302, 304, and 306 are optionally independent of steps 402, 404, and 406. Alternatively, steps 302, 304, and 306 are optionally dependent of steps 402, 404, and 406, and/or vice versa. For example, steps 302, 304, and 306 are optionally performed in response to steps 402, 404, and 406. Alternatively, or additionally, steps 402, 404, and 406 are optionally performed in response to steps 302, 304, and 306. IV. Example Implementations Aspects of the invention can be implemented in a variety of applications. A. Broadband Wireless Services The broadband wireless communication channel 210C (FIG. 2) can include one or more of a variety of types of wireless communication. For example, and without limitation, the wireless communication channel 210C can carry a cellular communication, such as a cellular telephone communication, and/or cellular wireless internet service. Alternatively, or additionally, the wireless communication channel 210C can carry one or more of a wide area network (“WAN”) communication, such as a wireless communication from an IEEE 802.16 tower or device, and/or a broadband satellite communication. The invention is not, however, limited to the examples herein. Based on the description herein, one skilled in the relevant art(s) will understand that the broadband wireless communication channel 210C can carry one or more of a variety of other types of broadband wireless communications. Similarly, the broadband wireless communication link 230, and/or a communication on physical link 228, optionally includes one or more of a variety of types of broadband communications, including, without limitation, LAN communication. As described above, the LAN protocol can be, for example, a protocol in accordance with IEEE Standard 802.11. Additional optional protocols are described below. The invention is not, however, limited to the examples herein. Based on the description herein, one skilled in the relevant art(s) will understand that the broadband wireless communication 230 and/or a communication on physical link 228, can include one or more of a variety of other types of broadband wireless communication. B. Physical Locations 1. Locations for the Repeater Station and Protocol Converter The repeater station 226 (FIG. 2) is positioned at a location that receives adequate signal strength with respect to broadband wireless communication channel 210C. The optional protocol converter 220 is incorporated within or coupled to the repeater station 226. The coupling can be physical and/or wireless. The repeater station 226 and/or the protocol converter 220 are optionally positioned in a fixed location. For example, and without limitation, the repeater station 226 and the protocol converter 220 are positioned on or within a building, train station, subway, oil rig, church, prison, lamp post, bus shelter, school, office building, house, monument, telephone pole, tower, hotel, crane, warehouse, hanger, terminal, drydock, dam, jetway, bridge, dock, lock, marina, emergency services facility, police station, fire station, central office, equipment shelter, observation tower, power plant, factory, silo, research facility, shopping center, shopping mall, cellular communication system tower, traffic signal, fire escape, scaffold, bridge, convention center, sports arena, stadium, stage, and/or other man-made structure. The repeater station 226 and/or the protocol converter 220 are optionally positioned on a fixed installation on a naturally-occurring structure or terrain feature. The protocol converter 220 is optionally designed to be wall-mountable, rack-mountable, and/or surface-mountable. Alternatively or additionally, the repeater station 226 and/or the protocol converter 220 are optionally positioned on a mobile platform. In this way, the one or more devices 222 are can be moved around within a range of the mobile platform. For example, and without limitation, the repeater station 226 and/or the protocol converter 220 are positioned on or within a bus, taxi, car, truck, tractor, van, multi-purpose vehicle, sport utility vehicle, police vehicle, fire truck, ambulance, train car, locomotive, airplane, helicopter, blimp, hovercraft, boat, ship, barge, tugboat, construction machinery, naval vessel, motorcycle, subway car, pullman, trolley, lawnmower, race car, all-terrain vehicle, golf cart, forklift, segway, scooter, bicycle, pedal car, rickshaw, sled, tractor-trailer, delivery truck, trailer, submarine, raft, pushcart, and/or other transportation apparatus. 2. Locations for the Devices The one or more devices 222 are positioned in a location that receives adequate signal strength with respect to broadband wireless communication 224 and/or a communication on physical link 228. The one or more devices 222 are mobile within a range of the repeater station 226. C. Device Types The one or more devices 222 can include a variety of types of devices, such as, without limitation, a desk-top computer, lap-top computer, printer, security system, thermostat, household appliance, industrial appliance, watercraft, airplane, industrial machinery, and/or electronic control system, such as an electronic control system for an automobile. The invention is not limited to these examples, but includes any data processing device or communication. D. Controls, Settings, and Indicators The repeater station 226 and/or the protocol converter 220 optionally include one or more controllable settings. The settings can include settings that are wholly controlled by a manufacturer and/or settings that are user selectable. The settings can include, for example, protocol selection settings that allow a manufacturer and/or user to select one or more protocols that are compatible with the protocol of the broadband wireless transmission 210C. The protocol converter 220 is also optionally factory set to communicate using a protocol that is compatible with the desired wireless LAN protocol. Alternatively, or additionally, the protocol of the broadband wireless transmission 210 is user-selectable. Alternatively, or additionally, the wireless LAN protocol is user-selectable. Alternatively, or additionally, the protocol converter 220 automatically senses and selects the broadband wireless protocol and/or the wireless LAN protocol. Device addresses, subscriber numbers, phone numbers, and other device identifiers set in hardware and/or software of the protocol converter 220 are factory pre-set, user-selectable, and/or automatically sensed and set. Software settings are optionally effected remotely by physical and/or wireless connection. Alternatively, or additionally, software settings are optionally effected locally. Other optional controllable features include varying the output power of the repeater station 226 to maintain an optimal signal between the protocol converter 220 and devices 220 and/or transceiver tower 206. Power adjustment is effected manually and/or automatically. The protocol converter 220 optionally provides multiple broadband wireless communications channel 210C to provide, for example, diverse and/or redundant service. The protocol converter 220 optionally provides multiple wireless LAN connections 230. The protocol converter 220 optionally includes one or more antennas to communicate with the one or more devices 220 and/or the transceiver tower 206. In an embodiment, the protocol converter 220 includes a single antenna to communicate with the one or more devices 220 and the transceiver tower 206. Alternatively, or additionally, the protocol converter 220 includes at least one antenna to communicate with the one or more devices 220, and at least one other antenna to communicate with the transceiver tower 206. The protocol converter 220 optionally includes at least one of: an integral antenna; an external antenna; a removable antenna; and a fixed antenna; to communicate with the one or more devices 220 and/or the transceiver tower 206. The repeater station 226 and/or the protocol converter 220 optionally include a data router, which includes one or more receptacles or ports for a wired LAN. The repeater station 226 and/or the protocol converter 220 optionally include one or more of a DSL modem, cable modem, ISDN modem, and/or dial-up modem. The repeater station 226 and/or the protocol converter 220 optionally include one or more password protection features. The repeater station 226, the protocol converter 220, and or the device 222 optionally include a hardwired or cordless telephone system. The repeater station 226, the protocol converter 220, and or the device 222 optionally include one or more audio inputs for voice activated connections. The repeater station 226, the protocol converter 220, and or the device 222 optionally include one or more audio outputs for providing information or requests to a user. The repeater station 226 and/or the protocol converter 220 are optionally powered by one or more of a variety of power sources including AC, DC, and/or battery power sources. The repeater station 226, the protocol converter 220, and or the device 222 optionally include one or more of a variety of visual and/or audible indicators, such as status indicators. Status indicators can include, without limitation, link, data rate, RF transmit power, RF signal strength, supply power, and/or protocol type. The repeater station 226, optionally includes Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) capability. A VoIP enabled device would be able to communicate with cell tower 206 (FIG. 2), thereby enabling bidirectional VoIP to cell phone voice communications. The repeater station 226, optionally includes Quality of Service (QoS) capability. The QoS protocol could give higher priority to voice information, thereby enabling seamless voice and data communications on a network. D. Example Environments The repeater station 226 and/or the protocol converter 220 can be implemented in one or more of a variety of environments. For example, and without limitation, repeater station 226 and/or the protocol converter 220 can be implemented as part of a system associated with one or more of the following, alone and/or in combination with one another: local area networks; remote monitoring; security systems, including home security systems and/or industrial security systems; remote data logging; monitoring of utility meters, such as oil or gas meters, residential and/or commercial; Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA); Monitoring and/or contol of environmental conditions; remote telemetry; factory automation; point-of-sale monitoring; wireless inventory control; mobile sales; field service; meter reading; warehousing applications; portable data terminals; audio/visual transmissions; radio transmissions; television transmissions; home automation; security monitoring; medical monitoring; home and/or industrial heating and/or air-conditioning controls; and/or packet data radio. Network Standards The wireless communications 230, 210A, 210B, 210C, and/or 110; and/or communications over physical link 228 and/or 114; are optionally implemented in accordance with, and/or are in conformance with, one or more of the following standards: IEEE 802.11a, IEEE 802.11b, IEEE 802.11g, IEEE 802.16, IEEE 802.16a, IEEE 802.16e, IEEE 802.20, IEEE 802.15, T1, T3, DS1, DS3, ethernet, HiperMAN, HiperAccess, WirelessMAN, HiperLAN, HiperLAN2, HiperLink, internet protocol, transmission control protocol, atm, ppp, ipx, appletalk, windows nt, systems network architecture, decnet, netware, ipx, spx, netbios, Ethernet, FDDI, PPP, Token-Ring, IEEE 802.11, Classical IP over ATM, 3GPP2 All, 802.11 MGT, 802.11 Radiotap, AAL1, AAL3—4, AARP, ACAP, ACSE, AFP, AFS (RX), AH, AIM, AIM Administration, AIM Advertisements, AIM BOS, AIM Buddylist, AIM Chat, AIM ChatNav, AIM Directory, AIM Generic, AIM ICQ, AIM Invitation, AIM Location, AIM Messaging, AIM OFT, AIM Popup, AIM SSI, AIM Signon, AIM Stats, AIM Translate, AIM User Lookup, AJP13, ALCAP, ANS, ANSI BSMAP, ANSI DTAP, ANSI IS-637-A Teleservice, ANSI IS-637-A Transport, ANSI IS-683-A (OTA (Mobile)), ANSI IS-801 (Location Services (PLD)), ANSI MAP, AODV, ARCNET, ARP/RARP, ASAP, ASF, ASP, ATM, ATM LANE, ATP, ATSVC, AVS WLANCAP, Auto-RP, BACapp, BACnet, BEEP, BER, BFD Control, BGP, BICC, BOFL, BOOTP/DHCP, BOOTPARAMS, BOSSVR, BROWSER, BSSAP, BSSGP, BUDB, BUTC, BVLC, Boardwalk, CAST, CCSDS, CDP, CDS_CLERK, CFLOW, CGMP, CHDLC, CLDAP, CLEARCASE, CLNP, CLTP, CONV, COPS, COTP, CPFI, CPHA, CUPS, CoSine, DCCP, DCERPC, DCE_DFS, DDP, DDTP, DEC_STP, DFS, DHCPv6, DISTCC, DLSw, DNS, DNSSERVER, DRSUAPI, DSI, DTSPROVIDER, DTSSTIME_REQ, DVMRP, Data, Diameter, E.164, EAP, EAPOL, ECHO, EDONKEY, EFSRPC, EIGRP, ENC, ENIP, EPM, EPM4, ESIS, ESP, ETHERIP, Ethernet, FC, FC ELS, FC FZS, FC-FCS, FC-SB3, FC-SP, FC-SWILS, FC-dNS, FCIP, FCP, FC_CT, FDDI, FIX, FLDB, FR, FTAM, FTP, FTP-DATA, FTSERVER, FW-1, Frame, GIF image, GIOP, GMRP, GNUTELLA, GPRS NS, GPRS-LLC, GRE, GSM BSSMAP, GSM DTAP, GSM MAP, GSM RP, GSM SMS, GSM SMS UD, GSS-API, GTP, GVRP, H.261, H.263, H1, H225, H245, H4501, HCLNFSD, HPEXT, HSRP, HTTP, HyperSCSI, IAPP, IB, ICAP, ICL_RPC, ICMP, ICMPv6, ICP, ICQ, IGAP, IGMP, IGRP, ILMI, IMAP, INITSHUTDOWN, IP, IP/IEEE1394, IPComp, IPDC, IPFC, IPMI, IPP, IPVS, IPX, IPX MSG, IPX RIP, IPX SAP, IPX WAN, IPv6, IRC, ISAKMP, ISDN, ISIS, ISL, ISMP, ISUP, IUA, Inter-Asterisk eXchange v2, JFIF (JPEG) image, Jabber, KADM5, KLM, KRB5, KRB5RPC, Kpasswd, L2TP, LACP, LANMAN, LAPB, LAPBETHER, LAPD, LDAP, LDP, LLAP, LLC, LMI, LMP, LPD, LSA, LSA_DS, LWAPP, LWAPP-CNTL, LWAPP-L3, Laplink, Line-based text data, Lucent/Ascend, M2PA, M2TP, M2UA, M3UA, MAPI, MDS Header, MGMT, MIME multipart, MIPv6, MMSE, MOUNT, MPEG1, MPLS, MPLS Echo, MQ, MQ PCF, MRDISC, MS Proxy, MSDP, MSNIP, MSNMS, MTP2, MTP3, MTP3MG, Media, Messenger, Mobile IP, Modbus/TCP, MySQL, NBDS, NBIPX, NBNS, NBP, NBSS, NCP, NDMP, NDPS, NETLOGON, NFS, NFSACL, NFSAUTH, NIS+, NIS+CB, NLM, NLSP, NMAS, NMPI, NNTP, NSPI, NTLMSSP, NTP, NW_SERIAL, NetBIOS, Null, OAM AAL, OLSR, OSPF, OXID, PCNFSD, PER, PFLOG, PFLOG-OLD, PGM, PIM, POP, POSTGRESQL, PPP, PPP BACP, PPP BAP, PPP CBCP, PPP CCP, PPP CDPCP, PPP CHAP, PPP Comp, PPP IPCP, PPP IPV6CP, PPP LCP, PPP MP, PPP MPLSCP, PPP OSICP, PPP PAP, PPP PPPMux, PPP PPPMuxCP, PPP VJ, PPPoED, PPPoES, PPTP, PRES, PTP, Portmap, Prism, Q.2931, Q.931, Q.933, QLLC, QUAKE, QUAKE2, QUAKE3, QUAKEWORLD, RADIUS, RANAP, REMACT, REP_PROC, RIP, RIPng, RMCP, RMI, RMP, RPC, RPC_BROWSER, RPC_NETLOGON, RPL, RQUOTA, RSH, RSTAT, RSVP, RSYNC, RS_ACCT, RS_ATTR, RS_BIND, RS_PGO, RS_PLCY, RS_REPADM, RS_REPLIST, RS_UNIX, RTCP, RTMP, RTP, RTP Event, RTPS, RTSP, RWALL, RX, Raw, Raw_SIP, Rlogin, SADMIND, SAMR, SAP, SCCP, SCCPMG, SCSI, SCTP, SDLC, SDP, SEBEK, SECIDMAP, SES, SGI MOUNT, SIP, SIPFRAG, SKINNY, SLARP, SLL, SMB, SMB Mailslot, SMB Pipe, SMPP, SMTP, SMUX, SNA, SNA XID, SNAETH, SNDCP, SNMP, SONMP, SPNEGO-KRB5, SPOOLSS, SPRAY, SPX, SRVLOC, SRVSVC, SSCOP, SSH, SSL, STAT, STAT-CB, STP, STUN, SUA, SVCCTL, Serialization, SliMP3, Socks, SoulSeek, Spnego, Symantec, Syslog, T38, TACACS, TACACS+, TAPI, TCAP, TCP, TDS, TEI_MANAGEMENT, TELNET, TEREDO, TFTP, TIME, TKN4Int, TNS, TPCP, TPKT, TR MAC, TRKSVR, TSP, TUXEDO, TZSP, Token-Ring, UBIKDISK, UBIKVOTE, UCP, UDP, UDPENCAP, V.120, VLAN, VRRP, VTP, Vines ARP, Vines Echo, Vines FRP, Vines ICP, Vines IP, Vines IPC, Vines LLC, Vines RTP, Vines SPP, WAP SIR, WBXML, WCCP, WCP, WHDLC, WHO, WINREG, WKSSVC, WSP, WTLS, WTP, X.25, X.29, X11, XDMCP, XOT, XYPLEX, YHOO, YMSG, YPBIND, YPPASSWD, YPSERV, YPXFR, ZEBRA, ZIP, cds_solicit, cprpc_server, dce_update, dicom, iSCSI, iSNS, 11b, message/http, rdaclif, roverride, rpriv, rs_attr_schema, rs_misc, rs_prop_acct, rs_prop_acl, rs_prop_attr, rs_prop_pgo, rs_prop_plcy, rs_pwd_mgmt, rs_repmgr, rsec_login, and/or sFlow. The communication channels 210A, 210B, and/or 210C optionally include, and/or are generated according to, and/or are in conformance with, without limitation, one or more of: quadrature amplitude modulation, orthogonal frequency division multiplexing, vector orthogonal frequency division multiplexing, wideband orthogonal frequency division multiplexing, frequency division duplex, time division duplex, gaussian minimum shift keying, binary phase shift keying, differential phase shift keying, quadrature phase shift keying, binary frequency shift keying, minimum shift keying, phase shift keying, frequency shift keying, direct sequence spread spectrum, pulse code modulation, pulse amplitude modulation, amplitude modulation, frequency modulation, angle modulation, quadrature multiplexing, single sideband amplitude modulation, vestigial sideband amplitude modulation, analog modulation, digital modulation, phase modulation, and/or frequency hopped spread spectrum. The invention is optionally implemented with one or more of: gsm, cdma, gprs, umts, cdma2000, tdma, cellular, iden, pdc, is-95, is-136, is-54, is-661, amps, dcs 1800, edge, pcs 1900, gsm 900, gsm 850, namps, sdma, uwc-136, wpcdma, wap, a wide area network protocol, a satellite radio protocol, and/or wcdma. The invention may include any combination of the foregoing, although the invention is not, however, limited to the examples herein. CONCLUSION From the foregoing disclosure and detailed description, it will be apparent that various modifications, additions, and other alternative embodiments are possible without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention. Such modifications and variations are within the scope of the present invention as determined by the appended claims when interpreted in accordance with the benefit to which they are fairly, legally, and equitably entitled. The present invention has been described above with the aid of functional building blocks illustrating the performance of specified functions and relationships thereof. The boundaries of these functional building blocks have been defined herein for the convenience of the description. Alternate boundaries can be defined so long as the specified functions and relationships thereof are appropriately performed. Such alternate boundaries are within the scope and spirit of the claimed invention. One skilled in the art will recognize that these functional building blocks can be implemented by discrete components, application specific integrated circuits, processors executing appropriate software and the like and combinations thereof. While various embodiments of the present invention have been described above, it should be understood that they have been presented by way of example only, and not limitation. Ownership and/or possession of equipment by an entity is presented herein by way of example only, and not limitation. Thus, the breadth and scope of the present invention should not be limited by any of the above-described exemplary embodiments, but should be defined only in accordance with the following claims and their equivalents. | <SOH> BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION <EOH>1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates generally to wireless data communication and, more particularly, to broadband wireless data communication. 2. Related Art There is an increasing demand for broadband wireless communications, such as wireless internet access, which service providers are attempting to provide. Cellular telephone companies are advertising future availability of broadband wireless internet access. According to the advertising, users will be able to connect to the internet at ever increasing speeds using cellular telephone systems. Conventional cellular telephone systems do not provide uniform indoor or outdoor coverage. For example, a cellular telephone may work well in one part of a building but not in another part of the building or in one part of a city, but not the other. Thus, it is expected that broadband wireless technology, such as cellular broadband wireless technology, will suffer from at least the same and most likely more of the location limitations as conventional cellular telephone technology. In fact, for a number of reasons, it is expected that cellular broadband wireless technology will suffer even greater location limitations due to factors such as increased bandwidth and additional users. For example, broadband wireless communication will require transmissions at higher bandwidths to extend the available data rates. The higher the bandwidth, the more signal to noise ratio will be required to accurately transmit and receive the information. Given that all other factors remain the same, the distance and reliability will be reduced as the bandwidth increases. In addition, other cell phone frequency bands are being considered, at even higher frequencies. Cell phone systems deploying higher frequency technology will have increased distance and reliability problems due to increased directionally and free space loss. In many locations, the current coverage area is unacceptable for low speed voice applications. Higher bandwidth and higher frequency wireless signals will reduce the current coverage area even more. As a result, in some environments and locations, reception of broadband wireless communications is expected to be poor or non-existent. In other words, broadband wireless communications, such as planned internet access through cellular telephone systems, will not provide adequate coverage in many locations and situations. What is needed, therefore, is a method and system for extending the coverage area for broadband wireless communications, such as, but not limited to, planned internet access through cellular telephone systems. | <SOH> SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION <EOH>The present invention is directed to methods and systems for extending the coverage area for broadband wireless communications such as planned internet access through cellular telephone systems. The invention is not, however, limited to planned internet access through cellular telephone systems. A wireless repeater station is provided to interface between a broadband wireless service provider and one or more wireless devices. The wireless repeater station is placed at a location that receives sufficient signal strength from the broadband wireless service provider to enable the one or more wireless devices operate within the operating range of the repeater station. The repeater station includes a protocol converter that interfaces between a first protocol associated with the broadband wireless service provider, and one or more protocols associated with the devices. For example, and without limitation, the protocol converter converts between a first protocol associated with a wireless internet service provider, such as a cellular telephone protocol, and one or more Local Area Network (“LAN”) protocols associated with the one or more devices. The one or more devices optionally include one or more wireless devices. The devices are able to operate within a range of the repeater station. The present invention thus extends the coverage area of the broadband wireless service to the range of the repeater station. These and other features of the present invention will become readily apparent upon further review of the following specification and drawings or may be learned by practice of the invention. It is to be understood that both the foregoing summary and the following detailed description are exemplary, and are intended to provide further explanation of the invention as claimed. | 20040909 | 20110621 | 20060309 | 98159.0 | H04Q720 | 1 | MEHRPOUR, NAGHMEH | WIRELESS PROTOCOL CONVERTER | UNDISCOUNTED | 0 | ACCEPTED | H04Q | 2,004 |
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10,936,891 | ACCEPTED | Utility knife with safety guard having reduced play | A utility knife has a protective guard that moves from a locked position to an unlocked position. Preferred mechanisms utilize a pawl that cooperates with a stop to reduce movement of the guard while the guard is in a locked position, and a simple latching mechanism that allows the pawl to bypass the stop. The pawl is disposed with respect to other elements of the mechanism such that the blade guard can only pulled back to a retracted position after operation of a trigger or other actuator, and then only for a single use. Both the stop and the catch can advantageously be carried in a fixed special relation to one another by operation of a trigger or other actuator. | 1. An improved utility knife having a body, a blade, and a blade guard coupled to the body, the blade guard disposed to intermittently protect a cutting edge of the blade, the improvement comprising: a pawl coupled to the blade guard; and the pawl having a first portion that operates against a stop to prevent the blade guard from exposing the cutting edge, and a second portion that operates against a catch to bypass the stop. 2. The utility knife of claim 1 wherein the pawl hinges on the blade guard. 3. The utility knife of claim 1 wherein the first portion is located at a joint of the pawl. 4. The utility knife of claim 1 wherein the second portion comprises a finger located at an end of the pawl. 5. The utility knife of claim 1 wherein an arm of the pawl biases the blade guard into a deployed position. 6. The utility knife of claim 1 wherein a first arm of the pawl biases the blade guard into a deployed position, and a second arm of the pawl cooperates with the stop and the catch to lock and unlock the blade guard. 7. The utility knife of claim 1 wherein the stop is disposed in a fixed special relation to the pin. 8. The utility knife of claim 1 wherein the stop and the catch are carried on a member that can be pivoted by operation of the actuator. 9. The utility knife of claim 1 wherein the catch acts upon a spring that exerts a force on the pawl. 10. The utility knife of claim 1 wherein the actuator comprises a trigger mounted on an underside of the body. 11. The utility knife of claim 1 wherein the first portion is maintained within 5 mm of the stop prior to release of the latch. 12. The utility knife of claim 1 wherein the first portion is maintained within 3 mm of the stop prior to release of the latch. 13. The utility knife of claim 1 wherein the first portion is maintained within 2 mm of the stop prior to release of the latch. 14. The utility knife of claim 1 wherein the first portion is maintained within 1 mm of the stop prior to release of the latch. 15. The utility knife of claim 1 wherein the pawl hinges on the blade guard, the first portion is located at a joint of the pawl, and the second portion comprises a finger located at an end of the pawl. 16. The utility knife of claim 1 wherein the stop is disposed in a fixed special relation to the pin, and the stop and the catch are carried on a member that can be pivoted by operation of the actuator. 17. The utility knife of claim 1 wherein the first portion is maintained within 5 mm of the stop prior to release of the latch. 18. The utility knife of claim 1 wherein the pawl is disposed with respect to the stop and the catch such that the pawl locks the blade guard in a protective position, releases the blade guard to an operating position upon operation of the actuator, and automatically re-locks the blade guard to prevent more than a single use of the blade until further operation of the actuator. 19. The utility knife of claim 18 wherein movement of the blade guard allows cutting edge of the blade to be exposed to a depth of at least 8 mm. 20. The utility knife of claim 18 wherein movement of the blade guard allows cutting edge of the blade to be exposed to a depth of at least 10 mm. | FIELD OF THE INVENTION The field of the invention is utility knives. BACKGROUND OF THE SUBJECT MATTER Utility knives typically have a sharp cutting blade that can either (a) be retracted into a housing, or (b) released to an operating disposition by movement of a protective blade guard. In either case problems arise where the blade is left in an unprotected disposition where it can accidentally cause injury to a user. The problem of accidental injury has been long recognized, with numerous solutions being put forward at various times. U.S. Pat. No. 4,980,977 to Matin et al. (January 1991), for example, describes a knife having a safety guard that guards the blade when not in use, and automatically retracts as the blade is removed from the workpiece. The guard has a manually triggered self-locking release assembly that automatically relocks the guard when retracted. Unfortunately, Matin's locking mechanism is external to the housing housing, which is dangerous because the mechanism is readily subjected to debris that could jam or otherwise interfere with both the locking and unlocking functions. In addition, Matin's safety guard pivots off the blade externally to the housing housing, rather than being retracted into the housing. That operation is dangerous because the pivoted guard can readily interfere with operation of the knife. U.S. Pat. No. 5,878,501 to Owens et al. (March 1999) uses an internal locking mechanism, but leaves the blade in the “use” position for multiple uses. There is no automatic re-locking mechanism, and withdrawal of the blade into the housing is entirely manual. More recently the present inventor pioneered utility knives having a mechanism that automatically re-locks the protective blade guarding to prevent more than a single use of the blade. Pending applications include Ser. No. 09/804,451, published in September 2002 as 2003/0131393, and Ser. No. 10/300,382, published in May 2004 as 2004/0093734. These and all other referenced patents and applications are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety. While providing considerable improvement over the prior art, the preferred embodiments of the utility knives described in the Ser. Nos. 09/804,451 and 10/300,382 applications have more “play” in the blade guard than might be desired in some circumstances. In the Ser. No. 10/300,382 application, for example, a preferred locking mechanism utilizes a pawl that rides in a looped pathway. Two ramped steps on the pathway limit the pawl's travel to a one-way direction, so that once the pawl starts along the pathway, it must finish a complete loop. The mechanism, however, allows some slight backward motion of the pawl, and thus introduces potentially undesirable play in the blade guard. Thus, there is a need for an improved locking/releasing mechanism that automatically re-locks the protective blade guarding to prevent more than a single use of the blade, while reducing the play in the blade guard. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention provides methods and apparatus in which a utility knife has a protective guard that moves from a locked position to an unlocked position. Preferred mechanisms utilize a pawl hat cooperates with a stop to reduce movement of the guard while the guard is in a locked position, and a simple latching mechanism that allows the pawl to bypass the stop. The pawl is disposed with respect to other elements of the mechanism such that the blade guard can only pulled back to a retracted position after operation of a trigger or other actuator, and then only for a single use. The guard cannot be retracted a second time until the actuator is released, and then operated anew. In preferred embodiments pawl has a finger portion that juxtaposes the stop and operates against a pin. Both the stop and the catch can advantageously be carried in a fixed special relation to one another by operation of a trigger or other actuator. “Play” of the protective guard is limited by the distance between the joint and the stop in the locked position, which distance is preferably less than 5 mm, more preferably less than 3 mm, still more preferably less than 2 mm, and most preferably less than 1 mm. Various objects, features, aspects and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description of preferred embodiments of the invention, along with the accompanying drawings in which like numerals represent like components. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES FIG. 1 is a side view of a portion of an opened utility knife case, with the blade guard in the deployed (protecting) position, and the pawl in a locked position. FIG. 2 is a side view of the opened utility knife case of FIG. 1, showing the trigger in a depressed (actuated) position, and the pawl in an unlocked position. FIG. 3 is a side view of the opened utility knife case of FIG. 1, showing the pawl in an unlocked position, and the blade guard moving away from the deployed position. FIG. 4 is a side view of the opened utility knife case of FIG. 1, showing the pawl reverted to the locked position upon slight movement of the blade guard. FIG. 5 is a side view of the opened utility knife case of FIG. 1, showing the blade guard in a retracted position, with the blade exposed. FIG. 6 is a side view of the opened utility knife case of FIG. 1, showing the blade guard reverted back to a deployed position, and the pawl in a locked position. FIGS. 7, 8 are side views of an alternative opened utility knife case, with components removed to show the pawl and pawl spring. Various objects, features, aspects and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description of preferred embodiments of the invention, along with the accompanying drawings in which like numerals represent like components. DETAILED DESCRIPTION In FIG. 1 a utility knife 1 generally comprises a housing 10 (only the front portion of which is shown), a blade 20, a blade guard 30, a pawl 40, a carriage that carries a stop 52 and a catch 54, and a trigger 60. Housing 10 is preferably sized and dimensioned to fit comfortably in the hand of a user. Housing 10 can be made of any suitable material, including metals, alloys, and plastics, and can have a hollowed out section (not shown) for storing spare blades. Housing 10 is preferably ambidextrous, but alternatively can include contours that would tend to make the device more acceptable to right or left handed use. The reader will note that housing 10 includes numerous structural elements that are not labeled. Blade 20 is preferably triangular shaped at one or both ends, and has at least one cutting edge 22. Blade 20 is preferably made of non-rusting alloy, but can also be made of other materials, including for example various plastics. Blade 20 is shown here as being held by blade holder 24. Blade guard 30 generally guards the blade 20 when the guard is in a fully deployed position (as show), and allows use of the blade when the guard is in the retracted position (see FIG. 5). To that end blade guard 30 has a slit along one edge 31 through which at least a portion of the edge 22 of blade 20 can extend. Guard 30 is continuous with guard arm 32, and pivots about pivot 34. The pin 35 for pivot 34 is preferably fixed to or extending from the housing 10. Guard arm 32 also carries a pin or pin portion 36 about which the pawl 40 pivots. Blade guard 30 is preferably made of transparent or at least translucent plastic, so that the user can see the blade being protected. Alternatively, blade guard 30 can be made of metal or any other suitable material or materials. Pawl 40 has a first pawl arm 42 that pushes against the guard arm 32 at area 37, and thereby biases the blade guard 30 into the deployed position shown in the Figure. To that end first pawl arm 42 is should have some degree of springiness, whether inherently or through addition of an additional spring (not shown). Pawl 40 also has a second pawl arm 44 that cooperates with stop 52 to prevent guard arm 32 from pivoting about pin 35, and thereby prevents the blade guard 30 from retracting. Second pawl arm 44 has a joint 45 (which could also be called an elbow), and extending from the joint 45 is a finger 46 (which is also referred to herein as a latch) that cooperates with catch 54 in a latching motion. It is the finger 46 and in part the joint 45 that actually juxtapose the stop 52. Pawl 40 is preferably constructed of a single, continuous piece of metal alloy, or plastic. Carriage 50 pivots about pin 56, which is attached to or extending from housing 10. The pivoting motion is controlled by depression and release of trigger 60. Stop 52 and catch 54 are each preferably attached to or extending from the carriage 50, with their respective positions fixed at a distance of less than 2 cm., depending on the width of second pawl arm 44. Carriage 50, stop 52, and catch 54 can be made from any suitable material or materials, and can be shaped as shown or can have any other suitable shapes. Trigger 60 is shown on the underside of the housing 10, and is positioned relatively forward so that the trigger is easily operated by the users forefinger. All other suitable positions are contemplated, including positions on the top or side of the housing 10. Those skilled in the art will also appreciate that the trigger 60 is merely emblematic of a more general actuator, which could take the form of a push button, a slider, and so forth. Trigger 60 is preferably constructed from metal or plastic. In FIG. 1 the utility knife 1 is shown with the blade guard 30 in the deployed (protecting) position, and the pawl 40 in a locked position. Locking is accomplished by the approximate juxtaposition of joint 45 and finger 36 against stop 52. In this position the maximum distance between finger 36 and stop 52 determines the play (slight movement) that blade guard 30 can undergo. As such it is beneficial if the distance 55 is less than 5 mm, more preferably less than 3 mm, even more preferably less than 2 mm, and most preferably less than 1 mm. In FIG. 2 the trigger 60 has been depressed (squeezed) against the housing 10 in the direction of arrow 12, with the effect that the carriage 50 has rotated upwards (from the point of view of the drawing). That motion has disengaged the finger 46 from the stop 52, which will subsequently allow the second pawl arm 44 to move to the right past the stop 52. The pawl is thus in an unlocked position in this Figure. In FIG. 3 the blade guard 30 has been pushed back slightly, enough to displace the joint 47 and finger 46 past the stop 45, but not enough for the blade 22 to protrude through the slit 31 in the blade guard 30. If, from this position the pressure against the blade guard 30 is removed, so that the blade guard 30 reverts back to the fully deployed position of FIG. 1, then the pawl arm 44 at joint 45 and finger 46 would re-lock against the stop 52. That situation is shown in FIG. 4. In FIG. 5 the blade guard 30 has been pushed back to its greatest extent, as limited by the guard arm 32 striking rest 70 attached to or formed as part of the housing 10. In this position the blade 20 extends through slot 31 to a maximal extent, which in preferred embodiments exposes the cutting edge 22 of the blade 20 to depth of at least 8 mm, more preferably at least 9 mm, still more preferably at least 10 mm, and most preferably almost 11 mm. Movement of the blade guard 30 is presumably caused by the user pushing the guard 30 against a cardboard box or other surface being cut (not shown), with the blade guard 30 being retracted and the blade 20 being forced into the box material. In FIG. 6 the pressure on the blade guard 30 has been removed, and the guard 30 has returned to its fully deployed position. This presumably occurs because the user has made the needed cut, and removed the blade 20 from the surface being cut. Since the blade guard 30 is continuous with guard arm 32, pivoting about pin 35, the portion of guard arm 32 containing pin 36 is also returned to its native position, which carries joint 45 and finger 46 back to engage stop 52. In this position the blade guard 30 cannot be retracted because there is nothing to disengage the joint 45 and finger 46 from the stop 52. To disengage and restart the cycle, the trigger 60 must be released, which would carry the hooked end 47 of finger 46 to where it would latch against catch 54. This brings us full cycle back to FIG. 1. Of course, the trigger 60 need not be operated during the entire cutting cycle, and can be release as soon as the latching mechanism is unlocked. In an alternative embodiment of FIGS. 7 and 8, a utility knife 100 generally comprises a housing 100 (only the front portion of which is shown), a blade 120, a blade guard 130, a pawl 140, a carriage that carries a stop 152 and a catch 154, and a trigger 160. Except as noted below, all of the components are substantially similar to those in FIGS. 1-6, with component numbering of FIG. 7 being higher by 100 relative to those of FIGS. 1-6. Pawl 140 has a first pawl arm 142 that pushes against the guard arm 132 at area 137, and thereby biases the blade guard 130 into the deployed position shown in FIG. 7. To that end first pawl arm 142 is should have some degree of springiness, whether inherently or through addition of an additional spring (not shown). Pawl 140 also has a second pawl arm 144 that cooperates with stop 152 to prevent guard arm 132 from pivoting about pin 135, and thereby prevents the blade guard 130 from retracting. Second pawl arm 144 has a joint 145 (which could also be called an elbow), and extending from the joint 145 is a finger 146 (which could be utilized as a latch, but which is not necessarily utilized in this embodiment). It is the finger 146 and in part the joint 145 that actually juxtapose the stop 152. Pawl 140 is preferably constructed of a single, continuous piece of metal alloy, or plastic. In FIG. 7, the latch and catch are embodied not by the finger 146, but by a catch 180 operating on spring 182. As will be appreciated, spring 182 exerts a force on the pawl 140 during at least some portion of the operation of the blade guard 130. It should therefore be appreciated that the two embodiments shown in the Figures are merely exemplary, and only depict one of many possible embodiments corresponding to the disclosed subject matter. What is contemplated herein is the entire class of embodiments of utility knives where a blade guard automatically re-locks after each use, and in which a pawl is used in conjunction with a stop and a catch to limit the play in the blade guard. Thus, several specific embodiments and applications of utility knives have been described. It should be apparent, however, to those skilled in the art that many more modifications besides those already described are possible without departing from the inventive concepts herein. The inventive subject matter, therefore, is not to be restricted except in the spirit of the appended claims. Moreover, in interpreting both the specification and the claims, all terms should be interpreted in the broadest possible manner consistent with the context. In particular, the terms “comprises” and “comprising” should be interpreted as referring to elements, components, or steps in a non-exclusive manner, indicating that the referenced elements, components, or steps may be present, or utilized, or combined with other elements, components, or steps that are not expressly referenced. | <SOH> BACKGROUND OF THE SUBJECT MATTER <EOH>Utility knives typically have a sharp cutting blade that can either (a) be retracted into a housing, or (b) released to an operating disposition by movement of a protective blade guard. In either case problems arise where the blade is left in an unprotected disposition where it can accidentally cause injury to a user. The problem of accidental injury has been long recognized, with numerous solutions being put forward at various times. U.S. Pat. No. 4,980,977 to Matin et al. (January 1991), for example, describes a knife having a safety guard that guards the blade when not in use, and automatically retracts as the blade is removed from the workpiece. The guard has a manually triggered self-locking release assembly that automatically relocks the guard when retracted. Unfortunately, Matin's locking mechanism is external to the housing housing, which is dangerous because the mechanism is readily subjected to debris that could jam or otherwise interfere with both the locking and unlocking functions. In addition, Matin's safety guard pivots off the blade externally to the housing housing, rather than being retracted into the housing. That operation is dangerous because the pivoted guard can readily interfere with operation of the knife. U.S. Pat. No. 5,878,501 to Owens et al. (March 1999) uses an internal locking mechanism, but leaves the blade in the “use” position for multiple uses. There is no automatic re-locking mechanism, and withdrawal of the blade into the housing is entirely manual. More recently the present inventor pioneered utility knives having a mechanism that automatically re-locks the protective blade guarding to prevent more than a single use of the blade. Pending applications include Ser. No. 09/804,451, published in September 2002 as 2003/0131393, and Ser. No. 10/300,382, published in May 2004 as 2004/0093734. These and all other referenced patents and applications are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety. While providing considerable improvement over the prior art, the preferred embodiments of the utility knives described in the Ser. Nos. 09/804,451 and 10/300,382 applications have more “play” in the blade guard than might be desired in some circumstances. In the Ser. No. 10/300,382 application, for example, a preferred locking mechanism utilizes a pawl that rides in a looped pathway. Two ramped steps on the pathway limit the pawl's travel to a one-way direction, so that once the pawl starts along the pathway, it must finish a complete loop. The mechanism, however, allows some slight backward motion of the pawl, and thus introduces potentially undesirable play in the blade guard. Thus, there is a need for an improved locking/releasing mechanism that automatically re-locks the protective blade guarding to prevent more than a single use of the blade, while reducing the play in the blade guard. | <SOH> SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION <EOH>The present invention provides methods and apparatus in which a utility knife has a protective guard that moves from a locked position to an unlocked position. Preferred mechanisms utilize a pawl hat cooperates with a stop to reduce movement of the guard while the guard is in a locked position, and a simple latching mechanism that allows the pawl to bypass the stop. The pawl is disposed with respect to other elements of the mechanism such that the blade guard can only pulled back to a retracted position after operation of a trigger or other actuator, and then only for a single use. The guard cannot be retracted a second time until the actuator is released, and then operated anew. In preferred embodiments pawl has a finger portion that juxtaposes the stop and operates against a pin. Both the stop and the catch can advantageously be carried in a fixed special relation to one another by operation of a trigger or other actuator. “Play” of the protective guard is limited by the distance between the joint and the stop in the locked position, which distance is preferably less than 5 mm, more preferably less than 3 mm, still more preferably less than 2 mm, and most preferably less than 1 mm. Various objects, features, aspects and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description of preferred embodiments of the invention, along with the accompanying drawings in which like numerals represent like components. | 20040908 | 20080415 | 20060309 | 57632.0 | B26B2900 | 1 | ELEY, TIMOTHY V | UTILITY KNIFE WITH SAFETY GUARD HAVING REDUCED PLAY | SMALL | 0 | ACCEPTED | B26B | 2,004 |
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10,937,048 | ACCEPTED | Protective enclosure for an interactive flat-panel controlled device | A protective enclosure is disclosed for an interactive flat-panel controlled device. The protective enclosure is watertight, crush-resistant, and impact-resistant. While providing protection, the protective enclosure simultaneously allows smooth and accurate interaction with the interactive flat-panel controlled device. The protective enclosure has a protective membrane that permits RF and touch screen stylus inputs, as well as capacitance, such as from a finger, to be transmitted accurately to the flat-panel control. The hardness and texture of the protective membrane allows a stylus or finger to glide smoothly along the surface of the membrane without catching or sticking. The protective enclosure is further adapted to allow infrared and other communication signals while the device is secured inside the case. Further, electrical connections can be made through the case without affecting the protection afforded the electronic device inside. | 1. A protective enclosure for a tablet PC having an interactive flat-panel control comprising: a shell that is capable of enclosing said tablet PC, said tablet PC being a separate unit from said protective enclosure, said tablet PC being insertable in and removable from said enclosure by hand, said shell being substantially crush-resistant and having an elevated protective rim around a perimeter portion of said interactive flat-panel control of said tablet PC so that when said tablet PC is disposed in said enclosure, said interactive flat-panel control of said tablet PC is recessed with respect to said protective rim of said shell so that said elevated protective rim protects said interactive flat-panel control from breakage; and a protective membrane that is integrally fixed to a shock-absorbing cushion, said shock-absorbing cushion being fixed to said shell, said shock-absorbing cushion forming a seal between said shell and said protective membrane so that said protective enclosure is substantially watertight, said protective membrane is disposed over said interactive flat-panel control of said tablet PC when said tablet PC is disposed in said enclosure, said protective membrane having a back side that has a substantially planar smooth surface that is adjacent to said interactive flat-panel control of said tablet when said tablet PC is disposed in said enclosure so that inputs on a front side of said protective membrane are communicated to said interactive flat-panel control through said protective membrane, said protective membrane being at least partially transparent such that said interactive flat-panel control is visible through said protective membrane, said shock-absorbing cushion pressing said protective membrane flatly against said interactive flat-panel control of said tablet PC so that smooth stylus strokes and inputs may be transmitted accurately to said interactive flat-panel control. 2. The protective enclosure of claim 1 further comprising a plurality of shock-absorbing bumpers that are attached to said shell of said protective enclosure, said bumpers being adapted to hold said tablet PC snugly, said bumpers being compressible so that when said tablet PC is disposed in said protective enclosure said tablet PC is substantially protected from mechanical shock to said protective enclosure, said bumpers sized and disposed within said protective enclosure so that air may flow around said tablet PC within said protective enclosure. 3. The protective enclosure of claim 1 further comprising at least one air-permeable watertight vent in said protective enclosure that permits heat transfer by convection of heat generated by said tablet PC from the interior of said protective enclosure to the exterior of said protective enclosure so that said tablet PC operates with sufficient cooling. 4. The protective enclosure of claim 1 wherein said shell of said protective enclosure further comprises grip-enhancing structures that enable said protective enclosure to be securely held by hand in slippery conditions. 5. The protective enclosure of claim 1 wherein said protective enclosure uses at least one latch to securely close said enclosure around said tablet PC. 6. The protective enclosure of claim 1 further comprising glare-reducing coating on a front side of said protective membrane. 7. The protective enclosure of claim 1 wherein said shell is made of at least one engineered thermoplastic selected from the group consisting of thermoplastic polycarbonate, thermoplastic polypropylene, thermoplastic acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene and thermoplastic compositions containing one or more thereof. 8. The protective enclosure of claim 7 wherein said shell is reinforced with at least one fiber material selected from the group consisting of glass fibers, carbon fibers, metal fibers, polyamide fibers and mixtures thereof. 9. The protective enclosure of claim 8 wherein said shell further comprises stiffeners that are embedded in a perimeter that surrounds said protective membrane of said shell so that said stiffeners strengthen said shell and prevent said shell from warping. 10. The protective enclosure of claim 9 wherein said protective membrane is fabricated from a member of the group consisting of polyvinylchloride, thermoplastic polycarbonate, thermoplastic polypropylene, thermoplastic acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene, thermoplastic polyurethane, and thermoplastic compositions containing one or more thereof. 11. A protective enclosure for a handheld device having a capacitance-sensing interactive flat-panel control comprising: a shell that is capable of enclosing said handheld device, said handheld device being a separate unit from said protective enclosure, said handheld device being insertable in and removable from said enclosure by hand, said shell being substantially crush-resistant and having an elevated protective rim around a perimeter portion of said capacitance-sensing interactive flat-panel control of said handheld device so that when said handheld device is disposed in said enclosure, said capacitance-sensing interactive flat-panel controlled device of said tablet is recessed with respect to said protective rim of said shell so that said elevated protective rim protects said interactive flat-panel control from breakage; and a protective membrane that is integrally fixed to said shell, said protective membrane disposed over said capacitance-sensing interactive flat-panel control of said handheld device when said handheld device is disposed in said enclosure, said protective membrane having a back side that has a substantially planar smooth surface that is adjacent to said capacitance-sensing interactive flat-panel control of said handheld device when said handheld device is disposed in said enclosure, said protective membrane being sufficiently thin that capacitive inputs on a front side of said protective membrane are transmitted to said capacitive-sensing interactive flat-panel control through said protective membrane, said protective membrane being at least partially transparent such that said interactive flat-panel control is visible through said protective membrane, said protective membrane having a dielectric constant such that capacitive inputs on a front side of said protective membrane are transmitted to said capacitance-sensing interactive flat-panel control. 12. The protective enclosure of claim 11 wherein said protective membrane has a dielectric constant in the range of 2.2 to 3.8. 13. The protective membrane of claim 12 wherein said protective membrane is made of engineered thermoplastic selected from the group consisting of thermoplastic polycarbonate, thermoplastic polypropylene, thermoplastic acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene and thermoplastic compositions containing one or more thereof. 14. The protective enclosure of claim 13 wherein said protective membrane has a thickness in the range of 0.003 inches to 0.020 inches. 15. The protective enclosure of claim 14 wherein said protective membrane has matte texture, said texture having a texture depth of 0.0004 to 0.003 inches that reduces the surface area of said protective membrane that is in frictional contact with a user's finger and permits said user's finger to glide smoothly upon the surface of the membrane without sticking. 16. A method of manufacturing a protective enclosure for a device having an interactive flat-panel control comprising: providing a protective shell that is crush resistant and impact resistant, said protective shell having embedded stiffeners that prevent said protective shell from warping, said protective shell that is adapted to enclose a device having an interactive flat-panel control, said device being a separate unit from said protective enclosure, said device being insertable in and removable from said shell by hand, said shell being substantially crush-resistant and providing an elevated protective rim around a perimeter portion of said interactive flat-panel control of said device so that when said device is disposed in said enclosure, said interactive flat-panel control is recessed with respect to said protective rim of said shell so that said elevated protective rim protects said interactive flat-panel control of said device from breakage; providing a protective membrane that is capable of being integrally fixed on said shell so that said protective membrane is disposed over said interactive flat-panel control of said device when said device is disposed in said enclosure, said protective membrane having a back side that has a substantially planar smooth surface adjacent said interactive flat-panel control when said device is disposed in said enclosure so that inputs on a front side of said protective membrane are communicated to said interactive flat-panel control through said protective membrane, said protective membrane being at least partially transparent such that said interactive flat-panel control is visible through said protective membrane; and fixing said protective membrane onto said protective shell so that said protective membrane and said protective shell form a protective enclosure for said touch screen device. 17. A method of manufacturing a protective enclosure for a device having a capacitance-sensing interactive flat-panel control comprising: providing a protective shell that is crush-resistant and impact-resistant, said protective shell that is adapted to enclose a device having a capacitance-sensing interactive flat-panel control, said device being a separate unit from said protective enclosure, said device being insertable in and removable from said shell by hand, said shell being substantially crush-resistant and providing an elevated protective rim around a perimeter portion of said capacitance-sensing interactive flat-panel control of said device so that when said device is disposed in said enclosure, said capacitance-sensing interactive flat-panel control is recessed with respect to said protective rim of said shell so that said elevated protective rim protects said capacitance-sensing interactive flat-panel control of said device from breakage; providing a protective membrane that is capable of being integrally fixed on said shell so that said protective membrane is disposed over said capacitance-sensing interactive flat-panel control of said device when said device is disposed in said enclosure, said protective membrane having a back side that has a substantially planar smooth surface adjacent said interactive flat-panel control when said device is disposed in said enclosure, said protective membrane being sufficiently thin and having dielectric constant so that capacitive inputs on a front side of said protective membrane are communicated to said capacitance-sensing interactive flat-panel control through said protective membrane, said protective membrane being at least partially transparent such that said capacitance-sensing interactive flat-panel control is visible through said protective membrane; and fixing said protective membrane onto said protective shell so that said protective membrane and said protective shell form a protective enclosure for said device. | CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS This application is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/645,439 entitled “Protective Membrane for Touch Screen Device” by Curtis R. Richardson, filed Aug. 20, 2003. United State patent application Ser. No. 10/645,439 is a continuation of United State patent application Ser. No. 10/300,200 entitled “Protective Case for Touch Screen Device” by Curtis R. Richardson, filed Nov. 19, 2002, which claims the benefit of and priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 60/335,865 filed Nov. 19, 2001 by Curtis R. Richardson entitled “Protective Case for Touch Screen Device.” The entire contents of the above mentioned applications are hereby specifically incorporated herein by reference for all they disclose and teach. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION a. Field of the Invention The present invention pertains generally to protective cases and specifically to protective cases for devices that have an interactive flat-panel control. b. Description of the Background Personal Digital Assistants, or PDAs as well as other portable electronic devices are being very widely used, and are being deployed in industrial as well as office environments. PDAs are being used in industrial environments for data collection, such as service information on an airplane, or for data delivery such as maps for fire fighters and other emergency personnel. When PDAs are deployed in such industrial applications, the data that is collected and displayed on the PDA can be extremely valuable and can be life saving. The industrial environments impose harsh conditions that typical PDAs are not designed to accommodate. For example, damage can be done to the PDA through rough handling and dropping. Further, industrial chemicals, grease, water, dirt, and grime may damage or destroy a functioning PDA and inhibit the use of the PDAs valuable data. It is common to hold the PDAs inside a protective case for transport. However, in the case of a firefighter using the PDA on a fire scene, opening a case with gloved hands in the midst of fighting a fire exposes the PDA to easily being dropped, getting wet, or otherwise being damaged. The user interface for PDAs is typically a few buttons and a touch screen display. The touch screen is used to both display information and to capture information. The data capture generally uses a stylus to select buttons or areas on the screen for certain functions, draw shapes onto the screen, use character recognition to enter text or numbers, or other methods of data capture. The PDA may be connected to another computer by several mechanisms. The PDA may be direct connected using a wire connection, wherein a cable with a connector physically connects to the PDA. A second method is to use an infrared communication protocol that uses an infrared transmitter and receiver mounted in the PDA to communicate with another computer having a similar transceiver. A third method is to communicate via radio signals such as a cellular phone protocol or wireless modem. It would therefore be advantageous to provide a case for a PDA wherein the PDA may be fully operated when the PDA is stored securely in the case. Further, the operation of the PDA through its touch screen interface should not be hindered by a protective case. The case would also not interfere with the connections between the PDA and another computer. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention overcomes the disadvantages and limitations of the prior art by providing a watertight, crush-resistant, and impact resistant protective enclosure that protects a devices that has an interactive flat-panel control and simultaneously permits smooth and accurate interactive use of the flat-panel control. The present invention may therefore comprise a protective enclosure for a tablet PC having an interactive flat-panel control comprising: a shell that is capable of enclosing the tablet PC, the tablet PC being a separate unit from the protective enclosure, the tablet PC being insertable in and removable from the enclosure by hand, the shell being substantially crush-resistant and having an elevated protective rim around a perimeter portion of the interactive flat-panel control of the tablet PC so that when the tablet PC is disposed in the enclosure, the interactive flat-panel control of the tablet PC is recessed with respect to the protective rim of the shell so that the elevated protective rim protects the interactive flat-panel control from breakage; and a protective membrane that is integrally fixed to a shock-absorbing cushion, the shock-absorbing cushion being fixed to the shell, the shock-absorbing cushion forming a seal between the shell and the protective membrane so that the protective enclosure is substantially watertight, the protective membrane is disposed over the interactive flat-panel control of the tablet PC when the tablet PC is disposed in the enclosure, the protective membrane having a back side that has a substantially planar smooth surface that is adjacent to the interactive flat-panel control of the tablet when the tablet PC is disposed in the enclosure so that inputs on a front side of the protective membrane are communicated to the interactive flat-panel control through the protective membrane, the protective membrane being at least partially transparent such that the interactive flat-panel control is visible through the protective membrane, the shock-absorbing cushion pressing the protective membrane flatly against the interactive flat-panel control of the tablet PC so that smooth stylus strokes and inputs may be transmitted accurately to the interactive flat-panel control. The present invention may further comprise a protective enclosure for a handheld device having a capacitance-sensing interactive flat-panel control comprising: a shell that is capable of enclosing the handheld device, the handheld device being a separate unit from the protective enclosure, the handheld device being insertable in and removable from the enclosure by hand, the shell being substantially crush-resistant and having an elevated protective rim around a perimeter portion of the capacitance-sensing interactive flat-panel control of the handheld device so that when the handheld device is disposed in the enclosure, the capacitance-sensing interactive flat-panel controlled device of said tablet is recessed with respect to said protective rim of said shell so that said elevated protective rim protects the interactive flat-panel control from breakage; and a protective membrane that is integrally fixed to the shell, the protective membrane disposed over the capacitance-sensing interactive flat-panel control of the handheld device when the handheld device is disposed in the enclosure, the protective membrane having a back side that has a substantially planar smooth surface that is adjacent to the capacitance-sensing interactive flat-panel control of the handheld device when the handheld device is disposed in the enclosure, the protective membrane being sufficiently thin that capacitive inputs on a front side of the protective membrane are transmitted to the capacitive-sensing interactive flat-panel control through the protective membrane, the protective membrane being at least partially transparent such that the interactive flat-panel control is visible through the protective membrane, the protective membrane having a dielectric constant such that capacitive inputs on a front side of the protective membrane are transmitted to the capacitance-sensing interactive flat-panel control. The invention may further comprise a method of manufacturing a protective enclosure for a device having an interactive flat-panel control comprising: providing a protective shell that is crush resistant and impact resistant, the protective shell having embedded stiffeners that prevent the protective shell from warping, the protective shell that is adapted to enclose a device having an interactive flat-panel control, the device being a separate unit from the protective enclosure, the device being insertable in and removable from the shell by hand, the shell being substantially crush-resistant and providing an elevated protective rim around a perimeter portion of the interactive flat-panel control of the device so that when the device is disposed in the enclosure, the interactive flat-panel control is recessed with respect to the protective rim of the shell so that the elevated protective rim protects the interactive flat-panel control of the device from breakage; providing a protective membrane that is capable of being integrally fixed on the shell so that the protective membrane is disposed over the interactive flat-panel control of the device when the device is disposed in the enclosure, the protective membrane having a back side that has a substantially planar smooth surface adjacent the interactive flat-panel control when the device is disposed in the enclosure so that inputs on a front side of the protective membrane are communicated to the interactive flat-panel control through the protective membrane, the protective membrane being at least partially transparent such that the interactive flat-panel control is visible through the protective membrane; and fixing the protective membrane onto the protective shell so that the protective membrane and the protective shell form a protective enclosure for the touch screen device. The invention may further comprise a method of manufacturing a protective enclosure for a device having a capacitance-sensing interactive flat-panel control comprising: providing a protective shell that is crush-resistant and impact-resistant, the protective shell that is adapted to enclose a device having a capacitance-sensing interactive flat-panel control, the device being a separate unit from the protective enclosure, the device being insertable in and removable from the shell by hand, the shell being substantially crush-resistant and providing an elevated protective rim around a perimeter portion of the capacitance-sensing interactive flat-panel control of the device so that when the device is disposed in the enclosure, the capacitance-sensing interactive flat-panel control is recessed with respect to the protective rim of the shell so that the elevated protective rim protects the capacitance-sensing interactive flat-panel control of the device from breakage; providing a protective membrane that is capable of being integrally fixed on the shell so that the protective membrane is disposed over the capacitance-sensing interactive flat-panel control of the device when the device is disposed in the enclosure, the protective membrane having a back side that has a substantially planar smooth surface adjacent the interactive flat-panel control when the device is disposed in the enclosure, the protective membrane being sufficiently thin and having dielectric constant so that capacitive inputs on a front side of the protective membrane are communicated to the capacitance-sensing interactive flat-panel control through the protective membrane, the protective membrane being at least partially transparent such that the capacitance-sensing interactive flat-panel control is visible through the protective membrane; and fixing the protective membrane onto the protective shell so that the protective membrane and the protective shell form a protective enclosure for the device. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS In the drawings, FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an embodiment of the invention shown in the closed position. FIG. 2 is a perspective view of an embodiment of the invention shown in the open position. FIG. 3 is a perspective view of an embodiment of the invention shown in an exploded state. FIG. 4 is a perspective view of an embodiment of the invention shown from the rear. FIG. 5 is a front view of an embodiment of the invention, showing a section line. FIG. 6 is a section view of an embodiment of the invention. FIG. 7 is a detailed view of a section shown in FIG. 6. FIG. 8 is a perspective view of another embodiment comprising a single piece encapsulating cover. FIG. 9 is a perspective view of a third embodiment comprising a non-encapsulating snap over cover. FIG. 10 is a perspective view of an embodiment that comprises a belt clip. FIG. 11 is a second perspective view of an embodiment that comprises a belt clip. FIG. 12 is a perspective view of another embodiment of the present invention of a protective cover for a PDA or other device. FIG. 13A is a perspective top view of another embodiment of a protective enclosure for a tablet PC. FIG. 13B is a view of the protective enclosure lid of FIG. 13A. FIG. 14 is a perspective top view of the embodiment of FIG. 13A with an open lid. FIG. 15 is a perspective bottom view of the embodiment of FIG. 13A. FIG. 16 is a perspective view of the base of the embodiment of FIG. 13A FIG. 17 is an exploded view of an embodiment of a protective enclosure for an interactive flat-panel controlled device. FIG. 18 is an exploded view of another embodiment of a protective enclosure for an interactive flat-panel controlled device. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an embodiment of the invention. Embodiment 100 comprises a rigidly molded front case 102 and rear case 104. An overmolded grommet 106 forms a receptacle for stylus 108 and also aids in sealing membrane 110. A flexible hand strap 112 attaches to the rear case 104. A hinge 114 joins front case 102 and rear case 104. A ring 124 for a lanyard is shown as an integral feature of rear case 104. Embodiment 100 is designed to hold a conventional personal digital assistant (PDA) in a protective case. A PDA, such as a Palm Pilot, Handspring Visor, Compaq Ipaq, Hewlett Packard Jornada, or similar products use a touch screen for display and data entry. The touch screen display comprises either a color or black and white liquid crystal display with a touch sensitive device mounted on top of the display. The display is used for displaying graphics, text, and other elements to the user. The touch screen is used with a stylus 108 to select elements from the screen, to draw figures, and to enter text with a character recognition program in the PDA. The stylus 108 generally resembles a conventional writing implement. However, the tip of the writing implement is a rounded plastic tip. In place of a stylus 108, the user may use the tip of a finger or fingernail, or a conventional pen or pencil. When a conventional writing implement is used, damage to the touch screen element may occur, such as scratches. For the purposes of this specification, the term PDA shall include any electronic device that has a touch screen interface. This may include instruments such as voltmeters, oscilloscopes, logic analyzers, and any other hand held, bench top, or rack mounted instrument that has a touch screen interface. Hand held devices, such as cell phones, satellite phones, telemetric devices, and other hand held devices are also to be classified as PDAs for the purposes of this specification. The term PDA shall also include any computer terminal display that has a touch screen interface. These may comprise kiosks, outdoor terminal interfaces, industrial computer interfaces, commercial computer interfaces and other computer displays. Additionally, the term PDA may comprise barcode scanners, hand held GPS receivers, and other handheld electronic devices. The foregoing description of the term PDA has been presented for purposes of illustration and description. It is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise forms disclosed, and other modifications and variations may be possible in light of the teachings of this specification. In addition, the PDAs typically have a handful of additional buttons as part of the user interface. These buttons are generally on the front of the device, near the touch screen element. The additional buttons may be used as shortcut buttons to instantly call up a certain program on the PDA, may comprise a method of scrolling, may be used to select items from a list, or may have any function that the designer of the PDA software may assign to the button or set of buttons. The button size, layout, and function may vary for each manufacturer and model of PDA. Further, PDAs typically have at least one method of connecting to another computer. This may be through a direct electrical connection, such as through a wire cable or fiber optic, or through another medium such as infrared communication or through a radio communication. Additionally, the PDAs typically have an electrical source. The electrical source may be a rechargeable or non-rechargeable battery or solar cells. The electrical source may be a remote source of electricity that is transmitted to the PDA through a wire cable or through other methods of electrical transmission. Further, PDAs may have indicator lights, such as status lights for power, communication, battery status, or other functions. The lights may be located on any of the sides of the PDA and may be viewable on one or more sides. Front case 102 and rear case 104 form a protective cover for the PDA. The protective cover may be designed for rugged industrial use, recreational use, commercial use, or many other uses. An industrial use may require the protective cover to be watertight, chemically resistant, protect the unit when dropped, and be crush proof. A typical application may be for fire fighters to use a PDA for a display of maps for directions to an emergency scene or for a building plan at the scene of a fire. Another example may be a maintenance mechanic in a chemical plant using a PDA to record maintenance records in the plant that processes. A recreational use may require the cover to be watertight, afford some protection against dropping and being crushed, float in water, and be dust resistant. A recreational use may be to take the PDA during kayaking, diving, or other water sport activity. Further, the case may be used when the PDA is taken camping, hiking, or other outdoor activity. A commercial use may additionally require the protective cover to be elegant, but may also require the cover to be replaceable so that scratches and other signs of wear and tear can be easily and cheaply replaced. The protective cover for the PDA may take on many embodiments. The embodiment 100 comprises a front case 102 and rear case 104 that are joined by a hinge 114 and a clasp mechanism that is on the side of the cases opposite the hinge 114. Other embodiments may have a small door into which the PDA slides, or the protective cover may not completely enclose the PDA and only cover the face where the user interface exists, leaving one or more sides of the PDA exposed. Those skilled in the art may use other designs of protective covers without deviating from the scope and intent of the present invention. The protective cover may be constructed of rigid plastic, metal, flexible rubber, or any other type of material that could be adapted to afford the protection of the PDA desired for the application. For example, a metal cover may be used in an application where an elegant style is necessary but watertightness is not. A flexible rubber cover may be selected for an application in a wet environment. A rigid plastic cover may be selected for an application where dropping the PDA is a concern. Those skilled in the art may use other types of materials and constructions without deviating from the spirit of the present invention. The PDA may be mounted in the protective cover using many different mounting techniques. For example, the PDA may be mounted using open or closed cell foam inserts in the protective cover. In another embodiment, the PDA may be mounted by attaching the PDA to the cover with a fastener. In another embodiment, the PDA may be mounted by snapping into the protective waterproof cover. In another embodiment, the PDA may be held in place by resting in molded features of two halves of a protective case that clamps onto the PDA. Those skilled in the art may use other types of locating and holding mechanisms without deviating from the spirit of the present invention. The overmolded grommet 106 of the present embodiment is constructed by injection molding a thermoplastic polymerized rubber (TPR) over the front case 102. The grommet 106 has molded features 116 and 118 adapted to retain the stylus 108. Features 116 and 118 capture the stylus 108 during transportation, but allow the user to remove the stylus 108 to operate the PDA. In other embodiments of the present invention, the stylus 108 may be constrained to the PDA with a tether or lanyard, or the constraining features may be incorporated into other components that make up the protective cover. Further, the stylus 108 may not be present in the embodiment, rather, the PDA be adapted to be used with the user's fingernail or with another implement similar to the stylus 108. The membrane 110 of the present embodiment is constructed by thermoforming a sheet of thin plastic. The plastic is selected to be thin enough that the deformation of a stylus conducts the touch to the touch screen, but thick enough to have enough rigidity that the stylus does not catch and rip the membrane. Additionally, the membrane 110 should have enough thickness to endure scratches and other wear and tear without breaking and sacrificing the protective function. Polyvinylchloride material at 0.010in to 0.015in thickness gives acceptable results. Alternatively, membrane 110 may be constructed by injection molding or other methods. Alternative materials may be used by those skilled in the art to achieve the same results while maintaining within the spirit and intent of the present invention. The membrane 110 in the present embodiment may be translucent or at least partially transparent, so that the images displayed on the PDA may be visible through the membrane 110. The membrane 110 may be tinted or colorized in some applications. For example, a protective cover designed as a decorative cover may incorporate a colorized membrane 110. Further, the membrane may be selectively colorized and the opaqueness may vary. For example, the protective membrane may be printed or painted in the areas not used for the touch screen. A printing process may incorporate a logo, graphics, or labeling for individual buttons for the PDA. The printing process may further incorporate features, such as text or graphics, that are used by the software on the PDA for a purpose such as simplifying data input or for designating an area on the touch screen for a specific function, such as a help function. The printing or painting processes used on the membrane 110 may be purely decorative and may be for aesthetic purposes only. The printing process may also comprise logos or graphics for the brand identity of the PDA cover. Other processes, such as colorizing the raw material for the membrane 110 or adding other components to the raw material, such as metal flakes or other additives, may be used to change the optical features of the membrane 110. The optical performance of the membrane 110 may be changed or enhanced by changing the texture of the area of the touch screen. For example, the membrane may be frosted on the outside to hide scratches or may be imprinted with a lens or other features that change the optical characteristics of the membrane 110. The membrane 110 may have optical features that are used in conjunction with the software of the PDA. For example, all or a portion of the membrane may comprise a lens that magnifies an image to a user. When the user touches the image on the membrane 110 and the touch is transferred to the touch screen, the software in the PDA may have to compensate for the positional differences between the image and actual area that was touched by the user. In another example, if a specific portion of the membrane 110 had a specific optical characteristic, the software of the PDA may be constructed to display a specific graphic for the area for an intended effect. The membrane 110 in the present embodiment has a recessed portion 120 and a raised portion 122. The recessed portion 120 may be adapted to press flat against the touch screen area of a specific PDA. The raised portion 122 may be adapted to fit over an area of the specific PDA where several buttons are located. The raised portion 122 allows the user to operate the buttons on the PDA. The raised portion 122 is adapted such that the buttons on the PDA are easily operated through the protective membrane 110. The raised portion 122 may have special features to aid the user in pressing the buttons. For example, the raised portion 122 may comprise a dimpled area for the user's finger located directly over the button. Further, a feature to aid the user may comprise a section of membrane 110 defined by a thinner area around the section, enabling the user to more easily deflect the section of membrane over the button. The area of thinner material may comprise a large section or a thin line. Further, tactile elements, such as small ribs or bumps may be incorporated into the membrane 110 in the area of the buttons so that the user has a tactile sensation that the user's finger is over the button. The tactile element may be particularly effective if the button was a power switch, for example, that turned on the PDA. The configuration of the membrane 110 may be unique to each style or model of PDA, however, the front case 102 and rear case 104 may be used over a variety of PDAs. In the present embodiment, the changeover from one PDA variety to another is accomplished by replacing the membrane 110 without having to change any other parts. The present embodiment may therefore be mass-produced with the only customizable area being the membrane 110 to allow different models of PDAs to be used with a certain front case 102 and rear case 104. The hand strap 112 in the present embodiment allows the user to hold the embodiment 100 securely in his hand while using the PDA. The hand strap 112 may be constructed of a flexible material, such as rubber or cloth webbing, and may have an adjustment, such as a buckle, hook and loop fastener, or other method of adjustment. In other embodiments, a hand strap may be a rigid plastic handle, a folding handle, or any other method of assisting the user in holding the embodiment. Further, the embodiment may be adapted to be fix-mounted to another object, like a piece of machinery, a wall, or any other object. A fix-mounted embodiment may have other accoutrements adapted for a fixed mount applications, such as receptacles for a stylus adapted to a fix-mount, specialized electrical connections, features for locking the PDA inside the case to prevent theft, or designs specifically adapted to shed water when rained upon. FIG. 2 illustrates a perspective view of the embodiment 100 shown in an open position. The front case 102 and rear case 104 are shown open about the hinge 114. Membrane 110 is shown installed into gasket 106, and the recessed portion 120 and raised portion 122 of membrane 110 is illustrated looking from the inside of the case. The clasp mechanisms are not shown in this illustration. Hand strap 112 is shown attached to rear case 104. FIG. 3 illustrates a perspective view of the embodiment 100 shown in an exploded state. The hand strap 116 attaches to the rear cover 104. The overmolded grommet 106 holds the stylus 108 and is attached to front cover 102. The membrane 110 attaches to the grommet 106 and is held in place with an o-ring 302. FIG. 4 illustrates a perspective view of the embodiment 100 shown from the rear. The hand strap 116 is shown, along with rear cover 104 and front cover 102. The stylus 108 is shown inserted into the overmolded grommet 106. FIG. 5 illustrates a top view of the embodiment 100. The front cover 102, membrane 110, stylus 108, and hinge 114 are all visible. FIG. 6 illustrates a section view of the embodiment 100 taken through the section line shown in FIG. 5. The front cover 102, rear cover 104, overmolded gasket 106, stylus 108, membrane 110, hand strap 112, and o-ring 302 are all shown hatched in this view. FIG. 7 illustrates a detail view of the embodiment 100 shown in FIG. 6. Front case 102 and rear case 104 are joined at hinge 114. Overmolded gasket 106 traps membrane 110 and o-ring 302 locks membrane 110 in place. Overmolded gasket 106 may be formed by molding thermoplastic polymerized rubber over the front cover 102. The replacement of the membrane 110 is accomplished by removing o-ring 302, pushing the membrane 110 from the overmolded gasket 106, snapping a new membrane 110 into place, and replacing the o-ring 302. The ease of replacement of the present embodiment allows a user to quickly replace a damaged membrane 110, allows a user to upgrade their case to a newer model PDA, and may allow a user to select from various membranes 110 for the particular application. One embodiment may have a single case packaged with a small variety of several types of membranes 110. In such an embodiment, the user may purchase the packaged set, select the membrane 110 that suits the user's particular PDA, and install the selected membrane 110 with ease. The protective cover of the present invention may have direct connections through the cover for connecting through the case. Such a connection is known as pass through. The connections may be for power, communication, heat dissipation, optical transmissions, mechanical motion, or other reasons. Electrical connections may require an insulated metal conductor from the PDA through the wall of the protective cover so that a flexible cable may be attached or so that the PDA in its protective case may be placed in a cradle for making the electrical connection. Inside the protective cover, the electrical connections may be made with a flexible cable that is plugged into the PDAs electrical connector before the PDA is secured in the protective cover. Alternatively, a fixed connector may be attached to the protective cover and the PDA is slid into contact with the fixed connector. Another embodiment may be for a compliant, yet fixed mounted electrical connector to be rigidly mounted inside the protective cover. A compliant, yet fixed mounted electrical connector may comprise spring loaded probes, commonly referred to as pogo pins. Another embodiment may comprise spring fingers that engage the PDAs electrical contacts. On the outside of the protective cover, the electrical contacts may be terminated into a fix-mounted connector adapted to receive a cable from a computer. The connector may be designed to receive a cable that plugs directly into the PDA or it may be adapted to receive a different connector. Further, the electrical connection to the PDA may be permanently attached to a cable that extends out of the protective cover. Another embodiment may be to have a small trap door that opens in the protective cover to allow access to the electrical connections. While the trap door exposes the PDA to the elements the cover is designed to protect against, a direct electrical connection may eliminate a potential cabling connection problem. Connections for fiber optics can be handled in similar fashions as the electrical connections. An embodiment with a power connection may comprise the use of inductive coils located in proximity to each other but on opposite sides of the protective cover. Those skilled in the art of may devise other embodiments for connecting through the protective cover without deviating from the scope and intent of the present invention. Through the air communications, such as infrared and over the air radio frequency (RF) communications may pass through the protective cover. The material for the front case 102 and rear case 104 may be selected to be clear plastic, such as polycarbonate. The infrared transceiver of the PDA can communicate through a clear plastic case to another infrared transceiver outside of the case. Further, the appropriate selection of material for the protective case can thereby enable various RF transmissions, such as cellular phone communications or other wireless communication protocols. An infrared transmission through the protective case of an embodiment of the invention may be accomplished by making the entire protective case out of a clear material. Alternatively, a selected area of the protective case may be clear while the remainder of the case is opaque. The selected area may be constructed of a separate piece that allows the infrared light through the protective case. Alternatively, the selected area may be constructed of a portion of the protective case that manufactured in a way so as not to be opaque, such as selectively not painting or plating the area of a plastic protective case. Further, the clear material through which the transmission occurs may be tinted in the visual spectrum but be translucent or at least partially transparent in the infrared spectrum of the device. A protective case may allow RF transmissions to and from the PDA while the case is closed. Such a case may be constructed of a non-metallic material. In some embodiments, the material of the protective case may be tuned to allow certain frequencies to pass through the protective cover and tune out other frequencies, through loading the material used in the protective cover with conductive media or through varying the thickness of the case and other geometries of the case in the area of the PDA transmission and reception antenna. In a different embodiment, it may be desirable to shield the PDA from outside RF interference. In this case, the protective cover may be a metallic construction or may be plastic with a metallized coating. Further, membrane 110 may have a light metallized coating applied so that membrane 110 is slightly or fully conductive. An application for such an embodiment may be the use of the PDA in an area of high RF noise that may interfere with the operation of the PDA, or conversely, the use may be in an area that is highly susceptible to external RF interference and the PDAs RF noise may be interfering with some other device. The PDA may be equipped with a camera or other video capture device. A protective cover may have provisions to allow a clear image to be seen by the video capture device through the case. Such provisions may include an optically clear insert assembled into the protective case. Other embodiments may have a sliding trap door whereby the user of the PDA may slide the door open for the camera to see. Additionally, other embodiments may comprise a molded case that has an optically clear lens integrally molded. Such an embodiment may be additionally painted, plated, or overmolded, with the lens area masked so that the painting, plating, or overmolding does not interfere with the optics of the lens. An optically clear area may be used for a barcode scanner portion of a PDA to scan through the case to the outside world. In such an embodiment, a barcode scanner may be protected from the elements while still maintaining full functionality in the outside world. The PDA may have indicator lights that indicate various items, such as power, battery condition, communication, and other status items. The indicator lights may be in positions on the PDA that are not readily viewable through the protective membrane 110. The indicator lights may be made visible through the protective case by using light pipes that transmit the light from the PDAs status light to the outside of the protective case. Such light pipes may be constructed of clear or tinted plastic, or other translucent or semi-transparent material. The light pipes may be formed as an integral feature to the protective case or may be separate parts that are formed separately and assembled to the protective case. The PDA may have a speaker or other element that makes noise and/or the PDA may have a microphone for receiving audio signals. The speaker may be an audio quality device for reproducing sound or it may be a simple buzzer for indicating various functions of the PDA. The microphone may be an audio quality device or it may be a low performance device. Special provisions may be made for transmitting sound through a protective case. Such provisions may range from a single hole in the case to a tuned cavity that would allow sound to pass through with minimum distortion. Other embodiments may include a transmissive membrane adapted to allow sound to pass through the protective case with a minimum of distortion. Such membranes may be located near the speaker and microphone elements of the PDA. Such membranes may be watertight membranes known by the brand name Gore-Tex. The PDA may generate heat during its use and provisions for dissipating the heat may be built into the protective cover. A heat-dissipating device may be integral to the protective cover or may comprise one or more separate parts. For example, a metallic protective cover may be adapted to touch the PDA in the area of heat generation and conduct the heat outwardly to the rest of the protective cover. The protective cover may thereby dissipate the heat to the external air without overheating the PDA. In another example, a separate heat sink may be applied to the PDA and allowed to protrude through a hole in the protective cover. The heat sink may thereby transfer the heat from the PDA to the ambient environment without overheating the PDA. The heat sinks may be attached to the PDA with a thermally conductive adhesive. Other embodiments may include vent holes for heat dissipation and air circulation. The PDA may have a button that may not be located underneath the membrane 110. An embodiment may include a flexible, pliable, or otherwise movable mechanism that may transmit mechanical motion from the outside of the case to a button on the PDA. Such an embodiment may have a molded dimpled surface that is pliable and allows a user to activate a button on a PDA by pressing the dimpled surface. Another embodiment may have a rigid plunger that is mounted on a spring and adapted to transmit the mechanical movement from the exterior of the case to a button on the PDA. The buttons on the PDA may be located on any side of the PDA and an embodiment of a case may have pliable areas adapted to allow the user to press buttons that are not on the front face of the PDA. FIG. 8 is an illustration of embodiment 800 of the present invention wherein the PDA 802 is encapsulated by a protective cover 804. The installation of the PDA 802 is to slide PDA 802 into the opening 808, then fold door 806 closed and secure with flap 810, which is hinged along line 812. Areas 814 and 816 may comprise a hook and loop fastener system or other fastening device. Recessed area 818 is adapted to fit against touch screen 820 of PDA 802. Embodiment 800 may be comprised of a single molded plastic part that may be very low cost. As shown, embodiment 800 may not be completely weathertight, since the door 806 does not completely seal the enclosure. However, such an embodiment may afford considerable protection to the PDA 802 in the areas of dust protection, scratch protection, and being occasionally rained upon. Further, the low cost of the embodiment 800 may be changed often during the life of the PDA 802. Embodiment 800 may have custom colors, logos, or designs that allow a user to personalize their PDA with a specific cover that is suited to their mood or tastes. The colors, logos, and designs may be integrally molded into the cover 804. Alternatively, different colors, logos, and designs may be applied in a secondary operation such as printing, painting, plating, or other application process. FIG. 9 is an illustration of embodiment 900 of the present invention wherein a decorative cover 902 is snapped over a PDA 904. The ends 906 and 908 snap over the PDA ends 910 and 912 as an attachment mechanism for cover 902 to PDA 904. Recessed area 914 is adapted to fit against touch screen 916 Embodiment 900 may be a cover for decorative purposes only, or may be for protective purposes as well. Cover 902 may be emblazoned with logos, designs, or other visual embellishments to personalize the PDA 904. The colors, logos, and designs may be integrally molded into the cover 904. Alternatively, different colors, logos, and designs may be applied in a secondary operation such as printing, painting, plating, or other application process. Embodiment 900 may be attached by snapping the cover 902 onto PDA 904. Special provisions in the case of PDA 904 may be provided for a snapping feature of cover 902, or cover 902 may be adapted to hold onto PDA 904 without the use of special features in PDA 904. The features used to secure cover 902 to PDA 904 may be any mechanism whereby the cover 902 can be secured. This includes snapping, clamping, fastening, sliding, gluing, adhering, or any other method for securing two components together. FIG. 10 illustrates a perspective view of an embodiment of a receiver 1002 for holding the protective case 100. The protective case 100 is held into receiver 1002 in such a manner that the touch screen display is facing into the receiver 1002, to afford the touch screen display with protection. FIG. 11 illustrates a perspective view of the embodiment of a receiver 1002 shown from the opposite side as FIG. 10. Receiver 1002 is comprised of a back 1102, a belt clip mechanism 1104, and four clip areas 1106, 1108, 1110, and 1112. The protective case 100 is placed into the receiver 1002 by inserting one end into the receiver, then rotating the protective case 100 into position such that the snapping action of clip areas 1106, 1108, 1110, and 1112 are engaged to hold protective case 100 securely. Receiver 1002 may be adapted to clip onto a person's belt or may be adapted to be mounted on a wall or other location where the PDA may be stored. The orientation of the protective case 100 is such that the touch screen element of the PDA is protected during normal transport and storage, since the touch screen interface is facing the back 1102 of the receiver 1002. Receiver 1002 may be made of compliant plastic that allows the clip areas 1106, 1108, 1110, and 1112 to move out of the way and spring back during insertion or removal of the protective case 100. In the present embodiment, receiver 1002 may be constructed of a single part. In alternative embodiments, receiver 1002 may be constructed of multiple parts and of multiple materials, such as a metal back with spring loaded clips. In other embodiments, special features may be included in the protective case 100 where the receiver 1002 may engage a special feature for securing the protective case 100. FIG. 12 illustrates an embodiment 1200 of the present invention of a protective cover for a PDA or other device. A rigid front cover 1202 and a rigid rear cover 1204 are held together with a series of latches 1206, 1208, 1210, and 1212. The protective membrane 1214 protects the touchscreen of the enclosed PDA. A folding rigid cover 1216 operates as a rigid shield to prevent the membrane 1214 from any damage. The stylus holder 1220 is formed from an overmolded flexible material in which the membrane 1214 is mounted. Embodiment 1200 illustrates yet another embodiment of the present invention wherein a rigid protective cover may be used to contain and protect an electronic device, but provide full usable access to a touchscreen. The protective membrane 1214 and case may be watertight in some embodiments. FIG. 13A illustrates an embodiment of a protective enclosure 1300 that encloses and protects a tablet PC 1302. PDAs that have touch screens, as described above, have an interactive flat-panel control, i.e., the touch screen display. Tablet PCs are portable electronic computing devices that have a high-resolution interactive flat-panel control that accepts smooth stylus strokes such as handwriting. The embodiment of FIG. 13A is crush-resistant, impact-resistant, watertight, and simultaneously allows interactive stylus strokes and other sensitive user inputs to be accurately and easily transmitted through a protective screen membrane 1306 to the interactive flat-panel control of tablet PC 1302. A watertight and shock-absorbing foam cushion 1310 may be fixed and sealed to the underside of the lid 1304 around the interactive flat-panel control opening. The protective screen membrane 1306 is fixed and sealed to the shock-absorbing foam cushion 1310. The shock-absorbing foam cushion 1310 maintains the watertightness of the enclosure. The cushion 1310 also cushions the flat-panel control of the tablet PC 1302 and protects it against breakage if the enclosure and tablet PC are dropped or otherwise subjected to shock. In accordance with the embodiment of FIG. 13A, the shock-absorbing foam cushion 1310 has a thickness of approximately 0.25 inches and extends approximately 0.060 inches below the underside of the interactive flat-panel control opening of the lid 1304. One source of suitable watertight shock-absorbing foam is E.A.R. Specialty Composites of 7911 Zionville Rd., Indianapolis, Ind. 46268. Cushion 1310 allows the protective screen membrane to move a distance of up to 0.125 inches during an impact to the enclosure or when pressure is applied to protect membrane 1306 while pushing the tablet PC control buttons 1308 or writing on the interactive flat-panel control with a stylus through the membrane. The shock-absorbing foam cushion 1310 also pushes the protective screen membrane 1306 flatly against the surface of the interactive flat-panel control of the tablet PC 1302 so that sensitive user stylus strokes and other inputs are accurately transmitted. The pressure of the cushion 1310 on the protective screen membrane 1306 which holds the protective screen membrane 1306 flatly against the interactive flat-panel control of the tablet PC 1302 also keeps display images, viewed through the protective screen membrane, clear and distortion-free. In embodiments of the protective enclosure to protect a touch-screen device, the protective membrane may be adjacent to the touch screen but does not exert mechanical pressure on the touch screen so that mechanical inputs such as style strokes are sensed only when intended. In embodiments of the protective enclosure to protect a tablet PC that has an RF stylus or to protect a handheld device that a capacitance-sensing interactive flat-panel control, the protective membrane may be pressed flat against the interactive flat-panel control which allows undistorted viewing but does not adversely affect the control since the interactive control uses capacitance or radio frequencies for interactive input instead of mechanical pressure. The protective screen membrane 1306 in the embodiment of FIG. 13A is at least partially transparent and has a thickness of approximately 0.010 inches. The thickness of the protective screen membrane 1306 should be typically in the range of 0.001 inches to 0.020 inches so that stylus strokes on the upper surface of protective screen membrane 1306 are transmitted accurately to the interactive flat-panel control of the tablet PC 1302. Likewise, protective screen membrane 1306 may be flexible or semi-rigid and may be made of polyvinylchloride or other suitable transparent thermoplastic, such as, for example, polyvinylchloride, thermoplastic polycarbonate, thermoplastic polypropylene, thermoplastic acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene, thermoplastic polyurethane, which has a hardness and texture that permits the stylus to smoothly glide across the surface without skipping, grabbing, or catching against the surface. Some tablet PC's utilize a stylus which transmits strokes to the PC by way of radio frequency transmission. Protective screen membrane 1306 may be made of a rigid, clear, engineered thermoplastic such as, for example, thermoplastic polycarbonate or other thermoplastics as described above, for enclosing a tablet PC. A protective screen membrane 1306 that is rigid may include watertight access ports that allow operation of mechanical buttons or switches of the tablet PC 1302, such as, for example, control buttons 1308. The watertight access ports may include holes that have a moveable watertight plug, or any type of watertight button or lever. Protective screen membrane 1306 may include an anti-glare coating or can be made with an anti-glare texture so that display images are clearly viewable without distortion through the protective screen membrane 1306. In the embodiment of FIG. 13A, the lid 1304 of the protective enclosure 1300 may have an external stylus holder 1324 that securely holds a stylus used with the tablet PC 1302. As described above with respect to FIG. 1, the lid 1304 and the base 1312 may have air-permeable watertight vents 1318, 1326 that permit the cooling fans of the tablet PC 1302 to force air exchange to dissipate heat by convection so that the tablet PC 1302 does not overheat. Watertight vents 1318, 1326 may comprise holes in the lid 1304 and base 1312 that are made watertight by covering and sealing the holes with an air-permeable watertight membrane such as, for example, a fabricated expanded polytetrafluoroethylene (ePTFE) membrane. One source that fabricated expanded polytetrafluoroethylene (ePTFE) membranes is available from is W. L. Gore & Associates, Inc. of 555 Papermill Road, Newark, Del. 19711. The embodiment of FIG. 13A may also comprise a pod door 1322 that allows access to table PC interfaces such as, for example, PCMCIA or Smart Card slots. The pod door 1322 is attached to the lid 1304 so that it may be removed or opened. In the embodiment of FIG. 13A, the pod door 1322 is hingedly connected to a portion of the base 1312 at a location of the base 1312 that has an opening that allows access to the tablet PC interfaces. The opening can be covered by a watertight seal 1320, such as, for example, an O-ring that is part of pod door 1322. The underside of the lid 1304 also has a watertight seal, such as an O-ring, so that when compound latches 1328, 1330, 1332 and 1334 are closed, the O-ring or seal of the lid 1304 forms a watertight seal against the base 1312. The protective enclosure 1300 protects the tablet PC 1302 from water and dust intrusion sufficient to comply with Ingress Protection (IP) rating of IP 67, i.e., the protective enclosure totally protects the enclosed tablet PC from dust and protects the enclosed tablet PC from the effects of immersion in one meter of water for 30 minutes. The protective enclosure of the embodiment of FIG. 13A may further comprise protective overmolding 1316 attached to the lid 1304. A similar overmolding may be attached to the base 1312. The protective overmolding 1316 may be made of material that is easily gripped in slippery conditions and provides additional shock absorption such as, for example, rubber or silicone. The protective overmolding 1316 extends above the surface of the lid in pre-determined areas to provide protrusions that are easily gripped even in slippery conditions. The protective enclosure of the embodiment of FIG. 13 may further comprise watertight plugs such as access port plug 1314 that fit snugly into openings in the base 1312 that provide access to various interfaces, connecters and slots of the tablet PC 1302. FIG. 13B illustrates a shell lid 1304 of the embodiment of FIG. 13A. Shell lid 1304 and base 1312 may be made of impact/crush resistant material such as glass-fiber reinforced engineered thermoplastic, such as for example, glass reinforced polycarbonate. Alternatively, the shell lid 1304 and shell base may be made of thermoplastic polycarbonate, thermoplastic polypropylene, thermoplastic acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene, and thermoplastic compositions containing one or more thereof, or other engineered thermoplastics that provide a shock-resistant and impact resistant shell may be used. The engineered thermoplastics may be reinforced with glass fibers, carbon fibers, metal fibers, polyamide fibers and mixtures thereof. Shell lid 1304 may be further reinforced with stiffeners 1334, 1336, 1338, 1340 that are integrally embedded into the shell lid around the perimeter of an opening in the shell that is directly over the interactive flat-panel control portion of the tablet PC. The stiffeners made be made of steel or other hard material so that the stiffeners provide additional strength and prevent flexing of the lid 1304 which enhances the watertightness and the impact/crush resistance. FIG. 14 is an illustration of the embodiment of FIG. 13A with the lid 1404 detached from the base 1412. To protect the tablet PC 1402 using the protective enclosure 1400, the tablet PC 1402 is disposed to fit snugly into the base 1412. The lid is oriented so that hooks 1436, 1438 area aligned with pin 1440 that is connected to a portion of the base 1412 and the lid is closed so that hooks 1436, 1438 are retained by pin 1440. Compound latches 1428, 1430, 1432, 1434 are then snapped onto the lid so that the lid is compressed tightly against the base providing a watertight seal. FIG. 15 is a bottom view of the embodiment of FIG. 13. The base 1516 of protective enclosure 1500 includes watertight vents such as watertight vent 1506 for air exchange to permit heat and sound dissipation from the enclosed tablet PC while at the same time maintaining watertightness. Pod release knobs 1512, 1518 are attached to the base 1516 so that the knobs can be rotated clockwise to securely wedge against an edge of pod door 1522 to close the pod door 1522 tightly against a rim around an the pod opening in base 1516 to create a watertight seal. Knobs 1512, 1518 can be rotated counter-clockwise to release pod door 1522 to access the interfaces of the tablet PC covered by pod door 1522. To provide additional protection against mechanical shock, heavy-duty corner bumpers such as bumper 1504 may be securely attached to the corners of base 1516. As shown in FIG. 15, an adjustable heavy-duty handle may be attached to the base 1516 of the protective enclosure 1500 to allow easy and reliable transportation of the protective enclosure 1500 that encloses a tablet PC. In some circumstances, it is convenient to hold the protective enclosure using hand strap 1514 that is made of strong slightly stretchable fabric. Hand strap 1514 attaches to four points of the base 1516 to that a user's hand or wrist can be inserted along the either the longer or shorted length on the protective enclosure 1500 and enclosure tablet PC. Hand strap 1514 may be made of neoprene or other strong stretchable material to securely hold the protective enclosure to the user's arm even in slippery conditions. The protective enclosure may further include a neck strap to provide a comfortable solution for using the tablet PC while standing. FIG. 16 illustrates a top view of the protective enclosure base 1600. Watertight vents such as watertight vent 1616 allow air exchange for heat dissipation and sound transmission from an enclosed tablet PC. Seal rim 1614 is an integrally formed part of the protective enclosure 1600 which is compressed against an O-ring in the protective enclosure lid to provide a watertight seal when compound latches 1628, 1630, 1632, 1634 are closed onto the lid. Internal bumpers 1602, 1604, 1608, 1610 attach to the interior corners of protective enclosure base 1600 to provide cushion and mechanical shock protection to an enclosed tablet PC. The L-shape and non-solid interior of internal bumpers 1602, 1604, 1608, 1610 allows the bumpers to deflect and absorb the shock if the enclosed tablet PC is dropped or otherwise subjected to mechanical shock. The protective enclosure provides shock absorption sufficient to meet MIL-STD 810F, Method 516.5, Procedure 4 which is a Transit Drop Test. In the Transit Drop Test, the protective enclosure encloses a tablet PC or a mass equivalent to a tablet PC. The protective enclosure is sequentially dropped onto each face, edge and corner for a total of 26 drops over plywood from a height of 48 inches. The protective enclosure is visually inspected after each drop and a functional check for leakage is performed after all drops are completed. Some tablet PCs have a docking connector disposed on the underside of the tablet PC so that the tablet PC can connect to power and signals. For example, emergency vehicles such as ambulances, fire trucks, or patrol cars, may have a docking station installed near the driver's seat onto which the driver may dock a tablet PC. The embodiment of protective enclosure base 1600, as illustrated in FIG. 1, may comprise a docking connector channel 1624 that is recessed with respect to the upper surface of the base that allows a docking connector to run from a docking connector that is disposed in the center underside of the tablet PC to access port 1626. Alternatively, a docking pass-through connector 1620 may be made an integral and watertight part of the protective enclosure base 1600 so that the tablet PC docking connector attaches to the docking pass-through connector 1620 which, in turn, connects to the docking station in substantially the same manner as an unenclosed tablet PC. FIG. 17 illustrates another embodiment of protective enclosure 1700 for a handheld electronic device 1702 that has an interactive flat-panel control. Handheld electronic devices that have an interactive flat-panel control benefit from being enclosed in a rugged protective enclosure that is crush-resistant, watertight and shock-resistant and that simultaneously allows the user to interact with a sensitive interactive flat-panel control. Handheld electronic devices that have interactive flat-panel control may include music players, MP3 players, audio player/recorders, and video players. For example, Apple Computer Ipod is a popular handheld interactive device that plays MP3 or otherwise digitally-encoded music/audio. The Apple Ipod has an interactive flat-panel control in which a portion of the front panel is a flat-panel display and portion of the front panel is an interactive flat-panel control, called a touch wheel in some versions of the Ipod and click wheel in other versions of the Ipod, that has capacitive touch/proximity sensors. One function of the interactive flat-panel control, i.e. touch wheel, emulates a rotary control knob by sensing circular motion of a user's finger using capacitive sensors. The click wheel has the same function with the additional feature of sensing proximity of a user's finger and emulating button presses by a user's finger at pre-determined areas. In the embodiment of FIG. 17, the shell lid 1706 and the shell base 1704 are made of polycarbonate or other engineered thermoplastics that are crush-resistant and impact resistant. Shell base 1704 has a watertight seal 1718, which may be an overmolded gasket, o-ring, liner or other seal that prevents water from entering the protective enclosure 1700 when the handheld interactive device 1702 is enclosed inside the protective enclosure 1700. Shell base 1704 and shell lid 1706 may include watertight vents, electrical connectors, see-through areas or features as disclosed with respect to FIG. 1. In the embodiment of FIG. 17, shell lid 1706 includes apertures over predetermined portions of the handheld interactive device 1702, such as the areas directly over the display screen 1714 and the interactive flat-panel control 1712, or other designated areas as desired. A protective screen membrane 1710 that is at least partially transparent is permanently or removably fixed in a watertight manner to the underside of shell lid 1706 in the aperture that is over the display screen 1714. The protective screen membrane 1710 is recessed with respect to the upper surface of the shell lid 1706 which provides protective elevated rim that protects the display screen 1714 from breakage. Protective screen membrane 1710 may be PVC, silicone or other material that is watertight and rugged. In the case that display screen 1714 is a touch screen, the protective screen membrane 1710 should be smooth enough and thin enough that stylus strokes and other inputs are transmitted accurately to the touch screen as disclosed above with respect to FIG. 1, FIG. 12, and FIG. 13. In accordance with the embodiment of FIG. 17, a protective control membrane 1708 is permanently or removably fixed in a watertight manner to the underside of shell lid 1706 in an aperture that is over the interactive flat-panel control 1714 of the handheld device 1702. The protective screen membrane 1710 is recessed with respect to the upper surface of the shell lid 1706 which provides protective elevated rim that protects the display screen 1714 from breakage and provides tactile feedback that guides a user's finger to the desired area even in slippery conditions. Interactive flat-panel control 1712 has capacitive sensors which are part of a proximity/touch detector circuit. When a grounded object, such as a person's finger, which has free air capacitance of several hundred picofarads, is brought close to the capacitive sensors, the total capacitance measured by the detector circuit increases because the capacitance of the object with free air capacitance adds to the capacitance of the sensors since the total capacitance of two capacitors in parallel is additive. Multiple sensors may also be arranged so that movement of an object with free air capacitance can be detected, for example, movement of a person's finger in a circular motion analogous to turning a mechanical control knob. Some examples of interactive flat-panel controlled PDA's include Ipod and Ipod Mini music and audio players from Apple Computer. In some PDAs, such as the Apple Ipod, capacitive sensors may be disposed below a front panel made from a dielectric such as polycarbonate which has a dielectric constant in the range of 2.2-3.8. In the embodiment of FIG. 17, the protective control membrane 1708 is made of thin polycarbonate that is slightly flexible or other engineered thermoplastics that provide the rugged watertight protection and at the same time permit the capacitive sensors of the interactive flat-panel control 1712 to function correctly. Likewise, a protective control membrane 1708 with a dielectric constant that is too high may retain an electric charge long enough to reduce the response rate of the sensor to motion of a user's finger from one capacitive sensor zone of the interactive flat-panel control 1712 to another. A protective control membrane 1708 that is conductive or has a dielectric constant that is too low may diminish the sensitivity of the capacitive sensor by combining in series the capacitance of the protective membrane and the dielectric front panel of the PDA which results in a lowering of the overall capacitance. Total capacitance between an object, such as a finger touching the protective control membrane 1708, and interactive flat-panel control 1712 is a function of the thickness and the dielectric constant of the protective control membrane 1708. The capacitance between the object, such as a finger, and the capacitive sensors of the interactive flat-panel control 1712 is proportional to the distance between the object and the sensors. The sensitivity of the capacitive sensors to the object may be diminished or completely eliminated if the protective control membrane 1708 is too thick. In the embodiment of FIG. 17, the thickness of the protective control membrane is approximately 0.020 inches. The protective control membrane 1708 may be any thickness in the range of 0.003 inches to 0.020 inches that is adequate to provide a rugged watertight membrane through which capacitance can be correctly sensed by the interactive flat-panel control 1712. The upper surface of the protective control membrane 1708 has a velvet/matte texture with a texture depth of 0.0004 to 0.003 inches that reduces the surface area of the membrane that is in frictional contact with the user's finger and permits a user's finger to glide rapidly upon the surface of the membrane without catching or sticking as a result of the reduced friction. The hardness of the polycarbonate material, or other hard engineered thermoplastic, also reduces the friction. Headphones or other accessories may be electrically connected to handheld device 1702 the through the protective enclosure 1700 by disposing the wire of the headphone or accessory in an insertable gasket 1716 which fits snugly into one end of the shell base 1704. FIG. 18 illustrates another embodiment of protective enclosure 1800 which is substantially the same as protective enclosure 1700 of FIG. 17. However, protective enclosure 1800 has an alternative electrical pass-through for accessories. In the embodiment of FIG. 18, shell base 1804 includes an adapter cable 1816 that has an adapter plug 1812 at one end which plugs into a jack of handheld device 1802. At the other end of the adapter cable 1816 is an adapter jack 1814 that is molded into, or otherwise integrally made part of, shell base 1804. An external accessory, such as a pair of headphones, may then be plugged into the adapter jack 1814 while the handheld device 1802 in enclosed in protective enclosure 1800. Alternatively, a one-piece adapter that includes both a jack 1814 and a plug 1812 without a cable 1816 may be integrally disposed into shell base 1804. Shell lid 1806 is adapted to retain an O-ring 1808 that seals the protective enclosure 1800 when shell lid 1806 is latched tightly onto shell base 1804 so that water cannot enter protective enclosure 1800. The foregoing description of the invention has been presented for purposes of illustration and description. It is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise form disclosed, and other modifications and variations may be possible in light of the above teachings. The embodiment was chosen and described in order to best explain the principles of the invention and its practical application to thereby enable others skilled in the art to best utilize the invention in various embodiments and various modifications as are suited to the particular use contemplated. It is intended that the appended claims be construed to include other alternative embodiments of the invention except insofar as limited by the prior art. | <SOH> BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION <EOH>a. Field of the Invention The present invention pertains generally to protective cases and specifically to protective cases for devices that have an interactive flat-panel control. b. Description of the Background Personal Digital Assistants, or PDAs as well as other portable electronic devices are being very widely used, and are being deployed in industrial as well as office environments. PDAs are being used in industrial environments for data collection, such as service information on an airplane, or for data delivery such as maps for fire fighters and other emergency personnel. When PDAs are deployed in such industrial applications, the data that is collected and displayed on the PDA can be extremely valuable and can be life saving. The industrial environments impose harsh conditions that typical PDAs are not designed to accommodate. For example, damage can be done to the PDA through rough handling and dropping. Further, industrial chemicals, grease, water, dirt, and grime may damage or destroy a functioning PDA and inhibit the use of the PDAs valuable data. It is common to hold the PDAs inside a protective case for transport. However, in the case of a firefighter using the PDA on a fire scene, opening a case with gloved hands in the midst of fighting a fire exposes the PDA to easily being dropped, getting wet, or otherwise being damaged. The user interface for PDAs is typically a few buttons and a touch screen display. The touch screen is used to both display information and to capture information. The data capture generally uses a stylus to select buttons or areas on the screen for certain functions, draw shapes onto the screen, use character recognition to enter text or numbers, or other methods of data capture. The PDA may be connected to another computer by several mechanisms. The PDA may be direct connected using a wire connection, wherein a cable with a connector physically connects to the PDA. A second method is to use an infrared communication protocol that uses an infrared transmitter and receiver mounted in the PDA to communicate with another computer having a similar transceiver. A third method is to communicate via radio signals such as a cellular phone protocol or wireless modem. It would therefore be advantageous to provide a case for a PDA wherein the PDA may be fully operated when the PDA is stored securely in the case. Further, the operation of the PDA through its touch screen interface should not be hindered by a protective case. The case would also not interfere with the connections between the PDA and another computer. | <SOH> SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION <EOH>The present invention overcomes the disadvantages and limitations of the prior art by providing a watertight, crush-resistant, and impact resistant protective enclosure that protects a devices that has an interactive flat-panel control and simultaneously permits smooth and accurate interactive use of the flat-panel control. The present invention may therefore comprise a protective enclosure for a tablet PC having an interactive flat-panel control comprising: a shell that is capable of enclosing the tablet PC, the tablet PC being a separate unit from the protective enclosure, the tablet PC being insertable in and removable from the enclosure by hand, the shell being substantially crush-resistant and having an elevated protective rim around a perimeter portion of the interactive flat-panel control of the tablet PC so that when the tablet PC is disposed in the enclosure, the interactive flat-panel control of the tablet PC is recessed with respect to the protective rim of the shell so that the elevated protective rim protects the interactive flat-panel control from breakage; and a protective membrane that is integrally fixed to a shock-absorbing cushion, the shock-absorbing cushion being fixed to the shell, the shock-absorbing cushion forming a seal between the shell and the protective membrane so that the protective enclosure is substantially watertight, the protective membrane is disposed over the interactive flat-panel control of the tablet PC when the tablet PC is disposed in the enclosure, the protective membrane having a back side that has a substantially planar smooth surface that is adjacent to the interactive flat-panel control of the tablet when the tablet PC is disposed in the enclosure so that inputs on a front side of the protective membrane are communicated to the interactive flat-panel control through the protective membrane, the protective membrane being at least partially transparent such that the interactive flat-panel control is visible through the protective membrane, the shock-absorbing cushion pressing the protective membrane flatly against the interactive flat-panel control of the tablet PC so that smooth stylus strokes and inputs may be transmitted accurately to the interactive flat-panel control. The present invention may further comprise a protective enclosure for a handheld device having a capacitance-sensing interactive flat-panel control comprising: a shell that is capable of enclosing the handheld device, the handheld device being a separate unit from the protective enclosure, the handheld device being insertable in and removable from the enclosure by hand, the shell being substantially crush-resistant and having an elevated protective rim around a perimeter portion of the capacitance-sensing interactive flat-panel control of the handheld device so that when the handheld device is disposed in the enclosure, the capacitance-sensing interactive flat-panel controlled device of said tablet is recessed with respect to said protective rim of said shell so that said elevated protective rim protects the interactive flat-panel control from breakage; and a protective membrane that is integrally fixed to the shell, the protective membrane disposed over the capacitance-sensing interactive flat-panel control of the handheld device when the handheld device is disposed in the enclosure, the protective membrane having a back side that has a substantially planar smooth surface that is adjacent to the capacitance-sensing interactive flat-panel control of the handheld device when the handheld device is disposed in the enclosure, the protective membrane being sufficiently thin that capacitive inputs on a front side of the protective membrane are transmitted to the capacitive-sensing interactive flat-panel control through the protective membrane, the protective membrane being at least partially transparent such that the interactive flat-panel control is visible through the protective membrane, the protective membrane having a dielectric constant such that capacitive inputs on a front side of the protective membrane are transmitted to the capacitance-sensing interactive flat-panel control. The invention may further comprise a method of manufacturing a protective enclosure for a device having an interactive flat-panel control comprising: providing a protective shell that is crush resistant and impact resistant, the protective shell having embedded stiffeners that prevent the protective shell from warping, the protective shell that is adapted to enclose a device having an interactive flat-panel control, the device being a separate unit from the protective enclosure, the device being insertable in and removable from the shell by hand, the shell being substantially crush-resistant and providing an elevated protective rim around a perimeter portion of the interactive flat-panel control of the device so that when the device is disposed in the enclosure, the interactive flat-panel control is recessed with respect to the protective rim of the shell so that the elevated protective rim protects the interactive flat-panel control of the device from breakage; providing a protective membrane that is capable of being integrally fixed on the shell so that the protective membrane is disposed over the interactive flat-panel control of the device when the device is disposed in the enclosure, the protective membrane having a back side that has a substantially planar smooth surface adjacent the interactive flat-panel control when the device is disposed in the enclosure so that inputs on a front side of the protective membrane are communicated to the interactive flat-panel control through the protective membrane, the protective membrane being at least partially transparent such that the interactive flat-panel control is visible through the protective membrane; and fixing the protective membrane onto the protective shell so that the protective membrane and the protective shell form a protective enclosure for the touch screen device. The invention may further comprise a method of manufacturing a protective enclosure for a device having a capacitance-sensing interactive flat-panel control comprising: providing a protective shell that is crush-resistant and impact-resistant, the protective shell that is adapted to enclose a device having a capacitance-sensing interactive flat-panel control, the device being a separate unit from the protective enclosure, the device being insertable in and removable from the shell by hand, the shell being substantially crush-resistant and providing an elevated protective rim around a perimeter portion of the capacitance-sensing interactive flat-panel control of the device so that when the device is disposed in the enclosure, the capacitance-sensing interactive flat-panel control is recessed with respect to the protective rim of the shell so that the elevated protective rim protects the capacitance-sensing interactive flat-panel control of the device from breakage; providing a protective membrane that is capable of being integrally fixed on the shell so that the protective membrane is disposed over the capacitance-sensing interactive flat-panel control of the device when the device is disposed in the enclosure, the protective membrane having a back side that has a substantially planar smooth surface adjacent the interactive flat-panel control when the device is disposed in the enclosure, the protective membrane being sufficiently thin and having dielectric constant so that capacitive inputs on a front side of the protective membrane are communicated to the capacitance-sensing interactive flat-panel control through the protective membrane, the protective membrane being at least partially transparent such that the capacitance-sensing interactive flat-panel control is visible through the protective membrane; and fixing the protective membrane onto the protective shell so that the protective membrane and the protective shell form a protective enclosure for the device. | 20040908 | 20070102 | 20050210 | 93032.0 | 8 | CHANG, YEAN HSI | PROTECTIVE ENCLOSURE FOR AN INTERACTIVE FLAT-PANEL CONTROLLED DEVICE | UNDISCOUNTED | 1 | CONT-ACCEPTED | 2,004 |
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10,937,060 | ACCEPTED | Method, system, and apparatus for providing resilient data transfer in a data protection system | A method for transmitting records of changes to data from a production location to a storage location is provided. The method stores in a log, records of changes to data stored at a production location. Those records are transmitted and a transmitted records checkpoint is generated that is transmitted at the end of the transmitted records. A records checkpoint confirmation is received and the plurality of transmitted records are purged from the log. | 1. A method for transmitting records of changes to data from a production location to a storage location, comprising: storing in a log, records of changes to data stored at a production location; transmitting a plurality of the stored records; generating a transmitted records checkpoint; subsequent to transmitting the plurality of stored records, transmitting the generated transmitted records checkpoint; receiving a transmitted records checkpoint confirmation; and removing the plurality of transmitted records from the log. 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the checkpoint includes an identification of a location within the log of a last record that was transmitted with the plurality of records. 3. The method of claim 1, wherein subsequent to transmitting a plurality of the stored records, additional records of changes to data are stored in the log. 4. The method of claim 1, wherein the received transmitted records checkpoint confirmation indicates that each of the plurality of the stored records transmitted prior to the transmission of the transmitted records checkpoint have been received at a storage location. 5. The method of claim 1, wherein the received transmitted records checkpoint is received from a data management system. 6. The method of claim 1, wherein the plurality of the records includes metadata records about the data stored at the production location. 7. A method for receiving and applying changes to a replica, comprising: receiving a plurality of records; applying at least a portion of the received records to the replica; subsequent to applying at least a portion of the plurality of received records, generating an applied checkpoint; transmitting the applied checkpoint; receiving an applied checkpoint confirmation; and purging the applied records. 8. The method of claim 7, further comprising: storing the plurality of received records in a log; and subsequent to receiving the applied checkpoint confirmation, purging from the log the applied records. 9. The method of claim 7, further comprising: for each received record, determining if the record is a change to be made to the replica; and in response to a determination that the record is a change to be made to the replica, applying the record to the replica. 10. The method of claim 7, wherein the replica is a copy of data stored at a production location. 11. The method of claim 7, wherein the generated applied checkpoint includes an identification of a location in a log of the last applied record. 12. The method of claim 7, wherein the received applied checkpoint confirmation is received from a data management system. 13. The method of claim 7, further comprising: in response to a determination that the record is not a change to be made to the replica, determining if the record is a checkpoint; and in response to a determination that the record is a checkpoint, adding a log identification to the checkpoint and transmitting the checkpoint. 14. The method of claim 13, wherein the checkpoint is transmitted to a data protection system. 15. The method of claim 7, further comprising: in response to a determination that the record is not a change to be made to the replica, determining if the record is a checkpoint; and in response to a determination that the record is a checkpoint, transmitting the checkpoint and a difference log. 16. The method of claim 15, wherein the checkpoint and the difference log are transmitted to a data protection system. 17. The method of claim 15, wherein the difference log includes a list of items of data stored at a storage location that are different than items of data stored at a production location. 18. The method of claim 7, further comprising; in response to a determination that the record is not a change to be made to the replica, generating metadata about a portion of the replica; comparing the generated metadata with the record; and if the generated metadata does not match the record, adding to a difference log an identification of the portion of the replica. 19. In a data protection system having a production location, a storage location, and a data protector, a method for restarting a transmission and application of changed data between the production location and the storage location, the method comprising: determining a first log point from which the storage location last applied a record; transmitting the determined first log point with a command to restart applying records from the first determined log point; determining a second log point from which the production location last transmitted a record that was received by the storage location; and transmitting the determined second log point with a command to restart transmission of records from the determined second log point. 20. The data protection system of claim 19, wherein the first log point is determined based on a last applied checkpoint received by the data management system. 21. The data protection system of claim 20, wherein the received checkpoint includes an identification of a log point of a last transmitted record that was received by the storage location. 22. The data protection system of claim 20, wherein the applied checkpoint includes an identification of a log point of a last applied record. 23. The data protection system of claim 19, further comprising: determining a third log point from which the storage location last received a transmitted checkpoint; and transmitting the determined third log point with a command to begin storing records subsequent to the third log point. 24. The data protection system of claim 19, wherein the second log point is determined based on a last transmitted checkpoint received by the data protector. 25. The data protection system of claim 19, further comprising: determining if a validation process was in progress; and in response to determining that validation was in progress, restarting validation. 26. In a data protection system having a production location, a storage location, and a data protector, a method for restarting a validation of data process between data stored on a production location and data stored on a storage location, the method comprising: transmitting a command to restart application of records at the storage location; transmitting a command to restart transmission of records from the production location; generating a marker; transmitting the marker to the production location; receiving the marker from the storage location; and transmitting a command to restart validation. 27. The data protection system of claim 26, wherein restarting validation comprises: determining a data location from which validation is to resume; and transmitting the determined data location with a command to restart validation from the determined location. 28. The data protection system of claim 27, wherein the data location is determined from a checkpoint received from the storage location. 29. The data protection system of claim 26, wherein the marker is unique. 30. The data protection system of claim 26, wherein the marker is received by the production location and transmitted to the storage location. 31. A system for transferring data from a production location to a storage location, comprising: a data protector configured to monitor and control a transfer of data from the production location to the storage location; a first log configured to maintain a plurality of records of changes made to data at the production location, wherein the records are transmitted at a predetermined time from the production location to the storage location; a first checkpoint generation device located at the production location, wherein the first checkpoint generation device generates a first checkpoint that is included with the transmitted records; a second log configured to maintain a plurality of records received from the production location; and a second checkpoint generation device located at the storage location, wherein the second checkpoint generation device generates a second checkpoint that is forwarded to the data protector. 32. The system of claim 31, wherein the data protector maintains a database of first and second checkpoints. 33. The system of claim 31, wherein the first checkpoint includes an identification of a first log point of a last transmitted record. 34. The system of claim 31, wherein the storage location adds a second log point to a received first checkpoint, and transmits the first checkpoint to the data protector. 35. The system of claim 31, wherein the data protector monitors the transmission of data between the storage location and the production location by receiving first and second checkpoints from the storage location. 36. The system of claim 31, wherein the data protector initiates validation of data between the production location and the storage location. | CROSS-REFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATIONS This application cross-references U.S. patent application Ser. No. ______ [ATTORNEY DOCKET NUMBER: MSFT122430], titled METHOD, SYSTEM, AND APPARATUS FOR CONFIGURING A DATA PROTECTION SYSTEM, and filed on Sep. 9, 2004, which is incorporated by reference herein; This application cross-references U.S. patent application Ser. No. ______ [ATTORNEY DOCKET NUMBER: MSFT122560], titled METHOD, SYSTEM, AND APPARATUS FOR CREATING SAVED SEARCHES AND AUTO DISCOVERY GROUPS FOR A DATA PROTECTION SYSTEM, and filed on Sep. 9, 2004, which is incorporated by reference herein; This application cross-references U.S. patent application Ser. No. ______ [ATTORNEY DOCKET NUMBER: MSFT122799], titled METHOD, SYSTEM, AND APPARATUS, FOR TRANSLATING LOGICAL INFORMATION REPRESENTATIVE OF PHYSICAL DATA IN A DATA PROTECTION SYSTEM, and filed on Sep. 9, 2004, which is incorporated by reference herein; This application cross-references U.S. patent application Ser. No. ______ [ATTORNEY DOCKET NUMBER: MSFT122796], titled METHOD, SYSTEM, AND APPARATUS FOR CREATING AN ARCHIVE ROUTINE FOR PROTECTING DATA IN A DATA PROTECTION SYSTEM, and filed on Sep. 9, 2004, which is incorporated by reference herein; This application cross-references U.S. patent application Ser. No. ______ [ATTORNEY DOCKET NUMBER: MSFT122800], titled METHOD, SYSTEM, AND APPARATUS FOR CREATING AN ARCHITECTURAL MODEL FOR GENERATING ROBUST AND EASY TO MANAGE DATA PROTECTION APPLICATIONS IN A DATA PROTECTION SYSTEM, and filed on Sep. 9, 2004, which is incorporated by reference herein; and This application cross-references U.S. patent application Ser. No. ______ [ATTORNEY DOCKET NUMBER: MSFT122795], titled METHOD, SYSTEM, AND APPARATUS FOR PROVIDING ALERT SYNTHESIS IN A DATA PROTECTION SYSTEM, and filed on Sep. 9, 2004, which is incorporated by reference herein. FIELD OF THE INVENTION In general, the present invention relates to data protection and data protection systems and, in particular, to a system, method and apparatus for controlling the protection and recovery of data. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Generally described, large scale computer systems often contain several computing devices and large amounts of data. In such a system, computing devices are often added and removed. Likewise, existing computing devices are often changed through the addition of shares, Exchange Storage Groups, databases, volumes, and other changes to data stored on the computing devices. For organizations utilizing such a computer system, there is generally a need to protect the data stored on the system, often by creating a backup of the data. However, individuals responsible for protecting the system are often not informed of additions and/or changes to the system and therefore are unaware of new resources that need protection. For example, if a new computing device, such as a server, is added to the system and the individual responsible for protecting the system is not informed of the addition, data on the new computing device, and the new computing device, may remain unprotected. This problem increases for systems that allow individuals to operate within the system at a logical level rather than at a physical level. While individuals operate at the logical level, protection is typically determined at the physical level. In such an environment, problems may occur when operations at the logical level require changes to the backup procedure. For example, if the logical path \\history\public\tools points to a share on server history1 and it is decided to move \\history\public\tools to point to a different share on server history2, if the individual responsible for protection is not informed of the change, the old share may continue to be protected while the new share remains unprotected. The problem increases still further when a single logical path may represent a set of physical alternatives, which contain synchronized copies of the underlying data. For example, \\history\docs may point to identical shares on both history1 and history2; only one of the identical underlying folders should be protected by the system. Failure to protect material on a large system typically results because the individual responsible for protection must manually identify resources and the data that is to be protected and manually configure the protection. As the system changes, unless they become aware of the change, data and resources may go unprotected. Additionally, for archiving backups of data to physical media, the individual must manually determine what media is to be used for protection and when/how to rotate the media. For large systems, manually identifying changes, configuring protection, and maintaining archives is complex and changes are difficult. Such manual identification, configuration and modification of protection often results in omission of data and resources that need protection and problems with the protection itself. When problems do arise, typically the individual must be able to determine the problem at a detailed level and have knowledge as to how to resolve the problem, without being provided information from the protection system itself. Thus, there is a need for a system, method, and apparatus for automating the protection of a computer system, identifying when changes to the system occur, providing guidance to a user when problems arise with protection, and allowing individuals to create protection by working in a logical namespace. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION A method for transmitting records of changes to data from a production location to a storage location is provided. The method stores in a log, records of changes to data stored at a production location. Those records are transmitted and a transmitted records checkpoint is generated that is transmitted at the end of the transmitted records. A records checkpoint confirmation is received and the plurality of transmitted records are purged from the log. In accordance with an aspect of the present invention, a method for receiving and applying changes to a replica is provided. A plurality of records is received and at least a portion of those records is applied to the replica. Subsequent to applying at least a portion of the plurality of received records to the replica, an applied checkpoint is generated and transmitted. In response, an applied checkpoint confirmation is received and the applied records are purged. In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, in a data protection system having a production location, a storage location, and a data protector, a method for restarting a transmission and application of changed data between the production location and the storage location is provided. The method determines a first log point from which the storage location last applied a record and transmits the determined first log point with a command to restart application of records from that point. A second log point is also determined. The second log point identifies a point from which the production location last transmitted a record that was received by the storage location and identifies a point where the next record will be stored by the storage location. The second log point is then transmitted with a command to restart transmission of records from the determined second log point. In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, in a data protection system having a production location, a storage location, and a data protector, a method for restarting a validation of a data process between data stored on a production location and data stored on a storage location is provided. A command to restart application of records at the storage location, and a command to restart transmission of records from the production location are transmitted. A marker is generated and transmitted to the production location. The marker is subsequently received from the storage location and a command to restart validation is transmitted. In accordance with yet another aspect of the present invention, a system for transferring data from a production location to a storage location is provided. The system includes a data protector configured to monitor and control a transfer of data from the production location to the storage location. Also included in the system is a first log configured to maintain a plurality of records of changes made to data at the production location, wherein the records are transmitted at a predetermined time from the production location to the storage location. A first checkpoint generation device located at the production location is also part of the system. The first checkpoint generation device generates a first checkpoint that is included with the transmitted records. Additionally, a second log configured to maintain a plurality of records received from the production location is also included. Finally, the system includes a second checkpoint generation device located at the storage location, wherein the second checkpoint generation device generates a second checkpoint that is forwarded to the data protector. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The foregoing aspects and many of the attendant advantages of this invention will become more readily appreciated as the same become better understood by reference to the following detailed description, when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein: FIGS. 1A-2 are block diagrams of a data protection system for managing the protection and recovery of data, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 3 is a flow diagram of a data protection system describing the initial selection and protection of protectable objects that are located at a production location, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 4 illustrates a block diagram of a plurality of Namespaces and Namespace Elements that are published and displayed on a user interface for user interaction and selection, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 5 illustrates the mapping between a Namespace Element and protectable objects, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 6 illustrates a block diagram of a schema for associating types Namespaces and types of Namespace Elements, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 7 illustrates a block diagram of a schema for mapping a logical Namespace Element to a physical protectable object, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 8 illustrates a block diagram of a production location that contains protectable objects that may be protected by the data protection system, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention; FIGS. 9A-9B are block diagrams of protectable objects at a production location and the grouping of protectable objects into a protected group, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 10 illustrates a block diagram of a protected group containing the selected Namespace Elements, the mapped protected objects, and the protected group's properties, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 11 is a flow diagram of a configuration routine for configuring a plan for protecting a protected group, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 12 illustrates a protected group creation routine that describes in more detail the creation of a protected group, according to an embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 13 illustrates an overlap detection routine for detecting overlap of data sources contained in two or more protected groups, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 14 is a flow diagram of a data protection system illustrating the flow of a recovery process for recovering a protected object, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 15 is a block diagram illustrating a more detailed view of recoverable objects that may be contained on a storage location, according to an embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 16 illustrates a recovery routine for recovering protected objects from a storage location, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention; FIGS. 17-23A, and 24 illustrate a flow diagram for creating and utilizing an auto discovery group, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 23B illustrates a remap resolution routine for resolving the remap of a protected namespace element, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 25 illustrates a flow diagram of an initial discovery routine for initially discovering the mappings between top-level Namespace Elements and protectable objects, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 26 illustrates a flow diagram of a scheduled discovery routine for discovery of mappings between Namespaces and Namespace Elements and protectable objects located at a production location, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 27 is a flow diagram of an auto discovery group creation routine, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention; FIGS. 28 and 29 illustrate a flow diagram of an auto discovery group update routine, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 30 illustrates a flow diagram for translating protection intents into a plan for protecting a set of data, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention; FIGS. 31 and 32 illustrate a flow diagram of an intent translation routine for translating protection intents into a detailed plan for protecting physical objects located at a production location, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 33 is a flow diagram of a protection plan creation routine for creating a protection plan for a protected group, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 34 is a flow diagram of a preparation plan execution routine for execution a preparation plan, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 35 is a flow diagram of a validation routine for validating a copy of data located at a storage location, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 36 is a flow diagram of a scheduled validation routine for validating a copy of objects located at a storage location, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 37 illustrates a block diagram of state transitions for a storage portion of a storage location and/or an entire storage location, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 38 illustrates a flow diagram of a restart routine for restarting the intent translation routine subsequent to an interruption that occurred during a previous intent translation routine, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 39 illustrates an archive protection plan creation routine for generating a plan for archiving data, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 40 is a table illustrating an example of the different generations that may be used for generating an archive scheme, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 41 is a flow routine for allocating media for archiving data, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 42 illustrates a block diagram of a data protection system, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention; FIGS. 43-44 illustrate a flow diagram of a data transfer monitoring routine performed by a data protection system, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 45 illustrate a flow diagram of a data protection system that restarts transmission of change records from a production location to a storage location, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention; FIGS. 46 and 47 illustrate flow diagrams of a validation routine for validating a replica, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 48A is a flow diagram of a command processing routine for processing commands received by a production location, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 48B is a flow diagram of a transmit data routine for transmitting change records from a production location to a storage location, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 48C is a flow diagram of a validation routine for validating data, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 49A is a flow diagram of a command processing routine for processing commands received by a storage location, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 49B is a flow diagram of a receive records routine for receiving records at a storage location, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 49C is a flow diagram of a apply change records routine for applying change records to a replica at a storage location, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 50 is a block diagram of a job containing a plurality of tasks, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 51 is a flow diagram illustrating the monitoring of tasks and creation of a makeup job, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 52 illustrates a flow diagram of a makeup job routine for identifying a task failure and creating a makeup job if that task was critical, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 53 illustrates a flow diagram for diagnosing problems associated with copy and temporal versions, and for generating a report with suggested corrections if a problem is detected, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention; FIGS. 54-56 illustrate a flow diagram describing the details of a copy diagnosis routine for diagnosing potential problems with the copying of data in the data protection system, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention; FIGS. 57-58 illustrate a flow diagram describing a temporal version diagnosis routine for diagnosing potential problems with a temporal version generated by the data protection system, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention; and FIG. 59 is a flow diagram describing a recovery diagnosis routine for diagnosing potential problems with recovery of information in the data protection system, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT FIG. 1A is a block diagram of a data protection system for managing the protection and recovery of data, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. Embodiments of the data protection system 100 described herein provide a user, such as a system administrator, with the ability to easily manage the protection and recovery of data. Typically, data management and protection is desired for data that is actively being produced and modified at a production location 103. That data is protected and stored as a replica or copy of the data at a storage location 105. The storage location may be at a remote location from the production location and/or at the same location as the production location. Additionally, the storage location may include multiple locations for different forms of storage. For example, replicas of data may be maintained at one location and archive of that data may be maintained at a second location. Accordingly, a storage location generally describes any combination and/or type of location for which data may be stored and protected. As will be described herein, the data protection system 100 includes a data protector 101 that communicates with a production location 103 and a storage location 105 to monitor the protection and flow of data between the production location 103 and the storage location 105. The data protector 101, as illustrated in FIG. 1A, may exist on a single computing device, such as a server, or be distributed over multiple computing devices. The data protector 101 deploys and communicates with agents located on different computing devices within the data protection system 100, such as the production location 103 and/or the storage location 105 to enable distributed control and management of data protection between multiple devices. Examples of the types of data protection provided by the data protection system 100 include, but are not limited to, replication with temporal versions, traditional archive to removable media, such as tape or disk, and a combination of both replication and archive. It will be appreciated that any other form and/or combination of protection may be utilized with embodiments of the present invention and that replication, temporal versions, and archive are simply examples. FIG. 1B illustrates an alternative embodiment of the data protection system 100. In particular, the data protector 110 may reside partially or entirely at the production location 111. In such an embodiment, the data protector 110 provides communication between itself and the production location 111, and between itself and the storage location 113. FIG. 1C illustrates yet another embodiment of the data protection system 100 that is used for protecting and recovering data, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. As illustrated in FIG. 1C, the data protector 120 may reside partially or entirely at the storage location 123. In such an embodiment, the data protector 120 provides communication between itself and the storage location 123 and between itself and the production location 121. FIG. 2 is another block diagram of a data protection system 200 for protecting and recovering data, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. The data protection system 200 illustrates that multiple production locations, such as production locations 203, production location2 205, through production locationN 207, may interact with the data protector 201 to store replicas and/or temporal versions of data originating from production locations. The data protector2 201 communicates with the production locations 203, 205, 207 and provides protection of the data residing on those production locations at a respective storage location, such as storage locationA 209, storage locationB 211, and storage locationX 213. The embodiments described herein may be utilized with any number and combination of data production locations and storage locations. As will be appreciated, and as illustrated in FIGS. 1A-2, any type of configuration of the data protection system may be utilized according to embodiments of the present invention for protecting and recovering data. Overall, embodiments of the data protection system described herein provide the ability for a user of the data protection system to specify at a high level what data at a production location is important and how the user wants to protect that data. In particular, the system described herein provides a user with the ability to logically identify what data at a particular production location they want to protect and how they want to protect it. The data protection system converts that logical identification into a series of “jobs” that are scheduled and executed to protect the data. Jobs, as described below, include the detailed information necessary for protecting the data identified by a user. For example, a job may perform replication, validation, temporal version management, archive and media management, etc. In order to provide users with the ability to select data at a logical level, the data protection system provides users with a logical representation of data stored at a production location in the form of a “Namespace” and “Namespace Elements.” A Namespace, as described herein, is a logical representation of an application. For example, applications that may be represented within the data protection system as Namespaces include, but are not limited to, a Distributed File System (“DFS”), a local file system, web application Namespaces, such as SharePoint, and Exchange Namespaces. As will be appreciated, the list of exemplary applications is for illustration purposes only and is not intended to be limiting in any way. Any type of application may be used with the data protection system and identified as a Namespace. A Namespace Element, as described herein, is a logical representation of a physical object, such as data, and is the primary entity that makes up a Namespace. For example, Namespace Elements may be, but are not limited to, DFS links, servers, shares, volumes, folders, or Exchange Storage Groups. Generally described, an Exchange Storage Group is a collection of databases that share a common log. As will be appreciated by one skilled in the relevant art, Namespace Elements may be used to represent any type of a physical object or collection of physical objects. To protect data, a user searches or navigates in the logical Namespace and selects one or more of the Namespace Elements. Selected Namespace Elements are associated with an existing “protected group” or used to create a new protected group. When a Namespace Element is associated with a protected group, the physical objects (data) associated with that Namespace Element also become part of the protected group. A protected group, as described herein, is a logical grouping of Namespace Elements and associated protected objects to which the same protection rules are applied. Each Namespace Element is used to locate one or more physical objects (data), referred to herein as “protectable objects,” that may be added to a protected group. Once located, the protectable objects may be selected for protection. When a protectable object is selected for protection, the selected protectable object becomes a “protected object” that is part of a protected group. A protectable object, as described herein, is physical information/data that may be protected. For example, a protectable object may be, but is not limited to, a folder, file, electronic mailbox, database, website, etc. A protected object, as used herein, is a protectable object that has been identified and selected for protection. In addition to creating protected groups, users can specify at a high level how, when (how frequently), and for how long they want the protected group to be protected. Additionally, a user may specify for how long they want copies and archives of the protected group to be retained. Such high level specifications may span all protection activities, such as replication, archive, media management, and any combination thereof. Based on the specifications provided by a user, a detailed plan is created for protecting the objects of a protected group. To recover data, a user is provided the ability to search or navigate in the logical Namespace to locate the data that that the user wants to recover. The logical path to the data to be recovered is then used to locate one or more recoverable objects, as described below. Each recoverable object represents a version of a protected object or a portion thereof. FIG. 3 is a flow diagram of a data protection system 300 describing the initial selection and protection of protectable objects that are located at a production location, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. As illustrated in FIG. 3, the data protection system 300 deploys agents to the production location 305 to enable the discovery of protectable objects located at the production location 305 and identifies the Namespaces and Namespace Elements corresponding to those protectable objects. Those Namespaces and Namespace Elements are published for user interaction and displayed on a user interface 303. For example, FIG. 4 illustrates a block diagram of a plurality of Namespaces and Namespace Elements that are published and displayed on a user interface 303 for user interaction and selection, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. As will be appreciated by one skilled in the relevant art, the illustration of FIG. 4 is exemplary only, and any other configuration may be displayed with embodiments of the present invention. For example, the display may include volumes but not shares. The display 400 illustrates a DFS ROOTS Namespace 401 and a SERVERS Namespace 403. The DFS ROOTS Namespace 401 includes two Namespace Elements 405, 407, both of which are DFS ROOTs. The Namespace Elements identified under the DFS ROOTS Namespace 401 are \\ABCD\PUBLIC 405 and \\EFG\PRIVATE 407. Additionally, the SERVERS Namespace 403 includes several Namespace Elements 409, 411, 413, 415, 421, 423, 425. Those Namespace Elements may also include several additional Namespace Elements. For example, SERVER1 409 includes several Namespace Element types, such as SHARES Namespace Element type 411. Likewise the SHARES Namespace Element type 411 includes SHARE1 Namespace Element 413 and SHARE2 Namespace Element 415. Additionally, the SHARES Namespace Element 411, SHARE1 Namespace Element 413, and SHARE2 Namespace Element 415 are all logical representations of protectable objects. A user may interact with the display 400 of Namespaces and Namespace Elements by selecting expand or collapse boxes, such as expand box 417. Additionally, a user may select one or more of the Namespace Elements for protection by selecting a selection box, such as selection box 419. In an alternative embodiment, in addition to being able to select Namespace Elements for protection, a user may be able to select a Namespace for protection. Referring back to FIG. 3, upon representation of the display 400 of Namespaces and Namespace Elements on the user interface 303, a user selects which of the Namespace Elements the user wants protected by the data protection system 300. Additionally, a user may provide “protection intents” for the selected Namespace Elements. Protection intents, as described herein, are a high level description of how selected data is to be protected. For example, a user may indicate that the selected Namespace Elements are to be protected by backing up a copy of the objects once every night and keeping weekly copies for a duration of one year. The selected Nanespace Elements, and the associated protection intents, are transferred from the user interface 303 to the data protector 301. The data protector 301, using the selected Namespace Elements and protection intents, creates a protected group for the protectable objects identified by the selected Namespace Elements. Upon selection, the protectable objects become protected objects. The protected group includes the selected Namespace Elements, an identification of the associated protected objects, and a detailed plan as to how the protected objects are to be protected. In addition, the data protector 301 creates at least one auto discovery group, as described below. In an embodiment, the data protector 301 may also create a saved searches routine, as described below. Creation of a protected group is accomplished by mapping the selected logical objects (Namespace Elements) to the appropriate protectable objects located on the production location. The identified protectable objects are then added as members of the protected group and become protected objects. Protectable objects may be added to an existing protected group or may form a new protected group. Additionally, the protection intents are used to create a group plan for protecting the protected group. The group plan includes, but is not limited to, a resource plan, preparation plan, and protection plan, each of which is described in detail below. The group plan, and the plans within the group, consists of one or more jobs and scheduling parameters. In the case of a resource plan, an amount of resources to be allocated is identified. The allocated resources may include, but are not limited to, disk space for a replica, removable media for archive, such as a disk or tape, a combination of both a replica and removable media, etc. The scheduling parameters identify when the jobs are to be executed. After generation of the protected group, the plan for protecting the data, the auto discovery groups and the saved searches, the data protector 301 prepares the production location 305 and the storage location 307 for protection. In particular, the data protector deploys agents that enable communication and transfer of data from the production location 305 to the storage location 307. Once the production location and storage location have been prepared for protection, protection begins and a copy of the data for the protected objects is transferred from the production location 305 to the storage location 307. The transferred copy of data, as described below, may be maintained as a replica, archive copy, or any other type of data protection. In preparing the storage location 307 for protection, as discussed in more detail below, the data protector 301 allocates the necessary resources (via a resource plan) for storing a copy of the physical objects as requested by the user. To begin protection, a job is initiated to create an initial copy of the selected protectable objects stored at the production location 305, transmit the copy, and store the copy at the storage location 307. If the copy is a replica, it is then validated to ensure its accuracy through the execution of a validation job. If the copy is being archived to removable media, the initial copy is a full backup of the selected protectable objects. After the initial copy is generated, the data protector 301 creates jobs to periodically update the copy, or create additional copies (as is the case with archive) with changes that have been made to the information located at the production location 305. To identify the protectable objects stored at a production location 305 associated with selected Namespace Elements, the data protector 301 maps the logical objects (Namespace Elements) to the physical objects (protectable objects). Referring again to FIG. 4, two Namespaces, DFS ROOTS 401, and SERVERS Namespace 403 are displayed, each having a plurality of Namespace Elements. A user may choose one or more of the Namespace Elements. In one embodiment, when a Namespace Element is selected, all contained Namespace Elements are also selected by default. Using FIG. 4 as an example, if a user selects Storage Group1 421 on SERVER1 409, then DATABASE A 423 and DATABASE B 425 are automatically selected as well. A user may unselect one or more of the Namespace Elements. Each Namespace Element maps to one or more protectable objects located at a production location 305. For example, Namespace Element \\ABCD\PUBLIC 405 maps to multiple protectable objects. Referring to FIG. 5, Namespace Element \\ABCD\PUBLIC 505 maps to three protectable objects located at the production location 305. In particular, the Namespace Element \\ABCD\PUBLIC 505 maps to D:\folder on server1 507, D:\folder on server2 509, and F:\on server3 511. Each of the protectable objects 507, 509, 511 is located within the production location 305. In order for the data protector to search and navigate Namespaces, as well as map from a logical object, such as Namespace Element 505, to a physical object, a schema associating the Namespaces and Namespace Elements is created. The schema is an abstract representation of the composition of an application Namespace, where possible Namespaces include, but are not limited to, the Distributed File System and Exchange. FIG. 6 illustrates a block diagram of one such schema for associating types of Namespaces and types of Namespace Elements representing the Volumes Schema, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. The schema is represented as a directed graph, where nodes in the graph represent types of Namespace Elements within the application Namespace and links represent containment and junction relationships between Namespace Elements. The containment relationships and junction relationships between types of Namespace Elements represent all of the possible ways that instances of those types can be related. Referring to FIG. 6, containment relationships are illustrated as single arrow lines and junction relationships are illustrated as double arrow lines. For example, a Namespace Element of the type “DFS root” 603 may represent a junction 617 to a Namespace Element of the type “share” 609, and the share 609 may represent a junction 619 to a volume 611, or a junction to a folder 615. A containment relationship is a straightforward parent/child relationship between Namespace Elements, in which the parent is logically comprised of the children. For example, the domain 601 contains 623 a server 607 and contains 625 a DFS ROOT 603. The server 607 contains 627 shares 609 and contains 629 volumes 611. A volume 611 contains 631 folders 615 and contains 633 mount points 613. A folder 615 may contain other folders and contain files (not shown). A junction relationship is a source/target relationship, in which a source Namespace Element is a logical synonym for a target Namespace Element, meaning that the source and target paths represent the same underlying object in two different Namespaces. A junction relationship may be a one-to-many relationship. That is, a single source Namespace Element may have multiple target Namespace Elements, in which case the targets represent alternative locations from which to retrieve the underlying data represented by the source. For example, a DFS root 603 may map 617 to multiple shares 609 as targets. A junction relationship may also be many-to-one—the target of a junction may have multiple logical names in other Namespaces. For example, a folder 615 can have many shares 609 mapping 621 to that folder 615. Additionally, multiple logical Namespace Elements may map to the same protectable object. For example, the SHARE1 Namespace Element 513 maps to E:\PRIVATE on server1 515. Likewise, the SHARE2 Namespace Element 517 may also map to E:\PRIVATE on server1 515. FIG. 7 illustrates a block diagram of a schema for mapping a logical Namespace Element to a physical protectable object, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. In particular, the schema 700 illustrates that the domain ABCD 701 has a containment relationship with DFS ROOT-public 703 and three servers 705. Likewise, the DFS ROOT-public 703 has a containment relationship with three DFS links 707 including link1 707A, link2 707B, and link3 707C. Linkl 707A, link2 707B, and link3 707C each include a junction relationship to a share 711. In particular, link1 707A includes a junction to \\server1\share, link2 707B includes a junction to \\server2\share, and link3 707C includes a junction to \\server3\share. \\server1\share, \\server2\share, \\server3\share are each logical objects in a different Namespace than the DFS Namespace. This is illustrated by traversal of the junction 719 between the DFS link 707 and the share 711. In particular, \\server1\share, \\server2\share, and \\server3\share are in the UNC server Namespace. Referring to the share 711, to complete the mapping of \\ABCD\PUBLIC, a determination is made as to what each of the shares map to. As discussed above, a share can map to a volume 713, and/or a folder 717. Thus, continuing with the example, it is determined that the logical object \\server1\share maps to the physical object of D:\folder on server1; \\server2\share maps to D:\folder on server2; and \\server3\share maps to F:\on server3. D:\folder on server1, D:\folder on server2, and F:\on server3 are the three physical protectable objects represented by the logical object of \\ABCD\PUBLIC 505. As illustrated by the example of FIG. 7, utilizing the schema 600 (FIG. 6) it can be determined from a logical Namespace Element, the mapping relationship to physical objects stored on a production location that are represented by that Namespace Element. From each point in the schema 600 it is known what relationships may be searched for from that point to link to the next portion of the mapping. The data protector's Namespace traversal capabilities may be applied to any type of application for browsing, searching, and mapping from logical Namespaces and Namespace Elements to physical objects stored at a production location. For example, via a user interface, a user may specify search parameters, including wild cards, and the data protection system can query an existing list of Namespaces and Namespace Elements and provide the appropriate results. The user interface will pass the search request to the data protector, and the data protector will send the results back to the User Interface. The data protector supports generic operations to “search,” “navigate,” and “map” between Namespaces, where each application Namespace's specific structure can be captured in a schema. To extend the data protector to support new applications, then, one simply needs to provide a module to perform basic operations on that namespace to traverse containment relationships and junctions, as well as the schema, which describes how to compose those operations into larger “search,” “navigate,” and “map” operations. Embodiments of the present invention may also be used for non-data protection applications as well. For example, storage reports may be produced that illustrate how storage is being used across a production location, or across a set of servers within a production location. In such an embodiment, a user can configure a report to show all files larger than 100 MB underneath a DFS root. A production location includes several different types of objects that may be protected. For example, FIG. 8 illustrates a block diagram of a production location 800 that contains protectable objects that may be protected by the data protection system, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. Included in the production location 800 are three servers 801, 803, and 805. Each server may be its own computing device, or a group of computing devices that appear as a single server. Each server may be at a central location or distributed geographically. Included in the server, such as server-1 801 are one or more “data sources.” A data source, as used herein, is a high level of abstraction of application data operated on by the data protector. A data source exposes its physical data as one or more protectable objects and the data source itself may be a protectable object. A data source is contained within a single server and a server may contain one or more data sources. For example, server-1 801 includes two data sources, data source 1 (DS1) 807 and data source 2 (DS2) 821. Likewise, data source 1 807 contains six protectable objects 809, 811, 813, 815, 817, and 819. Similarly, data source 2 821 contains two protectable objects 823 and 825. In addition to data sources containing protectable objects, the data sources themselves may be protectable objects. Still further, protectable objects may contain other protectable objects. For example, data source 3 835 contains eight protectable objects 827, 829, 831, 833, 837, 839, 841, 843. Protectable object 837 contains protectable object 839, which contains protectable objects 841 and 843. Server-3 805 contains four data sources, data source 4 (DS4) 845, data source 5 (DS5) 851, data source 6 (DS6) 857, and data source 7 (DS7) 859. Each of the four data sources 845, 851, 857, and 859 may be protectable objects. Contained within data source 4 845 are two protectable objects 847 and 849. Data source 5 851 contains two protectable objects 853 and 855, data source 6 857 contains no protectable objects, and data source 7 859 contains two protectable objects 861 and 863. Each protectable object is of a particular protectable object type that allows the data protection system to expose the protectable objects in each data source at different levels of granularity. For example, the data protection system may expose an Exchange Storage Group data source in its entirety as a protectable object, with a protected object type of storage group. It may also divide up the same storage group data source into multiple protectable objects, each protectable object having a protectable object type of database. There may even be two or more different protectable object types for the same protectable object. For example, the data protection system may expose a volume at the block level as a protectable object of one protectable object type, and at the file level as a protectable object of another protectable object type. Examples of data sources include, but are not limited to, operating systems, system volumes, Exchange Storage Groups, SQL databases, etc. Examples of protectable object types for the server include, but are not limited to, system protected files and operating system data stores, such as the registry and active directory. The file system volume protectable object types include, but are not limited to, directories and files. File system volume entities may be located by file share or DFS linked target Namespace Elements. The protectable object types for the Exchange Storage Group include, but are not limited to, databases and mailboxes. As discussed above, each selectable Namespace Element maps to one or more protectable objects, such as protectable objects 801-863 (FIG. 8). Each protectable object is of a protectable object type and each protectable object is within a single data source. Additionally, each data source is within a single server of a production location. Referring once again to the example of a user selecting the Namespace Element \\ABCD\PUBLIC 405 (FIG. 4) and continuing with the mapping of that Namespace Element to the protectable objects, as described with respect to FIGS. 5 and 7, the mapping of those protectable objects and the association into a protected group will be described with respect to FIGS. 9A-9B, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. From the user's perspective, a protected group's members are defined by Namespace Elements that the user has selected and added to the protected group, as well as protectable objects added as a result of auto discovery groups (described below). Additionally, the data protection system will allow a user to see which protected objects each Namespace Element in a protected group maps to and the state of each of those protected objects. Referring back to the previous example, the Namespace Element \\ABCD\PUBLIC 405 maps to three different protectable objects: D:\folder on server1 507, D:\folder on server2 509, and F:\on server3 511. Following through with the mapping described with respect to FIG. 7, and referring to FIG. 9A, D:\folder on server1 507 refers to folder 909 contained within data source D:\907 on server1 901. D:\folder on server2 509 refers to folder 927 contained on data source D:\935 on server2 903. Finally, F:\on server3 511 refers to data source F:\951 on server3 905. Referring to FIG. 9B, selection of Namespace Element \\ABCD\PUBLIC 505 maps to the protected objects described with respect to FIG. 9A and those objects are associated with a protected group 930. As discussed above, protectable objects that are contained in a selected protected object may be automatically included in the protected group. For example, selection of \\ABCD\PUBLIC 505 which maps to, in part, F:\951 on server3 905 would include the additional protectable objects 953 and 955, as they are contained within protected object F:\951 on server3 905. As illustrated in FIG. 9B, a protected group 930 may contain protected objects located on different servers, such as server1 901, server2 903, and server3 905. FIG. 10 illustrates a block diagram of a protected group containing the selected Namespace Elements, the mapped protected objects, and the protected group's properties, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. In particular, protected group 1030 contains the Namespace Element \\ABCD\PUBLIC 1005, each of the mapped, protected objects described with respect to the previous example, and the protected objects contained within the selected protected objects. In particular, protected group 1030 includes the protected objects of D:\folder on server1 1009, D:\folder on server2 1027. Additionally, protected group 1030 includes the protected object F:\on server3 1051, and the two protected objects 1053, 1055 contained within protected object F:\on server3 1051. Each protected group, such as protected group 1030, includes a group plan 1040 that may include a schedule 1041, space allocation rules 1043, etc. The group plan includes the jobs and other information for protecting the group. Protected groups collect protected objects for operational simplicity. All protected objects in the protected group share the same group plan generated from the same collection of protection intents. In summary, a protected group includes one or more protected Namespace Elements. Each protected Namespace Element locates one or more protectable objects. Protectable objects are, in turn, located on data sources. A data source may be a member of at most one protected group. During protection, the protected group mappings are periodically reevaluated to identify newly discovered protectable objects that should potentially be included in the protected group itself and to detect changes in the logical path to a protected object. This periodic evaluation, described below, is accomplished using auto discovery groups. With reference now to FIGS. 11, 12, 13, 16, 23B, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 38, 39, 41, 48A, 48B, 48C, 49A, 49B, 49C, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, and 59, different routines implemented by embodiments of the present invention will be described. One skilled in the relevant art will appreciate that the routines may be implemented on a single computing device, such as a server, or distributed to a number of computing devices. FIGS. 11, 12, 13, 16, 23B, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 38, 39, 41, 48A, 48B, 48C, 49A, 49B, 49C, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, and 59 illustrate blocks for performing specific functions. In alternative embodiments, more or fewer blocks may be used. In an embodiment of the present invention, a block may represent a software program, a software object, a software function, a software subroutine, a software method, a software instance, a code fragment, a hardware operation, or a user operation, singly or in combination. FIG. 11 is a flow diagram of a configuration routine for configuring a plan for protecting a protected group, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. Configuration routine 1100 begins at block 1101 and at block 1103 the routine obtains a selection of Namespace Elements and protection intents from a user interfacing with a user interface. As will be described below, a user may select multiple Namespace Elements for protection. The provided protection intents are applied to all of the selected elements. In block 1105 the selected Namespace Elements are mapped to the appropriate protectable objects. At decision block 1107, it is determined whether additional Namespace Elements have been selected to be included with the previously selected Namespace Elements. If it is determined at decision block 1107 that additional Namespace Elements have been selected, the routine returns to obtaining the selected Namespace Elements at block 1103. However, if it is determined at decision block 1107 that there are no additional Namespace Elements, at block 1109 the data protector generates a protected group for the selected Namespace Elements which will be used for protecting the associated protectable objects that were mapped at block 1105. The protectable objects added to the protected group become protected objects. At block 1111, a group plan for protection is generated based on the protection intents provided by a user at block 1103. A group plan for protection may include a frequency of protection and the type of protection desired. Examples of protection types include, but are not limited to “background protection,” “backup protection,” and archive protection. Background protection refers to a protection type where protection is nearly continuous (e.g., copies are updated every hour, 24 hours a day, seven days a week). Backup protection refers to a protection type where protection is scheduled to occur a particular instances in time (e.g., once a night, every night). The group plan is applied to all protected objects of the protected group. Generation of a group plan is described in detail below and referred to as “intent translation” (FIGS. 31-34). At block 1113, the production location containing the protected objects and the storage location where the copy of the objects will be stored is prepared for protection. For example, the data protector makes an initial copy of the data that is stored at the storage location and validated for accuracy. After protection has proceeded, as illustrated by block 1115, and the protected objects associated with the selected Namespace Elements have been copied and stored the routine ends at block 1117. FIG. 12 illustrates a protected group creation routine that describes in more detail the creation of a protected group referred to at block 1109 (FIG. 11), according to an embodiment of the present invention. The protected group creation routine 1200 begins at block 1201, and at block 1203 a selection of Namespace Elements for which protection is to be performed is received. Additionally, the protection intents for the selected Namespace Elements are also received. At decision block 1205 it is determined whether the received Namespace Elements are to be added to a new protected group or whether they are to be included within an existing protected group. If it is determined that the Namespace Elements are not to be added to a new protected group, at block 1207 a selection of the existing protected group to which the Namespace Elements are to be included is obtained. At block 1209 overlap of data sources associated with the Namespace Elements is resolved, as described in more detail below (FIG. 13). Finally, at block 1211 the existing protected group is updated to include the additional Namespace Elements and the associated protectable objects. Additionally, a user may have the option of changing the group plan for the protected group. Referring back to decision block 1205, if it is determined that the received Namespace Elements are to be added to a new protected group, at block 1213 any overlap of the data sources associated with those Namespace Elements is resolved. At block 1215 a name for the new protected group is received. In one example, the name of the new protected group may be provided by a user through the user interface. Alternatively, the name for the protected group may be generated automatically by the data protection system itself. At block 1217 a group plan is created for the protected group dependent upon the protection intents provided previously to the data protection system. At block 1219 the routine of creating a protected group completes. FIG. 13 illustrates an overlap detection routine, corresponding to blocks 1209 and 1213 (FIG. 12), for detecting overlap of data sources contained in two or more protected groups, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. The overlap detection routine 1300 begins at block 1301 and at decision block 1303 it is determined if the containing data source of any protectable objects associated with the selected Namespace Element is currently contained in another protected group (existing protected group). If it is determined that there are no data sources containing the protectable objects associated with the selected Namespace Element contained in an existing protected group, the routine ends at block 1313 and returns control to the appropriate routine, such as the protected group creation routine 1200 (FIG. 12). However, if it is determined that a containing data source of a protectable object associated with the selected Namespace Element is contained in an existing protected group (i.e., overlap), at decision blocks 1305-1307 a determination is made as to how the detected overlap is to be resolved. In an actual embodiment of the present invention, resolution of overlap is dependent upon a user's determination. For example, if an overlap is detected, a user may be provided with the option of excluding the protectable object of the overlapping data source (“conflicted protectable object”) from the current protected group (1305), or removing the data source containing conflicted protectable object causing the overlap from the existing protected group and adding it to the current protected group (1307). In an alternative embodiment, a global policy may be provided by a user for resolving overlaps that is used for progressing through the overlap detection routine 1300. In yet another embodiment, attempts to add a protectable object to a protected group that will cause overlap will result in a failure. At decision block 1305 a determination is made as to whether the conflicted protectable object is to be excluded from the protected group to which it is presently being added (current protected group). If it is determined at decision block 1305 that the conflicted protectable object is to be excluded from the current protected group, that protectable object is removed from the current protected group but remains in the existing protected group which caused the conflict, and the overlap detection routine returns control to the initiating routine, as illustrated by block 1313. If it is determined at decision block 1305 that the conflicted protectable object is not to be excluded from the current protected group, the routine determines at decision block 1307 whether to remove the protectable object's data source and all protected objects contained within that data source from the existing protected group and add the removed data source, the removed protected objects, and the conflicted protectable object to the current protected group. If the data source and contained protected objects are removed from the existing protected group and added to the current protected group, the routine completes at block 1313 returning control to the appropriate routine from which it came. If it is determined at decision block 1307 that the conflicted protectable object's data source and all contained protected objects are not to be removed from the existing protected group and added to the current protected group, the overlap protection routine 1300 generates an overlap failure, as illustrated by block 1311 and completes at block 1313. Similar to a user being able to protect physical objects (protectable objects) stored on a production location by selecting Namespace Elements representative of those protectable objects, a user may also recover physical objects (recoverable objects) by selection of Namespace Elements representative of the physical objects to be recovered. FIG. 14 is a flow diagram of a data protection system illustrating the flow of a recovery process for recovering a protected object, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. To recover objects, a user selects one or more Namespace Elements representative of protected objects that are to be recovered. The data protector 1401, in response to receiving a selection of a Namespace Element, then queries the storage location 1403 to identify the temporal versions of recoverable objects associated with the selected Namespace Elements provided by the user. In an alternative embodiment, it may not be necessary to query the storage location 1403 to identify the temporal versions. For example, for recovery from archive the data protector 1401 may identify the temporal versions by searching a catalog or database that contains information identifying the temporal versions that are available. The identified temporal versions are synthesized and provided to a user as a representation of points in time to which data may be restored. A user selects a point in time to recover to and provides recovery intents for that point in time. Examples of recovery intents are discussed in more detail below. Upon receipt from a user as to what is to be recovered and the corresponding recovery intents, a recovery plan is created and executed by the data protector 1401 and the appropriate recoverable objects located on storage location 1403 are recovered and transmitted to the production location 1405. FIG. 15 is a block diagram illustrating a more detailed view of recoverable objects that may be contained on a storage location 1403, according to an embodiment of the present invention. In general, recovery takes a damaged or missing protected object (or portions thereof) back to a previous temporal version. Temporal versioning may be discrete or nearly continuous. Discrete temporal versions arise from persisting point-in-time full copies of protected objects. Recovery of a discrete temporal version may require only restoration of the protected object or may require additional recovery processing after restoration. Nearly continuous temporal versions arise from persisting point-in-time copies of a log associated with the protected object. The recovery occurs by a roll forward application of the log. In an embodiment of the present invention, the roll forward may be stopped at any point in time contained within the log. Recoverable objects, as described herein, represent the possibilities for recovery of a protected object. Each recoverable object can be generated from one or more recovery sources. A recovery source may be located on a temporal version associated with a replica, within a replica, on an archive tape, or an archived copy on a disk. Referring now to FIG. 15, a protected object 1509 may contain one or more recoverable objects 1511, 1513, 1515, 1517, 1519, 1521. In general, recoverable objects may be finer grained than protected objects. For example, a protected object may be a folder, such as D:\folder on server1 1509. That protected object 1509 may contain multiple recoverable objects. For example, the protected object D:\folder on server1 1509 may contain six recoverable objects, including file1 1511, file2 1513, file3 1515, file4 1517, file5 1519, and file6 1521. Additionally, the protected object 1509 is also a recoverable object. The original choice of a protected object and protection method often determines the available recoverable objects and/or the work required for recovery. For example, if the protected object is an Exchange Storage Group containing databases that contain mailboxes, all databases within that storage group may be implicitly protected. Either the full storage group or one or more of the databases may be recovered and are thus recoverable objects. If the protection is performed by archive only (described below) and no replication, mailbox recovery is likely very time consuming (expensive). If the protection is performed by replication as well as archive, mailbox recovery from the replica may be substantially faster (cheaper). If the protected object is a database of a storage group, the storage group may not be entirely protected but mailboxes contained within the selected database are protected. However, if the protected object is a mailbox, there may not be implicit protection of the associated database or the storage group. If protection is performed by archive only and no replication, the archive is unlikely to be able to restore anything other than the selected mailbox. Alternatively, if the mailbox is known to be part of a database that is replicated as part of a different protected group, mailbox recovery could occur from the replica of the other protected group and not the archive media. FIG. 16 illustrates a recovery routine for recovering protected objects from a storage location, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. The recovery routine 1600 begins at block 1601 and at block 1603 a selection of Namespace Elements to recover is received from a user interfacing with the Namespace Elements displayed on a user interface. A user may also provide recovery intents for the data that is to be recovered. At block 1605 a selection of a particular point-in-time version for which data is to be recovered is received. In an embodiment of the present invention, a user provides a point-in-time for which recovery is to occur. In another embodiment, temporal versions may be identified for the selected namespace elements and provided to a user for selection. At block 1607 it is determined whether additional elements have been selected for recovery. If it is determined that additional elements have been selected for recovery, the routine returns to block 1603 and receives a selection of those additional Namespace Elements to recover. However, if it is determined that there are no additional elements to recover, at block 1609 the recoverable objects are mapped to the appropriate recovery sources located on a storage location utilizing the mapping schema discussed above and the received recovery intents. Upon identification of the necessary recovery sources, a recovery plan is created at block 1611. The recovery plan includes the process for synthesizing the required point-in-time versions of recoverable objects from the appropriate recovery sources. At block 1613 the plan is executed and the identified recoverable objects are recovered. At block 1615 the recovery routine ends. As mentioned above, in addition to creating protected groups, the data protection system also generates auto discovery groups and saved searches. Auto discovery groups and saved searches provide an automated means to inform a user of changes to a production location. For example, changes may include addition or deletion of computing devices, such as servers, Exchange Storage Groups, databases, volumes, and shares, as well as changes in the mappings between Namespace Elements and protectable objects. Providing a user with notification of production location changes enables a user to take appropriate action to protect new data that needs to be protected and adjust their protection strategies when data has been relocated or removed. Auto discovery groups are a mechanism for describing what should be protected as a query rather than as a discrete set of physical resources. For example, suppose an organization names all file servers as \\FILESRV*, such as \\FILESRV1, \\FILESRV2, etc. A user for that organization can create an auto discovery group that periodically searches for all shares on any server named \\FILESRV*. The auto discovery group will find all such shares and allow the user to either select or reject protection of any protectable object located or associated with those shares. Additionally, in an embodiment of the present invention, the auto discovery group may be reevaluated periodically and the user notified of any new shares and given the opportunity to either approve or reject protection of those new shares. Still further, reevaluation identifies any existing shares that have been removed and provides a user with a notification of the removal. Auto discovery groups may also be used by the data protector to track the mapping between Namespace Elements and protectable objects. Referring again to the above example, suppose a user protected the path \\ABCD\PUBLIC. The data protection system automatically generates an auto discovery group containing the name \\ABCD\PUBLIC and a mapping to its protected objects such as D:\folder on server1, D:\folder on server2, and F:\folder on server31. If, in the future, \\ABCD\PUBLIC is changed to refer to different folders, either on the same server or different server, then the user would be informed by the data protector of the change and given the opportunity to adjust the protection. FIGS. 17-24 illustrate a flow diagram for creating and utilizing an auto discovery group, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. For purposes of explanation for FIGS. 17-24, we will assume that a data protection system has just been installed at a workplace containing several servers (illustrated as the production location 1703) for which protection is desired. Upon initialization of the data protection system 1700, the data protector 1701 queries the production location 1703 to identify Namespaces and Namespace Elements representative of protectable objects that are contained within the production location. The data protector 1701 publishes the Namespaces and Namespace Elements to a user via a user interface 1705 in the form of a hierarchical view of Namespaces and contained Namespace Elements for interaction and selection by the user. A user, interacting with the user interface 1705, may select one or more Namespace Elements for protection, such as \\ABCD\PUBLIC Namespace Element 1707. In addition to selecting Namespace Elements for protection, a user provides protection intents identifying how the user wants to have the associated protectable objects protected. Selected Namespace Elements and an indication of protection intents are returned to the data protector 1701. Referring now to FIG. 18, the data protector 1701 maps the selection of Namespace Elements to the protectable objects located on the production location 1703. For example, upon selection of Namespace Element \\ABCD\PUBLIC 1707, the data protector maps that Namespace Element to the protectable objects, utilizing the Namespace schema, as described above. That mapping identifies that the Namespace Element \\ABCD\PUBLIC 1707 maps to protectable object D:\folder on server1 1709 and protectable object D:\folder on server2 1711. In an alternative embodiment, during initial discovery of Namespace Elements the elements may be mapped to corresponding protectable objects at that time. The data protector 1701 creates a protected group that contains the selected Namespace Elements, an identification of the protectable objects, which become protected objects, an auto discovery group 1713, and an auto discovery group table 1715. As discussed, based on the intents provided by the user, the protected group also includes a group plan that describes how the protected group is to actually be protected. The auto discovery group 1713 includes a Namespace search parameter, such as \\ABCD\PUBLIC\* and the current mapping of that Namespace Element to the protected objects D:\folder on server1 and D:\folder on server2. Creating an auto discovery group 1713 that contains a Namespace search parameter for a selected Namespace Element provides the data protector with the ability to subsequently search for additions, deletions, and remappings to the production location that match the Namespace search parameter. Any such changes are reported to a user, via an alert, as they may be of interest for protection. Alerts may be provided to the user in a variety of forms. For example, the alert may be provided via the user interface, e-mail, page, voice message, etc. In addition to creating an auto discovery group 1713, the data protector 1701 creates an auto discovery group table 1715 that includes an identification of the current mapping to protected objects, and information concerning those protected objects. In particular, the information includes whether the mapping to the protected object matches the auto discovery group parameters contained in the auto discovery group 1713 as indicated by match column 1717, whether the protected object is currently pending user action, as indicated by pending column 1719, whether the mapped protected object is currently protected under the group plan as indicated by protected in plan (“PP”) column 1721, and whether the mapped protected object is currently protected by the user, as indicated by the protected by user (“PU”) column 1731. As discussed below, an object may be protected by a user but not yet protected by the data protection system. For example, a user may indicate that they want to protect a particular object, thereby making that object protected by the user, however, the object may not become protected by the plan until after intent translation has completed for that protected object. After creation of the protected group, the auto discovery group, the group plan, and the auto discovery group table, the data protection system, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention, prepares the production location and storage location for protection. After the locations have been prepared for protection (e.g., resources plan), initial steps are performed for creating an initial copy of the selected protectable objects (preparation plan), and then protection begins (protection plan). At some predetermined times after the selected protected objects are protected, the data protection system runs the auto discovery group and remaps the production location 1703. For example, the auto discovery group may be scheduled to run once per night. Running the auto discovery group at night or at some time when activity at the production location is low, reduces the amount of load that is placed on the production location. Returning to the example described with respect to FIGS. 17-24, for explanation purposes, the auto discovery group is run and the auto discovery group results 1723 (FIG. 19) identify that the only protectable object matching the auto discovery group search parameters of \\ABCD\PUBLIC\* is the protectable object of D:\folder on server2. The data protector 1701 compares the auto discovery group results 1723 with the auto discovery group table 1715. In this example, it identifies that the protected object of D:\folder on server1 no longer matches the auto discovery group search parameters. D:\folder on server1 may no longer match the search parameters for a variety of reasons. For example, D:\folder on server1 may no longer exist, or D:\folder on server1 is no longer mapped under \\ABCD\PUBLIC. After comparison, the table 1715 is updated to indicate that the protected object of D:\folder on server1 was not returned in the results and therefore no longer matches the auto discovery group search parameters, as illustrated by the “N” in the match column 1717. Additionally, the auto discovery group table 1715 is updated for the protected object of D:\folder on server1 to indicate that user interaction is currently pending for that protected object, as illustrated by the “Y” in column 1719. User interaction is currently pending because the protected object no longer matches the auto discovery group parameters. D:\folder on server1 remains marked as protected under the plan and protected by the user, as illustrated by the Y in the PP column 1721 and the PU column 1731. The auto discovery group table 1715 is also updated to indicate that D:\folder on server2 matches the auto discovery group search parameters and remains protected in the plan and by the user, as illustrated by the “Y” in columns 1721 and 1731, respectively. Finally, there is an indication that no user action is pending for the protected object D:\folder on server2 because it does match and it is protected, as illustrated by the “N” in the pending column 1719. Referring now to FIG. 20, the following morning after the auto discovery group has run, the auto discovery group table has been updated and an alert generated, a user accesses the data protection system and is provided with a notification from the data protection system that the protected object of D:\folder on server1 no longer matches the auto discovery group search parameters. In response, the data protection system receives an indication from the user to remove the protected object from the protected group. The data protector 1701 updates the auto discovery group thereby removing the mapping of D:\folder on server1 from the protected group and updates the auto discovery group table 1715. In particular, D:\folder on server1 is marked as no longer protected by the user, as illustrated by the “N” in PU column 1731 and marked as no longer pending, as illustrated by the “N” in column 1719. At this point, D:\folder on server1 remains protected by the plan as intent translation has not yet been rerun to remove D:\folder on server1 from the protected group. The object is maintained in the auto discovery table 1715 and marked as not protected by user so that if it is identified by a subsequent execution of the auto discovery routine it will not be presented to the user as pending approval, as it has already been excluded from protection. Now that the object is no longer protected by the user it becomes a protectable object. FIG. 21 continues with the previous example, and at some point in time after the user has indicated that they no longer want to protect D:\folder on server1 intent translation is executed. Upon execution of intent translation, the group plan is updated and D:\folder on server1 is removed from the protected group. Even though D:\folder on server1 is no longer protected by the protected group, the existing temporal versions of the protected group remain stored at the storage location and may be utilized to recover D:\folder on server1 up to the point at which it is no longer protected by the plan. Upon completion of intent translation, the auto discovery group table 1715 is updated. In particular, D:\folder on server1 is marked as not protected by plan, as illustrated by the “N” in the PP column 1721. At some point in time after intent translation has completed, the auto discovery group again executes, queries the production location 1703 and remaps the auto discovery group search parameters to the objects located on the production location 1703. Upon completion of the mapping of the auto discovery group search parameters, the auto discovery group results 1725 are provided and include an indication that the search parameters map to the protected object of D:\folder on server2 and a new protected object of E:\folder on server2 1727. Again, the data protector 1701 compares the results with the auto discovery group table 1715. That comparison indicates that the protected object of D:\folder on server2 again matches the auto discovery group search parameters, is not pending user action, and remains protected by both the user and the group plan. In addition, the new protectable object of E:\folder on server2 matches the auto discovery group search parameters, is not currently protected by the group plan, as illustrated by the “N” in the PP column 1721, is currently not protected by the user, as illustrated by the “N” in the PU column 1731, and is currently pending user action, as illustrated by the “Y” in the pending column 1719. Upon completion of the comparison, the auto discovery group table 1715 is updated to identify the new mapping and the status of all objects. The protectable object of E:\folder on server2 is currently not protected by the plan or by the user because it was newly identified by the auto discovery group. The data protection system 1701 generates an alert that is provided to the user to indicate that a new protectable object has been added to the production location that is similar to the protected objects in the protected group. The alert is generated because the user may be interested in additionally protecting, as part of the protected group, this newly identified protectable object. In FIG. 22, the user has received the alert and provides a response to begin protection of the newly identified protectable object that was automatically identified by the auto discovery group. The protectable object of E:\folder on server2 is also added to the protected group and thus becomes a protected object. Likewise, the data protector 1701 adds to the auto discovery group table 1715, an indication that the object of E:\folder on server2 is no longer pending user action, is protected by the user, but at this point is not protected by the plan. FIG. 23A continues with the above example, and at some time after an indication by the user to add the newly identified protectable object to the protected group, intent translation executes and E:\folder on server2 becomes protected by the plan. Upon completion of intent translation, the auto discovery group log 1715 is updated to indicate that E:\folder on server2 is now protected by the plan, as illustrated by the “Y” in PP column 1721. At some time after intent translation has completed, the data protector 1701 again runs the auto discovery group routine and remaps the auto discovery group search parameter of \\ABCD\PUBLIC\* onto the objects located at the production location 1703. Upon completion of the auto discovery group routine, the data protector has identified the mappings of D:\folder on server2 and E:\folder on server3 1729. Those results are used to compare and update the auto discovery group table 1715 to indicate that the protected object of D:\folder on server2 again matches the auto discovery group search parameters, is not pending user action, remains protected by the data protection system, and remains protected by the user. Additionally, it is indicated that the previously protected object of E:\folder on server2 was not identified by the auto discovery routine but remains protected by the user and the protection plan, and is therefore pending user action. Finally, the addition of the new protectable object of E:\folder on server3 is identified as matching the auto discovery group search parameters, however, it is not currently protected by the user or the protection plan, as it is newly identified, and is therefore pending user action. Upon update of the auto discovery table the data protector 1701 generates an alert including the identification that the previously protected object of E:\folder on server2 no longer matches the auto discovery group search parameters, and that E:\folder on server3 has been added to the production location and matches the auto discovery group search parameters. This alert may indicate to a user that the protected object E:\folder on server2 may have been moved to E:\folder on server3. Without automatic discovery of such a change, the user may have continued to protect the old object and not have provided protection for the new object. FIG. 23B illustrates a remap resolution routine for resolving the remap of a protected namespace element, such as that detected in FIG. 23A, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. The remap resolution routine 2300 runs when it is determined that a Namespace Element may have been moved. For example, \\ABCD\PUBLIC\LINK3, which was previously mapped to E:\folder on Server2 may have been remapped to E:\folder on Server3. The remap resolution routine 2300 begins at block 2301. At block 2303 an auto-discovery group is evaluated, and it is determined that a protected namespace element has been remapped from one protectable object to another. At decision blocks 2305-2309 a determination is made as to how the remap is to be resolved. In particular, at decision block 2305 a determination is made as to whether the new mapping should be exclusively protected. If it is determined that the new mapping should be exclusively protected, at block 2311 the old mapping is marked as not protected by user, and the new mapping is marked as protected by user. However, if it is determined that the new mapping should not be exclusively protected, at decision block 2307 a determination is made as to whether the old mapping should exclusively be protected. If the old mapping is to be exclusively protected, at block 2311 the old mapping is marked as protected by user, and the new mapping is marked as not protected. However, if it is determined at decision block 2307 that the old mapping should not be exclusively protected, at decision block 2309 it is determined whether the both mapping should be protected. If it is determined at decision block 2309 that both mappings should be protected, at block 2311 both mappings are marked as protected by user. However, if it is determined that both mappings are not to be protected, at block 2311 both mappings are marked as not protected by user. At block 2313 the intent translation routine, as discussed herein, is executed. Upon completion of intent translation, the protected objects are updated such that the protected in plan flag contains the same value as the protected by user flag for both the old protected object and the new. At block 2315, the routine ends. FIG. 24 illustrates that, as with the previous portions of this example, the user is provided with the alert identifying the changes detected by the previously run auto discovery group routine. The user selects to update the mapping of the auto discovery group search parameters to include the newly identified protectable object of E:\folder on server3 and to remove the mapping of the older protected object of E:\folder on server2 (block 2305, FIG. 23B). The data protection system 1701, in response to receiving the indication from the user to update the mapping, updates the protected group to include the new protected object. Additionally, the data protector 1701 updates the auto discovery group table 1715 to identify that E:\folder on server2 is no longer protected by the user, but at this point remains protected by the plan and to indicate that the new mapping of the protected object of E:\folder on server3 is protected by the user but not yet protected by the plan. At some time after the user has indicated the changes, intent translation is executed thereby removing E:\folder on server2 from being protected by the group plan and adding E:\folder on server3 to be protected by the group plan. As will be appreciated, intent translation may be executed at any point in time subsequent to a user indicating a change in the protected group (either addition of an object or removal of an object). For example, intent translation may be executed immediately after a user has indicated a change to the protected group, or several days later. Additionally, the auto discovery group routine and intent translation may be independent of one another. The auto discovery group routine may be performed multiple times between a user indicating a change to the protected group and intent translation executing. In such an instance, upon a refresh of the auto discovery group, no alert will be generated for the object being changed as the user has already provided instructions even though an actual change to the group plan has not yet occurred. FIG. 25 illustrates a flow diagram of an initial discovery routine for initially discovering the mappings between top-level Namespace Elements and protectable objects, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. The initial discovery routine 2500 begins at block 2501 and at block 2503 the Namespaces and Namespace Elements of all easily discoverable objects of a production location are identified. Easily discoverable objects are top level objects of a production location. For example, Namespaces and Namespace Elements may be easily discovered for top level objects such as DFS roots, servers, Exchange servers, and STS servers. At block 2505 the discovered top-level Namespaces and Namespace Elements of the production location are persisted in memory (e.g., a database) of the data protector. At block 2507 the initial discovery routine 2500 completes. FIG. 26 illustrates a flow diagram of a scheduled discovery routine for discovery of mappings between Namespaces and Namespace Elements and protectable objects located at a production location, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. In particular, the scheduled discovery routine 2600 begins at block 2601 and at block 2603 the initial discovery routine 2500 (FIG. 25) executes and top-level Namespace Elements of the production location are identified. As discussed above, the stored copy of the top-level Namespace Elements may be utilized by the data protection system to allow a user to navigate through a production location and/or to search for particular portions of a production location without having to rediscover the production location at the time of the search, thereby increasing search and navigation time and removing load off of the production location. At decision block 2605 it is determined if there are any existing saved searches (discussed below) that are to be performed. If it is determined at decision block 2605 that there are saved searches to be performed, at block 2607 those saved searches are executed. However, if it is determined at decision block 2605 that there are no existing saved searches, at decision block 2609 it is determined if there are any existing auto discovery groups that are to be updated. If it is determined at decision block 2609 that there are existing auto discovery groups to be updated, at block 2611 those auto discovery groups are updated, as described previously with respect to the example in FIGS. 17-24. The routine completes at block 2617. FIG. 27 is a flow diagram of an auto discovery group creation routine, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. The auto discovery group creation routine 2700 begins at block 2701 and at block 2703 a selection of Namespace Elements that a user wants to protect is received. In addition to receiving a selection of Namespace Elements, the protectable objects associated with those Namespace Elements are also received. At block 2705 any overlap of the data sources associated with those Namespace Elements is resolved. Overlap resolution is discussed above with respect to FIG. 13. After any overlap has been resolved, at block 2707 an auto discovery group list identifying the selected Namespace Elements is created. Additionally, a query parameter is generated and included in the auto discovery group that is used to identify other Namespace Elements that are similar to the selected Namespace Elements. A query parameter may be expressed in terms of physical resources (e.g., all volumes on server1), some query on a Namespace (e.g., all shares under the DFS ROOT \products), or some combination (e.g., all shares on servers named \\FILESRV*). Additionally, a query parameter may be based on some property of preexisting Namespace Elements. In each case, the data protection system keeps track of the membership of the auto discovery group and notifies users of changes to that group. At block 2709 the auto discovery group and the list of selected Namespace Elements is added to a protected group. As discussed above, the protected group may be an existing protected group or a newly created protected group for the selected Namespace Elements. At block 2711 the auto discovery group creation routine ends. An auto discovery group, created as described above with respect to FIG. 27, is a way of describing objects that potentially should be protected as a query rather than as a discrete set of physical resources. Once a change is detected, a user may either approve or reject changes to the plan for protecting the objects associated with that auto discovery group and/or that are part of the protected group. For example, if the auto discovery group includes the search parameter for all shares on servers \\FILESRV* and a new server \\FILESRV10 arrives with ten new shares, the user has an option of approving or rejecting protection of each of the new shares. As discussed above, the data protection system tracks responses to auto discovery group changes reported to a user. For example, if a user rejected protection of a newly identified protectable object, then no notification would be subsequently sent to a user if that protectable object is subsequently removed from the production location. In particular, an excluded flag for a protectable object is set once a user has indicated that they do not want to protect the object and want to automatically ignore all future notifications. In an embodiment, rejecting an object once does not automatically set the excluded flag. Additionally, the number of times an object is rejected may be tracked and after a predetermined number of rejections (e.g., five) the object may be marked excluded. Subsequent identifications of an excluded object will not be alerted to the user. The data protection system automatically creates and configures auto discovery groups for each Namespace Element that a user wants protected. For example, if a user protects share1 on server \\FILESRV1, the data protection system configures an auto discovery group consisting of the mapping of \\FILESRV1\share1 to a physical resource (e.g., folder1 on volumeX: on \\FILESRV1). If \\FILESRV1\share1 disappears or the mapping from the share to the physical resource is changed, the user is notified of the change and given several options as to how to proceed (FIG. 23B). For example, suppose \\FILESRV1\share1 now maps to folder1 on volume Y. The user has the options of continuing to protect X:\folder1, to stop protecting X:\folder1 and start protecting Y:\folder1, or to protect both objects. In this way the user is informed of any changes to the Namespace Element that it is trying to protect and the physical objects that are actually being protected. FIGS. 28 and 29 illustrate a flow diagram of an auto discovery group update routine, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. The auto discovery group update routine 2800 begins at block 2801 and at block 2803 a protectable object from the auto discovery group results is selected. The auto discovery group results are generated after execution of an auto discovery group mapping sequence identifying each of the protectable objects to which the Namespace Elements of that auto discovery group map, or previously mapped. At decision block 2805, it is determined whether the selected protectable object is currently protected by the user. If it is determined at decision block 2805 that the selected protectable object is currently not being protected by the user, at decision block 2807 a determination is made as to whether the selected protectable object is currently awaiting approval from a user. A protectable object may be currently awaiting approval from a user to be added to a protected group if it had been previously identified and reported to a user, via an alert, and the user had not identified whether that object should be added to the protected group. As discussed with respect to FIGS. 17-24, an object may be identified as awaiting approval by setting the pending column to “Y” in the auto discovery group table. If it is determined at decision block 2807 that the protectable object is not awaiting approval, at decision block 2809 it is determined whether the selected protectable object has been excluded from protection. As discussed above, a protectable object may be excluded from protection by identification from a user that it does not want to have the protectable object protected nor be notified of changes to the protectable object. Such an identification is identified by marking that object within the auto discovery group table as excluded by the user. If at decision block 2809 it is determined that the selected protectable object is not currently excluded from protection, at block 2811 an alert is generated that identifies the new protectable object and requests that the user approve addition of the protectable object to the protected group and/or a response to specifically exclude the protectable object from the protected group. At block 2813 the protectable object is marked as pending approval by the user, not protected by the user, and not protected by the plan. If it is determined that the selected protectable object is: currently being protected by the user (block 2805); awaiting protection approval from a user (2807); or excluded from protection (2809); at decision block 2815 it is determined whether there are additional protectable objects identified as auto discovery group results. If it is determined at decision block 2815 that there are additional protectable objects, the routine returns to block 2803 and continues the process for each additional protectable object identified as an auto discovery group result. However, if it is determined at decision block 2815 that there are no additional protectable objects identified as auto discovery group results, at block 2817 (FIG. 29) an existing protected object of the auto discovery group is identified. At decision block 2818, a determination is made as to whether the existing protected object is marked as protected by the user. If it is determined that the existing protected object is not marked as protected by the user, the routine proceeds to decision block 2821. However, if it is determined that the existing protected object is protected by the user, at decision block 2819 it is determined if the existing protected object is included in the results generated by the execution of the auto discovery group. If it is determined at decision block 2819 that the existing protected object is included in the newly generated auto discovery group results, at decision block 2821 a determination is made as to whether there are additional existing protected objects of the auto discovery group. If it is determined at decision block 2821 that there are additional existing protected objects of the auto discovery group, the routine returns to block 2817 and continues. If it is determined at decision block 2821 that there are no additional existing protected objects for the auto discovery group, the routine ends at block 2827. Referring back to decision block 2819, if it is determined that the identified existing protected object is not included in the newly generated auto discovery group results, at decision block 2822 it is determined, by examining the pending flag, whether an alert has been previously sent to the user notifying the user of the change. If it is determined that an alert has not been previously sent, the change is reported to the user, via an alert, identifying that the mapping to an object protected by the user no longer exists, as illustrated by block 2823. At block 2825 that protected object is marked as pending removal from the protected group, not matching the auto discovery group search parameters, but currently protected by the user. Removal of a protected object from a protected group does not remove any actual copy of that protected object from the storage location. As will be appreciated by one skilled in the relevant art, pending removal and pending approval may be tracked as a single status of pending. As discussed above, tracking whether the object matches the auto discovery group search parameter identifies whether object is to be removed or added. As objects are identified by the auto discovery routine, in addition to tracking whether the objects are pending user action, protected by the plan, protected by the user, and matching the auto discovery search parameters, when an object is first identified and added to the auto discovery group table, the date and time it is identified are also recorded. Additionally, when a protected object that exists in the auto discovery group table is no longer identified by an auto discovery group routine, the date and time it disappears are also recorded. In addition to the data protection system automatically creating auto discovery groups in response to a user selecting Namespace Elements, the data protection system also automatically creates saved searches. In another embodiment, saved searches may be generated upon installation of the data protection system. In still another embodiment, saved searches may also be created by a user. A saved search is used to inform a user when segments of a production location, such as a server, appear or disappear. For example, utilizing saved searches provides the ability for the data protection system to inform a user of new servers, new DFS roots, servers that no longer exist, DFS roots that no longer exist, new STS servers, STS servers that no longer exist, etc. Associated with each saved search is a list of Namespace Elements that have been located during a previous evaluation of the same saved search. Saved searches include a Namespace Element that represents a starting point for search, and a set of search criteria that describe the contained Namespace Elements to be returned. Unlike auto discovery groups, saved searches operate on Namespace Elements rather than protectable objects. For example, a saved search may be created to identify all servers belonging to the marketing department of a corporation. This would generally not be a valid auto discovery group. However, like auto discovery groups, saved searches maintain a saved search results table identifying Namespace Elements matching the search parameters. For Namespace Elements matching a search, the status is maintained. For example, first identified and last seen time information is maintained for each Namespace Element. That information may also be used to detect changes. The first time a Namespace Element is identified by a saved search, a timestamp identifying the date of that identification is persisted, and when that Namespace Element is removed from the production location, a timestamp identifying the data and time that the Namespace Element was last seen is also persisted. In an actual embodiment, an alert is provided to a user whenever a change in the production location is detected. For example, addition of a Namespace Element and/or removal of a Namespace Element to the production location would generate an alert to the user identifying it of that change. In an embodiment, a saved search for all shares on a server is created in response to a user identifying that a share on that sever is to be protected. Similarly, a saved search for all volumes on a server is created when a volume on that server is protected. Upon a change to the server (e.g., the addition of a share or volume, as appropriate) a user will be notified of the change. The results of auto-discovery groups and saved searches may also be used to improve the performance of the data protector's navigation and searching functions. Auto-discovery groups and saved searches may cache their results in persistent storage on a periodic basis, so in cases where navigation and search results do not change frequently, or where some staleness is acceptable, the data protector may utilize these cached results to provide faster responsiveness to user-initiated navigation and search. Protection intents are provided by a user to describe how (e.g., replica, archive, both) they want to protect a protected group and how far back in time they want to be able to recover (duration). For example, the user may want to have a replica of a selected group of data generated for that data every night, a copy stored on removable media at the storage location, that copy updated once a week, and a maximum of four copies kept on removable media. Additionally, the user may specify that they want to be able to recover the information that is at least one month old. Protecting data at a storage location, for example, as a replica, an archive, or both, requires that resources be allocated for the copies of the data, as well as any resources required for the process itself. In addition, a number of jobs are required to get those resources into the required state to be used and ongoing jobs are necessary to maintain the accuracy of the protection. The use of jobs for protecting data will be described in more detail below. Manually setting up the resources and jobs can be tedious and error prone. In addition, resources and jobs may need to be changed whenever a set of objects being protected changes, for example, in response to a change detected by an auto discovery group. Rather than requiring a user to manually specify the detailed resources and jobs, the user may simply specify what is to be protected by selection of Namespace Elements and providing protection intents. That information is then used to generate a group plan for maintaining the protection of the selected data. In one embodiment, the group plan includes three components: a resource plan, a preparation plan, and a protection plan. The resource plan includes a list of jobs that are necessary to obtain the resources needed to enable protection. The preparation plan includes a list of one-time jobs that are needed to set up the protection of the identified data. For example, a one-time job would be the initial copying and transfer of data from the production location to the storage location. The protection plan includes a list of ongoing jobs that are required to maintain the accuracy and integrity of the protected data. Translation from the protection intents identified by a user to a detailed plan for protecting objects is referred to and described herein as “intent translation.” In an actual embodiment of the present invention, intent translation operates on a protected group and protection intents provided for that protected group. Protection intents are expressed as logical representations and may be stated as goals. The goals may identify the level of protection (granularity) desired, how the data is to be protected, how long the data is to be protected, how often the data is to be protected, etc. For example, a user may identify the protection intent of “don't lose more than 30 minutes of any executive file share; retain all content for a year.” Verbs from the protection intent are used as actions for translating the intents into a detailed plan for protecting the objects. Referring to the previous example, the corresponding actions for that intent are “replicate volumes and folders every 30 minutes,” “archive weekly” and “store offsite with one year media retention.” In an embodiment of the present invention, protection templates identifying protection intents may be selected by a user and used to generate a plan for protecting the selected protected group. A protection template contains one or more prototype job definitions including appropriate verbs and default properties. The protection template also includes a default prototype schedule. For example, “hourly replication, three temporal versions created during the day, archive nightly, no encryption for transfer, no encryption at storage locations” is a default prototype schedule. A user has the ability to override and explicitly change the protection template. For example, a user may change the previous protection template to create hourly replications, only one temporal version during the day, archive weekly, with no encryption for transfer, no encryption at storage locations. “No encryption for transfer,” as identified in the mentioned default prototype schedule, identifies that data does not need to be encrypted when transmitted from the production location to the storage location. Alternatively, data may be encrypted for transmission between the production location and the storage location. “No encryption at storage locations” identifies that the data stored at the storage location, either as a replica or archived, does need to be encrypted. Alternatively, stored data may be encrypted. For example, copies of a production location that are archived to removable media, such as tape, may be encrypted. Additionally, copies stored as a replica may also, or alternatively, be encrypted. As one who is skilled in the relevant art will appreciate, any encryption technique may be utilized with embodiments of the present invention for encrypting the data for transmission and for storage. FIG. 30 illustrates a flow diagram for translating protection intents into a plan for protecting a set of data, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. A user interfacing with the data protection system via a user interface 3003 selects a list of Namespace Elements to protect. Selection of Namespace Elements to protect is transferred to the data protector 3001, and in response the data protector provides to the user, via the user interface 3003, protection intent defaults. In particular, the data protector, upon receipt of selected Namespace Elements, identifies the protectable objects associated with the selected Namespace Elements and identifies a default list of protection intents that are provided to the user. A user, in response to receiving protection intent defaults, interacts with the user interface 3003 and modifies or selects the appropriate default. The data protector 3001 receives the selection or modifications and stores the intents and creates a protected group for the objects. The intents may be stored in any format including, but not limited to, binary, Extensible Markup Language (XML), or a database table. The data protector 3001 applies any modifications to the protection intent defaults and uses the modified protection intents to create a detailed plan for protecting the protected group that may also be stored in any form including, but not limited to, binary, XML, or a database table. Similar to creating a detailed plan for protecting a protected group, the data protector has the ability to create a recovery plan for selected recoverable objects given stated recovery intents, recovery parameters, and a selection of a Namespace Element to recover. To create a recovery plan, the data protector determines the necessary recovery sources and sequences them appropriately. Additionally, the data protector determines a recovery target that is the physical path identifying where the data is to be restored. Several different recovery intents may be specified to control how recovery proceeds. For example, an overwrite intent controls what happens if when trying to recover a file to the production location, it is determined that the file already exists at the production location. Several alternatives may be provided, including, but not limited to, always overwrite, never overwrite, use the most recent of the two. Another recovery intent that may be specified is how the security of the restored objects should be set. For example, it may be specified that the security of the restored object inherits the security from the parent object (e.g., the security of a file restored to a folder would receive the same security as the folder). An alternative model is to restore the security of the recovered object to exactly what it was when it was backed up. Intents may also specify if the recovered object is to be encrypted during transmission and/or when stored. FIGS. 31 and 32 illustrate a flow diagram of an intent translation routine for translating protection intents into a detailed plan for protecting physical objects located at a production location, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. The intent translation routine 3200 begins at block 3201, and at block 3203 a selection of Namespace Elements that are to be protected and protection intents that are to be applied for the selected Namespace Elements are received. As described above, Namespace Elements are mapped to protectable objects located at a production location. In addition, as described above, selection of Namespace Elements and the associated protectable objects are compiled by the data protection system into a protected group to which the protection intents are applied. At block 3205 that protected group is marked “under translation.” Marking the protected group “under translation” prevents a user from making any changes to the protected group until either intent translation completes successfully or fails, rolling back any changes it had made. At block 3207, the resource requirements necessary to adequately provide protection to the selected protected group are computed. The resource requirements are identified by determining what changes are required for the protected group. Examples of changes that may be required for a protected group include, but are not limited to, a new data source being added to the protected group, a data source being removed from the protected group, a data source for the protected group being changed by either adding or removing protected objects, resources being added or reclaimed (e.g., addition or deletion of disk space to a replica, addition or deletion of removable media to an archive), protection goals or schedules being adjusted for the protected group, or a new protected group being added for the first time. In addition, the size of the resources necessary is determined by identifying the size of the protected objects located on the production location that are going to be copied and stored at the storage location and the particular protection method and protection intents that have been specified. At block 3209, the resource plan is generated and executed to allocate the resources necessary for providing protection for the protected group. A resource plan determines the needed resources and includes any jobs necessary to obtain those resources. For example, such jobs may include allocating disk space, growing existing storage space, allocating tape media, allocating tape library changer and drive, requesting tape from a free media pool, etc. The jobs included in the resource plan are dependent on the type of protection desired by the user. For example, for replication, the jobs would include allocating disk resources for a replica and temporal version, and possibly allocating resources for a log area. The jobs associated with the resource plan generated at block 3209 are executed and the necessary resources for the protected group are allocated. After the resources have been allocated, at block 3211 a checkpoint is created by the data protection system. In an alternate embodiment, the resource plan may only include the creation of the jobs necessary to allocate those resources and not actually include execution of those jobs. Execution of jobs associated with a resource plan may be scheduled and performed as part of the preparation plan. In such an embodiment, the checkpoint would not be generated until intent translation completed. Thus, if intent translation did not complete, it would have to restart from the beginning. As discussed below with respect to block 3209, creating a checkpoint after allocation of resources, provides a known point where the intent translation routine may restart if the routine does not complete successfully. Since it is possible for some but not all of the resources to be allocated during execution of resource allocation jobs (e.g., the system crashes after allocating part of the physical resources but not others), there is included in an embodiment of the present invention a clean-up routine to clean up resources that were not fully allocated in an incomplete run of the intent translation routine. This clean-up routine is accomplished by designing the resource allocation of the system to behave in a certain way. In an actual embodiment, resources are allocated on a per datasource basis and either all resources necessary for a given datasource are allocated or none are. If some but not all of the resources are allocated and the allocation jobs are interrupted, then a refresh job is created to clean up any partially allocated resources from a previous run of the allocation jobs of a resource allocation plan. Once the clean-up routine has cleaned up any partially allocated resources, then the data protection system can re-allocate resources as needed. Intent translation may continue for those new protected objects for which resources have been successfully allocated. Referring back to FIG. 31, at block 3211 upon successful completion of the allocation of the resources at block 3209, a checkpoint is generated. Creation of a checkpoint after resources have been allocated, provides the ability for the data protection system to resolve any problems that may have been created if the intent translation routine 3200 is interrupted after the resources have been allocated but prior to completion. For example, if the system crashes before completion of the intent translation routine, but after the first checkpoint has been added, as illustrated by block 3211, upon restart, the data protection system identifies that an intent translation routine was interrupted and locates the checkpoint added subsequent to allocation of resources. By identifying the checkpoint, the previously allocated resources may used, and the intent translation routine 3200 can resume from that checkpoint without having to completely restart and reallocate resources. Restarting after an interruption to an intent translation routine will be described in more detail with respect to FIG. 38. At decision block 3213, the intent translation routine 3200 determines if there are any existing jobs and/or tasks currently associated with the protected group. If it is determined at decision block 3213 that there are existing jobs and/or tasks associated with the protected group, at block 3215 those jobs and tasks are de-registered and any active jobs are terminated, as illustrated by block 3217. Jobs and tasks may previously exist for a protected group if that protected group is being modified, rather than being created for the first time. If it is determined at decision block 3213 that there are no existing jobs and/or tasks for the protected group, or after termination of existing jobs and/or tasks at block 3217, the intent translation routine 3200, at block 3219, creates and schedules a protection plan. As will be described in more detail below, a protection plan includes a list of jobs that are necessary to maintain the accuracy of the copy of the protected group at a storage location over time. In addition, the intent translation routine 3200, at block 3221, creates and schedules a preparation plan. As described in more detail below, the preparation plan includes a list of one-time jobs that are utilized to place the production location and storage location in a state such that the jobs associated with the protection plan may be executed and the accuracy of protection of a protected group may be accomplished. For example, if this is the first time the protected group has been created and it is to be stored on a replica, there will be no copy of the data associated with the protected group residing on the replica. Thus, one of the jobs associated with the preparation plan may be the creation of a copy of the protected objects and storage of that copy on the replica. Referring now to FIG. 32, at block 3225 the intent translation routine 3200 creates the saved searches and auto discovery groups discussed above. As discussed above, those auto discovery groups and saved searches are executed as part of the scheduled discovery routine. After the jobs for the resource plan, preparation plan, protection plan, saved searches, and auto discovery groups have been created, at block 3227 a second checkpoint indicating the completion of the creation of jobs is added to the data protection system. As indicated above and discussed in more detail below, this checkpoint may be used by the data protection system to recover from an interruption that occurs during the intent translation routine 3200. For example, if the intent translation routine 3200 is interrupted after a checkpoint has been created, as illustrated by block 3227, during re-start the data protection system identifies that an intent translation routine 3200 was in progress, and locates the checkpoint indicating that the plans and jobs have been created. Upon identification of the checkpoint, the intent translation routine 3200 may be resumed and completed from that checkpoint. At block 3229, the status of newly protected objects and previously protected objects that have been removed from protection are updated to reflect their inclusion in and exclusion from the protection plan. Protected objects that are marked as having resource allocation errors in block 3209 are returned to the “pending state.” At block 3231, all checkpoints are deleted and the protected group is marked as “not under translation.” If all protected objects have been removed, the protected group may be deleted. At block 3233 the intent translation routine 3200 completes. FIG. 33 is a flow diagram of a protection plan creation routine for creating a protection plan for a protected group, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. The protection plan creation routine 3300 describes in more detail the creation and scheduling of a protection plan referred to above with respect to block 3219 (FIG. 31). The protection plan creation routine 3300 begins at block 3301 and at block 3303 a copy job for the protected group is created and scheduled. A copy job is a job that copies changes that have occurred to one or more protectable objects at a production location to a copy of the corresponding one or more protectable objects stored at a storage location. For example, if during the day a user modifies protected objects located at the production location, upon execution of a copy job, those changes are copied, transferred to the storage location, and the copy is updated to include those changes. At block 3305 the protection plan creation routine 3300 creates and schedules a temporal version job. A temporal version job is a job scheduled to perform the actual versioning of data at the storage location. Creation of temporal versions is known by those skilled in the relevant art and will not be described in detail herein. At block 3307 a validation routine is created and scheduled. When executed, the job performs the validation routine as described in detail below with respect to FIG. 35. At block 3309 the protection plan creation routine 3300 completes. FIG. 34 is a flow diagram of a preparation plan execution routine for executing a preparation plan, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. The preparation plan execution routine 3400 begins at block 3401 and at block 3403 a determination is made as to whether additional resources are needed for protecting the protected group. As described above, a resource plan is generated for determining the resources necessary for protecting a protected group at a storage location. In one embodiment, those resources may be allocated during the resource plan prior to creation and execution of a preparation plan. If it is determined at decision block 3403 that resources are needed, at block 3405 the jobs created in the resource plan for allocating those resources are executed and the resources are allocated. Subsequent to the allocation of resources at block 3405, or if it is determined at block 3403 that additional resources are not needed for protection of the protected group, at block 3407 an initial copy of the physical objects associated with the protected group is created, transferred to the storage location, and stored on the previously allocated resources. Once the initial copy of the protected group is created and stored at the storage location, for replication, at block 3409 that copy is validated with the actual physical objects located at the production location. Validation will be discussed below with respect to FIG. 35. At decision block 3411 a determination is made as to whether any protected objects have been removed from the protected group. If it is determined at block 3411 that protected objects have been removed from the protected group, at block 3413, the preparation plan includes jobs to stop monitoring those objects and those objects remain protectable objects. Since monitoring consumes resources, the jobs stop monitoring when it is no longer needed. At block 3415 the preparation plan execution routine 3400 completes. As mentioned above, more or fewer blocks may be used for performing the routines described herein. For example, when copying is accomplished via media load, the preparation plan 3400 does not create an initial copy of the data (block 3407). Likewise, when the copy is for archive, the preparation plan 3400 does not create an initial copy of the data (block 3407). FIG. 35 is a flow diagram of a validation routine for validating a copy of data located at a storage location, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. The validation routine 3500 begins at block 3501, and at block 3503 the validation routine 3500 obtains a validation parameter for physical objects located at a production location. As will be appreciated by one skilled in the relevant art, a validation parameter may be a checksum of the physical objects located at the production location. Alternatively, a validation parameter may be a last change time of the physical objects at the production location, or a size of the physical objects located at the production location. In general, the validation parameter may be any type of identification for physical objects located at the production location. At block 3505 the validation routine 3500 obtains a validation parameter for the objects located at the storage location. Similar to the validation parameter for objects at a production location, the validation parameters of objects at a storage location may be a checksum, last change time, file size, etc. At block 3507 the validation parameters of the protected objects at the production location obtained in block 3503 and the validation parameters of the objects at the storage location obtained in block 3505 are compared to confirm that the objects located at the storage location match the protected objects located at the production location. At decision block 3509, a determination is made as to whether the parameters compared at block 3507 match. If it is determined at block 3509 that the parameters do not match, at block 3513 the validation routine 3500 recopies the non-matching protected objects from the production location and replaces the objects located at the storage location and proceeds to decision block 3511. However, if it is determined at decision block 3509 that the parameters match, at decision block 3511 a determination is made as to whether there is additional data that has not yet been validated for the protected group. If it is determined that there is additional data located at the storage location that has not been validated for the protected group, the validation routine returns to block 3503 and the process continues. Alternatively, if it is determined at decision block 3511 that there is no additional data, the storage location is validated, and the validation routine completes at block 3515, thereby confirming that the objects located at the storage location match the protected objects. In addition to the validation routine executing as part of the preparation plan during intent translation to confirm the accuracy of a copy, validation routines may be scheduled to subsequently reconfirm the accuracy of the protection of physical objects. Still further, a validation routine may be scheduled and executed to place a copy of objects located at a storage location into a valid state. A copy of physical objects located at a storage location may be in an invalid state if the system crashes or if some other type of unscheduled change occurs. For example, a replica may become invalid if a change log (discussed below) overflows due to a failure to apply those changes at the storage location. FIG. 36 is a flow diagram of a scheduled validation routine for validating a copy of objects located at a storage location, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. The scheduled validation routine 3600 begins at block 3601 and at block 3603 the routine identifies the copy of objects of a protected group that are located at a storage location that are to be validated. At decision block 3605, a determination is made as to whether the identified copy is in a valid state or an invalid state. If it is determined at decision block 3605 that the identified copy is in an invalid state, at block 3607 the scheduled validation routine 3600 executes the validation routine 3500 described with respect to FIG. 35. However, if it is determined at decision block 3605 that the copy is in a valid state, at decision block 3609 a determination is made as to whether any additional copies of protected groups located at a storage location need to have their validity confirmed. If it is determined at decision block 3609 that additional copies need to have their validity confirmed, the scheduled validation routine 3600 returns to block 3603 and identifies the additional copies to be validated and continues with that process. However, if it is determined at decision block 3609 that there are no additional copies located at the storage location that are to be validated, the scheduled validation routine 3600 completes, as illustrated by block 3611. FIG. 37 illustrates a block diagram of state transitions for a replica, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. Prior to allocating part of a storage location during resource allocation, the replica is in an unallocated state. After intent translation allocates the resources for a protected group, the replica transitions to an allocated state. The contents (copy of the protected group) must then be transferred and stored at the storage location. Transfer and storage may be accomplished using either disk-to-disk initialization (automatically by the data protection system), by an automated media load, or manually by the administrator (for example, by a manual media load). If disk-to-disk initialization is done, the intent translator automatically creates an initial copy job. The initial copy job, upon execution, will place the replica in an invalid state. If the copy is initialized using a media load, then the user indicates when the media load is complete and the replica is placed in an invalid state at that point. Once the replica is in an invalid state, it is necessary for a validation job to be run to place it into a valid state. As discussed above, a validation job makes sure that the copy at the storage location matches the protected objects at the production location. In addition to a replica being in an allocated state 3703, an invalid state 3705, or valid state 3711, a replica may transition to a missing state 3713. For example, over time, the physical media allocated for a replica for a particular protected group may fail, thereby placing the replica in the missing state. From the missing state 3713, the data protection system, with interaction from a user, determines whether the information that was being replicated needs to continue being protected. If the protected group is to have continued protection, resources are reallocated, thereby transitioning the replica back to an allocated state 3703. If it is determined from the missing state 3713 that the information associated with that replica no longer needs to be protected, the replica may transition to the destroyed state 3707, and replication for the protected group will no longer be performed by the data protection system. The replica may also temporarily transition to the missing state 3713. For example, a disk may be temporarily disconnected or unavailable due to some hardware problem and subsequently become available again. In such an instance, upon the disk becoming available again, the replica may return to the valid state 3711 or the invalid state 3705 The destroyed state 3707 is reached in response to a user indicating that it no longer wants to protect the protected group. A replica may transition to the destroyed state 3707 from any other state. For example, if a replica is in the invalid state 3705, a user may indicate that it no longer wants to protect the protected objects copied on the replica, thereby transitioning the replica to the destroyed state 3707. Placing a replica in a destroyed state indicates to the data protection system that the user is done protecting the protected objects copied on the replica and the physical media, such as a hard disk, may be returned to the free media pool and may be allocated to other protected groups. In an embodiment of the present invention, when a user indicates that it no longer wants to continue protection of the protected objects copied on the replica, the replica may transition to a stop state 3709, whereby the replica and its temporal versions are maintained for a finite period of time. Maintaining information after it has been indicated as no longer protected provides a user with the ability to recover that information up to the point it stopped protection. FIG. 38 illustrates a flow diagram of a restart routine for restarting the intent translation routine subsequent to an interruption that occurred during a previous intent translation routine, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. The restart routine 3800 begins at block 3801, and at decision block 3803 the routine determines whether a protected group was currently under intent translation. If it is determined at decision block 3803 that a protected group was under intent translation, at decision block 3805 a determination is made as to whether all the resources had been allocated for the protected group under intent translation. If it is determined at decision block 3805 that all the resources had not been allocated, then any resources that were allocated prior to the restart are deallocated, as illustrated by block 3806. After deallocation of any previously allocated resources, at decision block 3807 it is determined whether the protected group under intent translation was a new protected group. If it is determined at decision block 3807 that the protected group is not a new protected group, at block 3808 the routine returns new objects that have been added to the existing protected group to a pending status. In particular, the new objects are returning to not protected by the user and pending user action. At block 3809 the existing protected group is marked as not being under translation and at block 3817 the routine completes. Returning the existing group to not being under translation, and returning the new objects to a pending status returns the data protection system to its state prior to the attempted translation. In particular, the new objects must again be added to an existing protected group and objects of an existing protected group continue to be protected as they were protected prior to the initial attempt at the intent translation routine. Referring back to decision block 3807, if it is determined that the protected group that was under intent translation when the interruption occurred was a new protected group, at block 3811 all protected objects of the new protected group are returned to a pending status (i.e., not protected by the user and pending user action) and the routine completes at block 3817. In addition to returning the objects to a pending state, the protected group may also be deleted as there are no protected objects within the group. Referring back to decision block 3805, if it is determined that all the resources were allocated prior to the interruption, at block 3813 the last checkpoint that was generated by the attempted intent translation routine is identified. As discussed above, checkpoints are generated at two different points in the intent translation routine. In particular, a checkpoint is generated after resources have been allocated and again after the protection plan has been created or updated and after the preparation plan has been created. Once the last checkpoint has been identified at block 3813, the intent translation routine is restarted from the last checkpoint that was identified, as illustrated by block 3815 and the process completes at block 3817. There are several ways that physical objects may be protected at a storage location. For example, replicas may be maintained on a computing device such as a server, archive copies may be stored on physical media such as tape or other removable media, etc. The type of protection desired by user is provided as part of the protection intents, or high level goals, that are translated to a set of plans by the intent translator, as discussed above. For archive of data onto tape or other removable media, data protection works by creating “datasets” which contain, via one or more physical pieces of media, a representation of data of a protected group at a specific point-in-time or changes thereof with respect to a point-in-time. A dataset is a result of one or more archive paths associated with one or more protected objects. Additionally, each dataset may contain one or more recovery sources because multiple recovery sources may contribute to a recovery, multiple datasets may also be necessary to contribute to a recovery. Unlike other backup applications, where media is the primary object that is managed, according to an embodiment of the present invention, datasets and the association of datasets with the media are managed, instead of the media itself. Archiving is designed to keep data over long periods of time (on the order of weeks, months or years). Archived media is typically kept offsite to protect against disasters that affect the entire production location such as an earthquake or fire. Archived media may also be kept onsite for recovery from smaller outages, including loss of a server or disk or user error. Additionally, for those embodiments utilizing both replication and archive, the archived media may be kept at the storage location with the replica, at the production location, or at a separate location. FIG. 39 illustrates an archive protection plan creation routine for generating a plan for archiving data, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. The archive protection plan creation routine 3900 begins at block 3901, and at block 3903 the routine receives a data protection kind. A data protection kind is identified by a user as to whether they want to archive their data onsite, offsite, or both onsite and offsite. In addition to receiving a data protection kind, at block 3905 the routine receives a data protection duration. The duration of data protection is a high level intent provided by a user as to how far in the past they want to be able to recover the protected information. These intents may be stated as goals as to what a user wants to be able to recover. For example, providing the intent of “I want to be able to recover data for up to seven years” will translate into an archive plan that will allow the user to be able to recover data for information that existed at the production location seven years ago. Data protection duration may be years, months, weeks, or days. As illustrated by block 3907, the archive protection plan creation routine 3900 also receives scheduling intentions, such as when a user wants to have the action of archiving data occur. In an alternative embodiment, a data protection format may also be received. Data protection format includes, but is not limited to, full backup, differential backup, and incremental backup. A full backup, as used herein, is a backup in which all protected objects are copied to a storage location. A differential backup, as used herein, is a backup in which protected objects that have been modified since the last full backup are copied to the storage location. Incremental backup, as used herein, is a backup in which only the protected objects that have been modified since the time of some previous backup (full, differential, or incremental) are copied. As discussed herein, differential and incremental backup are referred to generally as a “partial backup,” and such is intended to identify either. A user may also specify whether the archive should be created from the original data at the production location or that the archive should be created from the copy at the storage location. Based on the data protection kind and the protection duration, the archive protection plan creation routine 3900 determines a default archive scheme that satisfies the high level requirements specified by the user. In an actual embodiment, there are four different types of schemes for archiving data. A first scheme, referred to as a great grandfather, grandfather, father, son (GGFS) provides a yearly full backup that is maintained onsite for four weeks and a copy is maintained offsite for some number of years; a monthly full backup that is maintained onsite for four weeks and a copy is maintained offsite for a year; a weekly full backup that is maintained onsite for four weeks and a copy is maintained offsite for four weeks; and daily differential backup that is maintained onsite for two weeks. In an alternative embodiment, only onsite or offsite copies may be maintained depending on the protection kind identified in block 3903. In another embodiment, the onsite copy itself may be transferred and maintained offsite after a period of time based on the protection kind identified at block 3903. Another scheme is referred to herein as a grandfather, father, son (GFS) scheme. The GFS scheme provides a monthly full backup that is maintained onsite for four weeks and a copy is maintained offsite for a year; a weekly full backup that is maintained onsite for four weeks and a copy is maintained offsite for four weeks; and a daily differential backup that is maintained onsite for two weeks. Another archive scheme is referred to herein as a father, son (FS) scheme. The FS scheme provides a weekly full backup that is maintained onsite for four weeks and a copy is maintained offsite for four weeks, and a daily differential backup that is maintained onsite for two weeks. Another archive scheme referred to herein is a son (S) scheme. An S scheme provides a daily full backup that is maintained onsite for one week and a copy is maintained offsite for one week. Finally, an ad hoc routine is also available that provides a backup taken outside of the normal protection scheme. This may be a full backup with no expiration that is kept onsite or offsite. It will be appreciated by one skilled in the art that the default archive schemes may be modified at any level by the user and additional/alternative default archive schemes may also be presented. For example, the kind (onsite, offsite), duration (month, year), and format (full, differential, incremental) may be modified. Additionally, a user may specify scheduling controls for the archive scheme. For example, a user may indicate the day of the week on which the scheme is to begin, the time of the day the archives are to be generated, whether the scheme is to operate on a corporate calendar, monthly calendar, etc. Referring back to FIG. 39, the default archive scheme is provided to a user and the user is given the ability to override any portion of the provided scheme. At decision block 3911 a determination is made as to whether the user has provided any overrides to the determined archive scheme. If it is determined at decision block 3911 that a user has provided overrides, at block 3913 the archive scheme is modified to include those overrides. Overrides may be provided for any portion of a backup scheme and may be varied in scope. For example, the overrides may include the backup format (full, differential, incremental) the number of onsite copies to be maintained, the number of offsite copies to be maintained, the retention period for offsite copies, whether to disable the S level, whether the dataset produced by the backup should be verified and when, whether the archive should take place at the production location, storage location, or elsewhere, the starting day of the week, the number of working days, etc. Disabling the S level may be desirable for a variety of reasons. For example, if a user has implemented both archive and replication, the user may decide to dispense with daily archive protection (the S level) and rely on replication to handle all onsite recovery requirements. Once the archive scheme determined in block 3909 has either been accepted or modified as illustrated at block 3913, at block 3915 the archive plan creation routine 3900 generates the plans necessary for protecting the data by archive. As discussed above, the plans necessary for protecting data may include a resource plan, a preparation plan, and a protection plan. Finally, after the plans have been generated as illustrated by block 3915, the archive protection plan creation routine 3900 completes at block 3917. FIG. 40 is a table illustrating an example of the different generations that may be used for generating an archive scheme, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. The table 4000 identifies a son generation 4001 having an incremental mode of backup that maintains one onsite copy for two weeks that occurs five days a week (e.g., Monday-Friday) and maintains no offsite copies. The father generation 4003 maintains a full mode of backup with one onsite copy that is retained for four weeks and a full backup is performed once per week (e.g., Saturday), except for one week out of each month it is not performed (e.g., the last Saturday of each month). Likewise, the father generation 4003 maintains one offsite copy for four weeks. The grandfather generation 4005 has a full mode of backup that maintains one onsite copy for four weeks that is generated once per month (e.g., the last Saturday of each month), with the exception of one month per year it is not performed (e.g., the last Saturday of the year). Additionally, the grandfather generation 4005 maintains one offsite copy for 12 months. Finally, the great grandfather generation 4007 has a full mode of backup that maintains one onsite copy that is retained for four weeks and generated once per year (e.g., the last Saturday of the year). Additionally, the great grandfather generation 4007 maintains one offsite copy for seven years. As an alternative to scheduling according to a corporate calendar (last Saturday of the month, last Saturday of the year, etc.), scheduling may be accomplished according to a physical Calendar. For example, jobs may be scheduled to occur on the last day of the month, last day of the year, first day of the month, etc. Those days may or may not be a Saturday. As will be appreciated by one skilled in the relevant art, any type of scheduling and/or calendering may be utilized with embodiments of the present invention, and utilizing a corporate calendar or a physical calendar are provided as examples only. Another aspect of the scheduling is the ability to specify periods in which jobs are to be executed. Scheduling a period for execution times for jobs allows a user the ability to identify particular times when jobs may be performed. Additionally, the data protection system may provide advance warning when the protection system sees that jobs may not complete by the specified time. Alternatively, when a job does not complete during the scheduled period of execution time, it may be automatically terminated, and possibly rescheduled. As will be appreciated by one skilled in the relevant art, generations such as son 4001, father 4003, grandfather 4005, and great grandfather 4007 may be modified to utilize different variations on the protection plan described with respect to FIG. 40. The only requirement is that the parent be an equal or superset of the child. For example, if the father generation is a full backup, the son generation may be a full, differential or incremental backup. Additionally, the number of copies maintained onsite or offsite may be any combination from zero to any number desired by a user. The retention time and frequency with which copies are made may also be adjusted as desired by a user. In addition to creating an archive scheme for long-term protection of data, the data protection system provides an ongoing allocation, rotation, vaulting (offsite storage) and retirement of media. Thus, according to an embodiment of the present invention, associated with each protected group is a media pool. A media pool is both a container of media as well as an object on which various intents are placed in order to control the allocation and recycling of media. As will be described in more detail with respect to FIG. 41, there are several types of intents for controlling media allocation, such as co-location intents. Examples of co-location intents that may be used according to an embodiment of the present invention are: job collocation intents, son collocation intents, and father/son collocation intents. Job collocation intents attempt to use the same media for tasks within the same job. This reduces the number of mounts/dismounts of the media when a job has multiple tasks and the data from those tasks fit on a single piece of media. Son's collocation intent controls how media is used for the son jobs of either a GGFS, GFS, FS or S archive schemes. If the son's collocation intent is specified, the first son job of a cycle (such as a week cycle) will start on a new piece of media, but all subsequent sons will attempt to append to the same piece of media unless it is unavailable or does not contain sufficient space. Use of a father/son collocation intent will cause a weekly full and subsequent daily differential and incremental backups to be stored on the same piece of media. FIG. 41 is a flow routine for allocating media for archiving data if each of the job collocation intent and the sons collocation intent have been specified, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. As will be appreciated, other combinations of the collocation intents may be specified for allocating media for archive, and the routine described with respect to FIG. 41 is only one example. The media allocation routine 4100 is performed whenever media is needed. The media allocation routine 4100 begins at block 4101 and at decision block 4102 it is determined whether job collocation has been specified. If it is determined that job collocation has not been specified, the media allocation routine proceeds to decision block 4111, and continues as described below. However, if it is determined at decision block 4102 that job collocation has been specified, at decision block 4103 a determination is made as to whether the task that is attempting to allocate media is from a replacement job. A replacement job is a job that is replacing a previous job that did not complete successfully. If it is determined at decision block 4103 that the task is from a replacement job, at block 4105 the routine attempts to allocate the same physical media that was used and allocated in the original job that did not complete successfully. However, if it is determined at block 4103 that the task is not from a replacement job, at decision block 4107 a determination is made as to whether the task is the first task from a job. If it is determined that the task is not a first task from a job, at block 4109 the media allocation routine 4100 attempts to allocate media that was already allocated for previous tasks of the same job. However, if it is determined at decision block 4107 that the task is not the first task from a job, at decision block 4111 a determination is made as to whether the dataset being protected is a first son dataset. If it is determined at block 4111 that the dataset being protected is a first son dataset, at decision block 4112 it is determined whether the FS collocation intent is specified. If the FS collocation intent is specified, at block 4113 the media allocation routine 4100 attempts to allocate media used by the father dataset of the same cycle. A cycle as described herein, is a scheduled length of time for the archive set (such as days or weeks). However, if it is determined at decision block 4112 that the FS collocation intent is not specified, the routine proceeds to decision block 4115, described below. If it is determined at decision block 4111 that the dataset is not a son dataset or is not the first son of a cycle, at decision block 4114 it is determined whether the dataset is a second or later son dataset. If it is determined that the dataset is a second or later son dataset, at decision block 4118 it is determined whether the FS collocation intent or the S collocation intent is specified. If the FS collocation intent or the S collocation intent is specified, at block 4116 the media allocation routine 4100 attempts to allocate media used by the last son dataset of the same cycle. However, if it is determined at decision block 4118 that neither the FS collocation intent nor the S collocation intent is specified, the routine proceeds to block 4115, described below. However, if it is determined at decision block 4114 that the dataset is not a second or later son dataset, at decision block 4115 a determination is made as to whether recyclable media from the same generation is available. For example, if a dataset is a father dataset, a determination is made as to whether there are other father datasets contained on media that is available. If it is determined at decision block 4115 that there are available recyclable media from the same generation, at block 4117 the media allocation routine 4100 chooses the oldest recyclable media available from the same generation and attempts to allocate that media. If it is determined at decision block 4115 that there is no media available from the same generation, or if it is determined at decision block 4127 that one of the attempted allocations of blocks 4105, 4109. 4113, 4117 did not complete successfully, at decision block 4119 a determination is made as to whether there is any media in the pool that is free. If it is determined at decision block 4119 that there is media within the pool, at block 4121 the media allocation routine 4100 obtains the free media from the pool and that media is used for allocation. Finally, if it is determined at decision block 4119 that there is no free media within the pool for the particular protected group, the media allocation routine 4100 at block 4123 attempts to obtain additional media. Additional media may be obtained by notifying the user that additional media is required for the protected pool or querying the existing free media pool. The free media pool contains media that is not associated with another protected group. If no free media is available in the free media pool, the user is notified that additional free media needs to be added to the storage location and assigned to the free media pool. The media allocation routine 4100 completes after the additional media has been allocated or it fails if additional media cannot be allocated, as illustrated by block 4125. In addition to the intents described with respect to FIG. 41, additional intents may be utilized to control activities of a media pool. For example, a max limit intent that specifies the maximum number of pieces of media that may be maintained in a media pool may be specified by a user. Utilizing the max limit intent prevents the unnecessary additions (either by a user or automatically) of media to the pool beyond the max limit. Similarly, a max daily limit intent may be used to control the number of items of free media assigned to a particular pool during a 24 hour period. Utilization of the max limit and the max daily limit prevent unnecessary or accidental assignment of media from a free pool to a particular pool. A minimum threshold intent may also be specified for media allocation for archive protection. The minimum threshold intent specifies the minimum number of pieces of media that should be available in the free media pool for allocation into various media pools. If the number of free media falls below the minimum amount then a user is notified that additional media needs to be added to the storage location and assigned to the free media pool. A media erase intent may also be specified which controls whether any recyclable media needs to be erased prior to it being reused or being released to the free media pool for re-allocation. Replication or copying of protected objects from a production location to a storage location occurs between a pair of agents installed at each location. The actions of the pair of agents are controlled by the data protector. For example, for replication, a clone agent is installed at the production location and a replication agent is installed at the storage location. The actions of the clone agent and replication agent are controlled by the data protector. Additionally, a data mover acts as a conduit between the pairs of agents. The data mover ensures mutual authentication between the agents and optionally performs data encryption, decryption, compression, or decompression. Still further, the data mover includes a throttling flow control to limit the network bandwidth consumed by the data protection system during data transmission. FIG. 42 illustrates a block diagram of a data protection system, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. The data protection system 4200 includes a data protector 4201 for managing the transfer of data (protected objects) from a production location 4203 to a storage location 4205. As mentioned above, for replication, the production location 4203 includes a clone agent 4207 and a data mover portion 4209A for controlling the flow of data from the production location 4203 to the storage location 4205. Likewise, the storage location 4205 includes a replication agent 4211 and a second portion of the data mover 4209B for obtaining information from the production location 4203. Interaction between the production location 4203, storage location 4205, and data protector 4201 is used to transfer data from the production location 4203 to the storage location 4205 and to verify the validity of the transfer of that data by communication with the data protector 4201. Data is transmitted from the production location 4203 via the data mover 4209A through a communication channel 4213 to the storage location 4205 via the data mover 4209B. The data protection system includes the ability to monitor the transfer of data from the production location 4203 to the storage location 4205, and if such communication channel fails, has the ability to resume the interrupted data transfer. In order to be able to resume the transfer of data, as opposed to starting over, the state of the data transfer needs to be tracked and saved periodically. This is accomplished by the data protector 4201 monitoring the transfer of data from the production location 4203 to the storage location 4205. Data is transferred over the communication channel 4213 in the form of data blocks or records. In such a transmission system, part of the data is kept by the production location 4203 and part of the data is kept by the storage location 4205. If the communication channel fails, data transfer is interrupted and the transmission state can lose synchronization. For example, the production location 4203 may have transmitted a different number of records than the number of records successfully received by the storage location 4205. To resolve this problem, the data protector 4201 monitors and controls the data transmission process by individually instructing the production location 4203 and the storage location 4205 when to stop or start data transfer. For protection of data, the clone agent 4207 located at the production location 4203 transfers data to the replication agent 4211 located at the storage location 4205 via the data mover 4209. That data is transmitted as data records over the communication channel 4213 for the purpose of creating a replica or copy of the protected objects located at the production location. The clone agent and replication agent communicate data transfer states to the data protector 4201 as special data blocks referred to herein as record checkpoints. Record checkpoints are received by the data protector 4201 and stored in a database. Additionally, the data protector 4201 communicates instructions/commands to the clone agent and replication agent. Generally there are two types of data records that the clone agent 4207 at the production location will transmit over the communication channel 4213. The first type of data record represents the changes that have been made to the protected objects located on the production location. The second type of data record includes information (metadata) about the protected objects data. Records containing metadata are generated by the data protection system. As described below, metadata is used to validate the copy of the data that is transmitted and stored at the storage location and may be, for example, a checksum of the data. The state of the data transfer from a production location 4203 is communicated from the clone agent 4207 by inserting special data markers (record checkpoints) into the data record stream as it is being transmitted from a change log of the clone agent (FIGS. 43-47) to the spill log of the replication agent (FIGS. 43-47). In an actual embodiment, the record checkpoint is appended to the end of a data stream as it is being transmitted by the data mover 4209A of the production location. In an alternative embodiment, the record checkpoint may be added to the change log and transmitted along with the data stream as a item of data. Upon receipt of the data stream by the data mover 4209B of the storage location, the data and any record checkpoints are stored in the spill log. When the replication agent 4211 encounters such record checkpoints in the data stream, it forwards those record checkpoints to the data protector 4201. In addition, the replication agent produces its own record checkpoints and forwards those to the data protector 4201 as well. Information contained in the record checkpoints generated by both the clone agent 4207 and the replication agent 4211 is used by the data protector when sending commands to start or stop operations. When the data protector 4201 receives any of the record checkpoints, it automatically stores them in a database thereby making the data protection system resilient to communication failures, processes, and system restarts. In an actual embodiment of the present invention, the clone agent 4207 generates two types of checkpoints referred to herein as “Class C checkpoints” and “Class A checkpoints.” Class C checkpoints represent the state of data records sent from the clone agent 4207 to the replication agent 4211. Class A checkpoints represent a position within the total process of generating metadata records. The replication agent 4211 generates one type of record checkpoint referred to herein as a “Class B checkpoint” Class B checkpoints identify the data records that have been received and applied by the replication agent 4211. Class C and Class B checkpoints are data checkpoints. They are used to resume transmission of data from the clone agent 4207 to the replication agent 4211 and to resume application of the received data records on the replication agent 4211. Class A checkpoints are metadata checkpoints. They are used for monitoring long-running processes on the clone agent 4207 that generate metadata. Generating Class A checkpoints reduces the amount of work to be repeated for such long-running processes in the case of an interrupted data transmission. In more detail, Class C checkpoints contain pointers to the location in the data record stream on the clone agent 4207 system and the replication agent 4211 system. Class C checkpoints are generated by the clone agent 4207 and forwarded to the replication agent 4211. The replication agent 4211 updates the Class C checkpoint with a pointer of the last received record in its spill log. Class B checkpoints contain a pointer to the data record applied last by the replication agent 4211 at the storage location 4205. When the data protector 4201 receives a Class B checkpoint it identifies to the data protector 4201 that all the data blocks prior to the Class B checkpoint have been applied to the replica of data stored at the storage location. Class A checkpoints indicate the amount of protected data processed by the clone agent 4207 while generating metadata. Upon receipt of a Class A checkpoint by the replication agent, the replication agent adds its own metadata if necessary and forwards the Class A checkpoint to the data protector. When the data protector receives a Class A checkpoint it means that metadata generation is complete up to the location contained in the checkpoint. In an embodiment, Class A checkpoints may be sequentially referenced (e.g., sequentially numbered) to enable the data protection system to determine if a Class A checkpoint was missed. If a Class A checkpoint is missed validation will be restarted as there is a potential that elements of the difference list may be missing. As discussed below, a difference list includes information that identifies protected objects that do not have a match at the replica. Those objects are identified by comparing the metadata generated at the production location with metadata generated at the storage location. In addition to the three checkpoint types mentioned above, the data protector 4201 can generate a special marker token and send it to the clone agent located on the production location 4203 to be inserted into the data record stream. This token is then transmitted by the clone agent 4207, via the communication channel 4213, to the replication agent 4211. Upon receipt the replication agent 4211 transmits the token back to the data protector 4201. The purpose of the marker token is to clear all Class A checkpoints from any data communication transmission prior to resuming metadata generation. By passing all Class A checkpoints through the system, the metadata that was already generated by the clone agent 4207 is transmitted and only then is metadata generation resumed. The benefit of this is that it prevents data record transmission logs from overflowing (in case metadata generation process is much faster than the clone agent 4207 can send), and it avoids generating the same metadata multiple times, because the data protector 4201 sees all metadata prior to receiving the marker token. FIGS. 43-44 illustrate a flow diagram of a data transfer monitoring routine performed by a data protection system, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. As discussed above, data transfer between a production location 4303 and a storage location 4305 is initiated in response to a user or another individual making a change to protected data or at a scheduled job execution time. In response to a change to protected data made by a user, the production location 4303 records to a change log 4307 a record of the change to the protected data. For example, R1, R2, R3, R4, R5, and R6 are each change records recorded to the change log 4307 by the clone agent at the production location 4303. Periodically, the records contained in the change log 4307 are pulled from the change log 4307 by the data mover, batched together and transmitted to the storage location 4305. In addition, the clone agent generates a Class C checkpoint containing a pointer to a position in the change log 4307 of the last record being transmitted and appends the Class C checkpoint to the end of the transmission batch. For example, the clone agent may pull records R1, R2 and R3 from the change log 4307, batch those records together and transmit the batch to the production location 4305. A Class C checkpoint 4311 is generated containing a pointer to the position in change log 4307 of R3, which in this case is change log position 4. The Class C checkpoint is appended to the end of the batch that is transmitted to the production location 4305. While the above example illustrates that a Class C checkpoint may be generated and transmitted with every transmission batch of data, in an alternative embodiment, Class C checkpoints may be generated based on the amount of data being transmitted. In such an embodiment, a Class C checkpoint may only be generated if the amount of data exceeds a predefined minimum transmission size. In yet another embodiment, generation and transmission of Class C checkpoints may be dependent upon the time since the previous Class C checkpoint was generated and transmitted. Still further, generation and transmission of Class C checkpoints may be generated and transmitted at a predetermined number of data transmissions. For example, Class C checkpoints may be generated and transmitted for every fifth data transmission. Still further, any combination of the techniques for generating and transmitting checkpoints may be utilized with embodiments of the present invention. For example, Class C checkpoints may be generated if the data exceeds a minimum size or on every fifth transmission. The replication agent located at the storage location 4305 receives, via the data mover, the transmitted records and the Class C checkpoint and stores the transmitted records and Class C checkpoint in a spill log 4313. Additionally, upon receipt of the Class C checkpoint 4311, the replication agent of the storage location 4305 adds a second pointer to the Class C checkpoint identifying the location in the spill log 4313 of the Class C checkpoint, in this case the pointer added to the Class C checkpoint 4311 is a pointer to spill log location 106. Thus, the Class C checkpoint 4313 contains a pointer to both the location of the last transmission position of the change log 4307 and the location of the Class C checkpoint in the spill log 4313. The Class C checkpoint 4315 is then forwarded by the replication agent to the data protector 4301. The data protector 4301 records the Class C checkpoint in a database. In an alternative embodiment, the Class C checkpoint is not stored in the spill log and instead the replication agent adds a pointer to the Class C checkpoint identifying the last change record transmitted with the batch and forwards the Class C checkpoint to the data protector 4301. Referring now to FIG. 44, the data protector 4301 upon receipt of a Class C checkpoint from the storage location 4305 stores the Class C checkpoint in a database of the data protector and transmits a Class C checkpoint confirmation to the production location 4303. Receipt of a Class C checkpoint confirmation by the production location 4303 identifies to the production location that all records transmitted prior to the Class C checkpoint have been received by the storage location 4305 and that those transmitted records may be purged from the change log 4307. In addition to receiving records and storing those records in the spill log 4313, the replication agent located at the storage location 4305 begins applying the received records to the replica of data located at the storage location 4305. At a predetermined point, the replication agent generates a Class B checkpoint that includes a pointer to a position within the spill log 4313 of the last record applied to the replication data 4317. The predetermined point may be based on, for example, but not limited to, the amount of data processed, the time since the last Class B checkpoint, or a combination of the two. For example, the replication agent may apply R1 from spill log 4313 position 103, R2 from spill log 4313 location 104, and after applying R2 to the replica data 4317 generate a Class B checkpoint which contains a reference to the spill log position 104. A generated Class B checkpoint 4319 is forwarded by the replication agent on the storage location 4305 to the data protector 4301. The data protector 4301 stores the Class B checkpoint in a database to allow the record to be used in case of an interruption of the data transfer. Additionally, in response to receipt of a Class B checkpoint from the storage location 4305, the data protector 4301 stores the Class B checkpoint in its database and transmits a Class B checkpoint confirmation back to the storage location 4305. Receipt of a Class B checkpoint confirmation by the storage location 4305 identifies to the storage location 4305 that the data protector has recorded the last position of the records that have been applied to the replica data 4317 and that those records may be purged from the spill log 4313. The process of transferring records and applying those records to replica data at a storage location and the cycling of checkpoints confirms the accuracy of transmission of records from a production location 4303 to a storage location 4305 and provides the data protector 4301 with information that it may use to restart data transmission in the result of a failure. FIG. 45 illustrates a flow diagram of a data protection system that restarts transmission of change records from production location 4303 to a storage location 4305, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. For explanation purposes, we will assume that the system was transferring data from the production location 4303 to the storage location 4305 and for some reason the transmission was interrupted and that the system is resuming that transmission. To resume transmission of data, the data protector 4301 refers to the last recorded Class C and Class B checkpoints stored on the database of the data protector 4301 to identify restart positions for the production location 4303 and the storage location 4305. For example, referring to the recorded Class B checkpoint of B2, the data protector 4301 determines that the position in the spill log 4313 from which the last record was applied was position 107. Thus, the data protector 4301 generates a command that is transmitted to the storage location 4305 instructing the replication agent of the storage location 4305 to start applying records from spill log position 108 and to store the next received data record after spill log position 111 (i.e., spill log position 112). The position that the replication agent is start storing received records (112) is identified by referring to the last Class C checkpoint recorded in the database of the data protector 4301. In this example, the data protector 4301, referring to the Class C checkpoint of C3 identifies that the last known Class C checkpoint that was received by the storage location 4305 is located at spill log position 111. Likewise, the data protector 4301, referring to the last received Class C checkpoint of C3 identifies that the last record transmitted by the production location 4303 that it knows was successfully received by the storage location 4305 was located at change log position 9. Thus, the data protector 4301 generates a command that is transmitted to the production location 4303 instructing the clone agent located at the production location 4303 to start sending records to the storage location 4305 beginning with record 10. Overall, to efficiently resume transmission of data records, the data protector 4301 generates and sends three commands. A start sending records command is generated and transmitted to the production location 4303 identifying a transmission start point in the change log 4307. A start applying records command is sent to the storage location 4305 identifying a position within the spill log 4313 for which application is to resume. The third command, start storing received records command, is also generated and sent to the storage location 4305 identifying a position within the spill log 4313 as to where newly received records are to be stored. Referring to checkpoints such as Class B and Class C and generating a start applying records command, a start sending records command, and a start storing received records command allows the data protection system to resynchronize itself without having to start the transmission of data from the beginning and without losing any data, by restarting from known checkpoints within the data transfer. In addition to monitoring the transmission of change records from a production location 4303 to a storage location 4305, as discussed above, the data protection system has the ability to validate the integrity of replica data 4317 located at the storage location 4305. In an actual embodiment of the present invention, validation of data is accomplished by transmitting validation records from the production location 4303 that are compared with records at the storage location 4305. FIGS. 46 and 47 illustrate flow diagrams of a validation routine for validating a replica 4317, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. To begin the validation routine, the data protector 4301 generates a command that is issued to the production location 4303 to start validation. In response to receiving a start validation command, the clone agent at the production location 4303 begins generating metadata for each protected object located at the production location 4303. That metadata is added to the change log 4307 as a record and transmitted along with the change records. Records and metadata are transmitted from the change log 4307 to the storage location 4305 as discussed above. Upon receipt of a change record, the replication agent located at the storage location 4305 applies the record to the replica data 4317 as discussed above. Upon application of a metadata record, such as V1, the replication agent located at the storage location 4305 calculates metadata for the same portion of the replica data 4317. The two items of metadata are compared to confirm the validity and integrity of that portion of the replica data. If the metadata does not match, the replication agent generates a difference list identifying the protected object that does not have a match at the replica 4317. As will be appreciated by one skilled in the relevant art, comparing replica data with protected data utilizing metadata may be accomplished by generating checksums for the data to be compared and/or by comparing any other identifying indicia, such as last change time, for the data. At a predetermined point-in-time after a set of metadata records such as V1 and V2 have been included in the change log 4307, the clone agent located at the production location 4303 generates a Class A checkpoint that is added as a the record to the change log 4307. The Class A checkpoint, such as A1, is transmitted via a communication channel to the storage location 4305 along with the change records and the metadata records. Upon receipt of a Class A checkpoint by the replication agent at the storage location 4305, the replication agent forwards the Class A checkpoint and any difference list that has been generated as a result of comparing metadata to the data protector 4301. As illustrated in FIG. 46 the Class A checkpoint may be maintained in the spill log until it is purged. Alternatively, upon receipt of a Class A checkpoint, it may be forwarded along with the difference list and not stored in the spill log. The data protector 4301 receives the Class A checkpoint and the difference list and records the Class A checkpoint and difference list in a database. The difference list is forwarded to the production location and the identified protected objects are re-replicated and re-transmitted to the storage location. The re-replication and re-transmission of the identified protected objects may occur in response to receiving the difference list or may be schedule to occur at some later point in time (e.g., after validation of the replica is complete). A Class A checkpoint includes within itself an identification of a particular protected object up to which metadata has been calculated. For example, if metadata is being generated for protected objects located on C:\ at server1 and the last protected object for which metadata was generated was C:\file50 on server1, the Class A checkpoint would contain a reference to C:\file50 on server1. That information is stored by the data protector 4301 in a database so that in the case of interruption of data transmission it will have a reference point from which to restart validation. FIG. 47 illustrates a flow diagram describing the restart of a validation routine that is generated by the data protection system to restart validation when validation has been interrupted at a particular point-in-time, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. For purposes of this discussion it will be assumed first that data transmission has been interrupted and is now being resumed. When resuming data transmission, the data protector 4301 generates and sends a marker token, illustrated in FIG. 47 as Ap. The marker token is a unique token generated by the data protector 4301 that is cycled through the system to clear all metadata and Class A checkpoints from the system before validation of data resumes. The marker Ap is transmitted from the data protector 4301 to the production location 4303 and included in the change log 4307 by the clone agent located at the production location 4303. Upon receipt of a marker token Ap by the production location 4303, the clone agent adds the marker Ap to the change log 4307 and subsequently transmits the marker Ap to the storage location 4305. Upon receipt by the storage location 4305 of the marker token Ap, the replication agent located at the storage location 4305 forwards the marker token Ap back to the data protector 4301. Upon receipt of the marker token Ap by the data protector 4301, the data protector 4301 becomes aware that all metadata for the system that had previously been generated has been transmitted from the production location 4303 to the storage location 4305. The data protector 4301, referring to the database of Class A checkpoints, identifies the last Class A checkpoint that was transmitted and prepares a restart command including a position at which the production location is to restart validation of data. The data protector 4301 transmits to the production location 4303 the restart validation command and the identification of a point at which validation of data is to resume. For example, referring to FIG. 47, the data protector 4301 identifies from its database that the last protected object for which metadata was calculated during the previous validation routine was C:\file1003 on server1. Thus, the data protector 4301 knows that metadata has been generated and transmitted for all files up to file1003 on volume C: at server1, and thus generates a restart validation command instructing the production location 4303 to restart generation of metadata after C:\file1003 on server1. FIG. 48A is a flow diagram of a command processing routine for processing commands received by a production location, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. The command processing routine 4800 begins at block 4801 and at decision block 4803 a determination is made as to whether a received command is a “start transmission” command. As discussed above, commands are generated by the data protector for controlling agents deployed throughout the data protection system. If it is determined at decision block 4803 that the received command is a “start transmission” command, at block 4805 a start transmission point is identified. A start transmission point may be included in the “start transmission” command. The start transmission point identifies a location within the change log from which data transmission is to begin. Additionally, at block 4807 an end transmission point is identified. An end transmission point may be determined in a variety of ways. For example, an end transmission point may be identified by finding the last record contained within the change log and using it as the end transmission point, by determining a max size of the data transmission and identifying a point within the log that reaches that size, etc. Upon identification of the start and end transmission points, at block 4809 the command processing routine 4800 passing control to the data transmission flow (FIG. 48B). Referring back to decision block 4803, if it is determined that the received command is not a “start transmission” command, at decision block 4811 it is determined whether the received command is a “start validation” command. If it is determined at decision block 4811 that the command is a “start validation” command, at block 4813 a location within the production location is identified as to where validation is to begin. As with the start and end points for transmission, the location may be contained within the start validation command or obtained separately. Upon identification of a location within the production location where validation is to begin, the command processing routing 4800 passes control to the validation routine (FIG. 48C), as illustrated by block 4815. If it is determined at decision block 4811 that the received command is not a “start validation” command, at decision block 4817 it is determined whether the received command is a C checkpoint confirmation. If it is a C checkpoint confirmation, the records contained in the change log that were transmitted prior to the C checkpoint that has been confirmed are purged from the change log, as illustrated by block 4819, and the routine completes at block 4821. However, if it is determined at decision block 4817 that the received checkpoint is not a C checkpoint confirmation, then the received command is a marker token Ap. At block 4823 the marker token Ap is placed in the change log and the routine completes a block 4825. FIG. 48B is a flow diagram of a transmit data routine for transmitting change records from a production location to a storage location, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. The transmit data routine 4830 begins at block 4831 and at block 4833 a group of change records obtained from the change log are batched together for transmission. The batch of records may be any number of records. Creating a batch of records may occur in response to a max size of the change log being reached, after a change occurs, at a predetermined point in time. As will be appreciated by one skilled in the relevant art, the timing for generation of a batch of records, and the size of a batch of records provided are simply examples and any timing and size for creating a batch of records may be utilized with embodiments of the present invention. For example, the batch of records may only include one record and may be created every time a change occurs to the data protection system. At block 4835 the batch of records is transmitted from the production location. In addition to transmitting the batch of records a Class C checkpoint is generated and appended to the end of the batch of records and transmitted with as part of the batch of records. As discussed above, Class C checkpoints contain pointers to the location within the change log of the last change record included in the batch of records. At decision block 4837, a determination is made as to whether there are additional records within the change log. If it is determined at decision block 4837 that there are addition records, the transmit data routine 4830 returns control to block 4833 and the routine continues. However, if it is determined at decision block 4837 that there are no more records to transmit the routine completes, as illustrated by block 4839. FIG. 48C is a flow diagram of a validation routine for validating data, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. The validation routine 4840 begins at block 4841 and at decision block 4843 it is determined whether there are any objects within the production location for which validation needs to occur. If it is determined at decision block 4843 that there are no additional objects to validate the routine ends, as illustrated by block 4844. However, if it is determined that there are additional objects to validate, at block 4845 metadata for an object is generated. In particular, the first object for which metadata may be generated is the object corresponding to the start location identified at block 4813 of the command processing routine 4800 (FIG. 48A). Upon generation of metadata, that metadata is added to the change log in the form of metadata record (V). At decision block 4847 a determination is made as to whether a Class A checkpoint is to be generated and added to the change log. As discussed above, Class A checkpoints represent a position within the total process of generating and transmitting metadata records and may be used for restarting data validation. Additionally, Class A checkpoints may include sequential markers so that it may be determined if one of the transmitted Class A checkpoints was not received. If it is determined at decision block 4847 that a Class A checkpoint is to be generated, at block 4849 the checkpoint is generated and added to the change log as a record that will be batched and transmitted with other records contained within the change log. Upon addition of a Class A checkpoint to the change log, the validation routine 4840 returns control to decision block 4843 and the routine continues. However, if at decision block 4847 it is determined that no Class A checkpoint is to be generated, the validation routine 4840 returns to decision block 4843 and continues. FIG. 49A is a flow diagram of a command processing routine for processing commands received by a storage location, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. The command processing routine 4900 begins at block 4901 and at decision block 4903 a determination is made as to whether a received command is a “start reception” command. A “start reception” command is an instruction to the storage location to begin receiving records that are being transmitted from a production location. If it is determined at decision block 4903 that the command is a “start reception” command, at block 4905 a starting point from within the spill log for storing received records is identified. Identification of a location within the spill log may be determined by receiving a location contained within the “start reception” command or as a separate instruction. Upon identification of a location within the spill log as to where to begin storing received records, the command processing routine 4900 passes control to the receive records routine (FIG. 49B), as illustrated by block 4907. Referring back to decision block 4903, if it is determined that the received command is not a “start reception” command, at decision block 4909 it is determined whether the received command is a “start application” command. If the received command is a start application command, at block 4911 a starting location in the spill log from which to begin applying records is identified. As with the start receiving records location, identification within the spill log may be identified by a location being included with the “start application” command, received as a separate command, or identified by some other means. Upon identification of a location within the spill log from which to start application, the command processing routine 4900 passes control to the apply change records routine (FIG. 49C). If it is determined at decision block 4909 that the command is not a “start application” command, then the command is a Class B checkpoint confirmation and at block 4915 all records contained within the spill log that have been applied to the copy at the storage location prior to transmission of the confirmed Class B checkpoint are purged from the log. At block 4917 the routine completes. FIG. 49B is a flow diagram of a receive records routine for receiving records at a storage location, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. The receive records routine 4920 begins at block 4921 and at block 4923 the next incoming record is received. As discussed above, transmission of records may be accomplished using any type of transmission medium, including, but not limited to, wired, wireless, etc. At decision block 4925 it is determined whether the received record is a Class C checkpoint. If it is a Class C checkpoint, the spill log location of the Class C checkpoint is added to the Class C Checkpoint and the Class C checkpoint is forwarded to the data protector, as illustrated by block 4927. However, if it is determined at decision block 4925 that the record is not a Class C checkpoint, at decision block 4929 it is determined whether the record is a marker token Ap. If the record is a marker token, at block 4931 the marker token is forwarded to the data protector. If it is determined at decision block 4929 that the record is not a marker token, at decision block 4935 it is determined whether the record is a Class A checkpoint. If it is determined at decision block 4935 that the record is a Class A checkpoint, at block 4937 the Class A checkpoint and a difference list are forwarded to the data protector. If it is determined at decision block 4935 that the record is not a Class A checkpoint, or after forwarding the record to the data protector (blocks 4927, 4931, 4937) the received record is added to the spill log, as illustrated by block 4939. At decision block 4941 it is determined whether there are additional records that have been received. If there are additional records, the receive records routine 4920 returns to block 4923 and the routine continues. If there are no additional records, the routine completes at block 4943. FIG. 49C is a flow diagram of a apply change records routine for applying change records to a replica at a storage location, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. The apply records routine 4950 begins at block 4951 and at block 4953 a record is obtained from the spill log. At decision block 4955 it is determined whether the obtained record contains metadata about the protected objects. If it is determined that the record contains metadata, at block 4957 the metadata is compared with a corresponding object stored on the replica. As discussed above, metadata may be any form of identification for an object, such as last change time, size, a calculated checksum, etc. At decision block 4959, upon comparison of the metadata, it is determined whether the metadata is different. If the compared metadata is different, at block 4961 an identification of the object for which metadata was compared is added to the difference list. Upon addition of the identified object to the difference list (block 4961) or if it is determined at decision block 4949 that the metadata is not different, the apply change records routine 4950 continues to decision block 4965 and continues. Returning back to decision block 4955, if it is determined that the record is not metadata, the record is a change record and it is applied to the replica, as illustrated by block 4963. At decision block 4965 it is determined whether a Class B checkpoint should be generated. As discussed above, generation of a Class B checkpoint may be created based on any form of criteria. For examples, a Class B checkpoint may be generated after each application of a change record, after a predetermined period of time, etc. If it is determined at decision block 4965 that a Class B checkpoint should be generated, at decision block 4967 it is determined whether the difference list is empty. If it is determined that the difference list is not empty, at block 4969 the routine 4950 waits for receipt of a Class A checkpoint. Waiting for a Class A checkpoint if the difference list is not empty ensures that no metadata records that generated an addition to the difference list are lost if the system restarts. Receiving a Class A checkpoint prior to transmission of a Class B checkpoint, ensures that when the difference list is sent all metadata records that were utilized to generate that difference list are no longer needed. If it is determined at decision block 4967 that the difference list is empty, or upon receipt of a Class A checkpoint at block 4969, a Class B checkpoint is generated and transmitted, as illustrated by block 4971. Referring back to decision block 4965, if it is determined that a Class B checkpoint is not to be generated, or after transmission of a Class B checkpoint (block 4971), at decision block 4973 it is determined whether there are additional records in the spill log that have not yet been applied to the replica. If there are additional records, the apply change records routine 4950 returns to block 4953 and continues. However, if it is determined at decision block 4973 that there are no additional records to apply, the routine completes, as illustrated by block 4975. Embodiments of the present invention provide the ability to protect data at a production location using any type of backup technique, such as replication with temporal versioning and/or archiving copies of data to removable media. In an embodiment of the present invention, the ability to protect data at a production location is accomplished through the use of distributed control and coordination of actions performed by agents located at different portions of the data protection system. For example, an agent may be located at the production location, storage location, and/or data protector location. These activities, referred to as jobs, are typically run on a scheduled basis. Because jobs often involve communication with remote agents, they are typically asynchronous and may take long periods of time to complete. A job is a scheduled unit of activity that can run either once or on a periodic basis. A job consists of one or more tasks. Tasks can run either serially or in parallel. In addition, the job may fail when any of the tasks fail or the job may continue to execute all tasks until they either complete or fail. For data protection, jobs are organized to perform a given activity for all members of a protected group. Data protection occurs through the organization of jobs containing tasks for performing the appropriate activities for a particular job. For example, a protection or recovery plan includes one or more jobs and schedules for those jobs. In an actual embodiment of the present invention, jobs may be considered to be one of four different types: protection, recovery, discovery, and housekeeping. Protection jobs perform data protection activities such as replication, temporal version management, archive, or dataset staging. Each protection task is associated with a protected group. Recovery jobs perform data recovery from replica, datasets, archives, or a combination thereof. Each recovery task is associated with a recovery source. Discovery jobs, such as the initial discovery routine (FIG. 25) and the scheduled discovery routine (FIG. 26), discover entities external to the data protector. Discovery is performed for searching, navigation, auto discovery group refresh or saved searches, and protected group membership determination. Housekeeping jobs perform activities necessary for data protection system maintenance. Housekeeping jobs include agent installed version survey, creation of a summary trail, media migration, and data protection system database garbage collection. Each job of the data protection system is monitored by a job manager. The job manager monitors the overall progress of jobs, reads information from a data protector database related to those jobs, and writes information received from those jobs to a particular portion of the data protector database that it maintains. For the portion of the database that the job manager maintains, it is the only manager of the data protection system that may write information to that portion of the database. FIG. 50 is a block diagram of a job containing a plurality of tasks, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. As mentioned above, a job 5000 includes one or more tasks, such as task 1 5001, task 2 5002, up to any number of tasks, illustrated by task N 5003. Each task of a job is executed and managed by a task executor, 5005, 5007. The task executor 5005 in executing a task, such as task 2 5002, may generate one or more commands that are performed by different agents distributed throughout the data protection system. For example, the task executor 5005 may generate three different commands for task 2 5002, each of which is completed by a different agent. A first command for task 2 5002 may be executed by agent A 5009, a second command by agent B 5011, and a third command by agent C 5013. Depending on the type of task and the type of job, the agents 5009-5013 may execute the commands serially or in parallel. Job properties apply to all tasks of a job. Specific tasks of a job may also have specific properties. Job and task properties for protection jobs are determined by the intent translator as part of creating the jobs of a group plan. In an actual embodiment of the present invention, all jobs have the following properties: action on success/failure, and execute in parallel or only serially. Additionally, any job involving data movement may have the following properties: encryption, compression, throttling, and collocation intents. Each task executor 5005, 5007 may be generated as a finite state machine (FSM) executed by a common engine that transitions the FSM through different states in response to inputs, persists states, and performs restart logic. For example, a task executor may transition based on the response from a previously issued command to an agent. Utilizing a common engine allows the design of all FSM to follow a common design methodology and for different FSMs to share the same common blocks (such as polling to determine whether an agent is alive and obtaining status from an agent). Typically, a task executor issues commands to agents and transitions into and out of a wait state based on the success or failure of those commands, and responses provided from those commands. Additionally, a task executor 5005, 5007 may transition after a particular amount of time has passed during execution of a task, in response to a cancel request (e.g., a cancel request from a user, an internal cancel request due to a job exceeding a maximum time allocated for that job, etc.), or in response to an internal message generated based on the state of the database. At each transition the task executor persists its progression through the task. Persisted progression points may be stored in the data protector database. Persisting progression points through a task provides the data protection system with robustness in the event of an unexpected termination (such as a power outage). Upon restart, the task executor can refer to the persisted points and identify the appropriate state of the task and immediately fail from that point, and perform any clean up that may be necessary. For example, for a data transmission job for replication, as discussed above, a task executor issues commands to appropriate agents for performing each task of the job. Included in those commands would be a command issued to the clone agent to start transmission of change records. Likewise, the task executor issues a command to the replication agent to begin receiving and applying records. As the agents are performing those commands, the task executor begins a timer and transitions to a wait state. At each transition (issuing commands, beginning waiting) the task executor persists a point of progress for the task. A response that may be received by the task executor may be a Checkpoint, a timeout event, a cancel request, etc. Upon receiving a response, the task executor transitions according to the response and persists that point in the task. This process continues until the task completes either via success or failure. If a timeout event occurs, the task executor 5005 may also poll each agent to determine if the agents are still alive and potentially obtain updates regarding the progress of the commands be executed by that agent. In addition to persisting transition points thereby increasing robustness, long-running activities are designed so that they can be restarted from intermediate points, checkpoints, so that all work is not lost in the case of a failure. For example, referring back to FIGS. 43 through 47, during data transmission and validation checkpoints are created. Those checkpoints are obtained by a replication manager and stored in the data protection database. As discussed above with respect to FIGS. 43-47, upon restart from a failure, those checkpoints may be assessed and data transmission and validation may be resumed from a point identified by the checkpoints. In addition to running a task to completion, a task executor 5005, 5007, in an embodiment of the present invention, notifies a job manager on completion of the task and whether the task completed with success or failure. The job manager maintains its own trail giving summary information about all tasks in the job. For example, the job trail may contain the number of tasks that completed successfully. The job manager also persists information received from the task executors in a task trail in the data protector database. Additionally, a task executor may also maintain its own task trail with task executor specific information related to the task. A task trail may include any errors encountered during the task as well as statistics related to the task that would be useful to a user of the data protection system. Task type specific trails are received and maintained by managers associated with that particular task. Task type specific trails may include task specific information, such as total time taken to move data, total time for completing the task, total amount of data transferred, etc. Upon restart of the data protection system, the task trail may be utilized to identify an error path that resulted in a failure. Additionally, tasks may maintain task private metadata. That private metadata may be used at restart to clean up a failed task and to create the task trail at completion (success or failure) of the task. Still further, a task executor 5005, 5007 may also manage metadata associated with the task. In the case of failure, upon restart, jobs do a very simple cleanup. They do not reschedule themselves or perform complex recovery actions. Instead, the task of the job that failed simply updates any physical object state and fails. The failure is recorded in the task trail and job trail. For tasks that are important enough to warrant prompt and automated recovery activity, the data protection system, via a health manager, may create a makeup job that is used to complete the job from the point where the task failed, or at a last checkpoint generated by a task, to completion. A health manager utilizes the task trial as well as the state of various objects in the database to implement the more complex recovery mechanisms to enable data protection to proceed. For tasks that are considered critical, such as replication, a health manager may monitor those tasks. In an embodiment, the health providers are instantiated by the health manager. Critical tasks, upon failure, raise failure events. The health provider monitors those events and determines whether any recovery needs to be performed. If recovery is necessary, a makeup job is created and scheduled to recovery one or more failed tasks. In addition, at system startup the health manager starts the health providers. Each health provider makes an alternate and independent determination whether recovery of failed tasks that may have been running at the time the system previously terminated are necessary. If recovery is necessary, a makeup job is created and scheduled. A makeup job may contain a single task in the case of a single task failure within a failed job or all incomplete tasks from a failed job including those tasks that where never started. FIG. 51 is a flow diagram illustrating the monitoring of tasks and creation of a makeup job, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. As described above, each action within the data protection system is organized in the form of a job having several tasks. The data protector 5101 may create a job, such as replication of protected objects at the production location 5103 that are to be transferred and to be stored at the storage location 5105 as a result of execution of one or more tasks. That job is initiated by the data protector 5101, and each task of the job is executed by one or more task executors. For example, for a replication job, the task executor issues commands to several agents, one of which may be located at the production location 5103, and one of which may be located at the storage location 5105. Those tasks are executed and are currently in progress, and for purposes of this example, the job is interrupted and subsequently recovers. Job interruption may occur through a system failure, such as a power outage. Upon recovery, the data protector 5101 identifies that a task of a job was in progress prior to the system failure. Upon identifying that a task of a job was in progress, the data protector 5101 issues a command restarting the task. Upon restart of the task, the task executor fails the task and performs simple cleanup for the failed task. If the task was critical, the appropriate health provider is notified. A makeup job is a job that picks up where the previous job left off. The makeup job includes tasks that failed in the previous job or were not started in the previous job. For example, if the failed job is a replication job, the health provider identifies what task of the replication job did not complete successfully and creates a makeup job including the incomplete task and all of the other tasks that did not complete for that job. If the makeup job is generated in response to receiving a failed task, the health manager identifies the failed task and creates a job containing that task and potentially any other tasks that are to be executed, either serially or in parallel, with that job. Upon generation of the makeup job, the health manager schedules the makeup job for execution. That makeup job then proceeds as scheduled as if it were its own job and the tasks of that makeup job are executed. Additionally, because the makeup job is scheduled as its own job, from the perspective of the job manager is treated as any other job and the job manager may not know that it is a makeup job. FIG. 52 illustrates a flow diagram of a makeup job routine for identifying a task failure and creating a makeup job if that task was critical, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. The makeup job routine 5200 may be executed by the data protection system or, in an actual embodiment of the present invention, it may be executed by a health manager. The makeup job routine 5200 begins at block 5201 and at block 5203 receives a task failure. As discussed above, if a task is interrupted, upon restart, the task executor restarts and fails the previously running task, issuing a task failure notification. The task executor performs clean-up for the failed task. At decision block 5205 the makeup job routine 5200 determines whether the failed task was critical. In an alternative embodiment, a user may specify what tasks are to be considered critical. If it is determined at decision block 5205 that the failed task was critical, at block 5207, the incomplete task, and any associated tasks are identified. At block 5209 the makeup job routine 5200 creates a makeup job for each of the incomplete tasks and at block 5211 the makeup job is scheduled. Referring back to decision block 5205, if it is determined that the failed task was not critical, the makeup job routine completes, as illustrated by block 5213. A task may be identified as not critical if it is part of a routine job that is performed multiple times. For example, a replication job for background replication may be considered a non-critical job if the replication job is scheduled to be executed every hour. Thus, because the replication job will proceed again as scheduled, the data protection system may determine that the tasks of the replication job are not critical. In addition to determining if a makeup job should be scheduled, the data protector, via the job manager, in response to a task failure determines whether the job containing the failed task should continue or also fail. If the failed task is a task that has been determined would fail the job, then the job manager fails the associated job. Even though a task may be considered critical (thus necessitating a makeup job) it may not require that the job fail. Likewise, failure of a non-critical task may result in job failure. For example, when a job includes replication from multiple data sources, failure of one of the replication tasks (a critical task) may not result in failure of the job. As mentioned above, the data protection system includes managers that control particular portions of the data protection system. For example, the data protection system may include, but is not limited to a replication manager, a configuration manager, a health manager, a summary manager, a job manager, a media manager, an archive manger, etc. Each manager maintains a particular portion of the data protector database. Each portion of the database consists of a set of tables that can only be written by the corresponding manager. Those tables may be read by any manager and other external applications, but since the corresponding manager is the only one that can write data into the tables, all concurrency control and synchronization logic is owned by the manager. The health manager, in addition to monitoring tasks and jobs, may also monitor other managers. The health manager is configured to respond to failures of any of the tasks associated with the manager and can examine the state of the database corresponding to the manager to determine what recovery actions are necessary. Additionally, a manager may also contain one or more task executors that implement the functionality of the manager. For example, the replication manager may contain all task executors associated with replicas including, but not limited to, replication task executors, temporal versioning task executors, and recovery from the temporal versions task executors. For the physical objects of the data protection system (e.g., replicas, media, disks, libraries, drives) a state model is maintained. Each state model describes the possible states that the object can be in and the allowable transitions between states. For example, FIG. 37 illustrates a state model for a replica, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. A state model describes the lifecycle of an object and indicates what activities need to be performed to transition the object from one state to another. For example, when a replica is in the invalid state 3705 (FIG. 37), base on that state, the data protection system knows that a validation job should be performed to place the replica in a valid state 3711. The state of an object is often an input to the health provider. Maintaining a state model maintains a known state that may be utilized by the health provider for recovery and thus, simplifies error handling. Additionally, by monitoring the state of objects a user is presented with how the data protection system handled any error conditions. The data protection system also monitors events generated by portions of the data protection system and provides reports to a user regarding the overall status of the data protection system itself. Alternatively, the reports may provide specific information about different physical objects within the data protection system. For example, if a server at the production location is unavailable, a report error may be generated informing the user of the problem and providing a suggested solution. Events are reviewed by the data protection system and based on that review, a report regarding the review events is generated. That report is classified into one of three categories: informational, warning, or error. Overall if the report is an error report, it identifies that user action is necessary. If the report is a warning report, it identifies that no immediate user action is necessary, but may become necessary if the warning is not resolved, either automatically or by the user. Finally, if the report is an informational report, it informs the user that no action is required from the user, and provides information regarding the data protection system. As one who is skilled in the art will appreciate, reports may be presented in any form in addition to, or in alternative to informational, warning, and error. The reports are created by reviewing events generated by different portions of the data protection system. Based on those events, the data protection system compiles a report regarding the events and the state of that portion of the data protection system. Thus, a user is not provided with all of the events generated by the data protection system and instead is provided with a report that has been categorized into either an informational report, warning report, or error report. The provided report may, if necessary, include a suggested resolution to a problem detected by the data protection system. Reports may be generated regardless of whether a task failed on the last job. For example, as illustrated below, even if the last copy job succeeded (block 5409), if the disk space used for maintaining the copy at the storage location exceeds a predetermined threshold (block 5411) an event is generated that the data protection system classifies as a warning and a warning report is provided to the user (block 5413) informing the user that they may want to allocate more disk space. Report types (informational, warning, error) may be determined by analyzing particular portions of the data protection system. For example, referring to the temporal version diagnosis routine 5700 (FIG. 57), the number of missed temporal versions over a predetermined period of time and a total retention period are computed (block 5725) and a decision on the report classification (warning, error) is determined based on the percentage of missing temporal versions over those time periods. Additionally, in some instances, a series of tests may be performed to determine the suggestions that are to be included in the report. For example, in the copy diagnosis routine 5400, if it is determined that the copy is not valid 5403 and a validation job failed 5445 the data protection system proceeds to determine, via a series of tests (decision blocks 5447, 5451, 5455, 5459), what suggested solution should be included in the error report generated to the user. A similar example is illustrated in the recovery diagnosis routine 5900 (FIG. 59). In particular, if it is determined that a job failed 5911, the data protection system determines, via a series of tests (decision blocks 5917, 5921, 5925, 5929), what suggested solutions should be included in the error report. FIG. 53 illustrates a flow diagram for diagnosing problems associated with copies of data and for generating a report with suggested corrections if a problem is detected, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. As mentioned above, the reports may be categorized into one of three states: error, warning, and informational. The diagnosis routine 5300 begins at block 5301 and at block 5303 the routine performs the copy diagnosis routine, as described in detail with respect to FIGS. 54-56. In addition to performing the copy diagnosis routine 5303, the diagnosis routine 5300 performs a temporal version diagnosis routine, as described with respect to FIGS. 55-58. Finally, the diagnosis routine 5300 determines if there are any other warnings that have been issued by the data protection system. At decision block 5309 a determination is made as to whether there were any errors detected in any one of the copy diagnosis routine, temporal version diagnosis routine, or provided by other warnings. If it is determined at decision block 5309 that an error has been detected, at decision block 5311 a error report is generated describing the error and providing a user with suggested steps to be taken to resolve the reported error. However, if it is determined at decision block 5309 that no errors are detected, at decision block 5313 a determination is made as to whether there were any warnings that were generated from any one of the copy diagnosis routine, temporal version diagnosis routine, or provided by other warnings. If it is determined at decision block 5313 that a warning was detected, at block 5315 a warning report is generated describing the warning to a user and providing the user with potential steps that may be performed for resolving the warning. Finally, if it is determined at decision block 5313 that no warning was detected, at decision block 5317 an informational report is generated informing the user that there are no problems with the data protection system and that it is protecting the information as requested by the user. By proceeding through each of the routines of block 5303, 5305, and 5307 and then determining the most serious problem of those routines (decision blocks 5309, 5313) any potential problems may be provided as a single report. For example, if an error is identified, the error and suggested solution may be presented and any warning or informational reports may be withheld until the more severe problem, the error, is resolved. FIG. 54 illustrates a flow diagram describing the details of a copy diagnosis routine for diagnosing potential problems with the copying of data in the data protection system, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. The copy diagnosis routine may be utilized for any type of storage, such as replica storage, archive, or both replica and archive. As described in detail below, the copy diagnosis routine 5400 determines whether the last copy task succeeded or failed. If the last copy task failed then different paths are followed based on whether the copy mode is background or backup (block 5417). Since a task that runs once a day and fails is much more significant than a task that runs every hour that fails, different reports are generated based on those failures. For example, if the mode is background and a task fails an informational report may be provided to the user if the number of failures has not exceeded a predetermined lower limit. Alternatively, for background mode, no report may be generated for tasks that are scheduled to run frequently, as a subsequent execution of that task may resolve the problem automatically. In contrast, if the copy mode is backup and a task fails, either a warning report or an error report is provided to the user. The copy diagnosis routine 5400 begins at block 5401, and at decision block 5403 a determination is made as to whether the copy is valid. If it is determined at decision block 5403 that the copy is valid, at decision block 5405 a determination is made as to whether a copy job is currently running. If it is determined at decision block 5405 that a copy job is running, at block 5407 the data protection system generates an informational report identifying the last state of the copy and providing an indication to a user that a copy job is currently running. However, if it is determined at decision block 5405 that a copy job is not currently running, at decision block 5409 a determination is made as to whether the last copy job succeeded. If it is determined at decision block 5409 that the last copy job did succeed, a determination is made at decision block 5411 as to whether a disk usage threshold warning was generated from the last copy job. A disk usage threshold warning is generated in response to the data protection system identifying that the portion of the storage location for which the copy is currently being stored is running low on available disk space. For example, whenever disk space on a replica is running low or, when archive is performed to disk rather then tape media and either media in the pool is running low or media in the free pool is running low, a disk usage threshold warning may be generated. This threshold level is a predetermined and preset size value that when reached generates a threshold warning. If it is determined at decision block 5411 that a disk usage threshold warning has been generated, at block 5413 a warning report is generated indicating that disk usage at the storage location has exceeded the predetermined threshold value and provides a suggestion that additional disk space be allocated for the copy. In an alternative embodiment, in addition to generating a warning report informing a user of the threshold warning, the data protection system may also check to see if the warning is still applicable by confirming the current disk space status for the copy. If it is determined at decision block 5411 that a disk usage threshold warning was not generated, at block 5415 an informational report is provided to a user indicating that there is no problem associated with this portion of the data protection system. Referring back to decision block 5409, if it is determined that the last copy job did not succeed, a determination is made at decision block 5417 as to whether the mode of protection is in background mode. As described herein, background mode of protection is the operational mode for the data protection system in which copying is nearly continuous. For example, every hour, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Alternatively, the mode of copying may be a backup mode. A backup mode of protection is an operational mode in which copying is relatively infrequent. For example, archiving and/or replication may occur nightly. If it is determined at decision block 5417 that the mode of copying is background, at block 5419 the number of previously failed copy jobs is computed. At decision block 5421 a determination is made as to whether the number of failed copy jobs computed at block 5419 has exceeded a predetermined lower limit. If it is determined at decision block 5421 that the number of previously failed copy jobs has not exceeded a predetermined lower limit, at block 5422 an informational report is generated informing the user that the data protection system is currently operating as expected. Calculating the number of failed copy jobs and comparing it to limits to determine whether to generate a report, provides an opportunity for the data protection system to resolve the problem without needed to notify the user. For example, if copy jobs are being generated hourly and one if missed, the data protection system may resolve this problem the following hour if the copy job completes successfully. However, if it is determined at decision block 5421 that the number of previously failed copy jobs has exceed the predetermined lower limit, at decision block 5423 a determination is made as to whether the number of previously failed copy jobs has exceeded a second higher limit. If it is determined that the number of previously failed copy jobs has not exceed a predetermined higher limit, at block 5424 a warning report is generated informing the user of the number of copy jobs that have failed. That warning report also informs the user that the number of failed copy jobs did not reach a predetermined higher (critical) number and that no action is currently required by the user. If it is determined at decision block 5417 that the mode of protection is not in the background mode, i.e., it is in the backup mode, or it is determined at decision block 5423 that the number of failed copy jobs exceeds a predetermined higher limit, the copy diagnosis routine 5400 obtains a reason for the last task failure, as illustrated by block 5425 (FIG. 55). In an embodiment of the present invention, the reasons for failures of copy jobs may be obtained from task trails that are generated by tasks contained within the copy job itself. As described above, task trails include metadata about the task itself, what the task was doing, that the task completed, or why the task failed. At decision block 5427 a determination is made as to whether the reason for the failure was that the user canceled the previous copy job. If it is determined at decision block 5427 that the copy job failed due to a user canceling that job, the notification of a copy failure is ignored. However, if it is determined at decision block 5427 that the previous copy failed for a reason other than being canceled by the user, at decision block 5431 a determination is made as to whether the previous copy job failed because the data protection system was unable to contact the production location. Inability to contact a production location may result from several different types of external events such as a network outage, a power supply problem, or that the production server was currently shut down for maintenance or other operations. If it is determined at decision block 5431 that the last copy job failed because the data protection system was unable to contact the production location, at block 5433 a report is generated identifying to a user that the previous copy job did not complete successfully and providing a suggestion to the user that they check the network and/or production location in an effort to determine why the data protection system was unable to contact the production location. If it is determined at decision block 5431 that the previous failure did not occur because the data protection system was unable to contact the production location, at decision block 5435 a determination is made as to whether the previous failure occurred because the data protection system was unable to contact the agent performing the copying. If it is determined that the failure occurred due to inability to contact the agent doing the copying, a warning report is generated informing the user of the error and providing a suggestion that the user check the agents and possibly restart the routine and/or check the agent installation and/or reinstall the agent if necessary, as illustrated by block 5437. However, if it is determined that the previous failure was not due to user cancellation (block 5427), inability to contact the production location (block 5431) or inability to contact an agent (block 5435), the problem is unknown and an error is generated informing a user that the data protection system was not able to determine the cause of the failure and providing a suggestion that the user check the network connection and the agents involved in copying. Referring back to FIG. 54, if it is determined at decision block 5403 that the copy for which diagnosis is being performed using the copy diagnosis routine 5400 is not valid, at decision block 5437 (FIG. 56) a determination is made as to whether the copy that is being diagnosed is invalid (i.e., it is in the invalid state 3705 FIG. 37). If it is determined at decision block 5437 that the copy being diagnosed is invalid, at block 5439 the copy diagnosis routine notifies the user that the copy for the data source is not initialized. In an alternative embodiment, at block 5439 a report may be provided to a user identifying that the copy for the particular data source that is being diagnosed is not initialized and asking the user whether it wants to generate an initialization job. If it is determined at decision block 5437 that the copy is invalid, at decision block 5441 a determination is made as to whether a validation job is currently running on the copy being diagnosed. If it is determined at decision block 5441 that a validation job is currently running for the particular copy being diagnosed, at block 5443 a warning report is generated informing a user that the copy being diagnosed is currently being validated by a validation job and that no action is currently necessary. If it is determined at decision block 5441 that a validation job is not running, at decision block 5445 the copy diagnosis routine 5400 determines whether a previous validation job ran and failed. If it is determined at decision block 5445 that a validation job did run and failed, a determination is made at decision block 5447 as to whether the failure was a result of cancellation of the validation job by a user. If it is determined at decision block 5445 that a previously run validation job did not fail, or that a previously run validation job did fail and that failure was a result of being canceled by the user, at block 5449 an error report is generated informing the user of the failure and suggesting that a user run a validation job. Alternatively, the validation job may be run automatically. However, if it is determined at decision block 5447 that a previously run validation job that failed, failed for reasons other than being canceled by a user, at block 5449 the reason for that failure is obtained from the task trails associated with the previous validation job. Utilizing the reasons for the failure obtained in block 5449, the copy diagnosis routine 5400 determines at decision block 5451 whether the previously run validation job that failed, failed because the amount of the storage location available for the copy was full. If it is determined at decision block 5451 that the space for the copy at the storage location was full, at block 5453 an error is reported informing the user that the storage location is full and providing a suggestion that the user allocate more disk space for storage of the copy. Allocating more disk space may include adding additional disk space for a replica. If it is determined at decision block 5451 that the failure was not a result of the insufficient space, at block 5455 a determination is made as to whether the failure was a result of the data protection system not being able to reach the storage location at all. If it is determined at decision block 5455 that the data protection system was not able to reach the storage location in order to validate the copy, an error report is generated. The error report informs the user that the storage location was inaccessible and suggests that the user check the communication between the data protection system and the storage location, communication with the target volume, and the integrity of the storage location itself. If it is determined at decision block 5455 that the failure was not a result of the storage location being inaccessible, at decision block 5459 a determination is made as to whether there was a change log overflow at the production location. A log overflow may result from too many changes being queued in the change log at the production location and/or the spill log at the storage location becoming full. This may occur if change records and validation records are being generated faster than they are being transmitted to or processed at the storage location. If it is determined at decision block 5459 that the failure was a result of a log overflow, an error report is generated informing the user of the log overflow and indicating that the log has overflowed and suggesting that the log be resized appropriately, as indicated by block 5461. Finally, if the copy diagnosis routine 5400 determines at decision block 5459 that the failure was not a result of a log overflow, at block 5463 an error report is generated informing the user of the failure and suggesting that the user check the production server, the data protector and the storage server for potential communication problems or other potential problems, and if the failure continues, to reinitialize the data protection system. Another example of diagnosing protection problems is the diagnosis of temporal versions. The temporal version diagnosis routine is mentioned with respect to the overall diagnosis routine described in FIG. 53 (block 5305) and described in more detail with respect to FIG. 57. FIG. 57 illustrates a flow diagram describing a temporal version diagnosis routine for diagnosing potential problems with a temporal version generated by the data protection system, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. The temporal version diagnosis routine 5700 begins at block 5701 and at decision block 5703 a determination is made as to whether the copy for which a temporal version is being created is in a valid state. If it is determined at decision block 5703 that the copy for which a temporal version is being generated is in a valid state, at decision block 5705 a determination is made as to whether the last temporal version job of that copy succeeded. If it is determined at decision block 5705 that the last temporal version job of the copy did not succeed, at decision block 5707 the reason for the failure of the temporal version job is obtained from the task trails associated with the task of the temporal version job. At decision block 5709 an error report is generated providing an explanation and suggesting to the user that a temporal version be taken again. In an alternative embodiment, in addition to generating a report providing an explanation, the data protection system may automatically schedule a temporal version job for taking a subsequent temporal version. Referring back to decision block 5703, if it is determined that the copy for which the temporal version is to be taken is not in a valid state, the temporal version diagnosis routine 5700 continues as described above with respect to the blocks illustrated in FIG. 56. If it is determined at decision block 5705 that the last temporal version job of a valid copy did succeed, at decision block 5711 a determination is made as to whether a temporal version was actually taken. If it is determined at decision block 5711 that a temporal version was not actually taken, a determination is made at decision block 5713 as to whether there was a copy job failure. If it is determined at decision block 5713 that there was a copy job failure, the temporal version diagnosis routine 5700 continues as described above with respect to the blocks illustrated and described in FIG. 55. However, if it is determined at decision block 5711 that no temporal version was taken, and it is determined at decision block 5713 that there was no copy job failure, this identifies to the data protection system that there was no activity on the copy and therefore no temporal version was necessary. Additionally, because there are no problems with the copy, and/or the temporal version, at block 5715 an informational report is generated informing the user that there has been no activity on the copy and therefore no temporal version was taken. Referring back to decision block 5711, if it is determined that a temporal version job was performed and a temporal version taken, a determination is made as to whether the oldest intended temporal version is available should recovery be necessary, as illustrated by decision block 5721 (FIG. 58). Determining if the oldest intended temporal version is available confirms whether or not the duration intent is being satisfied. For example, if the duration is to be able to recover information that is at least one year old, and the oldest intended temporal version (one year old) is available, confirms that the duration intent is being satisfied. If it is determined at decision block 5721 that the oldest intended temporal version is not available for recovery, an error report is generated informing the user that the oldest intended temporal version is not available and that the most likely cause of this is due to lack of disk space. The error report also provides a suggestion to the user to allocate more disk space for the temporal versions, as illustrated by block 5723. If it is determined at decision block 5721 that the oldest intended temporal version is available, at block 5725 the temporal version diagnosis routine 5700 computes a number of missing copies over a predetermined time period, and computes a total number of missing copies over the total retention period. A predetermined time period for which missing temporal versions are computed may be any predetermined length of time, such as one week, two weeks, one month, etc., that is less than the total retention period The total retention period is identified by the user in setting up the protection intents when identifying the total length of time for which the user wants to be able to recover protected objects. Computing the number of missing copies confirms whether the frequency intent is being satisfied. At decision block 5727 a determination is made as to whether there is more than 0% of temporal versions missing over the predetermined time period for which missing copies was computed at block 5725. If it is determined at decision block 5727 that there are no temporal versions missing, at decision block 5729 a determination is made as to whether less than 50% of the temporal versions over the total retention period are missing. If it is determined at decision block 5729 that the number of missing temporal versions over the total time period is less than 50%, an informational report is generated informing the user that no problems currently exist with the temporal version portion of the data protection system, as illustrated by block 5731. As discussed above, by not immediately reporting a problem, the data protection system has the opportunity to resolve any problem without the need of user involvement. For example, if it is determined that the number of missing copies over the total time period is 10% but future copy jobs complete successfully, this percentage will decrease over time, without the need of alerting a user. However, if it is determined at block 5729 that more than 50% of the temporal versions are missing over the total time period, a warning report is generated identifying the percentage of temporal versions that are currently missing and suggesting that no action is necessary other than continued monitoring of the percentage of missing temporal versions, as illustrated by block 5733. If it is determined at decision block 5727 that there are some temporal versions missing over the predetermined time period, at decision block 5735 a determination is made as to whether the missing number of temporal versions over that predetermined time period is between 0% and 20%. If it is determined at decision block 5735 that the number of missing copies over the predetermined time period is between 0% and 20%, at decision block 5737 a determination is made as to whether the number of missing temporal versions over the total retention period is less than 50%. If it is determined at decision block 5737 that the number of missing temporal versions for the total retention period is less than 50%, at block 5739 a warning report is generated providing the percentage of temporal versions missing and suggesting that no action is required other than to monitor the percentage of missing temporal versions. However, if it is determined at block 5737 that the percentage of missing temporal versions over the total retention period is greater than 50%, at block 5741 an error report is generated informing the user of the percentage of temporal versions that are missing. Additionally, the error report generated at block 5741 informs the user that protection is not performing as expected and suggests that the user check the protection parameters identified and the disk setup for the production location and the storage location. Referring back to decision block 5735, if it is determined that the percentage of temporal versions missing over the predetermined time period is not between 0% and 20%, a decision is made at decision block 5743 as to whether the number of missing temporal versions over the total retention period is less than 50%. If it is determined at decision block 5743 that the total number of missing temporal versions over the entire retention period is less than 50%, at block 5745 an error report is generated informing the user that protection is not performing as expected, providing the user with the total percentage of missing temporal versions over the total retention period and suggesting that the user check the integrity of the copy itself and to check the protection schedule. Finally, if it is determined at decision block 5743 that the number of missing temporal versions over the total retention period is greater than 50%, an error report is generated informing the user that protection has been consistently bad and suggesting that the user check protection and disk setup at both the production location and the storage location, as illustrated by block 5747. While specific percentages have been utilized for the above discussion of the temporal version diagnosis routine 5700, it will be appreciated by one of ordinary skill in the relevant art that any predetermined percentages may be utilized with embodiments of the present invention and the ones provided herein are intended for explanation purposes only. FIG. 59 is a flow diagram describing a recovery diagnosis routine for diagnosing potential problems with recovery of information in the data protection system, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. The recovery diagnosis routine 5900 begins at block 5901 and at decision block 5903 a determination is made as to whether a recovery job is currently running. If it is determined at decision block 5903 that a recovery job is currently running, at decision block 5905 the recovery diagnosis routine 5900 determines if any warnings have been generated from tasks associated with the running recovery job. If it is determined at decision block 5905 that no warnings have been generated by the task associated with the running recovery job, an informational report is generated informing a user that no recovery-related problems for the data protection system exist. If it is determined at decision block 5905 that warnings have been generated from a task associated with the currently running job, at block 5909 a warning report is generated informing the user that a currently running recovery job has generated one or more warnings and informs the user of those warnings and provides suggested approaches to resolving those warnings, if any resolution is necessary. For example, a currently running job may generate a warning indicating that it was unable to restore a file because it is currently open. If it is determined at decision block 5903 that no recovery job is currently running, at decision block 5911 a determination is made as to whether a recent recovery job (e.g., a recovery job that was executed within the last seventy-two hours) failed to complete. If it is determined at decision block 5911 that no recent recovery jobs failed to complete, i.e., all completed successfully or there was no recovery job performed, at block 5913 a report is generated informing the user that there are no problems associated with the recovery portion of the data protection system. If it is determined at decision block 5911 that the recently run recovery job did fail, at block 5915 a reason for the failure of that job is obtained from the task trails associated with that job. As described above, task trails for tasks associated with a particular job contain information about the task itself including why a task failed if the task did fail. At decision block 5917, utilizing the reason for the failure obtained in block 5915, a determination is made as to whether the failure of the recovery job was a result of the data protection system being unable to contact the production location to where the data was to be recovered. If it is determined at decision block 5917 that the reason for the recovery job failure was that the data protection system was unable to contact the production location, at block 5919 an error report is generated informing the user of the reason for the last recovery job failure and suggesting that the user check the network connections at the production location and check the agent on the production location to ensure that the agent is operating properly. As described above with respect to the copy diagnosis routine (FIGS. 54-56), being unable to contact a location, such as the production location, may be a result of several external events such as a network outage, a power problem, or the production location being taken offline for maintenance or other operations. If it is determined at decision block 5917 that the reason for the recovery job failure is not a result of the data protection system being unable to contact the production location, at decision block 5921 it is determined whether the reason for the recovery job failure was a result of the target on a production location not being available. A target on a production location may be the physical portion of the production location to which the recovered data is to be recorded. If it is determined at decision block 5921 that the target was not available, an error report is generated, as illustrated at block 5923, informing the user of the reason for the recovery job failure and suggesting that the user check the physical location on the production server for potential problems. If it is determined at decision block 5921 that the recovery job failure was not a result of the target on the production location being unavailable, at decision block 5925 it is determined whether the reason for the recovery job failure was that a task of the recovery job was unable to read data from the storage location. If it is determined that a task of the recovery job was unable to read data from the storage location, at block 5927 an error report is generated informing the user of the reason for the recovery job failure and providing a suggestion that the user check the disk and/or media at the storage location. If it is determined at decision block 5925 that the reason for the recovery job failure was not a result of a task being unable to read from the storage location, at decision block 5929 a determination is made as to whether the disk at the production location to where the recovery data is to be recovered is currently full. If it is determined at decision block 5929 that the disk is full, at block 5931 an error report is generated informing the user that the disk at the recovery location does not have sufficient room for recovering the requested data and suggesting that the user recover the data to an alternate location or increase the disk space at the production location. Finally, if it is determined at decision block 5929 that the reason for the recovery job failure was not a result of the disk at the production location being full, a report is generated informing the user that an unknown error has occurred in the previous recovery job and suggesting that the user rerun the recovery job. While the preferred embodiment of the invention has been illustrated and described, it will be appreciated that various changes can be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. | <SOH> BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION <EOH>Generally described, large scale computer systems often contain several computing devices and large amounts of data. In such a system, computing devices are often added and removed. Likewise, existing computing devices are often changed through the addition of shares, Exchange Storage Groups, databases, volumes, and other changes to data stored on the computing devices. For organizations utilizing such a computer system, there is generally a need to protect the data stored on the system, often by creating a backup of the data. However, individuals responsible for protecting the system are often not informed of additions and/or changes to the system and therefore are unaware of new resources that need protection. For example, if a new computing device, such as a server, is added to the system and the individual responsible for protecting the system is not informed of the addition, data on the new computing device, and the new computing device, may remain unprotected. This problem increases for systems that allow individuals to operate within the system at a logical level rather than at a physical level. While individuals operate at the logical level, protection is typically determined at the physical level. In such an environment, problems may occur when operations at the logical level require changes to the backup procedure. For example, if the logical path \\history\public\tools points to a share on server history 1 and it is decided to move \\history\public\tools to point to a different share on server history 2 , if the individual responsible for protection is not informed of the change, the old share may continue to be protected while the new share remains unprotected. The problem increases still further when a single logical path may represent a set of physical alternatives, which contain synchronized copies of the underlying data. For example, \\history\docs may point to identical shares on both history 1 and history 2 ; only one of the identical underlying folders should be protected by the system. Failure to protect material on a large system typically results because the individual responsible for protection must manually identify resources and the data that is to be protected and manually configure the protection. As the system changes, unless they become aware of the change, data and resources may go unprotected. Additionally, for archiving backups of data to physical media, the individual must manually determine what media is to be used for protection and when/how to rotate the media. For large systems, manually identifying changes, configuring protection, and maintaining archives is complex and changes are difficult. Such manual identification, configuration and modification of protection often results in omission of data and resources that need protection and problems with the protection itself. When problems do arise, typically the individual must be able to determine the problem at a detailed level and have knowledge as to how to resolve the problem, without being provided information from the protection system itself. Thus, there is a need for a system, method, and apparatus for automating the protection of a computer system, identifying when changes to the system occur, providing guidance to a user when problems arise with protection, and allowing individuals to create protection by working in a logical namespace. | <SOH> SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION <EOH>A method for transmitting records of changes to data from a production location to a storage location is provided. The method stores in a log, records of changes to data stored at a production location. Those records are transmitted and a transmitted records checkpoint is generated that is transmitted at the end of the transmitted records. A records checkpoint confirmation is received and the plurality of transmitted records are purged from the log. In accordance with an aspect of the present invention, a method for receiving and applying changes to a replica is provided. A plurality of records is received and at least a portion of those records is applied to the replica. Subsequent to applying at least a portion of the plurality of received records to the replica, an applied checkpoint is generated and transmitted. In response, an applied checkpoint confirmation is received and the applied records are purged. In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, in a data protection system having a production location, a storage location, and a data protector, a method for restarting a transmission and application of changed data between the production location and the storage location is provided. The method determines a first log point from which the storage location last applied a record and transmits the determined first log point with a command to restart application of records from that point. A second log point is also determined. The second log point identifies a point from which the production location last transmitted a record that was received by the storage location and identifies a point where the next record will be stored by the storage location. The second log point is then transmitted with a command to restart transmission of records from the determined second log point. In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, in a data protection system having a production location, a storage location, and a data protector, a method for restarting a validation of a data process between data stored on a production location and data stored on a storage location is provided. A command to restart application of records at the storage location, and a command to restart transmission of records from the production location are transmitted. A marker is generated and transmitted to the production location. The marker is subsequently received from the storage location and a command to restart validation is transmitted. In accordance with yet another aspect of the present invention, a system for transferring data from a production location to a storage location is provided. The system includes a data protector configured to monitor and control a transfer of data from the production location to the storage location. Also included in the system is a first log configured to maintain a plurality of records of changes made to data at the production location, wherein the records are transmitted at a predetermined time from the production location to the storage location. A first checkpoint generation device located at the production location is also part of the system. The first checkpoint generation device generates a first checkpoint that is included with the transmitted records. Additionally, a second log configured to maintain a plurality of records received from the production location is also included. Finally, the system includes a second checkpoint generation device located at the storage location, wherein the second checkpoint generation device generates a second checkpoint that is forwarded to the data protector. | 20040909 | 20120327 | 20060309 | 58119.0 | G06F1730 | 0 | WILSON, KIMBERLY LOVEL | METHOD, SYSTEM, AND APPARATUS FOR PROVIDING RESILIENT DATA TRANSFER IN A DATA PROTECTION SYSTEM | UNDISCOUNTED | 0 | ACCEPTED | G06F | 2,004 |
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10,937,304 | ACCEPTED | Shredder with proximity sensing system | The present invention relates to a shredder that includes a proximity sensing system to sense the presence of a person, animal, or object near cutting elements of the shredder. | 1. A shredder comprising: a housing; a shredder mechanism received in the housing and including an electrically powered motor and cutter elements, the shredder mechanism enabling articles to be shredded to be fed into the cutter elements and the motor being operable to drive the cutter elements so that the cutter elements shred the articles fed therein; the housing having an opening enabling articles to be fed therethrough into the cutter elements of the shredder mechanism for shredding; a proximity sensor at least in part located adjacent the opening and configured to indicate the presence of a person or animal in proximity to the opening; and a controller operable to perform a predetermined operation responsive to the indicated presence of the person or animal. 2. A shredder according to claim 1, wherein the predetermined operation is disabling the shredder mechanism responsive to the indicated presence of the person or animal. 3. A shredder according to claim 1, wherein the predetermined operation is illuminating an indicator responsive to the indicated presence of the person or animal. 4. A shredder according to claim 1, wherein the controller comprises a microcontroller. 5. A shredder according to claim 1, wherein the proximity sensor is a capacitive sensor. 6. A shredder according to claim 5, wherein: the proximity sensor includes an electroconductive element located adjacent the opening and circuitry to sense a state of the electroconductive element, the proximity sensor being configured to indicate a change in the state of the electroconductive element corresponding to a change in capacitance caused by a person or animal approaching in proximity to the electroconductive element, and the controller is operable to perform the predetermined operation responsive to the indicated change in the state of the electroconductive element. 7. A shredder according to claim 6, wherein the electroconductive element is a thin metal member extending along a portion of the housing adjacent the opening. 8. A shredder according to claim 7, wherein the metal member is provided on an interior surface of the housing. 9. A shredder according to claim 8, wherein the metal member is provided only on an interior surface of the housing, and not on an exterior surface. 10. A shredder according to claim 8, wherein the metal member is also provided on an exterior surface of the housing. 11. A shredder according to claim 10, wherein the portion of the housing on which the metal member is provided has an edge that defines part of the opening, and wherein the metal member extends from the interior surface of the housing to the exterior surface over the edge. 12. A shredder according to claim 7, wherein the shredder mechanism is embedded within the housing. 13. A shredder according to claim 7, wherein the metal member is at least in part adhered to the portion of the housing adjacent the opening. 14. A shredder according to claim 13, wherein the metal member comprises metal tape. 15. A shredder according to claim 7, wherein the metal member is at least in part covered by a non-conductive member. 16. A shredder according to claim 15, wherein the non-conductive member is at least in part covered by a conductive member. 17. A shredder according to claim 6, wherein the electroconductive element at least in part comprises metal paint applied to a portion of the housing or to a member associated with the housing. 18. A shredder according to claim 6, wherein the electroconductive element includes at least two metal members each extending along a portion of the housing adjacent the opening. 19. A shredder according to claim 1, wherein the controller at least in part comprises a microprocessor. 20. A shredder according to claim 1, wherein the controller at least in part comprises discrete circuit components. 21. A shredder according to claim 1, wherein the controller at least in part comprises an analog circuit. | FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to shredders for destroying articles, such as documents, CDs, etc. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Shredders are well known devices for destroying articles, such as documents, CDs, floppy disks, etc. Typically, users purchase shredders to destroy sensitive articles, such as credit card statements with account information, documents containing company trade secrets, etc. A common type of shredder has a shredder mechanism contained within a housing that is removably mounted atop a container. The shredder mechanism typically has a series of cutter elements that shred articles fed therein and discharge the shredded articles downwardly into the container. It is generally desirable to prevent a person's or animal's body part from contacting these cutter elements during the shredding operation. The present invention endeavors to provide various improvements over known shredders. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION One aspect of the present invention provides a shredder comprising a housing, a shredder mechanism including a motor and cutter elements, a proximity sensor, and a controller. The shredder mechanism enables articles to be shredded to be fed into the cutter elements, and the motor is operable to drive the cutter elements so that the cutter elements shred the articles fed therein. The housing has an opening enabling articles to be fed therethrough into the cutter elements of the shredder mechanism for shredding. The proximity sensor is located adjacent the opening and configured to indicate the presence of a person or animal in proximity to the opening. The controller is operable to perform a predetermined operation (e.g., to disable the shredder mechanism) responsive to the indicated presence of the person or animal. Another aspect of the invention provides a shredder with a proximity sensor that includes an electroconductive element and circuitry to sense a state of the electroconductive element. The proximity sensor is configured to indicate a change in the state of the electroconductive element corresponding to a change in capacitance caused by a person or animal approaching in proximity to the electroconductive element. A controller of the shredder is operable to perform a predetermined operation responsive to the indicated change in the state of the electroconductive element. Other objects, features, and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description, the accompanying drawings, and the appended claims. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a shredder constructed in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of the shredder of FIG. 1; FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a shredder constructed in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention; FIGS. 4-7 are cross-sectional views each showing a shredder housing, opening, cutting elements, and conductor configuration for a sensor in accordance with various embodiments of the present invention; and FIGS. 8 and 9 illustrate example capacitive sensor circuits according to respective embodiments of the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE ILLUSTRATED EMBODIMENTS FIGS. 1 and 2 illustrate a shredder constructed in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. The shredder is generally indicated at 10. The shredder 10 sits atop a waste container, generally indicated at 12, which is formed of molded plastic or any other material. The shredder 10 illustrated is designed specifically for use with the container 12, as the shredder housing 14 sits on the upper periphery of the waste container 12 in a nested relation. However, the shredder 10 may also be designed so as to sit atop a wide variety of standard waste containers, and the shredder 10 would not be sold with the container. Likewise, the shredder 10 could be part of a large freestanding housing, and a waste container would be enclosed in the housing. An access door would provide for access to and removal of the container. Generally speaking, the shredder 10 may have any suitable construction or configuration and the illustrated embodiment is not intended to be limiting in any way. The shredder 10 includes a shredder mechanism 16 including an electrically powered motor 18 and a plurality of cutter elements (not shown). “Shredder mechanism” is a generic structural term to denote a device that shreds articles using cutter elements. Such shredding may be done in any particular way. The cutter elements are mounted on a pair of parallel rotating shafts (not shown). The motor 18 operates using electrical power to rotatably drive the shafts and the cutter elements through a conventional transmission 23 so that the cutter elements shred articles fed therein. The shredder mechanism 16 may also include a sub-frame 21 for mounting the shafts, the motor 18, and the transmission 23. The operation and construction of such a shredder mechanism 16 are well known and need not be described herein in detail. Generally, any suitable shredder mechanism 16 known in the art or developed hereafter may be used. The shredder 10 also includes the shredder housing 14, mentioned above. The shredder housing 14 includes top wall 24 that sits atop the container 12. The top wall 14 is molded from plastic and an opening 26 is located at a front portion thereof. The opening 26 is formed in part by a downwardly depending generally U-shaped member 28. The U-shaped member 28 has a pair of spaced apart connector portions 27 on opposing sides thereof and a hand grip portion 28 extending between the connector portions 27 in spaced apart relation from the housing 14. The opening 26 allows waste to be discarded into the container 12 without being passed through the shredder mechanism 16, and the member 28 may act as a handle for carrying the shredder 10 separate from the container 12. As an optional feature, this opening 26 may be provided with a lid, such as a pivoting lid, that opens and closes the opening 26. However, this opening in general is optional and may be omitted entirely. Moreover, the shredder housing 14 and its top wall 24 may have any suitable construction or configuration. The shredder housing 14 also includes a bottom receptacle 30 having a bottom wall, four side walls and an open top. The shredder mechanism 16 is received therein, and the receptacle 30 is affixed to the underside of the top wall 24 by fasteners. The receptacle 30 has an opening 32 in its bottom wall through which the shredder mechanism 16 discharges shredded articles into the container 12. The top wall 24 has a generally laterally extending opening 36 extending generally parallel and above the cutter elements. The opening 36, often referred to as a throat, enables the articles being shredded to be fed into the cutter elements. As can be appreciated, the opening 36 is relatively narrow, which is desirable for preventing overly thick items, such as large stacks of documents, from being fed into cutter elements, which could lead to jamming. The opening 36 may have any configuration. The top wall 24 also has a switch recess 38 with an opening therethrough. An on/off switch 42 includes a switch module (not shown) mounted to the top wall 24 underneath the recess 38 by fasteners, and a manually engageable portion 46 that moves laterally within the recess 38. The switch module has a movable element (not shown) that connects to the manually engageable portion 46 through the opening 40. This enables movement of the manually engageable portion 46 to move the switch module between its states. In the illustrated embodiment, the switch module connects the motor 18 to the power supply (not shown). Typically, the power supply will be a standard power cord 44 with a plug 48 on its end that plugs into a standard AC outlet. The switch 42 is movable between an on position and an off position by moving the portion 46 laterally within the recess 38. In the on position, contacts in the switch module are closed by movement of the manually engageable portion 46 and the movable element to enable a delivery of electrical power to the motor 18. In the off position, contacts in the switch module are opened to disable the delivery of electric power to the motor 18. As an option, the switch 42 may also have a reverse position wherein contacts are closed to enable delivery of electrical power to operate the motor 18 in a reverse manner. This would be done by using a reversible motor and applying a current that is of a reverse polarity relative to the on position. The capability to operate the motor 18 in a reversing manner is desirable to move the cutter elements in a reversing direction for clearing jams. In the illustrated embodiment, in the off position the manually engageable portion 46 and the movable element would be located generally in the center of the recess 38, and the on and reverse positions would be on opposing lateral sides of the off position. Generally, the construction and operation of the switch 42 for controlling the motor 42 are well known and any construction for such a switch 42 may be used. The top cover 24 also includes another recess 50 associated with a switch lock 52. The switch lock 52 includes a manually engageable portion 54 that is movable by a user's hand and a locking portion (not shown). The manually engageable portion 54 is seated in the recess 50 and the locking portion is located beneath the top wall 24. The locking portion is integrally formed as a plastic piece with the manually engageable portion 54 and extends beneath the top wall 24 via an opening formed in the recess 50. The switch lock 52 causes the switch 42 to move from either its on position or reverse position to its off position by a camming action as the switch lock 52 is moved from a releasing position to a locking position. In the releasing position, the locking portion is disengaged from the movable element of the switch 42, thus enabling the switch 42 to be moved between its on, off, and reverse positions. In the locking position, the movable element of the switch 42 is restrained in its off position against movement to either its on or reverse position by the locking portion of the switch lock 52. Preferably, but not necessarily, the manually engageable portion 54 of the switch lock 52 has an upwardly extending projection 56 for facilitating movement of the switch lock 52 between the locking and releasing positions. One advantage of the switch lock 52 is that, by holding the switch 42 in the off position, to activate the shredder mechanism 16 the switch lock 52 must first be moved to its releasing position, and then the switch 42 is moved to its on or reverse position. This reduces the likelihood of the shredder mechanism 16 being activated unintentionally. In the illustrated embodiment, the shredder housing 14 is designed specifically for use with the container 12 and it is intended to sell them together. The upper peripheral edge 60 of the container 12 defines an upwardly facing opening 62, and provides a seat 61 on which the shredder 10 is removably mounted. The seat 61 includes a pair of pivot guides 64 provided on opposing lateral sides thereof. The pivot guides 64 include upwardly facing recesses 66 that are defined by walls extending laterally outwardly from the upper edge 60 of the container 12. The walls defining the recesses 66 are molded integrally from plastic with the container 12, but may be provided as separate structures and formed from any other material. At the bottom of each recess 66 is provided a step down or ledge providing a generally vertical engagement surface 68. This step down or ledge is created by two sections of the recesses 66 being provided with different radii. The shredder 10 has a proximity sensor to detect the presence of a person or thing (e.g., animal or inanimate object) in proximity to the opening 36. A person or thing is “in proximity” to the opening 36 when a part thereof is outside and adjacent to the opening 36 or at least partially within the opening 36. The proximity sensor may be implemented in various ways, such as is described in further detail below. For further examples of shredders on which a proximity sensor may be used, reference may be made to U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/828,254 (filed Apr. 21, 2004), Ser. No. 10/815,761 (filed Apr. 2, 2004), and Ser. No. 10/347,700 (filed Jan. 22, 2003), each of which is hereby incorporated into the present application by reference. Generally, the proximity sensor may be used with any type of shredder, and the examples identified herein are not intended to be limiting. FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a shredder 100 constructed in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. The shredder 100 incorporates a capacitive sensor. The illustrated capacitive sensor is a switch that detects the presence of a person or thing without requiring physical contact. The capacitive sensor includes a conductor/contact plate 112 connected to a circuit, such as those shown in FIGS. 8 and 9. The conductor 112 serves as the first plate of a capacitor, while the person or thing to be detected serves as the second plate thereof. As the distance between the conductor 112 and the person or thing decreases, the mutual capacitance therebetween increases. This increase in capacitance results in increased signal levels in the sensor, which levels can be used to detect the proximity of the person or thing. It is to be appreciated that capacitance depends in part on the dielectric constant of the second plate of a capacitor. A higher dielectric constant translates into a larger capacitance. Therefore, the capacitive sensor of the shredder 100 can detect the proximity of a nearby animate or inanimate entity provided that its respective dielectric constant is sufficiently high. Because human beings and various animals have relatively high dielectric constants, they are detectable by the capacitive sensor. Inanimate objects with relatively high dielectric constants also are detectable. Conversely, objects with low or moderate dielectric constants, such as paper, are not detectable. The shredder 100 includes a shredder housing 104, an opening 108, and a control switch 128 with on, off, and reverse positions. A shredder mechanism, such as the one described above, is located beneath the opening 108 so that documents can be fed into the shredder mechanism through the opening 108. The conductor 112 can be, for example, a strip of metal, foil tape (e.g., copper tape), conductive paint, a silk-screened conductive ink pattern, or another suitable conductive material. As shown in FIG. 3, the conductor 112 is a 9-inch by 1-inch capacitive sensing strip that is affixed to the housing 104 near the opening 108. As such, when a person or thing nears the opening 108 and thus the cutter elements of the shredding mechanism of the shredder 100, the capacitance between the conductor 112 and the person or thing increases, resulting in an increase in the signal level used for detection, as will be described below. To ensure that the switch is sensitive enough to detect the person or thing through multiple sheets of paper, the conductor 112 extends into the opening 108 to increase the overall surface area of the conductor 112 and thus the amount of capacitance between the conductor 112 and the nearby person or thing. The conductor 112 optionally can be covered by non-conductive plastic, for example, thus concealing the switch from a user of the shredder 100. In addition, to increase sensitivity of the switch, such non-conductive plastic can be covered with a conductive material, such as metal foil. Though not illustrated in FIG. 3, the shredder 100 can include a sensor light, an error light, and/or a light indicative of normal operation. The sensor light, which can be an LED, is illuminated when a person or thing is detected. The error light, which also can be an LED, is illuminated when a person or thing is detected, and optionally under other conditions (e.g., the shredder container is not properly engaged with the shredder 100, or the shredder mechanism has become jammed). These lights, however, are not necessary, and are only optional features. FIGS. 4-7 are cross-sectional views each showing a shredder housing 104, opening 108, cutting elements 132, and a conductor configuration for a sensor in accordance with various embodiments of the present invention. The conductor configurations can include conductor(s) of different areas to tailor the amount of capacitance and thus the signal level produced when a person or thing nears the shredder. Where multiple conductors are employed, the distance therebetween may be designed also to tailor the amount of capacitive coupling and thus the capacitance produced. In FIG. 4, the conductor 136 comprises a conductive material embedded within the upper wall of the housing 104 beneath the upper surface partially into the opening 108. The conductor 136 also is optionally embedded in the wall defining the opening 108 and extends along it for a portion. In FIG. 5, the conductive material of the conductor 140 covers an upper surface portion of the housing 104, extends substantially into the opening 108, and curves around a flange of the housing 104 so as to cover an inside surface portion of the housing 104. For a conductor 140 that has a noticeable amount of thickness, the top portion of the upper surface where the conductor 140 is mounted may be recessed. The conductor 144 of FIG. 6 includes two conductive portions respectively affixed to outside and inside surface portions of the housing 104. Such use of multiple portions increases the surface area of the capacitor, as well as the capacitive coupling, capacitance, and signal level produced when a person or thing nears the conductive portions. The conductor 148 of FIG. 7 comprises a conductive material on an inside surface portion of the housing 104. This is desirable for concealing the conductor 148 without adding the manufacturing step of embedding the conductor in a housing wall, such as is shown in FIG. 4. It is to be appreciated that the conductors of FIGS. 4-7 may be of any suitable configuration, and the examples illustrated are in no way intended to be limiting. A conductor or conductive material such as described above in connection with FIGS. 3-7 is typically connected to circuitry on a circuit board. FIGS. 8 and 9 illustrate example capacitive sensor circuits according to respective embodiments of the present invention. The example circuits may be incorporated into the overall circuit design of a shredder, and are in no way intended to be limiting. In FIG. 8, the capacitive sensor circuit 260 includes a conductor 300 that can have a configuration such as shown above or another suitable configuration. The conductor 300 is connected to a pad P8, which is in turn connected to circuit loops including capacitors C8 and C9, resistors R31, R32, and R36, and a high-speed double diode D8. The loops are connected to a voltage supply Vcc, circuit ground, and a resistor R33. The voltage supply Vcc is connected to the AC line voltage of the shredder, and a negative regulator can generate −5 volts for the circuit ground. The capacitive sensor output 320 may be in turn coupled as an input to a controller 330, such as a microprocessor or discrete circuit components (e.g., comparators, transistors), which takes appropriate action in response to signal levels at the output 320. Such a controller 330 may also be a relay switch that opens to disable the delivery of power to an element (e.g., the motor of the shredder mechanism) and closes to enable the delivery of power. It is to be appreciated that “controller” is a generic structural term that denotes structure(s) that control one or more modules, devices, and/or circuit components. The principles of operation of the circuit 260 will be readily understood by those conversant with the art. When a person or thing moves close to the conductor 300, the increased capacitance therebetween causes the amplitude of the sinusoidal waveform at the output 320 to increase by a voltage sufficient to indicate the presence of the person or thing. Based on the increased signal level, the controller 330 can, for example, disable the cutting elements of the shredder, illuminate a sensor or error light, and/or activate an audible alert. FIG. 9 illustrates a capacitive sensor circuit 360, as well as control and illumination circuitry 365. The capacitive sensor circuit 360 includes a conductor 400 that can have a configuration such as shown above or another suitable configuration. The conductor 400 is connected to a pad PI, which is in turn connected to series resistors R19 and R20. The resistor R19 is connected to circuit loops including a capacitor C4, a resistor R16, and a high-speed double diode D1. The loops are connected to a voltage supply Vcc, circuit ground, and a resistor R17. The voltage supply Vcc is connected to the AC line voltage of the shredder, and a negative regulator can generate −5 volts for the circuit ground. The capacitive sensor output 420 is coupled as an input to a controller 430, which can be, for example, a simple analog circuit or an ATtiny11 8-bit microcontroller offered by Atmel Corporation (San Jose, Calif.). The principles of operation of the circuitry of FIG. 9 will be readily understood by those conversant with the art. When a person or thing moves close to the conductor 400, the increased capacitance therebetween causes the amplitude of the sinusoidal waveform at the output 420 to increase by a voltage sufficient to indicate the presence of the person or thing. Based on the increased signal level, the controller 430 sends appropriate control signals. For example, the controller 430 sends a control signal 490 to cut off power (such as supplied by a triac) to the motor that drives the cutting elements of the shredder, and a control signal 435 to illuminate a sensor LED 450 or error LED 440 coupled to comparators 460. Embodiments of the present invention may be incorporated, for instance, in a shredder such as the PS80C-2 shredder of Fellowes, Inc. (Itasca, Ill.). If desired, existing shredder designs may be adapted, without major modification of existing modules, to incorporate proximity sensing circuitry. In another embodiment of the invention, a shredder can provide two or more sensitivity settings for proximity sensing. The settings can be selectably enabled by a user and tailored to detect, e.g., infants or pets. In an example embodiment employing a capacitive sensor, objects are distinguished based on load times. A smaller capacitive load results in a shorter load time than a large capacitance. Thus, by measuring (e.g., with a microprocessor) differences in load times resulting from capacitive loads near a sensor, various objects can be distinguished. Although various illustrated embodiments herein employ capacitive sensors, it is to be noted that other approaches may be employed to detect the presence of a person or thing near a shredder, such as, for example, approaches utilizing eddy current, inductive, photoelectric, ultrasonic, Hall effect, or infrared proximity sensor technologies. The foregoing illustrated embodiments have been provided to illustrate the structural and functional principles of the present invention and are not intended to be limiting. To the contrary, the present invention is intended to encompass all modifications, alterations and substitutions within the spirit and scope of the appended claims. | <SOH> BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION <EOH>Shredders are well known devices for destroying articles, such as documents, CDs, floppy disks, etc. Typically, users purchase shredders to destroy sensitive articles, such as credit card statements with account information, documents containing company trade secrets, etc. A common type of shredder has a shredder mechanism contained within a housing that is removably mounted atop a container. The shredder mechanism typically has a series of cutter elements that shred articles fed therein and discharge the shredded articles downwardly into the container. It is generally desirable to prevent a person's or animal's body part from contacting these cutter elements during the shredding operation. The present invention endeavors to provide various improvements over known shredders. | <SOH> SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION <EOH>One aspect of the present invention provides a shredder comprising a housing, a shredder mechanism including a motor and cutter elements, a proximity sensor, and a controller. The shredder mechanism enables articles to be shredded to be fed into the cutter elements, and the motor is operable to drive the cutter elements so that the cutter elements shred the articles fed therein. The housing has an opening enabling articles to be fed therethrough into the cutter elements of the shredder mechanism for shredding. The proximity sensor is located adjacent the opening and configured to indicate the presence of a person or animal in proximity to the opening. The controller is operable to perform a predetermined operation (e.g., to disable the shredder mechanism) responsive to the indicated presence of the person or animal. Another aspect of the invention provides a shredder with a proximity sensor that includes an electroconductive element and circuitry to sense a state of the electroconductive element. The proximity sensor is configured to indicate a change in the state of the electroconductive element corresponding to a change in capacitance caused by a person or animal approaching in proximity to the electroconductive element. A controller of the shredder is operable to perform a predetermined operation responsive to the indicated change in the state of the electroconductive element. Other objects, features, and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description, the accompanying drawings, and the appended claims. | 20040910 | 20071225 | 20060316 | 94120.0 | B02C2500 | 2 | MILLER, BENA B | SHREDDER WITH PROXIMITY SENSING SYSTEM | UNDISCOUNTED | 0 | ACCEPTED | B02C | 2,004 |
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10,937,612 | ACCEPTED | Administration of 6-[3-(1-adamantyl)-4-methoxyphenyl]-2-naphthoic acid for the treatment of dermatological disorders | Dermatological disorders having an inflammatory or proliferative component are treated with pharmaceutical compositions containing on the order of 0.3% by weight of 6-[3-(1-adamantyl)-4-methoxyphenyl]-2-naphthanoic acid (adapalene) or salt thereof, formulated into pharmaceutically acceptable media therefore, advantageously topically applicable gels, creams or lotions. | 1. A regime or regimen for treating a dermatological disorder having an inflammatory or proliferative component and afflicting the non-photo-damaging skin of an individual in need of such treatment, comprising administering to such individual a thus effective amount of a pharmaceutical composition which comprises on the order of 0.3% by weight of 6-[3-(1-adamantyl)-4-methoxyphenyl]-2-naphthanoic acid (adapalene) or salt thereof, formulated into a pharmaceutically acceptable medium therefor. 2. The regime or regimen as defined by claim 1, comprising treating such an individual afflicted with common acne. 3. The regime or regimen as defined by claim 1, comprising treating such an individual afflicted with comedones. 4. The regime or regimen as defined by claim 1, comprising treating such an individual afflicted with polymorphous acne 5. The regime or regimen as defined by claim 1, comprising treating such an individual afflicted with nodulocystic acne. 6. The regime or regimen as defined by claim 1, comprising treating such an individual afflicted with acne conglobata. 7. The regime or regimen as defined by claim 1, comprising treating such an individual afflicted with secondary acne. 8. The regime or regimen as defined by claim 1, comprising treating such an individual afflicted with psoriasis. 9. The regime or regimen as defined by claim 1, comprising treating such an individual afflicted with ichtyoses. 10. The regime or regimen as defined by claim 1, comprising treating such an individual afflicted with an ichtyosiform state. 11. The regime or regimen as defined by claim 1, comprising treating such an individual afflicted with Darier's disease. 12. The regime or regimen as defined by claim 1, comprising treating such an individual afflicted with palmo plantar keratoderma. 13. The regime or regimen as defined by claim 1, comprising treating such an individual afflicted with keratosis pilaris. 14. The regime or regimen as defined by claim 1, comprising treating such an individual afflicted with post inflammatory pigmentation. 15. The regime or regimen as defined by claim 1, comprising treating such an individual afflicted with leucoplasias. 16. The regime or regimen as defined by claim 1, comprising treating such an individual afflicted with a leucoplasiform state. 17. The regime or regimen as defined by claim 1, comprising treating such an individual afflicted with lichen planus. 18. The regime or regimen as defined by claim 1, comprising treating such an individual afflicted with actinic keratoses. 19. The regime or regimen as defined by claim 1, comprising topically applying said pharmaceutical composition onto the afflicted skin of said individual. 20. The regime or regimen as defined by claim 1, comprising administering said pharmaceutical composition enterally, parenterally or occularly. 21. The regime or regimen as defined by claim 1, said pharmaceutical composition comprising a topically applicable gel, cream or lotion. 22. A pharmaceutical composition comprising an amount of 6-[3-(1-adamantyl)-4-methoxyphenyl]-2-naphthanoic acid on the order of 0.3% by weight thereof and effective for the treatment of dermatological disorders having an inflammatory or proliferative component, formulated into a pharmaceutically acceptable medium therefor. 23. The pharmaceutical composition as defined by claim 22, comprising a topically applicable gel, cream or lotion. 24. The pharmaceutical composition as defined by claim 22, comprising a tablet, capsule, dragée, syrup, suspension, solution, powder, granule, emulsion, ointment, milk, pomade, impregnated pad, spray, patch, hydrogel, or microspheres or nanospheres of lipid or polymeric vesicles. 25. The pharmaceutical composition as defined by claim 22, formulated for infusion. 26. The pharmaceutical composition as defined by claim 22, formulated for injection. 27. The pharmaceutical composition as defined by claim 22, comprising a gel of: Adapalene, Carbomer 940, Disodium edentate, Methylparaben, Poloxamer 124, Propylene glycol, Sodium hydroxide, and Purified water. 28. The pharmaceutical composition as defined by claim 22, comprising a gel of: Adapalene 3 mg Carbomer 940 11 mg Disodium edetate 1 mg Methyl paraben 2 mg Poloxamer 124 2 mg Propylene glycol 40 mg Sodium hydroxide: amount required to obtain a pH 5.0 +/− 0.3 and Purified water q.s. 1 g. | CROSS-REFERENCE TO PRIORITY/PCT/PROVISIONAL APPLICATIONS This application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. § 119 of FR-02/03070, filed Mar. 12, 2002, and of provisional application Ser. No. 60/370,223, filed Apr. 8, 2002, and is a continuation of PCT/EP 03/03246 filed Mar. 12, 2003 and designating the United States (published in English on Sep. 18, 2003 as WO 03/075908 A1), each hereby expressly incorporated by reference and each assigned to the assignee hereof. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Technical Field of the Invention The present invention relates to the administration to individuals in need of such treatment of 6-[3-(1-adamantyl)-4-methoxyphenyl]-2-naphthanoic acid, the chemical structure of which is as follows: in pharmaceutical compositions, in particular dermatological compositions, for the treatment of dermatological ailments/afflictions having an inflammatory or proliferative component. 2. Description of Background and/or Related and/or Prior Art 6-[3-(1-Adamantyl)-4-methoxyphenyl]-2-naphthanoic acid (hereinafter referred to as adapalene) is a retinoid derived from naphthoic acid, having anti-inflammatory properties. This molecule has been the subject of development for the topical treatment of common acne and dermatoses sensitive to retinoids. Adapalene is described in EP-0,199,636, and a process for synthesizing same is described in EP-0,358,574, both assigned to the assignee hereof. The assignee hereof markets adapalene formulated at a weight concentration of 0.1% in the form of an alcoholic lotion, an aqueous gel and a cream. These compositions are suited for the treatment of acne. Finally, adapalene is described as having a beneficial action on photo-damaged skin (Photographic assessment of the effects of adapalene 0.1% and 0.3% gels and vehicle on photo-damaged skin. M. Goldfarb et al., Clinical Dermatology, Vienna, Austria, May 2000). SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Novel pharmaceutical compositions have now been developed containing adapalene at a weight concentration of 0.3% formulated into pharmaceutically acceptable media therefor, useful for the treatment (regime or regimen) of dermatological ailments, conditions or afflictions having an inflammatory or proliferative component. Specifically, it has now surprisingly been shown that, in addition to exhibiting better therapeutic efficacy compared to known compositions, the compositions according to the invention exhibits good tolerance, comparable to those of the known compositions with a lower concentration of active principle. The results regarding tolerance observed in trials relating to photo-damaged skin (indication “photodamage”), obtained on individuals on average 65 years old, could not be exploited in the context of the present invention. Specifically, as regards use of adapalene on young individuals (in particular regarding acne with populations of teenagers or young adults), the skin exhibits very different physiopathological characteristics (presence of many lesions, in particular inflammatory lesions, modifying skin permeability, hypercornification of the follicular channel, immuno response, bacterial colonization of the skin (P. acnes), sebaceous hyperplasia with hyperseborrhea). DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF BEST MODE AND SPECIFIC/PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION Thus, the present invention features formulating 6-[3-(1-adamantyl)-4-methoxyphenyl]-2-naphthanoic acid (adapalene), or its salts, into pharmaceutical compositions useful for the treatment of dermatological ailments, conditions or afflictions having an inflammatory or proliferative component, such pharmaceutical compositions comprising 0.3% by weight of adapalene relative to the total weight of the composition. The term “adapalene salts” is intended to mean the salts formed with a pharmaceutically acceptable base, in particular organic bases such as sodium hydroxide, potassium hydroxide and aqueous ammonia, or organic bases such as lysine, arginine or N-methylglucamine. The term “adapalene salts” is also intended to mean the salts formed with fatty amines such as dioctylamine and stearylamine. The administration of the compositions according to the invention may be carried out enterally, parenterally, topically or occularly. The pharmaceutical compositions according to the invention are preferably administered topically. Enterally, the pharmaceutical composition may be in the form of tablets, gelatin capsules, dragées, syrups, suspensions, solutions, powders, granules, emulsions, or suspensions of microspheres or nanospheres or of lipid or polymeric vesicles for controlled release. Parenterally, the pharmaceutical composition may be in the form of solutions or suspensions for infusion or for injection. Topically, the pharmaceutical compositions according to the invention are more particularly suited for treatment of the skin and the mucous membranes, and may be in the form of ointments, creams, milks, pomades, powders, impregnated pads, solutions, gels, sprays, lotions or suspensions. They may also be in the form of suspensions of microspheres or nanospheres or of lipid or polymeric vesicles, or of polymeric patches and hydrogels for controlled release. These compositions for topical application may be in anhydrous form, in aqueous form or in the form of an emulsion. In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the pharmaceutical composition according to the invention is in the form of a gel, a cream or a lotion. In particular, the pharmaceutical composition may be an aqueous gel containing in particular one or more ingredients selected from among Carbomer 940 (BF Goodrich, Carbopol 980) and propylene glycol, or a cream containing in particular one or more ingredients selected from among perhydrosqualene, cyclomethicone, PEG-20 methyl glucose sequistearate and methyl glucose sequistearate, or a polyethylene glycol-based alcoholic lotion. The pharmaceutical compositions according to the invention may also contain inert additives or combinations of these additives, such as wetting agents; flavor enhancers; preservatives such as para-hydroxybenzoic acid esters; stabilizers; moisture regulators; pH regulators; osmotic pressure modifiers; emulsifiers; UV-A and UV-B screening agents; and antioxidants, such as α-tocopherol, butylhydroxyanisole or butylhydroxytoluene, superoxide dismutase, ubiquinol or certain metal chelating agents. Of course, those skilled in the art will take care to select the optional compound(s) to be added to these compositions in such a way that the advantageous properties intrinsically associated with the present invention are not, or are not substantially, adversely affected by the envisaged addition. The formulation of adapalene into pharmaceutical compositions according to the invention is especially intended for the treatment of dermatological ailments, conditions and afflictions having an inflammatory or proliferative component, selected from the group consisting of: common acne, comedones, polymorphous acne, nodulocystic acne, acne conglobata, secondary acne such as solar, drug-related or occupational acne; widespread and/or severe forms of psoriasis, ichtyoses and ichtyosiform states; Darier's disease; actinic keratoses; palmo plantar keratoderma and keratosis pilaris; leucoplasias and leucoplasiform states, lichen planus; any benign or malignant, severe and extensive dermatological preparations. The compositions according to the invention are particularly suitable for the treatment of acne, such as common acne, and in particular for the treatment of common acne of moderate to moderately severe intensity. Various formulations of compositions comprising 0.3% of adapalene will now be given, it being understood that same are intended only as illustrative and in nowise limitative. Also given are results showing the therapeutic effects of the compositions according to the invention and the good tolerance to same by the treated patients. In said examples to follow, all parts and percentages are given by weight, unless otherwise indicated. EXAMPLE 1 Formulation for Topical Administration In this example, various specific topical formulations comprising 0.3% of adapalene are illustrated. The adapalene of the present example is provided by Sylachim, Division Finorga (product reference CF9611996). (a) Cream: Adapalene 3 mg Carbomer 934 (BF Goodrich Carbopol 974) 4.5 mg Disodium edetate 1 mg PEG methyl glucose sesquistearate 35 mg Methyl glucose sesquistearate 35 mg Glycerol 30 mg Methyl paraben 2 mg Cyclomethicone 130 mg Perhydrosqualene 60 mg Phenoxyethanol 5 mg Propyl paraben 1 mg Sodium hydroxide quantity required for pH 6.5 +/− 0.3 Purified water q.s. 1 g (b) Lotion: Adapalene 3 mg PEG 400 700 mg Ethanol q.s. 1 g (c) Aqueous Gel: Adapalene 3 mg Carbomer 940 (BF Goodrich Carbapol 980) 11 mg Disodium edetate 1 mg Methyl paraben 2 mg Poloxamer 124 2 mg Propylene glycol 40 mg Sodium hydroxide: amount required to obtain a pH 5.0 +/− 0.3 Purified water q.s. 1 g EXAMPLE 2 Effectiveness of 0.3% Adapalene Gel and Comparison with the 0.1% Adapalene Gel Tests were carried out on a population consisting of patients suffering from acne. In this population, three groups were differentiated; the first received a daily topical application of the 0.3% adapalene gel, the second a daily topical application of the 0.1% adapalene gel in the same vehicle, and the third is a control group which receives a daily topical application of the gel corresponding to the composition of the first two gels but containing no active agent. FIGS. 1 to 3 provide the results obtained in terms of regression of the number of lesions according to their nature. These observations lead to the following conclusions: the 0.3% adapalene gel acts more rapidly than the 0.1% adapalene gel; specifically, from the fourth week of treatment, a difference is noted between the effectiveness of the 0.1% adapalene gel and the 0.3% adapalene gel; the 0.3% adapalene gel produces a clearly greater therapeutic effect after 8 weeks of treatment. EXAMPLE 3 Tolerance Regarding the 0.3% Adapalene Gel 1. Measurement of the Plasma Concentration of Adapalene: Eight individuals suffering from common acne of medium to moderately severe intensity are treated for 10 days with 2 g of 0.3% adapalene gel applied daily over 1000 cm2 of skin to be treated (face, chest and back). Blood samples are taken on the days 1, 2, 4, 6, 8 and 10. During day 10, and following the final application, samples are taken at 1, 2, 6, 8, 10, 12, 16 and 24 hours. The plasma concentration of total adapalene (free and conjugated) in these samples is determined using the following protocol: enzymatic hydrolysis with a mixture of β-glucurodinase and arylsulfatase; liquid-liquid extraction; passage through HPLC (high performance liquid chromatography); and then fluorometric detection. This method makes it possible to detect a minimum concentration of 0.15 ng/ml and permits quantification of the adapalene for a minimum concentration of 0.25 ng/ml. Conclusion: The plasma concentrations of adapalene measured after 10 days of treatment are very low and confirm the safety of daily use of the 0.3% adapalene gel. 2 a) Clinical Observation of the Side Effects Caused by Topical Administration of the 0.3% Adapalene Gel: Two types of observation could be made: firstly, monitoring of the patients treated within the framework of point 1 of the present example 3 made it possible to note that tolerance to the 0.3% adapalene gel was good for all patients. They all showed signs of dryness of the skin and of desquamation with a maximum on the seventh day of treatment, these symptoms then decrease up to the end of the treatment. 2 b) Furthermore, Reference May Also be Made to the Tests Described in Example 2 Above: In parallel to the measurements of effectiveness, the experimenters recorded the possible side effects caused, firstly, by topical application of the 0.3% adapalene gel and those caused, secondly, by application of the 0.1% adapalene gel; finally, the same observations were made on a control population to which a gel without active principle was administered. These observations are reported in the table below. Local undesirable 0.3% adapalene 0.1% adapalene Vehicle gel effects gel (N = 70) gel (N = 70) (N = 74) Skin and secondary 31 (44.3%) 28 (40.0%) 5 (6.8%) structures (nails, hair) Dry skin 16 (22.9%) 13 (18.6%) 2 (2.7%) Erythema 8 (11.4%) 3 (4.3%) 0 (0.0%) Skin discomfort 8 (11.4%) 7 (10.0%) 0 (0.0%) Desquamation 6 (8.6%) 5 (7.1%) 0 (0.0%) Dermatitis 3 (4.3%) 1 (1.4%) 0 (0.0%) Pruritos 3 (4.3%) 1 1.4%) 1 (1.4%) Irritant dermatitis 2 (2.9%) 7 (10.0%) 0 (0.0%) Local allergic reactions 1 (1.4%) 0 (0.0%) 0 (0.0%) Pediculosis 1 (1.4%) 0 (0.0%) 0 (0.0%) Contact dermatitis 1 (1.4%) 0 (0.0%) 0 (0.0%) Insolation 1 (1.4%) 3 (4.3%) 1 (1.4%) Burning sensation 1 (1.4%) 0 (0.0%) 0 (0.0%) Urticaria 1 1.4%) 0 (0.0%) 0 (0.0%) Infection 1 (1.4%) 0 (0.0%) 0 (0.0%) Excoriation 0 (0.0%) 0 (0.0%) 1 (1.4%) Eczema 0 (0.0%) 0 (0.0%) 1 (1.4%) Oedema 0 (0.0%) 1. (1.4%) 0 (0.0%) From this table, it is noted that the occurrence of undesirable side effects is statistically the same for the two gels with the different concentrations of active agent. The intensity of the undesirable side effects is average, which leads to the conclusion that the two gels are well-tolerated by the patients. On the basis of these observations, it may be concluded that patients suffering from common acne can be treated with 0.3% adapalene gel, such an exposure to adapalene being described as weak or very weak under clinical conditions. It therefore ensues from these various studies that a pharmaceutical composition containing 0.3% of adapalene exhibits a benefit/risk ratio which makes it particularly suitable for the treatment of dermatological maladies having an inflammatory or proliferative component, and in particular, common acne. Each patent, patent application, publication and literature article/report cited or indicated herein is hereby expressly incorporated by reference. While the invention has been described in terms of various specific and preferred embodiments, the skilled artisan will appreciate that various modifications, substitutions, omissions, and changes may be made without departing from the spirit thereof. Accordingly, it is intended that the scope of the present invention be limited solely by the scope of the following claims, including equivalents thereof. | <SOH> BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION <EOH>1. Technical Field of the Invention The present invention relates to the administration to individuals in need of such treatment of 6-[3-(1-adamantyl)-4-methoxyphenyl]-2-naphthanoic acid, the chemical structure of which is as follows: in pharmaceutical compositions, in particular dermatological compositions, for the treatment of dermatological ailments/afflictions having an inflammatory or proliferative component. 2. Description of Background and/or Related and/or Prior Art 6-[3-(1-Adamantyl)-4-methoxyphenyl]-2-naphthanoic acid (hereinafter referred to as adapalene) is a retinoid derived from naphthoic acid, having anti-inflammatory properties. This molecule has been the subject of development for the topical treatment of common acne and dermatoses sensitive to retinoids. Adapalene is described in EP-0,199,636, and a process for synthesizing same is described in EP-0,358,574, both assigned to the assignee hereof. The assignee hereof markets adapalene formulated at a weight concentration of 0.1% in the form of an alcoholic lotion, an aqueous gel and a cream. These compositions are suited for the treatment of acne. Finally, adapalene is described as having a beneficial action on photo-damaged skin (Photographic assessment of the effects of adapalene 0.1% and 0.3% gels and vehicle on photo-damaged skin. M. Goldfarb et al., Clinical Dermatology , Vienna, Austria, May 2000). | <SOH> SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION <EOH>Novel pharmaceutical compositions have now been developed containing adapalene at a weight concentration of 0.3% formulated into pharmaceutically acceptable media therefor, useful for the treatment (regime or regimen) of dermatological ailments, conditions or afflictions having an inflammatory or proliferative component. Specifically, it has now surprisingly been shown that, in addition to exhibiting better therapeutic efficacy compared to known compositions, the compositions according to the invention exhibits good tolerance, comparable to those of the known compositions with a lower concentration of active principle. The results regarding tolerance observed in trials relating to photo-damaged skin (indication “photodamage”), obtained on individuals on average 65 years old, could not be exploited in the context of the present invention. Specifically, as regards use of adapalene on young individuals (in particular regarding acne with populations of teenagers or young adults), the skin exhibits very different physiopathological characteristics (presence of many lesions, in particular inflammatory lesions, modifying skin permeability, hypercornification of the follicular channel, immuno response, bacterial colonization of the skin ( P. acnes ), sebaceous hyperplasia with hyperseborrhea). detailed-description description="Detailed Description" end="lead"? | 20040910 | 20090825 | 20050317 | 64074.0 | 2 | JEAN-LOUIS, SAMIRA JM | ADMINISTRATION OF 6-[3-(1-ADAMANTYL)-4-METHOXYPHENYL]-2-NAPHTHOIC ACID FOR THE TREATMENT OF DERMATOLOGICAL DISORDERS | UNDISCOUNTED | 1 | CONT-ACCEPTED | 2,004 |
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10,937,796 | ACCEPTED | Narrow profile speaker configurations and systems | A narrow profile speaker unit comprises at least one speaker outputting sound towards an internal surface and through a duct with an output terminus, such as a slot, having a narrow dimension, effectively changing the cross-section of the speaker's audio output wave. A pair of speakers may face one another, outputting sound towards a common output slot. Multiple pairs of speakers may be used to form an inline speaker unit for increased sound output. A slotted speaker unit may include multiple speakers facing the same direction, towards a groundplane or reflecting surface, and having parallel apertures for allowing sound radiation. The speaker units may be integral with or attached to electronic appliances such as desktop computers or flatscreen devices, or may be used in automobiles or other contexts. | 1. A narrow profile sound system, comprising: a speaker disposed on a mounting surface; and a sound reflecting surface disposed in front of the speaker face and substantially parrallel with the mounting surface, the sound reflecting surface and the mounting surface collectively defining a sound duct terminating in an output slot, whereby the sound output from the speaker emanates from the output slot. | RELATED APPLICATION INFORMATION This application is a continuation-in-part application of U.S. application Ser. No. 10/339,357 filed Jan. 8, 2003, which is a continuation-in-part application of utility application U.S. application Ser. No. 10/074,604 filed on Feb. 11, 2002, (which claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 60/267,952, filed on Feb. 9, 2001), and which further claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 60/331,365, field Jan. 8, 2002, and of PCT Application Ser. No. PCT/US02/03880, filed on Feb. 8, 2002, all of which are hereby incorporated by reference as if set forth fully herein. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The field of the present invention relates to sound reproduction and, more specifically, to speaker configurations and enclosures, and related sound processing. 2. Background Sound reproduction systems incorporating speakers are commonplace in homes, theaters, automobiles, places of entertainment, and elsewhere. The number, size, quality, characteristics, and arrangement of speakers affect sound quality in virtually any listening environment. However, many environments have constraints which limit the number, size, or type of speakers which can be used, and their arrangement. These constraints may be technical, mechanical, or aesthetic in nature. For example, with respect to consumer products such as computers and televisions, there may be limited space to physically attach or integrate speakers. A common practice is to provide a set of external speakers separate from the enclosure of the computer, television, or other product, allowing the user the ability to place the speakers widely apart and thus achieve a true stereo effect. However, loose speakers take up space on a desk or table, and require unsightly or inconvenient electrical connections to the computer, television, or other product. Moreover, use of such additional external speakers generally requires the consumer to purchase them separately from the main product itself, thus increasing cost. In addition, space restrictions on a desk or table may limit the possible locations of speakers, and/or their number, size and orientation, and thus adversely affect sound quality including the desired stereo effect. For consumer items such as laptop computers, the option of utilizing external speakers to improve sound quality may not be possible. Confined listening areas also create constraints which can impact sound quality, and can often unsuitable for optimal sound reproduction. For example, the listening space of an automobile creates particular challenges and problems for quality sound reproduction. These problems partially result from the unique sound environment of the automobile when compared with a good listening room. Among the disadvantages are: Much smaller internal volume resulting in a reduced reverberation time and lower modal density at low frequencies resulting in a lack of ambience and an uneven bass response. The proximity of highly reflective surfaces (such as the windows) to highly absorptive areas such as the upholstery or the occupants clothing leads to a great variability with frequency and head position of the direct to indirect sound arriving at the listener. Consequently even small changes in head or seating position can cause significant and undesirable changes in the timbral quality of the music. The listening positions are necessarily restricted to the seating positions provided (usually 4 or 5) and all of these are very asymmetrically placed with respect to the speaker positions. Space is always at a premium within a car interior and as a result the speakers are often placed in physically convenient positions, that are nevertheless very poor from an acoustic point of view, such as the foot wells and the bottom of the front and rear side doors. As a result the listener's head is always much closer to either the left or right speaker leading directly large inter-channel time differences and different sound levels due to the 1/r law. Additionally, the angles between the axes from the listeners ears to the axes of symmetry of the left and right speakers is quite different for each occupant. The perceived spectral balance is different for each channel due to the directional characteristics of the drive units. Masking of one or more speakers by the occupants clothes or legs can often result in the attenuation of the mid- and high-frequencies by as much as 10 dB. The conditions noted above tend to adversely impact the ability to produce high quality stereo reproduction, which ideally has the following attributes: A believable and stable image or soundstage resulting from the listener being nearly equidistant from the speakers reproducing the left and right channels and a sufficiently high ratio of direct-to-indirect sound at the listener's ears. A smooth timbral balance at all the listening positions. A sense of ambience resulting from a uniform soundfield. Some features are provided in automobile audio systems which can partially mitigate the aforementioned problems. For example, an occupant can manually adjust the sound balance to increase the proportional volume to the left or right speakers. Some automobile audio systems have a “driver mode” button which makes the sound optimal for the driver. However, because different listening axes exist for left and right occupants, an adjustment to the balance that satisfies the occupant (e.g., driver) on one side of the automobile will usually make the sound worse for the occupant seated on the other side of the automobile. Moreover, balance adjustment requires manual adjustment by one of the occupants, and it is generally desirable in an automobile to minimize user intervention. Another modification made to some automobile audio systems is to provide a center speaker, which reduces the image instability that occurs when the listener is closer to either the left or right speaker when both are reproducing the same mono signal, with the intention of producing a central sound image. Yet another possible approach is adding more speakers in a greater variety of positions (e.g., at the seat tops). While such techniques can sometimes provide a more pleasing effect, they cannot provide stable imaging as the problems associated with asymmetry described above still remain. The considerable additional cost of such design approaches is usually undesirable in markets such as the highly cost sensitive and competitive automotive industry. Moreover, as previously noted, space is usually at a premium in the automobile interior, and optimal speaker positions are limited. The aforementioned problems are not limited to sound systems designed for automobiles, but may exist in other confined spaces as well. Even in larger spaces, it may be difficult to achieve ideal sound reproduction due to constraints on where speakers may be located, or other considerations. Freestanding speakers can take up valuable room space, while speakers embedded in walls and ceilings require a large cross-sectional areas and may be aesthetically displeasing. More generally, in many environments it is desirable to minimize the visual impact of speakers in a sound reproduction system. One technique, for example, is to color or otherwise decorate the protective speaker faceplate to match the surrounding wall or object in which the speaker in placed, or to hide speakers behind an artificial painting. These types of solutions may not be satisfactory for all consumers, and may limit the possibilities for optimal speaker placement as well. It would therefore be advantageous to provide an improved sound reproduction and/or speaker system which overcomes the foregoing problems, and/or provides other benefits and advantages. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Certain embodiments disclosed herein are generally directed, in one aspect, to a sound reproduction system having a speaker configuration and/or enclosure which provides a relatively narrow sound output region in relation to the size of the speaker face(s) utilized in the sound reproduction system. In some embodiments, a reflecting surface disposed immediately in front of the face of the speaker cone redirects the sound output, through a sound duct or otherwise, and causes the sound to emanate from a slot or other aperture. Single or multiple speaker embodiments are possible, with a single or multiple slots or other apertures. Sound-damping material may be added to define a sound duct, preferably around the periphery of the speaker cone(s), so as to influence the directivity of the sound waves towards the output slot or aperture, and/or to reduce potentially interference. Further embodiments, variations and enhancements are also disclosed herein. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is an oblique frontal view diagram of a narrow profile speaker unit having a slot for sound output, in accordance with one embodiment as disclosed herein. FIGS. 2A and 2B are front and side view diagrams, respectively, of the narrow profile speaker unit of FIG. 1. FIGS. 3A, 3B, and 3C are diagrams of cross-sectional top views of alternative embodiments of the enclosure of the speaker unit of FIG. 1 with different arrangements of sound damping material in the enclosure. FIGS. 4A and 4B are diagrams of oblique and side views, respectively, of a cylindrical speaker unit having a sound output slot, in accordance with one embodiment as disclosed herein. FIG. 5 is a diagram of an example of a speaker system utilizing cylindrical speaker units illustrated in FIG. 4. FIG. 6 is a side view of another embodiment of a narrow profile speaker unit in accordance with one embodiment as disclosed herein. FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating sound radiating from a slotted speaker unit into a room of listeners, according to a particular example. FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional side view diagram of a speaker unit having a sound output slot, according to another embodiment as disclosed herein. FIGS. 9A through 9E are top view cross-sectional diagrams illustrating various arrangements of relative speaker locations and sound damping material, as may be used in connection with the speaker unit illustrated in FIG. 8. FIGS. 10A and 10B are diagrams comparing the radiance of sound from a ground plane speaker unit constructed in accordance with the principles illustrated in FIG. 8, with a conventional speaker unit. FIG. 11 is a diagram of a speaker unit having multiple speakers, with sound output slot(s). FIG. 12A is a front cut-away view of an embodiment of a speaker enclosure for a pair of stereo speakers. FIG. 12B is a top cross-sectional view diagram of the speaker enclosure shown in FIG. 12A. FIG. 12C is an oblique front view diagram of the speaker enclosure shown in FIGS. 2A and 12B. FIG. 12D is a diagram illustrating sound reflection from a downward oriented speaker, such as a speaker in the speaker enclosure of FIGS. 12A-12C. FIG. 13A is a diagram of a speaker unit having multiple speakers and a sound output slot in accordance with another embodiment, and FIG. 13B is a diagram of a sound processing system that may be used in connection with the speaker unit of FIG. 13A. FIG. 14 is a simplified block diagram of a sound processing system in accordance with one or more embodiments as disclosed herein. FIG. 15 is a diagram of a speaker arrangement including pairs of speakers facing one another, with sound output slot(s), in accordance with one embodiment as disclosed herein. FIG. 16 is a diagram illustrating an example of a speaker enclosure which may incorporate a speaker arrangement such as illustrated, for example, in FIG. 15. FIGS. 17A and 17B are diagrams of a speaker arrangement as may be used, for example, in connection with a speaker mounting structure or enclosure for providing sound output through an orifice, and FIG. 17C is a particular variation thereof illustrating preferred dimensions of sound-damping material according to one example. FIG. 18 is a simplified circuit diagram for the speaker arrangement of FIGS. 17A and 17B, wherein delays are used to synchronize sound output through the orifice. FIG. 19A is a diagram of a speaker mounting structure or enclosure illustrating a particular arrangement of sound-damping material around the speakers, while FIG. 19B is a detail diagram of a portion of FIG. 19A. FIG. 20 is a cutaway top-view diagram of another speaker arrangement similar to FIG. 17A but adding an additional speaker. FIG. 21 is an oblique view diagram of the speaker arrangement of FIG. 20, illustrating one possible embodiment of a speaker mounting structure associated therewith. FIG. 22 is an assembly diagram of a speaker mounting structure utilizing a general speaker arrangement such as shown in FIG. 20. FIGS. 23A and 23B are oblique view diagrams comparing speaker mounting structures utilizing the general speaker arrangements of FIGS. 12A-12B and 19A-19B, respectively. FIG. 24 is a diagram showing an example of a stereo unit 2400 adapted for convenient installation in a vehicle. FIG. 25 is a top-view cross-sectional diagram of a speaker arrangement including an array of speakers with sound output slot(s), in accordance with one embodiment as disclosed herein. FIGS. 26A and 26B are cross-sectional diagrams of a side view and a front view, respectively, of a flatscreen display device having speaker arrays with sound output slot(s). FIG. 27 is an oblique view diagram of a speaker unit having an array of speakers and sound output slot(s). FIGS. 28A and 28B are a side view cross-sectional diagram and an oblique view diagram, respectively, of a speaker unit having a slot for sound output, in accordance with another embodiment as disclosed herein. FIG. 29 is a diagram of a sound processing system generally in accordance with various principles described with respect to FIG. 14, and showing examples of possible transfer function characteristics for certain processing blocks. FIGS. 30A-30C are graphs illustrating examples of gain and/or phase transfer functions for a sound processing system in accordance with FIG. 29. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Certain embodiments disclosed herein are generally directed, in one or more aspects, to a speaker configuration or enclosure for a sound reproduction system which provides a relatively narrow sound output region in relation to the size of the speaker face(s) utilized in the sound reproduction system. In some embodiments, a reflecting surface disposed immediately in front of the face of the speaker cone redirects the sound output, through a sound duct or otherwise, and causes the sound to emanate from a slot or other aperature. In some instances, such a configuration allows the speaker(s) to be hidden from view, provides a relatively broad directional characteristic, allows a larger speaker to be used in a confined installation space than would otherwise be convenient or possible, and/or provides other benefits or advantages. Single or multiple speaker embodiments are possible, allowing a wide variety of potential speaker arrangements. Embodiments as disclosed herein may be employed in a variety of applications, and may be particularly well suited for situations in which it is desired to conceal speakers from view, or in which audio systems face restrictions with respect to, for example, speaker locations or installation area. In certain multiple speaker embodiments, a plurality of speakers may be mounted along a sound duct, at either the same or variable distances from an output slot or aperture, such that the output from the speakers exits a common output slot or aperture. In some embodiments, as further described herein, the audio signal(s) to the speakers may be processed and/or delayed to ensure that the sound waves generated by each speaker's audio output reinforce rather than interfere with one another. Speakers receiving similar audio signals may be mounted to face each other across a duct, either directly or separated by, for example, a frammel (such as a sound-blocking baffle between two proximal speakers). Arrays of opposing speakers may be configured using the same principles. The use of a narrow profile speaker enclosure may be in connection with other speakers, such as tweeters, to further enhance the sound quality experienced by the listener. The speaker configuration may be advantageously employed in applications such as electronic devices, desktop computer monitors, and so on, or any application in which a low speaker profile may be advantageous or desirable. FIG. 1 is a diagram of a narrow profile speaker unit 100 having a slot for sound output, and illustrated from an oblique frontal view, in accordance with one or more embodiments as disclosed herein. In FIG. 1, a speaker 107 is supported by a baffle 101 comprising a mounting surface (or other barrier) 102, a sound reflecting surface 103 disposed preferably in parallel orientation to the mounting surface 102, and side walls 104 and 105, which collectively define a sound duct 115 having an output slot (or other orifice) 106 for radiating sound produced by the speaker 107. The baffle 101 in FIG. 1 is adapted to receive the cone of the speaker 107 such that the primary acoustic output of the speaker 107 is directed towards the sound reflecting surface 103, and ultimately emanated from the output slot 106. The presence of mounting surface (or other barrier) 102 may provide the desirable effect of, among other things, acoustically isolating the speaker's rear radiation from its front radiation. The speaker 107 may receive an audio input signal from any audio signal source such as, for example, a CD player, cassette player, radio, etc., with or without intervening sound processing. The audio input signal may also optionally be applied, either directly or via a sound processor, to additional drivers or other speakers (not shown). FIGS. 2A and 2B are front and side view diagrams, respectively, of the speaker unit 100 of FIG. 1. FIG. 2B, in particular, illustrates the direction of sound output (shown as an arrow) from the output slot 106, generally perpendicular to the sound reflecting surface 103 and the front face of the speaker 107. Preferably, the sound reflecting surface 103 is spaced at a distance from the front face of the speaker 107 such that the duct or chamber 115 defined by the surrounding sidewalls 104, 105 and backwall 112 does not permit soundwaves of the primary acoustic output from the speaker 107 to unfold significantly within the confines of the duct 115, as pressure effects will tend to cause the lateral soundwaves that emanate from the output slot 106 to have sound quality and dynamic range comparable to the soundwaves initially emitted from the speaker 107 itself. The output slot (or other orifice) 106 may be of any suitable shape, but is preferably configured so as to provide a relatively narrow profile from which sound of the speaker unit 100 radiates. The output slot 106 may, for example, be generally rectangular in shape (as illustrated in the front view of FIG. 2A), or may be generally oval or elliptical, or may have slightly curved top and/or bottom edges (i.e., the edges of mounting surface 102 and/or sound reflecting surface 103). The output slot 106 is preferably symmetrical and shaped so as to minimize any interference with the desired sound reproduction. With the speaker unit 100 of FIG. 1, the output slot 106 may be generally configured so as to provide a narrower profile of the effective area from which the soundwaves emanate, as compared to the front face of the speaker 107. As a result, the speaker unit 100 may, for example, utilize a smaller surface area for sound projection, as compared to a conventional forward-oriented speaker. Such a narrower forward profile can provide a number of advantages. From the perspective of speaker arrangement and installation, for example, the speaker unit 100 in various embodiments may find advantageous used in applications having limited space, or where there is a desire to conceal the presence of the speaker(s) from view. For example, a speaker unit with narrow profile sound output slot may find practical use in, e.g. an automobile sound system, and could be placed in a vehicle dashboard or other suitable location. Other advantageous uses are described herein, or would become apparent to those skilled in the art after reviewing the instant specification and drawings. Besides flexible placement options, another potential benefit of a speaker unit arrangement in accordance with FIG. 1 is that sound emanating from the output slot 106 may generally tend to have a wide dispersion angle along the slot's long axis, as compared to the dispersion angle of a conventional speaker (e.g., a round, forward-oriented speaker face). Thus, the slotted speaker unit 100 may possess an extremely broad directional characteristic over the frequency range for which the wavelength of sound in air is large compared with the slot dimensions. For example, a slot having a dimension of 10×60 millimeters may provide a substantially omnidirectional radiation pattern up to 2 to 3 kHz. Because of the wide dispersion angle along the long axis, a speaker unit 100 in accordance with FIG. 1 may provide a similar listening experience with respect to off-axis listeners at a variety of locations away from the center axis of the output slot 106. The advantageous dispersion characteristics may permit design choices that, for example, account for the relative likelihood that listeners will be positioned along one or the other axis of the soundwaves emanating from the output slot 106. These design choices, generally not available for equiaxed drivers, are particularly advantageous in confined listening spaces. In an automobile, for example, wherein listeners are generally confined to their seats, an embodiment of the speaker unit 100 having a horizontally oriented output slot 106 at approximately dashboard level could be installed such that the sound emanating from the slot 106 is characterized by a wide horizontal (left to right) dispersion angle across both the driver and passenger seats, and a narrow vertical dispersion angle that is sufficient to include the upper regions of the driver and passenger seats at a height which the heads of the seated driver and passenger are typically located. The speaker unit 100 illustrated in FIG. 1 may also be well suited for use in other types of confined areas, particularly where the location of the listeners is predictable in advance. One example of is illustrated in FIG. 7, which illustrates sound radiating from a slotted speaker unit (such as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2A-2B) into a room 700 of listeners 721, 722. In this example, the speaker unit 704, shown in side view, is positioned within the ceiling 730 of the room 700, with the speaker 707 oriented generally perpendicular to the direction of sound radiation. A sound reflecting surface 708 (analogous to 103 in FIGS. 1 and 2A-2B) defines, along with the face of speaker 707 and various sidewalls and backwall, a relatively narrow duct 713, and directs the soundwaves towards an output slot in the ceiling 730. The sound volume quality remains relatively constant regardless of whether listeners are on or off-axis. Moreover, because the sound is radiated from a relatively narrow slot, the presence of the speaker 707 can be substantially concealed. A similar configuration may be used with other speaker units disclosed herein, such as, for example, speaker units illustrated in or described with respect to FIGS. 3A, 3B, 3C, 6, or others. In one aspect, the sound duct 115 of speaker unit 100 effectively “turns” the soundwaves output from the speaker 107 by 90° (in this example), so that the sound is carried to the output slot 106 and released while retaining a sufficient degree of sound quality, and modifying the effective shape of the speaker output from an elliptical or circular radiator (as the case may be for speaker 107) to a rectangular radiator. In addition, the total radiating surface area can be advantageously reduced, as compared to the radiating surface area of the speakers themselves, minimizing the space needed in, e.g., a vehicle dash or other environments. The aspect ratio of the output slot 106 can be adjusted or tailored to modify the directional characteristic of the acoustic output in order to, for example, improve sound quality at off-axis listening positions. While the size and shape of the sound duct 115 and output slot 106 may vary depending upon the particular design goals, there may be physical or practical limitations to how narrow the sound duct 115 and/or output slot 106 may be made. Narrowing of the sound duct 115 and/or output slot 106 may, for example, potentially decrease the efficiency of the speakers (which may be compensated by larger speakers and/or increased drive power), or may cause audible noise from turbulence. Therefore, the narrowness of the sound duct 115 and/or output slot 106 may be limited by, among other things, impedance losses that cannot be made up by increased drive power and the onset of sound artifacts or noise caused by turbulence or nonlinear airflow. Variations of the speaker unit embodiment illustrated in FIG. 1 are shown in FIGS. 3A, 3B, and 3C, which show cross-sectional top views of a speaker unit with different arrangements of sound damping material in the enclosed chamber or duct 115. In FIG. 3A, sidewalls 304, 305 and backwall 312 of speaker unit 300 are analogous to sidewalls 104, 105 and backwall 112, respectively, shown in FIG. 1. FIG. 3A illustrates the placement of sound damping material 319 within the duct or chamber (shown as 115 in FIG. 2B), such that the sound damping material 319 reaches approximately the half-way point along sidewalls 304, 305, but is contoured in the middle to circumscribe the periphery of half of the cone of speaker 307. Sound output from speaker 307 emanates from output slot 306, as with FIG. 1. The sound damping material 319 may help prevent, e.g., undesirable interference or reflections within the duct or chamber, that may otherwise be caused by soundwaves reflecting from the backwall 312 or back corners of the chamber, since the soundwaves have no means of egress except the slot 306. The sound damping material 319 may in certain embodiments also help to prevent the creation of standing waves, and/or minimize the variation of sound output response with respect to frequency so that the speaker output can be readily equalized by, e.g., any standard techniques, including analog or digital equalization. For example, cascaded filter sections may be employed to tailor the frequency response of the speakers 307 in discrete frequency bands so as to provide a relatively uniform overall frequency response. The sound damping material 319, in FIG. 3A and other embodiments as will hereinafter be described, may comprise any suitable material, and is preferably non-resonant in nature, with sound absorbing qualities. The sound damping material 319 may, for example, comprise expanded or compressed foam, or else may comprise rubber, reinforced paper, fabric or fiber, damped polymer composites, or other materials or composites, including combinations of the foregoing materials. FIG. 3B illustrates a variation of the speaker unit 300 of FIG. 3A, but with a different shape of sound damping material 339. In FIG. 3B, sidewalls 324, 325 and backwall 332 of speaker unit 320 are analogous to sidewalls 104, 105 and backwall 112, respectively, shown in FIG. 1. FIG. 3B illustrates the placement of sound damping material 339 within the duct or chamber (shown as 115 in FIG. 2B), such that the sound damping material 339 tapers to the approximate end of sidewalls 324, 325, and, similar to FIG. 3A, is contoured to circumscribe the periphery of the cone of speaker 327. Sound output from speaker 327 emanates from output slot 326, as with FIG. 1. The sound damping material 339 serves a similar purpose to sound damping material 319 illustrated in FIG. 3A, and may further reduce the possibility of reflections from sidewalls 324, 325 and/or standing (lateral) waves. FIG. 3C illustrates another variation of the speaker units 300 and 320 of FIGS. 3A and 3B, with yet a different shape of sound damping material 359. In FIG. 3C, sidewalls 344, 345 and backwall 352 of speaker unit 340 are analogous to sidewalls 104, 105 and backwall 112, respectively, shown in FIG. 1. FIG. 3C illustrates the placement of sound damping material 359 within the duct or chamber (shown as 115 in FIG. 2B), such that the sound damping material 359 follows along sidewalls 324, 325 to the edge of the output slot 346 and, similar to FIGS. 3A and 3B, is contoured to circumscribe the periphery of the cone of speaker 327. Sound output from speaker 347 emanates from output slot 346, as with FIG. 1. The sound damping material 359 serves a similar purpose to sound damping material 319 and/or 339 described earlier, but may provide somewhat different sound dispersion characteristics. Various embodiments of slotted speaker units as described herein may provide a number of advantages, depending potentially upon the specific configuration, environment, and other factors. For example, a slotted speaker unit may have the effect of transforming an elliptical sound radiator (i.e., conventional conical speaker) and effectively transform it into, e.g., a rectangular or almost linear sound radiator, with excellent coverage at the radiated angles. In addition to sound quality, a slotted speaker unit may provide opportunity to improve the packaging and appearance of the speaker unit. As will be described in more detail hereinafter, use of an output slot to radiate sound provides the opportunity for placing speaker outputs very near each other, reducing out-of-phase, cross-cancellation, and lobing effects that may otherwise occur from the use of multiple speakers. An example another embodiment of a speaker unit in accordance with certain principles of FIG. 1 is illustrated in FIGS. 4A and 4B, which depict oblique and side views, respectively, of a cylindrical speaker unit 400. The speaker unit 400 comprises a cylindrical housing 405, roughly can-shaped, in which is placed a speaker 407 positioned such that its cone faces outward from one end of the cylindrical housing 405. In the example shown, the edge of the cone of the speaker 407 matches the contours of the edge of the cylindrical housing 405, but in other variations the diameter of the cone may be smaller than the diameter of the cylindrical housing 405, or else the speaker 407 may be positioned with an offset from (above or below) the top edge of the cylindrical housing 405. A sound reflecting surface 402, analogous to sound reflecting surface 103 in FIG. 1, is positioned as illustrated a distance away from the upper edge of the cylindrical housing 405, such that the upper edge of the cylindrical housing 405 and the sound reflecting surface 402 form a chamber or duct 415 (FIG. 4B) from which sound may emanate, generally perpendicular to the sound reflecting surface 402 as shown by the arrows in FIG. 4B. In the example shown, the sound reflecting surface 402 comprises a circular wall matching the general dimensions of the corresponding end of the cylindrical housing 405. One or more struts 412, for example, may attach the sound reflecting surface 402 to the cylindrical housing 405. The speaker unit 400 shown in FIGS. 4A and 4B may be of relatively small size and, for example, may be conveniently adapted as desk speakers for a computer or other electronic appliance. The speaker unit 400 may be oriented upwards or downwards, and may provide generally omnidirectional sound output, so that a similar quality of listening experience is provided regardless of which direction the listener is located from the speaker(s). The cylindrical housing 405 and sound reflecting surface 402 may be comprised of a durable material such as, for example, high impact plastic or aluminum, or any other suitable material. While the speaker unit 400 may be advantageously used with, e.g., a computer system, it is not limited to such applications, and may be used in other environments, and may be of any size. While the speaker housing 405 is illustrated in FIGS. 4A and 4B as a round cylinder, it is not limited to such a shape, and may, for example, be an elliptical cylinder (in which case the speaker 407 may be an elliptical speaker). In other variations, the sound reflecting surface 402 may be replaced by, e.g., a floor or desktop surface, whereby the cylindrical housing 405 is faced downwards with the strut(s) 412 forming a duct or gap between the edge of the speaker 407 and the floor or desktop surface. In yet other embodiments, the strut(s) 412, which are shown along the periphery of the top edge of the cylindrical housing 405, may be replaced by one or more center struts, with a crossbeam (not shown) spanning the diameter of the cylindrical housing 405 and providing a secure footing for the strut(s). In such an embodiment, the strut(s) may generally be attached at or near a centerpoint of the sound reflecting surface 402. Alternatively, with other variations in crossbeam configurations (which may include off-center crossbeams), the strut(s) may be located in virtually any position desired, although any such crossbeams and/or strut(s) are, in various embodiments, formed with as minimal a profile as possible so as to minimize any interface with the sound output. In other embodiments, the strut(s) may be larger, and may even occupy a significant portion of the circumference of the circular boundary of the sound reflecting surface 402 and cylindrical housing 405, particularly in those directions in which it is not necessary to have direct sound radiation from the speaker 407. Other embodiments may include multiple speaker units of the type illustrated in and described with respect to FIG. 4. For example, a speaker system 500 utilizing cylindrical speaker units 400 of the type shown in FIG. 4, is illustrated in FIG. 5. As shown therein, the speaker system 500 includes a pair of speaker units 400, connected by a connecting beam 520 which is attached (or attachable) to the top portion of the disk-shaped sound reflecting surface 402 of each of the speaker units 400. The speaker system 500 may be conveniently hung, for example, from the top of an electronic appliance (not shown) such as a computer monitor, with the connecting beam 520 resting on the top portion of the electronic appliance. A contacting member 525 may be attached to the connecting beam 520 or integral therewith, for providing a resting surface for contacting the top portion of the electronic appliance. The contacting member 525 may be generally flat as illustrated in FIG. 5, or else may, for example, be contoured so as to match the top portion of the electronic appliance. The contacting member 525 may also be used to securably affix the speaker system 500 to the electronic appliance, where the electronic appliance is configured with mechanism for receiving and securing the contacting member 525. For example, the electronic appliance may be configured with tabs on its top portion for receiving and locking the contacting member 525. Where a contacting member 525 is not provided as part of the speaker system 500, and where the connecting beam 520 is generally rod-shaped, the electronic appliance may be configured with a semi-cylindrical molding on its top portion for receiving and holding the connecting beam 520. Another embodiment of a narrow profile speaker unit is illustrated in FIG. 13A, which illustrates a top cutaway view of a speaker unit 1300 having two speakers 1307, 1317. In the example shown in FIG. 13A, the two speakers 1307, 1317 are disposed in series along a sound duct 1320 atop a speaker mounting structure such as described previously with respect to, e.g., FIGS. 1 and 2A-2B. The two speakers 1307, 1317 share a common sound output slot 1306, similar to the output slot 106 shown in FIG. 1, but the use of multiple speakers may provide advantages such as, for example, increased output capacity, different frequency ranges for different speakers, or other advantages. Similar to the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 3C, sound-damping material 1319 such as compressed foam surrounds the rear contours of the speaker 1317 furthest from the output slot 1306, and extends to the front of the speaker mounting structure so as to define the sound duct 1320. The sound duct 1320 is preferably (but not necessarily) of substantially uniform width, generally matching the width of speakers 1307 and 1317. The speakers 1307 and 1317 may be of identical size and audio characteristics, or else, in alternative embodiments, may be of different sizes, shapes, and/or audio characteristics. FIG. 13B is a simplified block diagram of an electronic circuit 1300 that may be used in, e.g., the speaker arrangement of FIG. 13A, wherein a delay mechanism is used to synchronize sound output between the front and rear speakers relative to the output slot. As shown in FIG. 13B, an audio source signal 1381 is optionally fed into an equalization and/or sound processing unit 1383, which generates an audio output signal 1388. The audio output signal 1388 is applied to the “rear” speaker 1395 (e.g., speaker 1317 in FIG. 13A) via driver 1391 and, though a delay circuit 1385, to the “front” left speaker 1396 (e.g., speaker 1307 in FIG. 13A) via driver 1392. A tweeter or other additional speaker may also be provided. The amount of time delay provided by delay circuit 1385 may be derived, e.g., from the distance between the front speaker 1396 and the rear speaker 1395, given the known velocity of sound travel. The amount of time delay may thus be based upon the center-to-center distance between the rear speaker 1395 and the front speaker 1396, divided by the velocity of sound (about 1116 feet per second). The delay circuit 1385 may take the form of any suitable electronic circuitry (either active or passive, and either analog or digital), and preferably have no impact on the content of the audio output signal 1388, at least over the frequencies being audially reproduced by the speakers 1395, 1396. Another embodiment of a narrow profile speaker unit 600 is illustrated in FIG. 6, which illustrates a side view of the speaker unit 600 (similar to FIG. 2B). In the example shown in FIG. 6, two speakers 604, 605 are positioned so as to face one another, while they share a common output slot 606 from which their sound radiates. A first mounting surface 602, adapted to receive first speaker 604, is positioned opposite a second mounting surface 603, adapted to receive second speaker 605. The first speaker 604 may, but need not, have identical audio characteristics to second speaker 605. The mounting surfaces 602, 603 define opposing sides of a sound duct 615 having an output slot (or other orifice) 606. A frammel 607, preferably having a non-resonant characteristic, is optionally disposed across the sound duct 615 between the speakers 604, 605, and preferably midway therebetween. An audio input signal is preferably applied to both speakers 604, 605 simultaneously, such that the speakers 604, 605 simultaneously emit soundwaves towards one another, and against opposite sides of the frammel 607 (if any). As a result, longitudinal soundwaves having the combined power of the outputs of both speakers 604, 605 emanate from output slot 606, thus generating increased audio output, without necessarily requiring the use of a larger (and thus more expensive) driver as may be needed in a single-speaker configuration. If the same audio output signal is applied to both speakers 604, 605, the forces being generated against opposite sides of the frammel 607 will tend to cancel out. Because the output regions of the two speakers 604, 605 are so close together, the potential for undesirable lobing caused by destructive interference from multiple speakers is significantly reduced. By contrast, when the wavelength of the sound output approaches the center-to-center distance between two forward-facing speakers, lobing will tend to occur particularly at off-axis listening positions, but this effect is mitigated by the arrangement of speaker unit 600 in FIG. 6. The “lobeless” characteristic of speaker unit 600 makes it advantageous for use as, e.g., a center channel speaker unit. Moreover, the output slot 606 may generally remain of relatively narrow profile, despite the presence of two speakers 604, 605 which, if forward facing, would tend to occupy substantially more surface area in the direction of sound radiation. The speaker unit 600 of FIG. 6 may provide many of the same benefits of the speaker unit 100 shown in FIG. 1, with the additional benefit of increased sound output. Moreover, the speaker unit 600 may provide an exceptionally robust directional characteristic, with little drop off in volume or frequency response even at extreme angles of listening. An example of an embodiment in general accordance with the principles described with respect to FIG. 6 is illustrated in FIGS. 28A and 28B, which show a side view in cross-section and an oblique view, respectively, of a speaker unit 2800 enclosing two speakers 2811, 2812 facing one another (although more than two speakers could be present in speaker unit 2800). The speaker unit 2800 comprises a housing 2805 which preferably encloses the speakers 2811, 2812. The speaker housing 2805 in the example illustrated in FIGS. 28A-28B is generally dome-shaped, as illustrated, and rests on a housing base 2809. The speakers 2811, 2812 are disposed on mounting surfaces 2802 and 2803, respectively, in a manner as previously described with respect to FIG. 6. The speaker housing 2805 has an output slot 2821 for sound radiation. The output slot 2821 generally wraps around both sides and the top of the speaker housing 2805, but may be shorter or longer depending upon, e.g., the desired area of sound dispersion or other factors (e.g., aesthetics). In one aspect, the speaker unit 2800 provides a relatively compact, self-contained, and unobtrusive sound output source, which may be conveniently placed on a desktop or shelf, for example, or may be integrated on or atop an electronic appliance. Another example of an embodiment in general accordance with the principles described with respect to FIG. 6 is illustrated in FIG. 15, which shows a front view of a speaker unit 1500 of multiple pairs of inline speakers facing one another. As illustrated in FIG. 15, there are four pairs of speakers “stacked” in a row, with speakers 1511, 1521 comprising a first pair, speakers 1512, 1522 comprising a second pair, speakers 1513, 1523 comprising a third pair, and speakers 1514, 1524 comprising a fourth pair. Each pair of speakers in FIG. 15 is configured in a manner similar to FIG. 6; that is, the speakers (e.g., 1511, 1521) are facing one another, with a sound output slot (e.g., 1531) therebetween for allowing radiation of the sound from the pair of speakers. The four output slots 1531, 1532, 1533, and 1534 for the four pairs of speakers collectively form an elongated sound output slot; the individual output slots 1531, 1532, 1533, 1534 may optionally be separated by walls 1550. While four pairs of speakers are illustrated in FIG. 15, the same principles of arrangement may be applied to any number of speaker pairs. The use of multiple speaker pairs, such as illustrated in FIG. 15, may provide increased sound output and may therefore be well suited to larger listening environments. At the same time, the speaker profile utilized for sound output may be relatively minimal—e.g., the collective elongate slot formed by output slots 1531, 1532, 1533, and 1534. Thus, the speaker arrangement of FIG. 15 may retain the advantage of providing a relatively unobtrusive and/or narrow profile speaker system, which allows relatively high sound output while providing the ability to conceal the speakers from view, or to provide other speaker packaging options that would otherwise be unavailable. An example of one such speaker packing option is illustrated in FIG. 16, which depicts a speaker unit 1600 having a cylindrical housing 1607 that may enclose multiple pairs of speakers placed in the general configuration of, e.g., FIG. 15. In FIG. 16, the cylindrical housing 1607 may be placed upright on a surface (such as a room floor), and is securably attached to a housing base 1612, which provides a secure and stable footing for the speaker unit 1600. An elongate slot (or other orifice) 1606 is provided parallel with the center axis of the cylindrical housing 1607, and corresponds to the elongate slot collectively formed by output slots 1531, 1532, 1533 and 1534 shown in FIG. 15. The speaker housing 1607 need not have a grille as generally included with conventional speaker units, although a grille could optionally be used to cover output slot 1606. In addition to aesthetic advantages, and the advantages of having opposing speakers as described with respect to FIGS. 6 and 15, the speaker unit 1600 may also provide other potential advantages such as, e.g., resistance to weather, since the sound output region is relatively small as compared to conventional speaker units. The shape of the housing 1607 may vary; for example, it may be polygonal in shape, may be domed, or may have flat surfaces along the backsides of the speakers. Another speaker unit embodiment in accordance with various principles as described herien is illustrated in FIG. 8, which may be referred to as a ground plane speaker unit 800, as it may be particularly advantageous for, e.g., improving the sound quality of loudspeakers intended to be placed on a table, desk or similar reflecting surface that is relatively large compared to the wavelength of the radiated sound. The speaker unit 800 is depicted with a dome-shaped housing 805 which, in this example, is comprised of a cylindrical housing member 801 and a dome-shaped top housing member 802 attached to the cylindrical housing member 801, although both housing members 801, 802 may be integrated as a singular piece. The speaker unit 800, shown in cross-sectional side view in FIG. 8, includes a pair of speakers 807, 808—in this example, a first downward facing speaker 807 (preferably a mid-frequency driver having an operating range of about 200 Hz to 2 kHz) and a second downward facing speaker 808 (preferably a high-frequency driver, such as a domed tweeter, having an operating range of about 2 kHz to 20 kHz) disposed below the first speaker 807. The speaker 807 is mounted on a mounting surface 812, and faces a spacer 821 which provides a sound reflecting surface 803. The mounting surface 812 and sound reflecting surface 803 define a chamber or duct 815, similar to the speaker units described with respect to, e.g., FIGS. 1 and 4A-4B. Sound output from speaker 807 generally emanates perpendicular to the sound reflecting surface 803 and to the face of the speaker 807. Similarly, speaker 808 is oriented in a downwards direction, towards a housing base 824 (or other smooth surface) which acts as a sound reflecting surface, and defines a second chamber or duct 819 from which sound may emanate, generally perpendicular to the orientation of the downward-facing speaker 808. Speaker unit 800 thus has two annular output slots corresponding to ducts 815 and 819, one output slot for each speaker 807, 808. The spacer 821 may have a top plate (not separately shown) of, e.g., particle board or MDF material, to provide a reflective surface for the top speaker 807, and may otherwise be comprised of any of a variety of materials or compositions, such as foam, polyurethane, silicone, composites, or other materials. The speaker housing 805 may be connected to the spacer 821 via one or more strut(s) 814, in a manner similar to that described with respect to FIGS. 4A-4B. Likewise, the spacer 812 may be connected to the housing base 821 via one or more strut(s) 824, in a manner similar to that described with respect to FIGS. 4A-4B. As with the speaker unit shown in FIGS. 28A-28B, the speaker unit 800 of FIG. 8 may provide a relatively compact, self-contained, and unobtrusive sound output source, which may be conveniently placed on a desktop or shelf, for example, or may be integrated on or atop an electronic appliance. A speaker unit 800 configured in accordance with the principles of FIG. 8 may provide improved listening experience in a variety of circumstances. FIGS. 10A and 10B are illustrations comparing the radiance of sound from a ground plane speaker unit 800 constructed in accordance with the principles of FIG. 8, with a conventional two-way speaker unit 1012. With a conventional two-way speaker unit 1012, a high frequency driver 1019 is often placed above a mid-frequency driver 1017 within the speaker enclosure. When the speaker 1012 is placed on a surface (particularly a highly reflective surface such as a desktop, or a hard floor) 1022, a listener (represented by point 1026 in FIG. 10A) generally experiences both a direct sound output from the speakers 1017, 1019 as well as a reflected sound output caused by the surface 1022. It can be seen from FIG. 10A that there will be a differential time delay due to the path difference between the direct sound and the first reflection. For differential delay times comparable with the period of the signal frequency, the resulting phase differences are sufficient to cause destructive interference between the direct and reflected sound spectra often referred to as “comb filtering.” The resulting spectral distortions can impart a roughness or coloration to the perceived sound quality. Comb filtering effects can be lessened by raising the speakers above the desk on a stand, but the benefit of this adjustment is generally offset by the loss in low frequency output since useful reinforcement of the low frequencies that would otherwise be provided by the reflecting surface 1022 is reduced. By contrast, as illustrated in FIG. 10B, a speaker unit 800 in accordance with the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 8 may retain low frequency enhancement while avoiding comb filtering effects. In the arrangement of FIG. 8, the differential time delay may be sufficiently reduced to avoid destructive interference over the whole of the audio band, improving the sound qualify from the standpoint of a typically positioned listener 1056. The mid-frequency driver 807 is sufficiently close to the reflecting surface 1052 that low frequency boost is retained, and the radiating apertures defined by ducts 815, 819 are preferably close enough to the sound reflecting surface 1052 that an interfering phase shift between the direct and reflecting soundwaves is not induced. In addition, the speaker unit 800 of FIG. 8 may possess an extremely broad directional characteristic over the frequency range for which the wavelength of sound in air is large compared with the slot dimensions. In variations of the embodiment shown in FIG. 8, the speaker housing 805 need not be dome-shaped but may take on a variety of other shapes; for example, it may be cylindrical, pyramidal (including in the shape of a wide obelisk), or polygonal. The speaker unit 800 may also be oriented in a different direction; for example, it may be oriented upwards, with the speaker housing 805 suitably shaped to provide a stable base surface. As illustrated in the example of FIG. 8, the width of the aperture or gap defined by duct 819 for the high frequency driver (speaker 808) may be narrower than the width of the aperture or gap defined by the duct 815 for the mid-frequency driver (speaker 807). However, while exemplary dimensions are illustrated in FIG. 8 for the width of the ducts 815 and 819 (10 and 8 millimeters respectively), and for the width of the spacer 821 (12 millimeters), these dimensions are by no means are intended to be limiting, but are merely exemplary. In other variations of the speaker unit 800 illustrated in FIG. 8, the position of the second speaker 808 may be varied, and/or sound damping material may be used to, e.g., control the directivity of the sound output from the second speaker 808. FIGS. 9A through 9E are top view cross-sectional diagrams illustrating various arrangements of relative speaker locations and sound damping material, as may be used in connection with the speaker unit illustrated in FIG. 8. FIG. 9A is a bottom view illustrating a situation in which the lower speaker 808 (illustrated as 903 in FIG. 9A) is centrally disposed within spacer 821 (illustrated as 901 in FIG. 9A), much as shown in and described with respect to FIG. 8. FIG. 9B illustrates a similar configuration but with the lower speaker 913 off-set from the center axis of the spacer 911. FIG. 9C is similar to FIG. 9A, with the lower speaker 923 centrally disposed with respect to spacer 921, but sound damping material 926 is added in duct 819 such that sound is output through a slot or aperture 925. FIG. 9D is similar to FIG. 9B, with the lower speaker 933 offset from the center axis of spacer 931, but sound damping material 936 is added in the duct (as with FIG. 9C) such that sound is output through a slot or aperture 935. FIG. 9E is similar to FIG. 9C, with the lower speaker 943 centrally disposed with respect to spacer 941, but sound damping material 946, 948 has been added such that two output slots or apertures 945, 947 are defined through with sound from the speaker 943 may be output. Thus, placement of the lower speaker 808 may be varied, and/or sound damping material added to provide various sound output strategies. The speaker unit 800 illustrated in FIG. 8, and its other variations as described herein, may be useful in a variety of applications in addition to desktop or floor standing loudspeakers. For example, such a speaker unit may be used in recording studios to avoid undesired sound reflections and interference from a mixing desk. The speaker unit may be mounted to a wall or ceiling, in the manner of a smoke alarm, providing exceptional omnidirectional sound quality but with an unobtrusive appearance. The speaker unit could also be used on electronic appliances, such as attached to a plasma or flatscreen television monitor, or a desktop computer monitor, or the like. Various embodiments as disclosed herein pertain to narrow profile speaker arrangements in which two (or possibly more) speakers are placed side-by-side or in near proximity. Examples of such embodiments are illustrated in, e.g., FIGS. 11, 12B, and 19A, and elsewhere herein. In some of these embodiments, it is possible, with suitable sound processing of left and right audio input signals, to achieve a spreading of the sound image to produce a stereo-like quality despite the fact that the speakers may be closely spaced. Such speaker systems may find useful application in a variety of environments, such as, e.g., automobiles or desktop computers. When a pair of speakers are closely spaced, they may be placed on a common mounting structure—for example, in a common enclosure, with a central (preferably airtight) dividing partition—that may, for example, be inserted into or else integral with the front console or dashboard of an automobile, or placed elsewhere near the central axis of the automobile, or placed in a suitable location in another confined space or listening environment. FIGS. 12A, 12B and 12C illustrate one example of an enclosure 1201 as part of a speaker system 1200, particularly suited to applications where space is limited, housing a pair of speakers 1214, 1215 which can receive and respond to sound processed signals from left and right audio channels in accordance with the various techniques described elsewhere herein. FIG. 12A is a front cut-away view of the exemplary speaker enclosure 1201 housing the pair of speakers 1214, 1215; FIG. 12B is a top cross-sectional view of the speaker enclosure 1201 shown in FIG. 12A; and FIG. 12C is an oblique front view of the speaker enclosure 1201 shown in FIGS. 12A and 12B. As shown perhaps best in FIG. 12C, the speaker enclosure 1201 in this example is preferably substantially rectangular in shape, and, where configured for an automobile, is preferably designed with dimensions so as to slide into or otherwise fit within a standard or double “DIN” slot in the front console space of an automobile. The speaker enclosure 1201 may include a front panel 1232, a pair of side panels 1230, a top panel 1235, a bottom panel 1239, and possibly a back panel 1231. To achieve isolation between the two speakers 1214, 1215, an interior wall 1216 such as illustrated in FIG. 12A and 12B may be placed between the speakers 1214, 1215, thus creating two separate speaker chambers, one housing each of the two speakers 1214, 1215. The speakers 1214, 1215 are preferably positioned or mounted on a baffle, a mounting surface, or other barrier so as to acoustically isolate their rear radiation from their front radiation. The pair of speakers 1214, 1215 may be oriented with the speaker faces directed frontwards; however, in the instant example, the speakers 1214, 1215 are oriented downwards, as illustrated in FIG. 12A. When so oriented, a slot (or other orifice) 1219 may be located at the bottom of the speaker enclosure 1201, to allow the sound from the speakers 1214, 1215 to radiate outwards towards the direction of the listeners in the automobile. Effectively, then, the speakers 1214, 1215 only take up an amount of console/dash surface space corresponding to the size of the slot 1219. In an automobile environment, front console/dash space is typically extremely valuable since it is scarce, and thus the ability to position two speakers 1214, 1215 in the front console/dash while minimizing the amount of surface space consumed can be quite advantageous. Audio system controls/display(s) or other conventional console accouterments (controls, LCD or other displays, air vents, etc.) can be attached to or integral with the front panel 1232 of the speaker enclosure 1201, so the available surface space on the front panel 1232 is valuably utilized. Moreover, when oriented in the manner described above, the speakers 1214, 1215 may be potentially larger in size (assuming console space is limited); for example, each speaker may be about 4″ (for a total of approximately 8″ across collectively), which may fit into a standard DIN space or other similar space, whereas the speakers would otherwise generally have to be under perhaps 2″ to 2½ or less to fit within the DIN space (or other similar center console space), if oriented in a frontwards direction. The ability to place larger speakers in the center speaker unit may, among other advantages, allow better bass reproduction then would be the case with smaller centrally located speakers and, hence, can reduce or potentially dispense with the need for side (e.g., door-mounted) bass speakers to carry the bass information of the left and right channels. The effect of orienting the speakers 1214, 1215 in a downward direction is conceptually illustrated in FIG. 12D, which shows a generic speaker 1290 pointing downwards towards a surface 1291. The sound output from the speaker 1290 radiates outward from the centerpoint along the surface 1291 in essentially all directions (i.e., a complete 360-degree circle). Thus, as shown in FIGS. 12A and 12C, a slot 1219 is preferably located at the bottom of the speaker enclosure 1201, to allow the sound from the speakers 1214, 1215 to radiate outwards towards the direction of the listeners in the automobile. A layer of insulation 1212 (e.g., foam or other sound-damping material) matching the outer contours of the speakers 1214, 1215, as illustrated in FIG. 12B or in other embodiments as shown elsewhere herein, may be placed within the speaker enclosure 1201, so that the sound does not reflect on the back panel 1231 (if any) of the speaker enclosure. In the resulting speaker enclosure configuration, sound emanating from the speakers 1214, 1215 is cleanly projected through the slot 1219 to the listeners in the automobile. The layer of insulation 1212 may have the benefit(s) in certain embodiments of preventing the creation of standing waves, and/or of minimizing the variation of sound output response with respect to frequency so that the speaker output can be readily equalized by, e.g., any standard techniques, including analog or digital equalization. For example, cascaded filter sections may be employed to tailor the frequency response of the speakers 1214, 1215 in discrete frequency bands so as to provide a relatively uniform overall frequency response. The layer of insulation 1212 may be comprised of any suitable material, preferably non-resonant in nature and having sound damping or absorbing qualities. The insulation 1212 may, for example, be comprised of expanded or compressed foam, but may alternatively comprise rubber, reinforced paper, fabric or fiber, damped polymer composites, or other materials or composites. In an alternative embodiment, the speakers 1214, 1215 may be directed upwards instead of downwards, with the slot 1219 being located at the top of the speaker enclosure 1201, to achieve a similar effect. The speakers 1214, 1215 may alternatively be positioned sideways, either facing towards are away from each other, with a pair of slots (one for each of the speakers 1214, 1215) being adjacent and vertical in orientation rather than norizontal, as with slot 1219. In such an embodiment, the speaker enclosure ay be taller but narrower in size. In some circumstances, high frequencies (such as over 2 KHz) might become lost or reduced in the speaker enclosure configuration illustrated in FIGS. 12A-12C. Therefore, one or more additional speakers 1217 of small size (e.g., tweeters) may be advantageously placed above the “bell” of the speakers 1214, 1215 and in the front panel 1232 of the speaker enclosure 1201, to radiate the higher frequencies. FIG. 14 is a block diagram of a sound processing system 1400 as may be used, for example, in connection with the speaker system 1200 illustrated in FIGS. 12A-12D, or more generally in other sound systems which utilize multiple audio channels to provide stereo source signals to closely spaced speakers. In the sound processing system 1400 of FIG. 14, a left audio signal 1411 and right audio signal 1412 are provided from an audio source and processed to provide left and right output signals 1448, 1449 for closely spaced speakers 1424, 1425, and may be fed to other speakers as well (not shown in FIG. 14). A difference between the left audio signal 1411 and right audio signal 1412 is obtained by, e.g., a subtractor 1440, and the difference signal 1441 is preferably fed to a spectral weighting filter 1442, which applies a spectral weighting (and possibly a gain factor) to the difference signal 1441. The characteristics of the spectral weighting filter 1442 may vary depending upon a number of factors including the desired aural effect, the spacing of the speakers 1424, 1425 with respect to one another, the taste of the listener, and so on. The output of the spectral weighting filter 1442 may be provided to a phase equalizer 1445, which compensates in part for the phase shifting effect caused by the spectral weighting filter 1442 (if non-linear). The output of the phase equalizer 1445 in FIG. 14 is provided to a cross-signal 1411 and right audio signal 1412, as adjusted by phase compensation circuits 1455 and 1456, respectively. The phase compensation circuits 1455, 1456, which may be embodied as, e.g., all-pass filters, shift the phase of their respective input signals (i.e., left and right audio signals 1411, 1412) in a complementary manner to the phase shifting performed by the phase equalizer 1445 (and the inherent phase distortion caused by the spectral weighting filter 1442). The cross-cancellation circuit 1447, which may include a pair of summing circuits (one for each channel), then mixes the spectrally-weighted, phase-equalized difference signal, after adjusting for appropriate polarity, with each of the phase-compensated left audio signal 1411 and right audio signal 1412. The perceived width of the soundstage produced by the pair of speakers 1424, 1425 can be adjusted by varying the gain of the difference signal path, and/or by modifying the shape of the spectral weighting filter 1442. FIG. 29 is a diagram of a sound processing system 2900 in general accordance with the principles and layout illustrated in FIG. 14, having a pair of closely spaced speakers 2924, 2925, and further showing typical examples of possible transfer function characteristics for certain processing blocks. As with FIG. 14, in the sound processing system 2900 a left audio signal 2911 and a right audio signal 2912 are provided from an audio source (not shown), and a difference signal 2941 is obtained representing the difference between the left audio signal 2911 and the right audio signal 2912. The difference signal 2941 is fed to a spectral weighting filter 2942, which, in the instant example, applies a spectral weighting to the difference signal 2941, the characteristics of which are graphically illustrated in the diagram of FIG. 29. A more detailed graph of the this example appears in FIG. 30A. As shown therein, the spectral weighting filter 2942 is embodied as a first-order shelf filter with a gain of 0 dB at low frequencies, and turn-over frequencies at approximately 200 Hz and 2000 Hz. If desired, the gain applied by gain/amplifier block 2946 can be integrated with the spectral weighting filter 2942, or the gain can be applied downstream as illustrated in FIG. 29. In any event, the turnover frequencies, amount of gain, slope, and other transfer function characteristics may vary depending upon the desired application and/or overall system characteristics. A phase equalizer 2945 is provided in the center processing channel, and addition phase compensation circuits 2955 and 2956 in the right and left channels, to ensure that the desired phase relationship is maintained, over the band of interest, between the center channel and the right and left channels. As shown graphically in both FIG. 29 and in more detail in FIG. 30A, the spectral weighting filter 2942 in the instant example causes a phase distortion over approximately the 200 Hz to 2000 Hz range. The phase equalizer 2945 provides no gain, but modifies the overall frequency characteristic of the center channel. The phase compensation circuits 2955 and 2956 likewise modify the phase characteristics of the left and right channels, respectively. The phase compensation is preferably selected, in the instant example, such that the phase characteristic of the center channel (that is, the combined phase effect of the spectral weighting filter 2942 and the phase equalizer 2945) is approximately 180° out-of-phase with the phase characteristic of the left and right channels, over the frequency band of interest (in this example, over the 200 Hz to 2000 Hz frequency band). At the same time, the phase characteristic of the left and right channels are preferably remains the same, so that, among other things, monaural signals being played over the left and right channels will have identical phase processing on compensation circuits 2955 and 2956 preferably are configured to apply identical phase processing to the left and right channels. More detailed graphical examples of gain and phase transfer functions (with the gain being zero in this case when the components are embodied as all-pass filters) are illustrated for the center channel phase equalizer 2945 in FIG. 30B and for the left and right channels phase compensation circuits 2955, 2956 in FIG. 30C. In these examples, the phase equalizer 2945 is embodied as a second-order all-pass filter (with F=125 Hz and Q=0.12), and the phase compensators 2955, 2956 are each embodied as second-order all-pass filters (with F=3200 Hz and Q=0.12). A higher Q value may be used to increase the steepness of the phase drop-off, reducing the extent to which the center channel is out-of-phase with the left and right channels at low frequencies (thus minimizing the burden imposed upon the speakers 2924, 2925). The sound processing systems 1400 and 2900 of FIGS. 14 and 29 may provide certain benefits, such as a broadened sound image, when used in connection with two closely spaced speakers such as illustrated in FIGS. 12A-12C. Also, while the speaker enclosure 1201 shown in FIGS. 12A-12C has certain advantages for placement in a standard DIN space (or other similar or analogous space) of an automobile, it should be understood that the closely spaced speakers 1214, 1215, whether or not contained in a speaker enclosure 1201, may be positioned in other areas of the automobile as well, such as atop the front dashboard, above the rear seatback, or in a center console or island located between the front seats or between the front and back seats. Preferably, the closely spaced speakers 1214, 1215 are located on or near the center axis of the automobile, so as to provide optical sound quality evenly to occupants on both sides. Because of space constraints within an automobile, centrally located speakers may have to be of limited size. Smaller speakers, however, tend to suffer losses at low frequencies. To compensate for the loss of low frequency components where the central pair of speakers are small, left and right bass speakers may be provided in a suitable location for example, built into the automobile doors. The left and right audio channels fed to the left and right door speakers can be processed to attenuate the mid/high frequencies and/or boost the bass audio components. Providing bass frequencies through the door speakers will not destroy the stereo effect of the mid/high frequencies provided by the central pair of speakers, since low frequencies are not normally localized by the human listener. In addition, a sub-woofer may be added in a suitable location within the automobile to further enhance very low frequency bass audio components. The sub-woofer may be located, for example, in the rear console of the car above the rear seatback, or in any other suitable location. Various modifications may be made to provide even further improved sound for passengers in the back seat area. For example, a similar pair of closely spaced speakers to those placed in the front console or area can also be placed in the rear of the automobile, for example, atop the rear seatback on or in the rear parcel shelf, or at the back structure of the center island or console/armrest between the driver and passenger seats. The same signals that are used to feed the front pair of closely spaced speakers can be used to feed the rear pair of closely spaced speakers. If desired, a speaker enclosure 1201, such as shown in FIGS. 12A-12C, containing the pair of closely spaced speakers may be placed in the rear of the vehicle to house these rear speakers. In certain applications, it may be desirable to provide surround sound or other multi-channel capability in a vehicular automotive system, in conjunction with a closely spaced speaker arrangement such as described previously herein. For example, a van, SUV or other large vehicle may have a DVD system which allows digital audio-visual media to be presented to the passengers of the vehicle, with the sound potentially being played through the vehicle audio system. In other cases, it may be desirable to allow for extreme right and left directional sound, which may originate by the existence of left and right surround channels on the recorded medium, or simply by the presence of an extreme and intentional disparity in the relative volumes of the left and right channel. The mounting structure for the closely spaced speakers may take any of a wide variety of forms. In general, any mounting structure that provides adequate support for the closely spaced speakers (and possibly other components, including additional speakers, discrete electrical components, and/or printed circuit board(s)) and which forms a relatively narrow or constrained orifice for sound output from the closely spaced speakers may be utilized in the various embodiments as described herein. FIG. 23A, for example, is a diagram of a speaker mounting structure as may, for example, be used in connection with the speaker enclosure 1200 illustrated in FIGS. 12A-12D, or else in other arrangements. In FIG. 23A, speakers 1214′ and 1215′ (which are generally analogous to speakers 1214 and 1215 illustrated in FIG. 12A) are mounted on a baffle comprising a speaker mounting plate 1239 which, in this example, forms a top surface of sound ducts or channels associated with speakers 1214′ and 1215′, respectively. Along with the speaker mounting plate 1239, a sound reflecting plate 1238′, side plates 1230′, an optional center divider 1216′, and a back plate (not shown) generally define the sound ducts or channels which output sound from slots 1219a and 1219b. The baffle (speaker mounting plate 1239) serves to reduce interference between sound radiated from the front and rear of the speakers 1214′, 1215′. As indicated previously, with respect to, e.g., FIG. 1 compressed or expanded foam, or other sound-damping material, may be placed within portions of the sound ducts to help guide the sound output in the desired direction while reducing undesirable artifacts and acoustic interference. In certain applications, it is preferred that the other interior surfaces of top plate 1239, bottom plate 1238′ or side plates 1230′ are constructed of a rigid and substantially non-resonant material such as molded or high-impact plastic, pressed steel, aluminum, ceramics, and the like, or composite materials such as mica- or glass-reinforced plastic. The top plate 1239, bottom plate 1238′ and side plates 1230′ are preferably thin to minimize the space needed for the speaker unit assembly 2300. Likewise, the center divider 1216′, if provide, may also be constructed of a rigid and substantially non-resonant material. The rigid and substantially non-resonant interior surfaces of the sound ducts or channels are helpful in propagating the acoustic waves generated by speakers 1214′, 1215′ through the ducts or channels and out of output slots 1219a and 1219b while minimizing losses due to absorption, but may also in some cases cause undesirable interference, cancellation, standing waves, or acoustic artifacts. The embodiment illustrated in FIG. 19A may mitigate these potential problems. FIG. 19A is a cutaway top view diagram of a speaker mounting structure, similar in certain respects to FIG. 12B. As shown in FIG. 19A, sound-damping material 1912 is extended to the front 1932 of the speaker mounting structure 1901, thereby forming sound ducts 1959, 1960 associated with each of the two speakers 1914, 1915. FIG. 19B shows the general dimensions of sound duct 1959 or 1960, with portions of the speaker mounting plate 1939 and sound reflecting plate 1938 defining two or 1960 being defined by the edge of the sound-damping material 1912 (shown in FIG. 19A). An opening in the speaker mounting plate 1939 (i.e., baffle) permits placement of the speaker 1914 or 1915 thereon. In one aspect, the sound duct 1959 or 1960 effectively “turns” the sound output by the speaker 1914 or 1915 by 90° (in this example), so that the sound is carried to the output slot and released while retaining a sufficient degree of sound quality, and, similar to a number of other embodiments described herein, modifies the effective shape of the speaker output from an elliptical or circular radiator to a rectangular radiator. In addition, the total radiating surface area can be advantageously reduced, as compared to the radiating surface area of the speakers themselves, minimizing the space needed in the vehicle dash or other locations of the vehicle or other environment. Moreover, the aspect ratio of the output slot can be adjusted or tailored to modify the directional characteristic of the acoustic output in order to, for example, make the sound image broader along a particular axis, thus improving sound quality at off-axis listening positions. The sound duct(s) 1959, 1960 may, in alternative embodiments, be slightly or moderately ascending or descending, or else the passage or duct may be semi-curved, such that the direction of the sound output is modified. Also, in various embodiments, the output slot may flare outwards or else may have other variations in size, shape (e.g., may be ovoid), and uniformity. As illustrated in FIGS. 19A and 19B, the sound ducts 1959, 1960 may be of substantially the same width as the cones of the speakers 1914, 1915, and may provide a superior mechanism for transporting the acoustical output of the speakers 1914, 1915 through the output slots 1919, 1920, respectively, as compared, for example, with a rectangular duct having only hard and reflective surfaces. Variations in the size and shape of the sound ducts 1959, 1960, as noted above, may be made while still achieving superior or at least acceptable sound output quality. An example of another speaker unit 1100 with closely spaced speakers, shown in cutaway top view in FIG. 11, is similar in certain respects to FIG. 19, but the sound damping material 1119 is tapered towards the front of the speaker mounting structure 1104, thereby forming sound ducts 1106, 1116 associated with each of the two speakers 1107, 1117 which gradually widen towards the front of the speaker mounting structure 1104. Other variations in the shaping of the sound damping material 1119 are possible as well. Like the central partition 1216 (FIGS. 12A-2C) or 1216′ (FIG. 23A), the central strip or section 1913 of the sound-damping material 1912 shown in FIG. 19 (or the analogous portion of the sound damping material 1119 shown in FIG. 11) may help prevent interference between the acoustic output of the left and right speakers 1914, 1915, provided that the sound-damping material 1912 in the central strip or section 1913 is dense enough to effectively isolate the sound ducts 1959, 1960 from one another. The central strip of section 1913 of the sound-damping material 1912 may further provide the advantage of eliminating or lessening the severity of standing waves that could, in certain embodiments, develop due to the particular shape or nature of the sound ducts 1919, 1920, and the presence of a more sound-reflective central partition. The sound-damping material 1912 preferably has sufficient acoustic absorption so as to reduce or eliminate the possible buildup of standing waves. By eliminating a more reflective central partition (such as 1216 in FIGS. 12A-12C or 1216′ in FIG. 23B) and replacing it with a central strip or section 1913 of sound-damping material 1912, the effective width of the central strip or section 1913 can be effectively doubled (as compared to simply adding sound-damping material to either side of the central partition 1216 or 1216′), thus potentially improving its ability to counteract the buildup of standing waves. Moreover, the sound-damping material 1912 in its entirely preferable helps minimize the variation of sound output response with respect to frequency so that the output of speakers 1914, 1915 can be readily equalized by, e.g., any standard techniques, including analog or digital equalization. For example, cascaded filter sections may be employed to tailor the frequency response of the speakers 1914, 1915 in discrete frequency bands so as to provide a relatively uniform overall frequency response. FIG. 23B illustrates one particular embodiment of a speaker mounting structure in accordance with certain principles described with respect to FIGS. 19A and 19B. As illustrated in FIG. 23B, speakers 1914, 1915 may be disposed on a baffle comprising speaker mounting plate 1939 (which is a top plate in this example). A sound reflecting plate 1938 (the bottom plate in this example) is positioned in a generally parallel orientation with respect to the speaker mounting plate 1939, and is separated therefrom by a layer of sound-damping material 1912 such as compressed foam. Rigid side panels 1930, or alternatively struts or other rigid members along the sidewall regions and/or, if desired, within the sound-damping material 1912, may optionally be provided for mechanical support. The front of speaker mounting structure illustrated in FIG. 23B may be compared against that shown in FIG. 23A, which does not show sound-damping material extending substantially to the front of output slots 1219a, 1219b. A speaker system in accordance with principles and concepts as disclosed herein may include more than two speakers. Various embodiments, for example, utilize multiple speakers in each of the left and right channels, with the multiple speakers in each channel outputting sound through a common sound duct or channel and out an orifice (such as an aperture or slot). Examples of such embodiments are illustrated in FIGS. 17A-17C, 20, and 22. In the embodiment shown in FIGS. 17A and 17B, multiple (two in this example) speakers 1714a, 1714b are disposed in series along a sound duct 1759 on one side of the speaker mounting structure 1701, and, likewise, multiple (two in this example) speakers 1715a, 1715b are disposed in series along a sound duct 1760 on the other side of the speaker mounting structure 1701. In effect, each of the left and right audio channels has multiple speakers, which may provide advantages such as, for example, increased output capacity, different frequency ranges for different speakers, or other advantages. Similar to the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 19, sound-damping material 1712 such as compressed foam surrounds the rear contours of the speakers 1714a and 1715a furthest from the output slots 1719, 1720, and extends to the front 1732 of the speaker mounting structure 1701 so as to form left and right sound ducts 1759, 1760. The sound ducts 1759, 1760 are preferably (but not necessarily) of substantially uniform width, generally matching the width of speakers 1714a, 1714b and 1715a, 1715b. The speakers 1714a, 1714b, 1715a, 1715b may be of identical size and audio characteristics, or else, in alternative embodiments, may be of different sizes, shapes, and/or audio characteristics. FIG. 17B illustrates a cutaway side view of the speaker mounting structure 1701 shown in FIG. 17A, with speakers 1714a (or 1715a) and 1714b (or 1715b) shown in side profile. The speakers 1714a, 1714b, 1715a, 1715b are mounted upon a baffle comprising a speaker mounting surface 1739. The speaker mounting surface 1739 and a sound reflecting surface 1738, which are preferably rigid and substantially non-resonant in nature, define sound ducts 1759, 1760 and allow propagation of the acoustic output of speakers 1714a, 1714b, 1715a, 1715b through output slots 1719, 1720. The shape of the sound-damping material 1712, generally in this example following the rear contours of the furthest speakers 1714a, 1715a from the output slots 1719, 1720, tends to improve the quality of the output sound by preventing expansion of the sound waves in a rearward direction, and thereby reducing potential interference or other undesirable acoustic effects. While FIG. 17B shows an enclosure surrounding speakers 1714a, 1714b, 1715a, 1715b, such an enclosure is not necessary and can be omitted. In some situations, depending in part upon the size and shape of the sound ducts 1759, 1760 and the nature of the audio material, it may be possible for standing waves to develop within the sound ducts 1759, 1760 which adversely impact the quality of the audio output. The particular dimensions of the sound ducts 1759, 1760 and length, width, and/or thickness of the sound-damping material 1712 can be optimized by experimentation in order to yield the optimal sound quality for a given type of speakers 1714a, 1714b, 1715a, 1715b, a given audio track or type of audio material, compositions or materials used to form the speaker mounting structure (such as those used to form the rigid interior surfaces and/or the sound-damping material), and so on, by eliminating cross-modes and lengthwise modes associated with standing waves in the sound ducts 1759, 1760. FIG. 17C illustrates an example of preferred dimensions for the sound-damping material 1712′ where four speakers 1714a′, 1714b′, 1715a′, and 1715b′ are used in speaker assembly of the type generally illustrated in FIG. 17A. As shown in FIG. 17C, the amount of sound-damping material 1712′ that is placed to either side of a sound duct 1759′ or 1760′ may be approximately W/8, where W represents the outer width boundaries of the sound-damping material 1712′ for a given channel. With two channels, the sound-damping material 1712′ may be combined in the center portion between the two sound ducts 1759′, 1760′, yielding a collective width of approximately W/4, as illustrated in FIG. 17C. Similarly, the amount of sound-damping material 1712′ that is placed at the rear of each sound duct 1759′, 1760′ may be approximately L/5 to L/4, where L represents the outer length boundaries of the sound-damping material 1712′ for a given channel (assuming the sound-damping material 1712′ extends to the edge of slots 1719′, 1720′). The particular dimensions illustrated in FIG. 17C are simply representative of one example. In practice, it may be expected that good results with respect to sound quality may be obtained over ranges of different widths of sound-damping material 1712′ placed to either side of a sound duct 1759′ or 1760′ and to the rear of the further speakers 1714a′, 1714b′ from the slots 1719′, 1720′. Moreover, similar parameters may be applied, as appropriate, to embodiments having a single row of speakers such as the one shown in, e.g., FIG. 19A. Returning to FIGS. 17A and 17B, the thickness of the sound-damping material 1712 is preferably sufficient to fill the volume (except for the sound ducts) between the surface mounting plate 1739 and sound reflecting plate 1738 without gaps that might cause cross-mode interference or the creation of sound artifacts, and thus may generally be dictated by the distance of separation of the surface mounting plate 1739 and the sound reflecting plate 1738. Typically, the thickness of the sound-damping material 1712 might be in the range of, e.g., ½″ to 1″ thick, although the thickness may vary depending upon the size and shape of the relevant portions of the speaker mounting structure 1701. While the size and shape of the sound ducts 1759, 1760 and output slots 1719, 1720 may vary depending upon the particular design preferences for the vehicle sound system, there may be physical or practical limitations to how narrow the sound ducts 1759, 1760 or output slots 1719, 1720 may be made. Narrowing of the sound ducts 1759, 1760 or output slots 1719, 1720 may decrease the efficiency of the speakers (which may be compensated by larger speakers and/or increased drive power), and may cause audible noise from turbulence. Therefore, the narrowness of the sound duct or slot size may be limited by, among other things, impedance losses that cannot be made up by increased drive power and the onset of sound artifacts or noise caused by turbulence or nonlinear airflow. While the embodiment illustrated in FIGS. 17A-17C shows two speakers in series for each channel, the same principles may be extended to any number of speakers in series in each speaker channel. FIG. 20 is a cutaway top-view diagram of another speaker arrangement similar to FIG. 17A but adding an additional speaker. The layout of the speaker mounting structure 2001 shown in FIG. 20 is similar to that of FIG. 17A, with “rear” speakers 2014a, 2015a and “front” speakers 2014b, 2015b placed over left and right sound ducts 2059 and 2060 as illustrated. An additional speaker 2017, such as, e.g., a domed tweeter, is added between the left and right sound ducts 2059, 2060, and the sound-damping material 2012 (e.g., compressed or expanded foam) is preferably formed so as to define a central sound duct 2061, which in this example is relatively short. In the case where the additional speaker 2017 is a tweeter or else handles significant high frequency signal components, it is generally desirable to place the speaker 2017 as near to the output slot 2021 as possible. The additional speaker 2017 may have a relatively narrow output slot 2021, for example, 6-8 millimeters in height. Where available space is a concern, or where it is desired to achieve certain specific dimensions of sound-damping material surrounding the left and right sound ducts 2059, 2060, the sound ducts 2059, 2060 may be tapered slightly towards the sound output slots 2019, 2020 in order to accommodate the central sound duct 2061. In alternative embodiments, the sound ducts 2059, 2060 may not be tapered. The central sound duct 2061 may flare outwards as it extends towards the central output slot 2021 so as to provide a relatively broad directional characteristic. One potential advantage of using speaker output slots 2019, 2020, and 2021 (and similar configurations in other embodiments disclosed herein), is that the effective radiation sources of the speakers can be brought closer together, leading to a cleaner, smoother sound image both on and off axis, and reducing the potential for destructive interference or other undesirable sound distortion due to perceptible time delays between the left and right acoustic output. Moreover, in certain embodiments, the perceptible sound output may be stable and not fall off at relevant frequencies regardless of the listener's relative position along the narrower axis of the slot(s) 2019, 2020 and 2021 (or at least not until approximately 90 degrees off angle), such that the speaker system provides uniform and wide coverage of substantially all the listening area in a near omnidirectional manner. FIG. 21 is an oblique view diagram in general accordance with the speaker arrangement of FIG. 20, illustrating one possible embodiment of a speaker mounting structure associated therewith. As shown in FIG. 21, a baffle comprising a speaker mounting plate 2139 may define several openings for placement of various the speakers 2114a, 2114b, 2115a, 2115b (and optionally 2117). The speaker mounting plate 2139 may be physically attached to a sound reflecting plate 2138 by multiple struts 2185 placed at, e.g., the corners and/or along the sides of each of the speaker mounting plate 2139 and the sound reflecting plate 2138. Advantageously, a compressable sound-damping material 2112, such as foam, may be placed between the speaker mounting plate 2139 and the sound reflecting plate 2138 and compressed therebetween. To facilitate compression of the sound-damping material 2112, the struts 2185 may take the form of threaded bolts which may be screwed into threaded holes (not shown) aligned in the speaker mounting plate 2139 and sound reflecting plate 2138. Tightening the threaded bolts has the effect of compressing the sound-damping material 2112. As previously described, the sound-damping material 2112 may be used to form sound ducts for the speakers 2114a, 2114b, 2115a, 2115b, 2117 which terminate in sound output slots 2119, 2120, and 2121 as shown. A similar technique for constructing a speaker mounting structure may be applied to the various other embodiments described herein, including for example, those illustrated in FIGS. 12A-12B and 17A-17C, or others. FIG. 22 is an assembly diagram of a speaker unit 2201 utilizing a general speaker arrangement such as shown in FIG. 20. As illustrated in FIG. 22, the speaker unit 2201 includes a baffle comprising a speaker mounting structure 2288 which has several openings for placement of speakers 2214, 2215 (and optionally 2217). In this particular example, the speaker mounting structure 2288 has a speaker mounting plate around the periphery of which are walls surrounding the speakers 2214, 2215, 2217, but such walls may not be necessary or desired in other embodiments. A sound reflecting plate 2287 is configured to generally match the bottom dimensions of the speaker mounting structure 2288. Sound-damping material 2212, 2213 may be preformed in one or more pieces to define sound ducts for the various speakers 2214, 2215, 2217, and is preferably compressed or expanded between sound reflecting plate 2287 and the speaker mounting enclosure 2288. In this particular example, a speaker enclosure ceiling 2283 is adapted for placement atop the speaker mounting structure 2288, thereby forming a speaker enclosure. The speaker enclosure ceiling 2283 may have multiple holes through which, e.g., threaded bolts may be inserted for ultimate securing to the sound reflecting plate 2287, which may have threaded holes in matching alignment with the holes in the speaker enclosure ceiling 2283. As previously described, tightening of the threaded bolts may advantageously provide compression of the sound-damping material 2212, 2213. With the speaker unit 2201 of FIG. 22, or with other embodiments described herein, it may be desirable to package one or more speakers, sound processing electronics or components for the speakers, and, if desired, other electronics (such as a receiver, amplifiers, onboard computer, etc.) in a single discrete unit that may be conveniently installed in a vehicle as, e.g., a substitute for a vehicle's existing in-dash stereo unit. FIG. 24 is a diagram showing an example of a stereo unit 2400 adapted for convenient installation in a vehicle. In the example of FIG. 24, the stereo unit 2400 includes an enclosure 2401 housing two or more internal speakers (not shown) which radiate sound via output slots 2419 and 2420 (illustrated with speaker grills which may be added for aesthetic purposes). Internally, the stereo unit 2400 may contain, e.g., two speakers with foam-surrounded sound ducts similar to the arrangement illustrated in FIG. 19A and/or 23B. On any available space of a front panel 2439 of the stereo unit 2400 may be placed a display 2481 and various controls, buttons and/or knobs 2482 and 2483 which may be found on conventional in-dash stereo units. In addition to the speakers, the stereo unit 2400 may contain electronics such as a receiver, amplifier(s), equalizers, sound processing components, etc., to provide the functionality of an in-dash stereo unit. The enclosure 2401 of the stereo unit may be of appropriate dimension to fit within a standard (single or double) DIN slot or other similar or analogous space, to allow convenient substitution of a vehicle's existing stereo unit. The stereo unit 2400 may also have various electrical connections or ports (not shown) to allow electrical connection to external speakers or other electronic components in the vehicle. Additional details relating to closely spaced speaker configurations and sound processing relating thereto may be found in, e.g., U.S. application Ser. Nos. 10/339,357 and 10/074,604, and PCT Application Ser. No. PCT/US02/03880, each of which is assigned to the assignee of the present invention, and all of which are incorporated herein by reference as if set forth fully herein. It should be emphasized that, while various embodiments have been illustrated in the drawings with the speakers positioned or mounted on the apparent “top” of the speaker mounting assembly or speaker enclosure, the speaker mounting assembly may be placed in any desired orientation. Thus, where terms such as “top” and “bottom” or “left” and “right” are used herein, they are not meant to convey absolute orientation but rather relative orientation with respect to a reference frame that may be rotated or otherwise manipulated. The speaker mounting assembly may be placed in any suitable orientation such that, for example, the sound output slots are vertical rather than horizontal, or the speaker mounting surface is below the sound reflecting surface. Where speakers are placed in series such as shown, for example, in the embodiments illustrated in FIGS. 17A-17C, 20, and 21, interference between the speakers may potentially occur due to the fact that the “front” speakers (e.g., 1714b, 1715b) are closer to their respective output slots (e.g., 1719, 1720) than the “rear” speakers (e.g., 1714a, 1715a). As a result, sound from the rear speakers takes longer to propagate down the sound duct and emanate out of the output slot than with the front speakers. Because the acoustic output from the front and rear speakers are delayed relative to one another, the sound waves can interfere and lead to destructive cancellation of as much as 10 dB or possibly more, or can lead to other anomalies. In order to prevent the “delayed” output from the rear speakers causing destructive interference with the output from the front speakers or other undesirable effects, it may be desirable to add a delay to the drive signal feeding the front speakers, such that the sound output is synchronized relative to the output slot. In addition to delaying the signal to the forward speakers 1714b, 1715b, the power level for the rearward speakers 1714a, 1715a may be increased. FIG. 18 is a simplified diagram of a circuit 1800 that may be used in, e.g., the speaker arrangements of FIGS. 17A-17C or FIG. 20, wherein delays are used to synchronize sound output between the front and rear speakers relative to the output slots. As shown in FIG. 18, left and right channel audio signals 1811, 1812 are fed into a sound processor 1810, as described elsewhere with respect to, e.g., FIG. 14 or 29, and modified left and right channel audio signals 1848, 1849 are generated. The left channel audio signal 1848 is applied to the “rear” left speaker 1814a (via driver 1891) and, though a delay 1881, to the “front” left speaker 1814b (via driver 1892). Similarly, the right channel audio signal 1849 is applied to the “rear” right speaker 1815a (via driver 1893) and, through a delay 182, to the “front” right speaker 1815b (via driver 1984). If a tweeter 1817 (or other additional speaker) is provided, then the appropriate audio signal 1847 may be provided to the tweeter 1817 through a delay 1883 and driver 1895. The delays 1881, 1882, and 1883 may be derived from the distance between each front speaker 1814b, 1815b and its respective rear speaker 1814a, 1815a, given the known velocity of sound travel. For example, assuming the left and right channels are symmetrical in layout, the delays 1881, 1882 are preferably based upon the center-to-center distance of the rear speaker 1814a, 1815a to the front speaker 1814b, 1815b, divided by the velocity of sound (about 1116 feet per second). Analogously, the delay 1883 for the tweeter 1817 is preferably based upon the center-to-center distance of the tweeter 1817 to the front speakers 1814b, 1815b along the lengthwise axis of the sound ducts. The delays 1881, 1882, 1883 may take the form of any suitable electronic circuitry (either active or passive), and preferably have no impact on the content of the audio signals 1847, 1848, 1849, at least over the frequencies being audially reproduced by the speakers. While the example illustrated in FIG. 18 shows a particular system configuration, it will be appreciated that other variations may be made as well drawing upon similar principles. For example, rather than having five drivers 1891-1895, one for each speaker 1814a, 1814b, 1815a, 1815b, and 1817, fewer drivers (e.g., three) or more may be used, with, for example, a single driver being shared by two speakers (e.g., 1814a and 1814b). In one aspect, an automotive sound system is provided which encompasses a combination of speaker configuration, speaker placement, and sound processing to reduce or minimize the undesired sonic effects of the inevitable asymmetries between the listeners and speaker positions in a car or similar vehicle, and to provide more uniform sound for all the occupants. A pair of speakers, or two (or more) rows of speakers, are preferably placed close together and located in the front of the console or dashboard with their geometric center on, or as near as possible to, the central axis of symmetry of the vehicle. A sound processor acts to “spread” the sound image produced by the two closely spaced speakers by employing a cross-cancellation technique in which the cancellation signal is preferably derived from the difference between the left and right channels. The resulting difference signal is scaled, delayed (if necessary), and spectrally modified before being added to the left channel and, in opposite polarity, to the right channel. The pair of speakers may be placed on a common mounting surface, and/or in a common housing enclosure having a slot for allowing sound to emanate. Additional bass speakers may be added (in the doors, for example) to enhance bass sound reproduction. In various embodiments as described herein, improved sound quality results from creation of a sound image that has stability over a larger area than would otherwise be experienced with, e.g., speakers spaced far apart without comparable sound processing. Consequently, the audio product can be enjoyed with optimal or improved sound over a larger area, and by more listeners who are able to experience improved sound quality even when positioned elsewhere than the center of the speaker arrangement. Thus, for example, an automobile or vehicular sound system may be capable of providing quality sound to a greater number of listeners, not all of whom need to be positioned in the center of the speaker arrangement in order to enjoy the rendition of the particular audio product. It will be appreciated that a drive unit or speaker system having sound radiated through a slot or aperture can be useful with a single channel or speaker, as well as with multiple channels or speakers, even apart from the use of signal processing to, e.g., modify or improve the sound output of two closely spaced centrally located speakers. For example, one or more speakers may be located in a central slotted speaker enclosure or arrangement with or without added signal processing to produce a widened sound image or similar effects. Similarly, one or more speakers may be located in a slotted speaker enclosure or arrangement on the left and/or right sides of the vehicle, or in other locations (along the central axis or otherwise), in order to provide speaker outputs having a minimized output profile or minimized radiating surface area. A drive unit or speaker configured in such a manner may have improved visual appearance, take up less surface area, and/or provide an improved directional characteristic (which can be particularly important if the speaker is located at other than ear level). Another embodiment of a speaker system is illustrated in FIG. 25, which illustrates a top-view cross-sectional view of an array of speakers 2507 each having individual sound output slots 2506. The speaker system 2500 of FIG. 25, in one aspect, expands upon the basic arrangement depicted in FIG. 19A, by offering an arbitrary number of speakers 2507 arranged in a linear array. The speakers are separated by sound damping material 2519 which, in the manner described with respect to FIG. 19A and other similar embodiments herein, defines sound output slot(s) 2506 for directing the radiation of sound output by the speakers 2507. The speakers 2507 may be mounted to a baffle or other mounting surface as previously described herein. FIGS. 26A and 26B illustrate a potential application of the speaker array illustrated in FIG. 25. FIG. 26A shows a cross-sectional side view of a flatscreen display device 2600 (such as a flatscreen or plasma television, or a computer monitor), while FIG>26B shows a front view thereof. The display device 2600 has a housing 2602 with a screen 2621, which are collectively mounted on a stand 2605. A speaker array comprised of speakers 2607 are arranged linearly along the topside of the display device housing 2602, facing upwards, with their respective output slots 2606 forming an elongate output slot. Similarly, smaller speaker arrays comprised of speakers 2617 are arranged linearly along the bottom side of the display device housing 2602, facing downwards, with their respective output slots 2616 forming elongate output slots on either side of the stand 2605. The illustrated speaker arrangement requires significantly less surface area than a conventional arrangement of forward-facing speakers, and the cones of the speakers 2607, 2617 may be advantageously concealed behind the body of the housing 202, as illustrated, thus keeping the depth of the display device 2600 minimal. The output slots 2606, 2616 may be covered with, e.g., a grille or perforated mesh to conceal their presence. Sound processing may optionally be added to the signals provided to speakers 2607, 2617 in the various speaker arrays, to account for the different speaker positions. Of course, the number of speakers 2607, 2617 and the relative positions of the speaker arrays may be varied according to the needs of a particular design. For example, the speaker arrays could be located along the left and right sides of the display device housing 1602. Moreover, the speakers 2607 and/or 2617 could be arranged as speaker pairs, similar to the inline speaker unit depicted in FIG. 15, at the expense of perhaps increased height or vertical dimension of the display device housing 2602. However, such an arrangement could potentially double the number of speakers available for use. FIG. 27 illustrates another embodiment, in an oblique view, of a speaker unit 2700 having an array of speakers 2707 and sound output slot(s). In FIG. 27, speakers 2707 form a linear array as generally described with respect to FIG. 25, with the addition of a high frequency speaker (e.g., tweeter) 2715 which is centrally located in the speaker array. A contoured region of sound damping material 2719 (compressed foam or other suitable material) surrounds the periphery of the tweeter 2715, and may also be used (although not shown) to surround the other speakers 2707 in a similar manner, such as previously described with respect to FIG. 25. An elongate output slot 2705 radiates the sound from the various speakers 2707, 2715, according to similar principles as previously described herein with respect to a number of other embodiments. In any of the foregoing embodiments, the audio product from which the various audio source signals are derived, before distribution to the various automobile speakers or other system components as described herein, may comprise any audio work of any nature, such as, for example, a musical piece, a soundtrack to an audio-visual work (such as a DVD or other digitally recorded medium), or any other source or content having an audio component. The audio product may be read from a recorded medium, such as, e.g., a cassette, compact disc, CD-ROM, or DVD, or else may be received wirelessly, in any available format, from a broadcast or point-to-point transmission. The audio product preferably has at least left channel and right channel information (whether or not encoded), but may also include additional channels and may, for example, be encoded in a surround sound or other multi-channel format, such as Dolby-AC3, DTS, DVD-Audio, etc. The audio product may also comprise digital files stored, temporarily or permanently, in any format used for audio playback, such as, for example, an MP3 format or a digital multi-media format. The various embodiments described herein can be implemented using either digital or analog techniques, or any combination thereof. The term “circuit” as used herein is meant broadly to encompass analog components, discrete digital components, microprocessor-based or digital signal processing (DSP), or any combination thereof. The invention is not to be limited by the particular manner in which the operations of the various sound processing embodiments are carried out. While examples have been provided herein of certain preferred or exemplary sound processing characteristics, it will be understood that the particular characteristics of any of the system components may vary depending on the particular implementation, speaker type, relative speaker spacing, environmental conditions, and other such factors. Therefore, any specific characteristics provided herein are meant to be illustrative and not limiting. Moreover, certain components, such as the sound processor described herein with respect to various embodiments, may be programmable so as to allow tailoring to suit individual sound taste. While certain system components are described as being “connected” to one another, it should be understood that such language encompasses any type of communication or transference of data, whether or not the components are actually physically connected to one another, or else whether intervening elements are present. It will be understood that various additional circuit or system components may be added without departing from teachings provided herein. In any of the embodiments described herein, the speakers utilized in the sound system may be passive or active in nature (i.e., with built-in or on-board amplification capability). The various audio channels may be individually amplified, level-shifted, boosted, or otherwise conditioned appropriately for each individual speaker or pair of speakers. While preferred embodiments of the invention have been described herein, many variations are possible which remain within the concept and scope of the invention. Such variations would become clear to one of ordinary skill in the art after inspection of the specification and the drawings. The invention therefore is not to be restricted except within the spirit and scope of any appended claims. | <SOH> BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION <EOH>1. Field of the Invention The field of the present invention relates to sound reproduction and, more specifically, to speaker configurations and enclosures, and related sound processing. 2. Background Sound reproduction systems incorporating speakers are commonplace in homes, theaters, automobiles, places of entertainment, and elsewhere. The number, size, quality, characteristics, and arrangement of speakers affect sound quality in virtually any listening environment. However, many environments have constraints which limit the number, size, or type of speakers which can be used, and their arrangement. These constraints may be technical, mechanical, or aesthetic in nature. For example, with respect to consumer products such as computers and televisions, there may be limited space to physically attach or integrate speakers. A common practice is to provide a set of external speakers separate from the enclosure of the computer, television, or other product, allowing the user the ability to place the speakers widely apart and thus achieve a true stereo effect. However, loose speakers take up space on a desk or table, and require unsightly or inconvenient electrical connections to the computer, television, or other product. Moreover, use of such additional external speakers generally requires the consumer to purchase them separately from the main product itself, thus increasing cost. In addition, space restrictions on a desk or table may limit the possible locations of speakers, and/or their number, size and orientation, and thus adversely affect sound quality including the desired stereo effect. For consumer items such as laptop computers, the option of utilizing external speakers to improve sound quality may not be possible. Confined listening areas also create constraints which can impact sound quality, and can often unsuitable for optimal sound reproduction. For example, the listening space of an automobile creates particular challenges and problems for quality sound reproduction. These problems partially result from the unique sound environment of the automobile when compared with a good listening room. Among the disadvantages are: Much smaller internal volume resulting in a reduced reverberation time and lower modal density at low frequencies resulting in a lack of ambience and an uneven bass response. The proximity of highly reflective surfaces (such as the windows) to highly absorptive areas such as the upholstery or the occupants clothing leads to a great variability with frequency and head position of the direct to indirect sound arriving at the listener. Consequently even small changes in head or seating position can cause significant and undesirable changes in the timbral quality of the music. The listening positions are necessarily restricted to the seating positions provided (usually 4 or 5) and all of these are very asymmetrically placed with respect to the speaker positions. Space is always at a premium within a car interior and as a result the speakers are often placed in physically convenient positions, that are nevertheless very poor from an acoustic point of view, such as the foot wells and the bottom of the front and rear side doors. As a result the listener's head is always much closer to either the left or right speaker leading directly large inter-channel time differences and different sound levels due to the 1/r law. Additionally, the angles between the axes from the listeners ears to the axes of symmetry of the left and right speakers is quite different for each occupant. The perceived spectral balance is different for each channel due to the directional characteristics of the drive units. Masking of one or more speakers by the occupants clothes or legs can often result in the attenuation of the mid- and high-frequencies by as much as 10 dB. The conditions noted above tend to adversely impact the ability to produce high quality stereo reproduction, which ideally has the following attributes: A believable and stable image or soundstage resulting from the listener being nearly equidistant from the speakers reproducing the left and right channels and a sufficiently high ratio of direct-to-indirect sound at the listener's ears. A smooth timbral balance at all the listening positions. A sense of ambience resulting from a uniform soundfield. Some features are provided in automobile audio systems which can partially mitigate the aforementioned problems. For example, an occupant can manually adjust the sound balance to increase the proportional volume to the left or right speakers. Some automobile audio systems have a “driver mode” button which makes the sound optimal for the driver. However, because different listening axes exist for left and right occupants, an adjustment to the balance that satisfies the occupant (e.g., driver) on one side of the automobile will usually make the sound worse for the occupant seated on the other side of the automobile. Moreover, balance adjustment requires manual adjustment by one of the occupants, and it is generally desirable in an automobile to minimize user intervention. Another modification made to some automobile audio systems is to provide a center speaker, which reduces the image instability that occurs when the listener is closer to either the left or right speaker when both are reproducing the same mono signal, with the intention of producing a central sound image. Yet another possible approach is adding more speakers in a greater variety of positions (e.g., at the seat tops). While such techniques can sometimes provide a more pleasing effect, they cannot provide stable imaging as the problems associated with asymmetry described above still remain. The considerable additional cost of such design approaches is usually undesirable in markets such as the highly cost sensitive and competitive automotive industry. Moreover, as previously noted, space is usually at a premium in the automobile interior, and optimal speaker positions are limited. The aforementioned problems are not limited to sound systems designed for automobiles, but may exist in other confined spaces as well. Even in larger spaces, it may be difficult to achieve ideal sound reproduction due to constraints on where speakers may be located, or other considerations. Freestanding speakers can take up valuable room space, while speakers embedded in walls and ceilings require a large cross-sectional areas and may be aesthetically displeasing. More generally, in many environments it is desirable to minimize the visual impact of speakers in a sound reproduction system. One technique, for example, is to color or otherwise decorate the protective speaker faceplate to match the surrounding wall or object in which the speaker in placed, or to hide speakers behind an artificial painting. These types of solutions may not be satisfactory for all consumers, and may limit the possibilities for optimal speaker placement as well. It would therefore be advantageous to provide an improved sound reproduction and/or speaker system which overcomes the foregoing problems, and/or provides other benefits and advantages. | <SOH> SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION <EOH>Certain embodiments disclosed herein are generally directed, in one aspect, to a sound reproduction system having a speaker configuration and/or enclosure which provides a relatively narrow sound output region in relation to the size of the speaker face(s) utilized in the sound reproduction system. In some embodiments, a reflecting surface disposed immediately in front of the face of the speaker cone redirects the sound output, through a sound duct or otherwise, and causes the sound to emanate from a slot or other aperture. Single or multiple speaker embodiments are possible, with a single or multiple slots or other apertures. Sound-damping material may be added to define a sound duct, preferably around the periphery of the speaker cone(s), so as to influence the directivity of the sound waves towards the output slot or aperture, and/or to reduce potentially interference. Further embodiments, variations and enhancements are also disclosed herein. | 20040908 | 20081007 | 20050616 | 99926.0 | 1 | ENSEY, BRIAN | NARROW PROFILE SPEAKER CONFIGURATIONS AND SYSTEMS | UNDISCOUNTED | 1 | CONT-ACCEPTED | 2,004 |
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10,937,873 | ACCEPTED | Enhanced security design for cryptography in mobile communication systems | A basic idea according to the invention is to enhance or update the basic cryptographic security algorithms by an algorithm-specific modification of the security key information generated in the normal key agreement procedure of the mobile communication system. For communication with the mobile terminal, the network side normally selects an enhanced version of one of the basic cryptographic security algorithms supported by the mobile, and transmits information representative of the selected algorithm to the mobile terminal. The basic security key resulting from the key agreement procedure (AKA, 10) between the mobile terminal and the network is then modified (22) in dependence on the selected algorithm to generate an algorithm-specific security key. The basic security algorithm (24) is then applied with this algorithm-specific security key as key input to enhance security for protected communication in the mobile communications network. | 1. A method of enhancing security for protected communication based on a key agreement procedure in a mobile communications network serving a mobile terminal having at least one basic cryptographic security algorithm, said method comprising the steps of: selecting an enhanced version of a basic cryptographic security algorithm for communication between the mobile terminal and the network side; modifying a basic security key resulting from the key agreement procedure in dependence on information representative of the selected algorithm to generate an algorithm-specific security key; applying the basic cryptographic security algorithm with the algorithm-specific security key as key input to enhance security for protected communication in said mobile communications network. 2. The method of claim 1, wherein said step of selecting an enhanced version of a basic cryptographic security algorithm is performed on the network side, and said method further comprises the step of transmitting information representative of the selected algorithm to the mobile terminal. 3. The method of claim 1, wherein said step of selecting an enhanced version of a basic cryptographic security algorithm is based on an agreement between said mobile terminal and said network. 4. The method of claim 1, wherein said steps of modifying a basic security key and applying the basic cryptographic security algorithm with the algorithm-specific key as key input are performed both on the network side and at the mobile terminal. 5. The method of claim 1, wherein the basic security algorithm together with the algorithm-specific modification of said basic security key correspond to the enhanced version of the security algorithm. 6. The method of claim 1, wherein said mobile terminal modifies the basic security key resulting from the key agreement procedure in dependence on said information representative of the selected algorithm, and forwards the modified security key to a cryptographic engine for the basic security algorithm in said mobile terminal. 7. The method of claim 1, wherein said information representative of the selected algorithm is an algorithm identifier identifying the selected enhanced version of the security algorithm. 8. The method of claim 1, wherein said step of selecting an enhanced version of the security algorithm is based on a list of supported algorithms from the mobile terminal and a list of algorithms allowed by the network. 9. The method of claim 1, wherein said security algorithms are configured for at least one of data confidentiality, data integrity and authentication. 10. The method of claim 9, wherein said security algorithms are configured for encrypted communication in said mobile communications network. 11. The method of claim 1, further comprising the steps of: said network side embedding replay protection information into a random challenge (RAND) used for authentication and key agreement with the mobile terminal; said mobile terminal extracting said replay protection information from said random challenge; and said mobile terminal performing a replay protection check based on the extracted replay protection information. 12. The method of claim 11, wherein said replay protection information is counter-based or time-based. 13. The method of claim 1, further comprising the steps of: said network side generating key-dependent authentication information at least partly based on a secret key shared between the mobile terminal and the network side; said network side embedding said key-dependent authentication information into the random challenge (RAND) used for authentication and key agreement with the mobile terminal; said mobile terminal extracting said key-dependent authentication information from said random challenge; and said mobile terminal checking said key-dependent authentication information at least partly based on said shared secret key to verify network authenticity. 14. The method of claim 13, wherein said steps of generating key-dependent authentication information and checking said key-dependent authentication information are performed based at least partly on a random value initiated from the network side and a key locally derived from said shared secret key, said random value being embedded into said random challenge (RAND) together with said key-dependent authentication information. 15. The method of claim 13, wherein said steps of generating key-dependent authentication information and checking said key-dependent authentication information are performed based at least partly on said shared secret key and at least one information item, said at least one information item being embedded into said random challenge (RAND) together with said key-dependent authentication information, thereby integrity protecting said at least one information item. 16. The method of claim 15, wherein said at least one information item includes replay protection information. 17. The method of claim 15, wherein said step of selecting an enhanced version of the security algorithm is performed by a visited network, said at least one information item includes information on security algorithms allowed by a home network of the mobile terminal, and said mobile terminal checks whether the security algorithm selected by the visited network is allowed by the home network. 18. The method of claim 1, wherein said step of modifying a basic security key is performed based on a software-implemented cryptographic modify function responsive to the basic security key and information representative of the selected algorithm. 19. An arrangement for enhancing security for protected communication based on a key agreement procedure in a mobile communications network serving a mobile terminal having at least one basic security algorithm, said arrangement comprising: means for selecting an enhanced version of a basic cryptographic security algorithm for communication between the mobile terminal and the network side; means for modifying a basic security key resulting from the key agreement procedure in dependence on information representative of the selected algorithm to generate an algorithm-specific security key; and means for applying the basic cryptographic security algorithm with the algorithm-specific security key as key input to enhance security for protected communication in said mobile communications network. 20. The arrangement of claim 19, wherein said selecting means comprises means for selecting, on the network side, said enhanced version of a basic cryptographic security algorithm for communication with the mobile terminal, and said arrangement further comprises means for transmitting information representative of the selected algorithm to the mobile terminal. 21. The arrangement of claim 19, wherein said selecting means comprises means for negotiating between said mobile terminal and said network to select an enhanced version of a basic cryptographic security algorithm. 22. The arrangement of claim 19, wherein said means for modifying a basic security key and said means for applying the basic cryptographic security algorithm with the algorithm-specific security key as key input are implemented both on the network side and at the mobile terminal. 23. The arrangement of claim 19, wherein the basic security algorithm together with the algorithm-specific modification of said basic security key correspond to the enhanced version of the security algorithm. 24. The arrangement of claim 19, wherein said mobile terminal is operable for modifying the basic security key resulting from the key agreement procedure in dependence on the information representative of the selected algorithm, and for forwarding the modified security key to a cryptographic engine for the basic security algorithm. 25. The arrangement of claim 19, wherein said means for selecting an enhanced version of the security algorithm operates based on a list of supported algorithms from the mobile terminal and a list of algorithms allowed by the network. 26. The arrangement of claim 20, wherein a network node is operable for selecting an enhanced version of a basic security algorithm and modifying the security key on the network side, and for communicating information representative of the selected algorithm to the mobile terminal. 27. The arrangement of claim 20, wherein a first network node is operable for calculating, for each of a plurality of cryptographic security algorithms, an algorithm-specific security key and for transferring the calculated set of algorithm-specific security keys to a second network node, said second network node being operable for selecting an enhanced version of a basic security algorithm and for extracting a security key from said set of algorithm-specific security keys. 28. The arrangement of claim 19, wherein said security algorithms are configured for encrypted communication in said mobile communications network. 29. The arrangement of claim 19, further comprising: means for embedding, on the network side, replay protection information into a random challenge (RAND) used for authentication and key agreement with the mobile terminal; means for extracting, at said mobile terminal, said replay protection information from said random challenge; and means for performing, at said mobile terminal, a replay protection check based on the extracted replay protection information. 30. The arrangement of claim 19, further comprising: means for generating, on the network side, key-dependent authentication information at least partly based on a secret key shared between the mobile terminal and the network side; means for embedding, on the network side, said key-dependent authentication information into the random challenge (RAND) used for authentication and key agreement with the mobile terminal; means for extracting, at said mobile terminal, said key-dependent authentication information from said random challenge; and means for checking, at said mobile terminal, said key-dependent authentication information at least partly based on said shared secret key to verify network authenticity. 31. The arrangement of claim 19, wherein said means for modifying a basic security key is provided as a software upgrade. 32. A mobile terminal for operation in a mobile communications network, said mobile terminal comprising: authentication and key agreement (AKA) functionality; an engine for a basic cryptographic security algorithm; means for modifying a basic security key from said AKA functionality in response to information representative of a selected cryptographic security algorithm to generate an algorithm-specific security key for input to said basic cryptographic security algorithm engine to enhance security for protected communication in said mobile communications network. 33. The mobile terminal of claim 32, wherein the selected security algorithm is an enhanced version of the basic cryptographic security algorithm, and the enhanced version of the basic security algorithm is selected from the network side, and said mobile terminal is operable for receiving information representative of the selected algorithm from the network side. 34. The mobile terminal of claim 32, wherein the basic cryptographic security algorithm together with the modification of said basic security key into an algorithm-specific security key correspond to an improved cryptographic security algorithm. 35. The mobile terminal of claim 32, wherein said means for modifying a basic security key is provided as a software upgrade in the mobile terminal. 36. A network node for operation in a mobile communications network that supports at least one basic cryptographic security algorithm, said network node comprising: means for deriving an algorithm-specific security key corresponding to an enhanced version of the basic cryptographic security algorithm for input to the basic cryptographic security algorithm to enhance security for protected communication in said mobile communications network. 37. The network node of claim 36, further comprising means for selecting said enhanced version of a basic cryptographic security algorithm for protected communication with a mobile terminal. 38. The network node of claim 37, wherein said means for deriving an algorithm-specific security key comprises means for modifying a basic security key resulting from a key agreement procedure in said mobile communications network in dependence on information representative of the selected algorithm. 39. The network node of claim 38, wherein said means for modifying a basic security key is provided as a software upgrade in the network node. 40. The network node of claim 36, wherein said means for deriving an algorithm-specific security key comprises means for selecting a security key from a pre-calculated set of algorithm-specific security keys corresponding to a plurality of security algorithms. 41. The network node of claim 37, further comprising means for communicating algorithm-specific information corresponding to the selected algorithm to the mobile terminal. | TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention generally relates to cryptographic issues in communication systems, and more particularly to security enhancements for GSM (Global System for Mobile communication), UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunications System) and similar communication systems. BACKGROUND In mobile communications, e.g. according to the GSM or UMTS standard, security is of utmost importance. This is very much related to the increased use of mobile communications in business relations and for private communication. It is now known that for example GSM suffers from security problems. As recently described in reference [1], it is possible to retrieve the encryption key by breaking the A5/2 cryptographic algorithm. There are three basic algorithm choices for circuit switched data, A5/1, A5/2, A5/3 and three basic algorithms for packet data, GEA1, GEA2 and GEA3. It should however be noted that there are also stronger 128-bit algorithms denoted A5/4 and GEA4. The terminal signals its capabilities, in particular the set of crypto algorithms it supports, to the network. The network then selects which crypto algorithm to use. Note that this signaling is unprotected. Thus the terminal has no chance to detect if and when an attacker is signaling that it should use A5/2 and that this information originates from a legitimate operator. Generally, there are at least three types of attacks. The first type involves an attacker that intercepts and decrypts traffic when the system is using the broken A5/2 algorithm. The second type of attack comprises interception of traffic associated with the AKA procedure to record traffic data and the RAND value that is used. Later, a false base station can make the mobile terminal execute an AKA procedure using the previously recorded RAND and then encrypt the traffic using the A5/2 algorithm, which enables the attacker to retrieve the crypto key Kc. Due to the simple dependence on RAND this key, Kc, will be the same key as was used to protect the recorded traffic. The third type of attack involves an active man-in-the-middle forcing the terminal to use the A5/2 algorithm, thereby enabling calculation of the crypto key. The UMTS standard advises methods that overcome most of these problems. However, a scenario is foreseen in which GSM terminals will be used during a considerable period of time until UMTS terminals have become property of the great majority of users. In fact, many advanced services will be available on GSM phones and users may be reluctant to exchange their phones until at a later time. In addition, while UMTS has countermeasures that make it resistant to these attacks, there is of course a worry that future advances in crypto-analysis discover that similar problems exist also there and/or in other communication systems. Moreover, there could be security problems involved when roaming between different types of networks, such as GSM and UMTS networks. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention overcomes these and other drawbacks of the prior art arrangements. It is a general object of the present invention to provide an enhanced security design for communication systems. In particular, it is an object of the invention to provide security enhancements for encrypted communication that is based on key agreements in mobile communication systems such as GSM and UMTS. It is a special object to improve key management for GSM and UMTS to limit the impact of the breaking of A5/2 and future attacks on other algorithms. It has been recognized that a main flaw in the prior art security designs is that although the cryptographic security key depends on some random challenge, the same key is used independent of the actual security algorithm. A basic idea according to the invention is to enhance or update the basic cryptographic security algorithms by an algorithm-specific modification of the security key generated in the normal key agreement procedure of the mobile communication system. For communication between the mobile terminal and the network side, an enhanced version of one of the basic cryptographic security algorithms supported by the mobile is normally selected, either by the network side or based on a mutual agreement between the mobile and the network side. The basic security key resulting from the key agreement procedure between the mobile terminal and the network is then modified in dependence on information representative of the selected algorithm to generate an algorithm-specific security key. The basic security algorithm is finally applied with the algorithm-specific security key as key input to enhance security for protected communication in the mobile communications network. As mentioned, the algorithm selection may be performed on the network side, in which case the network side transmits information representative of the selected algorithm to the mobile terminal. This solution is for example consistent with GSM of today, where the A5/1 to A5/3 algorithms are selected by the network. Alternatively, however, especially for other communication systems, the selection of enhanced security algorithm according to the invention may, if desired, be based on an agreement between the mobile terminal and the network side, e.g. performed by means of a handshake procedure, answer-offer or similar negotiation protocol. Preferably, the original hardware-implemented algorithms remain the same (at least in the mobile terminal), and for each original algorithm that needs security enhancement, an updated (virtual) security algorithm such as an enhanced ciphering/crypto algorithm is defined based on the original algorithm together with the algorithm-specific key modification. The key modification is typically realized by a key-modifying function, which processes the input key based on an algorithm identifier or similar information representative of the selected algorithm and perhaps some additional data to generate a modified key, which is forwarded to the original security algorithm. If it is desirable to support not only the enhanced versions of the security algorithms but also maintain support for the basic algorithms, e.g. for interoperability purposes, the algorithm identifier has to be able to distinguish between the original basic security algorithms and the enhanced security algorithms. In practice, the basic solution only requires software updates in the terminals and/or in the network system. In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the problem is basically solved by modifying the terminals and letting them signal that they (only) support updated enhanced versions of the original basic algorithms. Standardization efforts can be kept to a minimum, since only the modifying function and the algorithm identifiers need to be standardized. On the network side, the algorithm selection, key modification and cryptographic security processing such as ciphering may be implemented in a single node, or distributed over several nodes. Often, algorithm selection and key modification is implemented in the same node. Alternatively, however, the algorithm selection and key modification may be distributed over more than one network node if desired. For example, one node may calculate algorithm-specific keys for a whole set of security algorithms and transfer the keys to another node, which then selects an enhanced version of a security algorithm and extracts or derives the appropriate key from the received set of keys. Depending on the system implementation, the actual ciphering or other security processing may be performed in the same node in which the key was derived or in a separate node. The invention also provides support for replay protection, basic network authentication and/or secure algorithm selection, preferably based on encoding or embedding information into existing AKA information such as the random challenge used in the AKA procedure with the mobile terminal. Network authentication is preferably accomplished by embedding key-dependent authentication information such as a MAC (Message Authentication Code) that can be verified by the mobile terminal. By calculating the MAC over replay protection information and/or information on the algorithms allowed by the home network, this information will receive some integrity protection, resulting in secure replay protection and/or secure algorithm selection. Although the currently most urgent problem concerns broken GSM algorithms, it is clear that the key modification is useful not only in GSM, but also in UMTS, CDMA or future generation systems, to proactively ensure that similar (perhaps yet undiscovered) problems will not show up later, since the key derivation there is currently also algorithm-independent. In effect, the invention is applicable in various communications systems, e.g. including GSM/GPRS, W-LAN (Wireless Local Area Network), UMTS and IMS (IP Multimedia Subsystem) systems. The invention thus provides a remedy to a basic security design flaw in e.g. the GSM/UMTS AKA procedures. The proposed solution fits nicely into the existing protocol framework and has limited implementation consequences which makes a rapid deployment possible. The invention offers the following advantages: Efficient solution to a basic security design flaw; It is sufficient to modify the key, while allowing the original algorithms implemented in hardware to remain the same. Minimal standardization effort; Fits nicely into the existing protocol framework; and Limited implementation consequences, which makes a rapid deployment possible. Other advantages offered by the present invention will be appreciated upon reading of the below description of the embodiments of the invention. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The invention, together with further objects and advantages thereof, will be best understood by reference to the following description taken together with the accompanying drawings, in which: FIG. 1 is a schematic block diagram illustrating a basic solution according to an exemplary, preferred embodiment of the invention with an overall algorithm defined by a algorithm-specific key modification in combination with an original basic crypto algorithm; FIG. 2 is a schematic flow diagram of a method for enhancing security for protected communication in a mobile communications system according to a preferred embodiment of the invention; FIG. 3 is a schematic basic signal diagram according to an exemplary, preferred embodiment of the invention; FIG. 4 is a schematic block diagram illustrating relevant parts of a mobile terminal according to an exemplary embodiment of the invention, implementing an algorithm-specific key modification; FIG. 5 illustrates an exemplary network architecture, illustrating the involved nodes for different types of communication systems; FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram illustrating an overview of the enhanced cipher mode setup and key modification procedure according to a specific, exemplary embodiment of the invention; and FIG. 7 is a schematic basic signal diagram according to a further exemplary, preferred embodiment of the invention, including security algorithm enhancements with integrated replay protection and network authentication. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION It may be useful to begin with a brief analysis of the basic security flaws in GSM. One flaw in the present design is that the key used for all algorithms is derived in the same way independent of the ciphering algorithm to be used. If this hadn't been the case, breaking of A5/2 would have meant just that, and the type 2 and 3 attacks mentioned in the background section could not have been used to intercept traffic protected with other algorithms. Furthermore the seriousness of the design error is increased by the fact that the signaling is unprotected (there is no network authentication and consequently no integrity or replay protection). As mentioned, this is corrected in UMTS. It might seem that improving the security of GSM to that of UMTS will fix the problems. However, this requires modifications to AuC (Authentication Center), base stations, terminals and SIM (Subscriber Identity Module) cards, and this would be a very costly way of solving the problems. The invention on the other hand provides a remedy to this type of security flaws, primarily based on algorithm-specific modification of the AKA keying material. With reference to FIG. 1, it can be seen that the keying material provided by the standard AKA procedure 10 is used as input to an enhanced security algorithm 20, which is formed by a key modification 22 in combination with an original security algorithm 24. In order to ensure algorithm-dependent keying material as output from the modify unit, information representing or otherwise identifying a selected algorithm is applied as input to the modify unit. Although the invention does not increase the security of underlying basic algorithms as such, the key material is not so useful for attacks on any of the other algorithms. The key modification is normally performed by a cryptographic modify function, which at least should be a one-way function and preferably a pseudo-random function. For example, the cryptographic modify function may be implemented as a cryptographic hash function. Other AKA-related information, such as RAND and RES from the AKA procedure, may optionally be introduced to make pre-calculation attacks infeasible, and optional context information may also be introduced if other types of bidding-down attacks can be identified. The security processing of the security algorithms is typically related to data confidentiality and ciphering, but may alternatively be concerned with data integrity and/or authentication. The key modification can be regarded as an algorithm pre-processing, but can also be seen as an AKA post-processing, in which the output key from the standard AKA procedure is post-processed to produce an algorithm-dependent key. This is merely a matter of definition. FIG. 2 is a schematic flow diagram of a method for enhancing security for protected communication in a mobile communications system according to a preferred embodiment of the invention. In step S1, a key agreement procedure, usually as part of a complete AKA procedure involving also authentication of the mobile terminal, is performed. In step S2, an enhanced version or upgrade of one of the basic security algorithms is selected, on the network side or based on a mutual agreement between the mobile terminal and the network side. As previously indicated, the enhanced security algorithms are often security-enhanced ciphering/crypto algorithms, although other types of security processing may be of interest. If the algorithm is selected on the network side, information representative of the selected algorithm is transmitted from the network side to the mobile terminal. In this case, if the mobile is in the home network, the algorithm selection is usually made by the home network. If the mobile roams in a visited network, the visited network usually makes the algorithm selection according to some predetermined policy. The selection made by the visited network may finally be checked against a security policy of the home network such that the selected algorithm is accepted by the home network. Alternatively, a negotiation between the mobile terminal and the network side is performed to decide which security algorithm to use, e.g. by means of a handshake procedure. Anyway, there is finally some agreement on which security algorithm to use for protected communication with the mobile terminal. The particular order in which the algorithm agreement and the key agreement is performed is usually not critical, although it may be advantageous to perform the algorithm agreement after successful authentication of the mobile terminal. In step S3, key information, typically a basic security key, from the key agreement procedure of step S1 is modified to generate algorithm-specific key information. In step S4, the corresponding basic security algorithm is then applied with the modified and algorithm-specific key information as key input. By making the security key information algorithm-specific or algorithm-dependent, the security for the protected communication between the network and the mobile terminal is enhanced. The algorithm-specific key modification and the use of the modified key information is preferably implemented in the mobile terminal as well as on the network side, but at least on the terminal side. Considering the great number of mobile terminals that may be affected by a broken security algorithm, it may be very advantageous to implement the key modification in software, and simply perform a software upgrade of the terminals. This means that the original hardware-implemented algorithms may remain the same, significantly limiting the implementational consequences. The key modification is typically realized by a software-implemented key-modifying function such as a one-way cryptographic hash function, which processes the input key based on an algorithm identifier and perhaps some additional data to generate a modified key, which is subsequently forwarded to the original security algorithm. Similarly, the relevant network node or nodes may be updated by means of software upgrades. Basically, the invention suggest a modification of the keying material produced in standard AKA procedures, such as GSM AKA and UMTS AKA, to generate algorithm-dependent keys. Although the invention is generally applicable in various communication systems including GSM, GPRS, W-LAN, CDMA, UMTS, IMS or future generation systems, the invention will now primarily be described in the context of GSM/GPRS and UMTS AKA procedures. A specific example for GSM AKA: Kc′=GSM_Modify (Kc, Algorithm_Id, [RAND, RES, Other_context_info]) and for UMTS: Ck′, Ik′=UMTS_Modify (Ck, Ik, Algorithm_Id, [RAND, RES, Other_context_info]) where the GSM_Modify ( ) and UMTS_Modify ( ) functions are cryptographic functions, for example based on MD5, SHA1 or some variant thereof, truncating to the left-most 64/128 bits, respectively. In the UMTS case, it is also possible to use some function that takes both Ck and Ik as input to produce a 256-bits output. The RAND may be introduced to make pre-calculation attacks infeasible. For inter-MSC handovers and similar handovers in other systems, the RAND is then typically transferred together with the standard handover information from the old MSC to the new MSC. In the following, the invention will primarily be described with reference to the scenario in which the algorithm selection is performed on the network side. It should however be understood that it is equally feasible to implement a basic hand-shake procedure or similar negotiation mechanism in which the mobile terminal and the network side agrees on which security algorithm to use for the protected communication. It may be useful to describe the general signaling between terminal and network side according to an exemplary, preferred embodiment of the invention, referring to FIG. 3. 1. The terminal signals which updated algorithms that it supports, as well as a user or subscriber ID. The network side (involving the home network and/or visited network as and when required by a conventional AKA procedure) initiates authentication and key agreement by creating a RAND, calculating an expected response and one or more keys. Based on the subscriber ID, the relevant shared secret subscriber key can be retrieved on the network side to enable the AKA calculations. 2. The network sends RAND to the terminal. 3. The terminal enters RAND into the GSM SIM, UMTS SIM, ISIM or similar functionality and gets, based on a shared subscriber key, a response RES and one or more keys. 4. The terminal sends RES to the network side. 5. The network side checks RES to authenticate the terminal. When the mobile is in the home network, the home network checks the RES against an expected response XRES. When the mobile terminal is in a visited network, the visited network normally checks the RES by comparison with XRES received from the home network. In GSM terminology, RES and XRES are normally both referred to as SRES. 6. In this example, the network side (home network or visited network depending on where the mobile is situated) preferably selects one of the updated algorithms supported by the terminal and initiates ciphering. Naturally, the network side also has to support the selected enhanced security algorithm. 7. The network side sends the algorithm ID to the terminal. 8. The terminal initiates ciphering based on the selected updated algorithm including algorithm-dependent key modification. If it is desirable to support not only the enhanced versions of the security algorithms but also maintain support for the basic algorithms, e.g. for interoperability purposes, the algorithm identifier has to be able to distinguish between the original basic security algorithms and the enhanced security algorithms. Table I below illustrates a possible example of algorithm identifiers for the basic GSM/GPRS crypto algorithms and a corresponding set of enhanced crypto algorithms: Algorithm ID Basic security algorithms: A5/1 1 A5/2 2 . . . . . . A5/k k GEA1 k + 1 GEA2 k + 2 . . . . . . GEAm k + m Enhanced security algorithms: A5/1′ (k + m) + 1 A5/2′ (k + m) + 2 . . . A5/k′ (k + m) + k GEA1′ (k + m + k) + 1 GEA2′ (k + m + k) + 2 . . . . . . GEAm′ (k + m + k) + m New enhanced crypto algorithms, here represented by A5/1′, A5/2′, . . . , A5/k′, . . . , GEA1′, GEA2′, . . . , GEAm′ for the particular case of GSM and GPRS ciphering, have thus been defined. For generality, it is assumed that there are a number, k, of A5 algorithms and a number, m, of GEA algorithms, where normally k=m=4. As previously described, each of the enhanced algorithms is formed by algorithm-specific key modification in combination with the corresponding basic algorithm. If the network for some reason selects a basic security algorithm, the AKA key will be passed transparently without modification to the basic algorithm. Naturally, other ways of distinguishing the algorithm identifiers may be used, e.g. based on binary or hexadecimal representations. For example, since GSM is currently specified to support up to eight algorithms, a simple way would be to let A5/j, where j=5, 6, 7 and 8 denote A5/1′, A5/2′, A5/3′ and A5/4′, respectively. Concerning the 128-bit algorithms A5/4 and also GEA4, it may not be necessary to provide enhanced variants, since they are considered, at least presently, to be very strong. If it is desired to support only the updated enhanced algorithms, a possible example of algorithm identifiers for the proposed enhanced GSM/GPRS crypto algorithms is given in Table II below. Enhanced security algorithms: Algorithm ID A5/1′ 1 A5/2′ 2 . . . . . . A5/k′ k GEA1′ k + 1 GEA2′ k + 2 . . . . . . GEAm′ k + m An exemplary solution is to upgrade the terminals and let them signal that they only support updated version of the (current) basic algorithms. This can be done by defining new crypto algorithms, e.g. A5/1′, A5/2′, . . . , A5/k′, GEA1′, GEA2′, . . . , GEAm′ for the particular case of GSM and GPRS, or by an indication in the signaling of general terminal capabilities. An example of a complete procedure can be described as: 1. The terminal signals support of A5/x′, A5/y′, . . . , and also sends the user or subscriber ID. 2. The network sends RAND to the terminal. 3. The terminal enters the RAND into the SIM and gets RES and Kc. 4. The terminal sends RES to the network. 5. The network checks RES. 6. After successful authentication, the network selects a supported algorithm, e.g. A5/y′, and initiates ciphering with use of A5/y′. 7. The network sends the algorithm identifier of A5/y′ to the terminal. 8. The terminal initiates ciphering with use of the updated algorithm A5/y′=(key modification and A5/y). In practice, this typically means that the terminal calculates the modified key to be used by performing Kc′=Modify (Kc, A5/y′_identifier, [RES],[RAND]) and applies the modified key Kc′ to the original hardware algorithm A5/y. As mentioned above, the modifying function should at least be a one-way function, preferably a pseudo-random function. A keyed standard cryptographic hash function like MD5, SHA-1, or some variant thereof, e.g. HMAC, can be used. If desired, it is even possible to change (increase/decrease) the size of the basic AKA key by means of the modifying function. For example, key processing and/or concatenation of key material may be employed to increase the final key size. For instance, the modification unit may invoke the SIM a second time using RAND plus a predetermined constant as a new random challenge and concatenate the first AKA key with the second AKA key to generate a new double-sized key, which may subsequently be made algorithm-specific by means of a cryptographic one-way function. Another example involves processing of the AKA key, e.g. by shifting bits, to generate a processed AKA key, which may then be concatenated with the original AKA key to increase the key size. Naturally, the modification unit may include other security enhancement functions that can be combined with the algorithm-specific key modification proposed by the invention. FIG. 4 is a schematic block diagram of the relevant parts of a mobile terminal according to an exemplary embodiment of the invention, implementing an algorithm-specific key modification. Normally, the AKA functionality 10 is implemented in a standard identity module (IM) 15 such as the GSM SIM card, but may alternatively be provided elsewhere in the mobile terminal 100. The AKA output key(s) is then forwarded, optionally together with RAND, RES and/or context information, to the inventive key modification module 22. The key modification module 22 processes the AKA output key(s) in response to an algorithm identifier representative of the selected security algorithm to generate an algorithm-specific security key. This modified key is then transferred to the basic security algorithm 24, here exemplified by a crypto algorithm, such as e.g. any of the original A5/1, A5/2, A5/3, GEA1, GEA2 and GEA3 algorithms. Of course, the basic security algorithm 24 also receives the information to be protected by the security algorithm. In the case of encryption, so-called “clear text” data is encrypted by the security algorithm based on the algorithm-specific security key to generate encrypted output data. The key modification module 22 is normally implemented as terminal software/hardware, preferably by using the general terminal capabilities of the mobile 100. As mentioned, it is advantageous to implement the key modification as a software upgrade based on a suitable cryptographic modify function for execution by terminal processing hardware. However, if some mobile designer/manufacturer wants all cryptographic functions to be in hardware, there is nothing that prevents a hardware implementation of the key modification. For example, new GSM phones may be provided with an additional key modification hardware module that is arranged for cooperation with the AKA module and the ordinary basic cryptographic ciphering algorithm. The crypto algorithm 24 is typically realized in terminal hardware, preferably close to the RX/TX chain 30. The identity module 15 can be any tamper-resistant identity module known to the art, including standard SIM cards used in GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications) mobile telephones, UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunications System) SIM (USIM), WAP (Wireless Application Protocol) SIM, also known as WIM, ISIM (IP Multimedia Subsystem Identity Module) and, more generally, UICC (Universal Integrated Circuit Card) modules. The AKA functionality does not necessarily have to be implemented in an identity module, or at least not in a hardware module such as the ordinary SIM. It is even possible to emulate an entire identity module including AKA functionality in software. As mentioned, the invention is applicable both when the mobile terminal is in its home network and when it roams in a visited network, as long as the home network and the visited network, respectively, supports the enhanced security algorithms (it is sufficient that the home network is aware of the existence of the algorithms). Since the latter case, when the mobile roams into a visited network, is somewhat more complex, we will briefly describe an exemplary network architecture including both a home network and a visited network with reference to FIG. 5. In addition to a general network architecture, FIG. 5 also illustrates the involved nodes for each of a number of exemplary communication systems. The overall network architecture includes a mobile terminal 100, a network access point 200, one or more so-called security-enabling nodes 300 in the visited network and one or more subscriber-handling network nodes 400 in the home network. The network access point may for example be a BTS (Base Transceiver Station) node, a node B or a W-LAN access point, depending on the considered communication system. Basically, the security-enabling nodes 300 in the visited network have to provide support for user authentication, in which mobile terminals authenticate towards the network in order to gain access to the network services. This authentication may also serve as a base for billing the users. The basic security protocols of modern communication systems normally involve a challenge-response authentication and key agreement (AKA) procedure. The AKA procedure is most often based on symmetric cryptography using a secret key shared between the mobile terminal and the home network, as previously described. In the mobile terminal 100, the shared secret key is normally stored in a subscriber identity module such as the GSM SIM, USIM, ISIM, WIM, or more generally in a UICC. In the home network, one or more network nodes 400 handles the subscribers and related security information. The subscriber-handling node(s) 400 of the home network communicates with the security-enabling node(s) 300 in the visited network, usually transferring AKA-related information and optionally also security policy information from the home network to the visited network. In accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the invention, the security-enabling node(s) also includes functionality for selecting a suitable security algorithm for protected communication with the mobile terminal. Preferably, the security-enabling node(s) 300 is implemented with a key modification function for modifying the normal AKA output key(s) in dependence on the selected algorithm to provide support for the enhanced security algorithms according to the invention. These security-enabling nodes may also include the actual cryptographic engines for security processing such as ciphering. However, in some systems such as GSM, the ciphering is implemented in the actual base transceiver station acting as the network access point. The algorithm selection, key modification and the actual ciphering may be implemented in a single node, or distributed over several nodes. Often, algorithm selection and key modification is implemented in the same node. Alternatively, however, the algorithm selection and key modification may be distributed over multiple network nodes if desired. Depending on the system implementation, the actual ciphering or other security processing may or may not be co-located with the key generation functionality. In the latter case, the modified algorithm-specific key to be used in the ciphering algorithm may have to be transferred to a separate node, in which the ciphering is performed. For a GSM system, the security-enabling nodes typically correspond to the BSC (Base Station Controller) and the MSC/VLR (Mobile Switching Center/Visited Location Register). On the home network side, the HLR/AuC (Home Location Register/Authentication Center) of the GSM network will normally handle subscribers and security-related information. The subscriber-handling network node(s) 300 may naturally be a home operator HLR/AuC, possibly involving an AAA (Authorization, Authentication and Accounting) server that may or may not be co-located with the authentication center. However, it may also be a broker acting as a general authentication center, or identity center, for a number of different network operators. Basically, on the network side the proposed solution only requires extension of the algorithm identifiers and implementation of an algorithm-specific key modification in a suitable place in the BSC or in the MSC/VLR. In GSM, the actual ciphering is executed in the BTS base station. This means that the modified key has to be forwarded from the BSC to the base station for the actual ciphering. Hence, the BTS may also be considered as part of the security-enabling node(s). Standard authentication and key agreement parameters are typically obtained from the HLR/AuC. For a GPRS/GSM system, both key modification and ciphering are typically implemented in the SGSN (Serving GPRS Support Node) node, which also handles authentication of subscribers in the visited network. The GSM BSS (Base Station System) with its BTS base station thus has a more passive role in this context, compared to the pure GSM case. For a 3GPP W-LAN system, the security-enabling nodes typically correspond to the proxy AAA node and the WSN/FA (W-LAN Serving Node), which interacts with the W-LAN Access Point (AP). Standard authentication and key agreement parameters are obtained from the HLR/AuC and an AAA server. For a UMTS system, the access point is the NodeB, and the security-enabling nodes correspond to the RNC (Radio Network Controller) and the MSC nodes. In the home network, the HLR/AuC takes care of the necessary interaction with the MSC and RNC nodes. For an IP Multimedia sub-system, the Proxy CSCF (Call State Control Function) node corresponds to the security-enabling node, and may include algorithm-specific key modification to enhance security for application-level control signaling. In future generations of the IMS system, user data may also be protected by employing a key modification according to the invention. In the home network, a HSS (Home Subscriber System) node provides the required authentication and key agreement parameters and the Serving CSCF normally authenticates IMS subscribers. FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram illustrating an overview of the enhanced cipher mode setup and key modification procedure according to an exemplary embodiment of the invention, related to the specific case of GSM. In a MS classmark similar to that standardized in TS24.008, a list of algorithms supported by the mobile is transferred from the mobile terminal 100 to the BSS (Base Station System), preferably to the BSC 310 via the BTS base station 200, assuming that the algorithm decision or negotiation takes place in the BSC. The list of supported algorithms preferably includes at least the enhanced security algorithms A5/1′, A5/2′, A5/3′, but possibly also the basic algorithms A5/1, A5/2 and A5/3. The MSC 320 transfers a list of algorithms allowed by the security policy of the visited network to the BSS system and more particularly to the BSC 310 in a CMC (Cipher Mode Command) command similar to that standardized in TS48.008. The BSS system, and especially the BSC 310 then normally selects an algorithm for protected communication with the mobile terminal based on the list of supported algorithms and the list of allowed algorithms and, if an enhanced security algorithm is selected, preferably derives an algorithm-specific security key. The BSS system also transmits an algorithm identifier of the selected algorithm to the mobile terminal in a radio interface CMC command similar to that standardized in TS 44.018. For example, the key derivation can be accomplished by calculating the modified key in the BSC 310 in dependence on the selected algorithm. Alternatively, the MSC 320 calculates algorithm-specific modified keys for all the algorithms allowed by the visited network and transfers them, preferably in connection with the CMC command, to the BSC, which in turn selects the algorithm and extracts the appropriate key from the calculated set of keys. In GSM, the actual ciphering is performed by the BTS base station 200 of the BSS system. The mobile terminal 100 is here provided with a key modification functionality according to the invention and applies the algorithm identifier, possibly together with additional information, into the key modification function to generate a corresponding algorithm-specific key to be used for ciphering. As previously mentioned, the algorithm selection made by the visited network may be checked against a security policy of the home network such that one can be ensured that the selected algorithm is accepted by the home network. Normally, this means that a list of algorithms allowed by the home network is transferred to the mobile terminal. This information is preferably integrity protected so that the mobile can be sure that the information has not been tampered with, as will be described later on. The invention preferably also provides support for replay protection, basic network authentication and/or secure algorithm selection, preferably based on encoding or embedding information into existing AKA information such as the random challenge RAND used in the AKA procedure with the mobile terminal. If one can also accept modifications to the AuC or corresponding node on the home network side, replay protection, network authentication as well as further enhancements to the security can be achieved as will be discussed below. The RAND value is supposed to be random, but it is possible to use a few bits of RAND to signal some additional information from the home network (AuC) to the terminal to further enhance the security. The above embodiments fix the problems with key-uniqueness per algorithm, but they do not generally remove problems with replay or lack of network authentication. The exemplary solution below accomplishes this with minimal additional changes (to the AuC and terminal only) and no new signaling. FIG. 7 is a schematic basic signal diagram according to a further exemplary, preferred embodiment of the invention, including security algorithm enhancements with integrated replay protection and network authentication. For simplicity, the below example is related to the GSM case, but the mechanisms described are not limited thereto as will be readily understood by the skilled person. 1. The terminal signals which updated algorithms that it supports, preferably together with its subscriber ID to the visited network and the MSC/VLR node. 2. The visited network forwards the subscriber ID to the home network, and more particularly to the HLR/AuC or corresponding node. 3. In this particular embodiment, the AuC forms RAND values as follows. (Assuming that RAND is normally 128 bits in size). A. The AuC maintains for each mobile (SIM) a counter, c, of the number of authentications performed for said mobile. This counter may for example be t=16 bits in size, and is allowed to wrap modulo 2{circumflex over ( )}16. The counter c is a representative example of replay protection information. B. A (128−t−m)-bit random value R, is generated in the AuC, where m is determined below. C. The value r=R∥c∥00 . . . 0 (as many zeros as required to make r 128 bits in size, i.e. m bits) is run through the GSM key generation function, obtaining a key k. Alternatively, some other padding scheme can be used. More generally, r is a function f of R and c and possibly also other optional information. D. The value RAND=r∥MAC(k, r) is formed and is used to generate the ciphering key Kc and the expected response XRES. Here, MAC (Message Authentication Code) is a message authentication function, e.g. HMAC, truncated to m bits, e.g. m=32. The MAC is a representative example of network authentication information. 4-5. RAND is sent to the mobile as usual (and Kc, XRES is sent to the visited network). 6. The AuC increases c by one. On the terminal side the following actions are preferably performed: A. The mobile also maintains a counter c′, of the number of authentications it has made. B. When the mobile receives RAND it extracts r and c from it. C. The mobile checks that c is “ahead” (see below) of its local c′ value. If not, it aborts the protocol. D. Otherwise, the mobile then sends r to the SIM, and derives k (re-using the SIM). E. The mobile checks whether MAC is correct by calculating XMAC(k, r) and comparing MAC and XMAC. If MAC is not correct, the mobile aborts the protocol. F. If on the other hand the MAC is correct, the network authenticity has been verified. The mobile also updates its counter by setting c′=c. 7. The mobile invokes the SIM again, but now with the full RAND as input to obtain RES and Kc. 8. The terminal sends RES to the network side. 9. The visited network normally checks RES by comparison with XRES received from the home network, to authenticate the terminal. 10. The visited network selects one of the updated enhanced algorithms supported by the terminal and initiates ciphering. 11. The visited network sends the algorithm ID to the terminal. 12. The terminal initiates ciphering based on the selected updated algorithm including algorithm-dependent key modification. The mobile can now communicate with the visited network. Note that due to the pseudo-random properties of the MAC function, the decrease in relative entropy of RAND is small, basically only the bits corresponding to the counter are lost. To check if c is “ahead” we use normal sequence number arithmetic. Two t-bit values, a and b are compared as follows. If a>b and a−b<2{circumflex over ( )}(t−1), or a<b but b−a>2{circumflex over ( )}(t−1) then we say that a is “ahead” of b, otherwise it is not. An alternative solution could be to use a timestamp as replay protection information instead of a counter. Since the MAC is calculated over r which includes the value c, there will be some integrity protection for this data as well. It is noticed that if an attacker modifies the replay protection information, the MAC can not be verified and the protocol will be aborted. Anyway, independently of whether or not a MAC is used, the RAND value will not be the same anymore, resulting in an incorrect RES that does not match the expected response XRES on the network side. Hence, there is no possibility of successful user authentication if someone has tampered with the RAND value. Alternatively, the replay protection and network authentication aspects may be separated and executed independently of each other. For replay protection, a counter value or a timestamp may be encoded or otherwise embedded into the RAND value. For basic network authentication, key-dependent authentication information such as a MAC code or similar is calculated on the network side and transmitted to the mobile terminal for verification. Further improvements are also possible by combining the above principles with some additional ideas that have already been proposed, e.g. in the contribution [2]. For instance, a few extra bits of RAND can be allocated for signaling a security policy from the home network to the mobile. In the invention, for example, the j:th bit of RAND may be set to 1 if and only if algorithm number j (according to some agreed numbering of algorithms) is allowed to be used by the mobile. An entire list of algorithms allowed by the home network may thus be communicated embedded in the RAND. The mobile terminal can then check if the algorithm selected by the visited network is accepted by the home network. If not, the mobile terminal will abort the protocol. It is also possible and desirable to provide integrity protection by calculating a MAC over the information on security algorithms allowed by the home network. If desired, replay protection, network authentication and secure algorithm selection can thus all be integrated, e.g. by letting the value r=R∥c∥ allowed algorithms ∥00 . . . 0 (as many zeros as required to make r for example 128 bits in size). The value RAND=r∥MAC(k, r) is formed and is used to generate the ciphering key Kc and the expected response XRES. The value r, the counter value c as well as the information on algorithms allowed by the home network are extracted by the mobile, and the MAC is checked. An advantage of the invention is that the solution can co-exist with other proposals, including those outlined in references [2, 3]. While the proposals [2, 3] do enhance various security aspects, neither of them provides desired key-separation. This means that if algorithms X and Y are both allowed and supported, then the mobile can potentially end up running both X and Y with the same key, Kc. Compared to the basic key modification realizations, with replay protection, network authentication and/or secure algorithm selection, the only additional node that needs modifications is the HLR/AuC on the network side. In third generation networks, the CSCF (Call State Control Function) node in the IP Multimedia sub-system needs to be updated in the basic key modification realizations, and with replay protection, network authentication and/or secure algorithm selection, the HSS (Home Subscriber System) node also requires modification. The embodiments described above are merely given as examples, and it should be understood that the present invention is not limited thereto. References [1] “Instant Ciphertext-Only Cryptanalysis of GSM Encrypted Communication” by Barkan, Biham, and Keller, Proceedings of Crypto 2003, Lecture Notes in Computer Science vol. 2729, Springer-Verlag. [2] “Cipher key separation for A/Gb security enhancements”, S3-030463, 3GPP S3#29, 15-18 Jul. 2003, San Francisco, USA. [3] “Enhanced Security for A/Gb”, S3-030361, 3GPP S3#29, 15-18 Jul. 2003, San Francisco, USA. | <SOH> BACKGROUND <EOH>In mobile communications, e.g. according to the GSM or UMTS standard, security is of utmost importance. This is very much related to the increased use of mobile communications in business relations and for private communication. It is now known that for example GSM suffers from security problems. As recently described in reference [1], it is possible to retrieve the encryption key by breaking the A5/2 cryptographic algorithm. There are three basic algorithm choices for circuit switched data, A5/1, A5/2, A5/3 and three basic algorithms for packet data, GEA1, GEA2 and GEA3. It should however be noted that there are also stronger 128-bit algorithms denoted A5/4 and GEA4. The terminal signals its capabilities, in particular the set of crypto algorithms it supports, to the network. The network then selects which crypto algorithm to use. Note that this signaling is unprotected. Thus the terminal has no chance to detect if and when an attacker is signaling that it should use A5/2 and that this information originates from a legitimate operator. Generally, there are at least three types of attacks. The first type involves an attacker that intercepts and decrypts traffic when the system is using the broken A5/2 algorithm. The second type of attack comprises interception of traffic associated with the AKA procedure to record traffic data and the RAND value that is used. Later, a false base station can make the mobile terminal execute an AKA procedure using the previously recorded RAND and then encrypt the traffic using the A5/2 algorithm, which enables the attacker to retrieve the crypto key Kc. Due to the simple dependence on RAND this key, Kc, will be the same key as was used to protect the recorded traffic. The third type of attack involves an active man-in-the-middle forcing the terminal to use the A5/2 algorithm, thereby enabling calculation of the crypto key. The UMTS standard advises methods that overcome most of these problems. However, a scenario is foreseen in which GSM terminals will be used during a considerable period of time until UMTS terminals have become property of the great majority of users. In fact, many advanced services will be available on GSM phones and users may be reluctant to exchange their phones until at a later time. In addition, while UMTS has countermeasures that make it resistant to these attacks, there is of course a worry that future advances in crypto-analysis discover that similar problems exist also there and/or in other communication systems. Moreover, there could be security problems involved when roaming between different types of networks, such as GSM and UMTS networks. | <SOH> SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION <EOH>The present invention overcomes these and other drawbacks of the prior art arrangements. It is a general object of the present invention to provide an enhanced security design for communication systems. In particular, it is an object of the invention to provide security enhancements for encrypted communication that is based on key agreements in mobile communication systems such as GSM and UMTS. It is a special object to improve key management for GSM and UMTS to limit the impact of the breaking of A5/2 and future attacks on other algorithms. It has been recognized that a main flaw in the prior art security designs is that although the cryptographic security key depends on some random challenge, the same key is used independent of the actual security algorithm. A basic idea according to the invention is to enhance or update the basic cryptographic security algorithms by an algorithm-specific modification of the security key generated in the normal key agreement procedure of the mobile communication system. For communication between the mobile terminal and the network side, an enhanced version of one of the basic cryptographic security algorithms supported by the mobile is normally selected, either by the network side or based on a mutual agreement between the mobile and the network side. The basic security key resulting from the key agreement procedure between the mobile terminal and the network is then modified in dependence on information representative of the selected algorithm to generate an algorithm-specific security key. The basic security algorithm is finally applied with the algorithm-specific security key as key input to enhance security for protected communication in the mobile communications network. As mentioned, the algorithm selection may be performed on the network side, in which case the network side transmits information representative of the selected algorithm to the mobile terminal. This solution is for example consistent with GSM of today, where the A5/1 to A5/3 algorithms are selected by the network. Alternatively, however, especially for other communication systems, the selection of enhanced security algorithm according to the invention may, if desired, be based on an agreement between the mobile terminal and the network side, e.g. performed by means of a handshake procedure, answer-offer or similar negotiation protocol. Preferably, the original hardware-implemented algorithms remain the same (at least in the mobile terminal), and for each original algorithm that needs security enhancement, an updated (virtual) security algorithm such as an enhanced ciphering/crypto algorithm is defined based on the original algorithm together with the algorithm-specific key modification. The key modification is typically realized by a key-modifying function, which processes the input key based on an algorithm identifier or similar information representative of the selected algorithm and perhaps some additional data to generate a modified key, which is forwarded to the original security algorithm. If it is desirable to support not only the enhanced versions of the security algorithms but also maintain support for the basic algorithms, e.g. for interoperability purposes, the algorithm identifier has to be able to distinguish between the original basic security algorithms and the enhanced security algorithms. In practice, the basic solution only requires software updates in the terminals and/or in the network system. In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the problem is basically solved by modifying the terminals and letting them signal that they (only) support updated enhanced versions of the original basic algorithms. Standardization efforts can be kept to a minimum, since only the modifying function and the algorithm identifiers need to be standardized. On the network side, the algorithm selection, key modification and cryptographic security processing such as ciphering may be implemented in a single node, or distributed over several nodes. Often, algorithm selection and key modification is implemented in the same node. Alternatively, however, the algorithm selection and key modification may be distributed over more than one network node if desired. For example, one node may calculate algorithm-specific keys for a whole set of security algorithms and transfer the keys to another node, which then selects an enhanced version of a security algorithm and extracts or derives the appropriate key from the received set of keys. Depending on the system implementation, the actual ciphering or other security processing may be performed in the same node in which the key was derived or in a separate node. The invention also provides support for replay protection, basic network authentication and/or secure algorithm selection, preferably based on encoding or embedding information into existing AKA information such as the random challenge used in the AKA procedure with the mobile terminal. Network authentication is preferably accomplished by embedding key-dependent authentication information such as a MAC (Message Authentication Code) that can be verified by the mobile terminal. By calculating the MAC over replay protection information and/or information on the algorithms allowed by the home network, this information will receive some integrity protection, resulting in secure replay protection and/or secure algorithm selection. Although the currently most urgent problem concerns broken GSM algorithms, it is clear that the key modification is useful not only in GSM, but also in UMTS, CDMA or future generation systems, to proactively ensure that similar (perhaps yet undiscovered) problems will not show up later, since the key derivation there is currently also algorithm-independent. In effect, the invention is applicable in various communications systems, e.g. including GSM/GPRS, W-LAN (Wireless Local Area Network), UMTS and IMS (IP Multimedia Subsystem) systems. The invention thus provides a remedy to a basic security design flaw in e.g. the GSM/UMTS AKA procedures. The proposed solution fits nicely into the existing protocol framework and has limited implementation consequences which makes a rapid deployment possible. The invention offers the following advantages: Efficient solution to a basic security design flaw; It is sufficient to modify the key, while allowing the original algorithms implemented in hardware to remain the same. Minimal standardization effort; Fits nicely into the existing protocol framework; and Limited implementation consequences, which makes a rapid deployment possible. Other advantages offered by the present invention will be appreciated upon reading of the below description of the embodiments of the invention. | 20040910 | 20100209 | 20050526 | 71826.0 | 2 | ZEE, EDWARD | ENHANCED SECURITY DESIGN FOR CRYPTOGRAPHY IN MOBILE COMMUNICATION SYSTEMS | UNDISCOUNTED | 0 | ACCEPTED | 2,004 |
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10,938,384 | ACCEPTED | Fibrous toilette article | A cleansing article is provided which includes a fibrous web of continuous network bonded fibers and a solid or semi-solid foamable composition joinably penetrating the web. The web has a first and second major surface each being on opposite faces of the web. The composition and web are present in a relative weight ratio ranging from about 30:1 to about 2000:1. At least a major portion of the first major surface of the web preferably being exposed above the foamable composition, and a majority of surfaces defining an exterior of the article are formed of the foamable composition. | 1. A cleansing article comprising: (i) a fibrous web comprising a continuous network of bonded fibers, the web having a first and second major surface each being on opposite faces of the web; and (ii) a solid or semi-solid foamable composition joinably penetrating the web, the composition and the web being present in a relative weight ratio ranging from about 30:1 to about 2000:1, at least a major portion of the first major surface being exposed above the foamable composition, and a majority of surfaces defining an exterior of the article being formed of the foamable composition. 2. The article according to claim 1 wherein the foamable composition has a yield stress ranging from about 50 kPa to about 400 kPa at 25° C. 3. The article according to claim 1 wherein the fibrous web has a corrugated surface. 4. The article according to claim 3 wherein a longitudinal axis of the article and a fold axis of the corrugated structure are oriented transverse to one another. 5. The article according to claim 1 wherein the fibrous web covers from about 1 to about 40% of the exterior surface of the article prior to initial consumer use. 6. The article according to claim 1 wherein the foamable composition comprises from about 0.01 to about 20% of a gelling agent which can absorb at least about 40 g water per gram of the gelling agent. 7. The article according to claim 1 wherein the foamable composition comprises sodium cocoyl isethionate. 8. The article according to claim 1 wherein the fibrous web has a Loft-Soft Ratio greater than about 1.1. 9. The article according to claim 1 wherein the fibrous assembly has a porosity ranging from 0.95 to 0.9999. 10. A cleansing article comprising: (i) a fibrous web comprising a continuous network of bonded fibers, the web being folded forming a corrugated surface; and (ii) a solid or semi-solid foamable composition joinably penetrating the web, the composition and the web being present in a relative weight ratio ranging from about 30:1 to about 2000:1. | BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The invention concerns a personal care cleansing article, particularly a toilette bar integrated with a non-woven bonded fibrous web. 2. The Related Art Toilette bars are amongst the oldest forms of personal cleansing articles. Research continues to provide improved bar technology. Many problems exist requiring further solutions. Bars are slippery when wet. Better grabability is needed. Some bars require a long time to generate sufficiently luxurious lather. Quicker foaming bars are necessary. Other types of bars form mush from placement in a wet dish awaiting further use. Mush is aesthetically displeasing both visually and by handling. Some of the aforementioned problems have sought to be overcome through the use of water-insoluble structural composites combined with soap. A first variety encompasses surrounding a soap bar with a textile or fibrous sheath. For instance, U.S. Pat. No. 4,190,550 (Campbell) describes a seamless envelope of crimped, resilient, stretchy synthetic organic fibers surrounding a core of solid soap or other suitable surfactant material. The envelope is held in integral form solely by the entanglement of the fibers. U.S. Pat. No. 4,969,225 (Schubert) discloses a scrub brush. This article is formed from an elastic, resilient, synthetic fibrous bat or open-cell chemical foam (preferably polyurethane) having an internal cavity or tunnel containing a bar of soap. EP 1 266 599 A1 (Duden et al.) reports a solid cleanser holder. The holder is formed of a textured film having texture variations with at least one aperture, the film surrounding a solid cleanser. U.S. patent application 2004/0033915 A1 (Aleles et al.) reports a cleansing bar which includes a cleansing composition and a plurality of discrete elements, particularly fibers. These discrete elements appear not to be formed into any extended bonded web. Another body of technical art focuses upon structuring cores surrounded by soap. Apparently in this grouping, the core serves as a scaffold to support the cleansing composition. For instance, U.S. Pat. No. 5,221,506 (Dulin) discloses bar soaps for personal use having a structural center. Illustrative centers include open-celled sponges and woven or non-woven organic filamentary materials. In a FIG. 2 embodiment, a small portion of the structural core protrudes through the surface for reasons of providing a hanger support (e.g. a hole). U.S. patent application 2003/0220212 A1 (DeVitis) describes a reinforced bar soap. The reinforcement member is provided to prolong usage of a conventional soap composition and to serve as structural reinforcement eliminating soap breakage problems. U.S. Pat. No. 6,190,079 B1 (Ruff) discloses a scrubbing soap bar composed of vegetable oil/glycerine imbedded with a length of a thin, fine mesh netting. A portion of the netting extends exteriorly of the soap to form a pocket intended for insertion of a human user's fingers to facilitate grasp of the bar. Although there have been significant advances through the combination of soap compositions with reinforcement and/or textile webs, more discoveries are necessary to improve rate of lather volume generation, minimization of mush and/or degradation of the web structure itself. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION A cleansing article is provided which includes: (i) a fibrous web including a continuous network of bonded fibers, the web having a first and second major surface each being on opposite faces of the web; and (ii) a solid or semi-solid foamable composition joinably penetrating the web, the composition and the web being present in a relative weight ratio ranging from about 30:1 to about 2000:1, at least a major portion of the first major surface being exposed above the foamable composition, and a majority of surfaces defining an exterior of the article being formed of the foamable composition. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING Various features and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent through consideration of the following drawing in which: FIG. 1 is a cleansing article according to one embodiment of the present invention; and FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of a fibrous web (without cleansing composition) illustrating one embodiment of a web useful for the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Now there is provided a personal care cleansing article, particularly a toilette bar wherein one major surface of the bar has an exposed fibrous web. A variety of fibrous webs can be employed for the present invention. Particularly preferred are fibrous batting webs with a continuous network of bonded fibers. In a preferred embodiment, the batting web may have a Loft-Soft Ratio of greater than about 1.1. In other words, the fibrous web of this invention preferably is lofty and fluid-permeable. As used herein, “lofty” means that the layer has density of from about 0.01 g/cm3 to about 0.00005 g/cm3 and a thickness of from about 0.1 to about 7 cm. Loftiness of substrates and softness of substrates are related. Softness has several independent, contributing components. One component is a kind of “pillowy” softness. That is, when a force is applied by hand or finger pressure, the substrate easily compresses in much the same way a pillow compresses under pressure to support a body member resting thereon. The web of the present invention is preferably characterized by having a Loft-Soft Ratio of greater than about 1.1, more preferably greater than about 1.3, and most preferably greater than about 1.5. The methodology for assessing Loft-Soft Ratio is as follows. Substrate samples are cut using a 1.875 inch diameter punch and hammer. In instances where the punching process inelastically compresses edges of discs, the edges are carefully fluffed to restore original dimension. With the top plate in position, the Instron load cell is calibrated and is then run in compression mode at 0.50 inches/minute rate of descent. The Instron may be controlled manually or by computer as long as the final compression is greater than 30 grams/in2 pressure and data is collected quickly enough (computer assisted recommended) to determine the height at various compression values during descent. The top plate is then moved down until it contacts the base plate at which point the height is set at zero. It is important that the top plate and base plate are parallel, making contact at all points simultaneously. Once the apparatus is zeroed, the top plate is retracted to a position above the base plate allowing sufficient space to interpose a substrate sample disc. A substrate disc is then placed in the center of the base plate. The Instron is then set to compress each substrate sample once fully. Next, the Instron is turned on and the height and force of the top plate is continuously recorded. Once the compression of the sample is complete, the compression with new samples of the same substrate is repeated as many times as are needed to establish a reliable average. The average height about the base plate at compression values of 5 gms/in2 and 30 gms/in2 equals the thickness at 5 gms/in2 and 30 gms/in2, respectively. The Loft-Soft Ratio is then calculated as the ratio of the thickness at 5 gms/in2 divided by the thickness at 30 gms/in2. The webs of the present invention are continuous bonded fiber networks known also herein as a fibrous assembly. The assembly is formed of a large number of fiber contact points such that a continuous structure is achieved. The fibers may be synthetic, natural or combinations of these fibers converted via conventional well-known non-woven, woven or knit processing methods. Generally the non-wovens are preferred. Suitable synthetic fibers include but are not limited to polyethylene, polypropylene, polyester, low-melt polyester, viscose rayon, polylactic acid, nylon and any blends/combinations thereof. Additionally, synthetic fibers used herein can be described as staple and continuous filaments. These fibers may be multi-component and have preferably denier ranging from about 1 to about 20 denier. Methods used to arrange and manipulate fibers into a non-woven fibrous assembly include but are not limited to carding/garnetting, airlay, wetlaid, spunbond, meltblown, vertical lapping or combinations thereof. Cohesion, strength and stability are imparted into the fibrous assembly via bonding mechanisms such as that of needle punching, stitch bonding, hydroentangling, chemical bonding and thermal bonding and combinations thereof. Advantageously, fibrous assemblies of the present invention can range in basis weight from about 25 g/m2 to about 1,000 g/m2. Lather generating can be improved by proper fibrous assembly density and porosity. The term porosity (P) can be defined as the volume fraction of air to fibers within a given fibrous assembly. Porosity can be expressed using the following equation: P = P f - P w P f wherein Pf is fiber density (g/cm3), Pw is nonwoven density (g/cm3). Note that the nonwoven density is based on the apparent thickness of the nonwoven structure. Preferably, the fibrous assembly of the present invention should display porosity ranging from 0.95 to 0.9999. Another advantageous material property is resiliency. Specifically, Percent Energy Loss is a useful parameter since it describes the resilience of substrates to an applied loss. The Percent Energy Loss is calculated as follows: % Energy Loss = [ J T - J R J T ] * 100 , wherein JT, is the Total Energy required to compress nonwoven to a 100 gram load and JR is the Recovered Energy during one compression cycle. Lower energy loss corresponds to a more resilient nonwoven. Preferably, fibrous assemblies of the current invention have percent energy loss values ranging from about 5 to about 50%, preferably from about 5 to about 35%. The test method for Energy Loss involves use of an Instron Tensile/Compression Testing Machine fitted with a 1.5 inch circular die (sample cutting). The compression cycle strain rate is set at 38 mm/min, the recovery cycle strain rate is also set at 38 mm/min. The maximum load is 100 grams load (approximately 0.98 N), the load cell is 5 N, and the platen separation is 31.75 mm. Total energy is measured which is required to compress a sample to 100 grams. Also measured is the recovered energy from one compression cycle. With these two values, the percent Energy Loss can be calculated based on the above equation. The solid or semi-solid foamable composition advantageously may have a yield stress value ranging from about 50 kPa to about 400 kPa at 25° C., preferably from about 100 to about 350 and most preferably from about 150 to about 250 kPa. The solid or semi-solid foaming composition advantageously has a weight relative to the fibrous web that ranges in percent from above 1000% to about 20000%, preferably from 1500% to about 15000%, optimally from about 3000% to about 10000%. Preferably the relative weight ratio of the solid or semi-solid foamable composition to the fibrous web ranges from about 30:1 to about 2000:1, preferably from about 70:1 to about 1200:1, optimally from about 100:1 to about 1000:1. The most significant functional component of the foamable composition is that of a surfactant. Amounts of the surfactant may range from about 1 to about 50%, preferably from about 5 to about 40% and optimally from about 10 to about 25% by weight of the foamable composition. One useful surfactant base comprises fatty acid soaps. The term “soap” is used herein in its popular sense, i.e., the alkali metal or alkanol ammonium salts of aliphatic or alkene monocarboxylic acids. Sodium, potassium, magnesium, mono-, di- and tri-ethanol ammonium cations, or combinations thereof, are suitable for purposes of this invention. The soaps most useful herein are the well known alkalimetal salts of natural of synthetic aliphatic (alkanoic or alkenoic) acids having about 8 to 22 carbon atoms, preferably about 8 to about 18 carbon atoms. A preferred soap is formed from a saponified mixture of about 30% to about 40% coconut oil and about 60% to about 70% tallow. Mixtures may also contain higher amounts of tallow, for example, 15% to 20% coconut and 80 to 85% tallow. A second type of surfactant base useful in this invention comprises non-soap synthetic type detergents-so called syndet bases. These may be selected from anionic, nonionic, cationic, amphoteric, zwifterionic and surfactant combinations thereof. The anionic surfactant may be, for example, a primary alkyl sulfonate, primary alkyl disulfonate, alkene sulfonate, hydroxyalkyl sulfonate, alkyl glyceryl ether sulfonate, aromatic sulfonate, alkyl sulfate, alkyl ether sulfate, alkyl glycerol ether sulfates, alkyl sulfosuccinate, alkyl or acyl taurate, alkyl or acyl sarcosinate, sulfoacetate, alkyl phosphate or phosphonate, alkyl phosphate ester or alkoxy alkyl phosphate ester, acyl lactate, monoalkyl succinate or maleate, acyl isethionate and mixtures thereof. Particularly use are the acyl isethionates such as sodium cocoyl isethionate. Counter cations to the anionic surfactants may be sodium, potassium, ammonium or substituted ammonium such as triethanolammonium and mixtures thereof. Whenever the term alkyl, alkene, aromatic or acyl are employed, this is intended to mean a saturated or unsaturated hydrocarbon of straight or branched chain (or benzenoid type) having from about 6 to about 48 carbon atoms, preferably 6 to 22 carbon atoms. Zwitterionic surfactants useful for the present invention are broadly described as derivatives of aliphatic quaternary ammonium, phosphonium and sulfonium compounds, in which the aliphatic radicals can be straight or branched chain with from 8 to about 22 carbon atoms. Amphoteric surfactants useful in this invention may be selected from C6-C24 betaines, sultaines, hydroxysultaines, alkyliminoacetates, imidoalkanoates, aminoalkanoates, and mixtures thereof. Examples of betaines include coco dimethyl carboxymethyl betaine, coco dimethyl sulfopropyl betaine, oleyl betaine and cocoamidopropyl betaine. Examples of sultaines and hydroxysultaines include materials such as cocoamidopropyl hydroxysultaine. Particularly preferred amphoteric surfactants are cocoamidopropyl betaine, disodium lauroamphodiacetate, sodium lauroamphoacetate and mixtures thereof. Nonionic surfactants suitable for the present invention are the reaction products of compounds having a hydrophobic group and a reactive hydrogen atom, for example aliphatic alcohols, acids, amides or alkyl phenols with alkylene oxides, especially ethylene oxide either alone or with propylene oxide. Specific nonionic detergent compounds are alkyl(C6-C22)phenols-ethylene oxide condensates, the condensation products of aliphatic(C8-C18) primary or secondary linear or branched alcohols with ethylene oxide, and products made by condensation of ethylene oxide with the reaction products of propylene oxide and ethylenediamine. Other so-called nonionic detergent compounds include long chain tertiary amine oxides, long chain tertiary phosphine oxides and dialkyl sulphoxides. Other nonionics include alkyl glucosides, alkyl polyglucosides, polyhydroxy fatty acid amides, alkoxylated fatty acid esters, sucrose esters, amine oxides and mixtures thereof. Foamable compositions of the present invention may also include wear promoting agents. These may be selected from such materials as mineral oil, petrolatum, lanolin, lanolin derivatives, C7-C40 branched chain hydrocarbons, C1-C30 alcohol esters of C1-C30 carboxylic acids, C1-C30 alcohol esters of C2-C30 dicarboxylic acids, monoglycerides of C1-C30 carboxylic acids, diglycerides of C1-C30 carboxylic acids, triglycerides of C1-C30 carboxylic acids, ethylene glycol monoesters of C1-C30 carboxylic acids, ethylene glycol diesters of C1-C30 carboxylic acids, propylene glycol monoesters of C1-C30 carboxylic acids, propylene glycol diesters of C1-C30 carboxylic acids, C1-C30 carboxylic acid monoesters and polyesters of sugars, polydialkylsiloxanes, polydiarylsiloxanes, polyalkarylsiloxanes, cyclomethicones having 3 to 9 silicon atoms, vegetable oils, hydrogenated vegetable oils, polypropylene glycol C4-C20 alkyl ethers, di C8-C30 alkyl ethers, and combinations thereof. Straight and branched chain hydrocarbons having from about 7 to about 40 carbon atoms are useful herein as the wear promoting agents. Nonlimiting examples of these hydrocarbon materials include dodecane, isododecane, squalane, hydrogenated polyisobutylene, docosane, hexadecane, isohexadecane (a commercially available hydrocarbon sold as Permethyl® 101A by Presperse, South Plainfield, N.J.). Also useful are the C7-C40 isoparaffins. Polydecene, a branched liquid hydrocarbon, is also useful herein and is commercially available under the tradename Puresyn 100® from Mobile Chemical (Edison, N.J.). Nonlimiting examples of ester type wear promoting agents include diisopropyl sebacate, diisopropyl adipate, isopropyl myristate, isopropyl palmitate, myristyl propionate, ethylene glycol distearate, 2-ethylhexyl palmitate, isodecyl neopentanoate, di-2-ethylhexyl maleate, cetyl palmitate, myristyl myristate, stearyl stearate, cetyl stearate, behenyl behenrate, dioctyl maleate, dioctyl sebacate, diisopropyl adipate, cetyl octanoate, diisopropyl dilinoleate, caprylic/capric triglyceride, PEG-6 caprylic/capric triglyceride, PEG-8 caprylic/capric triglyceride, and combinations thereof. Also useful ester type wear promoting agents are various C1-C30 monoesters and polyesters of sugars and related materials. These esters are derived from a sugar or polyol moiety and one or more carboxylic acid moieties. Depending on the constituent acid and sugar, these esters can be in either liquid or solid form at room temperature. Examples of liquid esters include: glucose tetraoleate, the glucose tetraesters of soybean oil fatty acids (unsaturated), the mannose tetraesters of mixed soybean oil fatty acids, the galactose tetraesters of oleic acid, the arabinose tetraesters of linoleic acid, xylose tetralinoleate, galactose pentaoleate, sorbitol tetraoleate, the sorbitol hexaesters of unsaturated soybean oil fatty acids xylitol pentaoleate sucrose tetraoleate, sucrose pentaoleate, sucrose hexaoleate, sucrose heptaoleate, sucrose octaoleate, and mixtures thereof. Nonvolatile silicones such as polydialkylsiloxanes, polydarylsiloxanes, and polyalkarylsiloxanes are also useful wear promoting agent. The polyalkylsiloxanes correspond to the general chemical formula R3SiO[R2SiO]xSiR3 wherein R is an alkyl group (preferably R is methyl or ethyl) and x is an integer up to about 500, chosen to achieve the desired molecular weight. Commercially available polyalkylsiloxanes include the polydimethylsiloxanes, which are also known as dimethicones, nonlimiting examples of which include the Vicasil® series sold by General Electric Company and the Dow Coming® 200 series sold by Dow Corning Corporation. Also useful are materials such as trimethylsiloxysilicate, which is a polymeric material corresponding to the general chemical formula [(CH2)3SiO1/2]x[SiO2]y, wherein x is an integer from about 1 to about 500 and y is an integer from about 1 to about 500. A commercially available trimethylsiloxysilicate is sold as a mixture with dimethcione as Dow Corning® 593 fluid. Also useful herein are dimethiconols, which are hydroxy terminated dimethyl silicones. These materials can be represented by the general chemical formulas R3SiO[R2SiO]xSiR2OH and HOR2SiO[R2SiO]xSiR2OH wherein R is an alkyl group (preferably R is methyl or ethyl) and x is an integer up to about 500, chosen to achieve the desired molecular weight. Commercially available dimethiconols are typically sold as mixtures with dimethicone or cyclomethicone (e.g. Dow Corning® 1401, 1402, and 1403 fluids). Also useful herein are polyalkylaryl siloxanes, such as polymethylphenyl siloxanes as SF 1075 methylphenyl fluid (sold by General Electric Company) and 556 Cosmetic Grade phenyl trimethicone fluid (sold by Dow Coming Corporation). Alkoxylated silicones such as methyldecyl silicone and methyloctyl silicone are useful herein and are commercially available from the General Electric Company. Also useful herein are alkyl modified siloxanes such as alkyl methicones and alkyl dimethicones wherein the alkyl chain contains 10 to 50 carbons. Such siloxanes are commercially available under the tradenames ABIL WAX 9810 (C24-C28 alkyl methicone) (sold by Goldschmidt) and SF1632 (cetearyl methicone) (sold by General Electric Company). Vegetable oils and hydrogenated vegetable oils are also useful herein as wear promoting agents. Examples of vegetable oils and hydrogenated vegetable oils include safflower oil, castor oil, coconut oil, cottonseed oil, menhaden oil, palm kernel oil, palm oil, peanut oil, soybean oil, rapeseed oil, linseed oil, rice bran oil, pine oil, sesame oil, sunflower seed oil, borage oil, maleated soybean oil, polycottonseedate, polybehenate and mixtures thereof. The articles of the present invention may optionally include one or more conditioning agents. Nonlimiting examples of conditioning agents include those selected from the group consisting of polyhydric alcohols, polypropylene glycols, polyethylene glycols, ureas, pyrrolidone carboxylic acids, ethoxylated and/or propoxylated C3-C6 diols and triols, alpha-hydroxy C2-C6 carboxylic acids, ethoxylated and/or propoxylated sugars, polyacrylic acid copolymers, sugars having up to about 12 carbon atoms, sugar alcohols having up to about 12 carbon atoms, and mixtures thereof. Specific examples of useful conditioning agents include materials such as urea; guanidine; glycolic acid and glycolate salts (e.g., ammonium and quaternary alkyl ammonium); lactic acid and lactate salts (e.g. ammonium and quaternary alkyl ammonium); sucrose, fructose, glucose, erythritol, sorbitol, mannitol, glycerol, hexanetriol, propylene glycol, butylene glycol, hexylene glycol, and the like; polyethylene glycols such as PEG-2, PEG-3, PEG-30, PEG-50, PEG-100, PEG-14M; polypropylene glycols such as PPG-9, PPG-12, PPG-15, PPG-17, PPG-20, PPG-26, PPG-30, PPG-34; alkoxylated glucose; hyaluronic acid; cationic skin conditioning polymers (such as Polyquaternium polymers); and mixtures thereof. Glycerol known also as glycerin, in particular, is a preferred conditioning agent in the articles of the present invention. Cationic polymers may be selected from the group consisting of natural backbone quaternary ammonium polymers selected from the group consisting of Polyquaternium-4, Polyquaternium-10, Polyquaternium-24, PG-hydroxyethylcellulose alkyldimonium chlorides, guar hydroxypropyltrimonium chloride, hydroxypropylguar hydroxypropyltrimonium chloride, and combinations thereof; synthetic backbone quaternary ammonium polymers selected from the group consisting of Polyquaternium-2, Polyquaternium-6, Polyquaternium-7, Polyquaternium-11, Polyquaternium-16, Polyquaternium-17, Polyquaternium-18, Polyquaternium-28, Polyquaternium-32, Polyquaternium-37, Polyquaternium-43, Polyquaternium-44, Polyquaternium-46, polymethacylamidopropyl trimonium chloride, acrylamidopropyl trimonium chloride/acrylamide copolymer, and combinations thereof; natural backbone amphoteric type polymers selected from the group consisting of chitosan, quaternized proteins, hydrolyzed proteins, and combinations thereof; synthetic backbone amphoteric type polymers selected from the group consisting of Polyquaternium-22, Polyquaternium-39, Polyquaternium-47, adipic acid/dimethylaminohydroxypropyl diethylenetriamine copolymer, polyvinylpyrrolidone/dimethylaminoethyl methacrylate copolymer, vinylcaprolactam/polyvinylpyrrolidone/dimethylaminoethylmethacrylate copolymer, vinylcaprolactam/polyvinylpyrrolidone/dimethylaminopropylmethacrylamide terpolymer, polyvinylpyrrolidone/dimethylaminopropylmethacrylamide copolymer, polyamine; and combinations thereof. When the cationic polymer is a polyamine, it is preferred that the cationic polyamine polymer be selected from the group consisting of polyethyleneimines, polyvinylamines, polypropyleneimines, polylysines and combinations thereof. Even more preferably, the cationic polyamine polymer is a polyethyleneimine. Therapeutic benefit agents may be incorporated into the compositions. Illustrative but not limiting are anti-acne actives, anti-wrinkle actives, anti-microbial actives, anti-fungal actives, anti-inflammatory actives, topical anaesthetic actives, artificial tanning agents and accelerators, anti-viral agents, enzymes, sunscreen actives, anti-oxidants, skin exfoliating agents, and combinations thereof. Vitamins may be included in the compositions. Illustrative are Vitamin A and derivatives (e.g. beta carotene, retinol, retinoic acid, retinyl palmitate, retinyl linoleate, retinyl acetate), Vitamin B (e.g. niacin, niacinamide, riboflavin, pantothenic acid and derivatives), Vitamin C (e.g. ascorbic acid, ascorbyl tetraisopalmitate, magnesium ascorbyl phosphate), Vitamin D, Vitamin E and derivatives thereof (tocopherol, tocopherol palmitate, tocopherol acetate), and mixtures thereof. Sunscreens may be incorporated into the compositions. Particularly useful are the benzophenone sunscreens such as benzophenone-4, octyl methoxycinnamate (Parsol MCX) and Avobenzene (Parsol 1789). Amounts of the sunscreen may range from about 0.0001 to about 8% by weight of the foamable composition. Chelates may also be incorporated into the compositions. Particularly preferred are such chelates as sodium EDTA, phosphates and phosphonates such as Dequest 2010® (EHDP) and mixtures thereof. Particularly in compositions containing significant amounts of soap and based on extrusion processing, the compositions may contain fatty acids which have carbon content from about 8 to about 22. Illustrative fatty acids are stearic acid, palmitic acid, oleic acid, lauric acid, myristic acid, hydroxystearic acid and mixtures thereof. Amounts of the fatty acid may range from about 0.1 to about 40% by weight of the foamable compositions. Fatty acids can serve to plasticize the solid and semi-solid foamable compositions and serve as moisturizing agents. Foamable compositions of the present invention can contain water. Amounts of water may vary from 1% to 80%, preferably from about 20% to about 75%, optimally from about 50% to about 70% by weight of the composition. In one embodiment of this invention the compositions may be in the form of hydrocolloidal gels. Gelling agents are required for the hydro gel bars embodiment of the present invention. Amounts of the gelling agent may range from about 0.01 to about 20%, preferably from about 1 to about 15%, optimally from about 3 to about 12% by weight of the composition. Gelling agents include gelatin, carrageenan, xanthan, agar, sclerotium, carboxymethyl cellulose, hydroxyethyl cellulose, hydroxypropyl cellulose, hydroxy ethyl cellulose, hydroxypropyl cellulose, methyl and ethyl cellulose, guar gum, bean gum, natural starches, chemically modified starches (e.g. hydroxypropyl starch) and combinations thereof. Most preferred as gelling agent is gelatin and carrageenan, particularly kappa carrageenan. Gelling agents are those materials which can absorb at least about 40 g water (deionized) per gram of gelling agent, preferably at least about 60 g/g, more preferably at least about 80 g/g. Compositions of the present invention will generally also contain anti-microbial agents. Illustrative but not limiting examples include methyl paraben, ethyl paraben, propyl paraben, sodium sorbate, sodium benzoate, dimethylol dimethyl hydantoin (DMDM hydantoin), iodopropynylbutylcarbamate, methylchloroisothiazolinone, methylisothiazolinone, trichlosan, trichlorban and mixtures thereof. Amounts of the anti-microbials may range from about 0.0001 to about 2% by weight of the foamable composition. A wide variety of regulatory approved colorants may be employed. Merely for illustrative purposes these include Red 4, Yellow 5, Blue 1, Titanium Dioxide and mixtures thereof. The term “comprising” is meant not to be limiting to any subsequently stated elements but rather to encompass non-specified elements of major or minor functional importance. In other words the listed steps, elements or options need not be exhaustive. Whenever the words “including” or “having” are used, these terms are meant to be equivalent to “comprising” as defined above. Except in the operating and comparative examples, or where otherwise explicitly indicated, all numbers in this description indicating amounts of material ought to be understood as modified by the word “about”. The following examples will more fully illustrate the embodiments of this invention. All parts, percentages and proportions referred to herein and in the appended claims are by weight unless otherwise illustrated. FIG. 1 illustrates a personal care cleansing article of the present invention. The article is formed from a foamable composition 2. All but an upper surface 3 of the illustrated bar is formed of the solid or semi-solid foamable composition. Most of upper surface 3 is covered with an anchored layer of fibrous assembly 4 formed from a web of water-insoluble nonwoven polyproplyene or rayon/polypropylene hydroentangled web. The web is structured as shown in FIG. 2 as a series of accordion vertically lapped folds 5. These folds exhibit elongated peaks 6 and valleys 8. Total number of folds may range from about 3 to about 20, preferably from 4 to 15, optimally from 6 to 9 per article. Folds 5 along a length thereof are characterized by a longitudinal axis P2. The cleansing article as shown in the embodiment of FIG. 1 is an elongate structure defined by a longitudinal axis P1. Advantageously the web 4 is positioned to orient the longitudinal fold axis P2 transverse to the longitudinal article axis P1. Although orientation of P2 parallel to P1 may also be useful, this configuration tends to shrink on manufacture and is easily disrupted through the lathering process. The preferred orientation of P2 to P1 is the transverse orientation with ridges of the corrugated top web face being stable in manufacture and during lathering. Corrugation also assists in achieving faster and higher foam volume than a non-corrugated web system. EXAMPLE 1 Herein is exemplified a toilette bar with a high oil content. The foamable composition of this bar is reported in Table I. TABLE I INGREDIENT WEIGHT % Stearic Acid 13.09 Propylene Glycol 4.0 Glycerin 4.0 Sodium Hydroxide 1.3 Sodium Laureth Sulfate (2 EO) 4.0 Hydrogenated Cotton Seed Oil 4.0 Petrolatum 1.0 12-Hydroxy Stearic Acid 9.0 Alpha Olefin Sulfonate 3.0 Cocoamidopropyl Betaine 6.0 Titanium Dioxide 0.75 Sodium Cocoyl Isethionate 17.89 Sodium Cocoate 14.88 Zinc Oxide 0.05 Sunflower Seed Oil 16.0 Fragrance 1.0 Diphosphoric Acid 0.02 Tetrasodium EDTA 0.02 The foamable composition in molten form was poured into a mold cavity. This cavity contained a nonwoven structure similar to that shown in FIG. 2, supplied by Structured Fibers Inc. Total amount of nonwoven was 1.0 g and the foamable composition was 100.0 g. This represents 9100% foamable composition by weight relative to the fibrous assembly. EXAMPLE 2 Herein is illustrated a toilette bar composition similar to Example 1 but with somewhat higher level of nonwoven. The nonwoven and process for preparing the article were similar to that of the previous example. A 1.0 g nonwoven fibrous assembly was combined with 114.0 g foamable composition. The amount of foamable composition relative to the fibrous assembly calculates to 11400% by weight. The formula of the foamable composition is reported in Table II. TABLE II INGREDIENT WEIGHT % Stearic Acid 11.36 Propylene Glycol 2.47 Glycerin 4.00 Sodium Hydroxide 3.94 Sodium Laureth Sulfate 2EO (70%) 4.57 Hydrogenated Cotton Seed Oil 3.95 Petrolatum 1.00 12-Hydroxy Stearic Acid 8.00 Sodium C14-16 Olefin Sulfonate 3.89 Cocoamidopropyl Betaine 6.00 Sodium Tallowate 6.34 Sodium Isethionate 11.98 Sodium Cocoate 11.35 Zinc Oxide 0.03 Sunflower Seed Oil 6.00 Disodium Cocoamphodipropionate 5.78 Sodium Chloride 0.03 Deionized Water 2.27 Sodium Lauryl Sulfate 6.00 Fragrance 1.00 Diphosphoric Acid 0.02 Tetrasodium EDTA 0.02 Total 100 EXAMPLE 3 Herein is illustrated a hydrogel pliable (rubbery) toilette bar. The formula of the foamable composition is found in Table III. TABLE III INGREDIENT WEIGHT % Deionized Water 41.89 Polyquaternium-10 0.1 Sodium Chloride 0.325 Sodium Hydroxide 50% 0.048 Glycerin USP 1.00 Ammonium Lauryl Sulfate 5.08 Ammonium Laureth Sulfate 2EO (70%) 3.97 Cocamide MEA 0.869 PEG-5 Cocamide MEA 0.4345 Citric Acid 0.078 DMDM Hydantoin 0.017 Cocamidopropyl Betaine 10.00 Propylene Glycol USP 0.283 Deionized Water 25.00 Gelatin 10.00 Tetrasodium EDTA 39% 0.05 Dequest 2010 (EHDP) 0.033 Kathon CG 0.02 Fragrance 0.8 Color 0.0025 Total 100 In a process similar to that described for Example 1, the nonwoven fibrous assembly (1.25 g) was combined with 114.0 g of the foamable composition. This represents 7831% foamable composition by weight of fibrous assembly. EXAMPLE 4 The foamable composition yield stress is a measure of relative softness of a toilette bar. For purposes of the current invention, yield stress was calculated for Examples 1-3. Results are found in Table IV. TABLE IV Example No. Yield Stress 2 209.5 3 145.7 The Cheese Cutter Method was utilized to evaluate Yield Stress. A toilette bar dimensioned 1.25 inches by 1.25 inches by 2 inches was placed in a “V” shaped retainer. A metal wire held taut by a hinged arm was released against the square-cut toilette bar with a 400 g weight against the arm. The wire cutter was allowed to lean against the toilette bar for 1 minute. The bar was then pushed through the wire horizontally to cut a wedge out of the sample. Length of the sample cut and temperature were recorded. Yield stress (σo) in kPa units is measured as follows: σo = 0.375 mg ÷ 1D wherein, m=mass of driving wire (mass placed on device plus 56 grams) g=gravitational constant (9.8 m/s2) 1=length of wire penetrating soap bar after 1 minute (mm) D=diameter of wire (mm) EXAMPLE 5 Lather improvement was measured for the toilette bars of Example 1-3 and also for the same foamable composition toilette bars without nonwoven fibrous network. Results are recorded in Table V. TABLE V Without Nonwoven With Nonwoven Example 1 (ml) (ml) LIF 1 90 188.33 2.09 2 115 201.67 1.75 3 160 236.67 1.47 Based on the results in Table V, it is evident that the nonwoven increased lather generation by a factor of 1.47 to 2.1. Significant differences were observed at the 95% confidence level (p less than 0.05). Lather volume improvement as reported above was calculated via the following equation: LIF = V W V N wherein Vw is the volume of lather produced with a nonwoven present and VN is the volume of lather produced without a nonwoven present. Protocol of the method involved pouring 200 ml of 38° C. water at a rate of 5.26 mm/sec down a sheet of bubble wrap (23×38 cm) inclined at 45° into a 4,000 ml funnel (25.4 cm diameter). Simultaneously with pouring of the water, the sample toilette bar is caused to oscillate in motion parallel to a longitudinal axis of the bubble wrap. About 60-70 strokes of oscillation should occur before waterfall is terminated. Lather generated by the water passing over the toilette bar is collected from the 4,000 ml funnel and trapped in a closed separatory funnel. Thereafter, the stopcock of the separatory funnel is slowly rotated to release water. Upon release of all the water, the stopcock is closed and lather volume in the calibrated separatory funnel is measured. EXAMPLE 6 Three different nonwoven fibrous assemblies were evaluated for the relationship of porosity and lather volume improvement. Results are recorded in Table VI. TABLE VI Lather Lather Volume (ml) Volume (ml) Porosity of With Without % Energy Sample Nonwoven Nonwoven Nonwoven LIF Loss A 0.983 195 150 1.300 39.8 B 0.985 205 150 1.366 13.1 C 0.995 225 150 1.500 15.8 A 30 ml increase in lather volume was observed when porosity increased from 0.983 to 0.995. The toilette bars of Examples 1-3 all utilized the fibrous assembly having the 0.995 porosity. The results of Table VI also show that the high porosity samples reflect low percent energy loss values. The latter indicates improved resilience of the fibrous network leading to improved dimensional stability of the structures over time. | <SOH> BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION <EOH>1. Field of the Invention The invention concerns a personal care cleansing article, particularly a toilette bar integrated with a non-woven bonded fibrous web. 2. The Related Art Toilette bars are amongst the oldest forms of personal cleansing articles. Research continues to provide improved bar technology. Many problems exist requiring further solutions. Bars are slippery when wet. Better grabability is needed. Some bars require a long time to generate sufficiently luxurious lather. Quicker foaming bars are necessary. Other types of bars form mush from placement in a wet dish awaiting further use. Mush is aesthetically displeasing both visually and by handling. Some of the aforementioned problems have sought to be overcome through the use of water-insoluble structural composites combined with soap. A first variety encompasses surrounding a soap bar with a textile or fibrous sheath. For instance, U.S. Pat. No. 4,190,550 (Campbell) describes a seamless envelope of crimped, resilient, stretchy synthetic organic fibers surrounding a core of solid soap or other suitable surfactant material. The envelope is held in integral form solely by the entanglement of the fibers. U.S. Pat. No. 4,969,225 (Schubert) discloses a scrub brush. This article is formed from an elastic, resilient, synthetic fibrous bat or open-cell chemical foam (preferably polyurethane) having an internal cavity or tunnel containing a bar of soap. EP 1 266 599 A1 (Duden et al.) reports a solid cleanser holder. The holder is formed of a textured film having texture variations with at least one aperture, the film surrounding a solid cleanser. U.S. patent application 2004/0033915 A1 (Aleles et al.) reports a cleansing bar which includes a cleansing composition and a plurality of discrete elements, particularly fibers. These discrete elements appear not to be formed into any extended bonded web. Another body of technical art focuses upon structuring cores surrounded by soap. Apparently in this grouping, the core serves as a scaffold to support the cleansing composition. For instance, U.S. Pat. No. 5,221,506 (Dulin) discloses bar soaps for personal use having a structural center. Illustrative centers include open-celled sponges and woven or non-woven organic filamentary materials. In a FIG. 2 embodiment, a small portion of the structural core protrudes through the surface for reasons of providing a hanger support (e.g. a hole). U.S. patent application 2003/0220212 A1 (DeVitis) describes a reinforced bar soap. The reinforcement member is provided to prolong usage of a conventional soap composition and to serve as structural reinforcement eliminating soap breakage problems. U.S. Pat. No. 6,190,079 B1 (Ruff) discloses a scrubbing soap bar composed of vegetable oil/glycerine imbedded with a length of a thin, fine mesh netting. A portion of the netting extends exteriorly of the soap to form a pocket intended for insertion of a human user's fingers to facilitate grasp of the bar. Although there have been significant advances through the combination of soap compositions with reinforcement and/or textile webs, more discoveries are necessary to improve rate of lather volume generation, minimization of mush and/or degradation of the web structure itself. | <SOH> SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION <EOH>A cleansing article is provided which includes: (i) a fibrous web including a continuous network of bonded fibers, the web having a first and second major surface each being on opposite faces of the web; and (ii) a solid or semi-solid foamable composition joinably penetrating the web, the composition and the web being present in a relative weight ratio ranging from about 30:1 to about 2000:1, at least a major portion of the first major surface being exposed above the foamable composition, and a majority of surfaces defining an exterior of the article being formed of the foamable composition. | 20040909 | 20080122 | 20051215 | 88896.0 | 1 | OGDEN JR, NECHOLUS | FIBROUS TOILETTE ARTICLE | UNDISCOUNTED | 0 | ACCEPTED | 2,004 |
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10,938,463 | ACCEPTED | Switching control circuit with variable switching frequency for primary-side-controlled power converters | The invention presents a switching control circuit for a primary-side-controlled power converter. A pattern generator produces a digital pattern to control a programmable capacitor that is connected to an oscillator, which produces frequency hopping to reduce the EMI. A voltage-waveform detector produces a voltage-feedback signal and a discharge-time signal by multi-sampling a voltage signal of a transformer. A current-waveform detector and an integrator generate a feedback signal. The integration of a current-waveform signal with a timing signal generates the average-current signal. Time constant of the integrator is correlated to the switching frequency. The oscillator generates the timing signal and a pulse signal in response to the output of a current-loop error amplifier. A PWM circuit generates the switching signal in response to the pulse signal and the output of a voltage-loop error amplifier for switching the switching device and regulating the output of the power converter. | 1. A switching control circuit for a primary-side-controlled power converter, comprising: a switch for switching a transformer; wherein said transformer is coupled to an input voltage of the power converter; a sense device, which is coupled to said transformer for sensing current or/and voltage of said transformer; a switching signal, coupled to said switch for regulating an output voltage and a maximum output current of the power converter; and a controller, coupled to said transformer to generate a first feedback signal and a discharge-time signal by multi-sampling a voltage signal and a discharge time of said transformer during an off-time of said switching signal, said controller further coupled to said sense device to generate a second feedback signal in response to said discharge-time signal and a current signal of said transformer, wherein said controller generates said switching signal in response to said first feedback signal, said controller controlling a switching frequency of said switching signal in response to said second feedback signal. 2. The switching control circuit as claimed in claim 1, wherein said controller comprising: a first waveform detector, coupled to said transformer for producing said first feedback signal and said discharge-time signal by multi-sampling said voltage signal from an auxiliary winding of said transformer; wherein said discharge-time signal corresponds to said discharge time of a secondary-side switching current of said transformer; a second waveform detector and an integrator, producing said second feedback signal by integrating an average-current signal with said discharge-time signal, wherein a current-waveform signal integrated with the pulse width of a timing signal generate said average-current signal; said current-waveform signal is produced by measuring said current signal; a first error amplifier and a second error amplifier, for amplifying said first feedback signal and said second feedback signal respectively; an oscillator, coupled to said second error amplifier, generating a pulse signal and said timing signal in response to an output of said second error amplifier, wherein said pulse signal determines the switching frequency of said switching signal; wherein the pulse width of said timing signal is correlated with the switching frequency of said switching signal; a peak-current limiter, coupled to said sense device to limit the maximum value of said current signal; and a PWM circuit, generating said switching signal in response to said pulse signal, an output of said first error amplifier and an output of said peak-current limiter. 3. The switching control circuit as claimed in claim 2, wherein said controller further comprising: a programmable current source, connected to an input of said first waveform detector for temperature compensation; wherein said programmable current source produces a programmable current in response to the temperature of said controller. 4. The switching control circuit as claimed in claim 2, wherein said controller further comprising: a pattern generator, for generating a digital pattern; a first programmable capacitor, coupled to said oscillator and said pattern generator for modulating said switching frequency in response to said digital pattern; and a second programmable capacitor, coupled to said integrator and said pattern generator for correlating the time constant of said integrator with said switching frequency; wherein the capacitance of said first programmable capacitor and said second programmable capacitor is determined by said digital pattern. 5. The switching control circuit as claimed in claim 2, wherein the time constant of said integrator is correlated with the switching period of said switching signal. 6. The switching control circuit as claimed in claim 2, wherein said first waveform detector comprises: a sample-pulse generator, for producing a sample-pulse signal; a threshold signal, wherein said threshold signal adds said voltage signal to produce a level-shift signal; a first capacitor and a second capacitor; a first signal generator, producing a first sample signal and a second sample signal, wherein said first sample signal and said second sample signal are used for alternately sampling said voltage signal, wherein a first hold voltage and a second hold voltage are respectively held across said first capacitor and said second capacitor; wherein said first sample signal and said second sample signal are alternately generated in response to said sample-pulse signal during an enabled period of said discharge-time signal; wherein a delay time is inserted at the beginning of said discharge-time signal, wherein said first sample signal and said second sample signal are disabled during the period of said delay time; a buffer amplifier, generating a hold signal from the higher voltage of said first hold voltage and said second hold voltage; a first output capacitor, producing said first feedback signal by sampling said hold signal; and a second signal generator, producing said discharge-time signal; wherein said discharge-time signal is enabled as said switching signal is disabled; wherein after said delay time, said discharge-time signal can be disabled once said level-shift signal is lower than said first feedback signal; wherein said discharge-time signal can also be disabled as long as said switching signal is enabled. 7. The switching control circuit as claimed in claim 2, wherein said first waveform detector multi-samples said voltage signal to generate an end voltage for producing said first feedback signal; wherein said end voltage is sampled and measured instantly before said secondary-side switching current drops to zero. 8. The switching control circuit as claimed in claim 4, wherein said pattern generator comprises: a clock generator, for producing a clock signal; and a register, for generating said digital pattern in response to said clock signal. 9. The switching control circuit as claimed in claim 2, wherein said oscillator comprises: a first V-to-I converter, for generating a first charge current, a discharge current and a second charge current in response to said output of said second error amplifier; wherein said first V-to-I converter includes a first operational amplifier, a first oscillator resistor and a first group of transistors; a first oscillator capacitor; a first switch, wherein a first terminal of said first switch is supplied with said first charge current and a second terminal of said first switch is connected to said first oscillator capacitor; a second switch, wherein a first terminal of said second switch is connected to said first oscillator capacitor and a second terminal of said second switch is driven by said discharge current; a first comparator, having a non-inverting input connected to said first oscillator capacitor, wherein said first comparator generates said pulse signal; a third switch, having a first terminal supplied with a high threshold voltage and a second terminal connected to an inverting input of said first comparator; a fourth switch, having a first terminal supplied with a low threshold voltage and a second terminal connected to said inverting input of said first comparator; an inverter, having an input connected to an output of said first comparator for producing an inverse pulse signal; wherein said pulse signal turns on/off said second switch and said fourth switch, wherein said inverse pulse signal turns on/off said first switch and said third switch; a third resistor, generating a trip-point voltage in response to said second charge current; a second oscillator capacitor; a fifth switch connected in parallel with said second oscillator capacitor; a second comparator, having an inverting input connected to said second oscillator capacitor, a non-inverting input supplied with said trip-point voltage, wherein said second comparator generates said timing signal. 10. The switching control circuit as claimed in claim 2, wherein said second waveform detector comprises: a peak detector, generating a peak-current signal by measuring a peak value of said current signal; a third capacitor, holding said peak-current signal; a second output capacitor, producing said current-waveform; and a switch, for conducting said peak-current signal to said second output capacitor. 11. The switching control circuit as claimed in claim 2, wherein said integrator comprises: a first V-to-I converter, formed by a first operational amplifier, a first timing resistor and a first group of transistors, wherein said first V-to-I converter generates a first integrator charge current in response to said current-waveform signal; a first timing capacitor, for producing a first integrated signal; a first switch, wherein a first terminal of said first switch is supplied with said first integrator charge current and a second terminal of said first switch is connected to said first timing capacitor; wherein said timing signal turns on/off said first switch; a second switch, connected in parallel with said first timing capacitor for discharging said first timing capacitor; a third switch; a second output capacitor, producing an average-current signal by sampling said first integrated signal through said third switch; a second V-to-I converter, formed by a second operational amplifier, a second timing resistor and a second group of transistors, wherein said second V-to-I converter generates a second integrator charge current in response to said average-current signal; a third timing capacitor, for producing a second integrated signal; a fourth switch, wherein a first terminal of said fourth switch is supplied with said second integrator charge current and a second terminal of said fourth switch is connected to said third timing capacitor; wherein said discharge-time signal turns on/off said fourth switch; a fifth switch, connected in parallel with said third timing capacitor for discharging said third timing capacitor; a sixth switch; and a fourth output capacitor, producing said second feedback signal by sampling said second integrated signal through said sixth switch. 12. The switching control circuit as claimed in claim 1, wherein said switching signal having a minimum on-time once said switching signal is enabled, which further ensures a minimum value of said discharge time for multi-sampling said voltage signal. 13. A switching control circuit for a primary-side-controlled power converter, comprising: a switch for switching a transformer; in which said transformer is coupled to an input voltage of the power converter; a switching signal coupled to said switch for regulating said output voltage; and a controller coupled to said transformer to generate a first feedback signal by multi-sampling a voltage signal and a discharge time of said transformer during an off-time of said switching signal, wherein said controller generates said switching signal in response to said first feedback signal, wherein said controller comprises a first waveform detector. 14. The switching control circuit as claimed in claim 13, wherein said first waveform detector comprising: a sample-pulse generator, for producing a sample-pulse signal; a threshold signal, wherein said threshold signal adds said voltage signal producing a level-shift signal; a first capacitor and a second capacitor; a first signal generator, producing a first sample signal and a second sample signal, wherein said first sample signal and said second sample signal are used for alternately sampling said voltage signal, wherein a first hold voltage and a second hold voltage are respectively held across said first capacitor and said second capacitor, wherein said first sample signal and said second sample signal are alternately generated in response to said sample-pulse signal during an enabled period of a discharge-time signal, wherein a delay time is inserted at the beginning of said discharge-time signal, wherein said first sample signal and said second sample signal are disabled during the period of said delay time; a buffer amplifier, generating a hold signal from the higher voltage of said first hold voltage and said second hold voltage; a first output capacitor, producing said first feedback signal by sampling said hold signal; a second signal generator, producing said discharge-time signal; wherein said discharge-time signal is enabled as said switching signal is disabled, wherein after said delay time, said discharge-time signal can be disabled once said level-shift signal is lower than said first feedback signal, wherein said discharge-time signal can also be disabled as long as said switching signal is enabled; said discharge-time signal is generated in accordance with said discharge time of said transformer. 15. The switching control circuit as claimed in claim 13, wherein said first waveform detector multi-sampling said voltage signal to generate an end voltage for producing said first feedback signal; wherein said end voltage is sampled and measured instantly before a secondary-side switching current drops to zero. | BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a control circuit for a power converter, and more specifically, to a switching control circuit for switching mode power converters. 2. Description of Related Art Various power converters have been widely used to provide regulated voltage and current. For the sake of safety, an off-line power converter should provide galvanic isolation between its primary side and secondary side. When a control circuit is equipped at the primary side of the power converter, an optical-coupler and a secondary-side regulator are needed to regulate the output voltage and output current. The object of the present invention is to provide a switching control circuit for controlling the output voltage and the output current of a power converter at the primary side without using the optical-coupler and the secondary-side regulator. Furthermore, the technology of frequency hopping is introduced where the switching frequency of the switching signal is spread and thus the EMI (electric and magnetic interference) is lowered. Therefore the size and the cost of the power converter can be reduced. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION A switching control circuit for a primary-side-control power converter comprises a switch for switching a transformer. A switching signal turns on the switch for regulating the output voltage and the maximum output current of the power converter. A controller is coupled to the transformer to generate a voltage-feedback signal and a discharge-time signal by multi-sampling a voltage signal and a discharge-time of the transformer during the off-time of the switching signal. The controller is further coupled to a current-sense device to generate a feedback signal in response to the discharge-time signal and a current signal of the transformer. Therefore, the controller generates a switching signal in response to the voltage-feedback signal. Besides, the controller controls the switching frequency of the switching signal in response to the feedback signal. The controller comprises a voltage-waveform detector for multi-sampling a voltage signal and producing the voltage-feedback signal and the discharge-time signal. The voltage-waveform detector is connected to an auxiliary winding of the transformer through a divider. The discharge-time signal represents the discharge time of the transformer and also stands for the discharge time of a secondary-side switching current. An oscillator generates a pulse signal for determining the switching frequency of the switching signal. A current-waveform detector and an integrator produce the feedback signal by integrating an average-current signal with the discharge-time signal. The integrator integrates a current-waveform signal with the pulse width of a timing signal to generate the average-current signal. The current-waveform detector produces the current-waveform signal by measuring the current signal through the current-sense device. A first operational amplifier and a first reference voltage develop a voltage-loop error amplifier to amplify the voltage-feedback signal and provide a loop gain for output voltage control. A second operational amplifier and a second reference voltage form a current-loop error amplifier to amplify the feedback signal and provide a loop gain for output current control. A peak-current limiter is coupled to the current-sense device to limit the maximum value of the current signal. A PWM circuit associates with comparators, which controls the pulse width of the switching signal in response to the output of the voltage-loop error amplifier and the output of the peak-current limiter. The output voltage is thus regulated. The output of the current-loop error amplifier is coupled to the oscillator to control the switching frequency of the switching signal. Therefore the output current of the power converter can be controlled. A programmable current source is connected to the input of the voltage-waveform detector for temperature compensation. The programmable current source produces a programmable current in response to the temperature of the controller, which compensates the temperature deviation of the output voltage of the power converter. A pattern generator generates a digital pattern. A first programmable capacitor is coupled to the oscillator and the pattern generator to modulate the switching frequency in response to the digital pattern. A second programmable capacitor is coupled to the integrator and the pattern generator for correlating the time constant of the integrator with the switching frequency of the switching signal. The capacitance of the first programmable capacitor and the second programmable capacitor is controlled by the digital pattern. It is to be understood that both the foregoing general descriptions and the following detailed descriptions are exemplary, and are intended to provide further explanation of the invention as claimed. Still further objects and advantages will become apparent from a consideration of the ensuing description and drawings. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The accompanying drawings are included to provide further understanding of the invention, and are incorporated into and constitute a part of this specification. The drawings illustrate embodiments of the invention and, together with the description, serve to explain the principles of the invention. FIG. 1 shows a schematic diagram of a power converter having a switching control circuit. FIG. 2 shows key waveforms of the power converter and the switching control circuit. FIG. 3 shows one embodiment of a controller according to the present invention. FIG. 4 shows one embodiment of a voltage-waveform detector according to the present invention. FIG. 5 shows one embodiment of an oscillator according to the present invention. FIG. 6 shows one embodiment of a current-waveform detector according to the present invention. FIG. 7 shows one embodiment of an integrator according to the present invention. FIG. 8 shows a schematic diagram of a PWM circuit according to one embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 9 shows a schematic diagram of an adder according to the present invention. FIG. 10 shows a schematic diagram of a programmable current source according to one embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 11 shows a pattern generator according to one embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 12 shows a programmable capacitor according to one embodiment of the present invention. DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS FIG. 1 shows a power converter. The power converter includes a transformer 10 comprising an auxiliary winding NA, a primary winding NP, and a secondary winding NS. The primary winding NP is coupled to the input voltage VIN of the power converter. In order to regulate an output voltage VO and an output current IO of the power converter, a switching control circuit includes a switching signal VPWM to control a transistor 20 for switching the transformer 10. A current-sense resistor 30 serves as a current-sense device. A controller 70 generates the switching signal VPWM. FIG. 2 shows various signal waveforms of the power converter as shown in FIG. 1. As the switching signal VPWM becomes logic-high, a primary-side switching current IP will be generated accordingly. A primary-side switching peak current IP1 can be given by, I P1 = V IN L P × T ON ( 1 ) where LP is the inductance of the primary winding NP of the transformer 10; TON is an on-time of the switching signal VPWM. Once the switching signal VPWM becomes logic-low, energy stored in the transformer 10 will be delivered to a secondary side of the transformer 10 and to an output of the power converter via a rectifier 40. A secondary-side switching current IS is generated accordingly. A secondary-side switching peak current IS1 can be expressed by, I SI = ( V O + V F ) L S × T DS ( 2 ) where VO is the output voltage of the power converter; VF is a forward voltage drop of the rectifier 40; LS is the inductance of the secondary winding NS of the transformer 10; TDS is a discharge time of the transformer 10, which also represents the discharge time of the secondary-side switching current IS. Meanwhile, a voltage signal VAUX is generated at the auxiliary winding NA of the transformer 10. The voltage signal VAUX1 is given by, V AUX1 = T NA T NS × ( V O + V F ) ( 3 ) where TNA and TNS are respectively the winding turns of the auxiliary winding NA and the secondary winding NS of the transformer 10. The voltage signal VAUX will start to decrease as the secondary-side switching current IS drops to zero. This also indicates that energy of the transformer 10 is fully released at this moment. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 2, the discharge time TDS in equation (2) can be measured from the falling edge of the switching signal VPWM to the point that the voltage signal VAUX starts to decrease. The secondary-side switching peak current IS1 is determined by the primary-side switching peak current IP1 and the winding turns of the transformer 10. The secondary-side switching peak current IS1 can be expressed by, I S1 = T NP T NS × I P1 ( 4 ) where TNP is the winding turns of the primary winding NP of the transformer 10. The controller 70 includes a supply terminal VCC and a ground terminal GND for receiving power. A resistor 50 and a resistor 51 form a divider connected between the auxiliary winding NA of the transformer 10 and a ground reference level. A detection terminal DET of the controller 70 is connected to a joint of the resistor 50 and the resistor 51. A voltage VDET generated at the detection terminal DET is given by, V DET = R 51 R 50 + R 51 × V AUX ( 5 ) where R50 and R51 are the resistance of the resistors 50 and 51. The voltage signal VAUX further charges a capacitor 65 via a rectifier 60 for powering the controller 70. The current-sense resistor 30 is connected from a source of the transistor 20 to the ground reference level for converting the primary-side switching current IP into a current signal VCS. A sense terminal CS of the controller 70 is connected to the current-sense resistor 30 for detecting the current signal VCS. An output terminal OUT of the controller 70 generates the switching signal VPWM for switching the transformer 10. A voltage-compensation terminal COMV is connected to a compensation network for voltage-loop frequency compensation. The compensation network can be a capacitor connected to the ground reference level, such as a capacitor 31. A current-compensation terminal COMI has another compensation network for current-loop frequency compensation. The compensation network can also be a capacitor connected to the ground reference level, such as a capacitor 32. FIG. 3 shows one embodiment of the controller 70. A voltage-waveform detector 100 produces a voltage-feedback signal VV and a discharge-time signal SDS by multi-sampling the voltage VDET. The discharge-time signal SDS represents the discharge time TDS of the secondary-side switching current IS. A current-waveform detector 300 generates a current-waveform signal VW by measuring the current signal VCS. An integrator 400 produces a feedback signal VI by integrating an average-current signal VAV with the discharge-time signal SDS. The average-current signal is generated by the integration of the current-waveform signal VW and the pulse width of a timing signal TX. An operational amplifier 71 and a reference voltage VREF1 develop a voltage-loop error amplifier for amplifying the voltage-feedback signal VV and providing a loop gain for output voltage control. An operational amplifier 72 and a reference voltage VREF2 develop a current-loop error amplifier for amplifying the feedback signal VI and providing a loop gain for output current control. An oscillator 200 is coupled to an output of the current-loop error amplifier to generate a pulse signal PLS and the timing signal TX. The pulse signal PLS is utilized to initiate the switching signal VPWM and determine a switching frequency of the switching signal VPWM. The pulse width of the timing signal TX is correlated with the switching frequency of the switching signal VPWM. A comparator 74 and a reference voltage VREF3 develop a peak-current limiter to limit the primary-side switching peak current IP1. An input of the peak-current limiter is coupled to the sense terminal CS to detect the current signal VCS and achieve cycle-by-cycle current limiting. A PWM circuit 500 is coupled to comparators 73 and 74 through a NAND gate 79 to control the pulse width of the switching signal VPWM in response to an output of the voltage-loop error amplifier and an output of the peak-current limiter. Both operational amplifiers 71 and 72 have trans-conductance output. The output of the operational amplifier 71 is connected to the voltage-compensation terminal COMV and a positive input of the comparator 73. The output of the operational amplifier 72 is connected to the current-compensation terminal COMI. A negative input of the comparator 73 is connected to an output of an adder 600. The adder 600 generates a slope signal VSLP by adding the current signal VCS and a ramp signal RMP, which forms a slope compensation for voltage-loop. A current control loop, formed from the detection of the primary-side switching current IP to the control of the switching frequency of the switching signal VPWM, controls the average value of the secondary-side switching current IS in response to the reference voltage VREF2. According to the signal waveforms in FIG. 2, the output current IO of the power converter is the average of the secondary-side switching current IS. It can be expressed by, I O = I S × T DS 2 T ( 6 ) where T is a switching period of the switching signal VPWM that correlates to a time constant of the oscillator 200. The output current IO of the power converter is therefore regulated. The current-waveform detector 300 detects the current signal VCS and generates the current-waveform signal VW. The integrator 400 further produces the feedback signal VI by integrating the average-current signal VAV with the discharge time TDS. Integrating the current-waveform signal VW with the pulse width of the timing signal TX generates the average-current signal VAV. The VI is thus designed as, V I = V AV × T DS T I2 ( 7 ) V AV = V W 2 × T XP T I1 ( 8 ) where the current-waveform signal VW is expressed by, V W = T NS T NP × R S × I S1 ( 9 ) where TI1 and TI2 are the time constants of the integrator 400; A pulse width TXP of the timing signal TX is correlated with the switching period of the switching signal VPWM; (TXP=αT). It can be seen from equations (6)-(9) that the feedback signal VI can be rewritten as, V I = α T 2 T I1 × T I2 × T NS T NP × R S × I O ( 10 ) It can be found that the feedback signal VI is proportional to the output current IO of the power converter. The feedback signal VI is increased as the output current IO increases, but the maximum value of the feedback signal VI is limited to the value of the reference voltage VREF2 through the regulation of the current control loop. Under feedback control of the current control loop, the switching frequency of the switching signal VPWM is reduced as a maximum output current IO(max) increases and vice versa. The maximum output current IO(max) is given by, I O ( max ) = T NP T NS × G A × G SW × V REF2 1 + ( G A × G SW × R S K ) ( 11 ) where K is a constant equal to [(TI1×TI2)/(αT2)]; GA is the gain of the current-loop error amplifier; GSW is the gain of the switching circuit. When the loop gain of the current control loop is high (GA×GSW>>1), the maximum output current IO(max) could be briefly defined as, I O ( max ) = K × T NP T NS × V REF2 R S ( 12 ) The maximum output current IO(max) of the power converter is thus regulated as a constant current in response to the reference voltage VREF2. Besides, voltage control loop is developed from the voltage signal VAUX sampling to the pulse width modulation of the switching signal VPWM, which controls the magnitude of the voltage signal VAUX in response to the reference voltage VREF1. The voltage signal VAUX is a ratio of the output voltage VO as shown in equation (3). The voltage signal VAUX is further attenuated to the voltage VDET as shown in equation (5). The voltage-waveform detector 100 generates the voltage-feedback signal VV by multi-sampling the voltage VDET. The value of the voltage-feedback signal VV is controlled in response to the value of the reference voltage VREF1 through the regulation of the voltage control loop. The voltage-loop error amplifier and the PWM circuit 500 provide the loop gain for the voltage control loop. Therefore the output voltage VO can be briefly defined as, V O = ( R 50 + R 51 R 51 × T NS T NA × V REF1 ) - V F ( 13 ) The voltage signal VAUX is multi-sampled by the voltage-waveform detector 100. The voltage is sampled and measured instantly before the secondary-side switching current IS drops to zero. Therefore, the variation of the secondary-side switching current IS does not affect the value of the forward voltage drop VF of the rectifier 40. However, the forward voltage drop VF varies when the temperature changes. A programmable current source 80 is connected to an input of the voltage-waveform detector 100 for temperature compensation. The programmable current source 80 produces a programmable current IT in response to the temperature of the controller 70. The programmable current IT associates with the resistors 50, 51 to generate a voltage VT to compensate the temperature variation of the forward voltage drop VF. V T = I T × R 50 × R 51 R 50 + R 51 ( 14 ) With reference to equations (12) and (13), we can find the ratio of resistors R50 and R51 determines the output voltage VO. The resistance of resistors 50 and 51 determines the temperature coefficient for compensating the forward voltage drop VF. Due to the programmable current source 80, the equation (12) can be rewritten as, V O = ( R 50 + R 51 R 51 × T NS T NA ) × ( V REF1 + V T ) - V F ( 15 ) FIG. 4 shows one embodiment of the voltage-waveform detector 100 according to the present invention. A sample-pulse generator 190 produces a sample-pulse signal for multi-sampling operation. A threshold signal 156 adds up the voltage signal VAUX to produce a level-shift reflected signal. A first signal generator includes a D flip-flop 171, two AND gates 165, 166 for producing a first sample signal VSP1 and a second sample signal VSP2. A second signal generator comprises a D flip-flop 170, a NAND gate 163, an AND gate 164 and a comparator 155 for producing the discharge-time signal SDS. A time-delay circuit includes an inverter 162, a current source 180, a transistor 181 and a capacitor 182 for generating a delay time Td as the switching signal VPWM is disabled. An input of an inverter 161 is supplied with the switching signal VPWM. An output of the inverter 161 is connected to an input of the inverter 162, a first input of the AND gate 164 and a clock-input of the D flip-flop 170. An output of the inverter 162 turns on/off the transistor 181. The capacitor 182 is connected in parallel with the transistor 181. The current source 180 is applied to charge the capacitor 182. Therefore the current of the current source 180 and the capacitance of the capacitor 182 decide the delay time Td of the time-delay circuit. The capacitor 182 is the output of the time-delay circuit. A D-input of the D flip-flop 170 is pulled high by a supply voltage VCC. An output of the D flip-flop 170 is connected to a second input of the AND gate 164. The AND gate 164 outputs the discharge-time signal SDS. The discharge-time signal SDS is thus enabled as the switching signal VPWM is disabled. The output of the NAND gate 163 is connected to a reset-input of the D flip-flop 170. The inputs of the NAND gate 163 are connected to the output of the time-delay circuit and an output of the comparator 155. A negative input of the comparator 155 is supplied with the level-shift reflected signal. A positive input of the comparator 155 is supplied with the voltage-feedback signal VV. Therefore, after the delay time Td, the discharge-time signal SDS can be disable once the level-shift reflected signal is lower than the voltage-feedback signal VV. Besides, the discharge-time signal SDS can also be disabled as long as the switching signal VPWM is enabled. The sample-pulse signal is applied to a clock-input of the D flip-flop 171 and third inputs of AND gates 165 and 166. A D-input and an inverse output of the D flip-flop 171 are connected together to form a divided-by-two counter. An output and the inverse output of the D flip-flop 171 are respectively connected to second inputs of AND gates 165 and 166. First inputs of AND gates 165 and 166 are supplied with the discharge-time signal SDS. Fourth inputs of AND gates 165 and 166 are connected to the output of the time-delay circuit. Therefore the first sample signal VSP1 and the second sample signal VSP2 are generated in response to the sample-pulse signal. Besides, the first sample signal VSP1 and the second sample signal VSP2 are alternately produced during an enabled period of the discharge-time signal SDS. However, the delay time Td is inserted at the beginning of the discharge-time signal SDS to inhibit the first sample signal VSP1 and the second sample signal VSP2. The first sample signal VSP1 and the second sample signal VSP2 are thus disabled during the period of the delay time Td. The first sample signal VSP1 and the second sample signal VSP2 are used for alternately sampling the voltage signal VAUX via the detection terminal DET and the divider. The first sample signal VSP1 and the second sample signal VSP2 control a switch 121 and a switch 122 for obtaining a first hold voltage and a second hold voltage across a capacitor 110 and a capacitor 111 respectively. A switch 123 is connected in parallel with the capacitor 110 to discharge the capacitor 110. A switch 124 is connected in parallel with the capacitor 111 to discharge the capacitor 111. A buffer amplifier includes operational amplifiers 150 and 151, diodes 130, 131, and a current source 135 for generating a hold voltage. The positive inputs of operational amplifiers 150 and 151 are respectively connected to the capacitor 110 and capacitor 111. The negative inputs of the operational amplifiers 150 and 151 are connected to an output of the buffer amplifier. The diode 130 is connected from an output of the operational amplifier 150 to the output of the buffer amplifier. The diode 131 is connected from an output of the operational amplifier 151 to the output of the buffer amplifier. The hold voltage is thus obtained from the higher voltage of the first hold voltage and the second hold voltage. The current source 135 is used for the termination. A switch 125 periodically samples the hold voltage to a capacitor 115 for producing the voltage-feedback signal VV. The switch 125 is turned on/off by the pulse signal PLS. The first sample signal VSP1 and the second sample signal VSP2 start to produce the first hold voltage and the second hold voltage after the delay time Td, which eliminates the spike interference of the voltage signal VAUX. The spike of the voltage signal VAUX would be generated when the switching signal VPWM is disabled and the transistor 20 is turned off. The voltage signal VAUX starts to decrease as the secondary-side switching current IS falls to zero, which will be detected by the comparator 155 for disabling the discharge-time signal SDS. The pulse width of the discharge-time signal SDS is therefore correlated to the discharge time TDS of the secondary-side switching current IS Meanwhile the first sample signal VSP1 and the second sample signal VSP2 are disabled, and the multi-sampling operation is stopped as the discharge-time signal SDS is disabled. At the moment, the hold voltage generated at the output of the buffer amplifier represents an end voltage. The end voltage is thus correlated to the voltage signal VAUX that is sampled just before the secondary-side switching current IS dropping to zero. The hold voltage is obtained from the higher voltage of the first hold voltage and the second hold voltage, which will ignore the voltage that is sampled when the voltage signal starts to decrease. FIG. 5 shows one embodiment of the oscillator 200 according to the present invention. An operational amplifier 201, a resistor 210 and a transistor 250 consist a first V-to-I converter. The first V-to-I converter generates a reference current I250 in response to the output voltage of the current-loop error amplifier VCOMI. Through the feedback loop control, the output voltage of the current-loop error amplifier VCOMI will be regulated as the reference voltage VREF2. A plurality of transistors, such as 251, 252, 253, 254, 255 and 259 form current mirrors for generating an oscillator charge current I253, an oscillator discharge current I255 and a timing current I259 in response to the reference current I250. A drain of the transistor 253 generates the oscillator charge current I253. A drain of the transistor 255 generates the oscillator discharge current I255. A drain of the transistor 259 generates the timing current I259. A switch 230 is connected between the drain of the transistor 253 and a capacitor 215. A switch 231 is connected between the drain of the transistor 255 and the capacitor 215. The ramp signal RMP is obtained across the capacitor 215. A comparator 205 has a positive input connected to the capacitor 215. The comparator 205 outputs the pulse signal PLS. The pulse signal PLS determines the switching frequency. A first terminal of a switch 232 is supplied with a high threshold voltage VH. A first terminal of a switch 233 is supplied with a low threshold voltage VL. A second terminal of the switch 232 and a second terminal of the switch 233 are both connected to a negative input of the comparator 205. An inverter 260 receives the pulse signal PLS and produces an inverse pulse signal /PLS. The pulse signal PLS turns on/off the switch 231 and the switch 233. The inverse pulse signal /PLS turns on/off the switch 230 and the switch 232. A first programmable capacitor 910 as shown in FIG. 3 is connected in parallel with the capacitor 215 for modulating the switching frequency in response to a digital pattern PN . . . P1. The resistance R210 of the resistor 210, the capacitance C215 of the capacitor 215 and the capacitance C910 of the first programmable capacitor 910 determine the switching period T of the switching frequency, as shown in following equation: T = ( C 215 + C 910 ) × V OSC V COMI / R 210 = R 210 × ( C 215 + C 910 ) × V OSC V COMI ( 16 ) where VOSC=VH−VL. The capacitance C910 of the first programmable capacitor 910 varies in response to the variation of the digital pattern PN . . . P1. A resistor 211 and the timing current I259 generate a trip-point voltage VTP across the resistor 211. The trip-point voltage VTP is supplied to a positive input of a comparator 202. A constant current source IR charges a capacitor 216. The capacitor 216 is connected to a negative input of the comparator 202. A switch 234 is connected in parallel with the capacitor 216 for discharging the capacitor 216. The switch 234 is turned on/off by the pulse signal PLS. The comparator 202 generates the timing signal TX. The capacitor 216 is correlated with the capacitor 215. Therefore, the timing signal TX is correlated with the switching period T of the switching frequency. FIG. 6 shows an embodiment of the current-waveform detector 300 according to the present invention. A peak detector includes a comparator 310, a current source 320, switches 330, 340, and a capacitor 361. The peak detector samples a peak value of the current signal VCS and generate a peak-current signal. A positive input of the comparator 310 is supplied with the current signal VCS. A negative input of the comparator 310 is connected to the capacitor 361. The switch 330 is connected between the current source 320 and the capacitor 361. The output of the comparator 310 turns on/off the switch 330. The switch 340 is connected in parallel with the capacitor 361 for discharging the capacitor 361. A switch 350 periodically conducts the peak-current signal to a capacitor 362 for producing the current-waveform signal VW. The switch 350 is turned on/off by the pulse signal PLS. FIG. 7 shows one embodiment of the integrator 400 according to the present invention. A third V-to-I converter comprises an operational amplifier 411, a resistor 452 and transistors 423, 424, and 425. A positive input of the operational amplifier 411 is supplied with the current-waveform signal VW. A negative input of the operational amplifier 411 is connected to the resistor 452. An output of the operational amplifier 411 drives a gate of the transistor 425. A source of the transistor 425 is coupled to the resistor 452. The third V-to-I converter generates a current I425 via a drain of the transistor 425 in response to the current-waveform signal VW. Transistors 423 and 424 form a first current mirror having a 2:1 ratio. The first current mirror is driven by the current I425 to produce a programmable charge current IW via a drain of the transistor 424. The programmable charge current IW can be expressed by, I W = 1 R 452 × V W 2 ( 17 ) where R452 is the resistance of the resistor 452. A capacitor 473 is used to produce a first integrated signal. A switch 464 is connected between the drain of the transistor 424 and the capacitor 473. The switch 464 is turned on/off by the timing signal TX. A switch 468 is connected in parallel with the capacitor 473 for discharging the capacitor 473. A switch 466 periodically conducts the first-integrated signal to a capacitor 474 for producing the average-current signal VAV. The pulse signal PLS turns on/off the switch 466. The average-current signal VAV is therefore obtained across the capacitor 474. V AV = 1 R 452 × C 473 × V W 2 × T XP ( 18 ) A second V-to-I converter comprises an operational amplifier 410, a resistor 450 and transistors 420, 421, and 422. A positive input of the operational amplifier 410 is supplied with the average-current signal VAV. A negative input of the operational amplifier 410 is connected to the resistor 450. An output of the operational amplifier 410 drives a gate of the transistor 420. A source of the transistor 420 is coupled to the resistor 450. The second V-to-I converter generates a current I420 via a drain of the transistor 420 in response to the average-current signal VAV. Transistors 421 and 422 form a second current mirror. The second current mirror is driven by the current I420 to produce a programmable charge current IPRG via a drain of the transistor 422. The programmable charge current IPRG can be expressed by, I PRG = V AV R 450 ( 19 ) where R450 is the resistance of the resistor 450. A capacitor 471 is used to produce an integrated signal. A switch 460 is connected between the drain of the transistor 422 and the capacitor 471. The switch 460 is turned on/off by the discharge-time signal SDS. A switch 462 is connected in parallel with the capacitor 471 for discharging the capacitor 471. A second programmable capacitor 930 as shown in FIG. 3 is connected in parallel with the capacitor 471 at a CX terminal of the integrator 400 for correlating the time constant of the integrator 400 with the switching frequency. The capacitance C930 of the second programmable capacitor 930 in response to the variation of the digital pattern PN . . . P1. A switch 461 periodically conducts the integrated signal to a capacitor 472 for producing the feedback signal VI. The pulse signal PLS turns on/off the switch 461. The feedback signal VI obtained across the capacitor 472 is given by, V I = V AV R 450 × ( C 471 + C 930 ) × T DS ( 20 ) According to the equations (4)-(9) and (16), the feedback signal VI is correlated to the secondary-side switching current IS and the output current IO of the power converter. Thus, the equation (10) can be rewritten as, V I = m × T NS T NP × R S × I O ( 21 ) where m is a constant which can be determined by, m = α × [ R 210 × ( C 215 + C 910 ) ] 2 [ R 452 × C 473 ] × [ R 450 × ( C 471 + C 930 ) ] × V OSC V COMI ( 22 ) The resistance R450 and R452 of the resistors 450, 452 are correlated to the resistance R210 of the resistor 210. The capacitance C471 and C473 of the capacitors 471, 473 and the capacitance C930 of the capacitor 930 are correlated to the capacitance C215 of the capacitor 215 and the capacitance C910 of the capacitor 910. Therefore, the feedback signal VI is proportional to the output current IO of the power converter. FIG. 8 shows a circuit schematic of the PWM circuit 500 according to an embodiment of the present invention. The PWM circuit 500 includes a NAND gate 511, a D flip-flop 515, an AND gate 519, a blanking circuit 520 and inverters 512, 518. A D-input of the D flip-flop 515 is pulled high with the supply voltage VCC. The pulse signal PLS drives an input of the inverter 512. An output of the inverter 512 is connected to a clock-input of the D flip-flop 515 for enabling the switching signal VPWM. An output of the D flip-flop 515 is connected to a first input of the AND gate 519. A second input of the AND gate 519 is coupled to the output of the inverter 512. The AND gate 519 outputs the switching signal VPWM to switch the power converter. A reset-input of the D flip-flop 515 is connected to an output of the NAND gate 511. A first input of the NAND gate 511 is supplied with the reset signal RST for cycle-by-cycle disabling the switching signal VPWM. The second input of the NAND gate 511 is connected to an output of the blanking circuit 520 for ensuring a minimum on-time of the switching signal VPWM once the switching signal VPWM is enabled. The minimum on-time of the switching signal VPWM ensures a minimum discharge-time TDS, which ensures a proper multi-sampling operation for voltage signal VAUX in the voltage-waveform detector 100. The discharge time TDS is related to the on-time TON of the switching signal VPWM. With reference to equations (1), (2), (4), and (23), the discharge-time TDS can be expressed as equation (24) shows, L S = ( T NS T NP ) 2 × L P ( 23 ) T DS = ( V IN V O + V F ) × T NS T NP × T ON ( 24 ) An input of the blanking circuit 520 is supplied with the switching signal VPWM. When the switching signal VPWM is enabled, the blanking circuit 520 generates a blanking signal VBLK to inhibit the reset of the D flip-flop 515. The blanking circuit 520 further comprises a NAND gate 523, a current source 525, a capacitor 527, a transistor 526 and inverters 521, 522. The switching signal VPWM is supplied to an input of the inverter 521 and the first input of the NAND gate 523. The current source 525 is applied to charge the capacitor 527. The capacitor 527 is connected between a drain and a source of the transistor 526. The output of the inverter 521 turns on/off the transistor 526. An input of the inverter 522 is coupled to the capacitor 527. An output of the inverter 522 is connected to a second input of the NAND gate 523. An output of the NAND gate 523 outputs the blanking signal VBLK. The current of the current source 525 and the capacitance of the capacitor 527 determine the pulse width of the blanking signal VBLK. An input of an inverter 518 is connected to the output of the NAND gate 523. An output of the inverter 518 generates a clear signal CLR to turn on/off switches 123, 124, 340 462 and 468. FIG. 9 shows a schematic diagram of the adder 600 according to the present invention. An operational amplifier 610, transistors 620, 621, 622 and a resistor 650 develop a fourth V-to-I converter for generating a current I622 in response to the ramp signal RMP. A positive input of an operational amplifier 611 is supplied with the current signal VCS. A negative input and an output of the operational amplifier 611 are connected together to build the operational amplifier 611 as a buffer. A drain of the transistor 622 is connected to the output of the operational amplifier 611 via a resistor 651. The slope signal VSLP is generated at the drain of the transistor 622. The slope signal VSLP is therefore correlated to the ramp signal RMP and the current signal VCS. FIG. 10 shows a schematic diagram of the programmable current source 80 that generates the programmable current IT in response to temperature variation. The programmable current generator 80 comprises two bipolar transistors 81 and 82, three p-mirror transistors 84, 85, and 86, two n-mirror transistors 87 and 88 and a resistor 83. The programmable current IT is given by, I T = N M × k × T emp q × ln ( r ) R T ( 25 ) where RT is the resistance of resistor 83; NM=M1×M2; M1 is the geometrical ratio of the transistor 85 and 86; M2 is the geometrical ratio of the transistor 87 and 88; k is the Boltzmann's constant; q is the charge on an electron; r is the emitter area ratio of the bipolar transistor 81 and 82; and Temp is the transistor temperature. Furthermore, in order to produce a frequency hopping for reducing the EMI of the power converter, a pattern generator 900 generates the digital pattern PN . . . P1. The first programmable capacitor 910 is coupled to the oscillator 200 and the pattern generator 900 for modulating the switching frequency of the switching signal VPWM in response to the digital pattern PN . . . P1. The second programmable capacitor 930 is coupled to the integrator 400 and the pattern generator 900 for correlating the time constant of the integrator 400 with the switching frequency. The capacitance of the first programmable capacitor 910 and the second programmable capacitor 930 is determined by the digital pattern PN . . . P1. FIG. 11 shows one embodiment of the pattern generator 900 according to the present invention. A clock generator 951 generates a clock signal CK. A plurality of registers 971, 972 . . . 975 and a XOR gate 952 develop a linear shift register for generating a linear code in response to the clock signal CK. The inputs of the XOR gate 952 determine the polynomials of the linear shift register and decide the output of the linear shift register. The digital pattern code PN . . . P1 can be adopted from the part of the linear code to optimize the application. FIG. 12 shows an embodiment of the programmable capacitor such as the first programmable capacitor 910 and the second programmable capacitor 930. The programmable capacitor comprises switching-capacitor sets connected in parallel, in which the switching-capacitor sets are formed by capacitors C1, C2, . . . , CN and switches S1, S2, . . . , SN. The switch S1 and the capacitor C1 are connected in series. The switch S2 and the capacitor C2 are connected in series. The switch SN and the capacitor CN are connected in series. The digital pattern code PN . . . P1 controls switches S1, S2, . . . SN, and therefore varies the capacitance of the programmable capacitor. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications and variations can be made to the structure of the present invention without departing from the scope or spirit of the invention. In view of the foregoing, it is intended that the present invention covers modifications and variations of this invention provided they fall within the scope of the following claims and their equivalents. | <SOH> BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION <EOH>1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a control circuit for a power converter, and more specifically, to a switching control circuit for switching mode power converters. 2. Description of Related Art Various power converters have been widely used to provide regulated voltage and current. For the sake of safety, an off-line power converter should provide galvanic isolation between its primary side and secondary side. When a control circuit is equipped at the primary side of the power converter, an optical-coupler and a secondary-side regulator are needed to regulate the output voltage and output current. The object of the present invention is to provide a switching control circuit for controlling the output voltage and the output current of a power converter at the primary side without using the optical-coupler and the secondary-side regulator. Furthermore, the technology of frequency hopping is introduced where the switching frequency of the switching signal is spread and thus the EMI (electric and magnetic interference) is lowered. Therefore the size and the cost of the power converter can be reduced. | <SOH> SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION <EOH>A switching control circuit for a primary-side-control power converter comprises a switch for switching a transformer. A switching signal turns on the switch for regulating the output voltage and the maximum output current of the power converter. A controller is coupled to the transformer to generate a voltage-feedback signal and a discharge-time signal by multi-sampling a voltage signal and a discharge-time of the transformer during the off-time of the switching signal. The controller is further coupled to a current-sense device to generate a feedback signal in response to the discharge-time signal and a current signal of the transformer. Therefore, the controller generates a switching signal in response to the voltage-feedback signal. Besides, the controller controls the switching frequency of the switching signal in response to the feedback signal. The controller comprises a voltage-waveform detector for multi-sampling a voltage signal and producing the voltage-feedback signal and the discharge-time signal. The voltage-waveform detector is connected to an auxiliary winding of the transformer through a divider. The discharge-time signal represents the discharge time of the transformer and also stands for the discharge time of a secondary-side switching current. An oscillator generates a pulse signal for determining the switching frequency of the switching signal. A current-waveform detector and an integrator produce the feedback signal by integrating an average-current signal with the discharge-time signal. The integrator integrates a current-waveform signal with the pulse width of a timing signal to generate the average-current signal. The current-waveform detector produces the current-waveform signal by measuring the current signal through the current-sense device. A first operational amplifier and a first reference voltage develop a voltage-loop error amplifier to amplify the voltage-feedback signal and provide a loop gain for output voltage control. A second operational amplifier and a second reference voltage form a current-loop error amplifier to amplify the feedback signal and provide a loop gain for output current control. A peak-current limiter is coupled to the current-sense device to limit the maximum value of the current signal. A PWM circuit associates with comparators, which controls the pulse width of the switching signal in response to the output of the voltage-loop error amplifier and the output of the peak-current limiter. The output voltage is thus regulated. The output of the current-loop error amplifier is coupled to the oscillator to control the switching frequency of the switching signal. Therefore the output current of the power converter can be controlled. A programmable current source is connected to the input of the voltage-waveform detector for temperature compensation. The programmable current source produces a programmable current in response to the temperature of the controller, which compensates the temperature deviation of the output voltage of the power converter. A pattern generator generates a digital pattern. A first programmable capacitor is coupled to the oscillator and the pattern generator to modulate the switching frequency in response to the digital pattern. A second programmable capacitor is coupled to the integrator and the pattern generator for correlating the time constant of the integrator with the switching frequency of the switching signal. The capacitance of the first programmable capacitor and the second programmable capacitor is controlled by the digital pattern. It is to be understood that both the foregoing general descriptions and the following detailed descriptions are exemplary, and are intended to provide further explanation of the invention as claimed. Still further objects and advantages will become apparent from a consideration of the ensuing description and drawings. | 20040909 | 20060613 | 20060309 | 65716.0 | H02M3335 | 2 | RILEY, SHAWN | SWITCHING CONTROL CIRCUIT WITH VARIABLE SWITCHING FREQUENCY FOR PRIMARY-SIDE-CONTROLLED POWER CONVERTERS | UNDISCOUNTED | 0 | ACCEPTED | H02M | 2,004 |
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10,938,689 | ACCEPTED | Method and apparatus for setting programmable features of a motor vehicle | An interactive interface facilitates the setting of preferences and other programmable parameters of a motor vehicle. The interface is hosted by a server on a global computer network. The motor vehicle owner initiates a connection to the server and is presented with a graphical user interface for setting the preferences and features of the motor vehicle. Once the desired settings have been made, they are transferred to the motor vehicle using a portable transfer device, which may comprise a key for operating the motor vehicle. | 1. A method of controlling an entertainment system of a motor vehicle comprising: providing a graphical user interface on a user's computer with a user operated control to program an entertainment system function; transferring data representative of the selected entertainment system function to a motor vehicle remote from the user's computer. 2. The method of claim 1 wherein transferring data representative of the selected entertainment system function comprises transferring the data to a transfer device and then transferring the data from the transfer device to the motor vehicle. 3. The method of claim 1 wherein the graphical user interface is hosted by a server on a global computer network. 4. The method of claim 3 wherein transferring data representative of the selected entertainment system function comprises transferring the data from the server to the motor vehicle. 5. The method of claim 4 wherein the data is transferred from the server to the motor vehicle via telephonic communications. 6. The method of claim 1 wherein transferring data representative of the selected entertainment system function comprises transferring the data from the user's computer directly to the motor vehicle. 7. The method of claim 1 further comprising adjusting an entertainment system parameter from within the motor vehicle and transferring the adjusted parameter to the user's computer. 8. The method of claim 7 wherein transferring the adjusted parameter to the user's computer comprises transferring the adjusted parameter to a transfer device and then transferring the adjusted parameter from the transfer device to the user's computer. 9. The method of claim 7 wherein the graphical user interface is hosted by a server on a global computer network and further comprising transferring the adjusted parameter from the user's computer to the server. 10. The method of claim 1 wherein the entertainment system function comprises selection of a radio station. 11. The method of claim 1 wherein the entertainment system function comprises creation of a play list. 12. The method of claim 1 wherein the entertainment system function comprises selection of an audio source. 13. The method of claim 1 wherein the entertainment system function comprises selection of an audio level. 14. The method of claim 1 wherein the entertainment system function comprises selection of audio equalization values. 15. A method of controlling a climate control system of a motor vehicle comprising: providing a graphical user interface on a user's computer with a user operated control to program a climate control system function; transferring data representative of the selected climate control system function to a motor vehicle remote from the user's computer. 16. The method of claim 15 wherein transferring data representative of the selected climate control system function comprises transferring the data to a transfer device and then transferring the data from the transfer device to the motor vehicle. 17. The method of claim 15 wherein the graphical user interface is hosted by a server on a global computer network. 18. The method of claim 17 wherein transferring data representative of the selected climate control system function comprises transferring the data from the server to the motor vehicle. 19. The method of claim 18 wherein the data is transferred from the server to the motor vehicle via telephonic communications. 20. The method of claim 15 wherein transferring data representative of the selected climate control system function comprises transferring the data from the user's computer directly to the motor vehicle. 21. The method of claim 15 further comprising adjusting a climate control system parameter from within the motor vehicle and transferring the adjusted parameter to the user's computer. 22. The method of claim 21 wherein transferring the adjusted parameter to the user's computer comprises transferring the adjusted parameter to a transfer device and then transferring the adjusted parameter from the transfer device to the user's computer. 23. The method of claim 21 wherein the graphical user interface is hosted by a server on a global computer network and further comprising transferring the adjusted parameter from the user's computer to the server. 24. The method of claim 15 wherein the climate control system function comprises selection of air circulation path. 25. The method of claim 15 wherein the climate control system function comprises selection of air filtering. 26. The method of claim 15 wherein the climate control system function comprises selection of fan speed. 27. The method of claim 15 wherein the climate control system function comprises selection of temperature sensor weightings. 28. The method of claim 15 wherein the climate control system function comprises selection of a temperature setting. 29. The method of claim 15 wherein the climate control system function comprises selection of a humidity setting. 30. The method of claim 15 wherein the climate control system function comprises selection of a seat warmer setting. 31. A method of controlling a navigation system of a motor vehicle comprising: providing a graphical user interface on a user's computer with a user operated control to program a navigation system function; transferring data representative of the selected navigation system function to a motor vehicle remote from the user's computer. 32. The method of claim 31 wherein transferring data representative of the selected navigation system function comprises transferring the data to a transfer device and then transferring the data from the transfer device to the motor vehicle. 33. The method of claim 31 wherein the graphical user interface is hosted by a server on a global computer network. 34. The method of claim 33 wherein transferring data representative of the selected navigation system function comprises transferring the data from the server to the motor vehicle. 35. The method of claim 34 wherein the data is transferred from the server to the motor vehicle via telephonic communications. 36. The method of claim 31 wherein transferring data representative of the selected navigation system function comprises transferring the data from the user's computer directly to the motor vehicle. 37. The method of claim 31 further comprising adjusting a navigation system parameter from within the motor vehicle and transferring the adjusted parameter to the user's computer. 38. The method of claim 37 wherein transferring the adjusted parameter to the user's computer comprises transferring the adjusted parameter to a transfer device and then transferring the adjusted parameter from the transfer device to the user's computer. 39. The method of claim 37 wherein the graphical user interface is hosted by a server on a global computer network and further comprising transferring the adjusted parameter from the user's computer to the server. 40. The method of claim 31 wherein the navigation system function comprises selection of a destination. 41. The method of claim 31 wherein the navigation system function comprises enabling capture of a location upon predetermined driver input. 42. The method of claim 31 wherein the navigation system function comprises selection of a preferred route. 43. The method of claim 31 wherein the navigation system function comprises enabling an alert when the motor vehicle is low on fuel and within range of a preferred fuel vendor. 44. A method of controlling a mobile telephone of a motor vehicle comprising: providing a graphical user interface on a user's computer with a user operated control to program a mobile telephone function; transferring data representative of the selected mobile telephone function to a motor vehicle remote from the user's computer. 45. The method of claim 44 wherein transferring data representative of the selected mobile telephone function comprises transferring the data to a transfer device and then transferring the data from the transfer device to the motor vehicle. 46. The method of claim 44 wherein the graphical user interface is hosted by a server on a global computer network. 47. The method of claim 46 wherein transferring data representative of the selected mobile telephone function comprises transferring the data from the server to the motor vehicle. 48. The method of claim 47 wherein the data is transferred from the server to the motor vehicle via telephonic communications. 49. The method of claim 44 wherein transferring data representative of the selected mobile telephone function comprises transferring the data from the user's computer directly to the motor vehicle. 50. The method of claim 44 further comprising adjusting a mobile telephone parameter from within the motor vehicle and transferring the adjusted parameter to the user's computer. 51. The method of claim 50 wherein transferring the adjusted parameter to the user's computer comprises transferring the adjusted parameter to a transfer device and then transferring the adjusted parameter from the transfer device to the user's computer. 52. The method of claim 50 wherein the graphical user interface is hosted by a server on a global computer network and further comprising transferring the adjusted parameter from the user's computer to the server. 53. The method of claim 44 wherein the mobile telephone function comprises selection of a telephone number. 54. The method of claim 44 wherein the mobile telephone function comprises enabling voice dialing of a selected telephone number. 55. The method of claim 44 wherein the mobile telephone function comprises enabling voice commands for controlling telephone functions. 56. A method of controlling personalization of a motor vehicle comprising: providing a graphical user interface on a user's computer with a user operated control to program a personalization function; transferring data representative of the selected personalization function to a motor vehicle remote from the user's computer. 57. The method of claim 56 wherein transferring data representative of the selected personalization function comprises transferring the data to a transfer device and then transferring the data from the transfer device to the motor vehicle. 58. The method of claim 56 wherein the graphical user interface is hosted by a server on a global computer network. 59. The method of claim 56 wherein transferring data representative of the selected personalization function comprises transferring the data from the server to the motor vehicle. 60. The method of claim 59 wherein the data is transferred from the server to the motor vehicle via telephonic communications. 61. The method of claim 56 wherein transferring data representative of the selected personalization function comprises transferring the data from the user's computer directly to the motor vehicle. 62. The method of claim 56 further comprising adjusting a personalization parameter from within the motor vehicle and transferring the adjusted parameter to the user's computer. 63. The method of claim 62 wherein transferring the adjusted parameter to the user's computer comprises transferring the adjusted parameter to a transfer device and then transferring the adjusted parameter from the transfer device to the user's computer. 64. The method of claim 62 wherein the graphical user interface is hosted by a server on a global computer network and further comprising transferring the adjusted parameter from the user's computer to the server. 65. The method of claim 56 wherein the personalization function comprises selection of a horn sound. 66. The method of claim 56 wherein the personalization function comprises selection of a horn response mode. 67. The method of claim 56 wherein the personalization function comprises selection of interior lighting intensity. 68. The method of claim 56 wherein the personalization function comprises selection of dash lighting intensity. 69. The method of claim 56 wherein the personalization function comprises selection of dash lighting color. 70. The method of claim 56 wherein the personalization function comprises selection of interior lighting options. 71. The method of claim 56 wherein the personalization function comprises selection of an alert sound. 72. The method of claim 56 wherein the personalization function comprises selection of a display image. 73. A method of controlling a driver interface of a motor vehicle comprising: providing a graphical user interface on a user's computer with a user operated control to program a driver interface function; transferring data representative of the selected driver interface function to a motor vehicle remote from the user's computer. 74. The method of claim 73 wherein transferring data representative of the selected driver interface function comprises transferring the data to a transfer device and then transferring the data from the transfer device to the motor vehicle. 75. The method of claim 73 wherein the graphical user interface is hosted by a server on a global computer network. 76. The method of claim 75 wherein transferring data representative of the selected driver interface function comprises transferring the data from the server to the motor vehicle. 77. The method of claim 76 wherein the data is transferred from the server to the motor vehicle via telephonic communications. 78. The method of claim 73 wherein transferring data representative of the selected driver interface function comprises transferring the data from the user's computer directly to the motor vehicle. 79. The method of claim 73 further comprising adjusting a driver interface parameter from within the motor vehicle and transferring the adjusted parameter to the user's computer. 80. The method of claim 79 wherein transferring the adjusted parameter to the user's computer comprises transferring the adjusted parameter to a transfer device and then transferring the adjusted parameter from the transfer device to the user's computer. 81. The method of claim 79 wherein the graphical user interface is hosted by a server on a global computer network and further comprising transferring the adjusted parameter from the user's computer to the server. 82. The method of claim 73 wherein the driver interface function comprises selection of voice commands. 83. The method of claim 73 wherein the driver interface function comprises assignment of a vehicle function to a selected driver control. 84. The method of claim 73 wherein the driver interface function comprises assignment of a vehicle parameter to a selected driver display. 85. A method of controlling operation of a motor vehicle comprising: providing a graphical user interface on a user's computer with a user operated control to program a vehicle operation function; transferring data representative of the selected vehicle operation function to a motor vehicle remote from the user's computer. 86. The method of claim 85 wherein transferring data representative of the selected vehicle operation function comprises transferring the data to a transfer device and then transferring the data from the transfer device to the motor vehicle. 87. The method of claim 85 wherein the graphical user interface is hosted by a server on a global computer network. 88. The method of claim 87 wherein transferring data representative of the selected vehicle operation function comprises transferring the data from the server to the motor vehicle. 89. The method of claim 88 wherein the data is transferred from the server to the motor vehicle via telephonic communications. 90. The method of claim 85 wherein transferring data representative of the selected vehicle operation function comprises transferring the data from the user's computer directly to the motor vehicle. 91. The method of claim 85 further comprising adjusting a vehicle operation parameter from within the motor vehicle and transferring the adjusted parameter to the user's computer. 92. The method of claim 91 wherein transferring the adjusted parameter to the user's computer comprises transferring the adjusted parameter to a transfer device and then transferring the adjusted parameter from the transfer device to the user's computer. 93. The method of claim 91 wherein the graphical user interface is hosted by a server on a global computer network and further comprising transferring the adjusted parameter from the user's computer to the server. 94. The method of claim 85 wherein the vehicle operation function comprises selection of a window stop limit. 95. The method of claim 85 wherein the vehicle operation function comprises enabling passenger window operation. 96. The method of claim 85 wherein the vehicle operation function comprises selection of a window position. 97. The method of claim 85 wherein the vehicle operation function comprises selection of a sunroof position. 98. The method of claim 85 wherein the vehicle operation function comprises enabling automatic operation of a sunroof when interior temperature reaches a selected value. 99. The method of claim 85 wherein the vehicle operation function comprises enabling ignition lock-out if selected seatbelts are not fastened. 100. The method of claim 85 wherein the vehicle operation function comprises enabling an alert at a selected vehicle speed. 101. The method of claim 85 wherein the vehicle operation function comprises selection of a vehicle speed limit. 102. The method of claim 85 wherein the vehicle operation function comprises selection of a vehicle acceleration limit. 103. The method of claim 85 wherein the vehicle operation function comprises enabling storage of a vehicle location log. 104. The method of claim 85 wherein the vehicle operation function comprises enabling storage of a vehicle operation log. 105. The method of claim 85 wherein the vehicle operation function comprises enabling a selected automatic response to detection of a vehicle accident. 106. The method of claim 85 wherein the vehicle operation function comprises selection of a door locking mode. 107. The method of claim 85 wherein the vehicle operation function comprises selection of a door opening sequence. 108. The method of claim 85 wherein the vehicle operation function comprises selection of a suspension setting. 109. The method of claim 85 wherein the vehicle operation function comprises selection of an engine control setting. 110. The method of claim 85 wherein the vehicle operation function comprises selection of a transmission setting. 111. The method of claim 85 wherein the vehicle operation function comprises selection of a steering setting. 112. The method of claim 85 wherein the vehicle operation function comprises selection of a traction control setting. 113. The method of claim 85 wherein the vehicle operation function comprises selection of a braking setting. 114. A method of managing maintenance of a motor vehicle comprising: providing a graphical interface on a user's computer with a user operated control to select a vehicle maintenance parameter; transferring data representative of the selected vehicle maintenance parameter from a motor vehicle remote from the user's computer; 115. The method of claim 114 wherein transferring data representative of the selected vehicle maintenance parameter comprises transferring the data from the motor vehicle to a transfer device and then transferring the data from the transfer device to the user's computer. 116. The method of claim 114 wherein the graphical user interface is hosted by a server on a global computer network. 117. The method of claim 116 wherein transferring data representative of the selected vehicle maintenance parameter comprises transferring the data from the motor vehicle to the server. 118. The method of claim 117 wherein the data is transferred from the motor vehicle to the server via telephonic communication. 119. The method of claim 117 further comprising providing maintenance advisory information on the graphical user interface. 120. The method of claim 119 wherein the maintenance advisory information comprises an expected data of next vehicle service. 121. The method of claim 119 wherein the maintenance advisory information comprises service required at a next vehicle service. 122. The method of claim 119 wherein the maintenance advisory information comprises an estimated cost of a next vehicle service. 123. The method of claim 117 further comprising transmitting vehicle maintenance data from the server to a vehicle manufacturer representative. | RELATED APPLICATIONS This is a continuation of co-pending application U.S. Ser. No. 10/757,087 filed Jan. 13, 2004, which is a continuation-in-part of application Ser. No. 10/155,531 filed May 24, 2003, which is a continuation-in-part of application Ser. No. 09/415,299, filed Oct. 8, 1999, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,483,906, which is a continuation-in-part of application Ser. No. 09/351,270, filed Jul. 12, 1999, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,256,378, which is a continuation-in-part of application Ser. No. 09/235,709, filed Jan. 22, 1999, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,415,023. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention This invention relates generally to the field of motor vehicles. More particularly, the invention provides a method and apparatus for conveniently setting various programmable features of a motor vehicle using a graphical user interface accessed with a computer. 2. Prior Art Motor vehicles, and automobiles in particular, have grown increasingly complex. A modern automobile may contain as many as fifty microprocessors controlling a wide variety of operational and convenience features. While much of the processing power is devoted to functions that are transparent to the driver, the number of driver-selectable features and options has increased tremendously. For example, automobiles may include driver controls for seating position, seat temperature, cabin temperature, cabin ventilation, cabin illumination, dash illumination, audio entertainment, navigation, suspension compliance and transmission shift-mode, to name only a few. Providing driver control of all of these functions has led to a proliferation of knobs, buttons, switches and other controls in many automobiles. The increased number of driver controls is not without its drawbacks. Typically, drivers must refer to increasingly voluminous owner's manuals to understand the various controls available and learn how to operate them. Naturally, different drivers have different preferences and this can result in a lengthy process of changing settings each time a different driver enters the vehicle. Furthermore, the increased complexity of driver controls is a distraction to the driver and negatively affects traffic safety. Efforts have been made to simplify the driver/vehicle interface. One such effort is the “iDrive” system introduced by BMW. This system employs a video display and a driver-operated “joystick” to replace many of the individual controls. The system is reported to control more than seven hundred functions. While the system succeeds in eliminating much of the dashboard clutter, it results in as much, if not more, driver distraction than with conventional controls. Another effort to simplify the driver/vehicle interface (and one that is employed in conjunction with BMW's “iDrive” system) is voice recognition. The vehicle is programmed to learn and respond to certain spoken commands. However, voice recognition technology is still in its infancy and spoken commands are not consistently understood, especially in a typically noisy vehicle environment. There remains a need for a system and method of interfacing with the myriad of controllable features in a modern automobile without distracting the driver when actually operating the automobile. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention provides methods and apparatus for setting preferences and other parameters of a motor vehicle. In certain embodiments of the invention, a user initiates a connection to an interactive site on a global computer network. The site hosts a graphical user interface with which preferences and other parameters of a motor vehicle may be set by the user. In some embodiments, set-up data for the motor vehicle may be transferred directly to the motor vehicle from the interactive site. In other embodiments, set-up data for the motor vehicle are transferred from the user's computer to a transfer device where it is temporarily stored. The transfer device, which may comprise a key for operating the motor vehicle, is then used to program the features of the motor vehicle. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram of an embodiment of the invention wherein a motor vehicle receives data from a local computer via a transfer device. FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram of another embodiment of the invention wherein a motor vehicle receives data directly from an interactive site server. FIG. 3 illustrates a graphical user interface for setting programmable features of a vehicle entertainment system. FIG. 4 illustrates a graphical user interface for setting programmable features of a vehicle climate control system. FIG. 5 illustrates a graphical user interface for customizing a vehicle control/display panel. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION In the following description, for purposes of explanation and not limitation, specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the present invention. However, it will be apparent to one skilled in the art that the present invention may be practiced in other embodiments that depart from these specific details. In other instances, detailed descriptions of well-known methods and devices are omitted so as to not obscure the description of the present invention with unnecessary detail. A first embodiment of the invention is illustrated in FIG. 1. A motor vehicle receives set-up data from a local computer 12 via a transfer device 16. In a typical application, local computer 12 is a general purpose personal computer of the type now widely found in homes and offices. Details of computer 12 are not particularly relevant to the invention and are not shown. Typically, computer 12 will comprise, at a minimum, a processing unit, a keyboard and a display. Additional input devices, such as a mouse or other pointing device, and output devices, such as a printer, may also be included as part of computer 12. Local computer 12 is coupled to a remote interactive site server 14 by a telecommunications link. In a typical embodiment of the invention, interactive site server 14 would be accessible via the World Wide Web. Other appropriate means for connecting computer 12 to server 14 could also be employed. Server 14 contains programming for interactively setting the programmable features of motor vehicle 10. Preferably, server 14 presents to the owner of motor vehicle 10, via computer 12, a graphical user interface that is tailored to motor vehicle 10 and the programmable features thereof. Transfer device 16 receives the programming data from local computer 12 by a wired or wireless connection to computer 12. A wired connection may comprise a serial bus configured in accordance with any of the appropriate industry standards, such as, for example, universal serial bus (USB), “FireWire”, etc. Wireless connections may comprise optical, audio, magnetic, inductive, infrared or radio frequency coupling. One wireless communication protocol suitable for use with the present invention is the “Bluetooth” protocol, which is now becoming widely installed in home computer systems. Another wireless communication protocol that may be employed with the present invention for transferring data from local computer 12 to transfer device 16 is the video data transfer protocol described in co-pending application Ser. No. 10/155,531 and its predecessor applications. Transfer device 16 also communicates with motor vehicle 10 by means of a wired or wireless connection with a suitable protocol, such as any of those mentioned above. Communications between local computer 12 and transfer device 16 and between the transfer device and motor vehicle 10 may be either one-way (namely, from the home computer to the transfer device and then to the vehicle) or two-way. However, significant advantages are realized when utilizing two-way communication. Two-way communication allows “synchronization” of the motor vehicle with a “virtual” motor vehicle maintained at the site server 14. Many of the features and settings of the motor vehicle can be controlled directly by the driver while in the motor vehicle. By periodically returning transfer device 16 to computer 12 and reestablishing a connection with server 14, the virtual motor vehicle can be updated with any changes in the settings of the real motor vehicle. Another advantage of two-way communications is that it may be used to facilitate remote troubleshooting of the motor vehicle. Data from the motor vehicle may be transferred to computer 12, and from there to the motor vehicle manufacturer, dealer or other support facility via an Internet or email connection. Analysis of the data can then be used to issue appropriate repair orders. In some cases, repairs may be effectuated by downloading corrective software or firmware in the same manner that feature set-up is accomplished. As illustrated in FIG. 1, transfer device 16 may be configured as a device with a USB or other serial bus connection 17 and an internal flash memory or other suitable non-volatile memory device. Such a transfer device is easily portable and may be conveniently carried on a key chain. Transfer device 16 may be simply plugged into a cooperating serial port on local computer 12. In this regard, most home computers are now equipped with easily accessible USB ports. Motor vehicle 10 may also have a cooperating serial port on the dash or console. Operation of motor vehicle 10 may be enabled with a conventional key. Alternatively, however, transfer device 16 may itself function as a key to enable operation of the motor vehicle. In either case, it is preferred that each driver of the motor vehicle have his or her own transfer device so that the vehicle will be automatically configured to that driver's preferences whenever the driver inserts the transfer device into the receiving port. Transfer device 16 may be configured in numerous other ways. For example, a recordable compact disk (CD) or digital video disk (DVD) could be employed as a transfer device. In this case, set-up data would be written onto the CD or DVD at local computer 12 and the disk would then be loaded into a suitable drive in the motor vehicle. Such an approach is more suitable for one-way communication than two-way communication. It is also possible to configure a system in which motor vehicle 10 receives set-up data directly from local computer 12 without a transfer device. This can be accomplished by establishing a telephonic connection with the motor vehicle. In this regard, motor vehicles are increasingly being equipped with built-in telecommunications capabilities for implementing a variety of so called “telematic” functions. The communication path might also involve a combination of wired and wireless protocols. For example, local computer 12 may have a wireless link to an in-home transceiver, which is connected to a remote transceiver in the motor vehicle's garage or other parking area by a wired connection. The wired connection may comprise a data communication bus or a communication signal may be carried as a modulation on the household wiring. The garage transceiver then communicates with the motor vehicle using a wireless protocol. FIG. 2 illustrates an alternative embodiment of the invention. In this case, set-up data for motor vehicle 10 is received directly from server 14 rather than through local computer 12. From the motor vehicle owner's perspective, the preference setting interface is otherwise identical to the previously described embodiments. Site server 14 may establish a direct telephonic or other suitable communication connection with motor vehicle 10. The graphical user interface with which a user sets the functions and preferences of the motor vehicle may be highly sophisticated. The options that may be provided are virtually limitless. The following lists some of the functions that could be implemented using the present invention. Many of these allow a driver to personalize his or her car much as cell phones are personalized with distinctive cases, ring tones, greeting messages, etc. Interior Entertainment Radio Driver enters ZIP code and finds all local radio stations. Driver may select by station frequency, ID, genre (jazz, pop, talk, etc.), or signal strength, and assign to presets on dash or on touch display. Optionally, set up to scan among chosen stations until the one desired is tuned. Say “OK” and the radio will stay on the currently tuned station. Choose the scan delay time (3 sec, 5 sec, etc.) Select option to seek out the same genre of station driver was listening to in a new area whenever signal strength falls below a preset level. Specify favorite stations and/or programs and the audio system will switch at the designated day/time, e.g., on weekdays: NPR in the morning until 9:00, classical radio station until 2:00, sports station until 5:00, news, weather, and traffic until 6:30. Choose different schedule line-up for weekends. If not in the car when favorite radio program starts, have the system record it (time-shift radio). Play back with the ability to pause, rewind, FF, skip, preserve segments, etc. CD Changer Driver places CDs for use in car into CD drive of home computer. Application program reads the CDs and creates a play list that is transferred to car. Specify favorite songs to play in a desired order or at random. Play sources at random alternating or predetermined way with preferred radio stations and/or programs and/or MP3 tunes. MP3 Tunes Use transfer device to move MP3 files to the car. Create play list as above. All audio sources can be programmed to play in an almost infinite way based on time, day of the week or programmed “function button.” Sound & Source Management Mix and match radio, CDs, MP3s by time of day, randomly, etc. Set audio level for radio, CD and/or MP3 player to be used when car is started. Set a “default” source. Select whether play continues with the same source at the same volume when car is started in the morning, or switches to a different predetermined source at a different volume (e.g., system automatically defaults to AM traffic source if it's between 7:00 and 8:00 AM). Optimize sound for driver or for cabin. Set equalization manually or for a specific genre of music—i.e., whenever radio is on jazz station, system defaults to driver's “jazz” EQ. RESET to factory defaults. Reminders Driver may type in any manner of reminders or notes to be read back by voice synthesis at the push of a button at any set time or interval. Reminders can be played back in the car or from the home computer. Climate Control Filter Automatic or manual. Recirculate air, or don't, or mix in a selectable ratio. Fan Set preferred default setting for fan speed using slider from MIN to MAX. On MIN setting fan blows gently even if a large cabin-temperature change is required. On MAX setting fan blows at full speed until desired cabin temp is achieved. Slider allows for any speed in between. Comfort Index Select relative weights of IR sensor, outside and inside temps to optimize comfort for the driver (it can be cool outside but the IR detector sees lots of IR, so it thinks it's summer and the air conditioner comes on). Include humidity in the relative comfort index as below. Timed Temperature Preset High and low temperature thresholds can be set and the car can automatically bring cabin temperature to within a selected comfort level at a designated time of day. For example, the system may be programmed to start 5 minutes before a regularly scheduled departure time. As a safety precaution, the system may automatically shut down after running ten minutes without user intervention. Seat Warmer Program the seat warmer to activate at a designated time of day or as soon as car is unlocked. Program a button on the dash to turn on the seat warmer for five minutes every 30 minutes after the car is shut off. Circuit monitors battery current and shuts down seat warmers when appropriate. Temperature Individual user preferences are easily set up and transferred using multiple transfer devices (keys/fobs). Select “Alfresco” mode and system automatically boosts A/C or heating output as needed when convertible top is lowered. Different settings for the front passenger seat can be selected depending on whether or not the seat is occupied. Humidity Select desired relative humidity with slider control or RESET to factory defaults. Navigation Address Entry Enter addresses using computer keyboard or by dragging and dropping from Web site or address book. While driving, a designated cockpit button can be pressed to store the current location, which can then be uploaded to the home computer and Web site. Address Library Enter or select a new or saved address on the home computer; elect to have this loaded as the destination address when car starts. Trip Planning Book hotel rooms (through third-party Web site) by clicking on a map for the final destination and on intermediate stops if appropriate. Select points of interest within a selected range along the route. Purchase tickets or passes or make reservations for events or movies or restaurants. Receive notification when its getting close to time to refill the tank at an upcoming preferred gas station(s). Route Planning Select addresses from address library and obtain most efficient route plan given the time of day, distances and known traffic conditions. Mobile Phone Phone Book Selected numbers (and addresses) from computer phone book are available to the phone (and Navigation) system. Voice Dialing Activate voice dialing on selected phone numbers from phone book. Phone Voice Commands Select key words that will activate voice-dialing functions (call, end, mute, switch). Personalization Horn Effects Select synthesized horn sounds from a list. Select horn response mode, e.g., pushing the horn switch and holding it in sounds the warning horn sound as normal; one quick tap sounds a different horn sound (“friendly” light-is-green horn); two quick taps sounds a brief personalized “tune”, e.g., driver's signature “I'm home” tune. Interior Lighting Effects Select the color and intensity of dial/dash backlighting. Selected preferred cabin “atmosphere” when door is opened (dim cabin lighting, full-on bright, others). Link lights to doors, e.g., opening only driver's door turns on only left-front map light; when rear doors are opened rear lights also activate. Sound Effects Select the sound the turn indicator makes. Select a sound if the gas cap is not on or seated. Select a sound when motorized seats are being adjusted. Personalized seat-belt warning. Select an alert sound when driving above a preset speed. Select keys-in-ignition reminder tone. Visual Effects Add a photo or image to the LCD. Screensaver for LCD when vehicle is in Park. Voice Commands Select any number of short voice commands to accomplish listed specific in-cabin tasks: “Open sunroof.”, Open my window.”, “High beams.”, etc. In-Vehicle Interface Systems & Controls Customize the function of “function buttons” to control selected functions of any system in the car. In cars with touch screen LCDs, select from among the components of the systems to be displayed and/or controlled from the LCD. Buttons Program any button in the cabin to do just about anything. Vehicle Safety Window & Sunroof Control Set each window so the occupant of the adjoining seat can only lower the window to a selected level. Lock window controls at selected seats. Set a button in the cockpit to lower a preset amount/close all or selected windows and open/close the sunroof. Set the sunroof to partially open when the inside temperature exceeds a predetermined temperature. Also have the fan come on at the desired speed for selectable intervals. Seatbelts Disable engine start if all or selected seats with passengers don't have seat belts fastened. Speed Governor Sound a selected warning sound when the car exceeds a specified speed. Make the warning louder the higher above the preset speed the car goes Limit the maximum speed of the car. Limit the maximum rate of acceleration. Vehicle Tracking Using GPS or mobile phone, create a log of where the car has been, when and for how long. Also track how hard the car was driven. Set up real-time tracking of the vehicle Accident Set some or all of interior lights to flash and the horn to sound. Enable transmission of GPS coordinates. Security Door Locks Determine if and at what speed all or selected doors lock. Set certain doors to unlock only after one or both of the front doors have been opened for a selected period of time. Enable “lock doors” voice command. Window Control (see Safety above) Enable voice command for “windows up.” Panic Alert Function button or voice command that locks all doors, rolls up windows, flashes lights, sounds an emergency “siren”. Enable “panic button” to call one or more predetermined phone numbers and deliver and repeat a voice synthesized message when the call is answered. Add vehicle location to the message. Door Access Disable opening one or more doors from the outside unless one or more specific doors are opened from the inside. Lighting Select how long and which of the external and internal lights go on after unlock, all doors closed, engine start, vehicle speed. Alarms Program security codes. Select functions for key-fob panic button (e.g., flash lights, activate “I need help!” synthesized-voice horn). Performance Suspension Control Adjust the ride of computerized suspension from sport to luxury or anywhere in between. Engine Control Select within a range between economy and performance Transmission Control Within factory-set ranges, determine shift aggressiveness (e.g., allow max-rpm shifts or always shift as early as possible for best economy). Steering Adjust the feel of steering from stiffer to lighter using an infinitely variable slider. Winter Click box to optimize car for poor-weather (e.g., transmission starts in second gear, max traction control intervention, ABS fires at minimum lock detection, etc.). Tuning Sport Mode Set up one-button high-performance profile (e.g., low-economy, max power, max transmission aggressiveness, stiffest shocks). Turbo Boost Within factory range, adjust turbo pressure to favor economy, sport mode or point in between. Handling Select spring/shock rates, select steering ratio, select traction control response, etc. Emergency Information Contacts In case of emergency or accident, list numbers to contact to speak to hands-free or with a pre-entered voice synthesized call. In event of airbag deployment, selected contact name and number to flash on LCD to assist rescue personnel in case of driver incapacitation. Other Notifications Transmit vital information to insurance company. Emergency Aid One button summons list and numbers for nearest hospitals, police, fire, pharmacy, etc. based on GPS location—plus preset list of needed phone numbers (friends, family doctor, school, etc). Information & Service Trip Logs Daily Mileage Logs Record and display distances traveled. Record routes traveled. Record and display fuel consumed. Calculate a “cost per mile” of operation, including tire wear, gas mileage, lease and insurance cost, etc. Selectively clear various logs. Set additional or alternative criteria for “measuring” various parameters of daily use. Trip Mileage Logs On trips of a preset duration in hours, days, miles or upon pushing a “start trip” function button, record distances between stops, total trip mileage, average speed gas mileage for the entire trip or trip segments, etc. Cumulative Data Record all possible or selected data from a master reset done at the dealer upon delivery of the car. Guest Logs Record trip information (route points, speeds, time) from selected start to stop points. Service & Diagnostics Last Service At what mileage. On what day and time. At what dealer. At what cost. What was done. Next Service Anticipated date based on how the car is being driven, etc. What will be serviced at the next service. What bugs in the car need to be fixed. What will it cost. How much time should it take. Request email within predetermined period before the service should be done as a reminder. Request phone contact from nearest or selected dealer to set an appointment. Request dealer assistance in getting the car to service and back. Diagnostics Send diagnostic codes to manufacturer and dealer. Receive software and firmware-based fixes. Firmware & Software Updates Receive periodic updates to operating systems, that enable new functionality. Interactive User's Manual Virtual Test Drive Animate various controls on the home computer screen. Learn & Setup Interactively learn the various options and settings available in the car. Automatic Tutor Based on data collected from vehicle, user is prompted to learn about controls/systems that have not yet been set (e.g., “You have not yet set up your Address Book. Would you like assistance?”). Weather and Driving Conditions Forecast Obtain weather forecast for travel area. Road Conditions Obtain reports of road conditions, accidents, clogged traffic, roadwork being conducted, etc. Safety Kit Obtain list of suggested bring-along items based on weather forecast and planned travel route (snow chains, ice scraper, sunscreen, full tank-few filling stations on the way, etc). Contact Vehicle Manufacturer FAQ Access a searchable database of FAQs Help Access a searchable “help” database. Email the service center with specific questions and issues. Vehicle-specific Information Send vehicle data to manufacturer. Receive feedback and/or contact information after data has been received and analyzed. Nearest Dealerships Access list with maps of closest dealers, etc. Customer Relations Subscribe to newsletter. Subscribe to other periodic news about vehicle and/or related interests. Request notification about new model introductions. Elect to receive periodic questionnaires relating to satisfaction, etc. Request results of surveys about quality, customer satisfaction, etc. Request notification about special offers and events. Shop Driving Accessories Order custom car mats, spill-proof coffee mugs, first-aid kits, CD carriers, seat covers, car covers, etc. Logo Wear Order jackets, shirts, luggage, gloves, sunglasses, hats, golf bags, etc. Performance Accessories Order optional wheels, gold-trim kits, trailer hitches, aero body kits, roof racks, bicycle carriers, audio/visual equipment, etc. Events Order tickets to manufacturer-sponsored races, motor shows, sporting events, social gatherings, etc. FIG. 3 illustrates a portion of a graphical user interface that may be employed with the present invention to set programmable features of a motor vehicle's entertainment system. The interface utilizes pull-down menus, data entry windows, buttons, sliders, etc., which are readily implemented by persons proficient in website design. The programmable features shown in FIG. 3 are merely illustrative of those that can be implemented. The particular features that are made available on the graphical user interface would be specified by the motor vehicle manufacturer and would be constrained by the hardware and software specifications of the particular vehicle. FIG. 4 illustrates a portion of a graphical user interface that may be employed with the present invention to set programmable features of a motor vehicle's climate control system. Use of the present invention facilitates customized driver controls and displays. For example, touch screen LCD or similar display panels are now used in many automobiles. Using a graphical user interface, a driver can design a customized set of controls for operating features of interest to that driver. One driver may wish to have certain radio selections readily available, whereas another driver may wish to have available a selection of destinations for the navigation system. These preferences are communicated via the transfer device as described above. Controls that are customized in this manner are not limited to touch screen selections. By the same process, driver defined functions may be assigned to buttons, dials and other mechanical controls as well to create individualized “function keys.” Likewise, displays available to the driver may also be customized. FIG. 5 illustrates a portion of a graphical user interface for creating a customized control/display panel. The top portion of the interface provides a menu of controls and displays that may be dragged and dropped onto a graphic representation of the vehicle's control display panel in the bottom portion of the interface. In this manner, a user may construct a hierarchy of control/display panels for various systems of the vehicle and/or driving situations. A “home” panel may be configured with controls and displays that are most used by the driver. Subsidiary panels, accessible from the “home” panel, may be created in whatever configurations the driver desires. Selections available to the driver when creating customized panels may include background colors and/or patterns. The panel may be programmed with “wallpaper” and “screensavers”, much as computer displays are customized by their users. It will be recognized that the above-described invention may be embodied in other specific forms without departing from the spirit or essential characteristics of the disclosure. Thus, it is understood that the invention is not to be limited by the foregoing illustrative details, but rather is to be defined by the appended claims. | <SOH> BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION <EOH>1. Field of the Invention This invention relates generally to the field of motor vehicles. More particularly, the invention provides a method and apparatus for conveniently setting various programmable features of a motor vehicle using a graphical user interface accessed with a computer. 2. Prior Art Motor vehicles, and automobiles in particular, have grown increasingly complex. A modern automobile may contain as many as fifty microprocessors controlling a wide variety of operational and convenience features. While much of the processing power is devoted to functions that are transparent to the driver, the number of driver-selectable features and options has increased tremendously. For example, automobiles may include driver controls for seating position, seat temperature, cabin temperature, cabin ventilation, cabin illumination, dash illumination, audio entertainment, navigation, suspension compliance and transmission shift-mode, to name only a few. Providing driver control of all of these functions has led to a proliferation of knobs, buttons, switches and other controls in many automobiles. The increased number of driver controls is not without its drawbacks. Typically, drivers must refer to increasingly voluminous owner's manuals to understand the various controls available and learn how to operate them. Naturally, different drivers have different preferences and this can result in a lengthy process of changing settings each time a different driver enters the vehicle. Furthermore, the increased complexity of driver controls is a distraction to the driver and negatively affects traffic safety. Efforts have been made to simplify the driver/vehicle interface. One such effort is the “iDrive” system introduced by BMW. This system employs a video display and a driver-operated “joystick” to replace many of the individual controls. The system is reported to control more than seven hundred functions. While the system succeeds in eliminating much of the dashboard clutter, it results in as much, if not more, driver distraction than with conventional controls. Another effort to simplify the driver/vehicle interface (and one that is employed in conjunction with BMW's “iDrive” system) is voice recognition. The vehicle is programmed to learn and respond to certain spoken commands. However, voice recognition technology is still in its infancy and spoken commands are not consistently understood, especially in a typically noisy vehicle environment. There remains a need for a system and method of interfacing with the myriad of controllable features in a modern automobile without distracting the driver when actually operating the automobile. | <SOH> SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION <EOH>The present invention provides methods and apparatus for setting preferences and other parameters of a motor vehicle. In certain embodiments of the invention, a user initiates a connection to an interactive site on a global computer network. The site hosts a graphical user interface with which preferences and other parameters of a motor vehicle may be set by the user. In some embodiments, set-up data for the motor vehicle may be transferred directly to the motor vehicle from the interactive site. In other embodiments, set-up data for the motor vehicle are transferred from the user's computer to a transfer device where it is temporarily stored. The transfer device, which may comprise a key for operating the motor vehicle, is then used to program the features of the motor vehicle. | 20040910 | 20080527 | 20050210 | 61795.0 | 1 | WOO, STELLA L | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR SETTING PROGRAMMABLE FEATURES OF A MOTOR VEHICLE | UNDISCOUNTED | 1 | CONT-ACCEPTED | 2,004 |
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10,938,839 | ACCEPTED | Sliding door insert for portable pet portal | A portable pet portal insert for a sliding patio door includes separate top, center, and bottom modules that can be assembled together through use of tongue and groove fittings therebetween, with the bottom module having a cutout portion adapted for receiving a pet portal, the pet portal including a pivotal flap, a cam operated lock for preventing movement of the flap away from an associated frame, and a weather seal mechanism. | 1. A portable pet portal insert for use with sliding patio doors, comprising: independent top, center, and bottom modules, each having a top, bottom, front, back, right side and left side portions all relative to said front portion; a first interlocking mechanism affixed to the bottom of said top module; a second interlocking mechanism affixed to the top of said center module, for interacting with said first interlocking mechanism to permit said top and center modules to be removably secured together; a third interlocking mechanism affixed to the bottom of said center module; a fourth interlocking mechanism affixed to the top of said bottom module, for interacting with said third interlocking mechanism to permit said center and bottom modules to be removably secured together; said bottom module including means for receiving a pet portal; and said top, center, and bottom modules when assembled or secured together being configured to be inserted and retained between a leading edge of a sliding patio door, a vertical edge of a frame retaining the latter, and within exposed top and bottom tracks retaining said sliding patio door within said frame. 2. The portable pet portal insert of claim 1, further including locking means for securing said pet portal insert and sliding patio door to prevent human intrusion between exterior and interior home areas associated with said sliding patio door, whereby movement of said sliding patio door and said pet portal insert is inhibited. 3. The portable pet portal insert of claim 1 configured for a thick sliding patio door installation, further including: weather seal shim means affixed to the leading and trailing sides of said top, center, and bottom modules, and to the top of said top module and bottom of said bottom module, respectively, for providing a weather seal between the leading edge of a sliding door of said sliding patio door, and a frame carrying the latter, and said top, center and bottom modules when assembled successively together and inserted within sliding door trucks affixed to top and bottom portions of said frame between a leading edge of said sliding patio door and a closure vertical edge channel of said frame. 4. The portable pet portal of claim 3, wherein said weather seal shim means includes: a plurality of first weather seal shims independently affixed to the trailing sides of said top and bottom modules, respectively; a plurality of second weather seal shims independently affixed to the leading sides of said top and bottom modules, respectively; a third weather seal shim affixed to the trailing side of said center module; a fourth weather seal shim affixed to the leading side of said center module; a fifth weather seal shim affixed to the top of said top module; and a sixth weather seal shim affixed to the bottom of said bottom module. 5. The portable pet portal insert of claim 4, wherein said fifth weather seal shim includes vertically adjustable resilient means for permitting said insert to fit securely between said tracks of frames of different heights. 6. The portable pet portal insert of claim 1 configured for a thin sliding patio door installation, further including: weather seal shim means affixed to the trailing sides of said top, center, and bottom modules, and to the top of said top module and bottom of said bottom module, respectively, for providing a weather seal between the leading edge of a sliding door of said sliding patio door, and a frame carrying the latter, and said top, center and bottom modules when assembled successively together and inserted within sliding door tracks affixed to top and bottom portions of said frame between a leading edge of said sliding patio door and a closure vertical edge channel of said frame. 7. The portable pet portal insert of claim 6, wherein said weather seal shim means includes: a plurality of first weather seal shims independently affixed to the trailing sides of said top and bottom modules, respectively; a second weather seal shim affixed to the trailing side of said center module; a third weather seal shim affixed to the top of said top module; and a fourth weather seal shim affixed to the bottom of said bottom module. 8. The portable pet portal insert of claim 7, wherein said third weather seal shim includes vertically adjustable resilient means for permitting said insert to fit securely between said tracks of frames of different heights. 9. The portable pet portal insert of claim 4, wherein said plurality of first weather seal shims each include: said top and bottom modules having identical trailing side widths; an elongated strip of material configured to be captively held between elongated opposing grooves formed within elongated lip members protruding from the trailing side of said top and bottom modules, respectively, said strip having a recessed channel configured for snugly receiving a leading side or edge portion of said sliding patio door. 10. The portable pet portal insert of claim 4, wherein each of said plurality of second weather seal shims each include: said top and bottom modules having identical leading side widths, and each having elongated grooves on front and back portions proximate respective leading sides; and a U-shaped elongated strip of resilient material having free side edges bent inward toward one another, for permitting said second weather seal shims to be pushed onto the leading sides of said top and bottom modules with the side edges of the former snapped into the grooves of the latter, the outside dimensions of said second weather seal shims being configured for fitting snugly into a portion of a channel of said vertical edge of said frame. 11. The portable pet portal insert of claim 4, wherein said third weather seal shim includes: an elongated strip of material configured to be captively held between elongated opposing grooves formed within elongated lip members protruding from the trailing side of said center module, said strip having a recessed channel configured for snugly receiving a central portion of said sliding patio door. 12. The portable pet portal insert of claim 4, wherein said fourth weather seal shims includes: said center module having elongated grooves on front and back portions proximate its leading side or edges, the widths of the latter and the leading sides of said top and bottom modules being substantially equal; and a U-shaped elongated strip of resilient material having free side edges bent inward toward one another, for permitting the strip to be pushed onto the leading side of said center module with said side edges snapped into the grooves thereof, the outside dimensions of said fourth weather seal shim being configured for fitting snugly into a central portion of a channel within the vertical edge of said frame. 13. The portable pet portal insert of claim 5, wherein said fifth weather seal shim vertically adjustable resilient means includes: an elongated sleeve having a bottom portion secured within an elongated channel in a top edge of said top module; and a spring biased mechanism enclosed by said sleeve for constantly exerting an upward force away from said top module against a top outer portion of said sleeve, for forcing the top portion of said sleeve securely into a channel of an upper track portion of said frame, and providing a weather seal at points of contact therebetween. 14. The portable pet portal insert of claim 4, wherein said sixth weather seal shim includes: an elongated sleeve having a bottom portion secured within an elongated channel in a bottom edge of said bottom module; and a sleeve retainer enclosed within said sleeve, and secured to said sleeve and the bottom of said bottom module, said sleeve providing a weather seal between said insert and a portion of a lower track of said frame. 15. The portable pet portal insert of claim 7, wherein each of said plurality of first weather seal shims each include: said top and bottom modules having identical trailing side widths; an elongated strip of material configured to be captively held between elongated opposing grooves formed within elongated lip members protruding from the trailing side of said top and bottom modules, respectively, said strip having a recessed channel configured for snugly receiving a leading side or edge portion of said sliding patio door. 16. The portable pet portal insert of claim 7, wherein said second weather seal shim includes: an elongated strip of material configured to be captively held between elongated opposing grooves formed within elongated lip members protruding from the trailing side of said center module, said strip having a recessed channel configured for snugly receiving a central portion of said sliding patio door. 17. The portable pet portal insert of claim 8, wherein said third weather seal shim vertically adjustable resilient means includes: an elongated sleeve having a bottom portion secured within an elongated channel in a top edge of said top module; and a spring biased mechanism enclosed by said sleeve for constantly exerting an upward force away from said top module against a top outer portion of said sleeve, for forcing the top portion of said sleeve securely into a channel of an upper track portion of said frame, and providing a weather seal at points of contact therebetween. 18. The portable pet portal insert of claim 7, wherein said fourth weather seal shim includes: an elongated sleeve having a bottom portion secured within an elongated channel in a bottom edge of said bottom module; and a sleeve retainer enclosed within said sleeve, and secured to said sleeve and the bottom of said bottom module, said sleeve providing a weather seal between said insert and a portion of a lower track of said frame. 19. The portable pet portal insert of claim 2, wherein said locking means includes: drop lock means selectively operable, after said insert is installed captively between upper and lower tracks of said frame, and between a leading side of said sliding patio door and a vertical portion of said frame, for preventing movement of said sliding patio door away from said insert. 20. The portable pet portal insert of claim 19, wherein said drop lock means includes: an elongated handle bar positioned proximate the trailing side of said sliding patio door, said handle having a free end and another end; a locking bracelet secured to a portion of a trailing edge of said sliding patio door, for adjustably retaining a portion of said handle bar proximate its free end; elongated telescoping means adapted for securement between a bottommost portion of the trailing edge of said sliding patio door, and an opposing bottommost side edge portion of said frame, said telescoping means having a side portion proximate one end hingedly connected to said another end of said handle, said one end being proximate said trailing edge of said sliding patio door, said telescoping means having another end selectively moveable to be proximate said frame; and said locking bracket including means for positioning said handle to selectively either force said telescoping means into tight securement between said sliding patio door and frame to lock said sliding patio door in place, or to reposition said handle for releasing said telescoping means from its locking position. 21. The portable pet portal insert of claim 20, wherein said drop lock means further includes: a storage bracket mounted above said locking bracket on the trailing edge of said sliding patio door, whereby with said handle positioned for release of said telescoping means, said handle can be pulled upward into said storage bracket, for storing said handle and telescoping means in a vertical orientation proximate the trailing edge of said sliding patio door. 22. The portable pet portal insert of claim 20, wherein said telescoping means includes: an elongated outer tubular housing having a side portion proximate one end hingedly attached to said another end of said handle, and an open opposite end; an inner tubular member slideable contained within said housing, with one end of the former protruding from said housing; and means for selectively adjusting the length of said inner tubular housing protruding from said housing. 23. The portable pet portal insert of claim 22, wherein said telescoping means further includes: bumper means threadedly secured to the protruding end of said inner tubular member, for providing a fine adjustment of the overall length of said telescoping means. 24. The portable pet portal insert of claim 19, wherein said locking means further includes: universal lock means for rigidly connecting a latch extending from the leading side of said sliding patio door to an opposing door catch in said frame. 25. The portable pet portal insert of claim 24, wherein said universal lock means is mounted in said center module. 26. The portable pet portal insert of claim 25, wherein said universal lock means includes: a universal catch for directly connecting to said latch of said sliding patio door; and a universal latch for directly connecting to said door catch in said frame. 27. The portable pet portal insert of claim 26, wherein said universal lock means further includes: means for selectively adjusting the distance between said universal catch and said universal latch, for permitting said universal latch to engage either a flush mounted or externally mounted door catch in said frame. 28. The portable pet portal insert of claim 26, wherein said universal lock means further includes: means for selectively adjusting the vertical positioning or height of said universal catch and universal latch, for correspondence to the height of said latch of said sliding patio door and associated opposing door catch in said frame. 29. The portable pet portal insert of claim 27, wherein said universal lock means further includes: means for selectively adjusting the vertical positioning or height of said universal catch and universal latch, for correspondence to the height of said latch of said sliding patio door and associated opposing door catch in said frame. 30. The portable pet portal insert of claim 1, wherein said means for receiving a pet portal includes a cutout portion of said bottom module adapted for securely mounting a pet portal therein, said pet portal including: a portal frame secured to circumferential portions of said cutout in said bottom module; and a flap mounted within an opening in said portal frame, and hingedly mounted at a top section thereof to an upper portion of said portal frame, said flap being dimensioned to permit it to be easily pivotally moved between interior and exterior positions relative to said bottom module, for permitting a pet to pass in either direction through said bottom module. 31. The portable pet portal insert of claim 30, wherein said pet portal further includes: a flap lock for selectively locking said flap in said portal frame, to prevent any movement of said flap beyond said portal frame. 32. The portable pet portal insert of claim 30, wherein said pet portal further includes: a floating weather seal, for insuring that said flap always returns to a position wholly in said portal frame subsequent to any pivotal movement of said flap away from said frame. 33. The portable pet portal insert of claim 31, wherein said pet portal further includes: a floating weather seal, for insuring that said flap always returns to a position wholly in said portal frame subsequent to any pivotal movement of said flap away from said frame. 34. The portable pet portal insert of claim 31, wherein said flap lock includes: manually operable cam means operable on an interior portion of said frame, for selectively either moving a bottommost portion of said flap downward into a lowermost channel in a bottom portion of said frame, thereby locking said flap in said portal frame, or for moving said flap upward out of engagement with said channel, thereby permitting pivotal movement thereof. 35. The portable pet portal insert of claim 32, wherein said floating weather seal includes: a first ferromagnetic material installed in the bottommost portion of said flap; and a second ferromagnetic material installed in a bottom portion of said portal frame for interacting attractively with said first ferromagnetic material to insure said flap comes to rest wholly within said frame after any pivotally movement of said flap, whereby either or both of said first and second ferromagnetic material is or are magnetized. 36. The portable pet portal insert of claim 33, wherein said flap lock includes: manually operable cam means operable on an interior portion of said frame, for selectively either moving a bottommost portion of said flap downward into a lowermost channel in a bottom portion of said frame, thereby locking said flap in said portal frame, or for moving said flap upward out of engagement with said channel, thereby permitting pivotal movement thereof. 37. The portable pet portal insert of claim 36, wherein said floating weather seal includes: a first ferromagnetic material installed in the bottommost portion of said flap; and a second ferromagnetic material installed in a bottom portion of said portal frame for interacting attractively with said first ferromagnetic material to insure said flap comes to rest wholly within said frame after any pivotally movement of said flap. 38. The portable pet portal insert of claim 37, wherein said floating weather seal further includes: said second ferromagnetic material being resiliently mounted via spring biasing into said lowermost channel in the bottom portion of said frame, whereby when said cam means is operated for lowering the bottom portion of said flap, the latter is moved into said channel while pushing said second ferromagnetic material downward against the force of said spring bias. 39. The portable pet portal insert of claim 4, further including: a first ramp having one end adapted for removable securement to lowermost exterior mounting brackets of said sixth weather seal shim, for permitting a pet easy exterior ingress and egress to and from said pet portal. 40. The portable pet portal insert of claim 39, further including: a second ramp having one end adapted for removable securement to lowermost interior mounting bracket of said sixth weather seal shim, for permitting a pet easy interior ingress and egress to and from said pet portal. 41. The portable pet portal insert of claim 6, further including: a first ramp having one end adapted for removable securement to lowennost exterior mounting brackets of said forth weather seal shim, for permitting a pet easy exterior ingress and egress to and from said pet portal. 42. The portable pet portal insert of claim 41, further including: a second ramp having one end adapted for removal securement to lowermost interior mounting bracket of said forth weather seal shim, for permitting a pet easy interior ingress and egress to and from said pet portal. 43. A drop lock for a sliding patio door, said sliding patio door including a door frame having upper and lower tracks for receiving a sliding patio door, the frame also being adapted for retaining a fixed window component, the sliding patio door including vertical leading and trailing sides, the leading side closing upon a first vertical side portion of the frame, the trailing side opposing a second vertical side portion of the frame, said drop lock comprising: an elongated handle bar positioned proximate the trailing side of said sliding patio door, said handle having a free end and another end; a locking bracelet secured to a portion of a trailing edge of said sliding patio door, for adjustably retaining a portion of said handle bar proximate its free end; elongated telescoping means adapted for securement between a bottommost portion of the trailing edge of said sliding patio door, and the opposing bottommost second vertical side portion of said frame, said telescoping means having a side portion proximate one end hingedly connected to said another end of said handle, said one end being proximate said trailing edge of said sliding patio door, said telescoping means having another end selectively moveable to be proximate the second vertical portion of said frame; and said locking bracket including means for positioning said handle to selectively either force said telescoping means into tight securement between said sliding patio door and frame to lock said sliding patio door in place with its leading edge abutted against said first vertical side portion of said frame, or to reposition said handle for releasing said telescoping means from its locking position. 44. The drop lock of claim 43, further including: a storage bracket mounted above said locking bracket on the trailing edge of said sliding patio door, whereby with said handle positioned for release of said telescoping means, said handle can be pulled upward into said storage bracket, for storing said handle and telescoping means in a vertical orientation proximate the trailing edge of said sliding patio door. 45. The drop lock of claim 43, wherein said telescoping means includes: an elongated outer tubular housing having a side portion proximate one end hingedly attached to said another end of said handle, and an open opposite end; an inner tubular member slideable contained within said housing, with one end of the former protruding from said housing; and means for selectively adjusting the length of said inner tubular housing protruding from said housing. 46. The drop lock of claim 45, wherein said telescoping means further includes: bumper means threadedly secured to the protruding end of said inner tubular member, for providing a fine adjustment of the overall length of said telescoping means. 47. A pet portal for installation in either a cutout portion in a lower section of a door, or in a cutout portion in a lower section of an insert for a sliding patio door, said pet portal comprising: a frame adapted for securement to circumferential portions of either one of said cutouts in said door or said insert; and a flap mounted within an opening in said frame, and hingedly mounted at a top section thereof to an upper portion of said frame, said flap being dimensioned to permit it to be easily pivotally moved between interior and exterior positions relative to said frame, for permitting a pet to pass in either direction through the portal. 48. The pet portal of claim 47, including: a flap lock for selectively locking said flap in said frame, to prevent any movement of said flap beyond said portal frame. 49. The pet portal of claim 47, further including: a floating weather seal, for insuring that said flap always returns to a position wholly in said frame subsequent to any pivotal movement of said flap away from said frame. 50. The pet portal of claim 48, further including: a floating weather seal, for insuring that said flap always returns to a position wholly in said frame subsequent to any pivotal movement of said flap away from said frame. 51. The pet portal of claim 48, wherein said flap lock includes: manually operable cam means operable on an interior portion of said frame, for selectively moving a bottommost portion of said flap downward into a lowermost channel in a bottom portion of said frame, thereby locking said flap in said frame, or for moving said flap upward out of engagement with said channel, thereby permitting pivotal movement thereof. 52. The pet portal of claim 49, wherein said floating weather seal includes: a first ferromagnetic material installed in the bottommost portion of said flap; and a second ferromagnetic material installed in a bottom portion of said frame for interacting attractively with said first ferromagnetic material to insure said flap comes to rest wholly within said frame after any pivotally movement of said flap. 53. The pet portal of claim 50, wherein said flap lock includes: manually operable cam means operable on an interior portion of said frame, for selectively moving a bottommost portion of said flap downward into a lowermost channel in a bottom portion of said frame, thereby locking said flap in said frame, or for moving said flap upward out of engagement with said channel, thereby permitting pivotal movement thereof. 54. The pet portal of claim 53, wherein said floating weather seal includes: a first ferromagnetic material installed in the bottommost portion of said flap; and a second ferromagnetic material installed in a bottom portion of said frame for interacting attractively with said first ferromagnetic material to insure said flap comes to rest wholly within said frame after any pivotally movement of said flap. 55. The pet portal of claim 54, wherein said floating weather seal further includes: said second ferromagnetic material being resiliently mounted via spring biasing into said lowermost channel in the bottom portion of said frame, whereby when said cam means is operated for lowering the bottom portion of said flap, the latter is moved into said channel while pushing said second ferromagnetic material downward against the force of said spring bias. | BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Pet access doors provide an opening, usually equipped with a swinging flap, through which pets can leave or enter a home or other building. The pet access door may be set in a frame for installation in a wall or solid core door. In order to allow a means of passage for a pet through a sliding glass patio door, the door must be left ajar by sliding the moveable glass door away from the patio door frame. The majority of pet access doors manufactured for sliding glass patio doors consist of a rectangular panel designed to fill the opening created when the sliding glass patio door is ajar. A pet portal is inserted into the rectangular panel providing a means of egress and ingress for the pet. Generally sliding glass patio door pet access doors are constructed of a glass panel in the upper portion and a swinging flap pet portal in the lowermost portion encased in an aluminum frame. A number of undesirable attributes are associated with the current art involving sliding glass patio door pet access doors. The majority of pet access doors manufactured for sliding glass patio doors require permanent of semi-permanent installations while others may require modification of one or more components of the existing sliding glass patio door to facilitate installation of the pet access door. Current art limits the size of the pet access door to the specifications determined at the time of manufacture and cannot be modified in the field. Therefore, once purchased and installed the sliding glass patio door pet access door may be too large for young pets or become too small for pets as they grow or may not be suitable for subsequent pet needs. The aluminum framed glass panel and swinging flap pet portal construction of the majority of sliding glass patio door pet access doors results in poor insulation quality and limits privacy when in use. Generally, the aluminum frame of the pet access door is designed to abut the moveable sliding door and the patio door frame. This configuration relies on a self stick soft rubber weather strip and the method and level of pressure applied to hold the moveable sliding glass patio door against the pet access door and the patio door frame. The integral height adjustable insert at the uppermost portion of the pet access door and the swinging flap pet port in the lowermost portion of the pet access door are also prone to air infiltration. Furthermore, the barrier to heat loss or gain through the single pain of glass in most pet access doors is inferior to most insulated double or triple pain sliding glass patio doors. When in use the sliding glass patio door curtains, drapes, vertical blinds or other privacy covering must be left open to permit the pet access to the pet portal. Leaving the sliding glass patio door coverings open in this manner may result in a loss of privacy. Storage and transport of most sliding glass patio door pet access doors is costly and inconvenient. The majority of sliding glass patio door pet access doors are of a one piece glass and aluminum frame construction and roughly equivalent in length to the height of a sliding glass patio door opening. The size of the pet access door makes storage difficult and limits the method of transportation resulting in excessive transportation costs. The purpose of the invention, therefore, is to provide a sliding glass patio door pet access door that, requires no modification to existing sliding glass patio door to install, can be modified in the field to grow with a pet, offers optimal insulation quality and privacy and facilitate transportation and storage capability. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The invention provides a modular component pet access door designed for use in sliding glass patio doors. The modular construction permits the apparatus to be packaged and stored in a portable compact container when in a disassembled state. The compact size of the disassembled unit minimizes storage space requirements while facilitating transportation opportunities by the retailer and consumer. Top, bottom and center modules of the apparatus are insulation filled injection and/or injection blow molded polymer components offering an insulation value and privacy superior to existing art. The pet portal assembly is designed with a tapered flap and floating magnetic weather seal offering a barrier to air infiltration superior to magnetic flap closures on most sliding glass patio door pet access doors. Furthermore, pet portal assembly permits the portal flap to be lowered into a channel formed by the interior and exterior frame components to create an effective flap lock with the turn of a knob. Modular construction and the design of components permit the invention to be changed in the field to accommodate a variety of styles and sizes of sliding glass patio doors. The universal nature of the modular construction and component system enhances the portability of the apparatus and permits the pet access door to be adjusted in the field to accommodate a growing pet or a new pet. The invention requires no tools to install nor does it require modification to any component of an existing sliding glass patio door. The apparatus is modular in construction consisting primarily of five pre-assembled components. When assembled the modules and components create a sliding glass patio door pet access door panel. The five components are interlocked through a tongue and groove system molded into the modules and components. A tongue molded into the top and bottom of the uppermost and lower most modules slide into grooves molded into the top and bottom of the center module, the bottom of the top weather seal and the top of the bottom weather seal. In the preferred embodiment the center module of the pet access door panel is provided with a universal locking system installed and the bottom module with a pet portal assembly installed. The universal locking system permits the sliding glass patio door locking components to be used in conjunction with the invention installed when opening or closing the moveable sliding glass door. In another embodiment, the invention is provided without a universal locking system installed in the center module of the pet access door panel. In this embodiment the drop lock security lock component of the invention is used in place of the sliding glass door locking components with the invention installed when opening or closing the moveable sliding glass door. In another embodiment, the invention is provided without a universal locking system installed in the center module of the pet access door panel and the bottom module is provided as a blank panel without the pet portal assembly installed. In this embodiment, the drop lock security lock component of the invention is used in place of the sliding glass door locking components with the invention installed when opening or closing the moveable sliding glass door. The bottom module is provided as a blank panel and designed to permit the consumer to install other commercially available pet portals. The invention is designed to be assembled in the field by the consumer. The five primary modules and components slide together forming a rigid panel with a height adjustable weather seal in the uppermost portion of the assembled panel. Once assembled the panel may be installed and removed as one piece. The leading edge of the panel is designed to fit into the moveable sliding door side of the patio door frame to create a secure fit and effective weather seal. The trailing edge of the assembled panel forms a channel designed to receive the leading edge of the moveable sliding patio door similar to the patio door frame creating a secure fit and effective weather seal. When raised to an upright position, inserted into the patio door upper track and dropped into the patio door lower track the assembled panel fills and seals the opening necessary for the pet portal. After installation of the assembled panel into the sliding glass patio door the drop lock security lock component of the invention is installed between the trailing edge of the moveable sliding glass door and the patio door frame abutting the fixed glass door. The drop lock component of the invention serves as a secondary security lock in the preferred embodiment and as a primary locking system in another embodiment. The drop lock handle is conveniently located allowing the handle bar to be lifted from a locked position into a stored unlocked position. In so doing, the moveable sliding glass patio door may be opened to permit standard use of the patio door or to facilitate installation and removal of the pet access door assembled panel. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The present embodiments of the invention are described in detail below with reference to the drawings, in which like items are identified by the same reference designation, wherein; FIG. 1 is a front or interior elevational view of the pet access door installed in a sliding glass patio door with the moveable sliding door in a closed position, providing partial access through the sliding glass door when the moveable sliding door is moved to an open position, for various embodiments of the invention. FIG. 2 is a back or exterior elevational view of the pet access door installed in a sliding glass patio door with the moveable sliding door in a closed position, providing partial access through the sliding glass door when the moveable sliding door is moved to an open position. FIGS. 3A-3C show front elevational assembly views of the five primary modules and components comprising the pet access door panel, and illustrate how the modules and components slide together to assemble the pet access door. FIG. 3D is a perspective view illustrating the initiation of installation of the pet access door into a sliding glass patio door. FIG. 3E is a partial perspective and elevational view illustrating a step in the installation of the pet access door into a sliding glass patio door. FIG. 3F is an elevational view illustrating a step in the installation of the pet access door into a sliding glass patio door. FIGS. 4A, 4C, and 4D are front elevational or interior, left elevational or trailing side, and right elevational or leading side views, respectively, of the top module subassembly with weather seal shims in place. FIG. 4B is a top plan view of the top module subassembly with weather seal shims in place, the bottom plan view being identical thereto. FIGS. 5A, 5C, and 5D are front elevational or interior, left elevational or trailing side, and right elevational or leading side views, respectively, of the top module without weather seal shims. FIG. 5B is a top plan view of the top module without weather seal shims, the bottom plan view being identical thereto. FIGS. 6A, 6C, and 6D are front elevational, back elevational, and right elevational side views, respectively, of the left or trailing side top and bottom module thick patio door weather seal shim, the left elevational side view being identical to the latter. FIG. 6B is a top plan view of the left or trailing side top and bottom module thick patio door weather seal shim, the bottom plan view being identical thereto. FIG. 6E is a partial cross sectional view taken along 6E-6E of FIG. 1 of the moveable patio door, trailing side weather seal shim, pet access door, leading edge weather seal shim and sliding glass patio door frame, illustrating function of the weather seal shims in a thick patio door configuration. FIGS. 7A, 7C, and 7D are front elevational, back elevational, and right elevational side views, respectively, of the left or trailing side top and bottom module thin patio door weather seal shim, the left elevational side view being identical to the latter. FIG. 7B is a top plan view of the left or trailing side top and bottom module thin patio door weather seal shim, the bottom plan view being identical thereto. FIG. 7E is a partial cross sectional view taken along 6E-6E of FIG. 1 of the moveable patio door, trailing side weather seal shim, pet access door and sliding glass patio door frame, illustrating the function of the trailing side weather seal shim and the leading side of the pet access door in a thick patio door configuration. FIGS. 8A, 8C, and 8D are front elevational, back elevational, and right elevational side views, respectively, of the right or leading side top and bottom module weather seal shim required for thick patio door installations of the pet access door, the left elevational side view being identical to the latter. FIG. 8B is a top plan view of the right or leading side top and bottom module weather seal shim required for thick patio door installations of the pet access door, the bottom plan view being identical thereto. FIGS. 9A, 9C, and 9D are front elevational or interior side, left elevational or trailing side, and right elevational or leading side views, respectively, of the center module subassembly with weather seal shims in place. FIG. 9B is a top plan view of the center module subassembly with weather seal shims in place, the bottom plan view being identical thereto. FIGS. 10A, 10B, 10D, and 10E are front elevational or interior, back elevational or exterior, left elevational or trailing side, and right elevational or leading side views, respectively, of the center module without weather seal shims. FIG. 10C is a top plan view of the center module without weather seal shims, the bottom plan view being-identical thereto. FIGS. 11A, 11C, and 11D are front elevational, back elevational, and right elevational side views, respectively, of the left or trailing side center module thick patio door weather seal shim, the left elevational side view being identical to the latter. FIG. 11B is a top plan view of the left or trailing side center module thick patio door weather seal shim, the bottom plan view being identical thereto. FIGS. 12A, 12C, and 12D are front elevational, back elevational, and right elevational side views, respectively, of the left or trailing side center module thin patio door weather seal shim, the left elevational side view being identical to the latter. FIG. 12B is a top plan view of the left or trailing side center module thin patio door weather seal shim, the bottom plan view being identical thereto. FIGS. 13A-13D are front elevational, back elevational, right elevational side views, and a top plan view, respectively, of the top and bottom module leading edge weather seal shim required for thick patio door installations of the pet access door, the left elevational side view being identical to the latter. FIG. 14A is a top plan view of the center module configured for alternative and additional embodiments of the invention, the bottom plan view being identical thereto. FIG. 14B is a front cross sectional view taken along 14B-14B from FIG. 14C of center module configured for alternative and additional embodiments of the invention. FIGS. 14C and 14D are left elevational or trailing side and right elevational or leading side views, respectively, of the center module configured for alternative and additional embodiments of the invention. FIGS. 15A, 15C, and 15D are front elevational or interior, left elevational or trailing side, and right elevational or leading side views, respectively, of the bottom module subassembly with weather seal shims in place. FIG. 15B is a top plan view of the bottom module subassembly with weather seal shims in place, the bottom plan view being identical thereto. FIGS. 16A, 16C, and 16E are front elevational or interior, left elevational or trailing side, and right elevational or leading side views, respectively, of the bottom module without weather seal shims. FIG. 16B is a top plan view of the bottom module without weather seal shims, the bottom plan view being identical thereto. FIGS. 17A-17C are front or interior, left or trailing side, and right or leading side elevational views, respectively, of the top weather seal subassembly affixed to the top module subassembly. FIG. 17D is a right elevational or leading side view of the top module weather seal subassembly affixed to the top module subassembly showing seating of the sleeve portion of the top module weather seal into an upper track portion of the sliding glass patio door. FIGS. 17E is a partial cross sectional view taken along 17E-17E of FIG. 17A. FIGS. 18A-18C are front elevational, top plan, and bottom plan views, respectively, of the top weather seal subassembly. FIGS. 18D and 18E are left side elevational or trailing side, and right side elevational or leading side views, respectively, of the top weather seal subassembly. FIG. 18F is a front cross sectional view taken along 18F-18F from FIG. 18C of the top weather seal subassembly. FIGS. 19A-19E are front elevational, left side elevational, top plan, bottom plan, and right side elevational views, respectively, of the top weather seal subassembly patio door hold-down wedge component. FIGS. 20A-20D are front elevational (back elevational being identical thereto), right side elevational (left side elevational being identical thereto), top plan and bottom plan views, respectively, of the top weather seal subassembly tension bar component. FIG. 21 is an enlarged cross sectional view of the area of the top weather seal subassembly shown within circle labeled “FIG. 21” of FIG. 18F. FIGS. 22A-22C are front elevational (back, right, and left side elevational views being identical thereto), top plan, and bottom plan views, respectively, of the top weather seal subassembly tension bar spring guide retaining pin component. FIGS. 23A and 23B are side elevational, and top plan views, respectively, of the top weather seal subassembly tension bar spring guide retaining pin retainer. FIGS. 24A-24D are front elevational, side elevational, top plan and bottom plan views, respectively, of the top weather seal subassembly tension bar spring guide component. FIG. 25 is a front elevational view of the top weather seal subassembly tension bar conical spring component. FIGS. 26A-26C are front elevational (back elevation view being identical thereto), top plan (bottom plan view being identical thereto), and left side elevational (right side elevational view being identical thereto) views, respectively, of the top weather seal subassembly sleeve retainer component. FIGS. 27A-27F are front elevational (back elevational view being a mirror image), top plan, bottom plan, cross sectional taken along 27D-27D of FIG. 27C, right side elevational, and left side elevational views, respectively, of the top weather seal subassembly base component. FIGS. 28A-28D are front elevational, top plan, right side elevational (left side elevational view being identical thereto), and bottom plan views, respectively, of the top weather seal subassembly sleeve component. FIGS. 29A-29C are front elevational, left elevational or trailing side, and right elevational or leading side views, respectively, of the bottom weather seal subassembly affixed to the bottom module subassembly. FIGS. 30A-30C are front elevational (back elevational view being identical thereto), top plan, and bottom plan views, respectively, of the bottom weather seal subassembly. FIGS. 30D and 30E are right side elevational or leading side, and left side elevational or trailing side views of the bottom weather seal subassembly. FIG. 30F is a cross sectional view taken along 30F-30F from FIG. 30C of the bottom weather seal subassembly. FIGS. 31A-31E are top plan, bottom plan, front elevational (back elevational view being a mirror image), right side elevational, and left side elevational views, respectively, of the bottom weather seal subassembly base component. FIGS. 32A-32D are top plan, bottom plan, front elevational (back elevational view being identical thereto), and right side elevational (left side elevational being identical thereto), views, respectively, of the bottom weather seal subassembly sleeve retainer component. FIGS. 33A-33D are top plan, bottom plan, front elevational (back elevational view being identical thereto), and right side elevational (left side elevational view being identical thereto) views, respectively, of the bottom weather seal subassembly sleeve component. FIGS. 34A, 34C, and 34D are front or interior, left or trailing side, and right or leading side elevational views, respectively, of the center module subassembly with universal locking assembly installed, for a preferred embodiment of the invention. FIG. 34B is a top plan view of the center module with the universal locking assembly installed, for a preferred embodiment of the invention, bottom plan view being identical thereto. FIGS. 35A and 35B are front elevational, and top plan views, respectively, of the universal locking assembly. FIGS. 36A-36C are front elevational, top plan, and right side elevational views, respectively, of the universal locking assembly latch subassembly. FIGS. 37A-37C are front elevational, top plan, and right side elevational views, respectively, of the universal locking assembly latch subassembly latch bar component. FIGS. 38A-38C are front elevational, top plan, and right side elevational views, respectively, of the universal locking assembly latch subassembly latch arm component. FIG. 39 is a front elevational view of the universal locking assembly latch subassembly latch spring component. FIG. 40 is a front elevational view of the universal locking assembly latch subassembly pin component. FIGS. 41A-41C are front elevational, top plan, and right side elevational views, respectively, of the universal locking assembly floating catch subassembly. FIG. 41D shows a top plan view of the universal locking assembly floating catch subassembly catch bar component in blank form. FIG. 42 is an exploded assembly view of the universal locking assembly carrier subassembly. FIG. 43 is a partial cross sectional view of the universal locking assembly carrier subassembly along 43-43 of FIG. 35B. FIGS. 44A-44C are front elevational, top plan, and bottom plan views, respectively, of the universal locking assembly vertical adjustment and horizontal adjustment knob component. FIGS. 45A-45C are front elevational, right side elevational, and top plan views, respectively, of the universal locking assembly carrier subassembly carrier component. FIGS. 46A-46C are front elevational, right side elevational, and top plan views, respectively, of the universal locking assembly carrier subassembly carrier nut component. FIGS. 47A-47C are partial cross sectional front views, respectively, taken along the longitudinal axis of the center module and sliding glass patio door frame showing the universal locking assembly. FIGS. 48A, 48C, and 48D are front, left side and right side elevational views, respectively, of the bottom module subassembly with the pet portal assembly removed. FIG. 48B is a bottom plan view of the bottom module subassembly with pet portal assembly removed, the top plan view being identical thereto. FIGS. 49A, 49C, and 49D are front, left side, and right side elevational views, respectively, of the bottom module without the pet portal assembly and weather seal shims. FIG. 49B is a bottom plan view of the center module with the pet portal assembly and weather seal shims removed, the top plan view being identical thereto. FIG. 49E is a front elevational view of the bottom module subassembly with the pet portal assembly installed as in the preferred embodiment of the invention. FIG. 49F is an exploded assembly view of the pet portal assembly and a partial cross sectional view along line 49F-49F of FIG. 49E of the bottom module subassembly. FIG. 49G is a cross sectional side view of the bottom module subassembly with pet portal assembly installed taken along line 49G-49G of FIG. 49E, illustrating the function of the floating magnetic weather seal with the pet portal flap in a closed position. FIG. 49H is an enlarged view of the area 49H circled on the cross sectional view shown in FIG. 49G, illustrating the function of the magnetic floating weather seal with the pet portal flap in a closed position. FIG. 49I is a partial cross sectional front view of the bottom module subassembly with pet portal assembly installed taken along line 49I-49I of FIG. 49C, illustrating the function of the floating magnetic weather seal with the pet portal flap in a closed position. FIG. 49J is a cross sectional side view of the bottom module subassembly with pet portal assembly installed taken along line 49J-49J of FIG. 49E, illustrating the function of the floating magnetic weather seal with the pet portal flap in an open position. FIG. 49K is an enlarged view of the area 49K circled on the cross sectional view shown in FIG. 49J, illustrating the function of the magnetic floating weather seal with the pet portal flap in an open position. FIG. 49L is a partial cross sectional front view of the bottom module subassembly with pet portal assembly installed taken along line 49L-49L of FIG. 49C, illustrating the function of the floating magnetic weather seal with the pet portal flap in an open position. FIG. 50A is a partial cross sectional front view of the bottom module subassembly with pet portal assembly installed taken along line 50A-50A of FIG. 49D, illustrating the flap lock function with the flap in a locked position. FIGS. 50B and 50C are enlarged partial cross sectional views of the cam locking assembly and the lowermost portion of the flap lock referenced in areas 50B, 50C, respectively, as circled on the cross sectional view shown in FIG. 49G, illustrating function of the flap locking mechanism in a locked position. FIG. 50D is a partial cross sectional front view of the bottom module subassembly with pet portal assembly installed taken along line 50D-50D of FIG. 49D, illustrating the flap lock function with the flap in an unlocked position. FIGS. 50E-50F are enlarged partial cross sectional views of the cam locking assembly and the lowermost portion of the flap lock referenced in areas 50E, 50F, respectively, of FIG. 49G, illustrating function of the flap locking mechanism in an unlocked position. FIG. 51A is a front elevational view of the bottom module subassembly as a blank panel without a pet portal hole, designed to allow for installation of pet portals produced by various manufacturers as another embodiment of the invention. FIG. 51B is a cross sectional side view taken along line 51B-51B of FIG. 51A, of the blank bottom module subassembly without the pet portal hole, designed to allow installation of pet portals produced by various manufacturers as another embodiment of the invention. FIGS. 52A and 52B are front elevational (back elevational view being identical thereto), and right side elevational (left side elevational view being identical thereto) views, respectively, of the pet portal assembly upper hinge subassembly component. FIGS. 53A and 53B are front elevational (back elevational view being identical thereto), and right side elevational (left side elevational view being identical thereto) views, respectively, of the pet portal assembly lower hinge subassembly component. FIGS. 54A-54B are front elevational (back elevational view being identical thereto), and right side elevational (left side elevational view being identical thereto) views, respectively, of the pet portal assembly flap subassembly component. FIG. 55A is a front elevational view of the bottom module subassembly with pet portal assembly installed in a configuration to accommodate smaller pets. FIG. 55B is an exploded perspective assembly view of the pet portal assembly illustrating disassembly and reassembly for height and directional changes of the bottom module subassembly in the field. FIG. 55C is a front elevational view of the bottom module with pet portal assembly removed showing rotation of the bottom module about the horizontal axis to make a height change in the bottom module subassembly. FIG. 55D is a front elevational view of the bottom module subassembly with pet portal assembly installed in a configuration to accommodate larger pets. FIG. 56A is a front elevational view of the bottom module with the pet portal assembly removed showing the rotation of the bottom module about the vertical axis to change direction of the bottom module subassembly to accommodate a left opening sliding patio door. FIG. 56B is a front elevational view of the bottom module subassembly with pet portal assembly installed configured for a left opening sliding patio door. FIG. 57A is a front or interior elevational view of the sliding glass patio door with pet access door installed showing installation of the drop lock security lock in a locked position. FIGS. 57B and 57C are top plan, and front elevational views, respectively, of the drop lock handlebar handle in the lower locking bracket, illustrating the configuration of the handlebar handle and lower locking bracket with the drop lock in a locked position. FIGS. 57D and 57E are top plan, and front elevational views, respectively, of the drop lock handlebar handle in the lower locking bracket, illustrating the configuration of the handlebar handle and lower locking bracket in a neutral position. FIG. 57F is a front or interior elevational view of the sliding glass patio door with pet access door installed showing installation of the drop lock security lock in an unlocked and stored position. FIGS. 57G and 57H are top plan, and front elevational views, respectively, of the drop lock handlebar handle in the upper storage bracket, illustrating the configuration of the handlebar handle and upper storage bracket with the drop lock in an unlocked and stored position. FIG. 58A is a front elevational view of the drop lock security lock in a locked position. FIG. 58B is a left or trailing side elevational view of the drop lock security lock. FIG. 58C is a right or leading side elevational view of the drop lock security lock. FIG. 58D is a partial cross sectional front elevational view taken along the longitudinal axis of the drop lock security lock. FIG. 58E is a partial cross sectional front elevational view taken along the longitudinal axis of the drop lock security lock in a locked position with the handlebar handle in a neutral position. FIG. 58F is a partial cross sectional view of the drop lock security lock with the telescoping adjustment slide and fine adjustment mechanism is a retracted position. FIG. 58G is a partial cross sectional view of the drop lock security lock along a longitudinal axis with the telescoping adjustment slide in an extended position. FIG. 58H is a partial top plan view of the drop lock security lock with the telescoping adjustment slide in an extended position. FIG. 58I is a partial cross sectional view along a longitudinal axis of the drop lock security lock showing rotation of the fine adjustment mechanism. FIG. 58J is a partial cross sectional view along a longitudinal axis of the drop lock security lock with the fine adjustment mechanism in an extended position. FIG. 58K is a partial cross sectional front elevational view taken along the longitudinal axis of the drop lock security lock in a locked position with the handlebar handle in a locked position. FIG. 59A is a left side elevational view of the ramp or platform resting board. FIG. 59B is a top plan view of the ramp or platform resting board. FIG. 59C is a bottom plan view of the ramp or platform resting board. FIG. 59D is a back side elevational view of the ramp or platform resting board. FIG. 59E is a front elevational view of the ramp or platform resting board. FIG. 60A is an exploded assembly view of a partial left side elevational view of the pet access door panel bottom module and left side elevational view of the bottom module weather seal shown with a left side elevational view of the drop lock security lock unattached. FIG. 60B is a partial left side elevational view of the pet access door panel bottom module and left side elevational view of the bottom module weather seal shown with a partial left side elevational view of the drop lock security lock attached and in a lowered position. FIG. 60C is a partial left side elevational view of the pet access door panel bottom module and left side elevational view of the bottom module weather seal shown with a partial left side elevational view of the drop lock security lock attached and in a partially raised position. FIG. 60D is an exterior elevational view of a sliding glass patio door with the pet access door panel installed showing a step down to the exterior ground surface. FIG. 60E is an exterior elevational view of a sliding glass patio door with the pet access door panel installed and the ramp or platform resting board attached and in a lowered position. FIG. 60F is an exterior elevational view of a sliding glass patio door with the pet access door panel installed and the ramp or platform resting board attached and in a partially raised position. FIG. 60G is an exterior elevational view of a sliding glass patio door with the pet access door panel installed and the ramp or platform resting board attached and in a fully raised position. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION As shown in FIGS. 1-3, the preferred embodiment of the invention, pet door panel 25, is installed between the sliding door frame 11, and the leading side of frame 15 on movable sliding door 21, to provide a means of ingress and egress for a pet. Drop lock security lock 6 is installed on the interior side of stationary sliding door 21, between sliding door frame 11, and the trailing side of frame 15 on movable sliding door 21, to secure pet door panel 25 between sliding door frame 11 and the leading side of frame 15 on movable siding door 21, to prevent movable sliding door 21 from being opened with pet door panel 25 installed. Sliding door frame 11 is typically secured to a building structure 23, such as a home or office. For illustrative purposes all elevational views, except as noted, depict the sliding glass patio door in a right opening configuration. Therefore, when describing various elements of the invention reference made to right and left side views pertains to installation of the invention in a right opening sliding glass door configuration. However, since the invention may be installed in either a right or left opening sliding glass patio door configuration the term left or right is relative, therefore, the terms leading, trailing, interior and exterior are used in combination or in place of the terms right and left side and front and back views where referenced. The sliding door frame 11 has a lower track portion 29 and an upper track portion 27. The lower track portion 29 slideably receives at least one sliding door member 21 therein. A complimentary upper track portion 27 is typically positioned on the upper side of the siding glass door frame 11, in alignment with the lower track portion 29, enabling the sliding door member 21 to be slideably moved between open and closed positions within the sliding door frame 11. The preferred embodiment of the invention consists of a pet door panel 25 with pet portal 146, drop lock security lock 6 with locking bracket 202, and storage bracket 208. As shown in FIG. 3A, pet door panel 25 is an assembly consisting of five primary components; top module weather seal 1, top module 2, center module 3, bottom module 4 with pet portal 146 and bottom module weather seal 5. Top module weather seal 1, top module 2, center module 3, bottom module 4 with pet portal 146, and bottom module weather seal 5 are slideably attached to one another for assembly, disassembly, or replacement, as shown in FIG. 3B, via an interlocking tongue and groove system integral to each component. More particularly, interlocking groove 85, located in the lowermost portion of top module weather seal 1, is slideably attached to interlocking tongue 9 located on the uppermost portion of top module 2, as indicated by directional arrow(s) 35 and/or 350. Interlocking tongue 9, located on the lowermost portion of top module 2, is slideably attached to interlocking groove 22 located on the uppermost portion of center module 3, as indicated by directional arrows 35 and/or 350. Interlocking groove 22 located in the lowermost portion of center module 3 is slideably attached to interlocking tongue 19 located in the uppermost portion of bottom module 4 as indicated by directional arrows 35 and/or 350. Interlocking tongue 19 located in the lowermost portion of bottom module 4 is slideably attached to interlocking groove 96 located in the uppermost portion of bottom module weather seal 5 as indicated by directional arrows 35 and/or 350. FIG. 3C shows assembled pet door panel 25 with pet portal 146. Top module weather seal 1 is attached to top module 2 at seam 37, top module 2 is attached to center module 3 at seam 39, center module 3 with pet portal 146 is attached to bottom module 4 at seam 41, and bottom module 4 with pet portal 146 is attached to bottom module weather seal 5 at seam 43. FIGS. 3D-3F show installation of the assembled pet door panel 25 with pet portal 146 into an existing sliding glass door assembly. Although assembled pet door panel 25 may be assembled in place within sliding door frame 11, the preferred method of assembly is accomplished on a flat surface such as a floor or table top. When assembled outside of sliding door frame 11, the inventive assembled pet door panel 25 is brought to sliding door frame 11 as shown in FIG. 3D. FIG. 3E shows movable sliding glass door 21 being pulled away from sliding door frame 11 to open movable sliding glass door 21 as indicated by directional arrow 45, to permit pet door panel 25 to be installed. The top module weather seal 1 component located on the uppermost portion of assembled pet door panel 25 is lifted up into a recess of upper track portion 27 of sliding door frame 11, as shown in by directional arrow 47, and then rotated into alignment with the upper track portion 27 and a recess of lower track portion 29 of sliding door frame 11. As shown is FIGS. 17-18 and described in detail later, the top module weather seal 1 is constructed to allow a spring loaded flexible sleeve to compress in order to fit pet door panel 25 between upper track portion 27 and lower track portion 29 of sliding door frame 11. When in alignment with upper track portion 27 and lower track portion 29 of sliding door frame 11, the bottom module weather seal 5 component located on the lowermost portion of assembled pet door panel 25 is lowered into the recessed lower track portion 29 of sliding door frame 11. As shown in FIG. 3F, after assembled pet door panel 25 is in place in upper track portion 27 and lower track portion 29 of sliding door frame 11, between the leading side of frame 15 on movable sliding glass door 21 and sliding door frame 11, movable sliding glass door 21 is pulled closed against assembled pet door panel 25 as indicated by directional arrow 49. In turn, assembled pet door panel 25 is pulled against sliding door frame 11 as indicated by directional arrow 51 restricting access through movable sliding glass door 21, while providing egress and ingress for pets through pet portal 146. Frame 15 of movable sliding glass door 21 abuts the trailing side of assembled door panel 25 within a channel formed by trailing side weather seal shims 12 or 13 (see FIGS. 6E and 7E) in top module 2 and bottom module 4, and weather seal shims 87 or 89 (see FIGS. 11A-C, and 12A-C) in center module 3, that comprise assembled pet door panel 25, with assembled pet door panel 25 installed and movable sliding glass door 21 in a closed position. When installed, the leading side of assembled pet door panel 25 abuts sliding door frame 11. In the preferred embodiment of the invention, center module 3 contains a universal locking system shown in FIGS. 34-47, described later, that allows the installed assembled pet door panel 25 to lock into sliding door frame 11, and movable glass sliding door 21 to lock into the installed assembled pet door panel 25. After installation of assembled pet door panel 25 as described above, drop lock security lock 6 is installed between the trailing side of frame 15 on movable sliding glass door 21 and sliding door frame 11, as shown in FIG. 1. Drop lock security lock 6 described later and shown in detail in FIGS. 57-58 consists of an adjustable lower housing assembly that sits in lower track portion 29 of sliding door frame 11 between the trailing side of frame 15 on movable sliding door 21 and sliding door frame 11 with assembled pet door panel 25 installed. Drop lock security lock 6 is attached to the trailing side of frame 15 on movable sliding door 21 by drop lock security lock 6 handlebar 180 (see FIGS. 57C, 57E, and 58A) and locking bracket 202 which is mounted on the trailing side of frame 15 of movable sliding door 21. Drop lock security lock 6 can be installed in any sliding glass door between the trailing side of frame 15 on movable sliding glass door 21 and sliding door frame 11, with or without assembled pet door panel 25 installed to prevent forced entry from the exterior or unintentional opening from the interior of the structure. In another embodiment of the invention, drop lock security lock 6 is the primary means of locking movable sliding glass door 21 with assembled pet door panel 25 installed. In order to open movable sliding glass door 21, the handlebar 180 is rotated out of a locked position in locking bracket 202 and lifted to storage bracket 208 also located on the trailing side of frame 15 on movable sliding glass door 21. In so doing, the adjustable telescoping housing 188 (see FIGS. 58A-58K) is lifted out of lower track portion 29 of sliding door frame 11 allowing movable sliding glass door 21 to be pulled opened for passage or installation or removal of assembled pet door panel 25. Top module 2, center module 3, and bottom module 4 are designed to be of an injection molded or injection blow molded polymer construction with a rigid insulation core. This type of construction provides privacy while providing insulation quality superior to prior art. All three modules are designed to fit a variety of sliding glass patio door heights and door thicknesses through an adjustable top module weather seal 1 and left or trailing side and right or leading side weather seal shims 12 or 13, and 8, respectively. FIGS. 4A-4D are front or interior, top, trailing and leading side views of assembled pet access door top module 2. The back or exterior view of top module 2 is a mirror image of the front or interior view of top module 2 illustrated in FIG. 4A. The bottom view of top module 2 is identical to the top view of module 2 illustrated in FIG. 4B. The front of top module 2 includes an interlocking tongue 9 in the uppermost portion of top module 2, and an identical interlocking tongue 9 located in the lowermost portion of top module 2. Leading side weather seal shim 8 is designed to fill and seal the channel 61 (see FIG. 6E) in the upright portion of sliding door frame 11. Channel 61 is configured to receive leading side frame 15 of movable sliding glass door 21 in thick sliding glass patio door applications, as shown in FIG. 6E. For purposes of example, a thick sliding patio door 21 typically has a leading edge or side thickness of 1¾ inch, whereas a thin sliding patio door 21 typically has a leading edge or side thickness 1½ inch. FIG. 6E is an exploded assembly and partial cross sectional top view of leading side frame 15 of movable sliding glass door 21, top module 2 of pet door panel 25, and upright portion of sliding door frame 11. FIG. 4C is a left or trailing side view of module 2, which shows trailing side weather seal shim 12 installed thereon. FIG. 4D is a right or leading side view of top module 2 which shows leading side weather seal shim 8, as installed. Both FIGS. 4C and 4D show trailing and leading side views, respectively, of top module 2 tongue 9 at the uppermost and lowermost portions of top module 2. FIG. 4B is a top view of top module 2, which shows both the leading side 8 and trailing side 12 weather seal shims and top module weather seal 1 spring guide holes 14. Leading weather seal shim 8 is not necessary when used in combination with a thin movable sliding glass door 21 since the leading edge of top module 2 fits into channel 61 as shown in FIG. 7E. Channel 61, for example, typically has a width of 1 13/16 inch for thick siding patio doors 21, and 1 9/16 inch for thin sliding patio doors 21. With the invention configured for a thin sliding glass patio door application, leading side weather seal shim 8 is omitted and trailing side weather seal shim 13 is used in place of trailing side weather seal shim 12 as shown in FIG. 7E. FIG. 7E is an exploded assembly and partial cross sectional top view of leading side frame 15 of movable sliding glass door 21, top module 2 of assembled pet door panel 25, and an upright portion of sliding door frame 11. As shown in FIG. 4B, weather seal shim 8 is designed to slide or snap into identical retention grooves 16 located on a vertical plane on both the front and back sides adjacent to the right or leading side of top module 2. Trailing side weather seal shim 12 located on the trailing side of top module 2 is contained within retention lips 18, as shown in FIG. 4B, and is designed to accept the leading side frame 15 of movable sliding glass door 21 in thick sliding glass patio door applications. FIGS. 6A-6D show various views, respectively, of thick sliding glass patio door trailing side weather seal shim 12, and FIGS. 7A-7B show various views, respectively, of thin sliding glass patio door trailing side weather seal shim 13. FIGS. 6B and 7B show channels 53 and 530, which are designed to receive frame 15 of movable sliding glass door 21 in a thick sliding glass patio door application. The width of bends running along the vertical axis of trailing side weather seal shim 12 and 13 shown as 55 and 550 in FIGS. 6A, 6B, 6E, 7A, 7B and 7E, respectively, serve as a shim in either thin or thick movable sliding glass door 21 configurations. In FIGS. 6B and 6E vertical axis bends 55 are thin creating a wide channel 53 designed to receive leading side frame 15 of movable sliding glass door 21 in a thick sliding glass door application. Vertical axis bend 550 shown in FIGS. 7B and 7E is wider than bend 55 of shim 12, which narrows channel 530 to receive leading side frame 15 of movable sliding glass door 21 in a thin sliding glass door application. A portion of trailing side weather seal shim 12 and 13 shown as 57 and 570, respectively, in FIGS. 6A, 6B, 7A and 7B is bent inward along a vertical axis to create channel 53, 530, walls designed to create an effective weather seal against leading side frame 15 of sliding glass door 21. FIGS. 8A-8D show various views of right or leading side weather seal shim 8 used on top module 2 to fill and seal channel 61 in the upright portion of door frame 11 in thick movable sliding glass door 21 configuration as shown in FIG. 6E. FIGS. 5A-5D are front or interior, top, trailing and leading side views of top module 2 with trailing and leading side weather seal shims removed. The back or exterior view of top module 2 is a mirror image of the front or interior view of top module 2 illustrated in FIG. 5A. The bottom view of top module 2 is identical to the top view of module 2 illustrated in FIG. 5B. FIG. 5A is a front or interior view of top module 2 showing interlocking tongue 9 in the uppermost portion of top module 2 and an identical interlocking tongue 9 located in the lowermost portion of top module 2. FIG. 5A also shows the left or trailing side 10 and right or leading side 7 of top module 2. Retention grooves 16 for receiving and retaining right or leading side weather seal shim 8 are shown running vertically at the right or leading side 7 of top module 2. FIG. 5B is a top view of top module 2 showing interlocking tongue 9. Interlocking tongue 9 runs along a horizontal plane on the top and bottom of top module 2. FIG. 5B shows top module weather seal spring guide holes 14 which run through interlocking tongue 9 into top module 2 in the uppermost and lowermost portion of top module 2. Right or leading side weather seal shim retention grooves 16 and left or trailing side weather seal shim retention lips 18 are shown in FIG. 5B. FIG. 5C is a left or trailing side view of top module 2, and FIG. 5D is a right or leading side view of top module 2. FIGS. 6A-6D show various views of trailing side weather seal shim 12 which is designed for use in thick sliding glass patio door applications. FIG. 6A is a tailing side view of trailing weather seal shim 12 showing shim spacer bends 55 and sealing tabs 57. FIG. 6B is a top view of trailing weather seal shim 12, the bottom view is identical to the top view. Top view FIG. 6B shows channel 53 designed to accept the leading side of door frame 15 of movable sliding glass door 21. Channel 53 is formed by shim spacer bends 55 and sealing tabs 57 that run vertically along the length of trailing weather seal shim 12. FIG. 6C is a back side view of trailing side weather seal shim 12, and FIG. 6D is a side view of tailing side weather seal shim 12. FIG. 6E is a partial cross sectional top view of movable sliding glass door 21 leading side frame 15, assembled pet access door top module 2 configured for thick sliding glass patio door and upright portion of sliding glass patio door frame 11. FIG. 6E shows leading side frame 15 of movable sliding glass patio door 21 sliding into the trailing side of assembled pet access door top module 2 in the direction indicated by directional arrow 49. Leading side frame 15 of movable siding glass patio door 21 fits into channel 53 formed by shim spacer bends 55 and sealing tabs 57 in the trailing side weather seal shim 12. Trailing weather seal shim 12 is retained in the trailing side of pet access door module 2 by retention lips 18. Leading side door frame 15 of movable sliding glass door 21 is guided into channel 53 and held in place by shim spacer bends 55. When leading door frame 15 is seated in channel 53, tabs 57 are compressed and held against leading door frame 15 of movable sliding glass door 21 to create an effective weather seal; The leading side of assembled pet access door top module 2 slides into channel 61 of the upright portion of sliding glass patio door frame 11 in the direction indicated by directional arrow 51. The leading side of assembled pet access door top module 2 is configured for a thick sliding glass patio door and therefore, shows leading side weather seal shim 8 affixed to assemble top module 2. As shown in FIGS. 8A-8D and described in greater detail later, leading side weather seal shim 8 is held in place on top module 2 by retaining tabs 59 that snap or slide into retention grooves 16 located on the leading side of pet access door top module 2. Leading side weather seal shim 8 is designed to fit into and seal against channel 61 in upright portion of sliding glass patio door frame 11. FIGS. 7A-7D show various views of trailing side weather seal shim 13 which is designed for use in thin sliding glass patio door applications. FIG. 7A is a tailing side view of trailing weather seal shim 13 showing shim spacer bends 550 and sealing tabs 570. FIG. 7B is a top view of trailing weather seal shim 13, the bottom view is identical to the top view. Top view FIG. 7B shows channel 530 designed to accept the leading side of door frame 15 of movable sliding glass door 21. Channel 530 is formed by shim spacer bends 550 and sealing tabs 570 that run vertically along the length of trailing weather seal shim 13. FIG. 7C is a back side view of trailing side weather seal shim 13 and FIG. 7D is a side view of tailing side weather seal shim 13. FIG. 7E is a partial cross sectional top view of movable sliding glass door 21 leading side frame 15, assembled pet access door top module 2 configured for thin sliding glass patio door and upright portion of sliding glass patio door frame 11. FIG. 7E shows leading side frame 15 of movable sliding glass patio door 21 sliding into the trailing side of assembled pet access door top module 2 in the direction indicated by directional arrow 49. Leading side frame 15 of movable siding glass patio door 21 fits into channel 530 formed by shim spacer bends 550 and sealing tabs 570 in the trailing side weather seal shim 13. Trailing weather seal shim 13 is retained in the trailing side of pet access door module 2 by retention lips 18. Leading side door frame 15 of movable sliding glass door 21 is guided into channel 530 and held in place by shim spacer bends 550. When leading slide door frame 15 is seated in channel 530, tabs 570 are compressed and held against leading door frame 15 of movable sliding glass door 21 to create an effective weather seal. The leading side of assembled pet access door top module 2 slides into channel 61 of the upright portion of sliding glass patio door frame 11 in the direction indicated by directional arrow 51. The leading side of assembled pet access door top module 2 is configured for a thin sliding glass patio door, and therefore fits and seals in channel 61 of the upright portion of sliding glass patio door frame 11 without the need for a leading side weather seal shim 8, as required with a thick sliding glass door. FIGS. 8A-8D show various views of leading side weather seal shim 8. FIG. 8A is a back side view of leading side weather seal shim 8 showing retaining tabs 59 that interlock with retention grooves 16 in pet access door top module 2. FIG. 8B is a top view of weather seal shim 8. The bottom view of weather seal shim 8 is identical to top view FIG. 8B. FIG. 8B shows retaining tabs 59 that interlock with retention grooves 16 in pet access door top module 2. FIG. 8C is a leading side view of leading side weather seal shim 8, and FIG. 8D is a side view of leading side weather seal shim 8. FIGS. 9A-9D show various views of assembled pet access door center module 3. FIG. 9A is a front or interior view of center module 3 showing access door 32 with opening tab 33, and leading side weather seal shim 20 with external catch screw mount recess 30. FIG. 9B is a top view of assembled pet access door center module 3. The bottom view of assembled pet access door center module 3 is identical to the top view FIG. 9B. FIG. 9B is a top view of center module 3, which shows both the leading side 20 and trailing side 87 weather seal shims. Leading weather seal shim 20 is not necessary when used in combination with a thin movable sliding glass door 21 since the leading side of center module 3 fits into channel 61, the same as the leading side of top module 2 described earlier and as shown in FIG. 7E. With the invention configured for a thin sliding glass patio door application, leading side weather seal shim 20 is omitted, and trailing side weather seal shim 89 is used in place of trailing side weather seal shim 87, the same as trailing side weather seal shim 13 on top module 2 described earlier, as shown in FIG. 7E. Weather seal shim 20 is designed to slide or snap into retention grooves 16 located on a vertical plane on both the front and back sides adjacent to the right or leading side of center module 3 as shown in FIG. 9B. Trailing side weather seal shim 87 located on the trailing side of center module 3 contained within retention lips 18 is designed to accept the leading side of frame 15 of movable sliding glass door 21 in thick sliding glass patio door applications. Interlocking groove 22 is located on a horizontal plane on the uppermost and lowermost portions of center module 3 as shown in FIG. 9B. Grooves 22 interlock with tongues 9, 19 located on top module 2 and bottom module 4, respectively. FIG. 9C is a trailing side view of assembled pet access door center module 3 showing slot 36 in trailing side weather seal shim 87 designed to accommodate a universal locking mechanism in another embodiment of the invention. FIG. 9D is a leading side view of assembled pet access door center module 3 showing interlocking grooves 22 in the uppermost and lowermost portions of center module 3 with leading side weather seal shim 20 in place. FIG. 9D shows external catch slot 40 in leading side weather seal shim 20. Externally mounted catch cavity 28 and slot 40 designed to accommodate a universal locking mechanism in another embodiment of the invention are shown in the leading side of center module 3 in FIG. 9D. FIGS. 10A-10E are various views of center module 3. FIG. 10A is a front or interior view showing access door 32 with access door opening tab 33. Interlocking leading side weather seal shim grooves 16, and externally mounted catch mounting screw recess 30 on the leading side 7 of center module 3 are shown in FIG. 10A. FIG. 10B is a back or exterior side view of center module 3 showing the interlocking leading side weather seal shim groove 16, and externally mounted catch mounting screw recess 30. FIG. 10C is a top view of center module 3 showing interlocking groove 22, interlocking leading side weather seal shim grooves 16, and trailing side weather seal shim retention lips 18. FIG. 10D is a trailing side view of center module 3 showing slot 24 designed to accommodate a universal locking mechanism in another embodiment of the invention. FIG. 10E is a leading side view of center module 3 showing interlocking groove 22, externally mounted catch cavity 28, and externally mounted catch mounting screw recess 30. Slot 26 designed to accommodate a universal locking mechanism in another embodiment of the invention is shown in FIG. 10E. FIGS. 11A-11D show various views of thick sliding glass patio door center module 3 trailing side weather seal shim 87, and FIGS. 12A-12D show various views of thin sliding glass patio door center module 3 trailing side weather seal shim 89. Except for the universal locking mechanism slots 36 and 38 as shown in FIGS. 11A and 11B, 12A and 12B, respectively, trailing weather seal shims 87 and 89 in center module 3 are designed and function the same as trailing side weather seal shims 12 and 13, respectively, in top module 2. Note in this regard, FIGS. 6A-6E and 7A- 7E, and the description of design and function described earlier. When referring to FIGS. 6A-6E substitute center module 3 trailing weather seal shim 87 for top module 2 trailing side weather seal shim 12. When referring to FIGS. 7A-7E substitute center module 3 trailing side weather seal shim 89 for top module 2 trailing side weather seal shim 13. FIGS. 13A-13D show various views of right or leading side weather seal shim 20 used on center module 3 to fill and seal channel 61 in the upright portion of door frame 11 in thick movable sliding glass door 21 configuration as shown in FIG. 6E. Except for universal locking mechanism slot 40, leading side weather seal shim 20 in center module 3 is designed and functions the same as leading side weather seal shim 8 in top module 2. In this regard, note FIGS. 8A-8D and FIG. 6E and the description of the design and function described earlier. When referring to FIGS. 8A-8D and FIG. 6E, substitute center module 3 leading side weather seal shim 20 for top module 2 leading side weather seal shim 8. FIGS. 14A-14D show various views of center module 3 with provision for another embodiment of the invention. FIG. 14A is a top view which is identical to the bottom view showing a cross sectional view reference to FIG. 14B. FIG. 14B is a cross sectional view of center module 3 showing pressure switch cavities 42, battery compartment 44, and alarm compartment 46 designed to facilitate installation of an alarm system in another embodiment of the invention. A channel 34 and vertical adjustment slot 48 associated with a universal locking assembly as part of another embodiment of the invention are shown in FIG. 14B. FIG. 14C is a trailing side view of center module 3 showing universal locking mechanism slot 24 and alarm system pressure switch hole 42 which are features associated with another embodiment of the invention. FIG. 14D is a leading side view of center module 3 which shows interlocking groove 22, externally mounted catch cavity 28, and externally mounted catch mounting screw recess 30. Cavity 28 and mounting screw recess 30 will accommodate a sliding glass patio door with externally mounted catch as shown in FIG. 47C. In another embodiment of the invention, a universal locking mechanism and alarm system may be incorporated into the device. Provision for a universal locking mechanism slot 26 and pressure switch hole 42 are shown in FIG. 14D. FIGS. 15A-15D show various views of the assembled pet access door bottom module 4 configured in the preferred embodiment of the invention with pet portal assembly 146 installed. Pet portal assembly 146 is described later. FIG. 15A is a right or interior side view of assembled pet access door bottom module 4 with pet portal assembly 146 installed. Interlocking tongue 19 running along a horizontal plane is shown at the uppermost and lowermost portions of assembled pet access door bottom module 4 in FIG. 15A. Leading side weather seal shim 8 is shown assembled to the leading side of assembled pet access door bottom module 4 in FIG. 15A. FIG. 15B is a top view of assembled pet access door bottom module 4 and is identical to the bottom view. FIG. 15B shows interlocking tongue 19, leading side weather seal shim 8, and interlocking weather seal grooves 16 in the leading side of bottom module 4. Trailing side thick movable sliding glass patio door weather seal shim 12, and trailing side weather seal shim retention lips 18 are shown in the trailing side of assembled pet access door bottom module 4 in FIG. 15B. FIG. 15C is a trailing side view of assembled pet access door bottom module 4, which shows thick movable sliding glass patio door weather seal shim 12 running along a vertical plane and interlocking tongue 19 in the uppermost and lowermost portions of assembled pet access door bottom module 4. FIG. 15D is a leading side view of assembled pet access door bottom module 4 showing interlocking tongue 19 in the uppermost and lowermost portions of bottom module 4 and leading side weather seal shim 8 running along a vertical plane. FIGS. 16A-16E show various views of bottom module 4 with trailing and leading side weather seal shims 8 and 12 removed. FIG. 16A is a front or interior side view of bottom module 4 with pet portal assembly 146 installed. FIG. 16B is a back or exterior side view of bottom module 4 with pet portal assembly 146 installed and is a mirror view of the front or interior view 16A except for the flap lock knob. FIGS. 16A and 16B show interlocking tongue 19 in the uppermost and lowermost portions of bottom module 4 and interlocking weather seal groove 16 running along a vertical plane on the leading side of bottom module 4. FIG. 16C is a top view of bottom module 4, the bottom view is identical to the top view. FIG. 16C shows interlocking tongue 19, interlocking leading side weather seal shim groove 16, trailing side weather seal shim retention lip 18 at the trailing side of bottom module 4. FIG. 16D is a trailing side view of bottom module 4 showing interlocking tongue 19 in the uppermost and lowermost portions of bottom module 4. FIG. 16E is a leading side view of bottom module 4 showing pet portal assembly flange 148 and interlocking tongue 19 in the uppermost and lowermost portions of bottom module 4. See FIGS. 6A-6E and FIGS. 7A-7E and description of design and function of trailing side and leading side weather seal shims described earlier. FIGS. 17A-17B are interior, trailing side and leading side elevational views of top module weather seal 1 shown attached to top module 2. FIG. 17A is an interior side elevational view of top module weather seal 1 attached to top module 2 showing top module weather seal sleeve 50 and base 64, and a partial view of top module 2 with interlocking leading side weather seal shim groove 16. FIG. 17B is a trailing side elevational view of the top module weather seal attached to top module 2 showing top module weather seal sleeve 50, base 64, and partial elevational view of top module 2. FIG. 17C is a leading side elevational view of top module weather seal 1 and a partial elevational view of top module 2. FIG. 17C shows top module weather seal sleeve 50, base 64, interlocking groove 85, and a partial elevational view of top module 2 and interlocking tongue 9. Top module weather seal 1 is slideably attached to top module 2 by sliding top module weather seal 1 to cause interlocking groove 85 to mate with interlocking tongue 9 as shown in FIG. 17C. FIGS. 18A-18C show various views of top module weather seal 1. FIG. 18A is an interior side view showing the top module weather seal sleeve 50 and base 64. The exterior view is identical to FIG. 18A. FIG. 18B is a top view of top module weather seal 1 showing top module weather seal sleeve 50. FIG. 18C is a bottom view of top module weather seal 1 showing interlocking groove 85, spring guide stop counter bore 83, and spring guide 56 in top module weather seal base 64. FIG. 18D is a leading side view of top module weather seal 1 showing interlocking groove 85 and the relationship of top module weather seal components, including sleeve 50, base 64, sleeve retainer 62, tension bar 52, tension bar spring 60, tension bar spring guides 56, tension bar pin and retainer set 58. FIG. 18E is a trailing side view of top module weather seal 1 and very similar to the leading side view FIG. 18D with the addition of the movable sliding patio door hold-down wedge 54. FIG. 18F is an interior cross sectional view of top module weather seal 1 and further illustrates the relationship of the various components comprising the assembly. Top module weather seal 1 is an assembly designed to slideably attach to assembled top module 2 of the pet access door panel 25. The top module weather seal functions as a filler to compensate for different heights of sliding glass patio doors as produced by the various manufacturers in order to produce an effective weather seal. FIG. 19A is an interior side view of patio door hold-down wedge 54 showing pull tab 66 and the wedge shape of the body 65. FIG. 19B is a trailing side view of patio door hold-down wedge 54 showing the pull tab 66. FIG. 19C is a leading side view, and FIG. 19D is a bottom side view. FIGS. 20A-20D show various views of tension bar 52. FIG. 20A is an interior view showing spring guide pin and retaining ring holes 62. FIG. 20B is a trailing side view. FIG. 20C is a top view. FIG. 20D is a bottom view showing spring guide slots 70. FIG. 21 is an enlarged partial cross sectional view of the spring guide pin 58P, spring guide 56, tension bar 52 and top module weather seal sleeve 50. FIG. 22A is a front view of tension bar spring guide pin 58P showing the pin stop or head 71, shaft 73 and retaining ring groove 72. FIGS. 22B-22C are top and bottom views, respectively, of tension bar spring guide pin 58P. FIGS. 23A-23B are side and top views, respectively, of tension bar spring guide pin retaining ring 58R. FIGS. 24A and 24B are front and right side views, respectively, of tension bar spring guide 56, the back and left side views are identical to FIGS. 24A and 24B, respectively. FIGS. 24A and 24B show tension bar spring guide pin hole 74, tension bar insertion tab 78, spring guide shaft 77, and spring guide stop 76. FIGS. 24C and 24D are top and bottom views, respectively, of tension bar spring guide 56. FIG. 25 is a side view of tension bar spring 60. FIG. 26A is a front view of sleeve retainer 62 showing spring guide holes 80. FIG. 26B is a top view of sleeve retainer 62 showing spring guide through holes 80. FIG. 26C is a leading edge or side view of sleeve retainer 62. Back, bottom and trailing side views of sleeve retainer 62 are identical to FIG. 26A, FIG. 26B and FIG. 26C, respectively. FIG. 27A is a front view of top module weather seal base 64. FIG. 27B is a top view of base 64 showing spring guide holes 82 and sleeve retainer channel 84. FIG. 27C is a bottom view of base 64 showing spring guide holes 82, spring guide stop counter bores 83 and interlocking groove 85. FIG. 27D is an interior side cross sectional view taken along 27D-27D of base 64, showing sleeve and retainer channel 84, interlocking groove 85, spring guide holes 82, and spring guide stop counter bores 83. The exterior side view is a mirror image of FIG. 27D. FIG. 27E is a leading or right side elevational view of base 64 showing sleeve and retainer channel 84 and interlocking groove 85. FIG. 27F is a trailing or left side elevational view of base 64 showing sleeve and retainer channel 84. FIG. 28A is front elevational view, FIG. 28B a top plan view, FIG. 28C a leading or right side elevational view, and FIG. 28D is a bottom plan view of top module weather seal 1 rubber sleeve 50, respectively. As shown in FIG. 18F tension bar spring guides 56 are inserted through holes 82, 83, 80 in the bottom of base 64 (see FIG. 27C), sleeve 50, sleeve retainer 62, respectively, and the open center of conical tension bar springs 60. The insertion tab 78 of each tension bar spring guide 56 (see FIG. 24A) is then inserted into slot 70 (see FIG. 20D) in tension bar 52, and then attached by insertion of pin and retaining ring set 58 through holes in tension bar 52, and hole 74 in spring guide 56 within sleeve 50. Tension bar spring guide stop 76, the length of spring 60 and the diameter of sleeve 50 limit the extension of the tension bar 52. The length of travel is dependent upon the length of the tension bar spring guides 56, springs 60 and sleeve 50. Once the top module weather seal 1 is attached, pet access door panel 25 as shown in FIGS. 3A-3C is installed into the sliding glass patio door 21 by inserting and lifting the top module weather seal 1 at the uppermost portion of assembled pet access door panel 25 into the upper track portion 27 as shown in FIGS. 3D-3E. When lifting the assembled pet access door panel 25 the top module weather seal 1 is compressed. This causes sleeve 50 to compress against tension bar 52. Tension bar 52 compresses conical springs 60 by pushing down on spring guides 56 which are pushed through holes in the bottom of base 64, and through spring guide holes in top module 2, as shown in FIG. 17E. This compression of top module weather seal 1 allows the lowermost portion of assembled pet access door panel 25 to be lifted over then lowered into the lower track portion 29 of the sliding glass patio door. Once in place, as in FIG. 3F, the top module weather seal 1 tension bar springs 60 cause tension bar 52 and sleeve 50 to extend into and against the walls of upper track portion 27 of the sliding glass patio door as shown in FIGS. 17D and E. The movable sliding glass door on some patio doors may be lifted out of the lower track portion 29 when the movable sliding glass patio door is ajar as would be the case with a pet access door panel 25 installed. In order to prevent the movable sliding glass patio door 21 from being lifted with the pet access panel 25 installed, the invention is equipped with a hold-down wedge 54 located in the trailing side of tension bar 52. Once the assembled pet access door panel 25 is installed, patio door hold-down wedge 54 shown in FIGS. 19A-19E is extended by pulling on tab 66 attached to patio hold-down wedge body 65. When the movable sliding glass patio door 21 is closed against the assembled pet access door panel 25, the movable sliding glass patio door 21 slides under hold-down wedge 54. Hold-down wedge 54 prevents the movable sliding glass patio door 21 from being lifted out of its associated lower track portion 29. The combination of top module weather seal 1 and bottom module weather seal 5 permits the pet door panel 25 to fit into a range of frame heights, such as for example from 76.0 inches to 82.0 inches. FIG. 29A is an interior front elevational view of bottom module weather seal 5 and a partial front elevational view of bottom module 4 showing rubber sleeve 106, base 88 with mounting brackets 90. FIG. 29B is a trailing or left side elevational view of bottom module weather seal 5, and a partial trailing side elevational view of bottom module 4 showing rubber sleeve 106, base 88 with mounting brackets 90. FIG. 29C is a leading or right side elevational view of bottom module weather seal 5 and a partial leading or right side elevational view of bottom module 4 showing rubber sleeve 106, base 88 with mounting brackets 90, interlocking groove 85, and interlocking tongue 19 on bottom module 4 installed in interlocking groove 96 of base 88. FIG. 30A is an interior front elevational view of bottom module weather seal 5 showing rubber sleeve 106, base 88 with mounting brackets 90. FIG. 30B is a top plan view of bottom module weather seal 5, showing base 88 with interlocking groove 96, sleeve retainer bolt 105B, sleeve retainer bolt hole 92, sleeve retainer bolt head counter bore 94 and mounting brackets 90. FIG. 30C is a bottom plan view of bottom module weather seal 5 showing rubber sleeve 106 and mounting brackets 90. FIG. 30D is a leading or right side view of bottom module weather seal 5 showing rubber sleeve 106, sleeve retainer 100, sleeve retainer nut 105N, base 88 with interlocking groove 96 and mounting brackets 90. FIG. 30E is a trailing or left side view of bottom module weather seal 5 showing rubber sleeve 106, sleeve retainer 100, sleeve retainer nut 105N, and base 88 with mounting brackets 90. FIG. 30F is an interior cross sectional view of bottom module weather seal 5 showing rubber sleeve 106, sleeve retainer 100, sleeve retainer nut 105N, sleeve retainer washer 105W, sleeve retainer bolt 105B and base 88. FIG. 31A is a top plan view of bottom module weather seal 5 base 88 showing interlocking groove 96, retainer bolt hole 92, retainer bolt head counter bore 94 and mounting brackets 90. FIG. 31B is a bottom plan view of bottom module weather seal 5 base 88 showing sleeve and retainer channel 98, sleeve retainer bolt holes 92 and mounting brackets 90. FIG. 31C is an interior front elevational view of bottom module weather seal 5 base 88 showing mounting brackets 90. FIG. 31D is a leading side or right side elevational view of bottom module weather seal 5 base 88 showing interlocking groove 96, sleeve and retainer channel 98 and mounting brackets 90. FIG. 31E is a trailing side or left side elevational view of bottom module weather seal 5, base 88 showing sleeve and retainer channel 98, and mounting brackets 90. FIG. 32A is a top plan view of bottom module weather seal 5 retainer 100 showing retainer bolt holes 101. FIG. 32B is a bottom plan view of retainer 100 showing parallel seal channel ridges 103, seal channel 102, and sleeve retainer bolt holes 101. FIG. 32C is a front elevational view of bottom module weather seal sleeve retainer 100 showing seal channel ridges 103 and sleeve retainer flange 104. FIG. 32D is a leading side or right side elevational view of bottom module weather seal 5 sleeve retainer 100 showing seal channel ridges 103, seal channel 102, and sleeve retainer flange 104. FIG. 33A is a top plan view of bottom module weather seal 5 rubber sleeve 106 showing retainer bolt holes 108. FIG. 33B is a bottom view of bottom module weather seal 5 rubber sleeve retain 106. FIG. 33C is a front elevational view of bottom module weather seal 5 rubber sleeve 106. FIG. 33D is a leading or right side elevational view of bottom module weather seal 5 rubber sleeve 106. As shown in FIG. 30F, rubber sleeve 106 is retained in sleeve and retainer channel 98 by sleeve retainer bolts 105B inserted through base 88 sleeve retainer bolt holes 92, sleeve retainer bolt holes 108 in rubber sleeve 106 and sleeve retainer bolt holes 101 in sleeve retainer 100. Sleeve retainer washers 105W and nuts 105N compress sleeve retainer 100 sandwiching rubber sleeve 106 between sleeve retainer 100 and base 88 within sleeve and retainer channel 98. As shown in FIG. 3D, when installed into the sliding glass patio door the bottom module weather seal 5 located at the lowermost portion of pet access door panel 25 is lowered into lower track portion 29 of the sliding glass patio door. In so doing, rubber sleeve 106 of bottom module weather seal 5 is compressed over the guide rail in lower track 29 portion of the sliding glass patio door 21, and into seal channel 102 between parallel seal channel ridges 103. The flexible nature of rubber sleeve 106 causes the outer walls to bulge filling the channel in lower track portion 29 of the sliding glass patio door creating an effective weather seal. FIGS. 34A-34D show various views of assembled center module 3 configured in the preferred embodiment of the invention with a universal locking assembly 63 installed. FIG. 34A is a front elevational view of assembled center module 3 shown with access door 32 removed exposing universal locking assembly 63, the latter including carrier vertical recess 34, and vertical adjustment slot 48. FIG. 34B is a top plan view of assembled center module 3, the bottom plan view being identical. FIG. 34C is a trailing or left side elevational view of assembled center module 3 showing universal locking assembly catch 128 and associated vertical adjustment slot 24. FIG. 34D is a leading or right side elevational view of assembled center module 3 showing a recess 30 and cavity 28 designed to accommodate externally mounted sliding glass patio door catches and mounting hardware. Universal locking assembly latch 116 is shown in vertical adjustment slot 26 in FIG. 34D. FIG. 35A is a front or interior side view of universal locking assembly 63 and FIG. 35B is a top view of universal locking assembly 63. Catch loop 128 is an integral part of floating catch 124 and is held in place by catch loop rivets 129 as shown in FIGS. 35A-B and 41A-C. FIG. 41D shows floating catch 124 as a steel blank which is formed along indicated fold lines. Once formed, catch loop 128 is held together by rivets 129 in rivet holes 131 as shown in FIGS. 41C and 41D. Vertical adjustment knob 132, as shown in FIGS. 35A-B, is designed to tighten and hold universal locking assembly 63 in place or loosen to allow vertical movement and adjustment of universal locking assembly 63 (see FIG. 47B). Vertical adjustment knob 132 consists of a grip portion 133, a hub portion 134 and a threaded stud portion 135 as shown in FIGS. 44A-C. The threaded portion 135 of vertical adjustment knob 132 fits through lateral float slot 126 in floating catch 124 shown in FIG. 41A, and through carrier 136 FIGS. 35B, 42, 43 and 45A-C. The threaded portion 135 of vertical adjustment knob 132 fits through carrier nut hole 138 in carrier nut hole collar 139 of carrier 136, FIG. 45A. After passing through lateral float slot 126 in floating catch 124 and carrier nut hole 138 in carrier nut hole collar 139 of carrier 136, threaded portion 135 of vertical adjustment knob 132 is inserted through vertical adjustment slot 48 in center module 3 of the invention as shown in FIG. 34A. After inserting threaded stud 135 of vertical adjustment knob 132 through lateral float slot 126 of floating catch 124 and carrier nut hole 138 in carrier nut hole collar 139 of carrier 136, the subassembly is placed onto the front or interior side of center module 3. Catch loop 128 of floating catch 124 is inserted through vertical adjustment slot 24 in the left or trailing side of center module 3 as shown in FIG. 34C. The subassembly consisting of carrier 136, floating catch 124 and vertical adjustment knob 132 is placed against the interior side of center module 3 on a lateral plane with carrier 136 seated in vertical carrier recess 34 of center module 3. In so doing, threaded portion 135 of vertical adjustment knob 132 and vertical adjustment guide tabs 140 of carrier 136, FIGS. 45A-C, are inserted through vertical adjustment slot 48 within vertical carrier recess 34 on the interior side wall of center module 3 and threaded into carrier nut 142, which is located in vertical adjustment slot 48 on the opposite side of interior side wall 123 of center module 3, as shown in partial cross sectional view FIG. 43. With reference to FIGS. 47A-C, when vertical adjustment knob 132 is turned counter clockwise it is loosened and permits universal locking assembly 63 to move vertically in vertical adjustment slot 48 in the interior side wall of center module 3. This vertical movement is necessary so that the universal locking assembly may be adjusted to align with various latch and catch mechanism locations as produced by various sliding glass patio door manufacturers. When installing the preferred embodiment of the invention with universal locking mechanism, it is necessary to align the catch loop 128 of floating catch 124 of universal locking assembly 63 with latch 97 in leading side frame 15 of movable sliding door 21, as shown in FIGS. 47A and 47B. When catch loop 128 in floating catch 124 of universal locking assembly 63 has been aligned with latch 97 in leading side frame 15 of movable sliding door 21 universal locking assembly can be locked in place by turning vertical adjustment knob 132 in a clockwise direction as shown in FIG. 47B. In so doing, vertical adjustment knob 132 engages and pulls carrier 136 and carrier nut 142 together in a vice like action trapping the interior side wall 123 of center module 3, as shown in FIG. 43. This vice like action prevents universal locking assembly 63 from moving on a vertical plane, thereby keeping catch loop 128 in floating catch 124 aligned with latch 97 in leading frame 15 of movable sliding door 21 to permit latch 97 to engage catch loop 128, whenever movable sliding door 21 is opened and closed as shown in FIG. 47B. Carrier 136 has a channel 137 formed by side walls. This channel is designed to contain and guide floating catch 124. Lateral float slot 126 fits over carrier nut hole collar 139 allowing floating catch 124 to travel on a lateral plane within channel 137 of carrier 136. When vertical adjustment knob 132 is turned clockwise to pull carrier 136 and carrier nut 142 together against interior side wall 123 of center module 3, vertical adjustment knob hub 134 seats against carrier nut hole collar 139, and not against floating catch 124, permitting floating catch 124 to travel laterally the distance permitted by the length of lateral float slot 126, when universal locking assembly 63 is locked in place as shown in FIG. 43. In addition to catch loop 128, catch loop rivets 129 and lateral float slot 126 floating catch 124 also has a threaded lateral adjustment knob hole 125, and the side walls form a channel 127 as shown in FIG. 41A. Latch assembly 109, as shown in FIGS. 35A-B and 36A-C, is attached to floating catch 124 by lateral adjustment knob 130. Latch bar 110 of latch assembly 109, FIGS. 36A-B, fits into channel 127 of floating catch 124 as shown in FIGS. 35A-B. With latch bar 110 of latch assembly 109 seated within channel 127 of floating catch 124, the threaded portion 135 of lateral adjustment knob 130 (see FIG. 44A) is inserted through lateral adjustment slot 111 in latch bar 110 of latch assembly 109 (see FIG. 36A), and threaded into threaded lateral adjustment knob hole 125 in floating catch 124. When vertical adjustment knob 130 is turned in a clockwise direction, it threads into threaded vertical adjustment knob hole 125 in floating catch 124, and vertical adjustment knob hub 134 of vertical adjustment knob 132 (see FIG. 44A), is tightened against latch bar 110 of latch assembly 109 locking it in place onto floating catch 124, as shown in FIGS. 35A-B. In order to accommodate the various latch and catch mechanism locations on sliding glass patio doors 21 as produced by various manufacturers, a degree of lateral adjustment is necessary. In particular, the type and mounting configuration of sliding glass patio door latch and catch mechanisms varies relative to the distance between the sliding patio door latch and catch. When lateral adjustment knob 130 is loosened, latch assembly 109 can be adjusted on a lateral plane to extend or retract with the distance of travel limited by the length of lateral adjustment slot 111 in latch bar 110 of latch assembly 109 to engage either a flush mounted sliding glass patio door catch as shown in FIGS. 47A-B, or an externally mounted catch as shown in FIG. 47C. Latch assembly 109 consists of latch bar 110, latch 116, latch rivet 121 and latch spring 122 (see FIG. 36A). The latch bar 110 is a steel blank cut and formed to provide a lateral adjustment slot 111, latch spring retainer 112, latch rivet hole 114 and latch guide and stop 113 (see FIG. 37A). The latch 116 is fastened to latch bar 110 by rivet 122 through rivet hole 120 in latch 116 and rivet hole 114 in latch bar 110. Latch spring 121 is held in place within latch spring retainer 112 by latch arm spring guide 118 in latch arm 117 (see FIGS. 38A and 38B). When latch arm 117 is pulled against latch bar 110, spring 121 is compressed and latch 116 pivots on rivet 122 with a lever action. This lever action causes latch notch portion 119 of latch 116 to rotate away disengaging from sliding glass door catch 99 (see FIG. 47A-B) or catch 107 (see FIG. 47C), permitting the present pet door 25 to be removed from the sliding glass patio door 21. During installation of the pet door 25, the latch spring 121 pushing against latch arm 117 of latch 116 allows latch 116 to drop down and snap back into place engaging catch 99 (see FIG. 47A- B) or catch 107 (see FIG. 47C). As shown in FIGS. 47B and C, once aligned and engaged with sliding glass patio door latch 97 and either catch 99 or 107, universal locking assembly 63 forms a steel bridge between the original equipment manufacturers patio door latch and catch. As noted earlier, lateral float slot 126 allows floating catch 110 to float in channel 137 around carrier nut hole collar 139 of carrier 136. This floating feature eliminates any stress on pet door panel 25 when attempt is made to open movable sliding door 21 while locked, whereby all energy is transferred directly between the original equipment manufacturers latch and catch. In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the bottom module 4 contains a pet portal assembly 146, as shown is FIGS. 1-3. FIG. 48 shows various views of assembled bottom module 4 with pet portal assembly 146 removed. FIG. 48A is a front or interior view of assembled bottom module 4 with pet portal assembly 146 removed. With pet portal assembly 146 removed seating flange 212 and frame mounting holes 213 are as shown in FIGS. 48A and 49A. Except for removal of pet portal assembly 146 FIGS. 48A-D and FIGS. 49A-E are the same as FIGS. 15A-D and FIGS. 16A-E, and reference is made to these figures for a detailed description of bottom module 4. FIG. 49F is an exploded assembly leading side view of pet portal assembly 146 (see FIG. 1) and a partial cross sectional leading side view of bottom module 4. Floating seal spring 160 fits onto an appendage on the bottom of floating seal 158. The bottom portion of this two component subassembly are placed into a cavity located in the uppermost portion of portal opening 152 (see FIGS. 48A and 49A), or a cavity located in the lowermost portion of portal opening 152 in bottom module 4 then rotated into place as shown in FIG. 49F. The terms top and bottom regarding bottom module 4 are relative terms since bottom module 4 may be rotated about a horizontal axis to increase or lower the height of the pet portal assembly to accommodate pets of various sizes. With floating weather seal spring 160 and floating weather seal 158 installed into bottom module 4, flap assembly 162 and flap lock cam 169 along with floating weather seal 158 are placed between frame 172 from the interior side, and frame 172 from the exterior side after gaskets 170 have been applied to the pet portal assembly seating flange on the interior and exterior sides of bottom module 4. Interior frame 172 and exterior frame 172 are identical, and bolted together using carriage bolts 178 and nuts 179 with frame gaskets 170, flap lock cam 169, flap lock assembly 162, and floating weather seal 158 sandwiched in between within opening 152 of bottom module 4, as shown in trailing side partial cross sectional view of FIG. 49G. After the interior and exterior frames 172 are bolted in place, flap lock knob 176 is attached to flap lock cam shaft 169, and flap lock cam shaft hole plug 174 is placed in the exterior frame 172. This configuration suspends flap assembly 162 from flap lock cam 169. Flap lock cam 169 is located in upper hinge 163 (see FIG. 49G) of flap assembly 162, and held in place by interior frame 172. Flap lock cam 169 shaft passes through a tubular protrusion in interior frame 172, and is attached to flap lock knob 176. When flap lock knob 176 is turned in a clockwise direction flap lock cam 169 is rotated up lifting upper hinge 163 and flap assembly 162 as indicated by directional arrows 153 and shown in FIGS. 50D and E. FIG. 49H is an enlarged trailing side partial cross sectional view of the lowermost pet portal assembly and bottom module 4. This view shows magnet 159 installed in floating weather seal 158 along with floating weather seal spring 160 and flap magnet 168 installed in flap 166. When the flap lock cam 169 is rotated up, flap 166 of flap assembly 162 is lifted out from between interior frame 172 and exterior frame 156 at the lowermost portion of pet portal opening 152 in bottom module 4, as shown in FIG. 50D. As flap 166 is lifted up from between frames 172, magnet 168 in flap 166 assisted by floating seal spring 160 pulls floating weather seal 158 up and against the lowermost portion of flap 166, as indicated by directional arrows 167 and 185 and shown in FIGS. 49I, 50D and F. Flap 166 is attached to lower hinge 165 (see FIGS. 53A-B), and lower hinge 165 is hinged to upper hinge 163 (see FIGS. 52A-B), by hinge pin 164 as shown in FIG. 49G. This hinged arrangement permits flap 166, FIGS. 54A-B to swing about a horizontal axis as indicated by directional arrow 171 and as shown in FIGS. 49J and K. As a pet pushes flap 166 open the magnetic pull between flap magnet 168 and floating weather seal magnet 159 is broken allowing floating weather seal 158 to drop below frame 172 causing it to rest on spring 160 as shown in FIG. 49K, and indicated by directional arrows 175 and 173 and as shown in FIG. 49L. When flap lock knob 176 is turned counter clockwise, flap lock cam 169 is rotated down in upper hinge 163, lowering flap 166 of flap assembly 162 down and between interior frame 172 and exterior frame 172 trapping an area 166A of lowermost portion of flap 166 as shown in FIGS. 50A-C. In another embodiment of the invention bottom module 4 of pet door panel 25 is left as a blank with indented parallel surfaces as shown in FIGS. 51A and B. In this configuration most other conventional swinging door pet portals may be installed following the manufacturers instruction. FIGS. 52A and 52B show an interior front view and leading or right side view, respectively, of upper hinge 163. Upper hinge 163 is designed to be two identical injection molded halves bonded together with integral cam follower compartment 177, cam shaft slot 193 and hinge pin holders 195. Lower hinge 165 has hinge pin holders 199 and flap rivet holes 201, as shown in FIGS. 53A and B. Lower hinge 165 is designed to be two identical injection molded halves bonded together. FIGS. 54A and 54B show interior side and leading side views, respectively, of flap 166. Flap construction should be of a composite fluted aluminum or plastic skin offering durability and optimum insulation quality. Location of flap magnet 168 is shown in the lowermost portion of flap 166. FIG. 55A is an interior front view of bottom module 4 with pet portal assembly 146 installed configured for lowest rise and pet portal height in a right opening sliding glass patio door. After disassembling and removing pet portal assembly 146 as shown in FIG. 55B, the height of the pet portal may be increased by rotating bottom module 4 about a horizontal axis as shown in FIG. 55C, then reassembling and installing pet portal assembly 146 as shown in FIG. 55B. After reassembling and installing pet portal assembly 146 the reconfigured door with increased pet portal height should appear as shown in FIG. 55D. When reconfiguring the pet door panel for a left opening sliding glass patio door assembled top module weather seal 1 and top module 2 (see FIG. 3C) are rotated about a vertical axis. Changing the center module 3 requires rotation of the module 180 degrees about the horizontal axis. In order to reconfigure the bottom module 4 with pet portal 146 installed from a right opening to left opening sliding glass patio door pet portal assembly 146 must be disassembled and removed from bottom module 4 as shown in FIG. 55B. Once pet portal assembly 146 is removed, the bottom module 4 is rotated 180 degrees about a vertical axis as shown in FIG. 56A. The reconfigured bottom module 4 for left opening sliding glass patio door should appear as shown in FIG. 56B. The handlebar of drop lock 6 is attached to the trailing side of frame 15 of movable sliding door 21 at locking bracket 202 as shown FIG. 57A. FIG. 57A is an interior side view of a sliding glass patio door with pet door panel 25 and drop lock 6 installed. A hinge pin joins the handlebar and adjustable housing so that the adjustable housing may be dropped into the lower channel portion 29 of the sliding glass patio door with the handlebar at a 90 degree angle going up the trailing side of door frame 15 of movable sliding door 21. Handlebar handle 181 (see FIG. 58A) is inserted through locking bracket 202 prior to attachment to the trailing side of door frame 15 on movable sliding door 21 using self stick adhesive tape 205 on the back of mounting flange 206 shown in FIGS. 57C and 57E. With the adjustable housing 188 adjusted and lower track guide rail channel 189 in place in lower channel portion 29 of the sliding glass patio door between the upright portion of sliding patio door frame 11 and the trailing side of door frame 15 of movable sliding door 21 as shown in FIG. 57A, handlebar 180 is rocked away from door frame 15 as indicated by directional arrow 216 shown in FIG. 58K and moved into locking detent 203 as shown in FIGS. 57B and 57C. This step causes a rubber bumper 186 (see FIG. 58A) attached to the lowermost portion of handlebar 180 by hinge pin 184 just below the fulcrum to move as indicated by directional arrow 217 and push against the lowermost portion of the trailing side of door frame 15, at the point indicated by arrow 218, of movable sliding door 21 acting as a type of wedge as shown in FIG. 58K. In order to open the sliding glass patio door 21 handlebar 180 must be moved from locking detent 203 to neutral detent 204 of locking bracket 202 as shown in FIGS. 57D and 57E. Handlebar 180 is moved back to neutral detent 204 as indicated by directional arrow 216 shown in FIG. 58E. This moves the rubber bumper 186 attached to the lowermost portion of handlebar 180 by hinge pin 184 just below the fulcrum to move, as indicated by directional arrow 217, away from the trailing side of door frame 15 at the point indicated by arrow 218 as shown in FIG. 58E, allowing handlebar 180 to be lifted and raised to storage bracket 208, where the handlebar handle 181 rests on top of and in between containment forks 210 as shown in FIGS. 57G and 57H. In so doing, the adjustable housing 188 and lower track guide rail channel 189 are lifted out of lower channel portion 29 onto the trailing side of door frame 15 of movable sliding door 21, for storage as shown in FIG. 57F so that movable sliding door 21 may be opened. FIG. 58A is an interior side elevational view of drop lock 6. FIG. 58B is a left or trailing side elevational view of drop lock 6. FIG. 58C is a right or leading side elevational view of drop lock 6. Approximately one inch of the uppermost portion of handlebar 180 is bent on a 90 degree angle to form handlebar handle 181 as shown in FIGS. 58A-58C. Handlebar 180 is attached to housing 188 by hinge pin 182 as shown in FIG. 58D which allows the hinge to swivel in excess of 90 degrees within handlebar slot 187 of adjustable housing 188 while allowing handlebar 180 and lower track guide rail channel 189 of adjustable housing 188 to lie flat against the trailing side of door frame 15, when drop lock 6 is in storage as shown in FIG. 57F. Rubber bumper 186 is attached to the lowermost portion of handlebar 180 just below the fulcrum created by the joining of handlebar 180 and housing 188 at hinge pin 182 as shown in FIGS. 58A-58E. Telescoping adjustment slide pin 190 fits through one of two holes 191 in housing 188 and into equidistant adjustment holes 222 in telescoping adjustment slide 192 to lock in larger incremental adjustments as shown in FIGS. 58F, 58G and 58H. When the telescoping adjustment slide 192 and housing 188 have come close to filling the gap between the upright portion of sliding glass patio door frame 11 and the trailing side of door frame 15 of movable sliding patio door 21, a finer final adjustment is accomplished by rotating adjustment grip and bumper 200 clockwise as shown in FIG. 58I, in turn unscrewing threaded fine adjustment rod 198 in threaded coupling 194 attached to telescoping adjustment slide 192 by coupling retainer pin 196 and coupling retainer pin cotter pin 197 extending the fine adjustment mechanism to obtain a snug fit (see FIGS. 58I and 58J). An internally threaded coupling 194 is actively retained via a retaining pin 196 and cotter pin 197 within a free end of housing 188, as shown, for receiving a threaded portion of rod 198. FIG. 59A is a left side elevational view of a ramp or platform resting board 220 showing ramp or platform resting board surface 224, support side wall 227, support legs 229 and attachment clasps 226. Clasps 226 attach to mounting brackets 90 located on the bottom module weather seal 5 which is attached to the bottom module 4 of the pet access door panel as shown in FIGS. 60A-60C. FIG. 59B is a top view of ramp or platform resting board 220 showing the ramp or platform resting board surface 224 and the attachment clasps 226. FIG. 59C is a bottom view of ramp or platform resting board 220 showing the attachment clasps 226, support side walls 227 and support legs 229. FIG. 59D is a back side view of ramp or platform resting board 220 showing ramp or platform resting board surface 224, attachment clasps 226, support side walls 227 and support legs 229. FIG. 59E is a front view of ramp or platform resting board 220 showing the ramp or platform resting board surface 224 and support legs 229. FIG. 60A is an exploded assembly view of a partial left side elevational view of the lowermost portion of the pet access door panel showing bottom module 4 with bottom module weather seal 5 attached and a left side view of ramp or platform resting board 220. Attachment clasps 226 on ramp or platform resting board 220 engage mounting brackets 90 on bottom module weather seal 5 in order to attach the two components together as shown in FIG. 60B. The engagement of ramp or platform resting board clasps 226 and bottom module weather seal brackets 90 provide a hinge arrangement that permits ramp or platform resting board 220 to be raised or lowered and shown in FIGS. 60C, 60F and 60G. In many sliding patio door installations there may be a step down upon egress through the pet portal in the pet access door panel as shown by arrow 91 in FIG. 60D. Although FIGS. 60D-60G are exterior elevational views of a sliding glass patio door with the pet access door panel installed it should be understood that an elevated threshold in this installation may result in a step up or down upon ingress into the structure interior or egress to the structure exterior and, therefore, ramp or platform resting board 220 may be appropriate for use on the interior side of the pet access door panel and function in the same manner as shown in FIGS. 60A-60G. Mounting brackets 90 located on the both the interior and exterior sides of bottom module weather seal 5 permits the interior or exterior use of ramp or platform resting board 220. FIG. 60E is an exterior side elevational view of a sliding glass patio door with pet access door panel installed, and ramp or platform resting board 220 attached, allowing a pet to enter or exit a structure with a footing surface the same on either side of the pet portal in the pet access door panel even though there may be a step up or down. FIGS. 60F and 60G are exterior elevational views of a sliding glass patio door with pet access door panel installed and ramp or platform resting board 220 attached and being raised to an upright position to allow access to the surface under the ramp or platform resting board. Although various embodiments of the invention have been shown and described, they are not meant to be limiting. Those of skill in the art may recognize various modifications to these embodiments, which modifications are meant to be covered by the spirit and scope of the appended claims. For example, the pet portal 146 can be installed in the lower portion of any door for ingress or egress of a pet with the door closed. Also, the drop lock 6 can be used with any typical sliding patio door. | <SOH> BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION <EOH>Pet access doors provide an opening, usually equipped with a swinging flap, through which pets can leave or enter a home or other building. The pet access door may be set in a frame for installation in a wall or solid core door. In order to allow a means of passage for a pet through a sliding glass patio door, the door must be left ajar by sliding the moveable glass door away from the patio door frame. The majority of pet access doors manufactured for sliding glass patio doors consist of a rectangular panel designed to fill the opening created when the sliding glass patio door is ajar. A pet portal is inserted into the rectangular panel providing a means of egress and ingress for the pet. Generally sliding glass patio door pet access doors are constructed of a glass panel in the upper portion and a swinging flap pet portal in the lowermost portion encased in an aluminum frame. A number of undesirable attributes are associated with the current art involving sliding glass patio door pet access doors. The majority of pet access doors manufactured for sliding glass patio doors require permanent of semi-permanent installations while others may require modification of one or more components of the existing sliding glass patio door to facilitate installation of the pet access door. Current art limits the size of the pet access door to the specifications determined at the time of manufacture and cannot be modified in the field. Therefore, once purchased and installed the sliding glass patio door pet access door may be too large for young pets or become too small for pets as they grow or may not be suitable for subsequent pet needs. The aluminum framed glass panel and swinging flap pet portal construction of the majority of sliding glass patio door pet access doors results in poor insulation quality and limits privacy when in use. Generally, the aluminum frame of the pet access door is designed to abut the moveable sliding door and the patio door frame. This configuration relies on a self stick soft rubber weather strip and the method and level of pressure applied to hold the moveable sliding glass patio door against the pet access door and the patio door frame. The integral height adjustable insert at the uppermost portion of the pet access door and the swinging flap pet port in the lowermost portion of the pet access door are also prone to air infiltration. Furthermore, the barrier to heat loss or gain through the single pain of glass in most pet access doors is inferior to most insulated double or triple pain sliding glass patio doors. When in use the sliding glass patio door curtains, drapes, vertical blinds or other privacy covering must be left open to permit the pet access to the pet portal. Leaving the sliding glass patio door coverings open in this manner may result in a loss of privacy. Storage and transport of most sliding glass patio door pet access doors is costly and inconvenient. The majority of sliding glass patio door pet access doors are of a one piece glass and aluminum frame construction and roughly equivalent in length to the height of a sliding glass patio door opening. The size of the pet access door makes storage difficult and limits the method of transportation resulting in excessive transportation costs. The purpose of the invention, therefore, is to provide a sliding glass patio door pet access door that, requires no modification to existing sliding glass patio door to install, can be modified in the field to grow with a pet, offers optimal insulation quality and privacy and facilitate transportation and storage capability. | <SOH> SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION <EOH>The invention provides a modular component pet access door designed for use in sliding glass patio doors. The modular construction permits the apparatus to be packaged and stored in a portable compact container when in a disassembled state. The compact size of the disassembled unit minimizes storage space requirements while facilitating transportation opportunities by the retailer and consumer. Top, bottom and center modules of the apparatus are insulation filled injection and/or injection blow molded polymer components offering an insulation value and privacy superior to existing art. The pet portal assembly is designed with a tapered flap and floating magnetic weather seal offering a barrier to air infiltration superior to magnetic flap closures on most sliding glass patio door pet access doors. Furthermore, pet portal assembly permits the portal flap to be lowered into a channel formed by the interior and exterior frame components to create an effective flap lock with the turn of a knob. Modular construction and the design of components permit the invention to be changed in the field to accommodate a variety of styles and sizes of sliding glass patio doors. The universal nature of the modular construction and component system enhances the portability of the apparatus and permits the pet access door to be adjusted in the field to accommodate a growing pet or a new pet. The invention requires no tools to install nor does it require modification to any component of an existing sliding glass patio door. The apparatus is modular in construction consisting primarily of five pre-assembled components. When assembled the modules and components create a sliding glass patio door pet access door panel. The five components are interlocked through a tongue and groove system molded into the modules and components. A tongue molded into the top and bottom of the uppermost and lower most modules slide into grooves molded into the top and bottom of the center module, the bottom of the top weather seal and the top of the bottom weather seal. In the preferred embodiment the center module of the pet access door panel is provided with a universal locking system installed and the bottom module with a pet portal assembly installed. The universal locking system permits the sliding glass patio door locking components to be used in conjunction with the invention installed when opening or closing the moveable sliding glass door. In another embodiment, the invention is provided without a universal locking system installed in the center module of the pet access door panel. In this embodiment the drop lock security lock component of the invention is used in place of the sliding glass door locking components with the invention installed when opening or closing the moveable sliding glass door. In another embodiment, the invention is provided without a universal locking system installed in the center module of the pet access door panel and the bottom module is provided as a blank panel without the pet portal assembly installed. In this embodiment, the drop lock security lock component of the invention is used in place of the sliding glass door locking components with the invention installed when opening or closing the moveable sliding glass door. The bottom module is provided as a blank panel and designed to permit the consumer to install other commercially available pet portals. The invention is designed to be assembled in the field by the consumer. The five primary modules and components slide together forming a rigid panel with a height adjustable weather seal in the uppermost portion of the assembled panel. Once assembled the panel may be installed and removed as one piece. The leading edge of the panel is designed to fit into the moveable sliding door side of the patio door frame to create a secure fit and effective weather seal. The trailing edge of the assembled panel forms a channel designed to receive the leading edge of the moveable sliding patio door similar to the patio door frame creating a secure fit and effective weather seal. When raised to an upright position, inserted into the patio door upper track and dropped into the patio door lower track the assembled panel fills and seals the opening necessary for the pet portal. After installation of the assembled panel into the sliding glass patio door the drop lock security lock component of the invention is installed between the trailing edge of the moveable sliding glass door and the patio door frame abutting the fixed glass door. The drop lock component of the invention serves as a secondary security lock in the preferred embodiment and as a primary locking system in another embodiment. The drop lock handle is conveniently located allowing the handle bar to be lifted from a locked position into a stored unlocked position. In so doing, the moveable sliding glass patio door may be opened to permit standard use of the patio door or to facilitate installation and removal of the pet access door assembled panel. | 20040910 | 20070424 | 20060316 | 60800.0 | E05D1548 | 2 | COULTER, ANDREA | SLIDING DOOR INSERT FOR PORTABLE PET PORTAL | SMALL | 0 | ACCEPTED | E05D | 2,004 |
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10,938,961 | ACCEPTED | System and method for allocating a plurality of resources between a plurality of computing domains | In an embodiment, a computing system comprises a plurality of resources, a first manager process for allocating the plurality of resources on a dynamic basis according to service level parameters, and a plurality of computing domains, wherein at least one application, a respective second manager process, and a respective performance monitor process are executed within each computing domain, and wherein the performance monitor generates performance data related to the execution of the at least one application and the second manager process requests additional resources from the first manager process in response to analysis of performance data in view of at least one service level parameter. | 1. A computing system, comprising: a plurality of resources; a first manager process for allocating said plurality of resources on a dynamic basis according to service level parameters; and a plurality of computing domains, wherein at least one application, a respective second manager process, and a respective performance monitor process are executed within each computing domain, and wherein said performance monitor generates performance data related to the execution of said at least one application and said second manager process requests additional resources from said first manager process in response to analysis of performance data in view of at least one service level parameter. 2. The computing system of claim 1 wherein said plurality of computing domains are virtual machines. 3. The computing system of claim 2 wherein said first manager process operates on a host operating system of said computing system. 4. The computing system of claim 3 wherein a respective operating system executes on top of said host operating system for each of said plurality of computing domains. 5. The computing system of claim 3 wherein said first manager process allocates said plurality of resources between said plurality of computing domains by assigning virtual resources to said plurality of computing domains through system calls to a kernel of said host operating system. 6. The computing system of claim 1 wherein said plurality of resources comprise at least one processor. 7. The computing system of claim 6 wherein said first manager allocates time slices of said at least one processor between multiple computing domains of said plurality of computing domains. 8. A method, comprising: creating a plurality of computing domains; allocating a plurality of resources between said plurality of computing domains; executing at least one application, a manager process, and a performance monitor process in each of said plurality of computing domains, wherein said performance monitor process generates performance data related to said at least one application and said manager process requests additional resources in response to analysis of said performance data in view of at least one service level parameter; and dynamically reallocating said plurality of resources between said plurality of computing domains in response to received requests for additional resources according to service level parameters. 9. The method of claim 8 wherein said creating a plurality of computing domains comprises: creating multiple virtual machines from a single server platform using a virtualization software layer. 10. The method of claim 9 wherein said virtualization software layer is implemented within a host operating system of said single server platform. 11. The method of claim 10 wherein said dynamically reallocating is performed by a process executing on top of said host operating system. 12. The method of claim 10 further comprising: executing a respective guest operating system on top of said host operating system for each of said multiple virtual machines. 13. The method of claim 10 wherein said dynamically reallocating comprises: performing system calls to said host operating system to reassign virtual resources. 14. The method of claim 10 wherein said performing system calls reassigns time slices associated with at least one processor. 15. A computer readable medium, comprising: code for generating performance data related to respective applications associated with a plurality of computing domains; code for requesting additional resources for ones of said plurality of computing domains in response to analysis of performance data from said code for generating in view of at least one service level parameter; and code for dynamically allocating resources between said plurality of computing domains in response to said code for requesting, wherein said code for dynamically allocating determines when to reallocate resources using service level parameters associated with applications of said plurality of computing domains. 16. The computer readable medium of claim 15, wherein said plurality of computing domains are virtual machines. 17. The computer readable medium of claim 16 wherein said code for dynamically allocating performs calls to a software virtualization layer to reassign resources between said plurality of computing domains. 18. The computer readable medium of claim 16 wherein said code for dynamically allocating performs system calls to a host operating system to reassign resources between said plurality of computing domains. 19. The computing system of claim 15 wherein said resources comprise processors. 20. The computing system of claim 19 wherein said code for dynamically allocating reassigns time slices of said processors between said plurality of computing domains. | RELATED APPLICATIONS The present invention is a continuation-in-part of co-pending and commonly assigned U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/206,594, entitled “DYNAMIC MANAGEMENT OF VIRTUAL PARTITION COMPUTER WORKLOADS THROUGH SERVICE LEVEL OPTIMIZATION,” filed Jul. 16, 2002 which is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/493,753, entitled “DYNAMIC MANAGEMENT OF COMPUTER WORKLOADS THROUGH SERVICE LEVEL OPTIMIZATION,” filed Jan. 28, 2000 which are incorporated herein by reference. FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present application is generally related to allocating a plurality of resources between a plurality of computing domains. DESCRIPTION OF RELATED ART Computer systems inherently have limited resources, particularly CPU resources. These limited resources must be allocated among the different applications operating within the system. A known allocation mechanism for allocating system resources to applications is a system known as a Process Resource Manager (PRM). It is used to partition the CPU resource and various other resources among the different applications. The PRM partitions the resources into fractions of the whole. The fractions or pieces are then assigned to groups of processes, which comprise applications. Each application would then receive some portion of the available resources. Virtual machine technology (such as the ESX server product available from VMware) is another example of partitioning functionality. Virtualization software typically executes in connection with a host operating system of the physical server. The virtualization software creates virtual resources as software constructs. The virtual resources are then assigned to virtual machines. Specifically, the virtual resources are used to execute “guest” operating systems that execute on top of the host operating system. The guest operating systems are then used to execute applications. The assignment of the virtual resources to the virtual machines thereby allocates resources between the respective applications. The PRM and similar assignment mechanisms are static mechanisms, meaning that the allocation configuration is fixed by an administrator, and can only be changed by an administrator. In other words, the administrator specifies where the partitions should lie. To configure the partitions, an administrator has to think in terms of the actual machine resources and the requirements of the different applications. Specifically, the administrator analyzes the lower level operations of the resources and applications to create the “shares” or fractions of system resources to be assigned to each application. Typically, an administrator will vary the configuration shares over time to determine an acceptable set of shares for the respective applications. In an alternative mechanism, a priority based algorithm is employed to service applications according to a service queue. Specifically, each application is executed in a common computing environment. To control the execution of processes within the common computing environment, applications are placed in a queue to receive processing resources. Applications of high priority are serviced from the queue before lower priority applications. Also, in the priority based algorithm, the priorities of the applications can be varied to adjust processing performance. SUMMARY In an embodiment, a computing system comprises a plurality of resources, a first manager process for allocating the plurality of resources on a dynamic basis according to service level parameters, and a plurality of computing domains, wherein at least one application, a respective second manager process, and a respective performance monitor process are executed within each computing domain, and wherein the performance monitor generates performance data related to the execution of the at least one application and the second manager process requests additional resources from the first manager process in response to analysis of performance data in view of at least one service level parameter. In another embodiment, a method comprises creating a plurality of computing domains, allocating a plurality of resources between the plurality of computing domains, executing at least one application, a manager process, and a performance monitor process in each of the plurality of computing domains, wherein the performance monitor process generates performance data related to the at least one application and the manager process requests additional resources in response to analysis of the performance data in view of at least one service level parameter, and dynamically reallocating the plurality of resources between the plurality of computing domains in response to received requests for additional resources according to service level parameters. In another embodiment, a computer readable medium comprises code for generating performance data related to respective applications associated with a plurality of computing domains, code for requesting additional resources for ones of the plurality of computing domains in response to analysis of performance data from the code for generating in view of at least one service level parameter, and code for dynamically allocating resources between the plurality of computing domains in response to the code for requesting, wherein the code for dynamically allocating determines when to reallocate resources using service level parameters associated with applications of the plurality of computing domains. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 depicts a partition load manager (PLM) operating with a plurality of partitions according to one representative embodiment. FIG. 2 depicts a partition of FIG. 1 according to one representative embodiment. FIG. 3 depicts a flow chart of the operations of the PLM of FIG. 1 according to one representative embodiment. FIGS. 4A and 4B depict examples of allocation of resources by the PLM of FIG. 1 according to one representative embodiment. FIGS. 5A, 5B, and 5C depict the operation of the rounder of the PLM of FIG. 1 according to one representative embodiment. FIG. 6 depicts a block diagram of a computer system which is adapted to use one representative embodiment. FIG. 7 depicts another system adapted according to one representative embodiment. DETAILED DESCRIPTION Some representative embodiments dynamically respond to changes in workload characteristics in a computer system. The computer system may comprise a single small computer, e.g. a personal computer, a single large computer (e.g. an enterprise server), or a network of larger and/or small computers. The computers, particularly the large computers, or the network may be divided into protection domains or partitions. Each partition may be running its own operating system. An allocation mechanism of one embodiment preferably allows the administrator to think in terms of performance goals rather than computer system resources and requirements. Consequently, the administrator preferably defines a variety of performance goals with different priorities between them, and the allocation mechanism will preferably make any necessary adjustment of the resources. The goals can be preferably set without regard to partitions. For example, a goal for a database portion of the computer system could be that a retrieval transaction should not take more than 10 milliseconds. The allocation mechanism would then manipulate the resources to achieve this goal. For multiple partition computer systems, the resources may be manipulated within a partition, e.g. processor time being allocated among applications, or the resources may be manipulated between partitions, e.g. reassigning a processor from one partition to another (effectively resizing the partitions), or combination of both. In another embodiment, resources may be allocated between virtual machines by changing the entitlements associated with the various virtual machines as discussed in regard to FIG. 7. A scheduling agent may then schedule processor resources to threads associated with the virtual machines according to the entitlements of the virtual machines. The allocation mechanism preferably includes a partition load manager (PLM) that receives resource request information from the partitions of the system. The PLM preferably examines the resource request information and compares the request information with the available resources. Based on the comparison, the PLM may increase, decrease, or leave unchanged, a particular partition's resources. If the performance of a partition is lagging, e.g., if transactions are taking longer than the goals, then the partition may request an increase in the resource entitlement from the PLM. If a partition is over-achieving, then the partition may inform the PLM that it has excess resources, and the PLM may decrease its entitlement and allocate it to another partition or partitions. Each partition preferably includes a work load manager (WLM) which operates similarly to the PLM, but operates within a particular partition. An example WLM is more fully explained in U.S. application Ser. No. 09/493,753 entitled “DYNAMIC MANAGEMENT OF COMPUTER WORKLOADS THROUGH SERVICE LEVEL OPTIMIZATION,” filed Jan. 28, 2000, which is hereby incorporated herein by reference. Each WLM also receives goal information and priority information from a user or administrator. Note that such goal and priority information may be the same for all partitions or the information may be specific to each partition or groups of partitions. The WLM also receives performance information from performance monitors, which are processes that monitor the performance of the applications and devices within the partition. The WLM examines the information from the performance monitors and compares the information with the goals. Based on the comparison, the WLM may increase, decrease, or leave unchanged, an application's entitlement. If the performance of an application is lagging, e.g., if transactions are taking longer than the goal, then the WLM increases the entitlement. If an application is over-achieving, then the WLM will decrease its entitlement and allocate it to another application. The WLMs also interact with the PLM. Each WLM initially and periodically, after determining its resource needs, sends resource request information to the PLM. The PLM, after receiving such requests, then allocates system resources between the partitions. Each WLM, after receiving information about its partition resources, then allocates its allotted resources among the applications on its partition. In multiple partition systems, the PLM may reside in one partition and have access to the other partitions. Alternatively, the PLM may reside in a service module that manages all of the partitions. Alternatively, the PLM may reside in each partition, and cooperatively allocate resources amongst themselves. In one embodiment, the PLM allocates the resources between the different partitions, based on the priorities of the partitions and the resource requests. This movement of resources is referred to as re-sizing partitions. A partition, preferably through its WLM, maintains a list of prioritized application goals with an indication of the quantity of each required resource. Application goals of equal priority are treated equally. (Note that an application may have more than one goal.) The requests of higher priority application goals are satisfied before lower priority application goals. Unallocated resources may be held in reserve or assigned to a default partition. Note that applications of the default partition may always be exceeding their goals and thus require a rule that such a condition is not an event to cause reallocation of resources or resizing of partitions. Note that the partition resource entitlements are no longer a fixed configuration. As a partition's needs change, some representative embodiments will automatically adjust partition entitlements based on resource availability and priority. Thus, some representative embodiments are dynamic. Also note that the administrator no longer has to estimate the initial entitlements as some representative embodiments will determine the correct resource allocation to achieve the stated goals, and the computer system using some representative embodiments will converge on certain partition entitlement values that achieve the stated performance goals. Further note that priorities can be assigned to the different goals. Consequently, different goals can be met based on system resources, e.g., with a high amount of resources, all goals can be met, however, with a lesser amount of resources the higher priority goal will be met before the lower priority goals. Further note that changes to the system can be made as soon as the PLM receives resource requests, and action by the system administrator is not required. Note that in multiple partition systems, the administrator may define and prioritize goals that apply across all of the partitions and the different operating system instances operating in the partitions, instead of only being applied within a single partition. FIG. 1 depicts the various components of one representative embodiment in a multiple partition system having multiple partitions 103-1, 103-2, 103-3 . . . 103-N. Each partition may have one or more processors and other systems resources, e.g. storage devices, I/O devices, etc. Each partition is preferably running its own operating system 16-1, . . . 16-N, which provides segregation and survivability between the partitions. Note that the different partitions may have different amounts of resources, e.g. different numbers of processors. Also note that the partitions may be virtual, as the multiple partitions may reside in one or more physical computers. Note that in an initial state the system may have the resources evenly divided among the partitions. Alternatively, the initial state of the system may provide only minimal resources to each partition, with the extra resources being held in reserve, for example, either unassigned or all placed into one or more partitions. The operations of PLM 101 and WLMs 10 will cause the system resources to be quickly allocated in a manner that is most efficient to handle the defined goals and priorities for the applications of each of the partitions. The resources of the computer system are managed by PLM 101. PLM 101 receives resource requests from the different partitions. The requests can involve multiple priorities and multiple types of resources. For example, a request may state that the partition requires two processors and one storage device to handle all high priority applications, four processors and two storage devices to handle all high and medium priority applications, seven processors and five storage devices to handle all high, medium, and low priority applications. The requests originate from WLMs 10-1, . . . 10-N. WLMs 10 preferably produce the requests after totaling the resources necessary to activate their respective goals. After receiving one or more requests, PLM 101 preferably reviews system resources and determines if reallocation is necessary based on existing resources, current requests, and the priorities of the requests. Thus, if a particular partition has a change in resource requirements, PLM 101 will examine the existing requirements of the other partitions with the new requirements of the particular partition, as well as the current resources, to determine if reallocation is necessary. PLM 101 may also initiate reallocation after a change in system resources, e.g. a processor fails, or additional memory is added, etc. PLM 101 preferably determines whether reallocation is necessary by examining the priorities of the resource request. A change in a high level request will typically cause reallocation. For example, if all device resources are consumed in handling high priority operations of the partitions, then a change in a low priority request would be ignored. On the other hand, a change in a high priority request, e.g. less resources needed, will cause reallocation of the resources, e.g. the excess resources from the oversupplied partition would be re-allocated among the other partitions based on the goals and priorities of their applications. PLM 101 then calculates a revised distribution of resources based on the goals and priorities of the applications of different partitions. The revised distribution is then delivered to partition resource allocator 102. Allocator 102 preferably operates to resize the partitions, which is to move resources from one or more partitions to one or more partitions based on the instructions provided by PLM 101. An example of such an allocator and partition resizing is described in U.S. Application Serial No. 09/562,590 entitled “RECONFIGURATION SUPPORT FOR A MULTI PARTITION COMPUTER SYSTEM,” filed Apr. 29, 2000, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated herein by reference. Note that resizing may cause considerable overhead to be incurred by the system. In such a case, moving resources from one partition to another reduces the available computing time. Thus, determination by PLM 101 may include a threshold that must be reached before PLM 101 begins reallocation. The threshold may include multiple components, e.g. time, percent under/over capacity, etc. For example, a small over/under capacity may have to exist for a longer period of time before reallocation occurs, while a large over/under capacity may cause an immediate reallocation. This would prevent small, transient changes in resource need from causing reallocations in the system. FIG. 2 depicts the various components of a partition according to one representative embodiment. Goals 21 preferably comprise a configuration file, which is defined by a user or system administrator, that describes the users preferences with regards to what characteristic(s) of the application is of interest and is being measured, what is the desired level of performance of the application in terms of the characteristic, and what is the priority of achieving this goal. A user can also specify time periods for a particular goal to be in effect. For example, a first application may be a first database and the user will specify in the configuration file that the characteristic is for a particular type of transaction to be completed within two seconds, and have a high priority. The application may also have a second goal for the same characteristic, e.g. the same type of transactions are to be completed within one half of a second, and have a low priority. A second application may be a second database which has a similar goal as that of the first database, namely for a particular type of transaction to be completed within two seconds, and have the same priority as the first database. Thus, resources would be allocated between the two applications, so that the high priority goals will be met, and any excess resources would be given to the first application so that it can meet the lower priority “stretch” goal. WLM 10 preferably receives performance information which describes the status of a particular characteristic or characteristics of each application 12, 13, 14 that is being monitored. WLM 10 also receives performance information which describes the status and/or other characteristics of the processors 11 and other devices 25 (e.g. I/O, storage, etc.) contained within partition 103. The performance information is preferably supplied by performance monitor 23. As shown in FIG. 2, a single monitor is capable of handling multiple applications and devices, however, a different embodiment of the present invention may have multiple monitors, each monitoring one or more applications and devices. Performance monitor 23 is a small program that gathers specific information about the application and/or device. For example, if the application is a database, then a performance monitor measures access times for the database. As another example, if a device is a hard drive, then the performance monitor may measure data capacity. The information need not be strictly application performance; it can be any measurable characteristic of the workload (e.g. CPU usage). This information is being gathered continuously while the system is operating. The workload manager will sample the information at some interval specified by the administrator. The output of the workload manager, derived from the ongoing performance reported by the monitors and given the goals by the user, is preferably periodically applied to PRM 15. The output of WLM 10 is the share or entitlement allocation to the different resources that is assigned to each application. For example, each share may approximately equate to {fraction (1/100)} of a CPU operating second. Thus, within a second, an application having an entitlement of 10 will receive {fraction (1/10)} of the second, provided that the application has at least one runable process. Note that the time received may not be consecutive, but rather may be distributed across the one second interval. Note that a share may also equate to other parameters based on the resource being allocated, e.g. a percent of disk storage space or actual number of bytes of disk storage space. The partition may have multiple numbers of resources, e.g. multiple CPUs and/or multiple storage devices. Thus, the allocation can be placed all on one device or spread among the devices. For example, if a system contains four processors and an allocation of twenty percent of all processor resources is made, thirty percent of a first processor, ten percent of a second processor, twenty percent of a third processor, and twenty percent of a four processor may satisfy the total allocation. The allocation among the different devices is determined by the PRM 15. PRM 15 will move the application around to various devices, as needed to attempt to ensure that it achieves twenty percent allocation. WLM 10 also preferably sends resource requests to PLM 101. These requests may take the form of a list that describes the resources required for partition 103 to meet its goals for its different priorities. PLM 101 may then decide to reallocate resources based on a request. PLM 101 may store the different requests, which would permit PLM 101 to view the changes in the requested resources. This would allow PLM 101 to anticipate changes in resources. For example, over a period of time, PLM 101 may realize that a particular partition always has a need for more resources at a particular time (or following a particular event), e.g. at four p.m., and thus PLM 101 may reallocate resources to that particular partition before the partition sends a request. The storing of requests would also allow for the setting of reallocation triggering criteria. A simple trigger could be used that compares a single message with the current resource allocation, e.g. a requested increase/decrease of 5% or greater of the current allocation resources would trigger reallocation. More complex triggers could be used that refer to the stored messages. For example, requests from a particular partition for increase/decrease of 2% to <5% of the current allocation resource that continue for more than one hour will cause reallocation. In one representative embodiment, PLM 101 may operate according to flow chart 300 shown in FIG. 3. PLM 101 starts operations 301 and receives 302 the resource requests from WLMs. PLM 101 then optionally determines whether to initiate reallocation 315. PLM 101 may compare the resource requests with the current allocations. If a particular partition has a request (for more or less resources) that exceeds a predetermined threshold, as compared with a current allocation, then PLM 101 may initiate reallocation. Also, PLM 101 may compare a plurality of such requests from each partition, which have been accumulated over time, to determine whether there is a chronic overage/underage of resources. For example, suppose a difference of 10% between requested resources (either overage or underage) and current resources will cause an immediate reallocation to occur, while a 9% difference will cause reallocation if the difference (9% or higher) occurs in two consecutive requests (or for 10 minutes), while a 8% difference (8% or higher) will cause reallocation if the difference occurs in three consecutive requests (or for 15 minutes), etc. If PLM 101 determines that reallocation should occur, then PLM 101 proceeds with block 316, and if not then PLM 101 returns to block 302. In block 316, PLM 101 preferably assigns all partitions with the value 1 (hereinafter meaning a minimal allotment of devices, e.g. one CPU, one I/O, one block of memory, etc.). The extra resources may be assigned to a default partition or held in reserve as unassigned. Alternatively, PLM 101 may evenly divide up the resources between the partitions. In block 303, PLM 101 then preferably examines the requests for resources needed to handle the highest application priority group of the partitions. It determines 304 whether the requested amount for each partition within the priority group can be satisfied. If so, then PLM 101 facilitates allocation 305 of the requested entitlement by sending the allocation information to the partition resource allocator 102. Note that several messages may be sent, with one or more for each application priority level and/or partition. Alternatively, one message may be sent at the end 309, which lays out the complete allocation of the resources for all partitions. If not, then PLM 101 preferably arbitrates between the different partitions in a fair manner, as discussed with respect to block 310. After satisfying each partition with the application priority group in block 305, PLM 101 then determines 306 whether there are any more application priority groups. If so, then PLM 101 returns to block 303 and repeats. If not, then PLM determines 307 whether any unallocated resources remain. If not, then PLM 101 is finished 309. The allocated resource information is sent to the partition resource allocator, and PLM 101 is finished for this iteration. After receiving new requests, PLM 101 will begin again in block 301. If block 307 determines that resources are available, then PLM 101 may assign the remaining resources (block 308) to a default partition, designate the resources as unassigned and hold them in reserve (hoarding), or divide the remaining resources equally among one or more of the partitions. Note that hoarding may allow some representative embodiments to operate in a more efficient manner, as the assignment of extra resources may cause the partitions to overachieve their respective goals, and consequently cause further reallocations, unless a rule is used to prevent such reallocations. Then PLM 101 ends 309. If PLM 101 determines in block 304 that the requested amount for each partition within the application priority group cannot be satisfied, then PLM 101 preferably arbitrates between the different partitions in a fair manner. For example, by designating 310 a current target value as the lowest value of (1) the lowest of any previously allocated amounts, wherein the previously allocated amounts have not been previously used for a target value, or (2) the lowest requested amount of one partition of the priority group, which has not been used for a previous target value. Note that criteria (1) and (2) do not include partitions that have reached their requested amounts, as this will simplify the performance flow of PLM 101 as depicted in FIG. 3 (namely, by reducing the number of times that blocks 310, 311, 312, and 313 are repeated). In block 311, PLM 101 determines whether the target amount for each partition within the application priority group can be satisfied. If not, then the allocation amount may be equally divided 314 among different partitions of the application priority group whose allocations are less than the current target, but excluding partitions that already met or exceeded the target level. PLM 101 then ends 309. If so, then PLM 101 allocates 312 sufficient resources to bring the resource allocation value of each partition up to the target level. Partitions that already meet or exceed the target level are not changed. PLM 101 then determines 313 whether any unallocated resources remain. If not, then PLM 101 ends 309. If so, then PLM 101 returns to block 310 to determine a new current target level and repeats the process until PLM 101 ends 309. Note that the distribution of block 314 is by way of example only, as the remaining amount may be held in reserve, assigned to one or several default partitions, and/or allocated to one or more partitions according to another rule. FIG. 4A depicts an example of the operation of PLM 101 according to one representative embodiment. As shown in FIG. 4A, there are six partitions that have different requirements for four levels of priority. Note only one resource type is shown for simplicity as different types of resources exist, and each partition may have different requirements for the different types of resources. As shown, partition 1 requires 1 resource to handle priority 1 applications or processes, as well as priority 2 and 3 applications or processes, and 3 resources to handle priority 4 applications or processes. The other partitions have their requirements as shown. These resources can be a single processor, a group of processors, I/O devices, memory (e.g. RAM, ROM, etc.), storage devices (optical discs, hard drives, etc.), connection bandwidth to other devices and/or systems (e.g. Internet, intranet, LAN, WAN, ethernet etc.), etc, but also may be any device, application, program or process that can be allocated between and/or among different one or more partitions of a multiple partition system. Note that the values used to express the requirements are shown as incremental values of the resources by way of example only, as other values could be used. For example, for storage devices (RAM, ROM, hard drives, etc.), the requirements could be shown as megabytes, or as a number of hard drives. Processors could be shown as percentages, shares, or as normalized values. Note that some computer systems may be able to use fractional values, with resources being split between partitions. If the computer system cannot handle fractional values (no splitting resources), then rounding errors or inequities may occur in the allocation of the resources. FIG. 4A also depicts the allocation operation of PLM 101 on the requests. Note that the total needed for all partitions is 21 for the fourth level, while a total of 19 resources exists in the system. Thus, not all partitions will have their priorities satisfied according to the fourth level. After a time period, the partitions send resource requests to PLM 101, as shown in table form in FIG. 4A. PLM 101 then may determine that reallocation is necessary (see block 315 of FIG. 3) and begins a fair allocation of the resources. Note that additional resources being added to the system, e.g. another processor is added, can also cause reallocation. Similarly, resources being removed from the system, e.g. a I/O device fails, could also cause reallocation. PLM 101 begins by providing each partition with minimal resources to operation, wherein each partition is assigned 1 resource (see block 316 of FIG. 3) as shown in column 401. For example, each partition must have at least one processor, a block of memory, and one I/O device to operate. PLM 101 may send the resource information to the partition resource allocator 102 or wait until the reallocation has completed before sending the resource information to the partition resource allocator 102. PLM 101 then determines whether each partition can receive its requested resource amount for priority 1 (see block 304 of FIG. 3). In this case, these amounts can be allocated, as there are 13 remaining resources. As shown in column 402, partitions 3 and 5 would each receive 1 additional resource (see block 305 of FIG. 3). The other partitions are satisfied from the initial allocation. Since there are additional priority groups (see block 306 of FIG. 3), PLM 101 repeats for priority 2. PLM 101 can again allocate the requested amounts, since 11 resources remain. Thus, as shown in column 403, partitions 2 and 3 would receive two more resources, while partition 5 would receive one more resource. Since there are additional priority groups, PLM 101 repeats for priority 3. PLM 101 can again allocate the requested amounts, since 6 resources remain. Thus, as shown in column 404, partitions 2 and 5 would receive one more resource. Since there are additional priority groups, PLM 101 repeats for priority 4. PLM 101 cannot allocate the requested amounts, because only 4 resources remain and 6 additional resources are associated with priority 4. (Note that partition 4 would like a total of 3 resources and has already been allocated 1 resource, and thus only needs two more.) Therefore, PLM 101 would then follow the ‘no’ path as shown in block 304 of FIG. 3. The previously allocated amounts for the current step are 1 and 4, while the requested amounts are 1, 3, 4, and 5. The current target would be designated as 1, which is the lowest value of a requesting partition, as well as the lowest value of a previously allocated amount. Since each partition has at least 1 resource, no additional resources are allocated in this cycle, as shown in column 405. Note that partitions 3 and 6 have reached their requested amounts. Since additional resources remain (see block 313 of FIG. 3), a new target is designated, i.e. 3 (lowest target not previously used). Partitions 1 and 4 each receive additional resources, while partitions 2 and 5 remain unchanged, as shown in column 406. Note that partitions 1 and 4 have reached their requested amounts. The allocated amounts would be provided to the partition resource allocator 102 as the resource allocation information. The allocator 102 would then manipulate the resources of the partitions. FIG. 4B depicts another example of the operation of PLM 101 according to one representative embodiment. As shown in FIG. 4B, there are five partitions that have different requirements for two levels of priority. Note only one resource type is shown for simplicity as different types of resources exist, and each partition may have different requirements for the different types of resources. As shown, partition 1 requires 1 resource to handle priority 1 applications or processes, and 9 resources to handle priority 2 applications or processes. The other partitions have their requirements as shown. Note that partition 5 needs 4 resources for priority 1, but only 3 resources for priority 2. In such a case, the higher priority request preferably is satisfied. FIG. 4B also depicts the allocation operation of PLM 101. Note that the total needed for all of the partitions is 27 for the second priority level, while a total of 24 resources exist in the system. Thus, not all partitions will have their priorities satisfied according to the second priority level. After a time period, the partitions send resource requests to PLM 101, as shown in table form in FIG. 4B. PLM 101 then may determine that reallocation is necessary (see block 315 of FIG. 3) and may begin a fair allocation of the resources. PLM 101 begins by providing each partition with minimal resources to operate, wherein each partition is assigned 1 resource in accordance with block 316 of FIG. 3 as shown in column 408. PLM 101 then determines whether each partition can receive its requested resource amount for priority 1 (see block 304 of FIG. 3). In this case, these amounts can be allocated. As shown in column 409, partitions 3 and 5 would each receive 3 additional resources (see block 305 of FIG. 3). Note that partition 5 has reached its requested amount. The other partitions are satisfied from the initial allocation. Since there are additional priority groups (see block 306 of FIG. 3), PLM 101 repeats for priority 2. PLM 101 cannot allocate the requested amounts. Therefore, PLM 101 would then follow the ‘no’ path of block 304 of FIG. 3. The previously allocated amounts are 1 and 4, while the requested amounts are 2, 3, 5, 8, and 9. The current target would be designated as 1, which is the lowest value of a set comprising the requested amount and the previously allocated amount. Since each partition has at least 1 resource, no additional resources are allocated in this cycle, as shown in column 410. Since additional resources remain (see block 313 of FIG. 3), a new target is designated, i.e. 2. Partitions 1, 2, and 4 each receive an additional resource, as shown in column 411. Note that partition 4 has reached its requested amount. Since additional resources remain, a new target is designated, i.e. 3. Partitions 1 and 2 each receive an additional resource, as shown in column 412. Since additional resources remain, a new target is designated, i.e. 4. Partitions 1 and 2 each receive an additional resource, as shown in column 413. Since additional resources remain, a new target is designated, i.e. 5. Partitions 1, 2, and 3 each receive an additional resource, as shown in column 414. Note that partition 3 has reached its requested amount. Since additional resources remain, a new target is designated, i.e. 8. The remaining resources cannot be allocated to meet the new target (see block 311 of FIG. 3). Thus, the remaining resources are allocated according to block 314 of FIG. 3. For example, the remaining resources can be equally divided among the partitions that have not yet received their requested allocations as described in block 314 of FIG. 3. Thus, the 3 remaining resources are divided among partitions 1 and 2, with each partition receiving 1.5 resources. The allocated amounts would be provided to the partition resource allocator 102 as the resource allocation information. The allocator 102 would then manipulate the resources of the partitions. As described above, if resource values are used that are not representative of whole resource units and the system cannot handle fractionalize units, e.g. one processor, then rounding errors may occur. In one representative embodiment, PLM 101 would handle such errors as shown in FIG. 5A, and as illustrated in the examples of FIGS. 5B and 5C. FIG. 5A depicts the operation of the rounder portion 104 of PLM 101. The above examples have used integer values for the requests, and thus result in allocation values that are also integers, however fractional numbers or floating point numbers may be used, e.g. an allocation value of 10.1. Also, floating point numbers may also result from block 314 of FIG. 3 (for example dividing 3 resources among two partitions results in 1.5 resources for each partition. Some systems may only operate with allocated values that are integer, thus fractional values of resources will need to be rounded up or down. This is also true when allocating incremental resources such as processors, hard drives, etc., in resizing partitions where whole resources need to be allocated. The rounder 104 first receives (block 51) the allocated values from PLM 101, which are the values resulting from the operation of FIG. 3. The rounder then cumulatively sums (block 52) the values for each received allocated value by adding prior allocated values to each received allocated value. The rounder then forms the rounded allocation values by subtracting (block 53) each cumulative sum with the prior cumulative sum. For example, as shown in FIG. 5B, three partitions have allocated values of R1=3.5, R2=3.5, and R3=3.0. The rounder forms S1 by adding R1 and 0 (note that step may be modified such that S1 is assigned the value of R1) and then rounding wherein fractional values of greater than or equal to 0 and strictly less than 0.5 are rounded down to zero and fractional values of greater than or equal to 0.5 are rounded up to one. Similarly, the rounder forms S2 by adding R2+R1 and rounding, and forms S3 by adding R3+R2+R1 and rounding. Note that any fractional values are being accumulated into the subsequent sums (before rounding), i.e. S1 has 0.5, S2 has 1.0, and S3 also has 1.0 (before rounding). The rounder forms the rounded allocated values, by subtracting the sums with the previous sum. Specifically, R1′=S1 (or S1−0), R2′=S2−S1, and R3′=S3−S2. Note that the rounding up occurs in the first value, as this is where the accumulated fractional value has equaled or exceeded 0.5. These rounded values would then be sent to the partition resource allocator 102. FIG. 5C is another example of rounding where four partitions have allocated values of R1=10.1, R2=20.2, R3=30.3, and R4=39.4. The rounder forms S1 by S1=R1 (or R1+0) and rounding, forms S2 by S2=R2+R1 (or R2+S1) and rounding, forms S3 by S3=R3+R2+R1 (or R3+S2) and rounding, and forms S4 through S4=R4+R3+R2+R1 (or R4+S3) and rounding. Note that any fractional values are being accumulated into the subsequent sums (before rounding), i.e. S1 has 0.1, S2 has 0.3, S3 has 0.6, and S4 has 1.0 (before rounding). The rounder forms the rounded allocated values, by subtracting the sums with the previous sum. Specifically, R1′=S1 (or S1−0), R2′=S2−S1, R3′=S3−S2, and R4′=S4−S3. Note that the rounding up occurs in the third value, as this is where the accumulated fractional value has equaled or exceeded 0.5. Note that the rounding is order dependent. Consequently, the ordering of the partitions determines which partition will receive the rounding. For example, give the following fractional values of 0.4, 0, and 0.1, the third application with 0.1 will receiving the rounding up, as this accumulation value is the one that equals or exceeds 0.5, and not the larger fractional value of 0.4. If the partition were re-ordered to 0, 0.1, and 0.4, then the third application with 0.4 would receive the rounding. Note that rounding does not cause significant perturbations according to one representative embodiment, i.e. causing over/under achievements of the goals, unless the allocated values are very small. In that case, increasing a small value by 1 would represent a large change in the percentage and may cause over/under achievement. For example, suppose an allocated value of 2.1 is rounded up to 3. This represents a value that is 143% larger than the allocated value. Such a large difference may cause over/under achievement. Further note that the allocation mechanism shown in FIG. 3 and illustrated with examples shown in FIGS. 4A to 4B, is designed such that each partition having an application priority group will receive generally equal treatment. Alternatives can be developed. For example, PLM 101 could be programmed to attempt to maximize the number of partitions that receive their request amount. This would starve some of the partitions having applications with the same application priority group, particularly the larger requesting partitions, so that others, namely the smaller requesting partitions, will be satisfied. Another alternative is to have partitions receive an amount that is proportional to the difference between their allocated amount and their requested amount. When an application priority level is reached where there is an insufficiency in the available resources versus the requested resources, then allocating an amount that is proportional for the difference would put each partition at the same fractional point. This would minimize the number that receive the amount they are asking for because, none of the partitions would receive the whole amount they are requesting (subject to rounding), they would all be scaled by their respective differences. The advantage of the mechanism of FIG. 3 is that no partition is sensitive to any other partition (with larger requirements) at the same priority or lower priority. Note that a smaller requesting partition may reduce a higher resource partition, of equal priority, until their respective allocations become equal. If a higher priority partition starts requesting more resources, then the partitions with lower priorities will lose resources, but if a partition at the same priority starts requesting more resources, then this partition can reduce only the resources of its co-priority partitions if its entitlement is smaller than theirs. Thus, co-priority partitions are protected from each other. With the alternative mechanisms described above, a particular partitions' allocations will be affected as the request of their co-priority partitions are changing. When implemented in software, the elements of some representative embodiments are essentially the code segments to perform the necessary tasks. The program or code segments can be stored in a computer readable medium or transmitted by a computer data signal embodied in a carrier wave, or a signal modulated by a carrier, over a transmission medium. The “computer readable medium” may include any medium that can store or transfer information. Examples of the computer readable medium include an electronic circuit, a semiconductor memory device, a ROM, a flash memory, an erasable ROM (EROM), a floppy diskette, a compact disk CD-ROM, an optical disk, a hard disk, a fiber optic medium, a radio frequency (RF) link, etc. The computer data signal may include any signal that can propagate over a transmission medium such as electronic network channels, optical fibers, air, electromagnetic, RF links, etc. The code segments may be downloaded via computer networks such as the Internet, intranet, etc. FIG. 6 illustrates computer system 600 adapted to use one representative embodiment. Central processing unit (CPU) 601 is coupled to system bus 602. The CPU 601 may be any general purpose and the present invention is not restricted by the architecture of CPU 601 as long as CPU 601 supports the inventive operations as described herein. Bus 602 is coupled to random access memory (RAM) 603, which may be SRAM, DRAM, or SDRAM. ROM 604 is also coupled to bus 602, which may be PROM, EPROM, or EEPROM. RAM 603 and ROM 604 hold user and system data and programs as is well known in the art. Bus 602 is also coupled to input/output (I/O) controller card 605, communications adapter card 611, user interface card 608, and display card 609. I/O card 605 connects to storage devices 606, such as one or more of hard drive, CD drive, floppy disk drive, tape drive, to the computer system. Communications card 611 is adapted to couple the computer system 600 to a network 612, which may be one or more of local (LAN), wide-area (WAN), ethernet or Internet network. User interface card 608 couples user input devices, such as keyboard 613 and pointing device 607, to the computer system 600. Display card 609 is driven by CPU 601 to control the display on display device 610. Although some representative embodiments have been described in terms of allocating physical resources between partitions, representative embodiments may allocate resources between any suitable computing domain. Another suitable computing domain is a virtual machine. For example, virtualization refers to the creation of virtual machines that coexist on one or several physical servers. Virtualization software typically executes in connection with a host operating system of the physical server. The virtualization software creates virtual resources as software constructs. The virtual resources are then assigned to virtual machines used for respective servers. Specifically, the virtual resources are used to execute “guest” operating systems that execute on top of the host operating system. The guest operating systems are then used to execute applications. Furthermore, each guest operating system operates independently. A software fault associated with any particular guest operating system and its application(s) may be contained within a given virtual machine. An example of a physical server platform and suitable virtualization software is the ProLiant server platform available from Hewlett-Packard Company executing the VMware ESX Server software product. FIG. 7 depicts system 700 that allocates virtual resources according to one representative embodiment. System 700 may comprise a plurality of physical resources such as CPUs 701, memory 702, network interface card (NIC) 703, disk storage 704, and/or the like. System 700 includes host operating system 701. Host operating system 701 enables low level access to physical resources 701-704. Additionally, host operating system 701 includes a software layer that virtualizes the physical resources 701-704 to enable allocation of those resources to higher level software processes. The virtualization software layer may be implemented within the kernel of host operating system 701 as an example. System 700 further includes virtual machines 705-1 through 705-N. Virtual machines 705-1 through 705-N appear to software processes executing within the virtual machines to be physical server platforms. Virtual machines 705-1 through 705-N provide partition and isolation functionality. A software fault within any particular virtual machine 705 may only affect the respective virtual machine 705, while software processes associated with the other virtual machines 705 may continue operations in an ordinary manner. Within virtual machines 705, respective guest operating systems (OS) 706-1 through 706-N may be executed. Additionally, one or several applications (shown as 707-1 through 707-N) may be executed within each virtual machines 705. Performance monitors 708-1 through 708-N generate performance data related to applications 707. The performance data may be gathered directly from applications 707 and/or from operating systems 706. When an application 707 is not achieving one or several SLOs, WLM 709 may detect the condition by analyzing the generated performance data. The SLOs may be encoded using service level parameters similar to those shown in FIGS. 4A and 4B. In response to detecting such a condition, a respective WLM 709 may request additional resources from PLM 710. In one embodiment, PLM 710 is a software process that operates in the user space associated with host operating system 801. PLM 710 compares requests for additional resources against SLOs and the current allocation of virtual resources between virtual machines 705-1 through 705-N. If a reallocation is determined to be appropriate, PLM 710 may reallocate resources by communicating a suitable message to scheduling agent 711. Scheduling agent 711 may reassign resources by making a system call to the virtualization layer of host operating system 701. Scheduling agent 711 may perform functions similar to the functions of PRM 15. For example, scheduling agent 711 may reassign time slices of processors between virtual machines 705 to perform the desired reallocation. In one embodiment, the reassignment of time slices may occur by adjusting scheduling parameters associated with the threads used to execute virtual machines 705. It shall be appreciated that system 700 is by way of example only. For example, the virtualization software layer may be implemented by a user space application instead of within the kernel of host operating system 701. PLM 710 and scheduling agent 711 need not be implemented within the user space associated with host operating system 701. Additionally, each virtual machine 705 need not necessarily be subject to dynamic allocation of resources. A subset of virtual machines 705 may have a fixed allocation of resources if appropriate for the software processes associated with those virtual machines 705. Accordingly, PM 708 and WLM 709 may also be omitted from a subset of virtual machines 705 depending upon application characteristics. Some representative embodiments may provide a number of advantages. For example, some representative embodiments enable the allocation of virtual resources to occur on a dynamic basis. Also, the dynamic allocation of resources may occur in response to performance data related to respective applications. Accordingly, as peak load occurs for a respective application, additional virtual resources may be allocated to that application. The additional resources, such additional time slices of one or several processors, enable the respective application to service additional application transactions. Furthermore, the use of service level objectives or application goals to manage resource allocation enables system administrators to configure server systems in an efficient manner. | <SOH> FIELD OF THE INVENTION <EOH>The present application is generally related to allocating a plurality of resources between a plurality of computing domains. | <SOH> SUMMARY <EOH>In an embodiment, a computing system comprises a plurality of resources, a first manager process for allocating the plurality of resources on a dynamic basis according to service level parameters, and a plurality of computing domains, wherein at least one application, a respective second manager process, and a respective performance monitor process are executed within each computing domain, and wherein the performance monitor generates performance data related to the execution of the at least one application and the second manager process requests additional resources from the first manager process in response to analysis of performance data in view of at least one service level parameter. In another embodiment, a method comprises creating a plurality of computing domains, allocating a plurality of resources between the plurality of computing domains, executing at least one application, a manager process, and a performance monitor process in each of the plurality of computing domains, wherein the performance monitor process generates performance data related to the at least one application and the manager process requests additional resources in response to analysis of the performance data in view of at least one service level parameter, and dynamically reallocating the plurality of resources between the plurality of computing domains in response to received requests for additional resources according to service level parameters. In another embodiment, a computer readable medium comprises code for generating performance data related to respective applications associated with a plurality of computing domains, code for requesting additional resources for ones of the plurality of computing domains in response to analysis of performance data from the code for generating in view of at least one service level parameter, and code for dynamically allocating resources between the plurality of computing domains in response to the code for requesting, wherein the code for dynamically allocating determines when to reallocate resources using service level parameters associated with applications of the plurality of computing domains. | 20040910 | 20100629 | 20050217 | 60908.0 | 2 | ARCOS, CAROLINE H | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR ALLOCATING A PLURALITY OF RESOURCES BETWEEN A PLURALITY OF COMPUTING DOMAINS | UNDISCOUNTED | 1 | CONT-ACCEPTED | 2,004 |
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10,938,999 | ACCEPTED | Flexible bioresorbable hemostatic packing and stent having a preselectable in-vivo residence time | The invention provides a flexible bioresorbable foam having hemostatic properties and a preselectable in-vivo residence time. The foam includes a blend of collagen and a hyaluronic acid component such as hyaluronic acid or a derivative thereof, typically, the hyaluronic acid component is present in a range of from about 70 to about 90 percent. | 1. A flexible bioresorbable foam having hemostatic properties and a preselectable in-vivo residence time comprising a blend of collagen and a hyaluronic acid component. 2. A flexible bioresorbable foam according to claim 1 wherein said blend comprises from about 70 to about 90 percent by weight of said hyaluronic acid component. 3. A flexible bioresorbable foam according to claim 2 wherein said blend comprises from about 70 to about 85 percent by weight of said hyaluronic acid component. 4. A flexible bioresorbable foam according to claim 1 wherein said hyaluronic acid component is selected from the group consisting of hyaluronic acid, esterified hyaluronic acid, and mixtures thereof. 5. A flexible bioresorbable foam according to claim 4 wherein said hyaluronic acid component is esterified hyaluronic acid or a mixture of esterified hyaluronic acid and hyaluronic acid. 6. A flexible bioresorbable foam according to claim 5 wherein said esterified hyaluronic acid has an esterification level of from about 60 percent to about 70 percent. 7. A flexible bioresorbable foam according to claim 5 wherein said esterified hyaluronic acid is selected from the group consisting of a benzyl ester of hyaluronic acid, an ethyl ester of hyaluronic acid and mixtures thereof. 8. A flexible bioresorbable foam according to claim 1 wherein said collagen is a microfibrillar collagen. 9. A flexible bioresorbable foam according to claim 1 wherein said preselectable residence time ranges from about 5 days to about 28 days. 10. A flexible bioresorbable foam according to claim 9 having a preselectable in-vivo residence time of from about 5 days to about 14 days. 11. A flexible bioresorbable foam according to claim 1 wherein a suspension is formed from said blend at a shear rate of from about 0.25 minutes/liter to about 3.0 mins./liter, and from about 7,000 rpm to about 10,000 rpm. 12. A flexible bioresorbable foam according to claim 1 wherein said foam is crosslinked by means of a method selected from dehydrothermal crosslinking and chemical crosslinking. 13. A flexible bioresorbable foam according to claim 12 using a chemical crosslinking agent. 14. A flexible bioresorbable foam according to claim 13 wherein said chemical crosslinking agent is formaldehyde vapor. 15. A flexible bioresorbable foam according to claim 1 wherein said foam is sterilized and molecular chain scission is performed by bombardment with gamma rays or a beam of electrons. 16. A medical device comprising a flexible bioresorbable foam having hemostatic properties and a preselectable in-vivo residence time comprising a blend of collagen and a hyaluronic acid component. 17. A medical device according to claim 16 wherein said blend comprises from about 70 to about 90 percent by weight of said hyaluronic acid component. 18. A medical device according to claim 16 wherein said hyaluronic acid component is selected from the group consisting of hyaluronic acid, esterified hyaluronic acid, and mixtures thereof. 19. A medical device according to claim 18 wherein said hyaluronic acid component is esterified hyaluronic acid or a mixture of esterified hyaluronic acid and hyaluronic acid. 20. A medical device according to claim 19 wherein said esterified hyaluronic acid has an esterification level of from about 60 percent to about 70 percent. 21. A medical device according to claim 19 wherein said esterified hyaluronic acid is selected from the group consisting of a benzyl ester of hyaluronic acid, an ethyl ester of hyaluronic acid, and mixtures thereof. 22. A medical device according to claim 16 wherein said collagen is a microfibrillar collagen. 23. A medical device according to claim 16 wherein said variable residence time ranges from about 5 days to about 28 days. 24. A medical device according to claim 16 wherein said device is a stent intended for insertion into a cavity or orifice of the body or to separate opposing tissue surfaces of a patient to control bleeding and prevent adhesion. 25. A medical device according to claim 24 wherein said stent is intended for insertion into the cranial cavity, the thoracic cavity, the abdominal cavity or the pelvic cavity. 26. A medical device according to claim 25 wherein said stent is intended for insertion into the eye, ear, nose or throat. 27. A drug delivery device for implantation within the body comprising a drug and the flexible bioresorbable foam of claim 1. 28. A drug delivery device according to claim 27 wherein said foam comprises a blend of from about 70 to about 90 percent by weight of a hyaluronic acid component and correspondingly, from about 10 to about 30 percent by weight of collagen. 29. A drug delivery device according to claim 28 wherein said hyaluronic acid component is selected from the group consisting of hyaluronic acid, esterified hyaluronic acid and mixtures thereof. 30. A method of making a flexible bioresorbable foam having a preselectable in-vivo residence time comprising the steps of: a) providing a blend of collagen and a hyaluronic acid component, b) mixing the blend with water to form a suspension; c) freezing and lyophilizing the blend at 0° C. or below; d) crosslinking to form a crosslinked product, and e) sterilizing and performing chain scission said product by means of bombardment with gamma rays or a beam of electrons. 31. A method of making a flexible bioresorbable foam composition according to claim 30 wherein said lyophilization is performed no greater than about −40° C. 32. A method of making a flexible bioresorbable foam composition according to claim 30 wherein said crosslinking is achieved by means of a method selected from dehydrothermal crosslinking and chemical crosslinking. 33. A method of making a flexible bioresorbable foam composition according to claim 30 wherein crosslinking is achieved by use of formaldehyde vapor. 34. A method of making a flexible bioresorbable foam according to claim 33 wherein said formaldehyde vapor is evacuated after a period of from about 2 hours to about 7 hours. 35. A method of making a flexible bioresorbable foam according to claim 30 wherein said blend comprises from about 70 to about 90 percent by weight of said esterified hyaluronic acid. 36. A method of making a flexible bioresorbable foam composition according to claim 30 wherein said sterilizing is performed by bombardment with gamma rays. 37. A method of making a flexible bioresorbable foam according to claim 30 wherein said hyaluronic acid component is selected from hyaluronic acid, esterified hyaluronic acid and mixtures thereof. 38. A method of making a flexible bioresorbable foam according to claim 37 wherein said esterified hyaluronic acid has an esterification level of from about 60 percent to about 70 percent. 39. A method of making a flexible bioresorbable foam according to claim 38 wherein said esterified hyaluronic acid is selected from the group consisting of a benzyl ester of hyaluronic acid, an ethyl ester of hyaluronic acid and mixtures thereof. 40. A method of making a flexible bioresorbable foam according to claim 30 wherein said collagen is a microfibrillar collagen. 41. A method of making a flexible bioresorbable foam according to claim 30 wherein said preselectable residence time ranges from about 5 days to about 14 days. | FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates generally to the field of bioresorbable packing and stents, and more specifically to a flexible bioresorbable foam, useful for post-operative or drug delivery use, having both hemostatic properties and a preselectable in-vivo residence time. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Various types of sterile packing and stents are used in the medical and surgical fields for keeping tissues apart or preventing adhesion. Such uses include, but are not limited to, nasal packing and sinus stents, packing for inner ear surgery, tympanoplasty, exostosis, orbital decompression, as well as various orifice restenosis prevention uses. Personal uses such as tampons, bandaging and the like also involve sterile packing materials. Such packing and stents have been made from gauzes, microfibers, nonfibrous expandable packing, such as tampons, and the like. These types of packing are not bioresorbable and can cause injury or discomfort upon removal, as well as causing toxic shock syndrome if left internally for more than a day or two. In an attempt to prevent such reactions, while continuing to prevent adhesion and tissue necrosis, resorbable packing and stent devices have been developed. Such packing materials have typically included hyaluronic acid (HA), or salts of hyaluronic acids, which are naturally occurring mucopolysaccharides found in various body fluids and connective tissues. Thus, HA is biocompatible. It has been adapted for use as a surgical aid to prevent tissue contact and adhesion formation. However, HA has a very high solubility, and thus poor liquid absorption, and tends to quickly disperse when exposed to such liquids. This reduces HA materials' effectiveness in areas such as surgical wounds which exude blood and other fluids. Crosslinking has created somewhat insoluble HA materials. Further, other biocompatible materials such as polysaccharides, especially methylcellulosic materials have been combined with the hyaluronic acid to produce packing materials which are resorbable but are also insoluble and have a longer in-vivo residence time before they dissolve into gels and are absorbed by the body tissues. These materials also have increased fluid absorption capabilities. Such materials stop bleeding only by effect of compression and packing and do not have any inherent hemostatic properties. Collagen is also known for use in the medical field; it is a major protein constituent of connective tissue and is widely used in medical and surgical applications such as sutures, grafts and surgical prostheses. Typical sources include calfskin, bovine Achilles tendons, cattle bones, porcine tissue, human cadaver tissue, and rat tails. Collagen, as an animal protein, is bioresorbable, even when crosslinked to reasonable levels. Collagen is available in a variety of forms including powders and fibrils, and in aqueous solution. Collagen may be provided in insoluble or soluble forms. It has now been discovered that a flexible bioresorbable foam for packing, post-operative use, and other medical uses may be created having both hemostatic properties and a variable preselectable resorption time (also known as an in-vivo residence time). The foam is formed from a blend of collagen and hyaluronic acid or derivative thereof. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An embodiment of the invention provides a flexible bioresorbable foam having both hemostatic properties and a variable preselectable resorption time. More specifically, an embodiment of the invention provides a flexible bioresorbable foam having hemostatic properties and a variable preselectable in-vivo residence time or resorption time, comprising a blend of collagen and a hyaluronic acid component, which may be hyaluronic acid or a derivative thereof. One embodiment of the invention provides a flexible bioresorbable foam having hemostatic properties and a variable preselectable resorption time comprising a blend of collagen and an esterified hyaluronic acid. Another embodiment of the invention includes a flexible bioresorbable foam wherein the blend includes from about 70 to about 90 percent by weight of hyaluronic acid component. An embodiment of the invention also provides a medical device wherein said device is a stent intended for insertion between two tissue surfaces of a patient to control bleeding and prevent adhesion. The medical device can be a stent intended for insertion into body cavities and/or orifices such as the eye, ear, nose, throat, anal or vaginal orifices and the like. Another embodiment of the invention also provides a drug delivery and release device for implantation within the body comprising a drug and a flexible bioresorbable foam having hemostatic properties and a variable preselectable resorption time comprising collagen and hyaluronic acid or a derivative thereof. A further embodiment of the invention, is a medical device comprising a flexible bioresorbable foam having hemostatic properties and a preselectable in-vivo residence time comprising a blend of collagen and an esterified hyaluronic acid. Another embodiment of the invention provides a method of making flexible bioresorbable foam having hemostatic properties and a variable preselectable resorption time comprising the steps of: a) providing a blend of collagen and an hyaluronic acid component comprising from about 70 to about 90 weight percent of said esterified hyaluronic acid, b) mixing with water to form a suspension; c) freezing and lyophilizing the blend at 0° C. or below; d) crosslinking to form a flexible crosslinked product, and, e) sterilizing and performing chain scission on said crosslinked product by means of bombardment with gamma rays or electrons. In one method of making the bioresorbable flexible foam of an embodiment of the invention, the foam is crosslinked using a chemical crosslinking agent. These terms when used herein have the following meanings. 1. The term “bioresorbable” as used herein, means capable of being absorbed by the body. 2. The term “hemostat” means a device or material which stops blood flow. 3. The term “stent” means a material or device used for separating tissue and holding it in such separated position. 4. The term “lyophilizing” means freeze-drying. 5. The term “resorption time” and “in-vivo residence time” are used interchangeably, and refer to the time between insertion into the body and the time at which the material has been substantially absorbed into the tissues. 6. The term “adhesion” as used herein, refers to the sticking together of tissues which are in intimate contact for extended periods. 7. The term “preselectable in-vivo residence time” means that foams of the invention may be formed that will have different in-vivo residence times to be useful for different applications. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The following detailed description describes certain embodiments and is not to be taken in a limiting sense. The scope of the present invention is defined by the appended claims. The bioresorbable hemostatic packing provided herein may be used in any manner in which sterile packing and/or stents are normally used in the surgical or medical fields, including uses for which control of low weight bleeding and adhesion prevention are important. Such uses include, but are not limited to, nasal packing and sinus stents, packing for inner ear surgery, tympanoplasty, exostosis, orbital decompression, as well as various orifice restenosis prevention uses. The packing materials may also be used as single or combination drug delivery systems for humans or mammals. Bioresorbable foams of an embodiment of the invention are formed from a blend of a hyaluronic acid component and collagen. Varying ratios of the components may be used in the blends according to the application desired, e.g., 50/50, 60/40 etc. A typical blend may comprise from about 70 to about 90 weight percent of the hyaluronic acid component, and correspondingly from about 10 to about 30 weight percent of collagen. In one embodiment, the blend contains from about 70 to about 80 weight percent of the hyaluronic acid or derivative thereof. The ratios of such blends can be selected by the particular application anticipated. For example, higher amounts of collagen will increase the hemostatic effect somewhat. Collagen materials useful in blends of an embodiment of the invention are absorbable collagen materials from any source, e.g., corium collagen, tendon collagen, and the like, available commercially from such companies as Datascope® and Fibrogen, Inc. In one embodiment, the blends are formed of a microfibrillar collagen foam that includes a collagen flour. Such collagen materials are available from Davol Inc., a subsidiary of C. R. Bard, Inc., as Avitene®. Useful hyaluronic acid components include hyaluronic acid, derivatives thereof, and mixtures thereof. One particularly useful derivative is esterified hyaluronic acid. Useful ester derivatives may be partial or total esters of hyaluronic acid; e.g., hyaluronic acid esterified with aliphatic or araliphatic esters such as ethyl esters, octadecyl esters, benzyl esters and mixtures thereof. In one embodiment the blend comprises a partial esterified hyaluronic acid; especially, an esterified HA having an esterification of at least about 60%. One useful esterified hyaluronic acid has an esterification level of from about 60% to about 70%. Such materials are available commercially from Fidia Advanced Biopolymers, S.r.l. under the trade name Hyaff®. The in-vivo residence times of flexible foams of an embodiment of the invention may be selected to be from about 5 days to about 28 days; in some embodiments, the foam will have an in-vivo residence time of from about 5 days to about 14 days. The in-vivo residence time for the flexible bioresorbable foams of an embodiment of the invention is controlled by adjusting the re-suspension shear parameters, the level of crosslinking of the foam ingredients to produce the desired level; the sterilization bombardment must also be controlled in order to control the chain scission caused by such bombardment. In one embodiment, the foams are formed by a method which includes the formation of a suspension of the collagen and the esterified hyaluronic acid in water. The suspension is formed by mixing with conventional mixers until suspended. The suspension is mixed at a shear rate of from about 0.25 minutes/liter to about 3.0 mins./liter, and at a speed of from about 7,000 rpm to about 10,000 rpm. The suspension is then metered into lyophilization trays with a series of cavities. Typical trays have cavities nominally about 4 cm by 1.3 cm by 1 cm. The suspended solution is then freeze-dried into solid foam blocks using well known procedure involving vacuum conditions at temperatures which are less than the freezing temperature of water, i.e., less than 0° C. After 0° C. is reached, the temperature is then reduced further over time, and cycled; e.g., the temperature is reduced by a few degrees then maintained at the lower temperature for a period of time, and then reduced again. Finally, the temperature reaches a low of about −45° C. where it is maintained for the period required to complete the lyophilization, e.g., at least about 10 hours, and perhaps as much as 24-30 hours. The drying portion of the lyophilization is performed at a vacuum set point of about 75 mm of mercury (Hg) with the temperature being raised to about 0° C. and maintained there for at least about 2 hours, and up to about 6 hours, then raised to at least about 25° C. to a period of from about 4 hours to about 40 hours. Upon completion of lyophilization, the foam is then ready to be crosslinked. Crosslinking may be accomplished by dehydrothermal crosslinking, or by exposure to a chemical crosslinking agent. In dehydrothermal crosslinking, the foam is dehydrated to reduce the moisture content to the temperature at which crosslinking occurs, typically to less than about 1%. The product is subjected to elevated temperatures and/or vacuum conditions until crosslinking occurs. Useful combinations of such conditions include vacuum of at least about 10−5 mm of mercury, and temperatures of at least about 35° C. Naturally, if vacuum is not used, much higher temperatures are required, e.g., above 75° C. The conditions are maintained for at least about 10 hours, typically for about 24 hours until the desired molecular weight has been achieved. If chemical crosslinking is desired, useful chemical crosslinking agents include aldehydes, e.g., formaldehyde vapor, which can be used by pumping it into a room containing the lyophilized foam and allowed to contact the foam for at least about 2 hours, preferably at least about 5 hours. After the desired exposure time is complete, the crosslinking agent is evacuated from the room. After crosslinking, the foam is then ready for compression, packaging and sterilization, typically by bombardment with gamma rays or electron beam bombardment. The bombardment both kills bacteria and performs chain scission on the foam. It is important that the sterilization/chain scission procedure and the crosslinking procedure be balanced to produce the desired crosslinking level to achieve the in-vivo residence time desired. The bioresorbable foam of the invention is flexible and does not require any rehydration. The bioresorbable foam of the invention can be easily handled either wet or dry and may be squeezed, and/or cut to required size. The foam will contour to the body cavity or wound as required, and provides chemical hemostasis as well as preventing adhesion, and minimizing swelling and edema. Although specific embodiments have been illustrated and described herein for purposes of description of the preferred embodiment, it will be appreciated by those of ordinary skill in the art that a wide variety of alternate and/or equivalent implementations calculated to achieve the same purposes may be substituted for the specific embodiments shown and described without departing from the scope of the present invention. Those with skill in the chemical, mechanical, biomedical, and biomaterials arts will readily appreciate that the present invention may be implemented in a very wide variety of embodiments. This application is intended to cover any adaptations or variations of the preferred embodiments discussed herein. Therefore, it is manifestly intended that this invention be limited only by the claims and the equivalents thereof. | <SOH> BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION <EOH>Various types of sterile packing and stents are used in the medical and surgical fields for keeping tissues apart or preventing adhesion. Such uses include, but are not limited to, nasal packing and sinus stents, packing for inner ear surgery, tympanoplasty, exostosis, orbital decompression, as well as various orifice restenosis prevention uses. Personal uses such as tampons, bandaging and the like also involve sterile packing materials. Such packing and stents have been made from gauzes, microfibers, nonfibrous expandable packing, such as tampons, and the like. These types of packing are not bioresorbable and can cause injury or discomfort upon removal, as well as causing toxic shock syndrome if left internally for more than a day or two. In an attempt to prevent such reactions, while continuing to prevent adhesion and tissue necrosis, resorbable packing and stent devices have been developed. Such packing materials have typically included hyaluronic acid (HA), or salts of hyaluronic acids, which are naturally occurring mucopolysaccharides found in various body fluids and connective tissues. Thus, HA is biocompatible. It has been adapted for use as a surgical aid to prevent tissue contact and adhesion formation. However, HA has a very high solubility, and thus poor liquid absorption, and tends to quickly disperse when exposed to such liquids. This reduces HA materials' effectiveness in areas such as surgical wounds which exude blood and other fluids. Crosslinking has created somewhat insoluble HA materials. Further, other biocompatible materials such as polysaccharides, especially methylcellulosic materials have been combined with the hyaluronic acid to produce packing materials which are resorbable but are also insoluble and have a longer in-vivo residence time before they dissolve into gels and are absorbed by the body tissues. These materials also have increased fluid absorption capabilities. Such materials stop bleeding only by effect of compression and packing and do not have any inherent hemostatic properties. Collagen is also known for use in the medical field; it is a major protein constituent of connective tissue and is widely used in medical and surgical applications such as sutures, grafts and surgical prostheses. Typical sources include calfskin, bovine Achilles tendons, cattle bones, porcine tissue, human cadaver tissue, and rat tails. Collagen, as an animal protein, is bioresorbable, even when crosslinked to reasonable levels. Collagen is available in a variety of forms including powders and fibrils, and in aqueous solution. Collagen may be provided in insoluble or soluble forms. It has now been discovered that a flexible bioresorbable foam for packing, post-operative use, and other medical uses may be created having both hemostatic properties and a variable preselectable resorption time (also known as an in-vivo residence time). The foam is formed from a blend of collagen and hyaluronic acid or derivative thereof. | <SOH> SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION <EOH>An embodiment of the invention provides a flexible bioresorbable foam having both hemostatic properties and a variable preselectable resorption time. More specifically, an embodiment of the invention provides a flexible bioresorbable foam having hemostatic properties and a variable preselectable in-vivo residence time or resorption time, comprising a blend of collagen and a hyaluronic acid component, which may be hyaluronic acid or a derivative thereof. One embodiment of the invention provides a flexible bioresorbable foam having hemostatic properties and a variable preselectable resorption time comprising a blend of collagen and an esterified hyaluronic acid. Another embodiment of the invention includes a flexible bioresorbable foam wherein the blend includes from about 70 to about 90 percent by weight of hyaluronic acid component. An embodiment of the invention also provides a medical device wherein said device is a stent intended for insertion between two tissue surfaces of a patient to control bleeding and prevent adhesion. The medical device can be a stent intended for insertion into body cavities and/or orifices such as the eye, ear, nose, throat, anal or vaginal orifices and the like. Another embodiment of the invention also provides a drug delivery and release device for implantation within the body comprising a drug and a flexible bioresorbable foam having hemostatic properties and a variable preselectable resorption time comprising collagen and hyaluronic acid or a derivative thereof. A further embodiment of the invention, is a medical device comprising a flexible bioresorbable foam having hemostatic properties and a preselectable in-vivo residence time comprising a blend of collagen and an esterified hyaluronic acid. Another embodiment of the invention provides a method of making flexible bioresorbable foam having hemostatic properties and a variable preselectable resorption time comprising the steps of: a) providing a blend of collagen and an hyaluronic acid component comprising from about 70 to about 90 weight percent of said esterified hyaluronic acid, b) mixing with water to form a suspension; c) freezing and lyophilizing the blend at 0° C. or below; d) crosslinking to form a flexible crosslinked product, and, e) sterilizing and performing chain scission on said crosslinked product by means of bombardment with gamma rays or electrons. In one method of making the bioresorbable flexible foam of an embodiment of the invention, the foam is crosslinked using a chemical crosslinking agent. These terms when used herein have the following meanings. 1. The term “bioresorbable” as used herein, means capable of being absorbed by the body. 2. The term “hemostat” means a device or material which stops blood flow. 3. The term “stent” means a material or device used for separating tissue and holding it in such separated position. 4. The term “lyophilizing” means freeze-drying. 5. The term “resorption time” and “in-vivo residence time” are used interchangeably, and refer to the time between insertion into the body and the time at which the material has been substantially absorbed into the tissues. 6. The term “adhesion” as used herein, refers to the sticking together of tissues which are in intimate contact for extended periods. 7. The term “preselectable in-vivo residence time” means that foams of the invention may be formed that will have different in-vivo residence times to be useful for different applications. detailed-description description="Detailed Description" end="lead"? | 20040910 | 20101228 | 20060316 | 96204.0 | A61K31728 | 0 | FOLEY, SHANON A | FLEXIBLE BIORESORBABLE HEMOSTATIC PACKING AND STENT HAVING A PRESELECTABLE IN-VIVO RESIDENCE TIME | UNDISCOUNTED | 0 | ACCEPTED | A61K | 2,004 |
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10,939,007 | ACCEPTED | Protein tyrosine kinase enzyme inhibitors | This invention provides compounds of formula 1, having the structure wherein R1, R2, R3, R4, and R5 are described within the specification. | 1. A compound of formula 1 having the structure: wherein: R1 is halogen; R2 is a pyridinyl, thiophene, pyrimidine, thiazole, or phenyl optionally substituted with up to three substituents; R3 is —O— or —S—; R4 is methyl or CH2CH2OCH3; R5 is ethyl or methyl; and n is 0 or 1. 2. The compound according to claim 1, which is: (E)-N-{4-[4-(benzyloxy)-3-chloroanilino]-3-cyano-7-ethoxy-6-quinolinyl}-4-(dimethylamino)-2-butenamide or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof. 3. The compound according to claim 1, which is: (E)-N-{4-[3-chloro-4-(2-pyridinylmethoxy)anilino]-3-cyano-7-ethoxy-6-quinolinyl}-4-(dimethylamino)-2-butenamide or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof. 4. The compound according to claim 1, which is: (E)-N-(4-{3-chloro-4-[(3-fluorobenzyl)oxy]anilino}-3-cyano-7-ethoxy-6-quinolinyl)-4-(dimethylamino)-2-butenamide or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof. 5. The compound according to claim 1, which is: (2E)-N-(4-{[3-chloro-4-(1,3-thiazol-2-ylsulfanyl)phenyl]amino}-3-cyano-7-methoxy-6-quinolinyl)-4-(dimethylamino)-2-butenamide or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof. 6. The compound according to claim 1, which is: (E)-N-(4-{3-chloro-4-[(4,6-di-methyl-2-pyrimidinyl)sulfanyl]anilino}-3-cyano-7-ethoxy-6-quinolinyl)-4-(dimethylamino)-2-butenamide or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof. 7. A compound comprising (E)-N-{4-[3-chloro-4-(1,3-thiazol-2-ylsulfanyl)anilino]-3-cyano-7-methoxy-6-quinolinyl}-4-[(2-methoxyethyl)(methyl)amino]-2-butenamide or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof. 8. A method of treating, inhibiting the growth of, or eradicating neoplasms in a mammal in need thereof which comprises administering to said mammal an effective amount of a compound of formula 1 having the structure: wherein: R1 is halogen; R2 is a pyridinyl, thiophene, pyrimidine, thiazole, or phenyl optionally substituted with up to three substituents; R3 is—or —S—; R4 is methyl or CH2CH2OCH3; R5 is ethyl or methyl; and n is 0 or 1. 9. The method according to claim 8, wherein the compound is: (E)-N-{4-[4-(benzyloxy)-3-chloroanilino]-3-cyano-7-ethoxy-6-quinolinyl}-4-(dimethylamino)-2-butenamide or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof. 10. The method according to claim 8, wherein the compound is: (E)-N-{4-[3-chloro-4-(2-pyridinylmethoxy)anilino]-3-cyano-7-ethoxy-6-quinolinyl}-4-(dimethylamino)-2-butenamide or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof. 11. The method according to claim 8, wherein the compound is: (E)-N-(4-{3-chloro-4-[(3-fluorobenzyl)oxy]anilino}-3-cyano-7-ethoxy-6-quinolinyl)-4-(dimethylamino)-2-butenamide or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof. 12. The method according to claim 8, wherein the compound is: (2E)-N-(4-{[3-chloro-4-(1,3-thiazol-2-ylsulfanyl)phenyl]amino}-3-cyano-7-methoxy-6-quinolinyl)-4-(dimethylamino)-2-butenamide or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof. 13. The method according to claim 8, wherein the compound is: (E)-N-(4-{3-chloro-4-[(4-methyl-2-pyrimidinyl)sulfanyl]anilino}-3-cyano-7-ethoxy-6-quinolinyl)-4-(dimethylamino)-2-butenamide or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof. 14. A method of treating, inhibiting the growth of, or eradicating neoplasms in a mammal in need thereof which comprises administering to said mammal an effective amount of (E)-N-{4-[3-chloro-4-(1,3-thiazol-2-ylsulfanyl)anilino]-3-cyano-7-methoxy-6-quinolinyl}-4-[(2-methoxyethyl)(methyl)amino]-2-butenamide or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof. 15. The method according to claim 14 wherein the neoplasm is selected from the group consisting of breast, kidney, bladder, mouth, larynx, esophagus, stomach, colon, ovary, pancreatic, brain, prostrate, and lung. 16. A pharmaceutical composition which comprises a compound of formula 1 having the structure wherein: R1 is halogen; R2 is a pyridinyl, thiophene, pyrimidine, thiazole, or phenyl optionally substituted with up to three substituents; R3 is —or —S—; R4 is methyl or CH2CH2OCH3; R5 is ethyl or methyl; and n is 0 or 1. 17. The pharmaceutical composition according to claim 16, which is: (E)-N-{4-[4-(benzyloxy)-3-chloroanilino]-3-cyano-7-ethoxy-6-quinolinyl}-4-(dimethylamino)-2-butenamide or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof. 18. The pharmaceutical composition according to claim 16, which is: (E)-N-{4-[3-chloro-4-(2-pyridinylmethoxy)anilino]-3-cyano-7-ethoxy-6-quinolinyl}-4-(dimethylamino)-2-butenamide or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof. 19. The pharmaceutical composition according to claim 16, which is: (E)-N-(4-{3-chloro-4-[(3-fluorobenzyl)oxy]anilino}-3-cyano-7-ethoxy-6-quinolinyl)-4-(dimethylamino)-2-butenamide or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof. 20. The pharmaceutical composition according to claim 16, which is: (E)-N-(4-{3-chloro-4-[(4-methyl-2-pyrimidinyl)sulfanyl]anilino}-3-cyano-7-ethoxy-6-quinolinyl)-4-(dimethylamino)-2-butenamide or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof. 21. A pharmaceutical composition comprising (E)-N-{4-[3-chloro-4-(1,3-thiazol-2-ylsulfanyl)anilino]-3-cyano-7-methoxy-6-quinolinyl}-4-[(2-methoxyethyl)(methyl)amino]-2-butenamide or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof. 22. A method of inhibiting EGFR in a mammal which comprises administering to said mammal an effective amount of a compound of formula 1 having the structure: wherein: R1 is halogen; R2 is a pyridinyl, thiophene, pyrimidine, thiazole, or phenyl optionally substituted with up to three substituents; R3 is —O— or —S—; R4 is methyl or CH2CH2OCH3; R5 is ethyl or methyl; and n is 0 or 1. 23. The method according to claim 22, wherein the compound is: (E)-N-{4-[4-(benzyloxy)-3-chloroanilino]-3-cyano-7-ethoxy-6-quinolinyl}-4-(dimethylamino)-2-butenamide or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof. 24. The method according to claim 22, wherein the compound is: (E)-N-{4-[3-chloro-4-(2-pyridinylmethoxy)anilino]-3-cyano-7-ethoxy-6-quinolinyl}-4-(dimethylamino)-2-butenamide or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof. 25. The method according to claim 22, wherein the compound is: (E)-N-(4-{3-chloro-4-[(3-fluorobenzyl)oxy]anilino}-3-cyano-7-ethoxy-6-quinolinyl)-4-(dimethylamino)-2-butenamide or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof. 26. The method according to claim 22, wherein the compound is: (2E)-N-(4-{[3-chloro-4-(1,3-thiazol-2-ylsulfanyl)phenyl]amino}-3-cyano-7-methoxy-6-quinolinyl)-4-(dimethylamino)-2-butenamide or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof. 27. The method according to claim 22, wherein the compound is: (E)-N-(4-{3-chloro-4-[(4-methyl-2-pyrimidinyl)sulfanyl]anilino}-3-cyano-7-ethoxy-6-quinolinyl)-4-(dimethylamino)-2-butenamide or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof. 28. A method of inhibiting Her-2 in a mammal which comprises administering to said mammal an effective amount of a compound of formula 1 having the structure: wherein: R1 is halogen; R2 is a pyridinyl, thiophene, pyrimidine, thiazole, or phenyl optionally substituted with up to three substituents; R3 is —or —S—; R4 is methyl- or CH2CH2OCH3; R5 is ethyl or methyl; and n is 0 or 1. 29. The method according to claim 28, wherein the compound is: (E)-N-{4-[4-(benzyloxy)-3-chloroanilino]-3-cyano-7-ethoxy-6-quinolinyl}-4-(dimethylamino)-2-butenamide or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof. 30. The method according to claim 28, wherein the compound is: (E)-N-{4-[3-chloro-4-(2-pyridinylmethoxy)anilino]-3-cyano-7-ethoxy-6-quinolinyl}-4-(dimethylamino)-2-butenamide or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof. 31. The method according to claim 28, wherein the compound is: (E)-N-(4-{3-chloro-4-[(3-fluorobenzyl)oxy]anilino}-3-cyano-7-ethoxy-6-quinolinyl)-4-(dimethylamino)-2-butenamide or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof. 32. The method according to claim 28, wherein the compound is: (2E)-N-(4-{[3-chloro-4-(1,3-thiazol-2-ylsulfanyl)phenyl]amino}-3-cyano-7-methoxy-6-quinolinyl)-4-(dimethylamino)-2-butenamide or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof. 33. The method according to claim 28, wherein the compound is: (E)-N-(4-{3-chloro-4-[(4-methyl-2-pyrimidinyl)sulfanyl]anilino}-3-cyano-7-ethoxy-6-quinolinyl)-4-(dimethylamino)-2-butenamide or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof. | This application claims priority from copending provisional application Ser. No. 60/560,724, filed Sep. 15, 2003, converted from nonprovisional application Ser. No. 10/662,273, filed Sep. 15, 2003, the entire disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to certain substituted 3-cyano quinoline compounds as well as the pharmaceutically acceptable salts thereof. The compounds of the present invention inhibit the HER-2 and epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) enzyme thereby inhibiting the abnormal growth of certain cell types. The compounds of this invention are anti-cancer agents and are useful for the treatment of cancer in mammals. This invention also relates to the use of 3-cyano quinolines in the treatment of cancer and the pharmaceutical preparations containing them. Protein tyrosine kinases are a class of enzymes that catalyze the transfer of a phosphate group from ATP to a tyrosine residue located on a protein substrate. Protein tyrosine kinases clearly play a role in normal cell growth. Many of the growth factor receptor proteins function as tyrosine kinases and it is by this process that they effect signaling. The interaction of growth factors with these receptors is a necessary event in normal regulation of cell growth. However, under certain conditions, as a result of either mutation or over expression, these receptors can become deregulated, the result of which is uncontrolled cell proliferation which can lead to tumor growth and ultimately to the disease known as cancer [Walks, A. F., Adv. Cancer Res., 60, 43 (1993) and Parsons, J. T.; Parsons, S. J., Important Advances in Oncology, DeVita, V. T. Ed., J. B. Lippincott Co., Phila, 3 (1993)]. Among the growth factor receptor kinases and their proto-oncogenes that have been identified and which are targets of the compounds of this invention are the epidermal growth factor receptor kinase (EGF-R kinase, the protein product of the erbB oncogene), and the product produced by the erbB-2 (also referred to as the neu or HER-2) oncogene. Since the phosphorylation event is a necessary signal for cell division to occur and since over expressed or mutated kinases have been associated with cancer, an inhibitor of this event, a protein tyrosine kinase inhibitor, will have therapeutic value for the treatment of cancer and other diseases characterized by uncontrolled or abnormal cell growth. For example, over expression of the receptor kinase product of the erbB-2 oncogene has been associated with human breast and ovarian cancers [Slamon, D. J., et. al., Science, 244, 707 (1989) and Science, 235, 1146 (1987)]. Deregulation of EGF-R kinase has been associated with epidermoid tumors [Reiss, M., et al., Cancer Res., 51, 6254 (1991)], breast tumors [Macias, A., et. al., Anticancer Res., 7, 459 (1987)], and tumors involving other major organs [Gullick, W. J., Brit. Med. Bull., 47, 87 (1991)]. Because of the importance of the role played by deregulated receptor kinases in the pathogenesis of cancer, many recent studies have dealt with the development of specific PTK inhibitors as potential anti-cancer therapeutic agents [some recent reviews: Burke. T. R., Drugs Future, 17, 119 (1992) and Chang, C. J.; Geahlen, R1 L., J. Nat. Prod., 55, 1529 (1992)]. The compounds of this invention inhibit the kinase activity of EGF-R and are therefore useful for treating certain disease states, such as cancer, that result, at least in part, from deregulation of this receptor. The HER-2 gene (c-erbB-2, neu) encodes a 185 kDa transmembrane tyrosine kinase receptor that has partial homology with other members of the epidermal growth factor receptor family [Shih, C., Padhy, L. C., Murray, M., et al. Transforming genes of carcinomas and neuroblastomas introduced into mouse fibroblasts, Nature, 290, 261-264 (1981)]. It is now known that normal human cells express a small constitutive amount of HER-2 protein on the plasma membrane. The activation of the HER-2 oncogene is believed to follow the binding of a yet unidentified growth factor ligand to the HER-2 receptor complex, which leads to heterodimerization, triggering a cascade of growth signals that culminates in gene activation. More specifically, the epidermal growth factor family can be subdivided into four groups based on their receptor-binding specificities (HER-1, HER-2, HER-3, and HER-4). HER-2 is the preferred heterodimerization partner of all other HER receptors. Over expression of HER-2 has been demonstrated to lead to increased tumorigenicity, tumor invasiveness, increased metastatic potential, and altered sensitivity to hormonal and chemotherapeutic agents in transfection studies in cellular and animal models [Pegram, M. D., Finn, R1 S., Arzoo, K., et al. The effect of HER-2/neu over expression on chemotherapeutic drug sensitivity in human breast and ovarian cells Oncogene, 15, 537-547 (1997)]. HER-2 protein over expression has been reported to occur in approximately 30% of invasive human breast cancers, with HER-2 gene amplification detected in 95% or more of the specimens found to over express HER-2 protein, [Gebhardt, F., Zanker, K., Brandt, B. Differential expression of alternatively spliced c-erbB-2 mRNA in primary tumors, lymph node metastases, and bone marrow micro metastases from breast cancer patients Biochem. Biophys. Res. Commun., 247, 319-323 (1998)]. U.S. Pat. No. 6,288,082 issued Sep. 11, 2001 (the '082 patent) discloses substituted 3-cyano quinoline compounds that inhibit epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR). The compounds of this application are distinguished from those of the '082 patent in their ability to act as potent HER-2 inhibitors. BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION This invention provides a compound of formula 1: wherein: R1 is halogen; R2 is a pyridinyl, thiophene, pyrimidine, thiazole, or phenyl optionally substituted with up to three substituents; R3 is —O— or —S—; R4 is methyl or CH2CH2OCH3; R5 is ethyl or methyl; and n is 0 or 1. In one embodiment the compounds of this invention include: (E)-N-{4-[4-(benzyloxy)-3-chloroanilino]-3-cyano-7-ethoxy-6-quinolinyl}-4-(dimethylamino)-2-butenamide; (E)-N-{4-[3-chloro-4-(2-pyridinylmethoxy)anilino]-3-cyano-7-ethoxy-6-quinolinyl}-4-(dimethylamino)-2-butenamide; (E)-N-(4-{3-chloro-4-[(3-fluorobenzyl)oxy]anilino}-3-cyano-7-ethoxy-6-quinolinyl)-4-(dimethylamino)-2-butenamide; (2E)-N-(4-{[3-chloro-4-(1,3-thiazol-2-ylsulfanyl)phenyl]amino}-3-cyano-7-methoxy-6-quinolinyl)-4-(dimethylamino)-2-butenamide; (E)-N-(4-{3-chloro-4-[(4,6-di-methyl-2-pyrimidinyl)sulfanyl]anilino}-3-cyano-7-ethoxy-6-quinolinyl)-4-(dimethylamino)-2-butenamide; (E)-N-{4-[3-chloro-4-(1,3-thiazol-2-ylsulfanyl)anilino]-3-cyano-7-methoxy-6-quinolinyl}-4-[(2-methoxyethyl)(methyl)amino]-2-butenamide; The following experimental details are set forth to aid in an understanding of the invention, and are not intended, and should not be construed, to limit in any way the invention set forth in the claims that follow thereafter. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The compounds of this invention are certain substituted 3-cyano quinolines. Throughout this patent application, the quinoline ring system will be numbered as indicated in the formula below; the numbering for the quinazoline ring system is also shown: The pharmaceutically acceptable salts of the compounds of this invention are those derived from such organic and inorganic acids as: acetic, lactic, citric, tartaric, succinic, maleic, malonic, gluconic, hydrochloric, hydrobromic, phosphoric, nitric, sulfuric, methanesulfonic, and similarly known acceptable acids. For purposes of this invention “halogen” is F, Cl, Br, or I. Where a group is referred to as “substituted”, preferred substituents are selected from alkyl of up to six carbon atoms, alkoxy, of up to six carbon atoms and halogen. A particularly preferred substituent is methyl. The compounds of this invention may contain one or more asymmetric carbons atoms; in such cases, the compounds of this invention include the individual diasteromers, the racemates, and the individual R and S entantiomers thereof. Some of the compounds of this invention may contain one or more double bonds; in such cases, the compounds of this invention include each of the possible configurational isomers as well as mixtures of these isomers. For purposes of this invention a “neoplasm” is defined as cells selected from the breast, kidney, bladder, mouth, larynx, esophagus, stomach, colon, ovary, pancreas, brain, prostrate and lung having a morphology not found in the majority of the cells of a mammal. In one embodiment, the present invention provides for a method of inhibiting the neoplasm. The method comprises contacting a cell with an amount of a compound effective to decrease or prevent HER-2 function. The cell may be a mammalian cell and more specifically a human cell. The cell may also be a bacterial cell such as for example E. Coli. The cell may include but is not limited to, a neuronal cell, an endothelial cell, a glial cell, a microglial cell, a smooth muscle cell, a somatic cell, a bone marrow cell, a liver cell, an intestinal cell, a germ cell, a myocyte, a mononuclear phagocyte, an endothelial cell, a tumor cell, a lymphocyte cell, a mesangial cell, a retinal epithelial cell, a retinal vascular cell, a ganglion cell or a stem cell. The cell may be a normal cell, an activated cell, a neoplastic cell, a diseased cell, or an infected cell. In another embodiment, the present invention provides a method for the treatment or prevention of a neoplasm in a mammal. The present invention accordingly provides to a mammal, a pharmaceutical composition that comprises a compound of this invention in combination or association with a pharmaceutically acceptable carrier. The compound of this invention may be administered alone or in combination with other therapeutically effective compounds or therapies for the treatment or prevention of the neoplasm. The compounds may be provided orally, by intralesional, intraperitoneal, intramuscular or intravenous injection; infusion; liposome-mediated delivery; topical, nasal, anal, vaginal, sublingual, uretheral, transdermal, intrathecal, ocular or otic delivery. In order to obtain consistency in providing the compound of this invention it is preferred that a compound of the invention is in the form of a unit dose. Suitable unit dose forms include tablets, capsules and powders in sachets or vials. Such unit dose forms may contain from 0.1 to 300 mg of a compound of the invention and preferably from 2 to 100 mg. Still further preferred unit dosage forms contain 5 to 50 mg of a compound of the present invention. The compounds of the present invention can be administered orally at a dose range of about 0.01 to 100 mg/kg or preferably at a dose range of 0.1 to 10 mg/kg. Such compounds may be administered from 1 to 6 times a day, more usually from 1 to 4 times a day. The effective amount will be known to one of skill in the art; it will also be dependent upon the form of the compound. One of skill in the art could routinely perform empirical activity tests to determine the bioactivity of the compound in bioassays and thus determine what dosage to administer. The compounds of the invention may be formulated with conventional excipients, such as a filler, a disintegrating agent, a binder, a lubricant, a flavoring agent, a color additive, or a carrier. The carrier may be for example a diluent, an aerosol, a topical carrier, an aqueous solution, a nonaqueous solution or a solid carrier. The carrier may be a polymer or a toothpaste. A carrier in this invention encompasses any of the standard pharmaceutically accepted carriers, such as phosphate buffered saline solution, acetate buffered saline solution, water, emulsions such as an oil/water emulsion or a triglyceride emulsion, various types of wetting agents, tablets, coated tablets and capsules. When provided orally or topically, such compounds would be provided to a subject by delivery in different carriers. Typically, such carriers contain excipients such as starch, milk, sugar, certain types of clay, gelatin, stearic acid, talc, vegetable fats or oils, gums, or glycols. The specific carrier would need to be selected based upon the desired method of delivery, for example, phosphate buffered saline (PBS) could be used for intravenous or systemic delivery and vegetable fats, creams, salves, ointments or gels may be used for topical delivery. The compounds of the present invention may be delivered together with suitable diluents, preservatives, solubilizers, emulsifiers, adjuvants and/or carriers useful in treatment or prevention of neoplasm. Such compositions are liquids or lyophilized or otherwise dried formulations and include diluents of various buffer content (for example, Tris-HCl, acetate, phosphate), pH and ionic strength, additives such as albumins or gelatin to prevent absorption to surfaces, detergents (for example, TWEEN 20, TWEEN 80, PLURONIC F68, bile acid salts), solubilizing agents (for example, glycerol, polyethylene glycerol), anti-oxidants (for example ascorbic acid, sodium metabisulfate), preservatives (for example, thimerosal, benzyl alcohol, parabens), bulking substances or tonicity modifiers (for example, lactose, mannitol), covalent attachment of polymers such as polyethylene glycol, complexation with metal ions, or incorporation of the compound into or onto particulate preparations of hydrogels or liposomes, micro-emulsions, micelles, unilamellar or multilamellar vesicles, erythrocyte ghosts, or spheroblasts. Such compositions will influence the physical state, solubility, stability, rate of in vivo release, and rate of in vivo clearance of the compound or composition. The choice of compositions will depend on the physical and chemical properties of the compound capable of treating or preventing a neoplasm. The compound of the present invention may be delivered locally via a capsule that allows a sustained release of the compound over a period of time. Controlled or sustained release compositions include formulation in lipophilic depots (for example, fatty acids, waxes, oils). The present invention further provides a compound of the invention for use as an active therapeutic substance for preventing neoplasm. The present invention further provides a method of treating neoplasm in humans, which comprises administering to the infected individual an effective amount of a compound or a pharmaceutical composition of the invention. The compounds of this invention can be prepared as outlined in Flowsheet 1 wherein R1, R2, and R3 are as described above. The amino group of compound 1 can be protected as an amide group by acetylation using acetic anhydride in a solvent such as acetic acid. The hydroxyl group of 2 can be alkylated with an alkyl bromide, iodide, tosylate, or mesylate using potassium carbonate in a refluxing solvent such as acetone. The nitro group of 3 can be reduced using catalytic hydrogenation to give the substituted aniline 4. Heating of 4 with reagent 5 with or without a solvent gives the intermediate 6. Refluxing 6 in a high boiling solvent such as Dowtherm results in cyclization to the hydroxy quinoline 7. This can be chlorinated by heating in phosphorous oxychloride to give the chloro derivative 8. Condensation of 8 with an aniline of formula 9 in a refluxing solvent such as ethanol in the presence of a catalytic amount of acid yields the intermediate 10. The acetate group of 10 can be removed by hydrolysis using acidic or basic conditions followed by neutraliztion to give 11. The intermediate 11 can be acylated with an amino acid chloride 12 (as the hydrochloride salt) to give the compounds of this invention of formula 13. Methods used to prepare the compounds in U.S. Pat. No. 6,288,082, WO-9633978 and WO-9633980 can also be used to prepare the compounds of this invention and are hereby incorporated by reference. In addition to the method described herein above, there a number of patent applications that describe methods that are useful for the preparation of the compounds of this invention. Although these methods describe the preparation of certain quinazolines, they are also applicable to the preparation of correspondingly substituted 3-cyanoquinolines and are hereby incorporated by reference. The chemical procedures described in the application WO-9633980 can be used to prepare the 3-cyanoquinoline intermediates used in this invention wherein the substitution at position 6 is an aminoalkylalkoxy group. The chemical procedures described in the application WO-9633978 can be used to prepare the 3-cyanoquinoline intermediates used in this invention wherein the substitution at position 6 is an aminoalkylamino group. EXAMPLE 1 (E)-N-{4-[4-(benzyloxy)-3-chloroanilino]-3-cyano-7-ethoxy-6-quinolinyl}-4-(dimethylamino)-2-butenamide A 1.74 ml (2.54 g, 0.02 moles) portion of oxalyl chloride was added to 3.31 grams (0.02 moles) of (E)-4-(dimethylamino)-2-butenoic acid hydrochloride in 75 ml of acetonitrile. To this was added a small drop of dimethylformamide. The reaction was heated and stirred in an oil bath at 63° for 20 minutes, giving an orange solution. This solution as concentrated in vacuo without the application of heat to about half its original volume. This solution was cooled in an ice bath and a solution of 4.45 g (0.01 moles) of the 6-amino-4-[4-(benzyloxy)-3-chloroanilino]-7-ethoxy-3-quinolinecarbonitrile in 50 ml of N-methylpyrrolidone was added in a stream. The reaction was cooled and stirred for 2 hours. The reaction was poured onto 100 ml of saturated aqueous sodium bicarbonate in ice. On standing the resulting gum solidified and the solid was filtered. This solid was chromatographed on silica gel. The column was washed with 3 liters of 1:19 methanol-ethyl acetate, then the product was eluted with 3 liters of 1:5:94 triethylamine-methanol-ethyl acetate. Concentration of the eluate gave a solid, which was filtered to give 2.96 grams of the title compound. From the filtrate was obtained an additional 1.0 grams of product. Total: 3.96 g. EXAMPLE 2 (E)-N-{4-[3-chloro-4-(2-pyridinylmethoxy)anilino]-3-cyano-7-ethoxy-6-quinolinyl}-4-(dimethylamino)-2-butenamide A solution of (E)-4-(dimethylamino)-2-butenoic acid hydrochloride in 1.2 L of tetrahydrofuran (THF) and a catalytic amount of dimethylformide (DMF) (1.2 ml) was cooled to 0-5° C. Oxalyl chloride (0.95 eq) was added dropwise and the mixture was warmed to 25-30° C. and stirred for 2 hours. The orange suspension was checked for complete consumption of oxalyl chloride by HPLC then cooled to 0-5° C. A solution of 111 g of 4-[4-(2-pyridylmethoxy)-3-chloro]amino-6-amino-3-cyano-7-ethoxyquinoline in 1.47 L of 1-methyl-2-pyrrolidinone was added dropwise and the mixture was stirred until ≦1.0% of the starting aniline remained (3-16 hours). The reaction was quenched with water and the mixture was warmed to 40° C. Aqueous sodium hydroxide was added to bring the pH to 10-11. The resulting precipitates were filtered hot and washed with water. The wet solids were heated to reflux (70-75° C.) in acetonitrile:THF (1.5:1) and the solution cooled over 3 hours to room temperature. The product was filtered and washed with acetonitrile:THF. The product was dried (50° C., 10 mm Hg, 24 hours) to give 80-85% yield. Melting point of maleate salt 178-183° C. EXAMPLE 3 (E)-N-(4-{3-chloro-4-[3-fluorobenzyl)oxy]anilino}-3-cyano-7-ethoxy-6-quinolinyl)-4-(dimethylamino)-2-butenamide A solution of 108 g (E)-4-(dimethylamino)-2-butenoic acid hydrochloride in 1.1 L of tetrahydrofuran (THF) and a catalytic amount of dimethylformide (DMF) (1.2 ml) was cooled to 0-5° C. Oxalyl chloride (0.95 eq) was added dropwise and the mixture was warmed to 25-30° C. and stirred for 2 hours. The orange suspension was checked for complete consumption of oxalyl chloride by HPLC then cooled to 0-5° C. A solution of 150 g of 6-amino-4-[3-chloro-4-(3-fluorobenzyloxy)]anilino-3-cyano-7-ethoxy quinoline in 1.5 L of 1-methyl-2-pyrrolidinone was added dropwise and the mixture was stirred until ≦1.0% of the starting aniline remained (3-16 hours). The reaction was quenched with water and the mixture was warmed to 40° C. Aqueous sodium hydroxide (101 g in 750 ml) was added to bring the pH to 10-11. The resulting precipitates were filtered hot and washed with water. The wet solids were heated to reflux (70-75° C.) in acetonitrile:THF (1.5:1) and the solution was cooled over 3 hours to room temperature. The product was filtered and washed with acetonitrile:THF. The product was dried (50° C., 10 mm Hg, 24 h) and obtained in 80-85% yield. Melting Point 165-167° C. EXAMPLE 4 4-Benzyloxy-3-chloro-nitrobenzene A 15.43 g (0.275 moles) portion of solid (pellets) potassium hydroxide was added to a solution of 43.89 g (0.25 moles) of 3-chloro-4-fluoro nitrobenzene and 32.34 ml (33.79 grams, 0.373 moles) of benzyl alcohol in 220 ml of acetonitrile. The reaction was vigorously stirred with a mechanical stirrer overnight. The resulting solid was filtered. Concentration of the filtrate gave a second crop, which was also filtered. On standing more solid came out of this filtrate. This mixture was treated with ether, and the solid filtered. All solids were washed thoroughly with water, and combined to give 49.71 g of the title compound. EXAMPLE 5 4-Benzyloxy-3-chloro-phenylamine A mixture of 6.59 g (0.025 moles) of the 4-benzyloxy-3-chloro nitrobenzene (example 4), 4.19 g (0.075 moles) of iron powder, and 12.04 g (0.225 moles) of ammonium chloride in 100 ml of ethanol and 25 ml of water was stirred mechanically and refluxed for half an hour. The reaction was allowed to cool and stir for 1 hour. The mixture was filtered and solids were washed with ethanol. The combined filtrates were taken to dryness in vacuo. This solid was dissolved in methylene chloride and passed through Magnesol. Removal of the solvent from the filtrate in vacuo gave 5.60 g of title compound. EXAMPLE 6 N-{4-[4-(Benzyloxy)-3-chloroanilino]-3-cyano-7-ethoxy-6-quinolinyl}acetamide A mixture of 4.17 g (0.0149 moles) of the N-(4-chloro-3-cyano-7-ethoxy-6-quinolinyl)acetamide, 4.04 g (0.0173 moles) of 4-benzyloxy-3-chloro-phenylamine (example 5), and 2.0 g (0.017 moles) of pyridine hydrochloride in 85 ml of isopropanol was stirred and refluxed in an oil bath for 30 minutes. The reaction was cooled in an ice bath, and the solid was collected by filtration and washed with isopropanol, and then with ether yielding 7.26 g of crude product as the hydrochloride salt. This material was purified by chromatography of the free base on silica gel by elution with 1:39 methanol-methylene chloride. EXAMPLE 7 6-Amino-4-[4-(benzyloxy)-3-chloroanilino]-7-ethoxy-3-quinolinecarbonitrile A solution of 298 mg (0.612 mmoles) of the purified N-{4-[4-(benzyloxy)-3-chloroanilino]-3-cyano-7-ethoxy-6-quinolinyl}acetamide (example 6) and 97 mg (1.73 mmoles) of potassium hydroxide in 10 ml of methanol was stirred and refluxed for 60 hours. On cooling a solid formed. This mixture was poured onto ice, and the resulting solid was filtered and washed with water. On drying, 242 mg of the title compound was obtained. EXAMPLE 8 2-Acetamido-5-nitrophenol To 400 g of 2-amino-5-nitrophenol in a 5-L multi-necked flask equipped with a mechanical stirrer, reflux condenser, nitrogen inlet, 500-mL addition funnel, heating mantle, and a thermocouple attached to a temperature controller was added 1.6 L of acetic acid. The mixture was stirred at 60° C. as 398 g of acetic anhydride was added over 1.5 hours. After 1 hour, another 37 g of acetic anhydride was added. After another 1 hour, the mixture was cooled and diluted with 2 L of water. Solid was collected by filtration and washed with water and heptane. The solid was dried in a vacuum oven to give 509 g of the title compound. EXAMPLE 9 4-Acetamido-3-ethoxynitrobenzene To 400 g of 2-acetamido-5-nitrophenol in a 12-L, 4-necked flask equipped with a reflux condenser, nitrogen inlet, thermocouple, addition funnel, and mechanical stirrer was added 790 g of potassium carbonate and 2.0 L of dimethylformamide. The mixture was stirred at 60° C. as 294 g of ethyl bromide was added over 30 minutes. After 1 hour, an additional 27 g of ethyl bromide was added and the mixture was stirred at 60° C. for another hour. The mixture was cooled to room temperature and poured into 4 L of water. After 30 minutes, the product was collected by filtration and washed with water and heptane. The product was dried in a vacuum oven at 60° C. to give 457 g of the title compound. EXAMPLE 10 3-(4-Acetamido-3-ethoxyaniline)-2-cyanopropenoic acid ethyl ester A suspension of 4-acetamido-3-ethoxynitrobenzene compound in tetrahydrofuran (10 parts) was reduced to the aniline derivative using 10% Pd/C wet at 50 psi hydrogen and 30° C. for 2 hours. The resulting solution was filtered and concentrated to 2 parts of tetrahydrofuran. The concentrate was diluted with toluene and allowed to react with commercially available ethyl (ethoxymethylene)cyanoacetate at reflux for 16 hours. After reaction completion, the mixture was cooled. The precipitated product was collected by filtration, washed and dried. The product was obtained in 90% yield. EXAMPLE 11 3-Cyano-7-ethoxy-4-hydroxy-6-N-acetylquinoline A solution of 210 g of 3-(4-acetamido-3-ethoxyaniline)-2-cyanopropenoic acid ethyl ester in 12 L of Dowtherm was stirred under nitrogen at 250° C. for 15 to 20 hours. The mixture was cooled to room temperature and solid was collected by filtration. The solid was washed with toluene and mixed with 1.2 L of tetrahydrofuran. The mixture was refluxed for 30 minutes and then cooled to room temperature. The solid was collected and washed with tetrahydrofuran. After drying 179.4 g of the title compound was obtained. EXAMPLE 12 4-Chloro-3-cyano-7-ethoxy-6-nitro quinoline A stirred mixture of 300 g 3-cyano-7-ethoxy-4-hydroxy-6-N-acetylquinoline in 2.53 L of 1,2-diethoxyethane was heated to 80-85° C. To this was added 224 ml of phosphorus oxychloride over 30-40 minutes. The mixture was stirred at 80-85° C. for 2-4 hours. The mixture was cooled, filtered over a celite pad and washed with 1,2-diethoxyethane. The filtrates were added over 1.5 hours to a cooled (0-10° C.) potassium carbonate (537 g in 1.5 L water) solution. The resulting yellow mixture was stirred for a minimum of 12 hours. The mixture was filtered and washed with hot water. The solids were dried (50° C., 10 mm Hg, 24 h) to give the title compound in 30-50% yield. The material was used directly in the next step. EXAMPLE 13 3-Chloro-4-(2-pyridylmethoxy)nitrobenzene A mixture of 160 g of potassium hydroxide and 2-pyridylcarbinol in 8 L acetonitrile was stirred for 20-30 minutes. To this was added 400 g of 3-chloro-4-fluoronitrobenzene and the mixture was stirred at 40° C. for a minimum of 18 hours until the reaction was complete. Water was added and the precipitated yellow solids were filtered and washed with water. The product was dried (40-50° C., 10 mm Hg, 24 h) to the product in 85-95% yield. EXAMPLE 14 3-Chloro-4-(3-fluorobenzyloxy)nitrobenzene This compound was prepared from 3-chloro-4-fluoronitrobenzene and 3-fluorobenzyl alcohol using the method described above in Example 13. EXAMPLE 15 6-Amino-4-(3-chloro-4-(3-fluorobenzyloxy))anilino-3-cyano-7-ethoxy quinoline To a mixture of 400 g of 3-chloro-4-(3-fluorobenzyloxy)nitrobenzene (example 14) and 464 g zinc dust in 4 L of ethanol at 40-50° C. was added aqueous ammonium chloride (152 g in 800 ml water). After stirring a minimum of 2 hours, the reaction mixture was filtered hot through a celite pad and washed with hot ethanol. The filtrate was evaporated and 1.72 L of 2-methyl THF, water and brine were added. The organic layer was separated and washed with water. The organic layer was evaporated and replaced with 3.8 L of ethanol. 4-Chloro-3-cyano-7-ethoxy-6-N-acetylamino-quinoline was added with a catalytic amount of methane sulfonic acid and the mixture was heated at 70-75° C. for a minimum of 2 hours until reaction completion. Concentrated 1.69 L HCl was added at 70-75° C. and held for a minimum of 2 hours until complete hydrolysis. Water was added and the mixture was cooled to 40° C., solid was collected and washed with water. The wet cake was slurried in 5.4 L of methanol, 10% aqueous potassium carbonate (315 g in 2.8 L water) was added and the mixture was stirred for 2.5 hours. The mixture was filtered and washed with 1:1 methanol:water. The product was dried (50° C., 10 mm Hg, 24 hours) to give the title compound in 80-90% yield. EXAMPLE 16 6-Amino-4-(4-(2-pyridylmethoxy)-3-chloro)anilino-3-cyano-7-ethoxyquinoline The above-identified compound was prepared from 3-chloro-4-(2-pyridylmethoxy)nitrobenzene and 4-chloro-3-cyano-7-ethoxy-6-N-acetylamino-quinoline using the method described above in Example 15. EXAMPLE 20 4-Dimethyl-but-2-enoic acid [4-(3-chloro-4-fluoro-phenylamino)-3-cyano-7-ethoxy-quinolin-6-yl]-amide EXAMPLE 21 N-{4-[3-Chloro-4-(1-methyl-1H-imidazol-2-ylsulfanyl)-phenylamino]-3-cyano-quinolin-6-yl}-acrylamide EXAMPLE 22 6,7-Diethoxy-4-(1H-indol-6-ylamino)-quinoline-3-carbonitrile EXAMPLE 23 4-(2,3-Dihydro-benzo[1,4]dioxin-6-ylamino)-6,7-diethoxy-quinoline-3-carbonitrile EXAMPLE 24 4-(1H-Indazol-6-ylamino)-6,7-bis-(2-methoxy-ethoxy)-quinoline-3-carbonitrile EXAMPLE 25 4-(1,4-Dioxo-1,2,3,4-tetrahydro-phthalazin-6-ylamino)-6,7-diethoxy-quinoline-3-carbonitrile EXAMPLE 26 6,7-Diethoxy-4-(indan-5-ylamino)-quinoline-3-carbonitrile EXAMPLE 27 4-(2,4-Dioxo-1,4-dihydro-2H-benzo[d][1,3]oxazin-6-ylamino)-6,7-diethoxy-quinoline-3-carbonitrile EXAMPLE 28 6,7-Diethoxy-4-(1-oxo-indan-5-ylamino)-quinoline-3-carbonitrile EXAMPLE 29 6,7-Diethoxy-4-(3-oxo-1,3-dihydro-isobenzofuran-5-ylamino)-quinoline-3-carbonitrile EXAMPLE 30 4-(1,1-Dioxo-1H-1-benzo[b]thiophen-6-ylamino)-6,7-diethoxy-quinoline-3-carbonitrile EXAMPLE 31 7-Ethoxy-4-(1H-indazol-6-ylamino)-6-methoxy-quinoline-3-carbonitrile EXAMPLE 32 6-Ethoxy-4-(1H-indazol-6-ylamino)-7-methoxy-quinoline-3-carbonitrile EXAMPLE 33 6,7-Diethoxy-4-(1-methyl-2,5-dioxo-2,3,4,5-tetrahydro-1H-benzo[e][1,4]diazepin-7-ylamino)-quinoline-3-carbonitrile EXAMPLE 34 4-(1H-Indazol-6-ylamino)-6-methoxy-7-(3-morpholin-4-yl-propoxy)-quinoline-3-carbonitrile EXAMPLE 35 4-({3-chloro-4-[(1-methyl-1H-imidazol-2-yl)sulfanyl]phenyl}amino)-7-methoxy-6-nitro-3-quinolinecarbonitrile EXAMPLE 36 6-amino-4-({3-chloro-4-[(1-methyl-1H-imidazol-2-yl)sulfanyl]phenyl}amino)-7-methoxy-3-quinolinecarbonitrile EXAMPLE 37 (2E)-N-[4-({3-chloro-4-[(1-methyl-1H-imidazol-2-yl)sulfanyl]phenyl}amino)-3-cyano-7-methoxy-6-quinolinyl]-4-(dimethylamino)-2-butenamide EXAMPLE 38 4-{[3-chloro-4-(1,3-thiazol-2-ylsulfanyl)phenyl]amino}-7-methoxy-6-nitro-3-quinolinecarbonitrile EXAMPLE 39 6-amino-4-{[3-chloro-4-(1,3-thiazol-2-ylsulfanyl)phenyl]amino}-7-methoxy-3-quinolinecarbonitrile EXAMPLE 40 (2E)-N-(4-{[3-chloro-4-(1,3-thiazol-2-ylsulfanyl)phenyl]amino}-3-cyano-7-methoxy-6-quinolinyl)-4-(dimethylamino)-2-butenamide EXAMPLE 41 4-[3-chloro-4-(1H-imidazol-1-yl)anilino]-7-methoxy-6-nitro-3-idazol-1-yl)anilino]-7-methoxy-6-nitro-3-quinolinecarbonitrile EXAMPLE 42 6-amino-4-[3-chloro-4-(1H-imidazol-1-yl)anilino]-7-methoxy-3-4-(1H-imidazol-1-yl)anilino]-7-methoxy-3-quinolinecarbonitrile EXAMPLE 43 (E)-N-{4-[3-chloro-4-(1H-imidazol-1-yl)anilino]-3-cyano-7-methoxy-6-quinolinyl}-azol-1-yl)anilino]-4-(dimethylamino)-2-)anilino-2-butenamide EXAMPLE 44 4-{3-chloro-4-[(4-oxo-3,4-dihydro-2-quinazolinyl)sulfanyl]anilino}-7-methoxy-6-hydro-2-quinazolinyl)sulfanyl]anilino}-7-methoxy-6-nitro-3-quinolinecarbonitrile EXAMPLE 45 6-amino-4-{3-chloro-4-[(4-oxo-3,4-dihydro-2-quinazolinyl)sulfanyl]anilino}-7-3,4-dihydro-2-quinazolinyl)sulfanyl]anilino}-7-methoxy-3-quinolinecarbonitrile EXAMPLE 46 (E)-N-(4-{3-chloro-4-[(4-oxo-3,4-dihydro-2-quinazolinyl)sulfanyl]anilino}-3-fanyl]anilino}-3-cyano-7-methoxy-6-quinolinyl)-4-(dimethylamino)-2-butenamide EXAMPLE 47 (E)-N-(4-{4-[acetyl(3-pyridinylmethyl)amino]-3-chloroanilino≢-3-cyano-7-methoxy-]-3-chloroanilino}-3-cyano-7-methoxy-6-quinolinyl)-4-(dimethylamino)-2-oanilino}-3-cyano-7-methoxy-6-quinolinyl)-4-(dimethylamino)-2-butenamide EXAMPLE 48 N-{2-chloro-4-[(3-cyano-7-methoxy-6-nitro-4-quinolinyl)amino]phenyl}-N-(3-7-methoxy-6-nitro-4-quinolinyl)amino]phenyl}-N-(3-pyridinylmethyl)acetamide EXAMPLE 49 N-{4-[(6-amino-3-cyano-7-methoxy-4-quinolinyl)amino]-2-chlorophenyl}-N-(3—methoxy-4-quinolinyl)amino]-2-chlorophenyl}-N-(3-pyridinylmethyl)acetamide EXAMPLE 50 N-(4-{[6-(acetylamino)-3-cyano-7-methoxy-4-quinolinyl]amino]-2-chlorophenyl)-N-ano-7-methoxy-4-quinolinyl]amino}-2-chlorophenyl)-N-(3-pyridinylmethyl)acetamide EXAMPLE 51 4-{3-chloro-4-[(1-methyl-1H-imidazol-2-yl)sulfanyl]anilino}-6-methoxy-7-[3-(4-morpholinyl)propoxy]-3-quinolinecarbonitrite EXAMPLE 52 4-(3-chloro-4-{[5-(trifluoromethyl)-1,3,4-thiadiazol-2-yl]amino}anilino)-7-ethoxy-6-nitro-3-quinolinecarbonitrile EXAMPLE 53 (E)-N-[4-(3-chloro-4-{[5-(trifluoromethyl)-1,3,4-thiadiazol-2-yl]amino}anilino)-3-cyano-7-ethoxy-6-quinolinyl]-4-(dimethylamino)-2-butenamide EXAMPLE 54 4-[3-chloro-4-(4-pyridinyloxy)anilino]-7-ethoxy-6-nitro-3-quinolinecarbonitrile EXAMPLE 55 6-amino-4-[3-chloro-4-(4-pyridinyloxy)anilino]-7-ethoxy-3-quinolinecarbonitrile EXAMPLE 56 (E)-N-{4-[3-chloro-4-(4-pyridinyloxy)anilino]-3-cyano-7-ethoxy-6-quinolinyl}-4-(dimethylamino)-2-butenamide EXAMPLE 57 4-{3-chloro-4-[(3-pyridinylmethyl)amino]anilino}-7-methoxy-6-nitro-3-quinolinecarbonitrile EXAMPLE 58 (E)-N-(4-{3-chloro-4-[(4-phenyl-1,3-thiazol-2-yl)sulfanyl]anilino}-3-cyano-7-methoxy-6-quinolinyl)-4-(dimethylamino)-2-butenamide EXAMPLE 59 6-amino-4-(3-chloro-4-{[5-(trifluoromethyl)-1,3,4-thiadiazol-2-yl]amino}anilino)-7-ethoxy-3-quinolinecarbonitrile EXAMPLE 60 4-[3-chloro-4-(1H-imidazol-1-ylmethyl)anilino]-7-ethoxy-6-nitro-3-quinolinecarbonitrile EXAMPLE 61 6-amino-4-[3-chloro-4-(1H-imidazol-1-ylmethyl)anilino]-7-ethoxy-3-quinolinecarbonitrile EXAMPLE 62 (E)-N-{4-[3-chloro-4-(1H-imidazol-1-ylmethyl)anilino]-3-cyano-7-ethoxy-6-quinolinyl}-4-(dimethylamino)-2-butenamide EXAMPLE 63 4-{3-chloro-4-[(4-methyl-2-pyrimidinyl)sulfanyl]anilino}-7-ethoxy-6-nitro-3-quinolinecarbonitrile EXAMPLE 64 6-amino-4-{3-chloro-4-[(4-methyl-2-pyrimidinyl)sulfanyl]anilino}-7-ethoxy-3-quinolinecarbonitrile EXAMPLE 65 (E)-N-(4-{3-chloro-4-[(4-methyl-2-pyrimidinyl)sulfanyl]anilino}-3-cyano-7-ethoxy-6-quinolinyl)-4-(dimethylamino)-2-butenamide EXAMPLE 66 (E)-N-(4-{3-chloro-4-[(4,6-dimethyl-2-pyrimidinyl)sulfanyl]anilino}-3-cyano-7-ethoxy-6-quinolinyl)-4-(dimethylamino)-2-butenamide EXAMPLE 67 7-ethoxy-6-nitro-4-[4-[(4-phenyl-1,3-thiazol-2-yl)sulfanyl]-3-(trifluoromethyl)anilino]-3-quinolinecarbonitrile EXAMPLE 68 6-Amino-7-ethoxy-4-[4-(4-phenyl-thiazol-2-ylsulfanyl)-3-trifluoromethyl-phenylamino]-quinoline-3-carbonitrile EXAMPLE 69 (E)-N-{3-cyano-7-ethoxy-4-[4-[(4-phenyl-1,3-thiazol-2-yl)sulfanyl]-3-(trifluoromethyl)anilino]-6-quinolinyl}-4-(dimethylamino)-2-butenamide EXAMPLE 70 (E)-N-(4-{3-chloro-4-[(5-phenyl-1,3-thiazol-2-yl)sulfanyl]anilino}-3-cyano-7-methoxy-6-quinolinyl)-4-(dimethylamino)-2-butenamide EXAMPLE 71 (E)-N-{4-[3-chloro-4-(1,3-thiazol-2-ylsulfanyl)anilino]-3-cyano-7-methoxy-6-quinolinyl}-4-[(2-methoxyethyl)(methyl)amino]-2-butenamide (E)-N-{4-[3-chloro-4-(1,3-thiazol-2-ylsulfanyl)anilino]-3-cyano-7-methoxy-6-quinolinyl}-4-[(2-methoxyethyl)(methyl)amino]-2-butenamide was prepared by adding dropwise, 3.43 g (18.71 mmol, 1.95 mL) 4-bromocrotonyl chloride in 12 mL THF over 45 minutes to a stirred solution of 4.7 g (10.69 mmol) 6-amino-4-[3-chloro-4-(thiazol-2-ylsulfanyl)-phenylamino]-7-methoxy-quinolin-3-carbonitrile in 588 mL THF containing 3.73 mL (21.36 mmol) diisopropylethylamine, at 0° C. under nitrogen. The reaction produced a mixture of 4-bromo-(and chloro)-but-2-enoic acid {4-[3-chloro-4-(thiazol-2-ylsulfanyl)-phenylamino]-3-cyano-7-methoxy-quinolin-6-yl}-amide. A 300 mL portion of the solution was cooled to 0° C. and 2.38 g (26.7 mmol) (2-methoxyethyl)-methylamine in 11 mL THF was added dropwise. After the reaction had warmed to room temperature, 401 mg (0.5 eq) of sodium iodide was added and the solution was stirred overnight. The solvents were evaporated to leave a red gum, which was partitioned between EtOAc and saturated NaHCO3. After standing overnight, the layers were separated and the organic layer was dried and evaporated. Chromatography of the residue on a short column of Kieselgel 60, eluting with EtOAc, then EtOAc/15% MeOH, and finally EtOAc/15% MeOH/1% Et3N yielded 1.3 g (41%) of the product as a yellow glass; HRMS (ESI) m/z 595.13338 (M)+1, Δ=−2.28 mmu. EXAMPLE 72 (E)-N-(4-{3-chloro-4-[(4-phenyl-1,3-thiazol-2-yl)sulfanyl]anilino}-3-cyano-7-ethoxy-6-quinolinyl)-4-(dimethylamino)-2-butenamide EXAMPLE 73 4-{3-chloro-4-[(1-methyl-1H-imidazol-2-yl)sulfanyl]anilino}-6-methoxy-7-[3-(1H-1,2,3-triazol-1-yl)propoxy]-3-quinolinecarbonitrile EXAMPLE 74 4-{3-chloro-4-[(4,6-dimethyl-2-pyrimidinyl)sulfanyl]anilino}-7-ethoxy-6-nitro-3-quinolinecarbonitrile EXAMPLE 75 6-amino-4-[3-chloro-4-[(4,6-dimethyl-2-pyrimidinyl)sulfanyl]anilino}-7-ethoxy-3-quinolinecarbonitrile EXAMPLE 76 (2E)-N-{4-[3-chloro-4-(2-thienylmethoxy)anilino]-3-cyano-7-ethoxy-6-quinolinyl}-4-(dimethylamino)-2-butenamide Representative compounds of this invention were evaluated in several standard pharmacological test procedures that showed that the compounds of this invention possess significant activity as inhibitors of HER-2 and are antiproliferative agents. Based on the activity shown in the standard pharmacological test procedures, the compounds of this invention are therefore useful as antineoplastic agents. The test procedures used and results obtained are shown below. Kinase Assays: example 1, example 2 and example 3 are potent inhibitors of the HER-2 enzyme, example 20 is not. Purified recombinant C-terminal fragment of each enzyme is incubated with ATP in the absence or presence of a range of compound concentrations. Autophosphorylation of the receptors was evaluated with phosphotyrosine antibodies in an ELISA format. In a cell-free autophosphorylation assay using the recombinant cytoplasmic domain of HER-2, all three inhibitors reduced enzyme activity by 50% (IC50) at concentrations between 33-65 nM (Table 1). TABLE 1 Enzyme IC50 (μg/mL) Compound HER-2 EGFR Example 1 0.036 0.028 Example 2 0.033 0.051 Example 3 0.019 0.019 Example 20 0.58 0.02 They also inhibited EGFR under similar assay conditions at 33-92 nM. Cell Proliferation Assays: example 1, example 2, and example 3 repressed the proliferation of a mouse fibroblast cell line transfected with the HER-2 oncogene (3T31neu) by 50% (IC50) at 3-5 nM (Table 2). This value was substantially lower than that obtained with the isogenic untransfected cells (3T3; IC50 683-906 nM), indicating a high degree of selectivity for this oncogenic pathway. Cells were incubated with various concentrations of compound for 2 days (6 days for BT474 cells). Cell survival was determined using a protein binding dye assay (SRB),(Rubinstein LV, Shoemaker R H, Paull K D, Simon R M, Tosini S, Skehan P, Scudiero D A, Monks A, Boyd M R. Comparison of in vitro anticancer-drug-screening data generated with a tetrazolium assay versus a protein assay against a diverse panel of human tumor cell lines. J. Natl. Cancer Inst. 82(13):1113-8, 1990, Skehan P, Storeng R, Scudiero D, Monks A, McMahon J, Vistica D, Warren JT, Bokesch H, Kenney S, Boyd MR. New colorimetric cytotoxicity assay for anticancer-drug screening. J. Natl. Cancer Inst. 82(13):1107-12, 1990). The concentration of drug (nM) which inhibits enzyme activity or cell proliferation by 50% is shown. The three inhibitors also inhibited two other HER-2 overexpressing breast cancer cell lines, SK-Br-3 and BT474 (IC50 2-4 nM), but were much less active on MDA-MB-435 and SW620 cells (a breast cancer and a colon cancer cell line, respectively), that are EGFR— and HER-2-negative. The compounds repressed the epidermal carcinoma cell line, A431, that overexpresses EGFR (IC50 81-120 nM) (Table 2). TABLE 2 CELL IC50 (μg/mL) EGFR − − +++ − + − − Her-2 − +++ + +++ +++ − − COMPOUND 3T3 3T3/NEU A431 SKBr3 BT474 MDA-MB-435 SW620 Example 1 0.38 0.0029 0.062 0.0015 0.0014 0.47 0.24 Example 2 0.39 0.0018 0.045 0.001 0.0013 0.44 0.44 Example 3 0.52 0.0023 0.069 0.0015 0.0024 0.51 0.29 Example 20 0.26 0.0230 0.030 0.0071 0.020 0.34 0.32 Example 21 0.463 0.62 0.01 4.57 1.84 Example 22 0.933 0.123 0.0374 0.365 0.286 Example 23 0.375 0.27 0.281 0.235 0.411 Example 24 >5 1.961 >5 2.045 >5 Example 25 >5 >5 >5 >5 >5 Example 26 0.0198 0.342 0.294 0.352 0.294 Example 27 4.616 >5 >5 >5 2.922 Example 28 0.0311 0.0181 0.0281 0.028 0.0244 Example 29 3.301 >5 >5 3.404 1.565 Example 30 0.251 0.257 0.336 0.00328 0.146 Example 31 0.0267 0.0368 0.022 0.0359 0.0212 Example 32 4.801 0.786 2.094 2.626 4.313 Example 33 >5 >5 >5 >5 >5 Example 34 >5 >5 >5 >5 >5 Example 35 4.09 2.88 0.669 1 1.55 Example 36 1.06 3.04 0.011 0.39 3.16 Example 37 0.02 0.02 0.0004 0.43 0.43 Example 38 0.262 0.148 0.124 0.35 0.15 Example 39 0.333 0.663 0.236 0.65 0.55 Example 40 0.002 0.017 0.0007 0.33 1.13 Example 41 1.09 1.79 1.48 0.95 1.66 Example 42 0.53 1.63 1.73 1.27 5.99 Example 43 1.46 0.51 0.32 0.57 1.45 Example 44 4.54 2.28 4.54 >5 1.96 Example 45 1.88 1.22 2.15 4.58 4.66 Example 46 0.15 0.34 0.06 >5 >5 Example 47 >5 0.646 >5 1.16 1.64 Example 48 1.79 1.6 0.68 2.61 2.57 Example 49 2.4 >5 3.41 3.76 >5 Example 50 >5 3.68 3.94 >5 >5 Example 51 0.196 0.775 0.32 2.18 Example 52 1.89 1.79 1.22 1.84 2.54 Example 53 0.89 0.728 0.179 0.95 1.05 Example 54 >5 >5 >5 2.54 >5 Example 55 >5 >5 >5 1.61 >5 Example 56 >5 3.27 1.51 2.06 >5 Example 57 4.03 1.6 0.726 1.87 3.21 Example 58 0.028 0.162 0.005 0.23 0.57 Example 59 >5 >5 0.551 0.91 1.38 Example 60 >5 >5 2.44 >5 >5 Example 61 >5 >5 0.75 >5 >5 Example 62 0.99 0.95 0.045 2.1 3.8 Example 63 1.49 1.2 0.45 1.3 0.9 Example 64 3.03 1.53 >5 1.8 2 Example 65 0.003 0.12 0.001 0.3 0.2 Example 66 0.01 0.24 0.006 0.2 0.32 Example 67 0.68 0.76 0.268 0.4 0.4 Example 68 2.52 >5 0.943 2.5 3.1 Example 69 0.42 0.3 >5 0.3 0.6 Example 70 0.12 0.22 0.01 0.08 0.5 Example 71 0.002 0.03 0.002 0.09 0.4 Example 72 0.02 0.24 0.006 0.18 0.54 Example 73 0.973 1.83 0.104 3.69 Example 74 >5 >5 >5 4.1 >5 Example 75 2.12 0.76 0.98 1.3 1.36 Example 76 0.41 0.0039 0.066 0.004 0.003 0.77 0.25 Receptor Phosphorylation: Compounds that repressed the proliferation of a mouse fibroblast cell line transfected with the HER-2 oncogene (3T3/neu) by 50% (IC50) <0.05 μg/ml in Table 2 above were tested for in vitro phosphorylation. For Her-2 and EGFR phosphorylation assays, cells (BT474 and A431, respectively) were incubated with various concentrations of compound for 3 hours at 37° C. Protein extracts were analyzed by immunoblotting using phospho-tyrosine antibodies. Blots were quantified by densitometric scanning. Concentration of compound (nM) which inhibits phosphorylation by 50% was determined. Example 1, Example 3 and HKI-272 decreased ligand-independent receptor phosphorylation by 50% (IC50) at 5-23 nM in BT474 cells (Table 3). They also repressed EGF-dependent phosphorylation of EGFR in A431 cells at a comparable dose (IC50 3-7 nM). TABLE 3 IC50 (μg/mL) Compound BT474 A431 Example 1 0.0075 0.0031 Example 2 0.0026 0.0014 Example 3 0.013 0.0042 Example 20 0.080 0.0031 Example 37 <1 Example 40 10-50 Example 58 50-500 Example 76 0.0015 0.0025 IN VIVO: The in vivo antitumor activity of example 3 was evaluated in tumor xenograft models. Tumor cells (grown in tissue culture) or tumor fragments were implanted subcutaneously in female nude mice. Treatment was initiated after tumors had reached a size of 90-200 mg, following random assignment of the animals to different treatment groups (staging). Alternatively (3T3/neu), treatment was initiated the day after tumor implantation, due to the rapid outgrowth of these tumors. Compounds were formulated in 0.5% Methocel-0.4% polysorbate-80 (Tween-80) and administered daily, PO, by gavage. Tumor mass [(L×W2)/2] was determined every 7 days. Statistical significance of compound effects was evaluated using Student's t-test. The activity of example 3 was first evaluated in xenografts of 3T3/neu cells example 3 inhibited tumor growth when administered to animals at 20 mg/kg/day (65% inhibition, day 21), 40 mg/kg/day (97% inhibition), and 80 mg/kg/day (99% inhibition). These results were almost identical to those obtained with example 2 treatment (53%, 95%, and 98% inhibition, respectively at 20, 40 and 80 mg/kg/day). In two other independent tests, EXAMPLE 3 treatment produced a statistically-significant inhibition of tumor growth (21-33%) at a dose of 10 mg/kg/day. Based on these studies, the minimum efficacious dose (MED) was estimated to be 10 mg/kg/day. This is the smallest dose that produces a sustained, statistically-significant (p<0.05) reduction of tumor growth. The effect of example 3 was next studied in xenografts of HER-2-dependent human tumor cell lines. In animals bearing BT474 xenografts, example 3 treatment reduced tumor growth when dosed between 10 mg/kg/day and 40 mg/kg/day. Maximum inhibition was observed on day 21, and ranged from 59% (10/mg/kg/day) to 96% (40 mg/kg/day). For example 2, inhibition ranged from 76% (10 mg/kg/day) to 95% (40 mg/kg/day). Similar results were obtained in two other independent experiments. In animals bearing xenografts of SUM-190 (a second HER-2-dependent breast cancer cell line), example 3 treatment resulted in substantial repression of tumor growth when dosed at 40 mg/kg/day (94% inhibition, day 28). Example 3 was also effective against xenografts of SK-OV-3 (a HER-2-dependent human ovarian carcinoma cell line). Here, example 3 was active between 20 mg/kg/day (86% inhibition, day 35) and 60 mg/kg/day (91% inhibition). The MED in the HER-2 overexpressing human xenograft models was estimated at 10 mg/kg/day, similar to example 2. In these studies, there was no decrease in tumor size below the initial size at the start of dosing. Furthermore, tumors showed evidence of re-growth when treatment was completed, which is consistent with a non-cytotoxic mode of action for example 3. | <SOH> BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION <EOH>This invention relates to certain substituted 3-cyano quinoline compounds as well as the pharmaceutically acceptable salts thereof. The compounds of the present invention inhibit the HER-2 and epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) enzyme thereby inhibiting the abnormal growth of certain cell types. The compounds of this invention are anti-cancer agents and are useful for the treatment of cancer in mammals. This invention also relates to the use of 3-cyano quinolines in the treatment of cancer and the pharmaceutical preparations containing them. Protein tyrosine kinases are a class of enzymes that catalyze the transfer of a phosphate group from ATP to a tyrosine residue located on a protein substrate. Protein tyrosine kinases clearly play a role in normal cell growth. Many of the growth factor receptor proteins function as tyrosine kinases and it is by this process that they effect signaling. The interaction of growth factors with these receptors is a necessary event in normal regulation of cell growth. However, under certain conditions, as a result of either mutation or over expression, these receptors can become deregulated, the result of which is uncontrolled cell proliferation which can lead to tumor growth and ultimately to the disease known as cancer [Walks, A. F., Adv. Cancer Res., 60, 43 (1993) and Parsons, J. T.; Parsons, S. J., Important Advances in Oncology , DeVita, V. T. Ed., J. B. Lippincott Co., Phila, 3 (1993)]. Among the growth factor receptor kinases and their proto-oncogenes that have been identified and which are targets of the compounds of this invention are the epidermal growth factor receptor kinase (EGF-R kinase, the protein product of the erbB oncogene), and the product produced by the erbB-2 (also referred to as the neu or HER-2) oncogene. Since the phosphorylation event is a necessary signal for cell division to occur and since over expressed or mutated kinases have been associated with cancer, an inhibitor of this event, a protein tyrosine kinase inhibitor, will have therapeutic value for the treatment of cancer and other diseases characterized by uncontrolled or abnormal cell growth. For example, over expression of the receptor kinase product of the erbB-2 oncogene has been associated with human breast and ovarian cancers [Slamon, D. J., et. al., Science, 244, 707 (1989) and Science, 235, 1146 (1987)]. Deregulation of EGF-R kinase has been associated with epidermoid tumors [Reiss, M., et al., Cancer Res., 51, 6254 (1991)], breast tumors [Macias, A., et. al., Anticancer Res., 7, 459 (1987)], and tumors involving other major organs [Gullick, W. J., Brit. Med. Bull., 47, 87 (1991)]. Because of the importance of the role played by deregulated receptor kinases in the pathogenesis of cancer, many recent studies have dealt with the development of specific PTK inhibitors as potential anti-cancer therapeutic agents [some recent reviews: Burke. T. R., Drugs Future, 17, 119 (1992) and Chang, C. J.; Geahlen, R 1 L., J. Nat. Prod., 55, 1529 (1992)]. The compounds of this invention inhibit the kinase activity of EGF-R and are therefore useful for treating certain disease states, such as cancer, that result, at least in part, from deregulation of this receptor. The HER-2 gene (c-erbB-2, neu) encodes a 185 kDa transmembrane tyrosine kinase receptor that has partial homology with other members of the epidermal growth factor receptor family [Shih, C., Padhy, L. C., Murray, M., et al. Transforming genes of carcinomas and neuroblastomas introduced into mouse fibroblasts, Nature, 290, 261-264 (1981)]. It is now known that normal human cells express a small constitutive amount of HER-2 protein on the plasma membrane. The activation of the HER-2 oncogene is believed to follow the binding of a yet unidentified growth factor ligand to the HER-2 receptor complex, which leads to heterodimerization, triggering a cascade of growth signals that culminates in gene activation. More specifically, the epidermal growth factor family can be subdivided into four groups based on their receptor-binding specificities (HER-1, HER-2, HER-3, and HER-4). HER-2 is the preferred heterodimerization partner of all other HER receptors. Over expression of HER-2 has been demonstrated to lead to increased tumorigenicity, tumor invasiveness, increased metastatic potential, and altered sensitivity to hormonal and chemotherapeutic agents in transfection studies in cellular and animal models [Pegram, M. D., Finn, R 1 S., Arzoo, K., et al. The effect of HER-2/neu over expression on chemotherapeutic drug sensitivity in human breast and ovarian cells Oncogene, 15, 537-547 (1997)]. HER-2 protein over expression has been reported to occur in approximately 30% of invasive human breast cancers, with HER-2 gene amplification detected in 95% or more of the specimens found to over express HER-2 protein, [Gebhardt, F., Zanker, K., Brandt, B. Differential expression of alternatively spliced c-erbB-2 mRNA in primary tumors, lymph node metastases, and bone marrow micro metastases from breast cancer patients Biochem. Biophys. Res. Commun., 247, 319-323 (1998)]. U.S. Pat. No. 6,288,082 issued Sep. 11, 2001 (the '082 patent) discloses substituted 3-cyano quinoline compounds that inhibit epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR). The compounds of this application are distinguished from those of the '082 patent in their ability to act as potent HER-2 inhibitors. | <SOH> BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION <EOH>This invention provides a compound of formula 1: wherein: R 1 is halogen; R 2 is a pyridinyl, thiophene, pyrimidine, thiazole, or phenyl optionally substituted with up to three substituents; R 3 is —O— or —S—; R 4 is methyl or CH 2 CH 2 OCH 3 ; R 5 is ethyl or methyl; and n is 0 or 1. In one embodiment the compounds of this invention include: (E)-N-{4-[4-(benzyloxy)-3-chloroanilino]-3-cyano-7-ethoxy-6-quinolinyl}-4-(dimethylamino)-2-butenamide; (E)-N-{4-[3-chloro-4-(2-pyridinylmethoxy)anilino]-3-cyano-7-ethoxy-6-quinolinyl}-4-(dimethylamino)-2-butenamide; (E)-N-(4-{3-chloro-4-[(3-fluorobenzyl)oxy]anilino}-3-cyano-7-ethoxy-6-quinolinyl)-4-(dimethylamino)-2-butenamide; (2E)-N-(4-{[3-chloro-4-(1,3-thiazol-2-ylsulfanyl)phenyl]amino}-3-cyano-7-methoxy-6-quinolinyl)-4-(dimethylamino)-2-butenamide; (E)-N-(4-{3-chloro-4-[(4,6-di-methyl-2-pyrimidinyl)sulfanyl]anilino}-3-cyano-7-ethoxy-6-quinolinyl)-4-(dimethylamino)-2-butenamide; (E)-N-{4-[3-chloro-4-(1,3-thiazol-2-ylsulfanyl)anilino]-3-cyano-7-methoxy-6-quinolinyl}-4-[(2-methoxyethyl)(methyl)amino]-2-butenamide; The following experimental details are set forth to aid in an understanding of the invention, and are not intended, and should not be construed, to limit in any way the invention set forth in the claims that follow thereafter. detailed-description description="Detailed Description" end="lead"? | 20040910 | 20080715 | 20050317 | 94591.0 | 1 | SEAMAN, D MARGARET M | PROTEIN TYROSINE KINASE ENZYME INHIBITORS | UNDISCOUNTED | 0 | ACCEPTED | 2,004 |
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10,939,010 | ACCEPTED | Two-cycle swash plate internal combustion engine | A power-generation device comprising at least one cylinder, at least one cylinder head, at least one piston and an output shaft, having a central axis having a fixed angular relationship to the central axis of the cylinder. A swash plate, having a first swash plate surface having a normal axis disposed at a first fixed angle to the central axis of the output shaft, is fixed to the output shaft. At least one connecting rod is connected to at least one piston. At least one follower is secured to the second end of a connecting rod. The first follower surface contacts, and conforms to, the orientation of the first swash plate surface. | 1. A power-generation device comprising: At least one cylinder having an internal volume, an internal cylinder surface, a central axis, a first end and a second end; At least one cylinder head, having an internal cylinder head surface, each such cylinder head being disposed at, and secured to, the first end of one of the at least one cylinders; At least one piston, having an axis of motion parallel to the central axis of at least one of the cylinders, disposed in the internal volume of the cylinder and having a crown disposed toward the internal surface of the cylinder head secured to that cylinder, the crown of the piston, an internal cylinder surface, and the internal surface of the cylinder head for that cylinder together forming a combustion chamber for that cylinder; An output shaft, having a central axis having a fixed angular relationship to the central axis of the cylinder; A swash plate, fixed to the output shaft, having a first swash plate surface having a normal axis disposed at a first fixed angle to the central axis of the output shaft; At least one connecting rod, having a principal axis, a first end axially and rotationally fixed to a piston, and a second end; At least one follower, secured to the second end of a connecting rod, having a first follower surface having a normal axis disposed at the first fixed angle to the principal axis of the connecting rod to which it is secured, the first follower surface contacting, and conforming to, the orientation of the first swash plate surface. 2. The power-generation device of claim 1 wherein there are at least two cylinders. 3. The power-generation device of claim 2 wherein there are at least three cylinders. 4. The power-generation device of claim 3 wherein there are at least four cylinders. 5. The power-generation device of claim 4 wherein there are more than four cylinders. 6. The power-generation device of claim 1 wherein the power generation device operates according to the Otto cycle. 7. The power-generation device of claim 1 wherein the power generation device operates according to the Stirling cycle. 8. The power-generation device of claim 1 further comprising at least one fuel injector disposed to inject fuel into the combustion chamber wherein the power generation device operates according to the Diesel cycle. 9. The power-generation device of claim 1 wherein the power generation device operates according to a dual cycle. 10. The power-generation device of claim 1 wherein the swash plate may be moved axially with respect to the cylinder. 11. The power-generation device of claim 1 wherein at least one cylinder head incorporates at least one intake port. 12. The power-generation device of claim 11 wherein at least one cylinder head incorporates at least two intake ports. 13. The power-generation device of claim 11 wherein at least one intake port is pressurized. 14. The power-generation device of claim 13 further comprising a turbocharger pressurizing at least one intake port. 15. The power-generation device of claim 13 further comprising a supercharger pressurizing at least one intake port. 16. The power-generation device of claim 1 further comprising a clocking interface to synchronize the orientation of the piston about its central axis to the orientation of the swash plate about the central axis of the output shaft. 17. The power-generation device of claim 1 wherein the surface of the swash plate is substantially planar. 18. The power-generation device of claim 16 wherein the normal axis of the swash plate is disposed at approximately 45 degrees to the central axis of the output shaft. 19. A power-generation device comprising: An output shaft, having a central axis; At least two cylinders, disposed symmetrically about the central axis of the output shaft, each having a central axis parallel to the central axis of the output shaft, an internal volume, an internal cylinder surface, a central axis, a first end and a second end; At least two cylinder heads, each having an internal cylinder head surface, each such cylinder head being disposed at, and secured to, the first end of one of the cylinders; At least two pistons, each having an axis of motion aligned to the central axis of a cylinder, disposed in the internal volume of the cylinder and having a crown disposed toward the internal surface of the cylinder head secured to that cylinder, the crown of the piston, an internal cylinder surface, and the internal surface of the cylinder head for that cylinder together forming a combustion chamber for that cylinder; A swash plate, fixed to the output shaft, having a swash plate clocking interface fixed to the orientation of the output shaft about the central axis of the output shaft; At least two connecting rods, each having a principal axis, a first end axially and rotationally fixed to a piston, and a second end; At least two followers, each secured to the second end of a connecting rod, having a follower clocking interface fixed to the orientation of the connecting rod about the principal axis of the connecting rod and the orientation of the swash plate clocking interface. 20. The power-generation device of claim 19 wherein there are at least three cylinders. 21. The power-generation device of claim 20 wherein there are at least four cylinders. 22. The power-generation device of claim 21 wherein there are more than four cylinders. 23. The power-generation device of claim 19 wherein the power generation device operates according to the Otto cycle. 24. The power-generation device of claim 19 wherein the power generation device operates according to the Stirling cycle. 25. The power-generation device of claim 19 further comprising at least one fuel injector disposed to inject fuel into a combustion chamber and wherein the power generation device operates according to the Diesel cycle. 26. The power-generation device of claim 19 wherein the power generation device operates according to a dual cycle. 27. The power-generation device of claim 19 wherein the swash plate may be moved axially with respect to the cylinder. 28. The power-generation device of claim 19 wherein at least one cylinder head incorporates at least one intake port. 29. The power-generation device of claim 28 wherein at least one cylinder head incorporates at least two intake ports. 30. The power-generation device of claim 28 wherein at least one intake port is pressurized. 31. The power-generation device of claim 30 further comprising a turbocharger pressurizing at least one intake port. 32. The power-generation device of claim 30 further comprising a supercharger pressurizing at least one intake port. 33. The power-generation device of claim 19 wherein the swash plate clocking interface is a substantially planar surface disposed at an angle to the central axis of the output shaft. 34. The power-generation device of claim 33 wherein the substantially planar surface is disposed at approximately 45 degrees to the principal axis of the output shaft. 35. A power-generation device comprising: An output shaft, having a central axis; Four cylinders, disposed symmetrically and regularly about the central axis of the output shaft and axially-movable with respect to the output shaft, each having a central axis parallel to the central axis of the output shaft, an internal volume, an internal cylinder surface, a central axis, a first end and a second end; Four cylinder heads, each having an internal cylinder head surface, an intake port, and an exhaust port, each such cylinder head being disposed at, and secured to, the first end of a cylinder; Four pistons, each having an axis of motion aligned to the central axis of a cylinder, disposed in the internal volume of the cylinder and having a crown disposed toward the internal surface of the cylinder head secured to that cylinder, the crown of the piston, an internal cylinder surface, and the internal surface of the cylinder head for that cylinder together forming a combustion chamber for that cylinder; A swash plate, fixed to the output shaft, having a substantially-planar swash plate surface having a normal axis disposed at an angle of approximately 45 degrees to the central axis of the output shaft; Four connecting rods, each having a principal axis, a first end axially and rotationally fixed to a piston, and a second end; Four followers, each secured to the second end of a connecting rod, having a substantially-planar follower surface fixed to the connecting rod and having a normal axis disposed at an angle of approximately 45 degrees to the central axis of the output shaft. 36. The power-generation device of claim 35 wherein the power generation device operates according to the Otto cycle. 37. The power-generation device of claim 35 further comprising at least one fuel injector disposed to inject fuel into the combustion chamber and wherein the power generation device operates according to the Diesel cycle. 38. The power-generation device of claim 35 wherein the power generation device operates according to a dual cycle. 39. The power-generation device of claim 35 wherein at least one cylinder head incorporates a second intake port. 40. The power-generation device of claim 35 wherein at least one intake port is pressurized. 41. The power-generation device of claim 40 further comprising a turbocharger pressurizing at least one intake port. 42. The power-generation device of claim 40 further comprising a supercharger pressurizing at least one intake port. | TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates generally to engines, and in particular to swash plate internal combustion engines. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION An internal combustion engine derives power from the volumetric compression of a fuel-air mixture, followed by a timed ignition of the compressed fuel-air mixture. The volumetric change generally results from the motion of axially-reciprocating pistons disposed in corresponding cylinders. In the course of each stroke, a piston will vary the gas volume captured in a cylinder from a minimum volume to a maximum volume. In an Otto cycle, or “four-stroke” internal combustion engine, the reciprocal motion of each piston compresses the fuel-air mixture, receives and transmits the force generated by the expanding gases, generates a positive pressure to move the spent gases out the exhaust port and generates a negative pressure on the intake port to draw in a subsequent fuel-air gas charge. The modern internal combustion engine arose from humble beginnings. As early as the late 17th century, a Dutch physicist by the name of Christian Huygens designed an internal combustion engine fueled with gunpowder. It is believed that Huygens engine was never successfully built. Later, in the early nineteenth century, Francois Isaac de Rivaz of Switzerland invented a hydrogen-powered internal combustion engine. It is reported that this engine was built, but was not commercially successful. Although there was a certain degree of early work on the idea of the internal combustion engine, development truly began in earnest in the mid-nineteenth century. Jean Joseph Etienne Lenoir developed and patented a number of electric spark-ignition internal combustion engines, running on various fuels. The Lenoir engine did not meet performance or reliability expectations and fell from popularity. It is reported that the Lenoir engine suffered from a troublesome electrical ignition system and a reputation for a high consumption of fuel. Approximately 100 cubic feet of coal gas were consumed per horsepower hour. Despite these early setbacks, a number of other inventors, including Alphonse Beau de Rochas, Siegfried Marcus and George Brayton, continued to make substantial contributions to the development of the internal combustion engine. An inventor by the name of Nikolaus August Otto improved on Lenoir's and de Rochas' designs to develop a more efficient engine. Well aware of the substantial shortcomings of the Lenoir engine, Otto felt that the Lenoir engine could be improved. To this end, Otto worked to improve upon the Lenoir engine in various ways. In 1861, Otto patented a two-stroke engine that ran on gasoline. Otto's two-stroke engine won a gold medal at the 1867 World's Fair in Paris. Although Otto's two-stroke engine was novel, its performance was not competitive with the steam engines of the time. A successful two-stroke engine would not be developed until 1876. In or around 1876, at approximately the same time that an inventor named Dougald was building a successful two-stroke engine, Klaus Otto built what is believed to be the first four-stroke piston cycle internal combustion engine. Otto's four-stroke engine was the first practical power-generating alternative to the steam engines of the time. Otto's revolutionary four-stroke engine can be considered the grandfather of the millions of mass-produced internal combustion engines that have since been built. Otto's contribution to the development of the internal combustion engine is such that the process of combusting the fuel and air mixture in a modern automobile is known as the “Otto cycle” in his honor. Otto received U.S. Pat. No. 365,701 for his engine. Ten years after Klaus Otto built his first four-stroke engine, Gottlieb Daimler invented what is often recognized as the prototype of the modern gasoline engine. Daimler's engine employed a single vertical cylinder, with gasoline imparted to the incoming air by means of a carburetor. In 1889, Daimler completed an improved four-stroke engine with mushroom-shaped valves and two cylinders. Wilhelm Maybach built the first four-cylinder, four-stroke engine in 1890. The carbureted four-stroke multi-cylinder internal combustion engine became the mainstay of ground transportation from the early 1900s through the 1970s, ultimately being supplanted by fuel-injected engines in the 1980s. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention is a swash-plate engine having a number of features and improvements distinguishing it not only from traditional crankshaft engines, but also from prior swash plate designs. In a first embodiment, the present invention is a power-generation device comprising at least one cylinder having an internal volume, an internal cylinder surface, a central axis, a first end and a second end. At least one cylinder head, having an internal cylinder head surface, is disposed at, and secured to, the first end of one of the at least one cylinders. At least one piston, having an axis of motion parallel to the central axis of at least one of the cylinders, and having a crown disposed toward the internal surface of the cylinder head secured to that cylinder, is disposed in the internal volume of the cylinder. The crown of the piston, an internal cylinder surface, and the internal surface of the cylinder head for that cylinder together form a combustion chamber for that cylinder. The first embodiment further includes an output shaft, having a central axis having a fixed angular relationship to the central axis of the cylinder. A swash plate, having a first swash plate surface having a normal axis disposed at a first fixed angle to the central axis of the output shaft, is fixed to the output shaft. At least one connecting rod, having a principal axis, a first end axially and rotationally fixed to a piston, and a second end, is secured to at least one piston. At least one follower, having a first follower surface having a normal axis disposed at the first fixed angle to the principal axis of the connecting rod to which it is secured, is secured to the second end of a connecting rod. The first follower surface contacts, and conforms to, the orientation of the first swash plate surface. In a second embodiment, the present invention is a power-generation device comprising an output shaft, having a central axis, and at least two cylinders, disposed symmetrically about the central axis of the output shaft. Each cylinder has a central axis parallel to the central axis of the output shaft, an internal volume, an internal cylinder surface, a central axis, a first end and a second end. At least two cylinder heads, each having an internal cylinder head surface, is disposed at, and secured to, the first end of one of the cylinders. The device includes at least two pistons, each piston having an axis of motion aligned to the central axis of a cylinder, disposed in the internal volume of the cylinder and having a crown disposed toward the internal surface of the cylinder head secured to that cylinder. The crown of the piston, an internal cylinder surface, and the internal surface of the cylinder head for that cylinder together form a combustion chamber for that cylinder. A swash plate is fixed to the output shaft, having a swash plate clocking interface fixed to the orientation of the output shaft about the central axis of the output shaft. At least two connecting rods, each having a principal axis, a first end and a second end are each axially and rotationally fixed to a piston. At least two followers, having a follower clocking interface fixed to the orientation of the connecting rod about the principal axis of the connecting rod and the orientation of the swash plate clocking interface, are each secured to the second end of a connecting rod. In a third embodiment, the present invention is a power-generation device comprising an output shaft, having a central axis, four cylinders, disposed symmetrically and regularly about the central axis of the output shaft and axially-movable with respect to the output shaft, four cylinder heads, and four pistons connected to a swash plate by four followers. The four cylinders are disposed symmetrically and regularly about the central axis of the output shaft and are axially-movable with respect to the output shaft. Each cylinder has a central axis parallel to the central axis of the output shaft, an internal volume, an internal cylinder surface, a central axis, a first end and a second end. The four cylinder heads, each have an internal cylinder head surface, an intake port, and an exhaust port. Each such cylinder head is disposed at, and secured to, the first end of a cylinder. Each of the four pistons has an axis of motion aligned to the central axis of a cylinder, is disposed in the internal volume of the cylinder, and has a crown disposed toward the internal surface of the cylinder head secured to that cylinder. The crown of the piston, an internal cylinder surface, and the internal surface of the cylinder head for that cylinder together form a combustion chamber for that cylinder. The swash plate is fixed to the output shaft, and has a substantially-planar swash plate surface having a normal axis disposed at an angle of approximately 45 degrees to the central axis of the output shaft. The four connecting rods, each having a principal axis, a first end axially and rotationally fixed to a piston, and a second end, are connected to the swash plate by four followers, each secured to the second end of a connecting rod. Each of the followers has a substantially-planar follower surface fixed to the connecting rod and has a normal axis disposed at an angle of approximately 45 degrees to the central axis of the output shaft. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS For more complete understanding of the features and advantages of the present invention, reference is now made to the detailed description of the invention along with the accompanying Figures. FIG. 1 depicts a partial cutaway isometric view of an internal combustion engine according to one embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 2 depicts an isometric view of the reciprocating assembly of the internal combustion engine of FIG. 1; FIG. 3 depicts an front view of the reciprocating assembly of the internal combustion engine of FIG. 1; FIG. 4 depicts an right side view of the reciprocating assembly of the internal combustion engine of FIG. 1; FIG. 5 depicts a top view of the reciprocating assembly of the internal combustion engine of FIG. 1; FIG. 6 depicts an isometric view of a piston used in the reciprocating assembly of FIG. 2; FIG. 7 depicts a front view of a piston used in the reciprocating assembly of FIG. 2; FIG. 8 depicts a side view of a piston used in the reciprocating assembly of FIG. 2; FIG. 9 depicts a top view of a piston used in the reciprocating assembly of FIG. 2; FIG. 10 depicts an isometric view of the swash plate used in the reciprocating assembly of FIG. 2; FIG. 11 depicts a front view of the swash plate used in the reciprocating assembly of FIG. 2; FIG. 12 depicts a side view of the swash plate used in the reciprocating assembly of FIG. 2; FIG. 13 depicts a top view of the swash plate used in the reciprocating assembly of FIG. 2; FIG. 14 depicts a side section view of the cylinder head and crankcase assembly of FIG. 1; FIG. 15 depicts an isometric section view of the cylinder head along line 15-15 of FIG. 14; and FIG. 16 depicts an isometric section view of the cylinder head along line 16-16 of FIG. 14. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Although the making and using of various embodiments of the present invention are discussed in detail below, it should be appreciated that the present invention provides many applicable inventive concepts that can be embodied in a wide variety of specific contexts. The specific embodiments discussed herein are merely illustrative of specific ways to make and use the invention, and do not delimit the scope of the invention. Engine 100 incorporates cylinder block 102 and crankcase 104 disposed about output shaft 106. A swash plate 108 is rigidly secured to the output shaft 106. Swash plate 108 has a generally-planar bearing surface 118 having a normal axis disposed at an angle to the principal longitudinal axis of the output shaft 106. A set of four cylindrical pistons 110 are disposed in four corresponding cylinders 112 and operably connected to swash plate 108 through connecting rods 114 via rod feet 116, which ride on bearing surface 118 of swash plate 108. Each of rod feet 116 has a generally planar bottom surface having a principal normal axis disposed at an angle to the principal longitudinal axis of the connecting rod 114 to which it is secured. Each piston 110 incorporates a skirt 150 and a crown 152. In the embodiment shown in FIGS. 1-9, the crown 152 incorporates a pair of valve pockets 154 and 156, although alternate embodiments may omit either or both of pockets 154 and 156. Similarly, while pockets 154 and 156 are shown as being symmetrical and having a particular shape, pockets 154 and 156 may have different shapes in alternate embodiments. Piston skirt 150 incorporates a compression ring groove 158 and oil control rings 160 and 162. Alternate embodiments may incorporate more or fewer piston ring grooves 158-162 as a particular application demands. It will be understood by those of skill in the art that a wide variety of piston ring styles may be employed in the present invention, again depending on the particular application. Connecting rod 114 connects piston 150 to an elliptical rod foot 116. Rod foot 116 incorporates an upper surface 164, a lower surface 166 and an outer edge 168. When assembled to swash plate 108, rod foot 116 is captured by inner ridge 120 and outer ridge 122 against upper surface 164, while lower surface 166 rides against swash plate bearing surface 118. Swash plate 108 incorporates a conical transition 200 to brace the wash plate 108 against moment loading on the swash plate bearing surface 118. Those of skill in the art will recognize that engine 100 differs markedly from traditional internal combustion engines. In the most common layout of the traditional internal combustion engine, the engine's pistons are tied to a rotary crankshaft through a set of connecting rods, in order to convert the reciprocal axial motion of the pistons into continuous rotary motion of the crankshaft. Although a wide variety of cylinder layouts have been devised and implemented, including the well-known “V” geometry (as in “V8”), in-line, opposed (also known as “flat”) and radial geometries, all such engines share the basic crankshaft geometry described above. Despite their overwhelming successes, crank-articulated reciprocating powerplants incorporate certain inherent limitations. Except at two discrete points in the range of piston motion—namely top dead center and bottom dead center—the connecting rod is disposed at an angle to the center line of the cylinder within which the piston is exposed. Axial forces in the connecting rod must, therefore, be counteracted at the interface between the piston and the cylinder wall. The load on the cylinder wall by the piston is known as “side loading” of the piston. As the pressure in the cylinder rises, side-loading can become a serious concern, with respect to durability as well as frictional losses. Further, dynamic centrifugal loads on the engine components rise geometrically with engine speed in a crankshaft engine, limiting both the specific power output and power-to-weight ratio of crankshaft engines. In a crankshaft engine, the geometry of the crankshaft and connecting rod is such that, as the crank rotates and the piston moves through its range of motion, the piston spends more time near bottom dead center (where no power is generated) than near top dead center (where power is generated). This inherent characteristic can be countered somewhat with the use of a longer connecting rod, but the motion of the piston with respect to time can only approach, and cannot ever match, perfectly sinusoidal motion. The magnitude of this effect is inversely related to the ratio of the effective length of the connecting rod to the length of the crankshaft stroke, but is particularly pronounced in engines having a connecting rod-to-stroke ratio at or below 1.5:1. The rate of acceleration of the piston away from top dead center in an engine having a low rod-to-stroke ratio is such that useful combustion chamber pressure cannot be maintained at higher crank speeds. This occurs because the combustion rate of the fuel-air mixture in the combustion chamber, which governs the pressure in the combustion chamber, is limited by the rate of reaction of the hydrocarbon fuel and oxygen. In a long stroke, short rod engine running at a high crankshaft speed, the increase in volume caused by the piston motion outstrips the increase in pressure caused by combustion. In other words, the piston “outruns” the expanding fuel-air mixture in the combustion chamber, such that the pressure from the expanding mixture does not contribute to acceleration of the piston or, therefore, the crankshaft. The dwell time of the piston near top-dead-center can be increased somewhat through the use of a larger rod-to-stroke ratio. A larger rod-to-stroke ratio can be achieved either with a shorter stroke or a longer connecting rod. Each of the two solutions presents its own problems. With respect to the use of a shorter stroke, although shorter stroke engine can be smaller and lighter than a longer stroke engine, the advantages are not linear. For example, the length of the crankshaft stroke does not have any effect on the size and weight of the pistons, the cylinder heads, the connecting rods or the engine accessories. A shorter stroke does allow for a somewhat smaller and lighter crankshaft and cylinder block, but even these effects are not linear, that is, a halving of the crankshaft stroke does not allow for a halving of the mass of the crankshaft or cylinder block. With all other performance-related engine attributes being equal, a shorter-stroke engine will have a proportionally-lower displacement as compared to a longer-stroke engine. Accordingly, the shorter-stroke engine will generally produce a lower torque output as compared to the longer-stroke engine. This lower torque output translates to a lower power output at the same crankshaft speed. Accordingly, the shorter-stroke engine will have to be run at a higher speed in order to generate the same power output. The loss of torque resulting from the lower displacement could also be offset with efficiency enhancements, such as more-efficient valve timing, better combustion chamber design or a higher compression ratio. More efficient valve timing and combustion chamber designs, however, generally require substantial investment in research and development, and the maximum compression ratio in an internal combustion engine is limited by the autoignition characteristics of the engine fuel. For naturally-aspirated engines running premium grade gasoline, there is a practical compression ratio limit of approximately 11:1 imposed by the autoignition characteristics of the fuel-air mixture, thereby limiting the efficiency improvements available from an increase in compression ratio alone. The lost output caused by the shortening of the stroke can also be recouped by increasing the bore diameter of the engine cylinders, thereby increasing engine displacement. While the displacement of the engine is linearly proportional to the stroke length, it is geometrically proportional to the cylinder bore diameter. Accordingly, a 10% reduction in stroke length can be more than offset with a 5% increase in cylinder bore diameter. All other things being equal, an increase in cylinder bore diameter requires an increase in piston mass, which requires a corresponding increase in connecting rod strength and crankshaft counterweight mass. If two or more of the engine's cylinders are arranged in a line, as is common in most modern crankshaft engines, the larger-diameter cylinders will also require a longer cylinder block, cylinder heads and crankshaft, thereby increasing engine size and weight. A second approach to increasing the rod-to-stroke ratio is to lengthen the rods. This has the advantage of increasing the rod-to-stroke ratio without reducing the engine displacement. Lengthening the rods while leaving all other parameters of the engine alone, however, will move the top-dead-center position of the pistons further away from the centerline of the crankshaft. In other words, a one-inch increase in connecting rod length will result in a one-inch increase in the distance between the crankshaft centerline and the top of a piston crown at top-dead-center. This will require a corresponding increase in the length of the cylinders in order to provide sufficient operating volume for the pistons. Again, the engine size and mass are increased. In contrast to the trade-offs inherent in the construction of a traditional crankshaft engine, a swash plate engine of the type depicted and shown herein can move the piston along a sinusoidal profile, thereby increasing the dwell time at top dead center, and therefore the performance potential of the engine. In addition to the kinematics advantages realized from the use of a swash plate, the movement of the pistons within the cylinders can be exploited to improve the performance and versatility of the engine, and particularly so in a two-stroke configuration, although the design is by no means limited to that configuration. As one of skill in the art can appreciate, alternate embodiments of the present invention may employ any of the power cycles known for producing power in the art of thermodynamics, including but certainly not limited to the four-stroke (Otto) cycle, the Diesel cycle, the Stirling cycle, the Brayton cycle, the Carnot cycle and the Seiliger (5-point) cycle, as examples. Engine 100 shown in FIGS. 1-16 is a two-stroke configuration, having intake and exhaust ports disposed in the sidewalls of the cylinders 112. The layout of the cylinder block 102 and intake and exhaust porting of engine 100 is shown in detail in FIGS. 14-16. Cylinder block 102 is secured to crankcase 104 by capscrews 250. Cylinder block cover 254 is secured to crankcase 104 by capscrews 252. Swash plate 108 is secured vertically within crankcase 104 between upper bearing race 256 and lower bearing race 258. A set of connecting rod guides 260, shaped and sized to receive and guide the connecting rods 114, is disposed on top of the crankcase 104. Air and fuel passes into each cylinder 112 through a set of intake ports 270-274. Alternate embodiments may make use of more or fewer intake ports, as appropriate. In the embodiment shown in FIGS. 14-16, fuel is introduced to the intake charge by means of a single fuel injection port 290 disposed in each intake port 270. Depending on the application, alternate embodiments may make use of one or more fuel injection ports disposed in one or more alternate locations, or may make use of carburetion or throttle-body fuel injection, as appropriate. As the piston crown descends on the downward power stroke, burned air/fuel mixture exits each cylinder 112 through one or more exhaust ports, such as ports 280-284. The flow of intake through ports 270-274 and exhaust through ports 280-284 is controlled by the position and orientation of the piston 110 disposed within each cylinder 112. While traditional two-stroke engine designs have been known to use the axial position of the piston to control the timing of intake and/or exhaust valving, engine 100 employs the axial position of each piston 110 in combination with the radial orientation of each position 110 to control the timing of intake and/or exhaust timing. Accordingly, engine 100 provides a significant degree of additional flexibility to engine designer and tuner as compared to the degree of flexibility available from previous designs. Although this invention has been described in reference to illustrative embodiments, this description is not intended to be construed in a limiting sense. Various modifications and combinations of the illustrative embodiments, as well as other embodiments of the invention, will be apparent to persons skilled in the art upon reference to the description. It is therefore intended that this description encompass any such modifications or embodiments. | <SOH> BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION <EOH>An internal combustion engine derives power from the volumetric compression of a fuel-air mixture, followed by a timed ignition of the compressed fuel-air mixture. The volumetric change generally results from the motion of axially-reciprocating pistons disposed in corresponding cylinders. In the course of each stroke, a piston will vary the gas volume captured in a cylinder from a minimum volume to a maximum volume. In an Otto cycle, or “four-stroke” internal combustion engine, the reciprocal motion of each piston compresses the fuel-air mixture, receives and transmits the force generated by the expanding gases, generates a positive pressure to move the spent gases out the exhaust port and generates a negative pressure on the intake port to draw in a subsequent fuel-air gas charge. The modern internal combustion engine arose from humble beginnings. As early as the late 17 th century, a Dutch physicist by the name of Christian Huygens designed an internal combustion engine fueled with gunpowder. It is believed that Huygens engine was never successfully built. Later, in the early nineteenth century, Francois Isaac de Rivaz of Switzerland invented a hydrogen-powered internal combustion engine. It is reported that this engine was built, but was not commercially successful. Although there was a certain degree of early work on the idea of the internal combustion engine, development truly began in earnest in the mid-nineteenth century. Jean Joseph Etienne Lenoir developed and patented a number of electric spark-ignition internal combustion engines, running on various fuels. The Lenoir engine did not meet performance or reliability expectations and fell from popularity. It is reported that the Lenoir engine suffered from a troublesome electrical ignition system and a reputation for a high consumption of fuel. Approximately 100 cubic feet of coal gas were consumed per horsepower hour. Despite these early setbacks, a number of other inventors, including Alphonse Beau de Rochas, Siegfried Marcus and George Brayton, continued to make substantial contributions to the development of the internal combustion engine. An inventor by the name of Nikolaus August Otto improved on Lenoir's and de Rochas' designs to develop a more efficient engine. Well aware of the substantial shortcomings of the Lenoir engine, Otto felt that the Lenoir engine could be improved. To this end, Otto worked to improve upon the Lenoir engine in various ways. In 1861, Otto patented a two-stroke engine that ran on gasoline. Otto's two-stroke engine won a gold medal at the 1867 World's Fair in Paris. Although Otto's two-stroke engine was novel, its performance was not competitive with the steam engines of the time. A successful two-stroke engine would not be developed until 1876. In or around 1876, at approximately the same time that an inventor named Dougald was building a successful two-stroke engine, Klaus Otto built what is believed to be the first four-stroke piston cycle internal combustion engine. Otto's four-stroke engine was the first practical power-generating alternative to the steam engines of the time. Otto's revolutionary four-stroke engine can be considered the grandfather of the millions of mass-produced internal combustion engines that have since been built. Otto's contribution to the development of the internal combustion engine is such that the process of combusting the fuel and air mixture in a modern automobile is known as the “Otto cycle” in his honor. Otto received U.S. Pat. No. 365,701 for his engine. Ten years after Klaus Otto built his first four-stroke engine, Gottlieb Daimler invented what is often recognized as the prototype of the modern gasoline engine. Daimler's engine employed a single vertical cylinder, with gasoline imparted to the incoming air by means of a carburetor. In 1889, Daimler completed an improved four-stroke engine with mushroom-shaped valves and two cylinders. Wilhelm Maybach built the first four-cylinder, four-stroke engine in 1890. The carbureted four-stroke multi-cylinder internal combustion engine became the mainstay of ground transportation from the early 1900s through the 1970s, ultimately being supplanted by fuel-injected engines in the 1980s. | <SOH> SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION <EOH>The present invention is a swash-plate engine having a number of features and improvements distinguishing it not only from traditional crankshaft engines, but also from prior swash plate designs. In a first embodiment, the present invention is a power-generation device comprising at least one cylinder having an internal volume, an internal cylinder surface, a central axis, a first end and a second end. At least one cylinder head, having an internal cylinder head surface, is disposed at, and secured to, the first end of one of the at least one cylinders. At least one piston, having an axis of motion parallel to the central axis of at least one of the cylinders, and having a crown disposed toward the internal surface of the cylinder head secured to that cylinder, is disposed in the internal volume of the cylinder. The crown of the piston, an internal cylinder surface, and the internal surface of the cylinder head for that cylinder together form a combustion chamber for that cylinder. The first embodiment further includes an output shaft, having a central axis having a fixed angular relationship to the central axis of the cylinder. A swash plate, having a first swash plate surface having a normal axis disposed at a first fixed angle to the central axis of the output shaft, is fixed to the output shaft. At least one connecting rod, having a principal axis, a first end axially and rotationally fixed to a piston, and a second end, is secured to at least one piston. At least one follower, having a first follower surface having a normal axis disposed at the first fixed angle to the principal axis of the connecting rod to which it is secured, is secured to the second end of a connecting rod. The first follower surface contacts, and conforms to, the orientation of the first swash plate surface. In a second embodiment, the present invention is a power-generation device comprising an output shaft, having a central axis, and at least two cylinders, disposed symmetrically about the central axis of the output shaft. Each cylinder has a central axis parallel to the central axis of the output shaft, an internal volume, an internal cylinder surface, a central axis, a first end and a second end. At least two cylinder heads, each having an internal cylinder head surface, is disposed at, and secured to, the first end of one of the cylinders. The device includes at least two pistons, each piston having an axis of motion aligned to the central axis of a cylinder, disposed in the internal volume of the cylinder and having a crown disposed toward the internal surface of the cylinder head secured to that cylinder. The crown of the piston, an internal cylinder surface, and the internal surface of the cylinder head for that cylinder together form a combustion chamber for that cylinder. A swash plate is fixed to the output shaft, having a swash plate clocking interface fixed to the orientation of the output shaft about the central axis of the output shaft. At least two connecting rods, each having a principal axis, a first end and a second end are each axially and rotationally fixed to a piston. At least two followers, having a follower clocking interface fixed to the orientation of the connecting rod about the principal axis of the connecting rod and the orientation of the swash plate clocking interface, are each secured to the second end of a connecting rod. In a third embodiment, the present invention is a power-generation device comprising an output shaft, having a central axis, four cylinders, disposed symmetrically and regularly about the central axis of the output shaft and axially-movable with respect to the output shaft, four cylinder heads, and four pistons connected to a swash plate by four followers. The four cylinders are disposed symmetrically and regularly about the central axis of the output shaft and are axially-movable with respect to the output shaft. Each cylinder has a central axis parallel to the central axis of the output shaft, an internal volume, an internal cylinder surface, a central axis, a first end and a second end. The four cylinder heads, each have an internal cylinder head surface, an intake port, and an exhaust port. Each such cylinder head is disposed at, and secured to, the first end of a cylinder. Each of the four pistons has an axis of motion aligned to the central axis of a cylinder, is disposed in the internal volume of the cylinder, and has a crown disposed toward the internal surface of the cylinder head secured to that cylinder. The crown of the piston, an internal cylinder surface, and the internal surface of the cylinder head for that cylinder together form a combustion chamber for that cylinder. The swash plate is fixed to the output shaft, and has a substantially-planar swash plate surface having a normal axis disposed at an angle of approximately 45 degrees to the central axis of the output shaft. The four connecting rods, each having a principal axis, a first end axially and rotationally fixed to a piston, and a second end, are connected to the swash plate by four followers, each secured to the second end of a connecting rod. Each of the followers has a substantially-planar follower surface fixed to the connecting rod and has a normal axis disposed at an angle of approximately 45 degrees to the central axis of the output shaft. | 20040910 | 20061121 | 20060316 | 62582.0 | F02B7518 | 1 | ALI, HYDER | TWO-CYCLE SWASH PLATE INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINE | SMALL | 0 | ACCEPTED | F02B | 2,004 |
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10,939,052 | ACCEPTED | Physical memory control using memory classes | A method for allocating memory in a computer system is disclosed. The method includes creating a kernel memory class, the kernel memory class acting as a logical container for at least a first kernel memory resource group. The method further includes processing a kernel client's request for additional memory by ascertaining whether there is sufficient free memory in the first kernel memory resource group to accommodate the kernel client's request. The method additionally includes denying the kernel client's request if there is insufficient free memory in the first kernel memory resource group to accommodate the kernel client's request. | 1. A method for allocating memory in a computer system, comprising: creating a kernel memory class, said kernel memory class acting as a logical container for at least a first kernel memory resource group; processing a kernel client's request for additional memory by ascertaining whether there is sufficient free memory in said first kernel memory resource group to accommodate said kernel client's request; and denying said kernel client's request if there is insufficient free memory in said first kernel memory resource group to accommodate said kernel client's request. 2. The method of claim 1 wherein said system memory class is part of a reservation layer in an operating system. 3. The method of claim 1 further comprising: creating a system memory class, said system memory class acting as a logical container for at least a first system memory resource group; if there is sufficient free memory in said first kernel memory resource group to accommodate said kernel client's request, processing said kernel client's request by ascertaining whether there is sufficient free memory in said first system memory resource group to accommodate said kernel client's request; and denying said kernel client's request if there is insufficient free memory in said first system memory resource group to accommodate said kernel client's request. 4. An arrangement for allocating memory in a computer system, comprising: a reservation layer having a first reservation level and a second reservation level, said first reservation level including: a kernel memory class, said kernel memory class being mapped to at least a first portion of physical memory in said computer system; and a user memory class, said user memory class being mapped to at least a second portion of physical memory in said computer system. 5. The arrangement of claim 4 wherein said kernel memory class contains at least one kernel memory resource group. 6. The arrangement of claim 5 wherein said user memory class contains at least one user memory resource group. 7. The arrangement of claim 6 wherein said second reservation level includes a system memory class, said system memory class acting as a logical container for at least a first system memory resource group. 8. The arrangement of claim 7 wherein said system memory class contains said physical memory. 9. The arrangement of claim 4 wherein said user memory class and said kernel memory class are overlapping. 10. The arrangement of claim 4 wherein said user memory class and said kernel memory class are non-overlapping. 11. A method for guaranteeing a minimum amount of physical memory to a user client, comprising: affiliating said user client with a user memory resource group, said user memory group being associated with a user memory class, a size of said user memory resource group being set to be at least a size of said minimum amount of physical memory; and pre-reserving a chunk of memory associated with a system memory resource group, said chunk of memory having at least said size of said minimum amount of physical memory, said system memory resource group being part of a memory resource class. 12. A method for guaranteeing a minimum amount of physical memory to a kernel client, comprising: affiliating said kernel client with a kernel memory resource group, said kernel memory group being associated with a kernel memory class, a size of said kernel memory resource group being set to be at least a size of said minimum amount of physical memory; and pre-reserving a chunk of memory associated with a system memory resource group, said chunk of memory having at least said size of said minimum amount of physical memory, said system memory resource group being part of a memory resource class. 13. A method for rendering an additional amount of physical memory available for use by an operating system, comprising: adding said additional amount of physical memory to a memory class of said operating system, said additional amount of physical memory being added using a temporary memory resource group having a size that is at least equal to a size of said additional amount of physical memory to be added, said adding being performed without taking memory from a default memory resource group of said memory class; and deleting said temporary memory resource group, thereby causing said additional amount of physical memory to be added to said default memory resource group. 14. The method of claim 13 wherein said memory class represents a system memory class, said memory resource group representing a system memory resource group, and said default memory resource group representing a default system memory resource group. 15. The method of claim 13 wherein said memory class represents a kernel memory class, said memory resource group representing a kernel memory resource group, and said default memory resource group representing a default kernel memory resource group. 16. The method of claim 13 wherein said memory class represents a user memory class, said memory resource group representing a user memory resource group, and said default memory resource group representing a default user memory resource group. 17. The method of claim 13 wherein said temporary memory resource group is associated with an ID that is not used by clients associated with said memory class. 18. A method for removing an amount of physical memory available for use by an operating system, comprising: creating a temporary memory resource group in a memory class, said memory resource group having a size that is at least equal to a size of said amount of physical memory to be removed, said creating causing a chunk of memory that is at least equal to said size of said amount of physical memory to be removed to be taken from a default memory resource group of said memory class; deleting said temporary memory resource group, thereby causing said amount of physical memory to be removed from said memory class. 19. The method of claim 18 wherein said memory class represents a system memory class, said memory resource group representing a system memory resource group, and said default memory resource group representing a default system memory resource group. 20. The method of claim 18 wherein said memory class represents a kernel memory class, said memory resource group representing a kernel memory resource group, and said default memory resource group representing a default kernel memory resource group. 21. The method of claim 18 wherein said memory class represents a user memory class, said memory resource group representing a user memory resource group, and said default memory resource group representing a default user memory resource group. 22. The method of claim 18 wherein said temporary memory resource group is associated with an ID that is not used by clients associated with said memory class. 23. An article of manufacture comprising a program storage medium having computer readable code embodied therein, said computer readable code being configured to allocate memory in a computer system, comprising: computer readable code for processing a kernel client's request for additional memory by ascertaining whether there is sufficient free memory in a first kernel memory resource group to accommodate said kernel client's request, said first kernel memory class being part of a kernel memory class; and computer readable code for denying said kernel client's request if there is insufficient free memory in said first kernel memory resource group to accommodate said kernel client's request. 24. The article of manufacture of claim 23 wherein said system memory class is part of a reservation layer in an operating system. 25. The article of manufacture of claim 23 further comprising: computer readable code for creating a system memory class, said system memory class acting as a logical container for at least a first system memory resource group; computer readable code for further processing said kernel client's request, if there is sufficient free memory in said first kernel memory resource group to accommodate said kernel client's request, by ascertaining whether there is sufficient free memory in said first system memory resource group to accommodate said kernel client's request; and computer readable code for denying said kernel client's request if there is insufficient free memory in said first system memory resource group to accommodate said kernel client's request. | RELATED APPLICATIONS The invention is related to a commonly-assigned patent application entitled “MANAGING SHARED MEMORY USAGE WITHIN A MEMORY RESOURCE GROUP INFRASTRUCTURE” Attorney Docket No. 200404691-1, by the same inventor herein, filed on the same date herewith and incorporated by reference herein. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION In a computer system, such as a server, multiple processes may be running concurrently. These processes share the physical memory of the computer system for their memory needs. With reference to FIG. 1A, processes 102, 104, 106, 108, and 110 all share the memory space 112 of the computer system. If the total amount of memory required by the concurrently executing processes is less than the total physical memory available, each process can execute without experiencing memory access related delays. On the other hand, if the total amount of memory required exceeds the total amount of memory available, memory paging occurs in order to ensure that all processes have sufficient memory to execute. Paging, as is known, involves swapping the contents of physical memory into and out of disk-based storage, such as a hard drive to extend the logical memory available to a process. Because the memory access speed for disk-based storage is significantly slower than for semiconductor-based storage, paging affects the execution speed of the process being paged. In some cases, it is desirable to guarantee a certain amount of physical memory to a process or a group of processes. In the prior art, different approaches have been taken to ensure that a process or a group of processes has a guaranteed amount of physical memory during execution. The brute force approach involves having a process lock down a certain amount of physical memory, which may then only be used by that particular process. Although this approach ensures that the process will have a guaranteed amount of physical memory, it is inefficient since other processes cannot utilize memory that is locked even if the process that locks down that memory does not truly need all of it at all times for its execution. Secondly, memory locking is a privileged operation that is not available to ordinary applications. Another approach based on the external page-cache management scheme lets processes have direct control over their share of physical memory through special primitives provided by the operating system. A sophisticated application can exploit this feature to implement a dedicated memory management policy that best suits its requirements. However, this approach is not backward compatible with existing applications since a legacy application may not be aware of such primitives and would be at a disadvantage when executing in an environment wherein other applications directly control their physical memory requirements. Another approach involves using a special application program to manage physical memory consumption. This program, known as the Resource Manager, queries the operating system periodically to determine the amount of physical memory being used by every process on the system. When the available memory on the system is low the Resource Manager picks processes that are exceeding their share and tries to force them to shrink in size. This is achieved by stopping the selected processes via signals and process priority changes and then relying on the system memory pager to reclaim non-recently referenced pages of physical memory. In this form of control all of the necessary logic is implemented by the Resource Manager program, a user application, and does not require any modifications to the operating system. However, it is not very deterministic and problems can arise, for instance, if a target process has set up its own signal handlers to ignore signals sent from the Resource Manager. Memory resource grouping represents another approach to address the physical memory control issue. In memory resource grouping, the physical memory is divided into logical blocks called MRGs. Referring now to FIG. 1B, processes 130, 132, and 134 are assigned to MRG 136 of a computer system 150, while processes 138 and 140 are assigned to MRG 142. In dividing the physical memory space into MRGs, the memory utilization of processes associated with one MRG does not impact the memory utilization in another MRG. For example, even if processes 138 and 140 each requires a vast amount of memory and thus a lot of paging activities need to be performed with respect to the memory assigned to MRG 142, the amount of memory available to MRG 136 is not affected. Thus memory resource grouping is a way to provide memory isolation to a group of processes. Memory resource grouping also has other advantages. A MRG (such as MRG 136) can be set up to import from another MRG or export memory to another MRG. This form of controlled sharing allows the resources of an under-utilized MRG (that is willing to export) to be used by an over-loaded MRG (that has import capability), leading to higher overall physical memory utilization on the computer system. Unfortunately, memory resource grouping has only been applied thus far to private memory of processes. To further explain this issue, FIG. 2 shows the various memory resource types that may exist in physical memory. With reference to FIG. 2, physical memory may involve kernel memory 202, and user resource types 204. User resource types 204 include process private memory 206, local shared memory 208, and global shared memory 210 (which includes shared text memory 210A and shared library memory 210B). Kernel memory refers to the memory used by the operating system kernel. User resource types refer to the various memory types that may be involved with process execution. For example, process private memory 206 includes the data memory, stack or heap memory specific to a process during execution. Local shared memory 208 may include, for example, a memory-mapped file segment that is shared between specific processes. Shared text memory 210A may include, for example, text that is shared by identical copies of programs executing in a computer system (i.e., such global shared memory is not specific to any process or groups of processes). Likewise, shared library memory 210B may include, for example, certain libraries of code that are shared by all processes executing in a computer system. As shown in FIG. 2, different segments of private memory 206 may be assigned to different MRGs, such as MRGs 220, 222 and 224. These different private memory fragments may be created by different processes, for example. As mentioned, the paradigm of grouping memory in different MRGs has been confined to private memory thus far. Partitioning private memory is less complicated than partitioning local shared memory or partitioning global shared memory since each private memory segment (or object) is affiliated with only one process. As currently implemented, it is not possible to extend memory resource grouping to either local shared memory or global shared memory. To elaborate, consider the situation in FIG. 3. In FIG. 3, process 302 and process 304 are affiliated with respective MRGs 352 and 354. These process affiliations are represented by private affiliations 312 and 314 respectively. The private affiliations are typically assigned to the processes, e.g., by the system administrator or by inheritance during forking (i.e., the child process inherits the same affiliation as the parent process after being forked in the unix environment). Process 302 creates three private segments 302A, 302B, and 302C during execution. These private segments are automatically affiliated (by the operating system) with the MRG 352 since there is a private affiliation 312 between process 302 and MRG 352. Accordingly, the memory required by memory segments 302A, 302B, and 302C are allocated only from MRG 352. Likewise, process 304 creates three private segments 304A, 304B, and 304C during execution. These private segments are automatically affiliated (by the operating system) with the MRG 354 since there is a private affiliation 314 between process 304 and MRG 354. Accordingly, the memory required by memory segments 304A, 304B, and 304C are allocated only from MRG 354. Logically speaking, each of process 302 and process 304 has been partitioned to use only the memory associated with the MRG to which it is affiliated for its private memory needs (i.e., MRG 352 for process 302 and MRG 354 for process 304). Now consider the shared memory situation. If process 302 and process 304, which are affiliated with different MRGs for their private memory needs, need to share a memory segment (i.e., either local shared memory or global shared memory), a methodology needs to exist to allow these processes to share a memory segment across the logical partitions that divide the MRGs. Furthermore, a methodology needs to be developed to allow a shared memory segment (either local or global) to be shared by processes even if the process that created that shared memory segment detaches from it or no longer exists. This is unlike the situation with a private memory segment wherein the private memory segment is deallocated if it is detached from its creator process or if its creator process terminates. Additionally, the sharing needs to be transparent from the load-balancing perspective in that it is important to be able to move a process from one MRG to another MRG without undue restriction even if that process shares a memory segment with another process that may be assigned to any of the MRGs. For example, requiring that processes sharing a memory segment to be assigned to the same MRG would ensure that these processes can share the same memory segment but would impose an undue restriction on the ability to move a process from one MRG to another MRG during load balancing. For backward compatibility reasons, the methodology also needs to work within the existing application semantics and memory resource grouping infrastructure. The aforementioned related application entitled “MANAGING SHARED MEMORY USAGE WITHIN A MEMORY RESOURCE GROUP INFRASTRUCTURE” is directed toward providing physical memory isolation for shared memory segments. However, unless kernel memory usage can also be managed, it is impossible to meaningfully guarantee, in some cases, physical memory to user memory types (e.g., private memory, local shared memory, or global shared memory) if such a guarantee is desired. This is because typically there is no restriction on memory usage by the kernel and as a result the user memory types may still be starved if the kernel memory is allowed to expand without limits. Additionally, the kernel typically comprises a plurality of kernel subsystems, such as the networking subsystem, the file buffer cache subsystem, the storage subsystem, and the like. If kernel memory control is lacking, one or more kernel subsystem may be memory-starved if another kernel subsystem is allowed to exclusively hold an undue amount of memory. SUMMARY OF INVENTION The invention relates, in an embodiment, to a method for allocating memory in a computer system. The method includes creating a kernel memory class, the kernel memory class acting as a logical container for at least a first kernel memory resource group. The method further includes processing a kernel client's request for additional memory by ascertaining whether there is sufficient free memory in the first kernel memory resource group to accommodate the kernel client's request. The method additionally includes denying the kernel client's request if there is insufficient free memory in the first kernel memory resource group to accommodate the kernel client's request. In another embodiment, the invention relates to an arrangement for allocating memory in a computer system. There is included a reservation layer having a first reservation level and a second reservation level. The first reservation level includes a kernel memory class, the kernel memory class being mapped to at least a first portion of physical memory in the computer system. The first reservation level further includes a user memory class, the user memory class being mapped to at least a second portion of physical memory in the computer system. In yet another embodiment, the invention relates to a method for guaranteeing a minimum amount of physical memory to a user client. The method includes affiliating the user client with a user memory resource group, the user memory group being associated with a user memory class, a size of the user memory resource group being set to be at least a size of the minimum amount of physical memory. The method also includes pre-reserving a chunk of memory associated with a system memory resource group, the chunk of memory having at least the size of the minimum amount of physical memory, the system memory resource group being part of a memory resource class. In yet another embodiment, the invention relates to method for guaranteeing a minimum amount of physical memory to a kernel client. The method includes affiliating the kernel client with a kernel memory resource group. The kernel memory group is associated with a kernel memory class, a size of the kernel memory resource group being set to be at least a size of the minimum amount of physical memory. There is included pre-reserving a chunk of memory associated with a system memory resource group. The chunk of memory has at least the size of the minimum amount of physical memory, the system memory resource group being part of a memory resource class. In yet another embodiment, the invention relates to a method for rendering an additional amount of physical memory available for use by an operating system. There is included adding the additional amount of physical memory to a memory class of the operating. The additional amount being added using a temporary memory resource group has a size that is at least equal to a size of the additional amount of physical memory to be added, the adding being performed without taking memory from a default memory resource group of the memory class. The method also includes deleting the temporary memory resource group, thereby causing the additional amount of physical memory to be added to the default memory resource group. In yet another embodiment, the invention relates to a method for removing an amount of physical memory available for use by an operating system. The method includes creating a temporary memory resource group in a memory class. The memory resource group has a size that is at least equal to a size of the amount of physical memory to be removed, the creating causing a chunk of memory that is at least equal to the size of the amount of physical memory to be removed to be taken from a default memory resource group of the memory class. The method includes deleting the temporary memory resource group, thereby causing the amount of physical memory to be removed from the memory class. These and other features of the present invention will be described in more detail below in the detailed description of the invention and in conjunction with the following figures. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The present invention is illustrated by way of example, and not by way of limitation, in the figures of the accompanying drawings and in which like reference numerals refer to similar elements and in which: FIG. 1A shows multiple processes sharing the memory space of a computer system. FIG. 1B illustrates the concept of memory resource groups. FIG. 2 shows the various memory resource types that may exist in physical memory. FIG. 3 shows the sharing of private memory of processes using memory resource groups. FIG. 4 shows, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention, an example arrangement whereby a plurality of processes can share a local shared memory segment. FIG. 5 shows, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention, an example arrangement whereby a plurality of processes can still share a local shared memory segment even if the originator process has detached itself from the local shared memory segment it created. FIG. 6 shows, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention, an example arrangement in which global shared affiliations have been designated for the shared text memory resource type and for the shared library code memory resource type. FIG. 7 shows, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention, some example primitives that may be employed to manage memory sharing. FIG. 8 shows a typical prior art two-stage scheme that allows a client (such as a kernel client or user client) to request and obtain a chunk of memory. FIG. 9 illustrates the reservation and allocation approach of FIG. 8, albeit now with memory resource groups implemented for the user memory resource types. FIG. 10 shows, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention, an arrangement for controlling memory for all memory types, including kernel memory and user memory. FIG. 11 shows, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention, the steps for booting up a computer system that implements the class structure. FIG. 12A shows, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention, an example wherein there is overlap in the memory allocation for the kernel clients and user clients. FIG. 12B shows, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention, an example wherein there is no overlap in the memory allocation for the kernel clients and user clients. FIG. 13 shows, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention, an example wherein hot addition of memory is performed. FIG. 14 shows, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention, an example wherein hot removal of memory is performed. FIG. 15 shows, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention, an arrangement for protection of clients across classes by pre-reserving memory. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS The present invention will now be described in detail with reference to a few embodiments thereof as illustrated in the accompanying drawings. In the following description, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the present invention. It will be apparent, however, to one skilled in the art, that the present invention may be practiced without some or all of these specific details. In other instances, well known process steps and/or structures have not been described in detail in order to not unnecessarily obscure the present invention. Various embodiments are described herein below, including methods and techniques. It should be kept in mind that the invention might also cover articles of manufacture that includes a computer readable medium on which computer readable instructions for carrying out embodiments of the inventive technique are stored. The computer readable medium may include, for example, semiconductor, magnetic, opto-magnetic, optical, or other forms of computer readable medium for storing computer readable code. Further, the invention may also cover apparatuses for practicing embodiments of the invention. Such apparatus may include circuits, dedicated and/or programmable, to carry out tasks pertaining to embodiments of the invention. Examples of such apparatus include a general purpose computer and/or a dedicated computing device when appropriately programmed and may include a combination of a computer/computing device and dedicated/programmable circuits adapted for the various tasks pertaining to embodiments of the invention. In accordance with embodiments of the present invention, there are provided methods and arrangements for allowing processes to share local shared memory segments and to share global shared memory segments without impacting the ability to partition processes among MRGs and without placing undue restrictions on the ability to load-balance among MRGs. In an embodiment, if a process creates a local shared memory segment, that local shared memory segment is allocated memory from the MRG that is associated with the creator process. In the context of local shared memory, the association between a process and a MRG is governed, as will be seen, by a shared affiliation that is established for the process either by inheritance or by the operator of the computer system. To elaborate, when the computer system starts up, the first process that executes may employ memory from a default MRG. This default MRG occupies the entire available physical memory until another MRG is created (e.g., by the system administrator), causing the two MRGs to share the available physical memory. Furthermore, processes that start up may be defaulted to the default MRG unless they are reassigned (via the affiliation mechanism) to another MRG. With respect to inheritance, a child process that forks from a parent process inherits the affiliations of the parent process. Forking is a concept well known in unix and will not be discussed in details herein. Further, note that affiliations are type-specific, i.e., an affiliation is specific as to the memory resource type. For example, a process may have its private affiliation with one MRG and a shared affiliation with another MRG. Global shared memory, on the other hand, is not specific to any process since by definition, the global shared memory may be shared by any process. Accordingly, there exists, as will be shown later herein, a global shared affiliation for each global shared memory resource type. However, there is no creator process for a global shared memory segment in the same sense that there is a creator process for a local shared memory segment. In the current example, if a second process wishes to share that local shared memory segment, memory for such sharing by the second process is allocated not from the MRG associated with (by virtue of the local shared affiliation mechanism) that second process but from the MRG associated with (again, by virtue of the local shared affiliation mechanism) the process that created that local shared memory segment. In this manner, many different processes having shared affiliations with different MRGs can still share a particular local shared memory segment, and all memory required for such sharing is allocated from the MRG associated with (by virtue of the local shared affiliation mechanism) the process that created that shared memory segment. Furthermore, these sharing processes may be moved among MRGs of the computer system (e.g., for load balancing) without impacting the ability to continue sharing the local shared memory segment. If the process that created a local shared memory segment detaches from that local shared memory segment or terminates, the local shared memory segment is considered to be orphaned. The orphan concept allows sharing to continue and, as will be discussed, load-sharing to occur. In this case, the orphaned local shared memory segment is allowed to continue to use the memory of the MRG that is affiliated with the process that created that local shared memory segment. Furthermore, embodiments of the invention provide a facility to allow the system administrator to ascertain the orphaned local shared memory segments in a given MRG, as well as a facility to allow the system administrator to move orphaned local shared memory segments from one MRG to another MRG for load-balancing purposes. With respect to global shared memory, since a global shared memory resource type may be shared by any process and is not affiliated with any particular process or group of processes, the global shared memory segments of that resource type may be associated with (by virtue of a global shared affiliation) a particular MRG. Any process may share a global shared memory segment by attaching to it, irrespective of its own private and/or local shared affiliations. Memory required for such sharing is allocated out of the MRG affiliated with (by virtue of the global shared affiliation mechanism, which is created by the operator of the computer system) the resource type to which the global shared memory segment belongs. The same facilities that exist to allow a process to move orphaned local shared memory segments among MRGs may be employed to manage the global shared memory. The invention may be better understood with reference to the figures and discussions herein. FIG. 4 shows, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention, an example arrangement whereby processes 302 and 304 can share a local shared memory segment 402. As before, process 302 creates three private memory segments 302A, 302B, and 302C, which are affiliated with MRG 352 since MRG 352 has an affiliation (by virtue of the private affiliation 312) with process 302. Again, process 304 creates three private memory segments 304A, 304B, and 304C, which are affiliated with MRG 354 since MRG 354 has an affiliation (by virtue of the private affiliation 314) with process 304. FIG. 4 further shows a local shared memory segment 402, representing a local shared memory segment that is created by process 302. Since MRG 406 is associated with local shared affiliation 404, which shows the affiliation with (or involves) process 302, memory allocation is made for local shared memory segment 402 from MRG 406. Likewise, FIG. 4 further shows a local shared memory segment 424, representing a shared local memory segment that is created by process 304. Since MRG 354 is associated with local shared affiliation 426, which shows the affiliation with (or involves) process 304, memory allocation is made for local shared memory segment 424 from MRG 354. If local shared memory segment 402 is configured to be shared between creator process 302 and process 304, process 304 may share that shared local memory segment 402. However, memory allocation for such sharing by process 304 is performed using the memory of MRG 406, i.e., the MRG associated with the local shared affiliation involving the process that originally created the local shared memory segment. Note that this is the case despite the fact that process 304 has a local shared affiliation 426, which affiliates process 304 with MRG 354 for local shared memory. The memory allocation to accommodate the sharing by process 304 of local shared memory segment 402 is not made from MRG 354 since MRG 354 is not associated with the local shared affiliation that involves the creator process of local shared memory segment 402 (i.e., creator process 302). Other processes may share local shared memory segment 402 in the same manner and have the memory allocation therefor performed using memory from MRG 406. If process 302 detaches from shared local memory segment 402 or terminates, local shared memory segment 402 continues to exist in MRG 406 and may continue to be shared as an orphaned local shared memory segment among the other processes. This is shown in FIG. 5 in which process 302 has detached itself from local shared memory segment 402. In an embodiment, a local shared memory segment includes attributes that allows it to be identified as an orphaned memory segment to a primitive (i.e., command) querying about the existence of such orphaned memory segments in a MRG. An application programming interface (API) is provided to extract this information from the kernel. Furthermore, an API is also provided to allow a system administrator to move all orphaned local shared memory segments from one MRG to another MRG (e.g., for load balancing purposes). The linkage between a process sharing an orphaned local shared memory segment and that local shared memory segment is maintained when an orphaned local shared memory segment is moved from one MRG to another MRG, thereby allowing process execution to continue. In this manner, logical partitioning of processes to different MRGs may be maintained even if these processes share one or more local shared memory segments. Such logical partitioning makes it possible to guarantee a certain process or group of processes a certain amount of physical memory during execution. Additionally, the orphan concept allows sharing to continue even if the process that created a local shared memory segment subsequently terminates or detaches from that local shared memory segment. Furthermore, since the linkage between a process and a local shared memory segment is maintained if the process is moved from one MRG to another MRG, the ability of the computer system to load balance among MRGs is not impacted. FIG. 6 shows, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention, an example arrangement in which global shared affiliations have been designated for the shared text memory resource type (which is a global shared memory type) and for the shared library code memory resource type (which is also a global shared memory type). Since a global shared memory resource type may be shared by any process and is not affiliated with any particular process or group of processes, the global shared memory segments of that resource type may be affiliated with a particular MRG. A global shared affiliation of this nature is set up during system startup (by the system administrator, for example) for each global shared memory resource type. These global shared affiliations are shown in FIG. 6 by shared text affiliation 602 to a MRG 604 and shared library code affiliation 606 to a MRG 608. Thereafter, a process such as process 610 may create a plurality of private memory segments 612 and 614 in the manner described earlier. Process 610 may also create a global shared memory segment 616 that consumes the shared text memory resource type. The allocation for this sharing is made from MRG 604 since there is an affiliation of the same memory resource type text (i.e., shared text affiliation 602) to MRG 604. Process 610 may also create a global shared memory segment 618 that consumes the shared library code memory resource type. The allocation for this sharing is made from MRG 608 since there is an affiliation of the same memory resource type library code (i.e., shared library code affiliation 606) to MRG 608. In the example of FIG. 6, it is assumed that all shared text objects are treated as a single entity for the purpose of affiliating with a MRG (e.g., all shared text objects are affiliated as a single entity to MRG 604 by shared text affiliation 602). In another embodiment, it may be advantageous to partition a global shared memory resource type (whether text or library code) among different MRGs to guarantee a particular global shared memory object a certain amount of physical memory during execution. In this case, the method not only ascertains the global affiliation of the same memory type but also another association indicia to decide on the particular resource group to allocate memory from. For example, if two different shared text objects (e.g., binary code A and binary code B) are affiliated with two different MRGs (e.g., MRG 1 and MRG 2 respectively), the decision regarding which MRG to employ for allocation when a process creates a shared text memory segment involves not only ascertaining the global affiliation of the memory type text but also involves at least one other association criteria. This is because ascertaining only the global affiliation of the memory type text would result in two possible answers: MRG1 and MRG2. The name of the application may be the other association criteria. For example, if it is desired that any process sharing any or all of binary code A be allocated memory from MRG1, the method applies the additional association criteria (i.e., the identity of binary code A) to resolve the MRG from which allocation should be made. As mentioned, an API may be provided to facilitate moving orphaned local shared memory segments among MRGs. The same API and facility may be employed to facilitate moving global shared memory objects among MRGs. For example, the system administrator may employ a primitive to move all shared text segments from one MRG to another MRG. FIG. 7 shows some example primitives that may be employed to manage memory sharing. MRG_CREATE is employed to create a MRG. MRG_REMOVE is employed to remove a MRG. MRG_GET_ATTRIBUTE is employed to get attributes of a MRG. Attributes include, for example, the current size and import/export capabilities of a given MRG. MRG_SET_ATTRIBUTE is employed to set attributes of a MRG. MRG_GET_STATS is employed to get various memory management related statistics of a MRG (available memory, number of members, number of page-faults, number of deactivated-processes, etc.). MRG_GET_PROC_AFF is employed to obtain the MRG affiliations of a process (for private memory and local shared memory). MRG_SET_PROC_AFF allows a system administrator or an operator to change the MRG affiliations for a process (e.g., changing the inherited or default affiliations of a process). MRG_GET_OBJ_AFF allows a system administrator or an operator to obtain the current affiliations of global shared memory, such as shared text and shared library code. MRG_SET_OBJ_AFF allows a system administrator or an operator to change the global shared memory affiliations (shared text and/or shared library code) as well as re-locate orphaned local shared memory objects from one MRG to another. MRG_NUM_OBJ allows a system administrator or an operator to obtain the number of objects associated with a MRG. The objects returned by MRG_NUM_OBJ are sorted by memory type (e.g., private, local shared, global text, global library code, etc.) and for local shared memory segments, whether they are orphaned. As can be appreciated from the foregoing, the invention provides various techniques for permitting processes to be partitioned in different MRGs to share local and global shared memory. In combination with the prior art management of private memory partitioning, a complete solution now exists for partitioning memory for all user memory types (private, local shared, and global shared) within the existing MRG infrastructure. No change to the unix semantics is required, thereby rendering the inventive techniques fully backward compatible with existing unix applications. The affiliations created permit full load-balancing capabilities with respect to the processes. Embodiments of the invention permit the sharing to continue even if the process that creates the local shared memory segment detaches or terminates. Furthermore, facilities are provided to allow the system administrator, to assign affiliations, to query for orphaned local shared memory segments, and to load balance by moving local orphaned local memory segments or global shared memory segments among MRGs. As mentioned, the aforementioned related patent application entitled “MANAGING SHARED MEMORY USAGE WITHIN A MEMORY RESOURCE GROUP INFRASTRUCTURE” is directed toward providing physical memory isolation for shared memory segments. However, there arises a need for an arrangement that also facilitates control of the kernel memory usage. In this manner, a complete memory control solution is provided that enables a system administrator to control the usage of both the kernel memory and the user memory (e.g., private memory, local shared memory, or global shared memory). In the discussion that follows, the concept of memory class is introduced as a mechanism to enable control of both the kernel memory usage and the user memory usage. To facilitate discussion of the class concept, some prior art discussion of the typical reservation and allocation scheme may be helpful. FIG. 8 shows a typical prior art two-stage scheme 802 that allows a client (such as one of kernel clients 804 and user clients 806) to request and obtain a chunk of memory. Two-stage scheme 802 includes a common reservation layer 808 and an allocation layer 810. To request and obtain a chunk of memory, a client issues a request to reservation layer 808, which causes reservation module 812 to check and determine whether there is sufficient memory in the system to service the request. If there is sufficient memory to service the request, the memory is reserved by reservation module 812, and the request is passed to allocation layer 810, thereby causing the physical page allocator 814 to allocate pages of memory from its free lists. On the other hand, if there is insufficient memory to service the request, reservation module 812 may either block the requesting client, which then waits until memory bandwidth is available before allowing reservation and allocation to proceed, or alternatively, reservation module 812 may simply fail the attempt by rejecting the request to obtain memory. When memory is returned to the system by a client, the memory is first returned to reservation layer 808, which takes note of the return. The returned pages of memory are then placed on the allocator's free lists in allocation layer 810. As can be appreciated from the discussion of FIG. 8, there is little, if any, arrangement for controlling the physical memory usage among the kernel clients and/or the user clients. FIG. 9 illustrates the same reservation and allocation approach, albeit now with memory resource groups implemented for the user memory resource types in order to control memory usage among the user memory resource types. However, there are no arrangements for controlling kernel memory usage. Accordingly, it is not possible to guarantee physical memory among sub-systems of the kernel. Furthermore, it is not possible to guarantee physical memory to user clients if the kernel happens to require a large amount of memory. In FIG. 9, the reservation layer 808 of FIG. 8 has been updated to include an L1 reservation level 902 and an L2 reservation level 904. Memory resource group support is implemented in L1 reservation level 902 for user clients 806 as shown. The system-wide reservation module 812, representing the module for reserving memory in response to requests from kernel clients 804 and user clients 806 is implemented in L2 reservation level 904. Together, L1 reservation level 902 and an L2 reservation level 904 comprise a reservation layer 910. A request from one of the user clients 806 would be received by one of memory resource groups 912 or memory resource group 914 in L1 reservation level 902, depending on the source of the request. L1 reservation level 902 checks the memory availability of the memory resource group to ascertain whether there is sufficient memory within the memory resource group with which the originator of the request is affiliated. If there is sufficient memory to service the request within the affiliated memory resource group, the request is passed onto L2 reservation level 904 wherein the request is serviced by the system-wide reservation module 812 (and subsequently by allocator 814 if memory is available in the system) in the manner described in connection with FIG. 8. On the other hand, if there is insufficient memory to service the request within the affiliated memory resource group, the request is denied at L1 reservation level 902, and there is no need to forward the request on to reservation module 812 in L2 reservation layer 904. Memory requests from kernel clients 804, on the other hand, does not have memory resource group support. Accordingly, a memory request from one of kernel clients 804 is passed directly to reservation module 812 in the manner described in connection with FIG. 8. As such, it is possible for kernel clients 804 to starve out user clients 806 even though there is memory resource group support in user clients 806, such as in the case there is an overlap in memory mapping for the kernel clients and the user clients. Furthermore, it is possible for a kernel client to starve out other kernel clients. As is evident, an arrangement for controlling memory usage by kernel clients is needed. FIG. 10 shows, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention, an arrangement for controlling memory for all memory types, including kernel memory and user memory. Instead of simply extending the memory resource group feature to kernel clients, there is provided an innovative class structure that is at a higher level of abstraction than the memory resource group structure. Furthermore, the class structure is implemented not only for the kernel clients and the user clients at L1 reservation level 902 but also for the system-wide reservation module at the L2 reservation level 904. Accordingly, the arrangements in these two reservation levels are kept uniform, which greatly assist in the creation and maintenance of the entities in these two reservation levels. Referring now to FIG. 10, there is shown a user memory class 1002, which serves as a logical container construct for a plurality of memory resource groups 1004A-1004X. As mentioned, there may be as many memory resource groups as desired. Each of user clients 806 is affiliated with one of the memory resource groups 1004A-1004X. There is always at least a default memory resource group 1004A in user memory class 1002. Other memory resource groups for user clients 806 may be created over time. There is also shown a kernel memory class 1006, which serves as a logical container construct for a plurality of memory resource groups 1008A-1008X. There may be as many memory resource groups as desired. Each of kernel clients 804 is affiliated with one of the memory resource groups 1008A-1008X. There is always at least a default memory resource group 1008A in kernel memory class 1006. Other memory resource groups for kernel clients 804 may be created over time. There is also shown a system memory class 1010, which serves as a logical container construct for a system memory group 1012. There may be as many memory resource groups as desired in system memory class 1010. One application of an additional memory resource group in system memory class 1010 to facilitate hot addition and hot removal of memory from the computer system. There is always at least a default memory resource group 1012 in system memory class 1010. Other memory resource groups for system memory class 1010 may be created over time. In the implementation of FIG. 10, a request from one of user clients 806 is first received by its affiliated memory resource group in L1 reservation level 1020. If there is sufficient memory in the affiliated memory resource group at the L1 reservation level 1020, the request is passed on system memory resource group 1012 to ascertain whether there is sufficient physical memory in the system to accommodate the request. If there is sufficient memory in the system memory resource group 1012 at the L2 reservation level 1030, the request is passed on to allocation layer 814 and processed in the manner discussed earlier in connection with FIG. 8. On the other hand, if it is discovered at L1 reservation level 1020 that there is insufficient memory in the affiliated memory resource group at the L1 reservation level 1020, the request from the user client is denied and there is no need to pass the failed request on to L2 reservation level 1030. If there is an overlap in memory mapping between user memory and kernel memory, it is possible to pass the L1 reservation check (at one of the memory resource groups) and still fails at the L2 reservation check (e.g., at memory resource group 1012). In that case, the request does not need to be passed on to allocator 814 for memory allocation. Kernel requests are handled similarly except that they are processed in their kernel memory class 1006 against their kernel memory resource groups 1008A-1008X before being processed by a system memory group (e.g., system memory group 1012) in system memory class 1010. By providing the class structure at all levels of the reservation mechanism, it is possible to use the same code to create, configure, and query the various classes. Further, since the structure is uniform in that a class acts as a logical container for its memory resource groups, it is possible to use the same code to create, configure, and query the various memory resource groups therein. Each memory resource group may be uniquely referred to by identifying its class ID and its memory resource group ID. The same import/export mechanism described earlier continues to work for the memory resource groups irrespective of which class it belongs to. In an embodiment, importing and/or exporting memory by a memory resource group is confined to other memory resource groups within the same class. The class/memory resource group arrangement offers many advantages and features. For example, by limiting the size of the class (e.g., kernel memory class 11006), it is possible to protect the kernel clients and/or the user clients across classes. This is unlike the previous situation wherein it is not possible to protect the user clients against encroaching memory usage by the kernel clients. Further, by appropriately sizing the various memory resource groups within the kernel memory class, it is possible to protect the various kernel clients from encroaching memory use by another kernel client. Again, this is unlike the previous situation wherein it is not possible to protect any kernel client against encroaching memory usage by any other kernel client. As will be discussed later herein, it is possible to map the kernel memory and the user memory such that they can either not overlap or may overlap by a certain amount. In doing so, it is possible to tailor the protection such that a client (whether a kernel client or a user client) may be either absolutely protected with respect to its minimum amount of physical memory or may be unprotected with respect to any amount of physical memory, or any degree of protection in the continuum between these two extremes. FIG. 11 shows, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention, the steps for booting up a computer system that implements the class structure. Since it is not possible to know in advance how much free memory would be available in the kernel memory class, an innovative inverted boot-up procedure is provided in an embodiment. The assumption is that upon starting up, all memory is consumed by the kernel, and the kernel returns unused memory to provision other classes and memory resource groups. This is different from the conventional startup procedure whereby all memory is assumed to be free upon startup. In step 1102, the system memory class, such as system memory class 1010 is created. At this point, the size of the system memory class is set to be equal to the total physical memory on the system. Furthermore, the default system memory resource group (e.g., system memory resource group 1012) is created. The default system memory resource group is set to be equal to the system class size, i.e., the total physical memory on the system. The amount of free memory in the default system memory resource group is zero at this point. In step 1104, the kernel memory class, such as kernel memory class 1006, is created. At this point, the size of the kernel memory class is set to be equal to the total physical memory on the system. Furthermore, the default kernel memory resource group (e.g., kernel memory resource group 1008A) is created. The default kernel memory resource group is set to be equal to the kernel class size, i.e., the total physical memory on the system. The amount of free memory in the default kernel memory resource group is zero at this point. In step 1106, the physical memory allocator (e.g., allocator 814) is initialized by freeing free kernel memory into it. Thus, the kernel is asked to return free memory by first returning such free memory into the default kernel memory resource group (e.g., kernel memory resource group 1008A), which is then returned in a cascaded fashion into the default system memory resource group (e.g., system memory resource group 1012), which is then returned in a cascaded fashion into the physical memory allocator. Thus, pages in the free list in the physical memory allocator are filled with memory freed from the kernel. At this point, there exists free memory in the default kernel memory resource group and the default system memory resource group. In step 1108, any other required kernel memory resource groups will be created in the kernel memory class. These additional kernel memory resource groups may be employed to, for example, control memory usage by various kernel subsystems. For example, kernel memory resource groups may be created for one or more kernel clients associated with the file cache subsystem, one or more kernel clients associated with the networking subsystem, and the like. The memory required to create these additional kernel memory resource groups are carved out from the default kernel memory resource groups (e.g., kernel memory resource group 1008A). Note that such creation does not affect the amount of free memory available in the system memory class. step 1110, the user memory class is created from the free memory left over, as ascertained from the system memory class. The size of the user memory class is set to be equal to the amount of free memory currently available in the system memory class. Furthermore, the default user memory resource group (such as user memory resource group 1004A) is created. At this point, the default user memory resource group is set to be equal to the user memory class size, i.e., the amount of free memory currently available in the system memory class. At this point, booting is substantially completed for the class/memory resource group structure. In step 1112, additional kernel and/or user memory resource groups are created as required by carving out memory from their respective default memory resource groups. FIGS. 12A and 12B illustrate, in accordance with embodiments of the present invention, how the class structure may be employed to manage physical memory sharing between kernel clients and user clients. In FIG. 12A, there is an overlap in the memory allocation for the kernel clients and user clients. Thus a kernel memory class 1202 having two example kernel memory resource groups 1204 and 1206 is mapped into 100% of a system memory class 1208. System memory class 1208 is shown having a system memory resource group 1210 and represents the available physical memory of the system. On the other hand, user memory class 1220, which has two example user memory resource groups 1222 and 1224, is mapped into only 90% of system memory class 1208. Due to the overlap (as evidenced by the fact that the sum of the allocations is greater than 100%) and the fact that kernel memory class 1202 is mapped onto 100% of system memory, the user clients affiliated with user memory resource groups 1222 and 1224 are not protected from encroaching memory usage by the kernel clients. Note that this is true even though the user clients are protected from memory encroachment by other user clients due to the implementation of the user memory resource groups. Further, due to the implementation of the kernel memory resource groups (e.g., 1204 and 1206), the kernel clients are protected from encroaching use by other kernel clients. However, they are not protected from encroaching memory usage from user clients. FIG. 12B shows a non-overlapping memory allocation between a kernel memory class 1250 and a user memory class 1252, thereby protecting the kernel clients and the user clients across memory resource groups and across classes. In this case kernel memory class 1250, which has two example kernel memory resource groups 1254 and 1256, is mapped onto 40% of a system memory class 1258. As shown in FIG. 12B, system memory class 1258 has an example system memory resource group 1260. User memory class 1252, which has two example user memory resource groups 1270 and 1272, is mapped onto the other 60% of system memory class 1258. Accordingly, if a kernel client requests a large amount of memory, the amount of memory allowed is limited first by the size of its affiliated kernel memory resource group. Next, the size of the kernel memory class serves as the upper limit for the total memory allocation of all kernel clients belonging to all of the existing kernel memory resource groups. In this manner, unless the mapping is changed, the kernel is limited to 40% of the system memory, ensuring that the user clients will not be starved due to the kernel's encroaching memory use. Conversely, the user clients are limited to 60% of the system memory, thereby protecting the kernel clients. As can be seen, the mapping of FIG. 12B provides full protection across classes, whereas the mapping of FIG. 12A provides no protection for the user clients but some protection (up to a maximum of 10% of physical memory) for kernel clients. The system administrator can choose any level of over-lapping to achieve the desired degree of protection for the user clients and/or kernel clients. As mentioned, there is a default memory resource group for each memory class. When a new memory resource group is created, memory is carved out from this default memory group to instantiate the new group. When an existing memory resource group is removed, memory is returned to the default memory resource group of the respective memory class. In accordance with an embodiment, the normal mechanism for adding and removing a memory resource group is bypassed in order to facilitate hot addition and hot removal of memory. To facilitate discussion, FIG. 13 shows an example of a memory class (e.g., one of a system memory class, a kernel memory class, and a user memory class) in which the normal mechanism for adding a memory resource group has been bypassed in order to facilitate the hot addition of 500 MB of memory. To clarify, hot addition and hot removal refers to the addition and removal of physical memory without shutting down the operating system and going through a normal boot cycle. The addition and removal of memory may refer to actual physical insertion and removal of a memory device from the computer system, the process of making more or less physical memory visible to the operations system, such as the case with ICOD (Instant Capacity on Demand) systems or the transfer of physical memory from one operating system to another on systems that support virtual machines (multiple operating system instances running simultaneously on the same computer system). At time T0, a memory class 1302 is shown having three example memory resource groups 1304 (700 MB), 1306 (200 MB) and 1308 (100 MB), of which memory resource group 1304 is the default memory resource group. Suppose the system administrator wishes to perform a hot addition of 500 MB of memory into this memory class, i.e., increase the default memory resource group 1304 by 500 MB without having to reboot the operating system. The operation to accomplish the hot addition of memory involves two steps. At time T1, a temporary memory resource group 13 10 of 500 MB is added without using the normal mechanism for creating an additional 500 MB resource memory group to memory class 1302. That is, temporary memory resource group 1310 of 500 MB is added without carving out 500 MB of memory from the existing default resource group. At time T1, the normal procedure for removing a memory resource group is applied to the newly added temporary memory resource group 1310. In this case, the normal memory resource group removal procedure, when applied to memory resource group 1310, causes 500 MB of memory to be “returned” to the default memory resource group 1304. The result is shown at time T2, at which time the default memory resource group 1304 is shown to have a total of 700 MB+500 MB of memory or a total of 1,200 MB. In an embodiment, the temporarily added memory resource group (e.g., memory resource group 1310) is identified with a special ID to ensure that no process will attempt to be affiliated with the temporary memory resource group before it is “removed.” For example, the temporary memory resource group may be given an ID number of −1. In an example implementation, memory is first added to the allocator and then to the system memory class using the technique discussed in connection with FIG. 13 above. After the memory is added, the system administrator may specify that some or all of the additional memory be added to one or both of the kernel memory class and the user memory class. In an embodiment, all of the above mentioned tasks of adding physical memory to a memory class is accomplished by using the grow option of a primitive MEM_CLASS_SET_ATTR. The hot removal of memory may be accomplished in an analogous manner. With reference to FIG. 14, at time T0, memory class 1302 is shown again having three memory resource groups 1304 (700 MB), 1306 (200 MB) and 1308 (100 MB), of which memory resource group 1304 is the default memory resource group. At time T1, a temporary memory resource group of 500 MB is created using the normal memory resource group addition mechanism. This causes the memory resource group 1402 to be created, which carves out 500 MB from default memory resource group 1304. Accordingly, memory resource group 1304 is shown having only 700 MB−500 MB or 200 MB remaining. At time T2, the temporary memory resource group 1402 is removed without employing the normal memory resource group removal procedure. This is because the normal memory resource group removal procedure causes the memory resource group to be deleted but its memory returned to the default memory group 1304. By removing the temporary memory resource group 1402 without using the normal memory resource group removal procedure, the 500 MB of memory may be removed from class 1302 without causing the 500 MB to be added back to the default memory resource group. Similar to the situation of FIG. 13, the temporarily created memory resource group (e.g., memory resource group 1402) is identified with a special ID to ensure that no process will attempt to be affiliated with the temporary memory resource group before it is “removed.” For example, the temporary memory resource group may be given an ID number of −1. In an example implementation, memory is first removed from either the kernel memory class or the user memory class, or both, using the technique discussed in connection with FIG. 14 above. In the next step the physical memory is also removed from system memory class. Thereafter, this memory may, if desired, be removed from the allocator. In an embodiment, all of the above mentioned tasks for removing physical memory from a memory class is accomplished using the shrink option of a primitive MEM_CLASS_SET_ATTR. As shown earlier in FIG. 12B, protection of either the user clients or the kernel clients from other clients is possible, even across classes, if the classes are mapped in a non-overlapping manner with the system memory class. FIG. 15 shows, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention, an arrangement for protection of clients across classes even when the memory mapping by the various classes to the system memory class is overlapping. For example, a file cache (a kernel client) may be implemented with a minimal cache size of 100 MB and a maximum cache size of 600 MB. In this case, a minimum of 100 MB needs to be protected from encroaching memory usage by user clients. FIG. 15 introduces the concept of pre-reserving memory in the system memory class. In FIG. 15, a kernel memory class 1502 is shown having three example kernel memory resource groups 1504, 1506 and 1508, of which memory resource group 1504 is the default kernel memory resource group. Further, suppose that kernel memory resource group 1508 needs to have a minimum of 100 MB of memory at all times. In an embodiment, when kernel memory resource group 1508 is created, it is tagged as a pre-reserved kernel memory resource group. The “pre-reserved” designation signifies that the required guaranteed amount of memory for that kernel memory resource group 1508 has been accounted for in (or blocked from) system memory resource class 1520, and more particularly in a system memory resource group 1522. This pre-reserved block of memory is shown by pre-reserved memory block 1524. The same pre-reserved concept may also apply to a user memory resource group that needs the same degree of protection. In FIG. 15, a user memory class 1532 is shown having three example user memory resource groups 1534, 1536 and 1538, of which user memory resource group 1534 is the default user memory resource group. Further, suppose that user memory resource group 1538 needs to have a minimum of 200 MB of memory at all times. In an embodiment, when user memory resource group 1538 is created, it is tagged as a pre-reserved user memory resource group. The “pre-reserved” designation signifies that the required guaranteed amount of memory for that user memory resource group 1538 has been accounted for in (or blocked from) system memory resource class 1520, and more particularly in a system memory resource group 1522. This pre-reserved block of memory is shown by pre-reserved memory block 1544. In an embodiment, when a memory resource group (e.g., memory resource group 1508) is designated a pre-reserved memory resource group, a request for memory by a client associated with that memory resource group will require that there is sufficient memory in that pre-reserved memory resource group to service the memory request. If there is sufficient memory in that pre-reserved memory resource group to service the memory request, there is no need to check further in the system memory class because by definition, memory for that entire affiliated memory resource group has already been pre-reserved for use in the system memory class. While this invention has been described in terms of several embodiments, there are alterations, permutations, and equivalents, which fall within the scope of this invention. It should also be noted that there are many alternative ways of implementing the methods and apparatuses of the present invention. It is therefore intended that the following appended claims be interpreted as including all such alterations, permutations, and equivalents as fall within the true spirit and scope of the present invention. | <SOH> BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION <EOH>In a computer system, such as a server, multiple processes may be running concurrently. These processes share the physical memory of the computer system for their memory needs. With reference to FIG. 1A , processes 102 , 104 , 106 , 108 , and 110 all share the memory space 112 of the computer system. If the total amount of memory required by the concurrently executing processes is less than the total physical memory available, each process can execute without experiencing memory access related delays. On the other hand, if the total amount of memory required exceeds the total amount of memory available, memory paging occurs in order to ensure that all processes have sufficient memory to execute. Paging, as is known, involves swapping the contents of physical memory into and out of disk-based storage, such as a hard drive to extend the logical memory available to a process. Because the memory access speed for disk-based storage is significantly slower than for semiconductor-based storage, paging affects the execution speed of the process being paged. In some cases, it is desirable to guarantee a certain amount of physical memory to a process or a group of processes. In the prior art, different approaches have been taken to ensure that a process or a group of processes has a guaranteed amount of physical memory during execution. The brute force approach involves having a process lock down a certain amount of physical memory, which may then only be used by that particular process. Although this approach ensures that the process will have a guaranteed amount of physical memory, it is inefficient since other processes cannot utilize memory that is locked even if the process that locks down that memory does not truly need all of it at all times for its execution. Secondly, memory locking is a privileged operation that is not available to ordinary applications. Another approach based on the external page-cache management scheme lets processes have direct control over their share of physical memory through special primitives provided by the operating system. A sophisticated application can exploit this feature to implement a dedicated memory management policy that best suits its requirements. However, this approach is not backward compatible with existing applications since a legacy application may not be aware of such primitives and would be at a disadvantage when executing in an environment wherein other applications directly control their physical memory requirements. Another approach involves using a special application program to manage physical memory consumption. This program, known as the Resource Manager, queries the operating system periodically to determine the amount of physical memory being used by every process on the system. When the available memory on the system is low the Resource Manager picks processes that are exceeding their share and tries to force them to shrink in size. This is achieved by stopping the selected processes via signals and process priority changes and then relying on the system memory pager to reclaim non-recently referenced pages of physical memory. In this form of control all of the necessary logic is implemented by the Resource Manager program, a user application, and does not require any modifications to the operating system. However, it is not very deterministic and problems can arise, for instance, if a target process has set up its own signal handlers to ignore signals sent from the Resource Manager. Memory resource grouping represents another approach to address the physical memory control issue. In memory resource grouping, the physical memory is divided into logical blocks called MRGs. Referring now to FIG. 1B , processes 130 , 132 , and 134 are assigned to MRG 136 of a computer system 150 , while processes 138 and 140 are assigned to MRG 142 . In dividing the physical memory space into MRGs, the memory utilization of processes associated with one MRG does not impact the memory utilization in another MRG. For example, even if processes 138 and 140 each requires a vast amount of memory and thus a lot of paging activities need to be performed with respect to the memory assigned to MRG 142 , the amount of memory available to MRG 136 is not affected. Thus memory resource grouping is a way to provide memory isolation to a group of processes. Memory resource grouping also has other advantages. A MRG (such as MRG 136 ) can be set up to import from another MRG or export memory to another MRG. This form of controlled sharing allows the resources of an under-utilized MRG (that is willing to export) to be used by an over-loaded MRG (that has import capability), leading to higher overall physical memory utilization on the computer system. Unfortunately, memory resource grouping has only been applied thus far to private memory of processes. To further explain this issue, FIG. 2 shows the various memory resource types that may exist in physical memory. With reference to FIG. 2 , physical memory may involve kernel memory 202 , and user resource types 204 . User resource types 204 include process private memory 206 , local shared memory 208 , and global shared memory 210 (which includes shared text memory 210 A and shared library memory 210 B). Kernel memory refers to the memory used by the operating system kernel. User resource types refer to the various memory types that may be involved with process execution. For example, process private memory 206 includes the data memory, stack or heap memory specific to a process during execution. Local shared memory 208 may include, for example, a memory-mapped file segment that is shared between specific processes. Shared text memory 210 A may include, for example, text that is shared by identical copies of programs executing in a computer system (i.e., such global shared memory is not specific to any process or groups of processes). Likewise, shared library memory 210 B may include, for example, certain libraries of code that are shared by all processes executing in a computer system. As shown in FIG. 2 , different segments of private memory 206 may be assigned to different MRGs, such as MRGs 220 , 222 and 224 . These different private memory fragments may be created by different processes, for example. As mentioned, the paradigm of grouping memory in different MRGs has been confined to private memory thus far. Partitioning private memory is less complicated than partitioning local shared memory or partitioning global shared memory since each private memory segment (or object) is affiliated with only one process. As currently implemented, it is not possible to extend memory resource grouping to either local shared memory or global shared memory. To elaborate, consider the situation in FIG. 3 . In FIG. 3 , process 302 and process 304 are affiliated with respective MRGs 352 and 354 . These process affiliations are represented by private affiliations 312 and 314 respectively. The private affiliations are typically assigned to the processes, e.g., by the system administrator or by inheritance during forking (i.e., the child process inherits the same affiliation as the parent process after being forked in the unix environment). Process 302 creates three private segments 302 A, 302 B, and 302 C during execution. These private segments are automatically affiliated (by the operating system) with the MRG 352 since there is a private affiliation 312 between process 302 and MRG 352 . Accordingly, the memory required by memory segments 302 A, 302 B, and 302 C are allocated only from MRG 352 . Likewise, process 304 creates three private segments 304 A, 304 B, and 304 C during execution. These private segments are automatically affiliated (by the operating system) with the MRG 354 since there is a private affiliation 314 between process 304 and MRG 354 . Accordingly, the memory required by memory segments 304 A, 304 B, and 304 C are allocated only from MRG 354 . Logically speaking, each of process 302 and process 304 has been partitioned to use only the memory associated with the MRG to which it is affiliated for its private memory needs (i.e., MRG 352 for process 302 and MRG 354 for process 304 ). Now consider the shared memory situation. If process 302 and process 304 , which are affiliated with different MRGs for their private memory needs, need to share a memory segment (i.e., either local shared memory or global shared memory), a methodology needs to exist to allow these processes to share a memory segment across the logical partitions that divide the MRGs. Furthermore, a methodology needs to be developed to allow a shared memory segment (either local or global) to be shared by processes even if the process that created that shared memory segment detaches from it or no longer exists. This is unlike the situation with a private memory segment wherein the private memory segment is deallocated if it is detached from its creator process or if its creator process terminates. Additionally, the sharing needs to be transparent from the load-balancing perspective in that it is important to be able to move a process from one MRG to another MRG without undue restriction even if that process shares a memory segment with another process that may be assigned to any of the MRGs. For example, requiring that processes sharing a memory segment to be assigned to the same MRG would ensure that these processes can share the same memory segment but would impose an undue restriction on the ability to move a process from one MRG to another MRG during load balancing. For backward compatibility reasons, the methodology also needs to work within the existing application semantics and memory resource grouping infrastructure. The aforementioned related application entitled “MANAGING SHARED MEMORY USAGE WITHIN A MEMORY RESOURCE GROUP INFRASTRUCTURE” is directed toward providing physical memory isolation for shared memory segments. However, unless kernel memory usage can also be managed, it is impossible to meaningfully guarantee, in some cases, physical memory to user memory types (e.g., private memory, local shared memory, or global shared memory) if such a guarantee is desired. This is because typically there is no restriction on memory usage by the kernel and as a result the user memory types may still be starved if the kernel memory is allowed to expand without limits. Additionally, the kernel typically comprises a plurality of kernel subsystems, such as the networking subsystem, the file buffer cache subsystem, the storage subsystem, and the like. If kernel memory control is lacking, one or more kernel subsystem may be memory-starved if another kernel subsystem is allowed to exclusively hold an undue amount of memory. | <SOH> SUMMARY OF INVENTION <EOH>The invention relates, in an embodiment, to a method for allocating memory in a computer system. The method includes creating a kernel memory class, the kernel memory class acting as a logical container for at least a first kernel memory resource group. The method further includes processing a kernel client's request for additional memory by ascertaining whether there is sufficient free memory in the first kernel memory resource group to accommodate the kernel client's request. The method additionally includes denying the kernel client's request if there is insufficient free memory in the first kernel memory resource group to accommodate the kernel client's request. In another embodiment, the invention relates to an arrangement for allocating memory in a computer system. There is included a reservation layer having a first reservation level and a second reservation level. The first reservation level includes a kernel memory class, the kernel memory class being mapped to at least a first portion of physical memory in the computer system. The first reservation level further includes a user memory class, the user memory class being mapped to at least a second portion of physical memory in the computer system. In yet another embodiment, the invention relates to a method for guaranteeing a minimum amount of physical memory to a user client. The method includes affiliating the user client with a user memory resource group, the user memory group being associated with a user memory class, a size of the user memory resource group being set to be at least a size of the minimum amount of physical memory. The method also includes pre-reserving a chunk of memory associated with a system memory resource group, the chunk of memory having at least the size of the minimum amount of physical memory, the system memory resource group being part of a memory resource class. In yet another embodiment, the invention relates to method for guaranteeing a minimum amount of physical memory to a kernel client. The method includes affiliating the kernel client with a kernel memory resource group. The kernel memory group is associated with a kernel memory class, a size of the kernel memory resource group being set to be at least a size of the minimum amount of physical memory. There is included pre-reserving a chunk of memory associated with a system memory resource group. The chunk of memory has at least the size of the minimum amount of physical memory, the system memory resource group being part of a memory resource class. In yet another embodiment, the invention relates to a method for rendering an additional amount of physical memory available for use by an operating system. There is included adding the additional amount of physical memory to a memory class of the operating. The additional amount being added using a temporary memory resource group has a size that is at least equal to a size of the additional amount of physical memory to be added, the adding being performed without taking memory from a default memory resource group of the memory class. The method also includes deleting the temporary memory resource group, thereby causing the additional amount of physical memory to be added to the default memory resource group. In yet another embodiment, the invention relates to a method for removing an amount of physical memory available for use by an operating system. The method includes creating a temporary memory resource group in a memory class. The memory resource group has a size that is at least equal to a size of the amount of physical memory to be removed, the creating causing a chunk of memory that is at least equal to the size of the amount of physical memory to be removed to be taken from a default memory resource group of the memory class. The method includes deleting the temporary memory resource group, thereby causing the amount of physical memory to be removed from the memory class. These and other features of the present invention will be described in more detail below in the detailed description of the invention and in conjunction with the following figures. | 20040910 | 20101123 | 20060316 | 65349.0 | G06F1200 | 0 | YU, JAE UN | PHYSICAL MEMORY CONTROL USING MEMORY CLASSES | UNDISCOUNTED | 0 | ACCEPTED | G06F | 2,004 |
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10,939,857 | ACCEPTED | Wireless enabled memory module | A wireless-enabled memory module provides host devices access to a memory via a standard memory expansion interface and further incorporates embedded processing capability and a wireless network capability. The wireless-enabled memory module can be used in any host device providing a compatible memory card controller and interface. Host devices so equipped become wireless-memory enabled devices and can provide memory access to any other remote device enabled for compatible wireless communications. It is thereby possible for a remote device to access the memory content of the memory module, and cause transfers of either full-size or scaled versions of the content to the remote device through a first network, and optionally further transfer the content from the remote device through a second network to the Internet in the form of an e-mail message or MMS attachment. | 1. A removable module for coupling to a digital host and a wireless network, the coupling to the host being via an expansion port of the host, the wireless network having at least one remote wireless device, the module comprising: a host-to-module interconnect to removably couple with the host; a host-to-module interface controller coupled to the host-to-module interconnect; wireless transceiver circuitry to couple with the wireless network; a memory controller; an embedded non-volatile memory coupled to the memory controller; and a control sub-system coupled to the host-to-module interface controller, the wireless transceiver circuitry, and the memory controller, the control sub-system managing data transfer between the embedded non-volatile memory and the wireless network. 2. A removable module for operative coupling to a digital host, a removable memory, and a wireless network, the coupling to the host being via an expansion port of the host, the wireless network having at least one remote wireless device, the module comprising: a host-to-module interconnect to removably couple with the host; a host-to-module interface controller coupled to the host-to-module interconnect; wireless transceiver circuitry to couple with the wireless network; a removable memory controller; a slot to receive and couple the removable memory to the removable memory controller; and a control sub-system coupled to the host-to-module interface controller, the wireless transceiver circuitry, and the removable memory controller, the control sub-system managing data transfer between the removable memory and the wireless network. 3. The removable module of claim 1, wherein the host-to-module interconnect and the host-to-module interface controller are implemented in accordance with at least one version of a CompactFlash standard. 4. The removable module of claim 2, wherein the host-to-module interconnect and the host-to-module interface controller are implemented in accordance with at least one version of a CompactFlash standard. 5. The removable module of claim 1, wherein the host-to-module interconnect and the host-to-module interface controller are implemented in accordance with at least one version of a Secure Digital (SD) standard. 6. The removable module of claim 2, wherein the host-to-module interconnect and the host-to-module interface controller are implemented in accordance with at least one version of a Secure Digital (SD) standard. 7. The removable module of claim 1, wherein the host-to-module interface controller, the memory controller, and the control sub-system are all on a single ASIC. 8. The removable module of claim 2, wherein the host-to-module interface controller, the removable memory controller, and the control sub-system are all on a single ASIC. 9. The removable module of claim 1, further including media scaling circuitry. 10. The removable module of claim 2, further including media scaling circuitry. 11. The removable module of claim 1, wherein the wireless transceiver circuitry is implemented in accordance with at least one version of a BlueTooth standard. 12. The removable module of claim 2, wherein the wireless transceiver circuitry is implemented in accordance with at least one version of a BlueTooth standard. 13. The removable module of claim 9, wherein the media scaling circuitry selectively produces a version of a requested portion of the embedded non-volatile memory content that is scaled to a selected one of a plurality of available scaling factors. 14. The removable module of claim 10, wherein the media scaling circuitry selectively produces a version of a requested portion of the removable memory content that is scaled to a selected one of a plurality of available scaling factors. 15. The removable module of claim 13, wherein the plurality of scaling factors includes a thumbnail scaling factor. 16. The removable module of claim 14, wherein the plurality of scaling factors includes a thumbnail scaling factor. 17. The removable module of claim 13, wherein the plurality of scaling factors includes at least a small and a large scaling factor. 18. The removable module of claim 14, wherein the plurality of scaling factors includes at least a small and a large scaling factor. 19. A method of transferring data, the method comprising: coupling a removable module to an expansion port of a host, the removable module having a host-to-module interconnect to removably couple with the host, a host-to-module interface controller coupled to the host-to-module interconnect, a control sub-system coupled to the host-to-module interface controller, wireless transceiver circuitry coupled to the control sub-system, and a memory controller coupled to a non-volatile memory and coupled to the control sub-system; accessing the non-volatile memory through a user interface of a remote wireless-enabled device, the remote device being capable of communicating over a first wireless network to the removable module; and transferring selected data between the remote device and the non-volatile memory. 20. The method of claim 19, wherein the host includes a digital camera. 21. The method of claim 19, wherein the host includes an MP3 player. 22. The method of claim 19, wherein the wireless transceiver circuitry is implemented in accordance with at least one version of a BlueTooth standard. 23. The method of claim 19, wherein the remote wireless-enabled device is a personal computer (PC). 24. The method of claim 19, wherein the remote wireless-enabled device is a personal digital assistant (PDA). 25. The method of claim 19, wherein the remote wireless-enabled device is further capable of communicating over a second wireless network. 26. The method of claim 25, further comprising: coupling the remote device to the second wireless network; transferring the selected data between the remote device and a gateway and between the gateway and at least one location accessible via the Internet; and wherein the gateway is coupled to the second wireless network and further coupled to the Internet. 27. The method of claim 19, wherein the selected data is transferred from the non-volatile memory to the remote device. 28. The method of claim 19, wherein the selected data is transferred to the non-volatile memory from the remote device. 29. The method of claim 26, wherein the selected data is transferred from the non-volatile memory to the location accessible via the Internet. 30. The method of claim 26, wherein the selected data is transferred to the non-volatile memory from the location accessible via the Internet. 31. The method of claim 19, wherein the non-volatile memory is embedded within the removable module. 32. The method of claim 19, wherein the non-volatile memory is removable via a slot provided in the removable module. 33. The method of claim 26, wherein the non-volatile memory is embedded within the removable module. 34. The method of claim 26, wherein the non-volatile memory is removable via a slot provided in the removable module. 35. The method of claim 33, wherein the non-volatile memory is a flash memory. 36. The method of claim 34, wherein the non-volatile memory is a flash memory. 37. The method of claim 25, wherein the second wireless network is implemented in accordance with at least one version of a GSM standard. 38. A system for transferring data, comprising: a host with an expansion port; a removable module coupled to the expansion port, the removable module having a host-to-module interconnect to removably couple with the host, a host-to-module interface controller coupled to the host-to-module interconnect, a control sub-system coupled to the host-to-module interface controller, wireless transceiver circuitry coupled to the control sub-system, and a memory controller coupled to the control sub-system; a non-volatile memory coupled to the memory controller; a remote wireless-enabled device capable of communicating over a first wireless network to the removable module; and wherein the control sub-system manages data transfer between the non-volatile memory and the remote wireless-enabled device via the first wireless network. 39. The system of claim 38, wherein the host includes a digital camera. 40. The system of claim 38, wherein the host includes an MP3 player. 41. The system of claim 38, wherein the wireless transceiver circuitry is implemented in accordance with at least one version of a BlueTooth standard. 42. The system of claim 38, wherein the remote wireless-enabled device is a personal computer (PC). 43. The system of claim 38, wherein the remote wireless-enabled device is a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA). 44. The system of claim 38, wherein the remote wireless-enabled device is further capable of communicating over a second wireless network. 45. The system of claim 44, wherein the remote wireless-enabled device is further capable of transferring data between the first and the second wireless networks. 46. The system of claim 45, further comprising a gateway coupled to the second wireless network and to the Internet. 47. The system of claim 46, wherein the gateway is capable of transferring the data between the gateway and at least one location accessible via the Internet. 48. The system of claim 47, wherein the remote wireless-enabled device is a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA) and the first wireless network is a BlueTooth network. 49. The system of claim 47, wherein the non-volatile memory includes a flash memory, the remote wireless-enabled device includes a mobile phone, the first wireless network is a BlueTooth network, and the second wireless network is a mobile phone network. 50. The removable module of claim 1, further including an embedded power source. 51. The removable module of claim 2, further including an embedded power source. 52. The removable module of claim 3, further including an embedded power source. 53. The removable module of claim 4, further including an embedded power source. 54. The removable module of claim 5, further including an embedded power source. 55. The removable module of claim 6, further including an embedded power source. 56. The method of claim 19, wherein the host provides power to the removable module via the host-to-module interconnect but otherwise does not communicate with the removable module. 57. The method of claim 26, wherein the host provides power to the removable module via the host-to-module interconnect but otherwise does not communicate with the removable module. 58. The system of claim 38, wherein the host provides power to the removable module via the host-to-module interconnect but otherwise does not communicate with the removable module. 59. The system of claim 47, wherein the host provides power to the removable module via the host-to-module interconnect but otherwise does not communicate with the removable module. 60. The removable module of claim 1, wherein the non-volatile memory includes a flash memory. 61. The removable module of claim 2, wherein the removable memory includes a flash memory. 62. The method of claim 19, wherein the non-volatile memory includes a flash memory. 63. The method of claim 26, wherein the non-volatile memory includes a flash memory. 64. The system of claim 38, wherein the non-volatile memory includes a flash memory. 65. The system of claim 47, wherein the non-volatile memory includes a flash memory. 66. The method of claim 19, wherein the host-to-module interconnect and the host-to-module interface controller are implemented in accordance with at least one version of a CompactFlash standard. 67. The method of claim 26, wherein the host-to-module interconnect and the host-to-module interface controller are implemented in accordance with at least one version of a CompactFlash standard. 68. The system of claim 38, wherein the host-to-module interconnect and the host-to-module interface controller are implemented in accordance with at least one version of a CompactFlash standard. 69. The system of claim 47, wherein the host-to-module interconnect and the host-to-module interface controller are implemented in accordance with at least one version of a CompactFlash standard. 70. The method of claim 19, wherein the host-to-module interconnect and the host-to-module interface controller are implemented in accordance with at least one version of a Secure Digital (SD) standard. 71. The method of claim 26, wherein the host-to-module interconnect and the host-to-module interface controller are implemented in accordance with at least one version of a Secure Digital (SD) standard. 72. The system of claim 38, wherein the host-to-module interconnect and the host-to-module interface controller are implemented in accordance with at least one version of a Secure Digital (SD) standard. 73. The system of claim 47, wherein the host-to-module interconnect and the host-to-module interface controller are implemented in accordance with at least one version of a Secure Digital (SD) standard. 74. The removable module of claim 1, wherein the control sub-system includes a processor, a working RAM, and firmware. 75. The removable module of claim 2, wherein the control sub-system includes a processor, a working RAM, and firmware. 76. The method of claim 19, wherein the control sub-system includes a processor, a working RAM, and firmware. 77. The method of claim 26, wherein the control sub-system includes a processor, a working RAM, and firmware. 78. The system of claim 38, wherein the control sub-system includes a processor, a working RAM, and firmware. 79. The system of claim 47, wherein the control sub-system includes a processor, a working RAM, and firmware. 80. The removable module of claim 1, wherein the control sub-system includes web-server functionality. 81. The removable module of claim 2, wherein the control sub-system includes web-server functionality. 82. The method of claim 19, wherein the control sub-system includes web-server functionality. 83 The method of claim 26, wherein the control sub-system includes web-server functionality. 84. The system of claim 38, wherein the control sub-system includes web-server functionality. 85. The system of claim 47, wherein the control sub-system includes web-server functionality. 86. The removable module of claim 1, wherein the host-to-module interface controller, the memory controller, and the control sub-system are implemented as a single integrated circuit. 87. The removable module of claim 86, wherein the single integrated circuit is an ASIC. 88. The removable module of claim 2, wherein the host-to-module interface controller, the memory controller, and the control sub-system are implemented as a single integrated circuit. 89. The removable module of claim 88, wherein the single integrated circuit is an ASIC. 90. The method of claim 19, wherein the host-to-module interface controller, the memory controller, and the control sub-system are implemented as a single integrated circuit. 91. The method of claim 90, wherein the single integrated circuit is an ASIC. 92. The removable module of claim 1, wherein the host-to-module interconnect and the host-to-module interface controller are implemented in accordance with at least one version of a Universal Serial Bus standard. 93. The removable module of claim 2, wherein the host-to-module interconnect and the host-to-module interface controller are implemented in accordance with at least one version of a Universal Serial Bus standard. 94. The removable module of claim 93, wherein the slot, the removable memory controller, and the removable memory are implemented in accordance with a removable memory standard, and wherein the removable memory standard is selected from the group consisting of a PC Card standard, a CompactFlash standard, a SmartCard standard, a Memory Stick standard, a MMC standard, an xD-Picture Card standard, and a Secure Digital (SD) standard. 95. The method of claim 19, wherein the host-to-module interconnect and the host-to-module interface controller are implemented in accordance with at least one version of a Universal Serial Bus standard. 96. The method of claim 95, wherein the non-volatile memory is removable via a slot provided in the removable module. 97. The method of claim 96, wherein the non-volatile memory and the slot are implemented in accordance with a removable memory standard, and wherein the removable memory standard is selected from the group consisting of a PC Card standard, a CompactFlash standard, a SmartCard standard, a Memory Stick standard, a MMC standard, an xD-Picture Card standard, and a Secure Digital (SD) standard. 98. The system of claim 38, wherein the host-to-module interconnect and the host-to-module interface controller are implemented in accordance with at least one version of a Universal Serial Bus standard. 99. A method comprising the steps of: accessing memory content of a memory through a user interface of a remote wireless-enabled device, the remote device being capable of communicating over a wireless network to an accessory module communicating with the memory; transferring data between the remote device and the memory; and wherein the accessory module may be coupled and uncoupled with an expansion port of a host. 100. The method of claim 99, wherein the accessory module includes a host-to-module interconnect to removably couple with the host, a host-to-module interface controller coupled to the host-to-module interconnect, a control sub-system coupled to the host-to-module interface controller, wireless transceiver circuitry coupled to the control sub-system, and a memory controller coupled to the memory and coupled to the control sub-system. 101. The method of claim 100, wherein the host-to-module interface controller, the control sub-system, and the memory controller are implemented as a single integrated circuit. 102. The method of claim 101, wherein the single integrated circuit is an ASIC. 103. The method of claim 100, wherein the accessory module further includes media scaling circuitry. 104. The method of claim 103, wherein the media scaling circuitry produces a scaled version of a portion of the memory content according to a selected one of a plurality of scaling factors. 105. The method of claim 104, wherein the plurality of scaling factors includes a thumbnail scaling factor. 106. The method of claim 104, wherein the scaling factors include small and large scaling factors. 107. The method of claim 100, wherein the wireless transceiver circuitry is implemented in accordance with at least one version of a BlueTooth standard. 108. The method of claim 100, wherein the control sub-system includes a processor, a working RAM, and firmware. 109. The method of claim 100, wherein the control sub-system includes web-server functionality. 110. The method of claim 99, wherein the memory includes any combination of embedded memory included in the accessory module and removable memory. 111. The method of claim 99, wherein the memory includes removable memory and further comprising coupling the removable memory to the accessory module. 112. The method of claim 99, wherein the memory includes non-volatile memory. 113. The method of claim 112, wherein the non-volatile memory includes flash memory. 114. The method of claim 99, wherein the accessory module and the expansion port are implemented in accordance with a miniature-form-factor. 115. The method of claim 114, wherein the miniature-form-factor is in accordance with an expansion port standard, and wherein the expansion port standard is selected from the group consisting of a PC Card standard, a CompactFlash standard, a SmartCard standard, a Memory Stick standard, a MMC standard, an xD-Picture Card standard, a Secure Digital (SD) standard., a FireWire standard, and a Universal Serial Bus standard. 116. The method of claim 114, wherein the miniature-form-factor is a first miniature-form-factor, and the memory includes removable memory compatible with a second miniature-form-factor. 117. The method of claim 116, wherein the first miniature-form-factor is in accordance with an expansion port standard, and wherein the expansion port standard is selected from the group consisting of a CompactFlash standard and a Universal Serial Bus standard. 118. The method of claim 116, wherein the second miniature-form-factor is in accordance with at least one version of a Secure Digital (SD) standard. 119. The method of claim 99, wherein the host is configured to access the memory content of the memory. 120. The method of claim 119, wherein the host is selected from the group consisting of a digital camera, an MP3 player, an audio device, and a home entertainment system. 121. The method of claim 120, wherein host communication with the accessory module is limited to the providing of power. 122. The method of claim 99, wherein the accessory module includes an embedded power source. 123. The method of claim 99, wherein the remote wireless-enabled device is selected from the group consisting of a personal computer (PC), a personal digital assistant (PDA), and a mobile phone. 124. The method of claim 99, wherein the wireless network is a first wireless network and the remote wireless-enabled device is further capable of communicating over a second wireless network. 125. The method of claim 124, further comprising: coupling the remote wireless-enabled device to the second wireless network; transferring the data between the remote device and a gateway coupled to the second wireless network and further coupled to the Internet; and transferring the data between the gateway and at least one location accessible via the Internet. 126. The method of claim 125, wherein the data is transferred from the memory to the location accessible via the Internet. 127. The method of claim 125, wherein the data is transferred to the memory from the location accessible via the Internet. 128. The method of claim 124, wherein the second wireless network is implemented in accordance with at least one version of a GSM standard. 129. The method of claim 99, wherein the data is transferred from the memory to the remote wireless-enabled device. 130. The method of claim 99, wherein the data is transferred to the memory from the remote wireless-enabled device. 131. A system including: a removable module having a host connector to couple to a host in a removable manner, an interface controller coupled to the host connector and adapted to exchange data with the host, a wireless transceiver to communicate via a wireless network, a memory controller to load data from and store data into a memory, and a control sub-system coupled to the interface controller, the wireless transceiver, and the memory controller; and wherein the control sub-system is adapted to manage data transfers between the memory and the wireless network. 132. The system of claim 131, wherein the control sub-system is further adapted to manage data transfers between the memory and the host via the interface controller and the host connector. 133. The system of claim 131, wherein the memory is a non-volatile memory embedded in the removable module. 134. The system of claim 131, wherein the memory is a removable non-volatile memory. 135. The system of claim 131, wherein the host connector and the interface controller are compatible with at least one version of a plurality of standard expansion interfaces, the standard expansion interfaces including CompactFlash, SecureDigital (SD), and Universal Serial Bus compatible expansion interfaces. 136. The system of claim 135, wherein the memory is a removable non-volatile memory. 137. The system of claim 136, wherein the memory controller and the removable non-volatile memory are compatible with at least one version of a plurality of standard removable memory interfaces, the standard removable memory interfaces including CompactFlash and Secure Digital (SD) standard removable memory interfaces. 138. The system of claim 131, wherein the interface controller, the memory controller, and the control sub-system are implemented on a single integrated circuit. 139. The system of claim 131, wherein the removable module further has media scaling circuitry. 140. The system of claim 139, wherein the media scaling circuitry implements a plurality of scaling factors. 141. The system of claim 140, wherein the plurality of scaling factors includes at any combination of a thumbnail scaling factor, a small scaling factor, and a large scaling factor. 142. The system of claim 131, wherein the wireless transceiver is compatible with at least one version of a BlueTooth standard. 143. The system of claim 131, further including the host. 144. The system of claim 143, wherein the host is selected from the group consisting of a digital video system and a digital audio system. 145. The system of claim 144, wherein the digital video system includes a digital camera. 146. The system of claim 144, wherein the digital audio system includes an MP3 system. 147. The system of claim 131, wherein the control sub-system includes a processor, a working RAM, and firmware. 148. The system of claim 131, wherein the control sub-system includes a web-server. 149. The system of claim 131, further including a remote wireless device enabled to communicate via the wireless network. 150. The system of claim 149, wherein the remote wireless device is selected from the group consisting of a Personal Computer (PC), a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA), and a mobile phone. 151. The system of claim 149, wherein the remote wireless device is enabled to provide data transfers between the wireless network and the Internet. 152. The system of claim 149, wherein the control sub-system manages data transfers between the memory and the remote wireless device. 153. A method comprising the steps of: in a removable module coupled to a host via an expansion port, accessing memory content of a non-volatile memory in response to commands received from the host; and further in the removable module, accessing the memory content in response to commands received via a wireless transceiver included in the removable module. 154. The method of claim 153, further comprising the step of coupling the removable module to the host. 155. The method of claim 153, further comprising the step of accessing the memory content via a remote wireless device communicating with the wireless transceiver via a wireless link. 156. The method of claim 155, wherein the remote wireless device is selected from the group consisting of a Personal Computer (PC), a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA), and a mobile phone. 157. The method of claim 155, further comprising the step of communicating a portion of the memory content via the remote wireless device with an Internet accessible location. 158. The method of claim 153, wherein the expansion port is compatible with at least one version of a plurality of standard expansion interfaces, the standard expansion interfaces including CompactFlash, SecureDigital (SD), and Universal Serial Bus compatible expansion interfaces. 159. The method of claim 153, wherein the non-volatile memory is embedded in the removable module. 160. The method of claim 153, wherein the non-volatile memory is coupled with the removable module via a user operable connecting mechanism. 161. The method of claim 160, wherein the user operable connecting mechanism is compatible with at least one version of a plurality of standard user operable connecting mechanisms, the standard user operable connecting mechanisms including CompactFlash and SecureDigital (SD) compatible user operable connecting mechanisms. 162. The method of claim 153, further comprising the step of scaling a selected portion of the memory content. 163. The method of claim 162, wherein the scaling is according to at least one scaling factor selected from a group of scaling factors, the group of scaling factors including a thumbnail scaling factor, a small scaling factor, and a large scaling factor. 164. The method of claim 153, wherein the wireless transceiver is compatible with at least one version of a BlueTooth standard. 165. The method of claim 153, wherein the host is a portable device. 166. The method of claim 164, wherein the portable device is selected from the group consisting of a digital camera and an MP3 player. 167. The method of claim 153, wherein the commands received from the host include any combination of read memory commands and write memory commands. 168. The method of claim 153, wherein the commands received from the wireless transceiver include any combination of read memory commands and write memory commands. | CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS This application is a continuation-in-part of, and claims the benefit of priority under 35 U.S.C. §365(c) of, PCT International Application No. PCT/US03/10532 (Docket No. SC.2002.15) entitled WIRELESS ENABLED MEMORY MODULE, which has an International filing date of Apr. 8, 2003, which designated the United States of America, and was published under PCT article 21(2) in English; the aforementioned PCT International Application No. PCT/US03/10532 claiming the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 60/370,682 (Docket No. SC.2002.4) entitled WIRELESS ENABLED MEMORY MODULE filed Apr. 8, 2002; and the aforementioned PCT International Application No. PCT/US03/10532 also claiming the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 60/390,019 (Docket No. SC.2002.5) entitled WIRELESS ENABLED MEMORY MODULE filed Jun. 19, 2002. The aforementioned applications are hereby incorporated in their entirety herein by reference for all purposes. FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates generally to memory modules and wireless connectivity. More specifically, it relates to memory modules for operation with a host, a remote device, and a network. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Various embodiments of the invention are disclosed in the following detailed description and the accompanying drawings. FIG. 1A is a block diagram of a wireless-enabled memory module (WEMM) 1000, physically and electrically compatible with the Compact Flash expansion module standard, and in accordance with the present invention. FIG. 1B is a block diagram of a wireless-enabled memory module (WEMM) 1001, physically and electrically compatible with the Universal Serial Bus (USB) standard, and in accordance with the present invention. FIG. 2 is a diagram of a system 2000, in accordance with the present invention, illustrating how data on a host device 2100 equipped with a WEMM 1000 may be transmitted over a variety of networks (including 2300, 2500, and 2700). FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a WEMM 3000, physically and electrically compatible with the Secure Digital expansion module standard, and in accordance with the present invention. FIGS. 4A, 4B, and 4C depict further illustrative embodiments of the present invention, 4000, 4001, and 4300 respectively, in which power is supplied to the WEMM either from a customer Portable Server or from an onboard Power Source. DETAILED DESCRIPTION The invention can be implemented in numerous ways, including as a process, an apparatus, a system, a composition of matter, a computer readable medium such as a computer readable storage medium or a computer network wherein program instructions are sent over optical or electronic communication links. In this specification, these implementations, or any other form that the invention may take, may be referred to as techniques. In general, the order of the steps of disclosed processes may be altered within the scope of the invention. A detailed description of one or more embodiments of the invention is provided below along with accompanying figures that illustrate the principles of the invention. The invention is described in connection with such embodiments, but the invention is not limited to any embodiment. The scope of the invention is limited only by the claims and the invention encompasses numerous alternatives, modifications and equivalents. Numerous specific details are set forth in the following description in order to provide a thorough understanding of the invention. These details are provided for the purpose of example and the invention may be practiced according to the claims without some or all of these specific details. For the purpose of clarity, technical material that is known in the technical fields related to the invention has not been described in detail so that the invention is not unnecessarily obscured. Introduction This introduction is included only to facilitate the more rapid understanding of the Detailed Description. The invention is not limited to the concepts presented in the introduction, as the paragraphs of any introduction are necessarily an abridged view of the entire subject and are not meant to be an exhaustive or restrictive description. For example, the introduction that follows provides overview information limited by space and organization to only certain embodiments. There are in fact many other embodiments, including those to which claims will ultimately be drawn, which are discussed throughout the balance of the specification. As is discussed in more detail in the Conclusions, the invention encompasses all possible modifications and variations within the scope of the issued claims, which are appended to the very end of the issued patent. A wireless-enabled memory module (WEMM) in accordance with the invention provides devices access to a memory via a standard memory interface and further incorporates embedded processing capability and a wireless network capability. This card can be used in any host device providing a compatible memory card controller and interface. Host devices equipped with a WEMM become wireless-memory enabled devices (WMED). WEMMs and WMEDs can communicate with any other remote device enabled for compatible wireless communications. Remote devices so enabled are referred to herein as Remote Wireless-enabled Devices (RWED). The wireless network capability and embedded processing of the WEMM provides RWEDs (such as a mobile phone, PDA, or PC) read and write access to the contents of the memory in the WEMM via a wireless connection, such as a BlueTooth connection in an illustrative embodiment. As an implementation option, the memory of the WEMM may be embedded, may be a removable flash memory card, or both. The RWED can use this wireless access provided by the WEMM to perform selective data transfers between the WEMM's memory and internal storage within the RWED. Additionally, by e-mail or MMS attachments sent via an additional network, the RWED may act as an intermediary to transfer data (in either direction) between the WEMM's memory and the Internet. For example, a BlueTooth-enabled mobile phone user could access a WEMM that is inserted in a digital camera host. The user could send a friend one or more photos as an e-mail message. The e-mail would result in the transfer of some or all of the stored images from the camera host over the BlueTooth connection to the remote mobile phone, and then to the Internet via the mobile phone network. Similarly, received attachments may be stored to the WEMM. As a further implementation option, the embedded processing on the WEMM may include a media-scaling engine that can scale the contents to different sizes before transmission over the wireless connection. This enables the user to browse the memory contents in thumbnail form quickly and easily from the remote device. It also permits the user to retrieve a version of the selected content that has been scaled appropriately for the bandwidth capabilities of the BlueTooth connection or mobile network. In a preferred embodiment, the media-scaling engine is implemented using signal processing hardware. However, some or all of its functionality may be also implemented via firmware in the processor sub-system. Wireless Enabled Memory Module (WEMM) Table 1 identifies and expands the abbreviations used in FIGS. 1A and 1B. TABLE 1 Associated ID No. Abbreviation(s) Expanded Name 1000 W.E.M.M. Wireless Enabled Memory Module 1001 W.E.M.M. Wireless Enabled Memory Module 1100 R.S.D.F.M. Removable Secure Digital Flash Memory 1200 E.F.M. Embedded Flash Memory 1300 M.S.E. Media Scaling Engine 1400 F.M.C. Flash Memory Controller 1500 B.R. Bluetooth Radio 1600 P.S.S. Processor Sub-System 1610 C.P.U. Processor 1620 W.RAM Working RAM 1630 FW Firmware 1635 W.S. Web Server 1700 C.F.I.C CompactFlash Interface Controller 1701 U.S.B.I.C Universal Serial Bus Interface Controller 1800 C.F.E.C. CompactFlash Expansion Connector 1801 U.S.B.E.C. Universal Serial Bus Expansion Connector In the illustrative embodiment of FIG. 1A, the WEMM 1000 and interface (1700, 1710, and 1800) to the host are compatible with the Compact Flash industry standard. The WEMM's memory includes both embedded flash memory 1200 and removable flash memory 1100 compatible with the Secure Digital (SD) industry standard. The wireless network is a Wireless Personal Area Network (WPAN) compatible with the Bluetooth industry standard. As will be appreciated by those skilled in the art, the specifics of each implementation will dictate the particular requirements of the wireless interface. In an illustrative embodiment intended primarily for use with mobile phones, a low-speed, low-cost, Bluetooth interface 1500 is used. In another illustrative embodiment intended primarily for use with computing devices, such as PCs, a higher-speed, higher-cost, Bluetooth interface is used. The higher speed interface will reduce the time required to transfer a given file and will make the transfer of larger multimedia objects (e.g. higher resolution images and higher quality music) more practical. It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the baseband functions of the radio may be stored in the WEMM's integral firmware and performed via the WEMM's integral processor. It will be further appreciated that different applications may call for the use of other wireless interface standards. By way of example and not limitation, instead of Bluetooth, the radio technology used could also include any of the WiFi, UWB, and Zigbee wireless standards. In the additional illustrative embodiment of FIG. 1B, the WEMM 1001 and interface (1701, 1711, and 1801) to the host are compatible with any of the USB industry standards. Such standards include the Universal Serial Bus Specification 1.1, Sep. 23, 1998, and Universal Serial Bus Specification 2.0, Apr. 27, 2000. Both specifications are available from http://www.usb.org and are hereby incorporated in their entirety herein by reference for all purposes. USB expansion connector 1801 may be any of several physical configurations compatible with any of the USB industry standards, such as an “A” style plug, a standard “B” style receptacle, and a “mini-B” style receptacle. The remaining aspects of WEMM 1001 are substantially similar to WEMM 1000. Note that the WEMMs 1000 and 1001 constitute first-level removable modules and the removable flash memory 1100 constitutes a second-level removable module. It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that there are a number of choices for each of these miniature-form-factor standard interfaces. Thus the WEMM 1000 is not restricted to the CF standard, the WEMM 1001 is not restricted to any of the USB standards, and the removable flash memory 1100 is not restricted to the SD standard. By way of example and not limitation, the WEMM 1000 may also be implemented as a PC Card in either 16-bit or 32-bit formats. Further by way of example and not limitation, WEMM 1001 may also be implemented to be compatible with other high performance serial interfaces, including the FireWire standards. Further by way of example and not limitation, the removable flash memory 1100 may be implanted to be compatible with any of the SmartCard, Memory Stick, MMC, and xD-Picture card standards. None of these examples is limiting, as the permutations for combining various technology choices for the WEMM (1000 or 1001) and the removable flash memory is only limited by the relationship that any removable flash memory must fit at least in part within the WEMM (1000 or 1001). A first system application of the WEMM is the wireless transfer of digital photos between a camera and a mobile phone, for associated transfer via the mobile phone network. There is a large installed base of digital cameras that use standard removable memory cards, but do not have I/O expandability or wireless network functionality. These cameras can be augmented with a wireless-enabled memory module, in accordance with the present invention, to send photos via a mobile phone or any other compatibly enabled wireless communications device. Illustrative System Table 2 identifies and expands the abbreviations used in FIG. 2. TABLE 2 Associated ID No. Abbreviation(s) Expanded Name 2000 (none) (none) 2100 W.M.E.D. (H.D.) Wireless Memory Enabled Device (Host Device) 2200 R.W.E.D. (WX1AN/ Remote Wireless Enabled Device WX2AN D.R.D.) (WX1AN/WX2AN Dual Remote Device) 2300 WX1AN W.L. WX1AN Link 2400 WX2AN W.L. WX2AN Link 2500 WX2AN SYS WX2AN System 2600 G.W. Gateway 2700 INET Internet A general application for the invention is the illustrative system 2000 of FIG. 2. FIG. 2 illustrates a host device having no native integral wireless capability (such as a camera or a portable audio device) into which a WEMM, such as WEMM 1000, is inserted. Alternate applications (not illustrated) may use a WEMM, such as WEMM 1001, that is coupled to a host device. The resulting combination of WEMM 1000 and the host device is a WMED 2100 as previously defined. A WMED communicates with an RWED (e.g. mobile phone) having at least one wireless interface. In FIG. 2, the WMED 2100 communicates with the RWED 2200 over a WX1AN 2300 (a wireless area network of a first type), such as the BlueTooth Wireless Personal Area Network (WPAN) standard. To illustrate a more general system, the RWED 2200 of FIG. 2 is a Dual WX1AN/WX2AN device (i.e., it has two wireless interfaces), such as a mobile phone or wireless-enabled PDA. In many applications, the WMED 2100 and its associated user interface will be unaware of the capabilities of the WEMM 1000 and offer no means to control it. In an illustrative embodiment, the WX1AN 2300 connection enables the RWED 2200 to access the content within the memory of the WEMM 1000 through a browser-server relationship. The server functionality 1635, which has an associated implementation of the WAP-over-BlueTooth protocol, is stored in the WEMM's integral firmware 1630 and is performed via the WEMM's integral processor 1610. (WAP is the Wireless Application Protocol.). Thus the user interface to the WEMM 1000 is accomplished via an embedded WAP/Web server 1635 within the WEMM 1000 communicating with a WAP browser on the RWED 2200. The RWED browser-based interface allows the user to: Browse the contents of the memory (as discussed below, either/both of 1100 or/and 1200) in the WEMM, viewing thumbnail size versions created by an embedded media scaling engine 1300; Send a multimedia object (e.g., a photograph), optionally scaled to one of a number of sizes via the scaling engine, as an MMS (Multimedia Message Service, a multimedia extension of SMS) or email attachment via a cell phone; and Load a received attachment into the WEMM for storage or for use (e.g., viewing on a camera). In an alternate embodiment, the user interface makes use of the knowledge of the memory controller of the last file written to allow short cuts, such as “send the last photograph taken”. In an alternate embodiment, the remote device implements a custom user interface created with the SmartPhone2002 or J2ME Java engines instead of the generic WAP browser. The Dual WX1AN/WX2AN RWED 2200 is in turn connected to a WX2AN system 2500 (a wireless area network of a second type), such as the GSM Wireless Wide Area Network (WWAN) standard, which in turn connects through a Gateway 2600 to the Internet 2700. The RWED 2200 can then retrieve content from the memory (either/both of 1100 or/and 1200) in the WEMM 1000 via the WX1AN 2300 and send it (for example in e-mail or MMS form) via the WX2AN 2500 through a Gateway 2600 to the Internet 2700. To accommodate the lower-speed interfaces that may be employed, either between the WEMM 1000 and the remote device 2200, or between the remote device 2200 and its WXAN 2500, the WEMM additionally includes processing functionality to scale the size of an individual media item that is sent to the remote device. When the user wishes to browse the content of the memory in the WEMM from the remote device, the WEMM 1000 would send “thumbnail” scaled versions through the BlueTooth connection 2300, for quick browsing. When a media item is selected, it can be sent to the remote device 2200 in one of a number of larger scaling levels, depending on the wireless bandwidths involved. In an illustrative embodiment using a low-speed Bluetooth interface, camera owners will be able to send postcard versions of snapshots via a mobile phone, using cameras that do not have integral wireless network capability. The invention thus will enable and expand the market for sending and receiving snapshots over wireless networks. In an illustrative embodiment using a high-speed Bluetooth interface, large high-resolution files may be transferred between a camera equipped with the wireless-enabled memory module and a PC. The invention thus will enable and expand the market for PC-based digital photography, including storage, backup, and archiving of digital photographs. Other system applications of the wireless-enabled memory module enable other devices to communicate via a mobile phone or to computing devices such as PCs. An example is transfer of MP3 files between an MP3 player and a mobile phone, for associated transfer via the mobile phone network, by equipping the MP3 player with a wireless-enabled memory module having a low-speed Bluetooth implementation. Another example is transfer of large music files between an audio device (e.g. a home entertainment system) and a PC, by equipping the audio device with a wireless-enabled memory module having a high-speed Bluetooth implementation. As an implementation option, the memory capability of the WEMM 1000 is implemented using an embedded fixed size memory 1200, a removable memory 1100 (for example a removable SD memory device), or both. In an illustrative embodiment, the removable memory is a second-level module and the wireless-enabled memory module is a first-level module, such as those disclosed by U.S. Pat. No. 6,353,870, CLOSED CASE REMOVABLE EXPANSION CARD HAVING INTERCONNECT AND ADAPTER CIRCUITRY FOR BOTH I/O AND REMOVABLE MEMORY. ASIC Embodiment Table 3 identifies and expands the abbreviations used in FIG. 3. TABLE 3 Associated ID No. Abbreviation(s) Expanded Name 1200 E.F.M. Embedded Flash Memory 1300 M.S.E. Media Scaling Engine 1400 F.M.C. Flash Memory Controller 1500 B.R. Bluetooth Radio 1600 P.S.S. Processor Sub-System 1610 C.P.U. Processor 1620 W.RAM Working RAM 1630 FW Firmware 1635 W.S. Web Server 3000 W.E.M.M. Wireless Enabled Memory Module 3100 CNTLIO Control & I/O ASIC 3110 S.D.I.C. Secure Digital Interface Controller 3200 S.D.E.C. Secure Digital expansion connector An alternative embodiment is shown in FIG. 3, a block diagram of a WEMM 3000 according to the invention as implemented in an SD form factor. A custom ASIC 3100, as shown, could be optionally implemented, including e.g., the microprocessor 1600, memory interface 3110, media scaling engine 1300 and memory controller 1400 all on one chip. In an illustrative embodiment, the WEMM 3000 processing capability includes the ability to rescale the media objects, including JPEG images and MP3 audio stored in the modules memory on the fly. This allows the WAP/Web interface to provide thumbnail images and highly compressed audio versions of the contents of the WEMM 3000 and to rescale media objects, including photos and audio recordings, to an appropriate size and quality for transmission over the wireless network. Media objects (images and audio) are sent as an email message either via the phone's built in email capability or using an embedded SMTP/PPP stack over the phone's IP network connection (e.g. GPRS). In another embodiment, the images may be sent as an MMS message. Those of ordinary skill in the art will recognize that additional ASIC embodiments directed toward other form factors or interfaces (such as CompactFlash, USB, other similar reduced-size physical configurations, and other similar expansion interfaces) are also possible. Operation Separate from Host Alternative embodiments, illustrated in FIGS. 4A, 4B, and 4C, show how a WEMM (4200 in FIG. 4A, 4201 in FIG. 4B, and 4300 in FIG. 4C) can be used separately from the host device, when the host device does not require access to the memory. FIG. 4A shows an embodiment of a combination 4000 in which a special “holder” 4100 containing a power source 4110 is used in place of the full-function host, acting as a portable storage server and providing power to the WEMM 4200. FIG. 4B shows an embodiment of a combination 4001 in which a power-source-only portable server 4101 containing a power source 4111 is used in place of the full-function host, acting as a portable storage server and providing power to the WEMM 4201. Alternatively, FIG. 4C illustrates an embodiment in which a WEMM 4300 itself incorporates a power source 4360. Table 4 identifies and expands the abbreviations used in FIGS. 4A and 4B. TABLE 4 Associated ID No. Abbreviation(s) Expanded Name 4000 (none) (none) 4001 (none) (none) 4100 P.S. Portable Server 4101 P.S. Portable Server 4110 WEMM PWR Wireless Enabled Memory Module Power Source 4111 WEMM PWR Wireless Enabled Memory Module Power Source 4200 W.E.M.M. Wireless Enabled Memory Module 4201 W.E.M.M. Wireless Enabled Memory Module 4220 B.R. Bluetooth Radio 4221 B.R. Bluetooth Radio 4230 F.K. F-key(s) 4231 F.K. F-key(s) 4240 E.F.M. Embedded Flash Memory 4241 E.F.M. Embedded Flash Memory 4250 CTLIO Control & I/O ASIC 4251 CTLIO Control & I/O ASIC 4300 W.E.M.M. Wireless Enabled Memory Module 4320 B.R. Bluetooth Radio 4330 F.K. F-key(s) 4340 E.F.M. Embedded Flash Memory 4350 CTLIO Control & I/O ASIC 4360 PWR Power Source FIGS. 4A, 4B, and 4C also illustrate that the WEMM has at least one Function-key (F-key, i.e. a button with an associated configurable function). The F-key(s) are identified as 4230 in FIG. 4A, as 4231 in FIG. 4B, and as 4330 in FIG. 4C. Example key functions include (a) e-mailing the last-taken photo to a pre-configured address, and (b) transferring the last-taken photo to the mobile phone in preparation for manual addressing and sending. CONCLUSION Although the foregoing embodiments have been described in some detail for purposes of clarity of understanding, the invention is not limited to the details provided. There are many alternative ways of implementing the invention. The disclosed embodiments are illustrative and not restrictive. It will be understood that many variations in construction, arrangement and use are possible consistent with the teachings and within the scope of the claims appended to the issued patent. For example, interconnect and function-unit bit-widths, clock speeds, and the type of technology used may generally be varied in each component block. Also, unless specifically stated to the contrary, the value ranges specified, the maximum and minimum values used, or other particular specifications, are merely those of the illustrative embodiments, can be expected to track improvements and changes in implementation technology, and should not be construed as limitations. Functionally equivalent techniques known to those of ordinary skill in the art may be employed instead of those illustrated to implement various components or sub-systems. The names given to interconnect and logic are merely illustrative, and should not be construed as limiting the concepts taught. It is also understood that many design functional aspects may be carried out in either hardware (i.e., generally dedicated circuitry) or software (i.e., via some manner of programmed controller or processor), as a function of implementation dependent design constraints and the technology trends of faster processing (which facilitates migration of functions previously in hardware into software) and higher integration density (which facilitates migration of functions previously in software into hardware). Specific variations may include, but are not limited to, variations to be expected when implementing the concepts taught herein in accordance with the unique engineering and business constraints of a particular application. The embodiments have been illustrated with detail and environmental context well beyond that required for a minimal implementation of many of aspects of the concepts taught. Those of ordinary skill in the art will recognize that variations may omit disclosed components without altering the basic cooperation among the remaining elements. It is thus understood that much of the details disclosed are not required to implement various aspects of the concepts taught. To the extent that the remaining elements are distinguishable from the prior art, omitted components are not limiting on the concepts taught herein. All such variations in design comprise insubstantial changes over the teachings conveyed by the illustrative embodiments. It is also understood that the concepts taught herein have broad applicability to other applications, and are not limited to the particular application or industry of the illustrated embodiments. The invention is thus to be construed as including all possible modifications and variations encompassed within the scope of the claims appended to the issued patent. | <SOH> FIELD OF THE INVENTION <EOH>The present invention relates generally to memory modules and wireless connectivity. More specifically, it relates to memory modules for operation with a host, a remote device, and a network. | <SOH> BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS <EOH>Various embodiments of the invention are disclosed in the following detailed description and the accompanying drawings. FIG. 1A is a block diagram of a wireless-enabled memory module (WEMM) 1000 , physically and electrically compatible with the Compact Flash expansion module standard, and in accordance with the present invention. FIG. 1B is a block diagram of a wireless-enabled memory module (WEMM) 1001 , physically and electrically compatible with the Universal Serial Bus (USB) standard, and in accordance with the present invention. FIG. 2 is a diagram of a system 2000 , in accordance with the present invention, illustrating how data on a host device 2100 equipped with a WEMM 1000 may be transmitted over a variety of networks (including 2300 , 2500 , and 2700 ). FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a WEMM 3000 , physically and electrically compatible with the Secure Digital expansion module standard, and in accordance with the present invention. FIGS. 4A, 4B , and 4 C depict further illustrative embodiments of the present invention, 4000 , 4001 , and 4300 respectively, in which power is supplied to the WEMM either from a customer Portable Server or from an onboard Power Source. detailed-description description="Detailed Description" end="lead"? | 20040913 | 20110920 | 20050210 | 90633.0 | 1 | AJIBADE AKONAI, OLUMIDE | WIRELESS ENABLED MEMORY MODULE | SMALL | 1 | CONT-ACCEPTED | 2,004 |
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10,939,874 | ACCEPTED | LED warning signal light and row of LED's | A light emitting diode (LED) warning signal light, the warning signal light comprising a plurality of light sources constructed and arranged with a reflector or cullminator, the LED light source being in electrical communication with a controller and a power supply, battery, or other electrical source. The warning signal light provides various colored light signals for independent use or use by an emergency vehicle. These light signals may include a strobe light, revolving light, an alternating light, a flashing light, a modulated light, a pulsating light, an oscillating light or any combination thereof. Additionally, the warning signal light may be capable of displaying symbols, reverse characters, or arrows. The controller may further be adapted to regulate or modulate the power intensity exposed to the illuminated LED's to create a variable intensity light signal. | 1-32. (Cancelled). 33. A multiple warning signal light for use with a motorized vehicle, the multiple warning signal light comprising: a) a light support having a single row of light emitting diodes; and b) a controller in electric communication with the light emitting diodes, the controller constructed and arranged to activate the light emitting diodes thereby producing at least two different types of visually distinct warning light signals, the controller further constructed and arranged to produce the at least two different types of visually distinct warning light signals simultaneously, the light emitting diodes receiving power from a power source. 34. The multiple warning signal light of claim 33, said light support further comprising a front side having said single row of light emitting diodes and a back side having a single row of light emitting diodes. 35. The multiple warning signal light of claim 34, wherein the controller controls the light emitting diodes on the front side and the back side, for the provision of different warning light signals on the front side and the back side. 36. The multiple warning signal light of claim 33, the controller comprising a microprocessor. 37. The multiple warning signal light of claim 33, said plurality of light emitting diodes comprising light emitting diodes of at least two different colors. 38. The multiple warning signal light of claim 33, wherein one of said at least two different types of visually distinct warning light signals is in the form of a directional indicator. 39. The multiple warning signal light of claim 33, further comprising a programmable external controller for programming said controller. 40. The multiple warning signal light of claim 33, wherein said motorized vehicle is a utility vehicle. 41. The multiple warning signal light of claim 33, wherein said motorized vehicle is an emergency vehicle. 42. A multiple warning signal light for use with a motorized vehicle, the multiple warning signal light comprising: a) a light support having a single row of light emitting diodes; and b) a controller in electric communication with the light emitting diodes, the controller constructed and arranged to activate the light emitting diodes thereby producing at least two different types of visually distinct warning light signals, the controller further constructed and arranged to produce the at least two different types of visually distinct warning light signals in at least one combination, the light emitting diodes receiving power from a power source. 43. The multiple warning signal light of claim 42, wherein three or more visually distinct warning light signals are generated in any combination. 44. The multiple warning signal light of claim 42, wherein three or more visually distinct warning light signals are generated simultaneously in any combination. 45. The multiple warning signal light of claim 42, wherein three or more visually distinct warning light signals are generated alternatively in any combination. 46. The multiple warning signal light of claim 42, wherein three or more visually distinct warning light signals are generated in any combination of two or more visually distinct warning light signals. 47. The multiple warning signal light of claim 42, wherein three or more visually distinct warning light signals are generated simultaneously in any combination of two or more visually distinct warning light signals. 48. The multiple warning signal light of claim 42, wherein three or more visually distinct warning light signals are generated alternatively in any combination of two or more visually distinct warning light signals. 49. The multiple warning signal light of claim 42, wherein said at least two different types of visually distinct warning light signals are generated simultaneously in any combination. 50. The multiple warning signal light of claim 42, wherein said at least two different types of visually distinct warning light signals are generated alternatively in any combination. 51. The multiple warning signal light of claim 42, wherein said at least two different types of visually distinct warning light signals are generated in a regular pattern. 52. The multiple warning signal light of claim 42, wherein said at least two different types of visually distinct warning light signals are generated in an intermittent pattern. 53. The multiple warning signal light of claim 42, wherein said at least two different types of visually distinct warning light signals are generated in an irregular pattern. 54. The multiple warning signal light of claim 42, wherein said at least two different types of visually distinct warning light signals are generated in a regular sequence. 55. The multiple warning signal light of claim 42, wherein said at least two different types of visually distinct warning light signals are generated in an intermittent sequence. 56. The multiple warning signal light of claim 42, wherein said at least two different types of visually distinct warning light signals are generated in an irregular sequence. 57. The multiple warning signal light of claim 42, wherein said at least two different types of visually distinct warning light signals are generated at regular intervals. 58. The multiple warning signal light of claim 42, wherein said at least two different types of visually distinct warning light signals are generated at intermittent intervals. 59. The multiple warning signal light of claim 42, wherein said at least two different types of visually distinct warning light signals are generated at irregular intervals. 60. The multiple warning signal light of claim 42, said light support further comprising a front side having said single row of light emitting diodes and a back side having a single row of light emitting diodes. 61. The multiple warning signal light of claim 60, wherein the controller controls the light emitting diodes on the front side and the back side, for the provision of different warning light signals on the front side and the back side. 62. The multiple warning signal light of claim 42, wherein said motorized vehicle is a utility vehicle. 63. The multiple warning signal light of claim 42, wherein said motorized vehicle is an emergency vehicle. | The present invention relates to a light emitting diode (LED) warning signal light having modulated power intensity for use by emergency vehicles and is based upon Provisional U.S. Patent Application No. 60/138,408, filed Jun. 8, 1999, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Light bars or emergency lights of the type used on emergency vehicles such as fire trucks, police cars, and ambulances, utilize warning signal lights to produce a variety of light signals. These light signals involve the use of various colors and patterns. Generally, these warning signal lights consist of incandescent and halogen light sources having reflective back support members and colored filters. Many problems exist with the known methods for producing warning light signals. One particular problem with known light sources is their reliance on mechanical components to revolve or oscillate the lamps to produce the desired light signal. Additionally, these components increase the size of the light bar or emergency lights which may adversely affect the vehicles aerodynamic characteristics. Moreover, there is an increased likelihood that a breakdown of the light bar or light source will occur requiring the repair or replacement of the defective component. Finally, the known light bars and sources require a relatively large amount of electrical current during operation. The demands upon the electrical power system for a vehicle may therefore exceed available electrical resources reducing optimization of performance. The most common light sources being used in light bars or emergency lights include halogen lamps or gaseous discharge xenon lamps. These lamps emanate large amounts of heat which is difficult to dissipate from a sealed light enclosure or emergency light and which may damage the electronic circuitry contained therein. In addition, these lamps consume large amounts of current requiring a large power supply or large battery or electrical source which may be especially problematic for use with a vehicle. These lamps also generate substantial electromagnetic emissions which may interfere with radio communications for a vehicle. Finally, these lamps, which are not rugged, have relatively short life cycles necessitating frequent replacement. Another problem with the known warning signal lights is the use of filters to produce a desired color. Filtering techniques produce more heat that must be dissipated. Moreover, changing the color of a light source requires the physical removal of the filter from the light source or emergency light and the insertion of a new filter. Furthermore, filters fade or flake over time rendering the filters unable to consistently produce a desired color for observation in an emergency situation. These problems associated with traditional signaling lamps are exacerbated by the fact that creating multiple light signals requires multiple signaling lamps. Further, there is little flexibility in modifying the light signal created by a lamp. For example, changing a stationary lamp into one that rotates or oscillates would require a substantial modification to the light bar which may not be physically or economically possible. The present invention generally relates to electrical lamps and to high brightness light-emitting diode or “LED” technology which operates to replace gaseous discharge or incandescent lamps as used as automotive warning signal light sources. Illumination lamps for automobile turn signals, brake lights, back-up lights, and/or marker lights/headlights frequently have accompanying utility parabolic lens/reflector enclosures which have been used for utility warning signals or emergency vehicle traffic signaling. These signaling devices as known are commonly referred to as “unmarked corner tubes,” or “dome tubes. These signaling devices as known frequently utilize xenon gaseous discharge tubes or incandescent lamps as the illumination sources. A problem with the prior art is the cost and failure rate of the known “unmarked corner tubes,” or “dome lights.” The failure rate of these devices frequently results in a significant amount of “down time” for a vehicle to effectuate replacement. Further, an officer is frequently unaware that a vehicle light is inoperative requiring replacement. This condition reduces the safety to an officer during the performance of his or her duties. In addition, the reduced life cycle and failure rate of the known illumination devices significantly increases operational costs associated with material replacement and labor. A need, therefore, exists to enhance the durability, and to reduce the failure rate, of illumination devices while simultaneously reducing the cost of a replacement illumination source. In the past, the xenon gaseous discharge lamps have utilized a sealed compartment, usually a gas tube, which may have been filled with a particular gas known to have good illuminating characteristics. One such gas used for this purpose was xenon gas, which provides illumination when it becomes ionized by the appropriate voltage application. Xenon gas discharge lamps are used in the automotive industry to provide high intensity lighting and are used on emergency vehicles to provide a visible emergency signal light. A xenon gas discharge lamp usually comprises a gas-filled tube which has an anode element at one end and a cathode element at the other end, with both ends of the tube sealed. The anode and cathode elements each have an electrical conductor attached, which passes through the sealed gas end of the lamp exterior. An ionizing trigger wire is typically wound in a helical manner about the exterior of the glass tube, and this wire is connected to a high voltage power source typically on the order of 10-12 kilowatts (kw). The anode and cathode connections are connected to a lower level voltage source which is sufficient to maintain illumination of the lamp once the interior gas has been ionized by the high voltage source. The gas remains ignited until the anode/cathode voltage is removed; and once the gas ionization is stopped, the lamp may be ignited again by reapplying the anode/cathode voltage and reapplying the high voltage to the trigger wire via a voltage pulse. Xenon gas lamps are frequently made from glass tubes which are formed into semicircular loops to increase the relative light intensity from the lamp while maintaining a relatively small form factor. These lamps generate extremely high heat intensity, and therefore, require positioning of the lamps so as to not cause heat buildup in nearby components. The glass tube of a xenon lamp is usually mounted on a light-based pedestal which is sized to fit into an opening in the light fixture and to hold the heat generating tube surface in a light fixture compartment which is separated from other interior compartment surfaces or components. In a vehicle application, the light and base pedestal are typically sized to fit through an opening in the light fixture which is about 1 inch in diameter. The light fixture component may have a glass or plastic cover made from colored material so as to produce a colored lighting effect when the lamp is ignited. Xenon gas discharge lamps naturally produce white light, which may be modified to produce a colored light, of lesser intensity, by placing the xenon lamp in a fixture having a colored lens. The glass tube of the xenon lamp may also be painted or otherwise colored to produce a similar result, although the light illumination from the tube tends to dominate the coloring; and the light may actually have a colored tint appearance rather than a solid colored light. The color blue is particularly hard to produce in this manner. Because a preferred use of xenon lamps is in connection with emergency vehicles, it is particularly important that the lamp be capable of producing intense coloring associated with emergency vehicles, i.e., red, blue, amber, green, and clear. When xenon lamps are mounted in vehicles, some care must be taken to reduce the corroding effects of water and various chemicals, including road salt, which might contaminate the light fixture. Corrosive effects may destroy the trigger wire and the wire contacts leading to the anode and cathode. Corrosion is enhanced because of the high heat generating characteristics of the lamp which may heat the air inside the lamp fixture when the lamp is in use, and this heated air may condense when the lamp is off resulting in moisture buildup inside the fixture. The buildup of moisture may result in the shorting out of the electrical wires and degrade the performance of the emission wire, sometimes preventing proper ionization of the gas within the xenon gas discharge lamp. Warning lights, due to the type of light source utilized, may be relatively large in size which in turn may have an adverse affect upon adjacent operational components. In addition, there is an increased likelihood for a breakdown of the light source requiring repair or replacement of components. Another problem with the known warning signal lights is the use of rotational and/or oscillating mechanisms which are utilized to impart a rotational or oscillating movement to a light source for observation during emergency situations. These mechanical devices are frequently cumbersome and difficult to incorporate and couple onto various locations about a vehicle due to the size of the device. These mechanical devices also frequently require a relatively large power supply to engage and operate the device to impart rotational and/or oscillating movement for a light source. Power consumption of electrical components for an emergency vehicle is of primary consideration for vehicle operators. Another problem with the known warning signal lights is the absence of flexibility for the provision of variable intensity for the light sources to increase the number of available distinct and independent visual light effects. In certain situations it may be desirable to provide a variable intensity for a light signal or a modulated intensity for a light signal to provide a unique light effect to facilitate observation by an individual. In addition, the provision of a variable or modulated intensity for a light signal may further enhance the ability to provide a unique desired light effect for observation by an individual. No warning lights are known which are flexible and which utilize a variable light intensity to modify a standard lighting effect. The warning lights as known are generally limited to a flashing light signal. Alternatively, other warning signal lights may provide a sequential illumination of light sources. No warning or utility light signals are known which simultaneously provide for modulated and/or variable power intensity for a known type of light signal to create a unique and desirable type of lighting effect. No warning signal lights are known which provide an irregular or random light intensity to a warning signal light to provide a desired lighting effect. Also, no warning light signals are known which provide a regular pattern of variable or modulated light intensity for a warning signal light to provide a desired type of lighting effect. Further, no warning light signals are known which combine a desired type of light effect with either irregular variable light intensity or regular modulated light intensity to provide a unique and desired combination lighting effect. It has also not been known to provide alternative colored LED light sources which may be electrically controlled for the provision of any desired pattern of light signal such as flashing, pulsating, oscillating, modulating, rotational, alternating, strobe, and/or combination light effects. In this regard, a need exists to provide a spatially and electrically efficient LED light source for use on an emergency or utility vehicle which provides the appearance of rotation or other types of light signals without the necessity of a mechanical devices. In addition, a need exists to provide a spatially and electrically efficient LED light source for use on an emergency vehicle which provides a flashing, modulated, oscillating, rotational, alternating, and/or strobe light effects without the necessity of mechanical devices. In view of the above, there is a need for a warning signal light that: (1) Is capable of producing multiple light signals; (2) Produces the appearance of a revolving or oscillating light signal without relying upon mechanical components; (3) Generates little heat; (4) Uses substantially less electrical current; (5) Produces significantly reduced amounts of electromagnetic emissions; (6) Is rugged and has a long life cycle; (7) Produces a truer light output color without the use of filters; (8) Is positionable at a variety of locations about an emergency vehicle; and (9) Provides variable power intensity to the light source without adversely affecting the vehicle operator's ability to observe objects while seated within the interior of the vehicle. Other problems associated with the known warning signal lights relate to the restricted positioning on a vehicle due to the size and shape of the light source. In the past, light sources due to the relatively large size of light bars or light sources, were required to be placed on the roof of a vehicle or at a location which did not interfere with, or obstruct, an operator's ability to visualize objects while seated in the interior of the vehicle. Light bars or light sources generally extended perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of a vehicle and were therefore more difficult to observe from the sides by an individual. The ease of visualization of an emergency vehicle is a primary concern to emergency personnel regardless of the location of the observer. In the past, optimal observation of emergency lights has occurred when an individual was either directly in front of, or behind, an emergency vehicle. Observation from the sides, or at an acute angle relative to the sides, frequently resulted in reduced observation of emergency lights during an emergency situation. A need therefore exists to improve the observation of emergency lights for a vehicle regardless of the location of the observer. A need also exists to improve the flexibility of placement of emergency lights upon a vehicle for observation by individuals during emergency situations. In the past, flashing light signals emanating from light bars have been used to signal the presence of an emergency situation necessitating caution. A need exists to reduce the size of light sources on an emergency vehicle and to improve the efficiency of the light sources particularly with respect to current draw and reduced aerodynamic drag. A need also exists to enhance the flexibility of positioning of light sources about a vehicle for observation by individuals. In order to satisfy these and other needs, more spatially efficient light sources such as LED's are required. It is also necessary to provide alternative colored LED light sources which may be electrically controlled for the provision of any desired pattern of light signal such as flashing, alternating, pulsating, oscillating, modulating, rotational, and/or strobe light effects without the necessity of spatially inefficient and bulky mechanical devices. In that regard, a need exists to provide a spatially and electrically efficient LED light source for use on an emergency vehicle which provides any of the above-identified types of warning light signals without the necessity of mechanical devices. In addition, a need exists to provide a spatially and electrically efficient LED light source for use on an emergency vehicle which provides a flashing, alternating, pulsating, rotating, modulated, oscillating, and/or strobe light effect or combinations thereof without the necessity of mechanical devices. GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION According to the invention, there is provided a light emitting diode (LED) warning signal light which may be depicted in several embodiments. In general, the warning signal light may be formed of a single row or an array of light emitting diode light sources configured on a light support and in electrical communication with a controller and a power supply, battery, or other electrical source. The warning signal light may provide various light signals, colored light signals, or combination light signals for use by a vehicle. These light signals may include a strobe light, a pulsating light, a revolving light, a flashing light, a modulated or variable intensity light, an oscillating light, an alternating light, and/or any combination thereof. Additionally, the warning signal light may be capable of displaying symbols, characters, or arrows. Rotating and oscillating light signals may be produced by sequentially illuminating columns of LED's on a stationary light support in combination with the provision of variable power intensity from the controller. However, the warning signal light may also be rotated or oscillated via mechanical means. The warning signal light may also be transportable for easy connection to a stand such as a tripod for electrical connection to a power supply, battery, or other electrical source as a remote stand-alone signaling device. For the replacement LED lamp, extending from the standard mounting base may be a light source which one or a plurality of LED lamp modules which may be formed of the same or different colors as desired by an individual. Additionally, rotating and oscillating light signals may be produced by substitution of an LED light source in an oscillating or reflective light assembly. In addition, the warning signal light and/or replacement warning signal light may be electrically coupled to a controller used to modulate the power intensity for the light sources to provide for various patterns of illumination to create an illusion of rotation or other type of illusion for the warning signal light without the use of mechanical devices. Alternative colored LED light sources may also be electrically controlled for the provision of any desired pattern of warning light signals such as flashing, pulsating, oscillating, modulating, rotational, alternating, and/or strobe light effects without the necessity of spatially inefficient and bulky mechanical devices. Alternatively, a reflective light assembly may be provided. The reflective light assembly may rotate about a stationary light source or the light source may rotate about a stationary reflector. In another alternative embodiment, the reflective assembly may be positioned at an acute angle approximately 45° above a stationary LED panel or a solitary light source where the reflector may be rotated about a pivot point and axis to create the appearance of rotation for the light source. The light source may be utilized in conjunction with the reflective assembly and may also be electrically coupled to a controller for the provision of pulsating, oscillating, alternating, flashing, stroboscopic, revolving, variable, and/or modulated light intensity for observation by an individual. The controller is preferably in electrical communication with the power supply and the LED's to modulate the power intensity for the LED light sources for provision of a desired type of warning light effect. The warning signal light may be formed of an array of LED's, a single row of LED's or a solitary LED mounted upon and in electrical communication with a substantially flat light support which includes a circuit board or LED mounting surface coupled to a power source. The light support may have dimensions of three inches by three inches or smaller at the discretion of an individual. Each light support may include an adhesive, magnetic, and/or other affixation mechanism to facilitate attachment at various locations on and/or around an emergency vehicle. Each individual light support may be positioned adjacent to and be in electrical communication with another light support through the use of suitable electrical connections. A plurality of light supports or solitary light sources may be electrically coupled in either a parallel or series manner to the controller at the discretion of an individual. A plurality of light sources each containing an array or singular LED may be in electrical communication with a power supply and a controller to selectively illuminate the LED's to provide for the appearance of a revolving, modulating, strobe, oscillating, alternating, pulsating, and/or flashing light source or any combinations thereof. The controller is preferably in electrical communication with the power supply and the LED's to modulate the power intensity for the LED light sources for variable illumination of the LED light sources. The warning signal lights may encircle an emergency vehicle at the discretion of an individual. In addition, the light support may be encased within a waterproof enclosure to prevent moisture contamination and shorting of the LED light sources. A principal advantage of the present invention is to provide a warning signal light capable of simulating revolving or oscillating light signals without the use of mechanical components. Another principal advantage of the present invention is that the warning signal light is capable of producing several different types of light signals or combinations of light signals. Still another principal advantage of the present invention is to be rugged and have a relatively longer life cycle than traditional warning signal lights. Still another principal advantage of the present invention is to produce a truer or pure light output color without the use of filters. Still another principal advantage of the present invention is to allow the user to adjust the color of the light signal without having to make a physical adjustment from a multi-colored panel. Still another principal advantage of the present invention is that it may be formed into various shapes. This allows the invention to be customized for the particular need. Still another advantage of the present invention is that the light signal produced may be easily customized by the user via a controller or microprocessor. Still another principal advantage of the present invention is the provision of an LED light source which is formed of a relatively simple and inexpensive design, construction, and operation and which fulfills the intended purpose without fear of failure or injury to persons and/or damage to property. Still another principal advantage of the present invention is the provision of an LED light source which is flexible and which may easily replace existing illumination devices used as turn signals, brake lights, back-up lights, marker lights, and headlights in utility lens/reflector enclosures. Still another principal advantage of the present invention is the provision of an LED light source for creation of bright bursts of intense white or colored light to enhance the visibility and safety of a vehicle in an emergency signaling situation. Still another principal advantage of the present invention is the provision of an LED light source which is flexible and may easily replace existing illumination devices at a much more economic expense and further having a reduced failure rate. Still another principal advantage of the present invention is the provision of an LED light source which produces brilliant lighting in any of the colors associated with an emergency vehicle light signal such as red, blue, amber, green, and/or white. Still another principal advantage of the present invention is the provision of an LED light source which is highly resistant to corrosive effects and which is impervious to moisture build-up. Still another principal advantage of the present invention is the provision of an LED light source which has an extended life cycle and continues to operate at maximum efficiency throughout its life cycle. Still another principal advantage of the present invention is the provision of an LED light source which draws less current and/or has a reduced power requirement from a power source for a vehicle. Still another principal advantage of the present invention is the provision of an LED light source having improved reliability as compared to xenon gaseous discharge lamps, halogen lamps, and/or incandescent lamps as currently used on emergency vehicles. Still another principal advantage of the present invention is the provision of an LED light source which is simple and may facilitate the ease of installation and replacement of a xenon, halogen, and/or incandescent light source from a motor vehicle. Still another principal advantage of the present invention is the provision of an LED light source which reduces RF emissions which may interfere with other radio and electronic equipment in an emergency vehicle. Still another principal advantage of the present invention is the provision of an LED light source which functions under cooler operating temperatures and conditions thereby minimizing the exposure of heat to adjacent component parts which, in turn, reduces damage caused by excessive heat. Still another principal advantage of the present invention is the provision of an LED light source having simplified electronic circuitry for operation as compared to xenon gaseous discharge lamps, halogen lamps, and/or incandescent lamps as used with an emergency vehicle. Still another principal advantage of the present invention is the provision of a warning signal light which may be easily visualized during emergency situations thereby enhancing the safety of emergency personnel. Still another principal advantage of the present invention is the provision of a warning signal light which includes LED technology and which is operated by a controller to provide any desired type or color of light signal including but not limited to rotational, pulsating, oscillating, strobe, flashing, alternating, and/or modulated light signals without the necessity for mechanical devices. Still another principal advantage of the present invention is the provision of a warning signal light which is capable of simultaneously producing several different types of light signals. Still another principal advantage of the present invention is the provision of a warning signal light which includes light emitting diode technology which is flexible and which may be attached to any desired location about the exterior of an emergency vehicle. Still another principal advantage of the present invention is the provision of an emergency warning signal light for emergency vehicles which has improved visualization, aerodynamic efficiency, and increased electrical efficiency. Still another principal advantage of the present invention is the provision of an LED light source which is flexible and which may be connected to a modulated power source to provide variable power intensity for the light source which in turn is used to create the appearance of rotation and/or oscillation without the use of mechanical rotation or oscillating devices. A feature of the invention is the provision of a plurality of light emitting diodes (LED's), integral to a circuit board or LED mounting surface, where the LED's may be aligned in a single row or in vertical columns and horizontal rows. Another feature of the invention is the mounting of a panel of LED's to a mechanical device which rotates or oscillates the panel during use as a warning signal light on an emergency vehicle. Yet another feature of the invention is the provision of a plurality of LED's mounted to a flexible circuit board which may be manipulated into any desired configuration and which may be used to produce rotating, oscillating, pulsating, flashing, alternating, and/or modulated warning signal light for an emergency vehicle. Yet another feature of the invention is the provision of an LED support member supporting an array of colored LED's and a controller capable of selectively illuminating the LED's of the same color to produce a single or mixed colored light signal. Still another feature of the invention is the provision of a light emitting diode support member having an array of LED's disposed about at least two sides and a controller capable of producing light signals on each side which are independent of each other. Still another feature of the invention is the provision of an LED support member having an array of LED's angularly offset with respect to the LED support member for the provision of a horizontal light signal as viewed by an individual when the LED support member is mounted within the interior of the forward or rear windshield of a vehicle. Still another feature of the invention is the provision of an LED support member which may be easily connectable and/or removed from a transportable support such as a tripod for placement of an LED warning signal light at any location as desired by an individual. Still another feature of the invention is the provision of an LED support member which may be easily connectable to an emergency vehicle, including but not limited to automobiles, ambulances, trucks, motorcycles, snowmobiles, and/or any other type of vehicle in which warning signal or emergency lights are utilized. Still another feature of the present invention is the provision a base having one or more LED's mounted thereon where said base is adapted for insertion into a standard one inch opening presently used for receiving xenon strobe tubes as a replacement LED warning light signaling light source. Still another feature of the present invention is the provision a base having one or more LED's mounted thereon which is adapted for insertion into a mechanical device which rotates or oscillates a light source during use as a warning signal light on an emergency vehicle. Still another feature of the present invention is the provision a microprocessor/controller which is in electrical communication with the LED light sources to selectively activate individual LED's to produce a flashing, strobe, alternating, rotating, oscillating, modulated and/or pulsating warning light signals. Still another feature of the present invention is the provision an LED light signal which may be easily electrically coupled to a controller. Still another feature of the present invention is the provision a warning signal light having a plurality of strip LED light sources affixed to the exterior of an emergency vehicle where the strip LED light sources are in electrical communication with a controller. Still another feature of the present invention is the provision a warning signal light having a controller in electrical communication with a plurality of strip LED light sources for the provision of modulated power intensity utilized to create the appearance of a rotational, pulsating, oscillating flashing strobe alternating, or modulated warning light signal. Still another feature of the present invention is the provision an LED light source where the power may be modulated by the controller to produce variable power intensity for the light sources to produce various desired patterns of illumination. Still another feature of the present invention is the provision of a warning signal light having LED technology which includes an array, a single row or a solitary LED light source mounted to a light support. Still another feature of the present invention is the provision of a strip warning signal light having LED technology which includes a light support having one or more LED light sources where the light support has a size dimension approximating three inches by three inches or smaller. Still another feature of the present invention is the provision of a strip warning signal light having LED technology where a plurality of strip LED light supports may be affixed in surrounding engagement to the exterior of an emergency vehicle. Still another feature of the present invention is the provision of a strip warning signal light having LED technology where a light support is enclosed within a transparent and water resilient enclosure to prevent water penetration and/or other contamination. Still another feature of the present invention is the provision of a warning signal light having a plurality of light supports affixed to the exterior of an emergency vehicle where the controller is in electrical communication with each of the light supports. Still another feature of the present invention is the provision of a warning signal light having a controller in electrical communication with a plurality of light supports or single light sources for the provision of a modulated power intensity to the light sources. Still another feature of the present invention is the provision of an LED light source where the power may be modulated by the controller to produce variable power intensity for the light source to provide various desired patterns or combinations of patterns of illumination. Still another feature of the present invention is the provision of an LED light source which includes a reflective device which rotates about the LED light source to provide a warning light signal. Still another feature of the present invention is the provision of an LED light source which includes a reflective device which is flat, concave, convex and/or parabolic for reflection of the light emitted for the LED light source. Still another feature of the present invention is the provision of an LED light source which includes a reflector mounted at an acute angel of approximately 45 degrees relative to the LED light source for reflection of light in a direction as desired by an individual. Still another feature of the present invention is the provision of an LED light source which includes a reflector mounted at an acute angle of approximately 45 degrees relative to the LED light source where the reflector may be rotated about the LED light source for reflection of light in a direction as desired by an individual. Still another feature of the present invention is the provision of an LED light source where a single LED light source or an array of LED light sources may be rotated and simultaneously a reflective device may be rotated to provide a warning signal light. Still another feature of the present invention is the provision of an LED light source which may include a conical shaped reflector or cullminator positioned above a light source. Still another feature of the present invention is the provision of a rotatable or stationary filter mounted between an LED light source and a reflector. Still another feature of the present invention is the provision of a rotatable or stationary reflector which may include transparent and/or reflective sections. Still another feature of the present invention is the provision of an LED light source where the individual LED light sources or arrays of LED light sources may be rotated for transmission of light through the transparent and/or opaque sections of a filter for the provision of a unique warning signal light effect. Still another feature of the present invention is the provision of a conical reflector which may include concave and/or convex reflective surfaces to assist in the reflection of light emitted from an LED light source. Still another feature of the present invention is the provision of an LED light support having a longitudinal dimension and a single row of LED's which provide a desired type of warning light signal. Still another feature of the present invention is the provision of an LED light support having a frame adapted to hold a circuit board or LED mounting surface. Still another feature of the present invention is the provision of an LED light support where the circuit board or LED mounting surface includes one or more heat sink wells where an individual LED is positioned within each of the heat sink wells. Still another feature of the present invention is the provision of an LED light support having one or more reflectors or elongate mirrors disposed in the frame to reflect light emitted from the LED light sources is a desired direction. Still another feature of the present invention is the provision of an LED light support having a cullminator reflector which may be formed of one or more conical reflector cups which are utilized to reflect light emitted from the light sources in a direction desired by an individual. Still another feature of the present invention is the provision of an LED light support having a lens cover attached to the frame to minimize water penetration or contamination exposure into the interior of the frame. Still another feature of the present invention is the provision of an LED light support having a positioning support functioning as a cullminator reflector which additionally positions individual LED's at a desired location relative to the interior of the frame. Still another feature of the present invention is the provision of an LED light support having a switch which may be manipulated to terminate power from a power supply or terminate communication to a controller. Still another feature of the present invention is the provision of an LED light support having an affixation mechanism which may be integral or attached to the frame where the affixation mechanism is adapted to enable the light support to be secured to a vehicle at a desired location. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a partial perspective view of an emergency vehicle equipped with a light bar containing warning signal lights according to an embodiment of the invention; FIG. 2 is a partial front elevation view of an emergency vehicle equipped with a light bar containing warning signal lights referring to an embodiment of the invention; FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a warning signal light attached to a gyrator according to an embodiment of the invention; FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a warning signal light according to an embodiment of the invention depicting the sequential activation of columns of light-emitting diodes (LED's). FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a warning signal light according to an embodiment of the invention depicting sequential activation of rows of LED's; FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a warning light signal according to an embodiment of the invention; FIG. 7 is a perspective view of a warning light signal according to an embodiment of the invention; FIG. 8 is a perspective view of a warning light signal according to an embodiment of the invention; FIG. 9 is a perspective view of a warning light signal according to an embodiment of the invention; FIG. 10 is a perspective view of a warning light signal according to an embodiment of the invention; FIGS. 1A, 11B, and 11C are schematic diagrams of the controller circuitry in accordance with an embodiment of the invention; FIG. 12 is a perspective view of a warning signal light according to an embodiment of the invention; FIG. 13 is a perspective detailed view of a warning signal light attached to the interior of a windshield of an emergency vehicle; FIG. 14 is a side plan view of a warning signal light mounted to an interior surface of an emergency vehicle window having auxiliary offset individual LED light sources; FIG. 15 is an environmental view of a warning signal light as engaged to a remote support device such as a tripod; FIG. 16 is a detailed isometric view of a xenon strobe tube and standard mounting base; FIG. 17 is a detailed isometric view of the replacement LED light source and standard mounting base; FIG. 18 is a detailed isometric view of an incandescent lamp light source and standard mounting base; FIG. 19 is a detailed isometric view of a replacement LED lamp and standard mounting base; FIG. 20 is a front view of a standard halogen light source mounted in a rotating reflector; FIG. 21 is a detailed rear view of a rotating reflector mechanism; FIG. 22 is a detailed front view of the LED light source mounted to a rotating reflector; FIG. 23 is a detailed front view of a replacement LED light source; FIG. 24 is a detailed side view of a replacement LED light source; FIG. 25 is a detailed isometric view of a replacement LED light source and cover; FIG. 26 is a detailed isometric view of a reflector or cullminator; FIG. 27 is a detailed isometric view of a cullminator cup; FIG. 28 is an alternative cross-sectional side view of a cullminator cup; FIG. 29 is an alternative cross-sectional side view of a cullminator cup; FIG. 30 is an alternative cross-sectional side view of a cullminator cup; FIG. 31 is an exploded isometric view of an alternative cullminator assembly and LED light source; FIG. 32 is an alternative partial cut away isometric view of an alternative cullminator assembly and LED light source; FIG. 33 is an environmental view of an emergency vehicle having strip LED light sources; FIG. 34 is an alternative detailed partial cut away view of a strip LED light source; FIG. 35 is an alternative detailed view of an LED light source having sectors; FIG. 36 is an alternative detailed view of a circuit board or LED mounting surface having heat sink wells; FIG. 37 is an alternative detailed isometric view of a reflector assembly; FIG. 38 is an alternative cross-sectional side view of the frame of a reflector assembly; FIG. 39 is an alternative cross-sectional side view of a frame of a reflector assembly; FIG. 40 is an alternative detailed side view of a reflector assembly; FIG. 41 is an alternative detailed isometric view of a reflector assembly; FIG. 42 is an alternative detailed side view of a reflector assembly; FIG. 43 is a graphical representation of a modulated or variable light intensity curve; FIG. 44 is an alternative detailed partial cross-sectional side view of a reflector assembly; FIG. 45 is a partial phantom line top view of the reflector assembly taken along the line of 45-45 of FIG. 44; FIG. 46 is an alternative graphical representation of a modulated or variable light intensity curve; FIG. 47 is an alternative isometric view of a reflector assembly; FIG. 48 is a detailed back view of an individual LED light source; FIG. 49 is a detailed front view of an individual LED light source; FIG. 50 is a detailed end view of one embodiment of a reflector assembly. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A warning signal light according to the principles of the invention is indicated generally herein as numeral 10. FIGS. 1 and 2 depict light bar 70 mounted to an emergency vehicle 104. Light bar 70 includes base 72, mounting means 74, cover 82, and warning signal lights 10. Also included in light bar 70 are gyrators 90 used to impart motion to warning signal lights 10. Referring to FIGS. 3 and 9, warning signal light 10 comprises light support 12, light sources 30, controller 50 (shown in FIG. 11), and connecting portion 40 for attaching the warning signal light 10 to light bar 70 or gyrator 90. The warning signal light 10 operates to create a warning signal for use by an emergency vehicle 104 by selectively activating light sources 30 using controller 50. Alternatively, warning signal light 10 may be formed of a solitary LED light source 30 at the discretion of an individual. Light sources 30 are preferably light emitting diodes (LED's) and are generally arranged in aligned columns 32 and rows 34 as shown in FIGS. 7 and 9. Each of the light emitting diodes (LED's) may have shoulder portion 38 adjacent LED support 12 and dome 36. LED's 30 are situated to be in electric communication with controller 50 and a power supply, a battery, or power source. The use of light emitting diodes (LED's) to replace traditional halogen, incandescent, or gaseous discharge xenon lamps reduces heat generation, current draw, and electromagnetic emissions, while increasing lamp life and producing a more true output light color. The controller 50 is used to selectively activate columns 32, rows 34, or individual LED's 30, to illuminate any number of a plurality of visually distinct types of warning light signals at any moment; to illuminate more than one of a plurality of visually distinct types of warning light signals simultaneously at any moment; to illuminate one of a plurality of combinations or patterns of visually distinct warning light signals at any moment, or over any desired period of time, or to illuminate more than one of a plurality of combinations or patterns of visually distinct warning light signals over any desired period of time. The plurality of visually distinct warning light signals may include, but are not necessarily limited to, a strobe light signal, a pulsating light signal, an alternating light, a modulated light signal, a flashing light signal, the illusion of a rotating or an oscillating light signal, a reverse character message, or images such as arrows. It should be noted that the controller 50 may also incorporate into any selected warning light signal variable or modulated power intensity to facilitate the provision of a desired unique lighting effect. For example, the controller 50 may illuminate one or more LED light sources 30 to establish a single warning light signal at a given moment. Alternatively, the controller 50 may illuminate one or more light emitting diode light sources 30 to provide two or more warning light signals at any given moment. Further, the controller 50 may simultaneously, consecutively, or alternatively, illuminate one or more LED light sources 30 to establish any desired combination or pattern of illuminated visually distinct warning light signals at any given moment or over a desired period of time. The combination and/or pattern of visually distinct warning light signals may be random or may be cycled as desired by an individual. The illumination of one or more patterns or combinations of warning light signals facilitates the continued observation by an individual. Occasionally, the concentration or attention of an individual is diminished when exposed to a repetitive or to a monotonous light signal. The desired purpose for illumination of a warning light signal is thereby reduced. The provision of a pattern, combination, and/or random illumination of visually distinct warning light signals maximizes the concentration or attention to be received from an individual observing a warning light signal. The purpose of the warning light signal is thereby promoted. FIGS. 11A, 11B, and 11C show an embodiment of controller 50 capable of selectively activating columns 32, rows 34 or individual LED's 30. Controller 50 generally comprises microprocessor 52 and circuitry 53 and is preferably contained within, attached to, or an element of, LED support 12. It is envisioned that controller 50 may be programmed by an external controller 55 and powered through cable R. In one embodiment, controller 50 generally comprises circuit board 54 or LED mounting surface having microprocessor 52 attached to a low voltage power supply, battery, or electrical source 56. Microprocessor 52 is configured through circuitry 53 to selectively activate columns 32 of LED's 30. Transistors Q9 and Q10 are in electronic communication with microprocessor 52, power supply, battery, or electrical source 56, and their respective columns 32.9 and 32.10 of LED's 30. Columns 32 of LED's 30 are connected to transistors Q1-Q8, which are in turn connected to microprocessor 52 through resistors R1-R8. Microprocessor 52 is capable of selectively activating transistors Q1-Q8 to allow current flowing through transistors Q9 and Q-10 to activate the selected column 32 of LED's 30. This circuit is capable of producing a strobe light signal, an alternating light signal, a modulated signal, a revolving light signal, a pulsating light signal, an oscillating light signal, or flashing light signal, a reverse character message, or images such as arrows. In one embodiment, a rotating or oscillating light signal may be established by the sequential illumination of entire columns 32 of LED's 30 by turning a desired number of columns on and then sequentially illuminating one additional column 32 while turning another column 32 off. Alternatively, the rotating or oscillating warning light signal may be created by selectively activating columns 32 of LED's 30. The following algorithm may be used to provide a counterclockwise revolving light signal (FIG. 9): 1) column A is activated at 0% duty cycle (column A 0%), column B 0%, column C 0%, column D 0%, column E 0%, column F 0%, column G 0%, column H 0%, column I 0%, and column J 0%; 2) column A 25%, column B 0%, column C 0%, column D 0%, column E 0%, column F 0%, column G 0%, column H 0%, column I 0%, and column J 0%; 3) column A 50%, column B 25%, column C 0%, column D 0%, column E 0%, column F 0%, column G 0%, column H 0%, column I 0%, and column J 0%; 4) column A 75%, column B 50%, column C 25%, column D 0%, column E 0%, column F 0%, column G 0%, column H 0%, column I 0%, and column J 0%; 5) column A 100%, column B 75%, column C 50%, column D 25%, column E 0%, column F 0%, column G 0%, column H 0%, column I 0%, and column J 0%; 6) column A 100%, column B 100%, column C 75%, column D 50%, column E 25% column, column F 0%, column G 0%, column H 0%, column I 0%, and column J 0%; 7) column A 75%, column B 100%, column C 100%, column D 75%, column E 50%, F 25%, column G 0%, column H 0%, column I 0%, and column J 0%; 8) column A 50%, column B 75%, column C 100%, column D 100%, column E 75%, column F 50%, column G 25%, column H 0%, column I 0%, and column J 0%; 9) column A 25%, column B 50%, column C 75%, column D 100%, column E 100%, column F 75%, column G 50%, column H 25%, column I 0%, and column J 0%; 10) column A 0%, column B 25%, column C 50%, column D 75%, column E 100%, column F 100%, column G 75%, column H 50%, column I 25%, and column J 0%; 11) column A 0%, column B 0%, column C 25%, column D 50%, column E 75%, column F 100%, column G 100%, column H 75%, column I 50%, and column J 25%; 12) column A 0%, column B 0%, column C 0%, column D 25%, column E 50%, column F 75%, column G 100%, column H 100%, column I 75%, and column J 50%; 13) column A 0%, column B 0%, column C 0%, column D 0%, column E 25%, column F 50%, column G 75%, column H 100%, column I 100%, and column J 75%; 14) column A 0%, column B 0%, column C 0%, column D 0%, column E 0%, column F 25%, column G 50%, column H 75%, column I 100%, and column J 100%; 15) column A 0%, column B 0%, column C 0%, column D 0%, column E 0%, column F 0%, column G 25%, column H 50%, column I 75%, and column J 100%; 16) column A 0%, column B 0%, column C 0%, column D 0%, column E 0%, column F 0%, column G 0%, column H 25%, column I 50%, and column J 75%; 17) column A 0%, column B 0%, column C 0%, column D 0%, column E 0%, column F 0%, column G 0%, column H 0%, column I 25%, and column J 50%; 18) column A 0%, column B 0%, column C 0%, column D 0%, column E 0%, column F 0%, column G 0%, column H 0%, column I 0%, and column J 25%; 19) column A 0%, column B 0%, column C 0%, column D 0%, column E 0%, column F 0%, column G 0%, column H 0%, column I 0%, and column J 0%; 20) return to step 1). A clockwise revolving light signal may be created by performing steps 1-19 in descending order then repeating the steps. An oscillating light signal may be created by performing: (a) steps 7 through 16 in ascending order; (b) steps 7 through 16 in descending order; and (c) repeating (a) and (b). A second embodiment of controller 50 provides a means for activating LED's 30 individually to allow for greater flexibility in the type of warning light signal created. This embodiment of the invention is capable of displaying information in different colors or patterns. Depending on the size of the display, it may be necessary to scroll the symbols or characters across the display to accommodate for a larger visual appearance. It is envisioned that the mirror image of patterns, symbols, or characters could be displayed making the message easily readable by drivers viewing the signal in a rear view mirror. It is also envisioned that this embodiment of the invention could display arrows indicating a direction a vehicle is to travel or other images as shown in FIG. 2. In addition, combinations of warning signal lights, direction arrows, and other information carrying signals or images, could be displayed simultaneously by the invention. LED support 12 is envisioned to have several embodiments. One embodiment, shown in FIG. 9, consists of a panel 14 having front 16, back 18, top 20, bottom 22 and sides 24. LED's 30 are arranged on front 16, with domes 36 extending therefrom, in columns 32 and rows 34. LED's 30 are in electric communication with controller 50 which may be contained or sealed within LED support 12 to provide protection from the elements. Another embodiment of warning signal light 10 is depicted in FIG. 10. Here, the backs 18 of two panels 14 are attached together to allow for a light signal to be produced on two sides. The two panels 14 form LED support 12. Alternatively, it is envisioned that a single panel 14 having LED's arranged about front 16 and back 18 could be used as well. FIGS. 6 and 8 show further embodiments of warning signal light 10. In FIG. 8, panels 14 are used to form an LED support 12 having four sides and generally shaped as squared. FIG. 6 shows panels 14 connected to form an LED support 12 having three sides and generally triangular in shape. In both embodiments, LED's 30 are arranged about the fronts 16 of the panels 14. It is further envisioned that panels 14 may be integral to each other. Yet another embodiment of warning signal light 10, consists of a flexible panel 14 and controller 50 to allow LED support 12 to be formed into various shapes. FIG. 5 shows LED support 12 formed into a cylinder. Further variations include the use of flexible panels 14 to form other shapes such as semicircles (FIG. 12) or to simply conform to a surface of an emergency vehicle (FIGS. 13 and 14). This embodiment is particularly useful for undercover vehicles which generally position the warning signal lights inside the vehicle. For example, panel 14 could be attached to the front, rear, or side window of an undercover police vehicle. It should be noted that numerous other shapes could be formed from panels 14 including those formed from combinations of flat, curved, and flexible panels at the preference of an individual. In each of the embodiments discussed above, the array of LED's 30 may be formed of the same or differently colored LED's. Generally, each column 32 or row 34 may consist of a series of differently colored LED's. Controller 50 may be configured to select the color of the LED's to be illuminated forming the light signal. Accordingly, the user may select a blue, red, white, yellow, green, or amber color or any combination thereof to be used as the color of light signal. Alternatively, the warning signal 10 may be formed of individual LED's 30 which may be selectively illuminated at the discretion of an individual. It is also envisioned that the controller 50 may control warning signal lights 10 having multiple sides (FIGS. 5, 6, 8, and 10) such that each side is capable of producing warning light signals or combination warning light signals that are independent and/or different from those produced upon the other sides. For example, the squared shape warning signal light shown in FIG. 8 may produce or simulate a red revolving light on first side 15.1, while second side 15.2 is simultaneously producing a blue oscillating light, while third side 15.3 is producing or simulating a stationary white light, and while fourth side 15.4 is producing a white strobe light. Another embodiment of warning signal light 10 is depicted in FIGS. 1 and 2 as light bar 70 which extends from driver side 100 to passenger side 102 of emergency vehicle 104. Cover 82 protects light bar 70 from the elements. Each side of light bar 70 may have LED's 30 to produce or simulate warning light signals on each side of emergency vehicle 104. Furthermore, controller 50 may be used to create multiple warning light signals on each side of light bar 70. For example, controller 50 may create a simulated revolving blue light positioned at front passenger side 102 of light bar 70, oscillating white lights positioned at front driver side 100, and yellow arrows there between. Additional or alternative warning light signals may be produced out the back 18 and sides of light bar 70. It is further envisioned that light bar 70 may consist of a single light source, a single row of light source or a large array of LED's 30 across each side (not shown). This embodiment provides the largest display and, therefore, is best suited to display desired combinations of warning lights and images. It should be noted that the identified types of warning light signals, combinations and/or patterns of warning light signals, may also be reproduced through the illumination of a single row of LED light sources 30. Mechanical rotation and oscillation of warning signal lights 10 about axis A is possible by way of attachment to gyrator 90 depicted in FIG. 3. Gyrator 90 mounted to light bar 70, generally comprises electric motors 96 having cables 97. Gyrator 90 is configured to receive connecting portion 40 of warning signal light 10. Cable 97 is preferably connected to a power supply and either an external controller 55 or controller 50. Gyrator 90 may be capable of rotating or oscillating warning signal light 10 about a single or dual axis of rotation A. FIG. 3 shows gyrator 90 configured to rotate or oscillate warning signal light 10 about a vertical axis A by way of motor 96.1 and oscillate warning signal light 10 about a horizontal axis A by way of motor 96.2. Rotation or oscillation of warning signal light 10 about vertical axis A is accomplished through direct attachment of connecting portion to motor 96.1. Oscillation of warning signal light 10 about horizontal axis A is accomplished by attaching swivel arm 99 to bracket 99.1 and post 99.2 which is mounted to motor 96.2. Alternative methods for imparting rotation or oscillation motion to warning signal light 10 may be accomplished through the use of electric motors, toothed gears, and worm gears. In addition, maintaining electrical communication between a power supply and an external controller 55 with a revolving or oscillating warning signal light 10 may be accomplished using brushes or other means without sacrificing the operation of the warning signal light 10. In another embodiment as depicted in FIGS. 13 and 14, emergency vehicle 104 may include a front or rear windshield 106. The front or rear windshield 106 is generally angularly offset with respect to the vehicle at an approximate angle of 45 degrees. In this embodiment, the mounting of a panel 14 of light sources 30 in flush contact with the interior of a front or rear windshield 106 occurs through the use of angular offsets 108 for the light sources 30 such that light emitted from the light sources 30 occur at a horizontal visual line (V) which is substantially parallel to the plane of a vehicle and not at an approximate angle of 45 degrees upward, which corresponds to the angle for the front or rear windshield 106. In this embodiment, the ease of visualization of the light source 30 is significantly enhanced by the downward angular offsets 108 which position the light sources 30 along parallel visual lines of sight (V). LED supports 12 or panels 14 may then be positioned in any desired location within the interior of a vehicle in flush contact or proximate to the front or rear windshield 106. A suitable cable 97 is required to provide electrical power for illumination of the light sources 30. It should be noted that the angle of incidence for the angular offsets 108 may vary considerably dependent upon the make or model for the vehicle to include the warning signal lights 10. It should be further noted that the warning signal light 10 may be used with an automobile, motorcycle, snowmobile, personal water craft, boat, truck, fire vehicle, helicopter, and/or any other type of vehicle receptive to the use of warning signal lights 10. It should be further noted that LED support 12 or panel 14 may be mounted to the interior top dashboard of a vehicle proximate to the front windshield 106 or to the interior top rear dashboard proximate to the rear windshield 106 of a vehicle. Mounting of a light support 12 or panel 14 to either the front or rear dashboards may minimize the necessity for inclusion of angular offset 108 for the light sources 30. It should be further noted that LED supports 12 or panels 14 may be releasably affixed to the interior of the front or rear windshields 106 via the use of suction cups, hook-and-loop fabric material such as Velcro®, and/or any other releasable affixation mechanism at the preference of an individual. An individual may then adjust and reposition the location of the light support 12 or panels 14 anywhere within the interior of a vehicle as desired for maximization of visualization of the warning signal lights 10. In another alternative embodiment as depicted in FIG. 15, warning signal light 10 may function as a remote, revolving, or stationary beacon. In this embodiment, LED support 12 or panel 14 is preferably releasably connected to a transportable support 120 via the use of a bracket. The transportable support 120 may be a tripod having telescoping legs or may be any other type of support as preferred by an individual. In this embodiment, LED light support 12 or panel 14 is electrically connected to an elongate electrical extension cable 97 which may include any desired adapter for electrical connection to a power source which may be a vehicle. The remote light support 12 or panel 14 may also include plug-in adapters for electrical connection to any desired electrical power source other than a vehicle as is available. The transportable support 120 may also include gyrator 90 as earlier described to provide a desired rotational or oscillatory motion for warning signal light 10. A controller 50 having a microprocessor 52 may also be integral to, or in electrical communication with, LED's 30 for the provision of multi-colored lights, flashing, alternating, modulated, moving characters, arrows, stroboscopic, oscillating and/or revolving warning light signals as desired by an individual. In this embodiment, the warning signal light 10 may be physically separated from an emergency vehicle 104 any desired distance to facilitate or enhance the safety of a potentially dangerous situation necessitating the use of warning signal lights 10. In addition, it should be noted that a series of remote warning signal lights 10 may be electrically coupled to each other for any desired distance to again facilitate the safety of a situation necessitating the use of warning signal lights 10. FIG. 16 shows a perspective view of a xenon lamp 1. Xenon lamp 1 has a base pedestal 2 which is typically formed of rubber, plastic, or other insulating material. Base pedestal 2 has a top surface 3 which may support a glass tube 4 which may have a looped curve such that an anode end and a cathode end are each supported on a top surface. The anode and cathode ends may be sealed and respective electrical conductors 5 and 6 may pass through the sealed ends and through the top surface 3. A trigger wire 7 may be helically wound about the exterior surface of the glass tube 4 and the ends of the trigger wire 7 may be passed through the top surface 3 of the base pedestal 2 to form a third conductor on the underside of the base pedestal 2. Base pedestal 2 may have an upper cylinder portion 8 extending from a lower shoulder all of which may extend above the top surface 3. The upper cylindrical portion 8 may include an upper shoulder 9. A glass dome (not shown) may be sized to fit over the xenon lamp 1 and glass tube 4 for resting on the upper shoulder 9. The glass dome may be preferably made from a transparent or silicate glass material capable of withstanding heat stress. The outer diameter of the glass dome is typically about one inch which is sized to fit through the conventional opening in a typical vehicle lamp fixture. The exterior glass dome surface typically has a much lower temperature during operation than the exterior surface of the glass tube 4 forming a part of the xenon lamp 1. The temperature drop between the glass tube 4 and the glass dome facilitates the use of coloring of the dome to provide a colored lamp by virtue of the xenon light intensity passing through the colored dome. The xenon lamp 1 is preferably aligned for insertion into a conventional opening 248 of a light reflector 260 (FIGS. 20 and 21). The light receptacle opening 248 in the light reflector 260 is typically about one inch in diameter; and the glass dome and base pedestal 2 are preferably sized to fit within the light receptacle opening 248. The xenon lamp 1 in its final construction may include a cover plate (not shown) affixed over the bottom opening of the base pedestal 2 for affixation to a light reflector 260 via the use of screws which pass through the screw apertures 9.1. The anode, cathode, and trigger wire 7 preferably traverse the base pedestal 2 and may include a plug 9.2 which is adapted for engagement to a controller/power supply for a motor vehicle. The light reflector 260 may be a conventional light reflector of the type found in vehicles having a clear plastic or glass lens cover. The glass or lens cover may be fitted over the front edge of the reflector 260 in a manner which is conventional with vehicle lamps. It should be noted that the light reflector 260 may be parabolically or other shaped at the preference of an individual. The light reflector 260 may be mounted to a motor for rotation about a vertical axis. In this embodiment the light source/replacement lamp 200 may be integrally connected or affixed to the reflector 260 for simultaneous rotation about the vertical axis during use of the motor. Alternatively, the light source/replacement lamp 200 may be fixed proximate to the vertical axis where the light reflector 260 is rotated around the stationary replacement lamp 200 to provide for the visual appearance of a rotational light source. The glass domes as used with the xenon lamps 1 may be colored with any color as preferred by an individual including but not limited to red, blue, amber, green, and/or white. It should be noted that the light fixture incorporating the light reflector 260 may be a headlight fixture or a turn signal light fixture where the xenon lamp 1 is mounted into the light reflector 260 on either side of a centrally-mounted halogen light bulb which may be used as a headlight lamp. In this case, the light fixture could perform its normal function as a headlight and could alternatively flash several additional colors, depending upon the needs of the user. This configuration provides an emergency flashing light construction which is wholly concealed within a normal head lamp of a vehicle and is, therefore, not readily visible from outside the vehicle unless the lights are flashing. This construction may find application in an unmarked emergency vehicles such as might be used by some law enforcement officers. In operation, the LED replacement lamp 200 may be constructed as a replacement part for a conventional incandescent or xenon gaseous discharge lamp. The standard mounting base 204 and LED support assembly 212 may be sized to readily fit into the same light opening as an incandescent lamp would require, although it is apparent the electrical driving circuit for the LED replacement lamp 200 may require modifications to accommodate the LED operating principles. LED warning signal lamp 200 may be used in a variety of locations about a vehicle. It should be noted that the use of the LED warning signal lamps 200 are not necessarily limited to positioning adjacent to the head lamp or headlight, tail light, or turn signal illumination devices for an emergency vehicle 104. The LED warning signal lamp 200 may be used as a rotational, pulsating, or oscillating reflector light within the interior adjacent to a front, rear, and/or side window of a vehicle. It is also envisioned that the controller 50 may control warning signal lights 200 independently of one another such that each warning signal lamp 200 is capable of producing warning light signals which are independent and/or different from those produced at another location about an emergency vehicle 104. For example, a front left location may produce a red colored light while simultaneously a front right location may produce an amber colored light and a right rear location may produce a green colored light and a left rear location may produce a blue colored light. The controller 50 may then alternate the color of the light illuminated from the warning signal lamp 200 in each area as desired by an individual. Alternatively, the controller 50 may sequentially activate warning signal lamps 200 positioned about an emergency vehicle 104 to simultaneously produce a desired color or alternating sequence of colors. It should also be noted that the controller 50 may simultaneously illuminate all LED warning signal lamps 200 to produce a flashing or strobe light which may be particularly useful in certain emergency situations. It should be further noted that the controller 50 may selectively illuminate individual LED warning signal lamps 200 in any desired color, pattern, and/or combination as desired by an individual. Referring to FIG. 17 in detail, an LED replacement lamp 200 is depicted. In this embodiment the LED replacement lamp 200 includes a standard mounting base 204 which preferably includes a top surface 206. Extending upwardly from the top surface 206 is preferably an upper cylindrical portion 208 which includes an upper shoulder 210. Extending upwardly from the upper shoulder 210 is preferably an LED support assembly 212 which includes one or more LED lamp modules 213. The LED lamp modules 213 may be of the same or different colors at the discretion of an individual. A wire 202 is preferably in electrical communication with the plurality of LED lamp modules 213 to provide for electrical communication with the controller 50 to individually activate or illuminate LED lamp modules 213 as preferred by an individual. A plug-in connector 40 is preferably coupled to the wire 202 for engagement to the controller 50 and/or power source of an emergency vehicle 104. The LED replacement lamp 200 is preferably adapted to be positioned in a one inch light receptacle opening 248 (approximate size) which has been previously placed through the backside of a reflector assembly 260. The LED replacement lamp 200 is preferably used to replace a xenon gaseous discharge lamp or incandescent lamp as previously mounted to a base which is inserted into opening 248 in a reflector assembly 260. Illumination of one or more individual LED lamp modules 213, as mounted in the reflector assembly 260, enables the reflector assembly/lens to take on the appearance of a warning signal or emergency signaling lamp. The LED replacement lamp 200 preferably replaces the xenon gaseous discharge or incandescent lamp assemblies with high brightness, long life LED technology. Referring to FIG. 18, an incandescent lamp or quartz halogen H-2 lamp is depicted and in general is indicated by the numeral 220. The incandescent lamp assembly 220 is preferably formed of a standard mounting base 222. A vertical post 224 preferably extends upwardly from the standard mounting base 222. The incandescent light bulb 226 is preferably mounted in the vertical post 224. The vertical post 224 may extend below the standard mounting base 222 to provide for electrical coupling with a wire 228 which preferably includes a standard pin connector 230. The standard pin connector 230 is preferably adapted for electrical communication to a power supply and/or controller 50 for activation of the incandescent lamp assembly 220. The incandescent lamp assembly 220 may be stationary or mounted in a rotational light reflector 260 as desired by an individual. The light bulb 226 may be a halogen H-2, 55 watt, lamp at the discretion of an individual. As depicted in FIG. 19, LED replacement lamp 200 is adapted to replace the incandescent lamp assembly 220 in a stationary or rotational light reflector 260. The LED replacement lamp 200 as depicted in FIG. 19 preferably includes a standard mounting base 234 and a vertical post 236. It should be noted that the vertical post 236 may extend upwardly from the standard mounting base 234 and may alternatively extend below the standard mounting base 234 at the preference of an individual. An LED mounting area 238 may be preferably integral or affixed to the upper section of the vertical post 236. The LED mounting area 238 preferably includes a plurality of individual LED module lamps 240 which may be individually, sequentially, or illuminated in combination with other light sources at the preference of an individual. The individual LED module lamps 240 are preferably in electrical communication with a wire 242 which includes an integral standard wire connector 244. The wire connector 244 is preferably adapted to be plugged into a controller 50 or power supply. Communication is thereby provided for selective illumination of the individual LED module lamps 240. It should be noted that a group of individual LED module lamps 240 are mounted in the LED mounting area 238. It should also be noted that the LED replacement lamp 200 is preferably adapted to replace the incandescent lamp assembly 220 or a xenon gaseous discharge lamp assembly base of FIG. 16 or 18. The purpose of the LED replacement lamp assembly 200 is to replace existing xenon gaseous discharge and incandescent lamps with new LED technology while simultaneously utilizing existing standard bases in a standard lamp enclosure. For example, an individual may choose to replace a halogen “H-2” 55 watt lamp with an “LED-2” lamp in an existing rotating light fixture with no other structural modifications, yet achieving the advantages of less power consumption, greater reliability, easier installation, less RF emissions (which reduces interference with radio or electronic equipment), cooler operating temperatures, simplified circuitry, longer life, greater durability and duty capability, and simultaneously providing pure and easier-to-see color light output. As depicted in FIG. 20, a rotational light reflector 246 is disclosed. The rotational light fixture 246 includes a reflector assembly 260 having a standard opening 248. The incandescent light assembly 220 is preferably positioned in the standard opening 248 for extension of the vertical post 224 outwardly from the reflector assembly 260 for positioning of the light bulb 226 in a desired location. Light emitted from the standard halogen light bulb 226 preferably reflects off the parabolic-shaped reflector assembly 260 for transmission of light in a direction as indicated by arrows AA for visualization by individuals. Reflector assembly 260 and light source 226 may be rotated via the use of gears 250 which are preferably driven by electrical motors not shown. In this manner, the rotational light fixture 246 including the reflector assembly 260 may be rotated at any desired velocity as preferred by an individual. As may be seen in FIG. 21, a rear or back view of the rotational light fixture 246 is provided. As may be seen in FIG. 21, the light source is preferably positioned in the standard opening 248. The wire 228 as in electrical communication with the light source and is preferably connected via the standard pin connector 230 for electrical communication with a power source. As depicted in FIG. 22, an alternative rotational light fixture 252 is depicted. Rotational light fixture 252 preferably includes a reflector assembly 260 which may be parabolic in shape for the transmission of light along a common axis as depicted by arrows BB for visualization by an individual. In this embodiment, the individual LED module lamps 240 may be positioned to the front of the reflector assembly 260 through the use of a frame 254. The frame 254 may be integral or connected to a gear 250 as desired by an individual. The gear 250 may be driven by a motor for rotation of the light fixture 252. It should be noted that the individual LED module lamps 240 are preferably in electrical communication with a power source not shown. It should be further noted that the rotational light fixture 252 may also be adapted for the provision of an oscillating or pulsating warning light signal at the preference of an individual. An alternative replacement LED lamp 200 is depicted in FIGS. 23-25. In this embodiment the LED replacement lamp 200 includes a standard mounting base 270. The standard mounting base 270 also preferably includes a plurality of teeth 272. The teeth 272 are preferably adapted for mating coupling with gears integral to a motor and/or reflector 260, or rotational light fixture 246 to facilitate rotation and/or oscillation of the replacement LED lamp 200. The standard mounting base 270 also preferably includes a top surface 274 opposite to the teeth 272. An upper cylinder portion 276 is preferably adjacent to the top surface 274. The upper cylinder portion 276 preferably includes an upper shoulder 278. Extending upwardly from the upper shoulder 278 is preferably a circuit board, LED mounting surface, or support 280 which preferably includes one or more LED illumination sources 282. The LED illumination sources 282 may be of the same or different colors at the preference of an individual. A wire 284 is preferably in electrical communication with the LED illumination sources 282 to provide for communication and contact with the controller 50 for combination and/or individual illumination of the LED illumination sources 282. A standard plug-in connector may be integral to the wire 284 to facilitate coupling engagement to the controller 50 and/or power source for a vehicle 104. The circuit board or LED mounting surface 280 is preferably adapted to have a first side 286 and an opposite side 288. Preferably a plurality of LED illumination sources 282 are disposed on both the first side 286 and the opposite side 288 of the replacement lamp 200. A glass dome or protector 290 is preferably adapted for positioning over the circuit board or LED mounting surface 280 for sealing engagement to the top surface 274 of the standard mounting base 270. The glass dome 290 may be formed of transparent plastic material or a transparent or silicate glass material capable of withstanding heat stress at the preference of an individual. It should be further noted that the glass dome 290 preferably protects the circuit board or LED mounting surface 280 and the LED illumination sources 282 from contamination and from exposure to moisture during use of the replacement lamp 200. In this regard, the sealing lip 292 of the glass dome 290 preferably is securely affixed to the top surface 274 to effectuate sealing engagement therebetween. The outer diameter of the glass dome 290 is preferably about one inch which is sized to fit within the conventional opening 248 in a typical lamp fixture or reflector assembly 260. The replacement lamp 200 depicted in FIGS. 23, 24, and 25 is also adapted to be positioned in a one inch light receptacle opening 248 which has been placed into a reflector assembly 260. Illumination of one or more individual LED illumination sources 282 as disposed on the circuit board or LED mounting surface 280 enables the replacement lamp 200 to take on the appearance of a warning signal or emergency signaling lamp. The replacement lamp as depicted in FIGS. 23, 24, and 25 may alternatively permit the circuit board 280 to extend below the upper shoulder 278 to facilitate affixation and positioning relative to the standard mounting base 270. The controller 50 may regulate the illumination of the LED light sources 282 individually, or in combination, to provide a desired warning lighting effect for the replacement lamp 200. Also, the controller 50 may illuminate the LED light sources 282 individually, or in combination, independently with respect to the first side 286 and the opposite side 288 to provide different warning light effects to be observed by an individual dependant upon the location of the person relative to the replacement lamp 200. The controller 50 may also simultaneously or independently regulate the power intensity to the LED illumination sources 282 to provide for a modulated or variable light intensity for observation by an individual. It should also be noted that the LED illumination sources 282 may be formed of the same or different colors at the preference of an individual to provide a desired type of warning light effect for the replacement lamp 200. In an alternative embodiment, the LED warning signal lamps 10 or LED replacement lamps 200 may be electrically coupled to a controller 50 which in turn is used to provide a modulated power intensity for the light source. A modulated power intensity enables the provision of various power output or patterns of illumination for creation of a plurality of visually distinct warning light signals without the use of mechanical devices. In these embodiments, the controller 50 illuminates selected light sources 282 and the controller 50 may also regulate and/or modulate the power supplied to the light source 282 thereby varying the intensity of the observed light. In addition, the controller 50 may modulate the power supplied to the LED warning signal lamps 10 or LED replacement lamps 200 in accordance with a sine wave pattern having a range of 0 to full intensity. At the instant of full intensity, the controller 50 may also signal or regulate a power burst for observation by an individual. The controller 50 operating to regulate and/or modulate the power intensity for the warning signal lamps 10 or LED replacement lamps 200 in conjunction with illumination and non-illumination of selected light source 282 may establish the appearance of a rotational warning light source or pulsating light source without the necessity of mechanical rotational or oscillating devices. The current draw requirements upon the electrical system of an emergency vehicle 104 is thereby significantly reduced. Spatial considerations for an emergency vehicle are also preferably optimized by elimination of mechanical, rotational and/or oscillation devices. The controller 50 may also regulate the modulated power intensity for the provision of a unique variable intensity warning light signal. The unique variable intensity light source is not required to cycle through a zero intensity phase. It is anticipated that in this embodiment that the range of intensity will cycle from any desired level between zero power to full power. A range of power intensity may be provided between thirty percent to full power and back to thirty percent as regulated by the controller 50. It should also be further noted that an irregular pattern of variable power intensity may be utilized to create a desired type of warning light effect. In addition, the controller 50 may also sequentially illuminate adjacent columns 32 to provide a unique variable rotational, alternating, oscillating, pulsating, flashing, and/or combination variable rotational, alternating, pulsating, oscillating, or flashing visual warning light effects. A pulsating warning light signal may therefore be provided through the use of modulated power intensity to create a varying visual illumination or intensity effect without the use of rotational or oscillating devices. The controller 50 may also modulate the power intensity for any combination of light sources 30 or 282 to provide a distinctive or unique type of warning light signal. The use of a controller 50 to provide a modulated power intensity for a light source may be implemented in conjunction with replacement lamps 200, flexible circuit boards having LED light sources 30, paneled circuit boards or LED mounting surfaces having LED light sources 30, light bars 70 having LED light sources 30, a cylindrical, square, rectangular, or triangular-shaped circuit boards having LED light sources 30 and/or any other type or shape of LED light sources including but not limited to the types depicted in FIGS. 1-50 herein. Further, the controller 50 may be utilized to simultaneously provide modulated or variable light intensity to different and/or independent sections, areas, and/or sectors 326 of a light source (FIG. 35). Also, the controller 50 may be utilized to simultaneously provide modulated or variable light intensity to different and/or independent sectors, areas, and/or sections 326 of the forward facing side or rearward facing side of the light bar 70 for the provision of different warning light signals or a different warning light effects on each side. In this embodiment it is not required that the forward facing and rearward facing sides of the light bar 70 emit the identical visual patterns of illuminated light sources 30. The controller 50 may regulate and modulate the variable light intensity of any desired sector 326 of the forward facing side independently from the rearward facing side of the light bar 70. The controller 50 may thereby provide any desired pattern and/or combination of patterns of warning light signals through the utilization of variable and/or modulated light intensity for the forward facing side, and a different type or set of patterns and/or combination of patterns of warning light signals having variable or modulated light intensity for the rearward facing side of the light bar 70 as desired by an individual. It should be further noted that an infinite variety of patterns and/or combinations of patterns of warning light signals may be provided for the forward facing side and the rearward facing side of the light bar 70 a the preference of an individual. The use of the controller 50 to modulate the power intensity for a light source 30 to provide a unique warning light signal may be utilized within any embodiment of an LED light source 10, light bar 70 light support, replacement lamp 200 or reflector assembly as described in FIGS. 1-50 herein. It should be further noted that the modulation of the power intensity for a light source 30 or replacement lamp 200 may be used in conjunction, or as a replacement to, the sequential illumination of rows, columns, and/or individual LED light sources 30 to provide a desired type of unique warning light effect. The modulated power intensity may be regulated by the controller 50 to create a unique warning light signal within a single sector 326 or in conjunction with multiple separated or adjacent sectors 326 of light bar 70 or light support for the provision of any desired composite emergency warning light signal. All individual LED light sources 30 within a light bar 70 or light support may be simultaneously exposed to incrementally increased modulated power intensity to provide for an incremental increase in illumination. A power burst at full power may be provided at the discretion of an individual. The modulation of the power intensity in conjunction with the incremental increase in illumination of all LED light sources 30 within light bar 70 or light support may provide the appearance of rotation of a warning light signal when observed by an individual. The power exposed to the individual light sources 30 may then be incrementally decreased at the preference of an individual. It should be noted that the power is not required to be regularly incrementally increased or decreased or terminated. It is anticipated that any pulsating and/or modulated variable light intensity may be provided by the controller 50 to the LED light sources 30. It should also be noted that all individual LED light sources 30 within a light bar 70 are not required to be simultaneously and incrementally illuminated to provide for the appearance of rotation. For example, a light bar 70 or light support may be separated into one or more distinct segments 326 which are formed of one or more columns 32 of LED light sources 30 a particular segment 326 may be selected as a central illumination band which may receive the greatest exposure to the modulated or variable power intensity and, therefore, provide the brightest observable light signal. An adjacent segment 332 may be disposed on each side of the central illumination band 330 which in turn may receive modulated or variable power intensity of reduced magnitude as compared to the central illumination band 330. A pair of removed segments 333 may be adjacent and exterior to the segments 332, and in turn, may receive exposure to a modulated power source of reduced intensity as compared to segments 332. The number of desired segments may naturally vary at the discretion of an individual. The controller 50 may thereby regulate a power source to provide a modulated or variable power intensity to each individual segment 330, 332, or 333 (FIG. 35) to provide for a unique warning light effect for the light bar 70 or light support. It should be further noted that light supports 12 may be flat and rigid, pliable, moldable, triangular, cylindrical, partially cylindrical, and/or any other shape as desired by an individual provided that the essential functions, features, and attributes described herein are not sacrificed. The provision of a modulated power intensity to the light bar 70 or light support may also be coupled with or in combination to the sequential illumination of columns 32 as earlier described. In this situation, the warning light signal may initially be dim or off as the individual columns 32 are sequentially illuminated and extinguished for illumination of an adjacent column or columns 32. The power intensity for the illuminated column or columns 32 may simultaneously be incrementally increased for a combination unique rotational and pulsating modulated or variable warning light signal. In addition, the controller 50 may be programmed to provide the appearance of rotation pulsation and/or oscillation at the discretion of an individual. Each individual LED light source 30 preferably provides an energy light output of between 20 and 200 or more lumens as desired by an individual. Each light support 12 may contain a plurality of rows 34 and columns 32 of individual LED light sources 30. The light supports 12 are preferably in electrical communication with the controller 50 and power supply. The supports 12 preferably are controlled individually to create a desired warning light signal for an emergency vehicle 104 such as rotation, alternating, oscillation, strobe, flashing, or pulsating as preferred by an individual. Each support 12 may be controlled as part of an overall warning light signal or pattern where individual supports 12 may be illuminated to provide a desired type or combination light signal in addition to the provision of a modulated or variable power intensity for the light source 30. Modulated power intensity may be regulated by the controller 50 to create the appearance of rotation within a single support 12 or in conjunction with multiple separated, independent or adjacent supports 12 for the provision of a composite emergency warning light signal. It should be noted that each portion, section, sector, or area 326 of light bar 70 or light support may be controlled as part of an overall warning light signal or pattern where individual sections or sectors 326 may be illuminated to provide a desired type of warning light signal including but not limited to rotation and/or oscillation through the use of a modulated or variable power intensity. Alternatively, the controller 50 may provide for the random generation of light signals without the use of a preset pattern at the preference of an individual. Controller 50 may be used to selectively activate individual LED's 30 to create a pulsating light signal, a strobe light signal, a flashing light signal, an alternating light signal, and/or an alternating colored flashing light signal for an emergency vehicle. Controller 50 provides a means for activating LED's 30 individually to allow for greater flexibility in the type of warning light signal created. This embodiment of the invention is also capable of displaying information in a variety of different colors or sequential illumination of colors. Referring to FIG. 33, the emergency vehicle 300 preferably includes a light bar or light support 302 which may include one or more panels of LED light sources 306. A strip LED light source 308 may also be secured to the exterior of the emergency vehicle 300 at any location as desired by an individual. It is anticipated that the strip LED light source 308 may preferably encircle an entire emergency vehicle 300 to enhance the visualization of the emergency vehicle 300 as proximate to an emergency situation. Referring to FIG. 34, the strip LED light source 308 is preferably comprised of a circuit board 310 having an array 312 of individual LED light sources 306. The LED light sources 306 are preferably in electrical communication with each other via electrical contacts 314. Each circuit board 310 is preferably in electrical communication with a power supply and/or controller 50 via the use of wires 316. Each individual LED light source 306 as included within a strip LED light source 308 may be enclosed within a reflector 370 to facilitate and maximize light output along a desired visual line of sight. It should be noted that the LED light sources 306 preferably have maximum illumination at an angle of incidence approximately 40°-45° downwardly from vertical. The strip LED light sources 308 preferably include a back-side. The back-side preferably includes an adhesive, magnetic, or other affixation device which may be used to secure the strip LED light sources 308 to the exterior of an emergency vehicle 300 in any desired pattern or location. The strip LED light sources 308 may also be enclosed within a transparent cover 324 which prevents moisture or other contamination from adversely affecting the performance of the LED light sources 306 during use of the strip LED light source 308. Wires of adjacent strip LED light sources 308 may preferably be intertwined to extend across a vehicle for coupling to a power supply at a central location. The wires are preferably connected to the controller 50 which may be used to regulate the illumination of individual LED light sources 306 and/or individual panels of the strip LED light sources 308 to provide for the appearance of sequential, pulsating, alternating, oscillating, strobe, flashing, modulated, and/or rotational lights for an emergency vehicle 300. It should be noted that the individual LED light sources 306 within the strip LED light source 308 may be of a single or variety of colors as desired by an individual. Alternatively, adjacent strip LED light sources 308 may be electrically coupled to each other in a parallel or series electrical connection for communication to a centrally located controller and power source. The individual LED light sources 306 as incorporated into the array 312 of the strip LED light sources 308 are preferably sturdy and do not fail or separate from a vehicle 300 when exposed to rough operating conditions. It should be further noted that any individual strip of LED light sources 308 may be easily replaced as required. The transparent cover 324 for the strip LED light sources 308 is preferably formed of sturdy and resilient plastic material which prevents water penetration and/or contamination to the circuit board 310 and/or individual light sources 306. Each individual LED light source 306 preferably provides an energy light output of between 20 and 200 or more lumens as desired by an individual. The strip LED light sources 308 may individually be any size as preferred by an individual. It is anticipated that the strip LED light sources 308 may have the approximate dimensions of three inches in length, three inches in width, and one-half inch in thickness for use in affixation to the exterior of an emergency vehicle 300. It should be noted, however, that any desired size of strip LED light sources 308 may be selected by an individual for use in association with the exterior of the emergency vehicle 300 including the use of a series of solitary light sources 306. Referring to FIG. 35, a panel 304 of individual LED light sources 306 is depicted. The panel 304 may form the illumination element for the strip of LED light sources 308 and/or light bar 70 or light support 12, 302 as affixed to an emergency vehicle 300. Each panel 304 preferably contains a plurality of rows 34 and columns 32, 328 of individual LED light sources 306. The panels 304 are preferably in electrical communication with the controller 50 and power supply (now shown). The panels 304 preferably are controlled individually to create a desired warning light signal for an emergency vehicle 300 such as rotation, alternating, pulsating, sequencing, oscillation, modulated strobe, or flashing as preferred by an individual. Each panel 304 may be controlled as part of an overall warning light signal or pattern where individual panels 304 may be illuminated to provide the appearance of rotation and/or oscillation motion through the use of a modulated power intensity light source without the use of mechanical devices. It should also be noted that the strip LED light sources 308 may be organized into distinct sections, segments, and/or sectors 326 for individual illumination by the controller 50. Each distinct segment, section, and/or sector 326 may therefore be illuminated with a visually different and distinct type of light signal with, or without, modulated or variable power intensity for the creation of a desired type of unique warning lighting effect for a vehicle. An infinite variety of color and/or pattern combinations or sequences may be established for the emergency vehicle 300 through the use of the controller 50. Modulated power intensity may be regulated by the controller 50 to create the appearance of rotation or pulsation within a single panel 304, strip 308, or in conjunction with multiple separated or adjacent panels 304 or strips 308 for the provision of a composite warning light signal as desired by an individual. The warning light signal for each or a group of panels 304 or strips 308 may also be regulated by the controller 50 for the provision of a modulated power intensity for an observable warning light signal. All individual LED light sources 306 within a panel 304 or strip 308 may also be exposed to incrementally increased modulated power intensity to provide for an incremental increase in illumination for a warning light signal. The modulation of the power intensity of LED light sources 306 within panel 304 or strips 308 thereby may provide the appearance of rotation of a light signal when observed by an individual. The power modulation or light intensity curve is anticipated to resemble a sine wave pattern when the warning light signal provides the appearance of rotation (FIG. 43). The power to the individual light sources 306 may then be incrementally decreased at the preference of an individual. It should be noted that the power is not required to be terminated. It should also be noted that each individual LED light source 306 is not required to receive the same level of power output from the controller 50. Therefore different individual LED light sources 306 may receive different power output levels within a single warning light signal. Individual LED light sources 306 within panel 304 are not required to be simultaneously and incrementally illuminated to provide for the appearance of rotation. It is anticipated that a pulsating and/or modulated variable light intensity may be provided by the controller 50 for regulation of the power output from thirty percent to maximum and back to thirty percent which affords a desirable type of pulsating modulated variable light effect. The provision of a modulated power intensity to the panels 304 may also be coupled with or in combination to the sequential illumination of columns 328 as earlier described. In this situation, the warning light signal may initially be dim or off as the individual columns 328 are sequentially illuminated and extinguished for illumination of an adjacent column or columns 328. The power intensity for the illuminated column or columns 328 may simultaneously be incrementally increased for a combination unique rotational and pulsating modulated light signal. In addition, the controller 50 may be programmed to provide the appearance of rotation pulsation and/or oscillation at the discretion of an individual. It should be noted that the provision of a modulated light or power intensity may be implemented in association with a light bar or light support 302, a cylindrical panel, a strip of lights 308, flat panels 304, or any other type of light source as desired by an individual for use with an emergency vehicle 300. Referring to FIGS. 48 and 49, an individual LED light source 306 is depicted in detail. The LED light source 306 preferably include a ceramic and/or heat resistant base 334. Centrally within the ceramic and heat-resistant base 334 is positioned a light source 336. The light source 336 is preferably enclosed within a protective cover 338. Extending outwardly from the individual light source 306 are a pair of contact paddles 340 which preferably provide for the electrical contacts for illumination of the light sources 336 during use of the individual light sources 306. The back of the LED light source 306 includes a slug 342. The slug 342 is designed to be positioned within circular openings 344 of a circuit board or LED mounting surface 346 (FIG. 36). The circuit board or LED mounting surface 346 preferably establishes a heat sink within an aluminum base or frame 348 as depicted in FIGS. 38 and 39. The LED light sources 306 as depicted in FIGS. 48 and 49 preferably provide for a light intensity varying between 20 and 200 lumens or higher at the discretion of an individual. The positioning of the slug 342 in the circular openings 344 of the circuit board or LED mounting surface 346 also preferably establishes a heat sink. A heat sink is desirable because the individual LED light sources 306 may have a sufficient level of power output during use to develop heat. As a result, the slugs 342 are positioned within the circular opening 344 and may be filly engaged to an adhesive for affixation to an aluminum base 349 (FIGS. 38 and 39). This combination assists in the dissipation of heat during use of the individual LED light sources 306 enhancing the performance of the light support 302. As may be seen in FIGS. 31, 32, 37 and 50, in an alternative embodiment, the light bar or light support 302 or panel 304 may be formed of a single row of LED light sources 306. Within this embodiment, the LED light sources 306 are positioned within circular openings 344 of circuit board or LED mounting surface 346 (FIG. 37). Circuit board 346 may be affixed to aluminum base 348 through the use of adhesive including glass beads where the circular openings 344 preferably establish a heat sink for the individual LED light sources 306. The use of adhesive including glass beads to affix the LED light sources 306 and circuit board 346 to the aluminum base 348 preferably assists in the creation of electrical contact for the light bar or light support 302. As depicted in FIG. 37 the top surface of the circuit board or LED mounting surface 346 may include two reflectors or mirrors 350. The reflectors or mirrors 350 are preferably elongate and are positioned substantially parallel to each other and are adjacent or aligned to the rows of individual LED's 306. The reflectors or mirrors 350 preferably diverge upwardly and outwardly from a position proximate to the LED light source 306 and aluminum base 348. As such, the mirrors 350 have a separation distance which is narrow proximate to the LED light sources 306, where the separation distance becomes larger as the distance vertically from the aluminum base 348 increases. As earlier described, the brightest or most intense light of the individual LED light sources 306 is provided at an acute angle of approximately 40° to 42°. The reflector or mirror 350 as angled upwardly and outwardly relative to the row of LED light sources 306 reflects light exiting the LED light sources 306 along a desired line of sight which corresponds to perpendicular observation by an individual. The reflectors or mirrors 350 maximize the efficiency of the light sources 306 by reflecting light along the line of sight to be observed by an individual during an emergency situation. The reflectors or mirrors 350 may have a polished or non-polished surface at the preference of an individual depending on the brightness desired for the light support 302. The reflectors or mirrors 350 may also include one or more reflective sections 374 and/or transparent or clear sections 372. The transparent or clear sections 372 and the reflective sections 374 are described in detail with reference to FIGS. 27-30 herein. It should be noted that the surface of the reflectors or mirrors 350 may include any desired combination of sections, patterns, stripes, rows, and/or columns of clear or transparent sections 372 and/or reflective sections 374 as desired by an individual for a reflection of light illuminated from the individual LED light sources 306 during the provision of a warning light signal. Wires 354 preferably connect the circuit board 346 to the power supply and controller 50. A modulated power source as earlier described may thereby be provided to the light support 302 which includes the reflector or mirrors 350. In this embodiment, the sequential illumination of individual LED's 306 may occur to provide a desired type of warning light signal. Also, the circuit board 346 as engaged to the base 348 may be separated into segments 326 of LED light sources 306 for use in combination with a modulated power intensity electrical source. As depicted in FIGS. 38 and 39, the frame 348 includes a base 349. The base 349 may include a holding cavity 358. In the holding cavity 358 is preferably positioned a circuit board or LED mounting surface 360 which includes a plurality of circular openings 344. In each circular opening 344, is preferably positioned an individual LED light source 306. Above the holding cavity 358 is preferably a first support 362 and a second support 363. The first support 362 and second support 363 preferably have an angled interior edge 364. Each angled interior edge 364 is preferably adapted to receive a reflector or mirror 350. Each mirror 350 is preferably utilized to reflect light illuminated from an individual light source 306 along a visual line of sight as depicted by arrow AA of FIG. 39. The first and second supports 362, 363 also preferably include a positioning ledge or notch 366 which is adapted to receive a glass or transparent plastic cover lens 368 which serves as a protector for the frame 348 and individual LED light sources 306. Referring to FIG. 50, the frame 348 may be elongate having a first end 380 and a second end (not shown). The first end 380 and the second end preferably each include and affixation area 382 which may be threaded for receiving engagement to a fastener 384 as preferred by an individual. A bracket 386 may be rotatably engaged to the first end 380 and second end at the preference of an individual by tightening of the fasteners 384 relative to the affixation areas 382. The bracket 386 preferably includes and angled portion 388 which may include a second fastener 390 which may include suction cups. Alternatively, the second fastener 390 may be screws, bolts, and/or rivets for attachment of the frame 348 at a desired location relative to the interior or exterior of a vehicle 300. Referring to FIGS. 26-30, a reflector or cullminator for the individual LED light sources 306 is disclosed. The reflector or cullminator is indicated in general by the numeral 370. The reflector or cullminator 370 may be conical in shape and may be configured to encircle an individual LED light source 306. The reflector or cullminator 370 may be partially transparent. The reflectors 370 may have a clear section 372 and a reflective section 374. In FIG. 29, the clear section 372 is preferably positioned proximate to the LED light source 306 and the reflective section 374 is preferably positioned to the top of the reflector 370. In FIG. 28, the reflective section 374 is preferably positioned proximate to the LED light source 306 and the clear section 372 is preferably positioned to the top of reflector or cullminator 370. As may be seen in FIG. 30, the entire interior surface of the reflector or cullminator 370 may be formed of a reflective section 374. It should be noted that any combination of clear sections 372 and reflective sections 374 may be utilized at the discretion of an individual. It should be noted that a plurality of clear sections 374 may be utilized within each reflector or cullminator 370 at the discretion of an individual. The use of a combination of clear sections 372 and reflective sections 374 enable an individual to select a configuration for the provision of partial illumination along an angle which is not parallel to a desired line of sight. An individual may thereby be able to observe an illuminated light signal from the side or top of a light bar or light support 302 as opposed to being aligned with a desired line of sight. Each of the cullminator or reflector cup 370 preferably includes an angled interior surface which extends upwardly and diverges outwardly from a central opening 394. Each central opening 394 is preferably constructed and adapted for positioning approximate to and over an LED light source 306. Each of the cullminator or reflector cups 370 also preferably includes an angled exterior surface which extends upwardly and diverges outwardly from a bottom or base which is preferably positioned approximate to an LED mounting surface or circuit board 346. Referring to FIG. 26 an array of cullminator cups or reflectors 270 may be formed into a cullminator assembly or array 392. The cullminator assembly or array 392 is preferably adapted for positioning over an array of LED light sources 306. Examples of arrays of LED light sources 306 which may be utilized with a cullminator assembly 392 are depicted in FIGS. 3-10, 12, 14, 15, 23-25, 31, 32, 34, 35, 37, 39, 40, 44, and 47. Each cullminator array 392 is preferably formed of a reflective material which has plurality of reflective cups 370 disposed there through. Each opening 394 is adapted for positioning over an LED light source 306. The cullminator array 392 preferably has a sufficient thickness to establish an interior reflective surface having a sufficient dimension to reflect light as emitted from the LED light sources 306. Alternatively, the interior surface of each reflector cup 370 may be entirely or partially coated with reflective material at the discretion of an individual. It should be noted that the entire cullminator assembly 392 is not required to be formed of reflective material if the interior surface of the reflector cups 370 are coated with reflective material. The cullminator array 392 may be formed in any shape as desired by an individual including but not necessarily limited to square, rectangular, triangular, linear, circular, oval, and special or other irregular shapes for use in reflecting light emitted from an LED light source 306. The interior surface of any desired number of cullminator cups 370 may also be coated with reflective 374 and non-reflective 372 sections as earlier described. It should be noted that the strip LED light source 308 and LED light sources 306 in frame 348 are preferably designed to operate on a 12 volt power supply which is available in a standard emergency vehicle battery. It should also be noted that the frame 348 and strip LED light source 308 are preferably enclosed in a waterproof protector to minimize the risk of contamination or failure from any exposure to moisture or dust or dirt. The use of the strip LED light sources 308 and frame 348 preferably minimize the necessity to modify the exterior of an emergency vehicle 300 through the placement of holes or other apertures. In these embodiments, the wires 354 and 316 may be adhesively secured to the exterior of a vehicle for entry into the power source and controller 50 at a common location. It should be noted that the strip LED light source 308 may be used on other devices and are not necessarily limited to use on an emergency vehicle 300. It is anticipated that the strip LED light sources 308 may be used on a variety of apparatus including but not limited to snowmobiles, water craft, helmets, airplanes, or any other device which may accept use of an LED light source. In FIGS. 40-43 a warning signal light 400 is depicted which in general includes a light source 402 and a rotatable reflector 404. The light source 402 may include one or more individual LED illumination devices 406. The light source 402 may include a base 408 which may be mounted on a post 410. The light source 402 may either be stationary or rotate at the preference of an individual. A motor 412 is preferably electrically connected to a power supply for rotation of a wheel or gear 414. The wheel or gear 414 is connected to the motor 412 by a shaft 416. The wheel or gear 414 is in contact with, or is engaged to, a rotatable collar 418 which may be adapted to rotate freely about the post 410 during operation of the motor 412. The wheel or gear 414 may be formed of rubber material or any other desired material as preferred by an individual. Alternatively, the wheel 414 may include teeth and function as a gear for engagement to corresponding grooves and teeth as integral to the exterior surface of the collar 418. An aperture 420 may pass through post 410 to receive wires 422 for the provision of power to LED light source 402. A washer or support device 424 vertically supports rotatable collar 418 on post 410 from a position below collar 418. A positioner 426 functions to restrict the vertical movement of the collar 418 upwardly during engagement of the motor 412 and rotation of the wheel 414 and collar 418. A horizontal support arm 428 extends outwardly from collar 418. A vertical support arm 430 extends upwardly form horizontal support arm 428. Angular support arm 432 extends inwardly and upwardly from vertical support arm 430 for positioning of a reflector or mirror 434 above light source 402. The reflector or mirror 434 is preferably positioned at an approximate angle of forty-five degrees relative to the light source 402. Light as emitted vertically from the light source 402 may then reflect from the reflector 434 along a substantially perpendicular line of visual sight. The reflector 434 rotated ninety degrees is depicted in phantom line as an oval due to the angular offset of approximately forty-five degrees. The use of motor 412 rotates wheel 414 which in turn rotates collar 418 and reflector 434 in a circular direction about light source 402 for the provision of an observed rotational warning light source. In addition, the light source 402 may be electrically coupled to a controller 50 to provide a modulated, alternating, variable, pulsating, or oscillating light source at the preference of an individual simultaneously to the rotation of the reflector 434 about light source 402. Referring to FIG. 41 the warning signal light 400 includes a light source 402 which is rotatable in conjunction with the reflector 434. In this embodiment the motor 412 is connected to a first gear which is enclosed within casing 436. A second gear is also enclosed within casing 436 and is coupled to the first gear for rotation of the reflector 434. A vertical rod 438 is preferably affixed or integral to the second gear. The vertical rod 438 supports the LED light source 402 as positioned adjacent to reflector 434. An angled brace 440 is also preferably engaged to rod 438. Angled brace 440 supports reflector 434 during rotation of reflector 434 which represents a circular motion as depicted by arrow 442. In this embodiment reflector 434 is arcuate in shape and may be parabolic at the discretion of an individual. Light emitted from light source 402 may then be reflected by the arcuate reflector 434 along a desired line of sight. The engagement of the motor 412 rotates the light source 402 and reflector 434 to provide a rotational light source as observed by an individual. It should also be noted that the light source 402 may be coupled to a controller 50 to provide for a modulated, alternating variable, and/or pulsating light signal in conjunction with the rotation of the reflector 434. Referring to FIG. 42, the reflector 434 is not required to be flat and may include a convex or concave face 444. The provision of a convex or concave face 444, is utilized to assist in the creation of a unique variable light effect as observed by an individual. Light as emitted from the light source 402 may then be reflected at any desired angle other than perpendicular for observation by an individual. The pulsating intensity of the light as observed by an individual may then be unique, especially when used in conjunction with the rotated reflector 434 and variable or modulated power intensity from the controller 50. In addition, the use of a convex or concave reflector 444 may expand or enhance the observation of the warning signal light 400 by individuals beyond a perpendicular line of sight. The warning signal light 400 may then be observed above or below a light source 402. The reflector 434 as rotated ninety degrees is depicted in phantom line and is generally oblong or oval in shape. FIG. 43 represents graphically the variable or pulsating illumination of the observed light as reflected from the reflector 434 of FIG. 42. Time is represented along the x-axis and increasing brightness is depicted along the y-axis. The graph of FIG. 43 shows the gradual increase in brightness of the observed light as the reflector 434 is rotated to a maximum illumination corresponding to direct in line observation of the warning light signal and then the gradual decrease in observed light intensity as the reflector 434 is rotated away from direct in line sight. It should be noted that the observed warning light signal is not required to be extinguished and may be reduced to a minimum observable intensity of approximately thirty percent. Referring to FIG. 44, the warning signal light 400 in general includes a light source 402 which may be rotated through the use of a motor 412 for transmission of light through a filter 446 for reflection from a conical reflector 448 as mounted to the interior of a light bar or light support 450. Power for motor 412 is supplied through wires 452 from a power source not shown. Power for the light sources 402 is provided through wires 454 in support 456. Brushes 458 may be in electrical communication with the power from the wires 454 to transmit electrical current to a second set of brushes 460 utilized to communicate power to the light sources 402. The base 462 of the light source 402 may preferably be formed of an electrically conductive material to facilitate the provision of power to the light sources 402. A shaft 464 preferably extends between the motor 412 and the base 462 where operation of the motor 412 rotates the shaft 464 and the base 462 having the light sources 402. Light is transmitted vertically upward from the light sources 402 through the filter 446. (FIGS. 44 and 45.) The filter 446 may include one or more sections of tinted material 466. The filter 446 may be stationary or may be rotatable at the discretion of an individual. The tinted material 466 may be any color as desired by an individual or opaque to establish a desired illumination effect for an emergency warning signal light. Any number of tinted sections 466 or transparent areas may be placed on the filter 446. The filter 446 may be formed of glass or plastic or other sturdy material at the preference of an individual. The tinted sections 466 may be integral to or placed upon the filter 446 as desired. The filter 446 may be attached to the conical reflector 448 by a fastener 468. The conical reflector 448 preferably includes a straight reflective edge 470. Alternatively, the reflective edge 470 may be concave or convex as desired by an individual to establish a unique lighting effect. The conical reflector 448 is preferably affixed to and descends from the top of a light bar or light support 450 as may be attached to an emergency vehicle 300. Light transmitted upwardly from the light sources 402 passes through either a substantially transparent section or through the tinted or opaque material 466 which may block light transmission or alter the color of the light as desired. Light is then reflected from the conical reflector 448 at a desired angle for transmission through the vertical sections of the light bar or light support 450 for observation by an individual. FIG. 46 represents graphically the intensity of the observed light as reflected from the conical reflector 448 of FIG. 44. Time is represented along the x-axis and observed brightness is represented along the y-axis. The observed light signal transmitted from the warning signal light of FIG. 44 is much steeper which corresponds to a shorter period of observation more similar to a flashing light signal. It should be noted that the light sources may also be coupled to a controller 50 for the provision of a variable, modulated and/or pulsating light effect. Referring to FIGS. 31 and 32 a modular light support 480 in general includes an LED mounting surface 482 having one or more LED light sources 306, a cullminator assembly 484 and a cover 324. The LED mounting surface 482 is preferably elongate and includes a plurality of LED light sources 306. In general, one to five LED light sources 306 are disposed in a linear orientation along the LED mounting surface 482 which may be a circuit board as earlier described. The LED mounting surface 482 also preferably includes a first end 486 and a second end 488. An opening 490 is preferably positioned through the LED mounting surface 482 proximate to each of the first end 486 and second end 488. The cullminator assembly 484 preferably includes a plurality of reflector cup areas 492. The cullminator assembly 484 preferably includes a plurality of support walls 494 and a top surface 496. The cullminator assembly 484 preferably includes a plurality of openings 490. Each of the openings 490 is preferably sized to receivingly position and hold the individual LED light source 306 during assembly of the modular light support 480. The reflector cup areas 492 are preferably equally spaced along the cullminator 484 to correspond to the spacing between the individual light sources 306 as disposed on the LED mounting surface 482. The cover 324 is preferably transparent permitting transmission of light emitted from the LED light supports 306 therethrough. The cover 324 preferably includes a forward face 498, a pair of end faces 500, a top face 502 and a bottom face 504. Each of the pair of end faces 500 preferably includes a receiving notch 506 which is adapted to receivingly engage the LED light mounting surface 482 during assembly of the modular light support 480. An affixation opening 508 preferably traverses the forward face 498 proximate to each of the pair of end faces 500. A fastener 510 preferably passes through the affixation opening 508 for engagement to the opening 490 to secure the LED mounting surface 482 into the receiving notch 506. It should be noted that the cullminator assembly 484 is then positioned within the interior of the cover 324 where the top surface 496 is proximate to the forward face 498. The illumination of the LED light sources 306 then transmits light through the forward face 498 for observation of an emergency warning light signal. Specifically referring to FIG. 32 one or more modular light support 480 may be positioned adjacent to each other for the creation of a light bar or light stick 512. The modular light supports 480 and/or light bar or light stick 512 may be coupled to a controller 50 which may independently and/or in combination provide a plurality of independent and visually distinct warning light signals as earlier described. In addition, the controller 50 may provide modulated and/or variable power intensity to the individual LED light sources 306 to establish unique warning light signal effects. It should also be noted that the controller 50 may individually illuminate LED light sources 306 to provide for one or a combination of colored light signals as desired by an individual. Any number of modular light supports 480 may be positioned adjacent to each other to comprise a light bar or light stick 512 at the preference of an individual. It should be further noted that a plurality of modular light supports 480 may be positioned at any location about the exterior or within the interior of a vehicle at the discretion of an individual. In one embodiment each of the individual modular light supports 480 will be electrically coupled to a power supply and controller for the provision of unique individual and visually distinctive warning light signals and combination warning light signals as earlier described Referring to FIG. 47 and alterative embodiment of a reflector assembly is disclosed. In general, the reflector assembly of FIG. 47 includes an enclosure 518. Positioned within the interior of enclosed 518 is preferably a motor 520 having a shaft 522 and a gear 524. A first support 526 preferably has a periphery having a plurality of teeth 528 adapted to releasably engage the gear 524. The first support 526 preferably includes a mirror bridge 530 which is preferably used to position a mirror 532 and a proximate angle of 45° relative to a LED light source 306. Preferably within the interior of the first support 526 is located a cullminator assembly 534 which may include one or more reflective cups as earlier described. Individual LED light sources 306 are preferably positioned within each of the cullminator cups of the cullminator assembly 534 to maximize the direction of emitted light for reflection from the mirror 542. On the opposite side of gear 524 is located second support 536. Second support 536 also includes a periphery having a plurality of teeth 528, a mirror bridge 530, a mirror 532, and a cullminator assembly 534 disposed adjacent to a plurality of individual LED light sources 306. A third support 538 is preferably adjacent to the second support 536. The third support 538 also preferably includes a periphery having a plurality of teeth 528, a mirror bridge 530, and a mirror 532 disposed at a 45° angle above a cullminator assembly 534. A plurality of individual LED light sources 306 are preferably disposed within the reflector cups of the cullminator assembly 534. It should be noted that the teeth 528 of the third support 538 and second support 536 are preferably coupled so that rotational motion provided to the second support 536 by the gear 524 is transferred into rotational motion of the third support 538. In operation, the individual LED light sources 306 are preferably connected to a power source and/or a controller 50 as earlier described. The controller 50 may provide for any type of unique lighting effect including modulated or variable power intensity as earlier described. An infinite number of independent visually distinctive warning light signals may be provided for the rotational reflector as depicted in 487. It should also be noted that an infinite number of warning light signal combinations may also be provided by the controller 50 for use with the rotational reflector of FIG. 47. Each of the mirrors 542 may be positioned for reflection and transmission of light to a desired field of vision relative to the rotational reflector. A flashing and/or rotational light source may be provided for observation by an individual. It should be noted that the first support 526, second support 546, and third support 538 may be synchronized to provide for a unique warning signal light for observation by an individual. It should be further noted that the engagement of the motor 520 for rotation of the gear 524 simultaneously rotates the first support 526, second support 536 and third support 538 for the provision of a warning light signal. LED technology enables the selection of a desired wave length for transmission of light energy from the individual LED light sources 306. Any wave length of visible or non-visible light is available for transmission from the LED light sources 306. As such, generally no filters are required for use with individual LED light sources 306. The individual LED light sources 306 may be selected to provide for any desired color normally associated with the use in emergency vehicles such as amber, red, yellow, blue, green and/or white. It should be further noted that the controller 50 may simultaneously display any number of combinations of warning light signals. For example, the controller 50 may provide for a solitary light signal for transmission from a light source. Alternatively, the controller 50 may effect the transmission of two signals simultaneously from the identical light source where a first warning light signal is emitted from one portion of the light source and a second warning light signal is emitted from a second portion of the light source. Alternatively, the controller 50 may alternate the two warning light signals where the first area of the light source first transmits a first warning light signal and secondly transmits a second warning light signal. The second area of the light source initially transmits the second warning light signal and then transmits the first warning light signal. Further, the controller may transmit two independent and visually distinct warning light signals simultaneously within different areas of light source. The controller 50 may also reverse the warning light signals for simultaneous transmission between different areas of the light source. Further, the controller 50 may regulate the transmission of more than two visually distinct types of warning light signals from a light source at any given moment. The controller 50 may alternate warning light signals within different areas or enable transmission of warning light signals in reverse alternating order for the creation of an infinite variety of patterns of visually distinct warning light signals for use within an emergency situation. The controller 50 may also permit the transmission of a repetitive pattern of warning light signals or a random pattern of visually distinct warning light signals at the preference of an individual. The present invention may be embodied in other specific forms without departing from the spirit or essential attributes thereof; and it is, therefore, desired that the present embodiment be considered in all respects as illustrative and not restrictive, reference being made to the appended claims rather than to the foregoing description to indicate the scope of the invention. | <SOH> BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION <EOH>Light bars or emergency lights of the type used on emergency vehicles such as fire trucks, police cars, and ambulances, utilize warning signal lights to produce a variety of light signals. These light signals involve the use of various colors and patterns. Generally, these warning signal lights consist of incandescent and halogen light sources having reflective back support members and colored filters. Many problems exist with the known methods for producing warning light signals. One particular problem with known light sources is their reliance on mechanical components to revolve or oscillate the lamps to produce the desired light signal. Additionally, these components increase the size of the light bar or emergency lights which may adversely affect the vehicles aerodynamic characteristics. Moreover, there is an increased likelihood that a breakdown of the light bar or light source will occur requiring the repair or replacement of the defective component. Finally, the known light bars and sources require a relatively large amount of electrical current during operation. The demands upon the electrical power system for a vehicle may therefore exceed available electrical resources reducing optimization of performance. The most common light sources being used in light bars or emergency lights include halogen lamps or gaseous discharge xenon lamps. These lamps emanate large amounts of heat which is difficult to dissipate from a sealed light enclosure or emergency light and which may damage the electronic circuitry contained therein. In addition, these lamps consume large amounts of current requiring a large power supply or large battery or electrical source which may be especially problematic for use with a vehicle. These lamps also generate substantial electromagnetic emissions which may interfere with radio communications for a vehicle. Finally, these lamps, which are not rugged, have relatively short life cycles necessitating frequent replacement. Another problem with the known warning signal lights is the use of filters to produce a desired color. Filtering techniques produce more heat that must be dissipated. Moreover, changing the color of a light source requires the physical removal of the filter from the light source or emergency light and the insertion of a new filter. Furthermore, filters fade or flake over time rendering the filters unable to consistently produce a desired color for observation in an emergency situation. These problems associated with traditional signaling lamps are exacerbated by the fact that creating multiple light signals requires multiple signaling lamps. Further, there is little flexibility in modifying the light signal created by a lamp. For example, changing a stationary lamp into one that rotates or oscillates would require a substantial modification to the light bar which may not be physically or economically possible. The present invention generally relates to electrical lamps and to high brightness light-emitting diode or “LED” technology which operates to replace gaseous discharge or incandescent lamps as used as automotive warning signal light sources. Illumination lamps for automobile turn signals, brake lights, back-up lights, and/or marker lights/headlights frequently have accompanying utility parabolic lens/reflector enclosures which have been used for utility warning signals or emergency vehicle traffic signaling. These signaling devices as known are commonly referred to as “unmarked corner tubes,” or “dome tubes. These signaling devices as known frequently utilize xenon gaseous discharge tubes or incandescent lamps as the illumination sources. A problem with the prior art is the cost and failure rate of the known “unmarked corner tubes,” or “dome lights.” The failure rate of these devices frequently results in a significant amount of “down time” for a vehicle to effectuate replacement. Further, an officer is frequently unaware that a vehicle light is inoperative requiring replacement. This condition reduces the safety to an officer during the performance of his or her duties. In addition, the reduced life cycle and failure rate of the known illumination devices significantly increases operational costs associated with material replacement and labor. A need, therefore, exists to enhance the durability, and to reduce the failure rate, of illumination devices while simultaneously reducing the cost of a replacement illumination source. In the past, the xenon gaseous discharge lamps have utilized a sealed compartment, usually a gas tube, which may have been filled with a particular gas known to have good illuminating characteristics. One such gas used for this purpose was xenon gas, which provides illumination when it becomes ionized by the appropriate voltage application. Xenon gas discharge lamps are used in the automotive industry to provide high intensity lighting and are used on emergency vehicles to provide a visible emergency signal light. A xenon gas discharge lamp usually comprises a gas-filled tube which has an anode element at one end and a cathode element at the other end, with both ends of the tube sealed. The anode and cathode elements each have an electrical conductor attached, which passes through the sealed gas end of the lamp exterior. An ionizing trigger wire is typically wound in a helical manner about the exterior of the glass tube, and this wire is connected to a high voltage power source typically on the order of 10-12 kilowatts (kw). The anode and cathode connections are connected to a lower level voltage source which is sufficient to maintain illumination of the lamp once the interior gas has been ionized by the high voltage source. The gas remains ignited until the anode/cathode voltage is removed; and once the gas ionization is stopped, the lamp may be ignited again by reapplying the anode/cathode voltage and reapplying the high voltage to the trigger wire via a voltage pulse. Xenon gas lamps are frequently made from glass tubes which are formed into semicircular loops to increase the relative light intensity from the lamp while maintaining a relatively small form factor. These lamps generate extremely high heat intensity, and therefore, require positioning of the lamps so as to not cause heat buildup in nearby components. The glass tube of a xenon lamp is usually mounted on a light-based pedestal which is sized to fit into an opening in the light fixture and to hold the heat generating tube surface in a light fixture compartment which is separated from other interior compartment surfaces or components. In a vehicle application, the light and base pedestal are typically sized to fit through an opening in the light fixture which is about 1 inch in diameter. The light fixture component may have a glass or plastic cover made from colored material so as to produce a colored lighting effect when the lamp is ignited. Xenon gas discharge lamps naturally produce white light, which may be modified to produce a colored light, of lesser intensity, by placing the xenon lamp in a fixture having a colored lens. The glass tube of the xenon lamp may also be painted or otherwise colored to produce a similar result, although the light illumination from the tube tends to dominate the coloring; and the light may actually have a colored tint appearance rather than a solid colored light. The color blue is particularly hard to produce in this manner. Because a preferred use of xenon lamps is in connection with emergency vehicles, it is particularly important that the lamp be capable of producing intense coloring associated with emergency vehicles, i.e., red, blue, amber, green, and clear. When xenon lamps are mounted in vehicles, some care must be taken to reduce the corroding effects of water and various chemicals, including road salt, which might contaminate the light fixture. Corrosive effects may destroy the trigger wire and the wire contacts leading to the anode and cathode. Corrosion is enhanced because of the high heat generating characteristics of the lamp which may heat the air inside the lamp fixture when the lamp is in use, and this heated air may condense when the lamp is off resulting in moisture buildup inside the fixture. The buildup of moisture may result in the shorting out of the electrical wires and degrade the performance of the emission wire, sometimes preventing proper ionization of the gas within the xenon gas discharge lamp. Warning lights, due to the type of light source utilized, may be relatively large in size which in turn may have an adverse affect upon adjacent operational components. In addition, there is an increased likelihood for a breakdown of the light source requiring repair or replacement of components. Another problem with the known warning signal lights is the use of rotational and/or oscillating mechanisms which are utilized to impart a rotational or oscillating movement to a light source for observation during emergency situations. These mechanical devices are frequently cumbersome and difficult to incorporate and couple onto various locations about a vehicle due to the size of the device. These mechanical devices also frequently require a relatively large power supply to engage and operate the device to impart rotational and/or oscillating movement for a light source. Power consumption of electrical components for an emergency vehicle is of primary consideration for vehicle operators. Another problem with the known warning signal lights is the absence of flexibility for the provision of variable intensity for the light sources to increase the number of available distinct and independent visual light effects. In certain situations it may be desirable to provide a variable intensity for a light signal or a modulated intensity for a light signal to provide a unique light effect to facilitate observation by an individual. In addition, the provision of a variable or modulated intensity for a light signal may further enhance the ability to provide a unique desired light effect for observation by an individual. No warning lights are known which are flexible and which utilize a variable light intensity to modify a standard lighting effect. The warning lights as known are generally limited to a flashing light signal. Alternatively, other warning signal lights may provide a sequential illumination of light sources. No warning or utility light signals are known which simultaneously provide for modulated and/or variable power intensity for a known type of light signal to create a unique and desirable type of lighting effect. No warning signal lights are known which provide an irregular or random light intensity to a warning signal light to provide a desired lighting effect. Also, no warning light signals are known which provide a regular pattern of variable or modulated light intensity for a warning signal light to provide a desired type of lighting effect. Further, no warning light signals are known which combine a desired type of light effect with either irregular variable light intensity or regular modulated light intensity to provide a unique and desired combination lighting effect. It has also not been known to provide alternative colored LED light sources which may be electrically controlled for the provision of any desired pattern of light signal such as flashing, pulsating, oscillating, modulating, rotational, alternating, strobe, and/or combination light effects. In this regard, a need exists to provide a spatially and electrically efficient LED light source for use on an emergency or utility vehicle which provides the appearance of rotation or other types of light signals without the necessity of a mechanical devices. In addition, a need exists to provide a spatially and electrically efficient LED light source for use on an emergency vehicle which provides a flashing, modulated, oscillating, rotational, alternating, and/or strobe light effects without the necessity of mechanical devices. In view of the above, there is a need for a warning signal light that: (1) Is capable of producing multiple light signals; (2) Produces the appearance of a revolving or oscillating light signal without relying upon mechanical components; (3) Generates little heat; (4) Uses substantially less electrical current; (5) Produces significantly reduced amounts of electromagnetic emissions; (6) Is rugged and has a long life cycle; (7) Produces a truer light output color without the use of filters; (8) Is positionable at a variety of locations about an emergency vehicle; and (9) Provides variable power intensity to the light source without adversely affecting the vehicle operator's ability to observe objects while seated within the interior of the vehicle. Other problems associated with the known warning signal lights relate to the restricted positioning on a vehicle due to the size and shape of the light source. In the past, light sources due to the relatively large size of light bars or light sources, were required to be placed on the roof of a vehicle or at a location which did not interfere with, or obstruct, an operator's ability to visualize objects while seated in the interior of the vehicle. Light bars or light sources generally extended perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of a vehicle and were therefore more difficult to observe from the sides by an individual. The ease of visualization of an emergency vehicle is a primary concern to emergency personnel regardless of the location of the observer. In the past, optimal observation of emergency lights has occurred when an individual was either directly in front of, or behind, an emergency vehicle. Observation from the sides, or at an acute angle relative to the sides, frequently resulted in reduced observation of emergency lights during an emergency situation. A need therefore exists to improve the observation of emergency lights for a vehicle regardless of the location of the observer. A need also exists to improve the flexibility of placement of emergency lights upon a vehicle for observation by individuals during emergency situations. In the past, flashing light signals emanating from light bars have been used to signal the presence of an emergency situation necessitating caution. A need exists to reduce the size of light sources on an emergency vehicle and to improve the efficiency of the light sources particularly with respect to current draw and reduced aerodynamic drag. A need also exists to enhance the flexibility of positioning of light sources about a vehicle for observation by individuals. In order to satisfy these and other needs, more spatially efficient light sources such as LED's are required. It is also necessary to provide alternative colored LED light sources which may be electrically controlled for the provision of any desired pattern of light signal such as flashing, alternating, pulsating, oscillating, modulating, rotational, and/or strobe light effects without the necessity of spatially inefficient and bulky mechanical devices. In that regard, a need exists to provide a spatially and electrically efficient LED light source for use on an emergency vehicle which provides any of the above-identified types of warning light signals without the necessity of mechanical devices. In addition, a need exists to provide a spatially and electrically efficient LED light source for use on an emergency vehicle which provides a flashing, alternating, pulsating, rotating, modulated, oscillating, and/or strobe light effect or combinations thereof without the necessity of mechanical devices. | <SOH> BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS <EOH>FIG. 1 is a partial perspective view of an emergency vehicle equipped with a light bar containing warning signal lights according to an embodiment of the invention; FIG. 2 is a partial front elevation view of an emergency vehicle equipped with a light bar containing warning signal lights referring to an embodiment of the invention; FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a warning signal light attached to a gyrator according to an embodiment of the invention; FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a warning signal light according to an embodiment of the invention depicting the sequential activation of columns of light-emitting diodes (LED's). FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a warning signal light according to an embodiment of the invention depicting sequential activation of rows of LED's; FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a warning light signal according to an embodiment of the invention; FIG. 7 is a perspective view of a warning light signal according to an embodiment of the invention; FIG. 8 is a perspective view of a warning light signal according to an embodiment of the invention; FIG. 9 is a perspective view of a warning light signal according to an embodiment of the invention; FIG. 10 is a perspective view of a warning light signal according to an embodiment of the invention; FIGS. 1A, 11B , and 11 C are schematic diagrams of the controller circuitry in accordance with an embodiment of the invention; FIG. 12 is a perspective view of a warning signal light according to an embodiment of the invention; FIG. 13 is a perspective detailed view of a warning signal light attached to the interior of a windshield of an emergency vehicle; FIG. 14 is a side plan view of a warning signal light mounted to an interior surface of an emergency vehicle window having auxiliary offset individual LED light sources; FIG. 15 is an environmental view of a warning signal light as engaged to a remote support device such as a tripod; FIG. 16 is a detailed isometric view of a xenon strobe tube and standard mounting base; FIG. 17 is a detailed isometric view of the replacement LED light source and standard mounting base; FIG. 18 is a detailed isometric view of an incandescent lamp light source and standard mounting base; FIG. 19 is a detailed isometric view of a replacement LED lamp and standard mounting base; FIG. 20 is a front view of a standard halogen light source mounted in a rotating reflector; FIG. 21 is a detailed rear view of a rotating reflector mechanism; FIG. 22 is a detailed front view of the LED light source mounted to a rotating reflector; FIG. 23 is a detailed front view of a replacement LED light source; FIG. 24 is a detailed side view of a replacement LED light source; FIG. 25 is a detailed isometric view of a replacement LED light source and cover; FIG. 26 is a detailed isometric view of a reflector or cullminator; FIG. 27 is a detailed isometric view of a cullminator cup; FIG. 28 is an alternative cross-sectional side view of a cullminator cup; FIG. 29 is an alternative cross-sectional side view of a cullminator cup; FIG. 30 is an alternative cross-sectional side view of a cullminator cup; FIG. 31 is an exploded isometric view of an alternative cullminator assembly and LED light source; FIG. 32 is an alternative partial cut away isometric view of an alternative cullminator assembly and LED light source; FIG. 33 is an environmental view of an emergency vehicle having strip LED light sources; FIG. 34 is an alternative detailed partial cut away view of a strip LED light source; FIG. 35 is an alternative detailed view of an LED light source having sectors; FIG. 36 is an alternative detailed view of a circuit board or LED mounting surface having heat sink wells; FIG. 37 is an alternative detailed isometric view of a reflector assembly; FIG. 38 is an alternative cross-sectional side view of the frame of a reflector assembly; FIG. 39 is an alternative cross-sectional side view of a frame of a reflector assembly; FIG. 40 is an alternative detailed side view of a reflector assembly; FIG. 41 is an alternative detailed isometric view of a reflector assembly; FIG. 42 is an alternative detailed side view of a reflector assembly; FIG. 43 is a graphical representation of a modulated or variable light intensity curve; FIG. 44 is an alternative detailed partial cross-sectional side view of a reflector assembly; FIG. 45 is a partial phantom line top view of the reflector assembly taken along the line of 45 - 45 of FIG. 44 ; FIG. 46 is an alternative graphical representation of a modulated or variable light intensity curve; FIG. 47 is an alternative isometric view of a reflector assembly; FIG. 48 is a detailed back view of an individual LED light source; FIG. 49 is a detailed front view of an individual LED light source; FIG. 50 is a detailed end view of one embodiment of a reflector assembly. detailed-description description="Detailed Description" end="lead"? | 20040913 | 20060725 | 20050217 | 97861.0 | 1 | TON, ANABEL | LED WARNING SIGNAL LIGHT AND ROW OF LED'S | UNDISCOUNTED | 1 | CONT-ACCEPTED | 2,004 |
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10,939,955 | ACCEPTED | Control of a personal transporter based on user position | A controller for providing user input of a desired direction of motion or orientation for a transporter. The controller has an input for receiving specification by a user of a value based on a detected body orientation of the user. User-specified input may be conveyed by the user using any of a large variety of input modalities, including: ultrasonic body position sensing; foot force sensing; handlebar lean; active handlebar; mechanical sensing of body position; and linear slide directional input. An apparatus that may include an active handlebar is provided for prompting a rider to be positioned on a vehicle in such a manner as to reduce lateral instability due to lateral acceleration of the vehicle. | 1. A controller for a transporter having at least one primary ground-contacting element, the transporter characterized by a roll angle, the controller comprising: a. an input for receiving specification by a user of at least one of a desired direction and velocity value based on a detected body orientation of the user; and b. a processor for generating a command signal based at least on the user-specified direction and velocity value in conjunction with a pitch command signal based on a pitch error in such a manner as to maintain balance of the transporter in the course of achieving the specified direction and velocity. 2. A controller in accordance with claim 1, wherein the input of a desired direction includes a user specified yaw value. 3. A controller in accordance with claim 1, wherein the input of a desired direction includes a user specified yaw rate value. 4. A controller in accordance with claim 1, where the input of a desired direction includes a user specified fore/aft direction. 5. A controller in accordance with claim 2, further comprising: a summer for differencing an instantaneous yaw value from the user-specified yaw value to generate a yaw error value such that the yaw command signal generated by the processor is based at least in part on the yaw error value. 6. A controller in accordance with claim 1, wherein the input for receiving user specification includes a pressure sensor disposed to detect orientation of the user. 7. A controller in accordance with claim 1, wherein the input for receiving user specification includes an ultrasonic sensor disposed to detect orientation of the user. 8. A controller in accordance with claim 1, wherein the input for receiving user specification includes a force sensor disposed on a platform supporting the user for detecting weight distribution of the user. 9. A controller in accordance with claim 1, wherein the input for receiving user specification includes a shaft disposed in a plane transverse to an axis characterizing rotation of the two laterally disposed wheels, the desired direction and velocity specified on the basis of orientation of the shaft. 10. A controller in accordance with claim 1, wherein the balancing transporter includes a handlebar, the controller further comprising a powered pivot for positioning the handlebar based at least upon one of lateral acceleration and roll angle of the transporter. 11. A controller in accordance with claim 1, further comprising a position loop for commanding a handlebar position substantially proportional to the difference in the square of the velocity of a first wheel and the square of the velocity of a second wheel. 12. An apparatus for prompting a rider to be positioned on a vehicle in such a manner as to reduce lateral instability due to lateral acceleration of the vehicle, the apparatus comprising: a. an input for receiving specification by the rider of a desired direction of travel; b. an indicating means for reflecting to the rider a desired instantaneous body orientation based at least on current lateral acceleration of the vehicle. 13. An apparatus in accordance with claim 12, wherein the indicating means comprises a handlebar pivotable with respect to the vehicle, the handlebar driven in response to vehicle turning. | The present application is a continuation-in-part application of copending application Ser. No. 10/308,850, filed Dec. 3, 2002 and issuing as U.S. Pat. No. 6,789,640 on Sep. 14, 2004, and claiming priority from U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/388,846, filed Jun. 14, 2002, as well as a continuation-in-part of copending application Ser. No. 10/044,590, filed Jan. 11, 2002, which is a divisional application of application Ser. No. 09/635,936, filed Aug. 10, 2000, which issued Apr. 9, 2002 as U.S. Pat. No. 6,367,817, which is a divisional application of application Ser. No. 09/325,978, filed Jun. 4, 1999, which issued Oct. 16, 2001 as U.S. Pat. No. 6,302,230, from all of which applications the present application claims priority. All of the foregoing applications are incorporated herein by reference. TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention pertains to control of personal transporters, and more particularly to devices and methods for providing user input with respect to either directional or velocity control of such transporters (having any number of ground-contacting elements) based on the position or orientation of a user. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Dynamically stabilized transporters refer to personal transporters having a control system that actively maintains the stability of the transporter while the transporter is operating. The control system maintains the stability of the transporter by continuously sensing the orientation of the transporter, determining the corrective action to maintain stability, and commanding the wheel motors to make the corrective action. For vehicles that maintain a stable footprint, coupling between steering-control, on the one hand, and control of the forward motion of the vehicles is not an issue of concern since, under typical road conditions, stability is maintained by virtue of the wheels being in contact with the ground throughout the course of a turn. In a balancing transporter, however, any torque applied to one or more wheels affects the stability of the transporter. Coupling between steering and balancing control mechanisms is one subject of U.S. Pat. No. 6,789,640, which is incorporated herein by reference. Directional inputs that advantageously provide intuitive and natural integration of human control with the steering requirements of a balancing vehicle are the subject of the present invention. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In accordance with preferred embodiments of the present invention, a controller is provided that may be employed for providing user input of a desired direction of motion or orientation for a transporter. The controller has an input for receiving specification by a user of a value based on a detected body orientation of the user. User-specified input may be conveyed by the user using any of a large variety of input modalities, including: ultrasonic body position sensing; foot force sensing; handlebar lean; active handlebar; mechanical sensing of body position; and linear slide directional input. In those embodiments of the invention wherein the transporter is capable of balanced operation on one or more ground-contacting elements, an input is provided for receiving specification from the user of a desired direction of motion, or a desired velocity value based on a detected body orientation of the user. A processor generates a command signal based at least on the user-specified direction and velocity value in conjunction with a pitch command signal that is based on a pitch error in such a manner as to maintain balance of the transporter in the course of achieving the specified direction and velocity. The input of a desired direction may also include a user-specified yaw value, yaw rate value, or fore/aft direction. In various other embodiments of the invention, the controller has a summer for differencing an instantaneous yaw value from the user-specified yaw value to generate a yaw error value such that the yaw command signal generated by the processor is based at least in part on the yaw error value. The input for receiving user specification may include a pressure sensor disposed to detect orientation of the user, an ultrasonic sensor disposed to detect orientation of the user, or a force sensor disposed on a platform supporting the user for detecting weight distribution of the user. In yet other embodiments, the input for receiving user specification includes a shaft disposed in a plane transverse to an axis characterizing rotation of the two laterally disposed wheels, the desired direction and velocity specified on the basis of orientation of the shaft. In accordance with further embodiments of the invention, the balancing transporter may includes a handlebar, and the controller may further have a powered pivot for positioning the handlebar based at least upon one of lateral acceleration and roll angle of the transporter. In particular, the controller may have a position loop for commanding a handlebar position substantially proportional to the difference in the square of the velocity of a first wheel and the square of the velocity of a second wheel. In accordance with yet other embodiments of the invention, an apparatus is provided for prompting a rider to be positioned on a vehicle in such a manner as to reduce lateral instability due to lateral acceleration of the vehicle. The apparatus has an input for receiving specification by the rider of a desired direction of travel and an indicating means for reflecting to the rider a desired instantaneous body orientation based at least on current lateral acceleration of the vehicle. The indicating means may include a handlebar pivotable with respect to the vehicle, the handlebar driven in response to vehicle turning. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The foregoing features of the invention will be more readily understood by reference to the following detailed description, taken with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: FIG. 1 shows a personal transporter, as described in detail in U.S. Pat. No. 6,302,230, to which the present invention may advantageously be applied; FIG. 2 shows a block diagram showing the constitutive inputs and outputs of a yaw command in a system architecture to which the present invention may be advantageously applied; FIG. 3A is an exploded view of components of a yaw control mechanism showing a yaw control grip coupled to a user interface of a personal transporter, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 3B shows a detailed exploded view of the yaw control grip of FIG. 3A; FIG. 3C shows the integral yaw control sensor of the yaw control mechanism of FIG. 3A; FIG. 4 shows a schematic block diagram of a yaw-feedback control system in accordance with embodiments of the present invention; FIG. 5A is a schematic top view of a rider in positions indicating full square positioning, a tilt to the left, and a counterclockwise rotation, respectively; FIG. 5B is a front view of a hip collar for detecting changes in rider orientation to control yaw in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 5C is a diagram of an ultrasound transmitter/receiver configuration in accordance with various embodiments of the present invention; FIG. 5D is a waveform timing display of ultrasound signals transmitted and received by components of embodiments of the present invention depicted in FIG. 4A; FIG. 6A is a top view of the platform of a personal transporter with the pressure plate removed, indicating the placement of feet-force pressure sensors in accordance with various embodiments of the present invention; FIG. 6B is a diagram of a pressure plate for application of force by a user in embodiments of the present invention depicted in FIG. 6A; FIG. 6C is a schematic depicting the development of a yaw command signal from the foot-force sensors of FIG. 6A, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 6D shows a deadband in the command as a function of yaw input; FIG. 6E shows a ramp function for switching yaw command in reverse as a function of wheel velocity; FIG. 7A shows a handlebar lean device for control input to a personal transporter in accordance with embodiments of the present invention; FIG. 7B shows a handlebar lean device with flexure coupling of the control stalk to the ground-contacting module for control input to a personal transporter in accordance with embodiments of the present invention; FIG. 7C shows a further handlebar lean device with separated handles for control input to a personal transporter in accordance with embodiments of the present invention; FIG. 7D shows a rotating handlebar device for control input to a personal transporter in accordance with embodiments of the present invention FIG. 7E shows a handlebar lean device for control input to a personal transporter in accordance with embodiments of the present invention; FIG. 7F shows a shock absorber and damping adjustment for use with the embodiment of the invention depicted in FIG. 7A; FIG. 7G is a block schematic of a mixer block for combining yaw input and roll information in accordance with embodiments of the present invention; FIG. 7H shows a handlebar bearing and detente allowing the rotational degree of freedom of the handlebar to be locked in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 8A shows the response of the active handlebar to a roll disturbance, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention; FIGS. 8B and 8C show front and back views of active handlebar response during a high-speed turn, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention; FIGS. 9A and 9B show the basic mechanical hardware layout of the powered handlebar embodiment of FIGS. 8A-8C; FIG. 10A shows a front view of a knee position sensor for providing steering input to a personal transporter in accordance with embodiments of the present invention; FIG. 10B shows a centering mechanism employed in conjunction with the knee position sensor of FIG. 10A; FIG. 10C shows hip position sensors for providing user yaw input in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 10D shows a torso position sensor for providing user yaw input in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention; and FIG. 11 depicts a linear slide footplate mechanism in accordance with yet another embodiment of the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF SPECIFIC EMBODIMENTS A personal transporter may be said to act as ‘balancing’ if it is capable of operation on one or more wheels but would be unable to stand on the wheels but for operation of a control loop governing operation of the wheels. A balancing personal transporter lacks static stability but is dynamically balanced. The wheels, or other ground-contacting elements, that provide contact between such a personal transporter and the ground or other underlying surface, and minimally support the transporter with respect to tipping during routine operation, are referred to herein as ‘primary ground-contacting elements.’ FIG. 1 shows a balancing personal transporter, designated generally by numeral 10, and described in detail in U.S. Pat. No. 6,302,230, as an example of a device to which the present invention may advantageously be applied. A subject 8 stands on a support platform 12 and holds a grip 14 on a handle 16 attached to the platform 12. A control loop may be provided so that leaning of the subject results in the application of torque to wheel 20 about axle 22 by means of a motor drive depicted schematically in FIG. 2, as discussed below, thereby causing an acceleration of the transporter. Transporter 10, however, is statically unstable, and, absent operation of the control loop to maintain dynamic stability, transporter 10 will no longer be able to operate in its typical operating orientation. “Stability” as used in this description and in any appended claims refers to the mechanical condition of an operating position with respect to which the system will naturally return if the system is perturbed away from the operating position in any respect. Different numbers of wheels or other ground-contacting members may advantageously be used in various embodiments of the invention as particularly suited to varying applications. Thus, within the scope of the present invention, the number of ground-contacting members may be any number equal to, or greater than, one. A personal transporter may be said to act as ‘balancing’ if it is capable of operation on one or more wheels (or other ground-contacting elements) but would be unable to stand stably on the wheels but for operation of a control loop governing operation of the wheels. The wheels, or other ground-contacting elements, that provide contact between such a personal transporter and the ground or other underlying surface, and minimally support the transporter with respect to tipping during routine operation, may be referred to herein as ‘primary ground-contacting elements.’ A transporter such as transporter 10 may advantageously be used as a mobile work platform or a recreational vehicle such as a golf cart, or as a delivery vehicle. The term “lean”, as used herein, refers to the angle with respect to the local vertical direction of a line that passes through the center of mass of the system and the center of rotation of a ground-contacting element supporting the system above the ground at a given moment. The term “system” refers to all mass caused to move due to motion of the ground-contacting elements with respect to the surface over which the vehicle is moving. “Stability” as used in this description and in any appended claims refers to the mechanical condition of an operating position with respect to which the system will naturally return if the system is perturbed away from the operating position in any respect. One mechanism for providing user input for a yaw control system of a personal transporter is described in detail in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/308,850. As described therein and as shown in FIGS. 3A-3C, a user mounted on the transporter may provide yaw control input to a yaw controller 502 (shown in FIG. 2) by rotating yaw grip assembly 800, shown in detail in FIG. 3B. FIG. 2 depicts the differencing, in summer 522, of the current yaw value ψ with respect to the desired yaw value ψdesired to obtain the current yaw error ψerr. Desired yaw value ψdesired is obtained from a user input, various embodiments of which are described herein. The current value ψ of yaw is derived from various state estimates, such as the differential wheel velocities, inertial sensing, etc. Derivation of the yaw command from the yaw error is provided by motor controller 72 according to various processing algorithms described, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 6,288,505, and applied to left and right motors 28 and 30, respectively. With particular reference to FIG. 3A, one embodiment of user interface 14 has twin hollow stalks 802, one on either side, either of which may serve interchangeably to support yaw grip assembly 800. Thus yaw may advantageously be controlled by a specified hand (right or left), either side of central control shaft 16. Yaw grip assembly 800 comprises a grip 804 which is rotated about an axis 806 coaxial with stalks 802. Spring damper 808 provides an opposing force to rotation of yaw grip 804 and returns yaw grip 804 to the central neutral position. Yaw grip 804 contains at least one magnet 810 (two are shown in FIG. 3B, in accordance with a preferred embodiment), the rotation of which about axis 806 allows the rotational orientation of grip 804 to be sensed by sensor unit 812 (shown in FIG. 3C) which is disposed within protruding stalk 802. Thus, user interface 14 may be sealed at its ends with fixed yaw grips 814 and the integral sealed nature of the user interface is not compromised by the yaw control input. Sensor unit 812 may contain Hall effect sensors which are preferably redundant to ensure fail-safe operation. Other magnetic sensors may also be employed within the scope of the present invention. FIG. 4 shows a block diagram for the yaw feedback control system, in accordance with one embodiment of the invention. The LateralAccelScale function 42 reduces the effect of the yaw input 40 at higher wheel speeds and at higher centripetal acceleration. Feedback 44, used to regulate the commanded yaw velocity, contains a yaw position term 45 to maintain yaw position, a velocity squared term 46 that will attempt to regulate the yaw velocity to zero, and a feedforward term 49 used to provide better yaw command response to the user. From FIG. 4, it is apparent that the feedforward term 49 must dominate for rapid maneuvers in order to provide a responsive system. The velocity-squared feedback 46 deviates from linear control theory and has the effect of providing nonlinear yaw velocity damping. Several alternatives to a twist grip input device for specifying user directional or velocity input are now described. Body Position Sensing In accordance with various embodiments of the present invention, a device which detects the body position of the rider is employed to control fore/aft motion or steering of a transporter. For purposes of yaw control, in accordance with various embodiments of the invention, sensors detect whether the hips or shoulders of a rider, shown schematically from above in FIG. 5A, are squarely aligned, or are translated in a lateral direction 51 or else rotated, such that one shoulder is thrust in a forward direction 52 while the opposing shoulder is thrust in a backward direction 53. These schemes can be used independently or to provide directional imput. Any method of sensing of body position to control vehicle yaw or fore/aft motion is within the scope of the present invention and of any appended claims. One embodiment of the invention, described with reference to FIG. 5B, entails mechanical contact with the rider 8. Pads 54 are mounted on yoke 55 and contain pressure transducers that transmit signals to the yaw controller based on changes in sensed position of the hips of the user. Other methods of sensing user position may rely upon optical or ultrasonic detection, an example of which is now described with reference to FIGS. 5C and 5 D. In one embodiment, an ultrasonic beacon is worn by the rider, and an array of receivers mounted to the machine detect the position of the rider. Time of flight information is obtained from transmitter to each receiver and used to calculate the lateral position of the user with respect to the center of the machine. To turn the machine to the right, the user leans to the right, and similarly for turning left. In addition to the intuitive appeal of a mechanism which translates body motion to transporter control, as in the case of fore-aft motion control of a personal transporter of the sort described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,302,230, the body-control modality also advantageously positions the user's center of gravity (CG) correctly for high speed turns. A body lean system described with reference to FIGS. 5A and 5B consists of three distinct mechanical components—the transmitter beacon, the receiver array, and the processing electronics. In one embodiment of the invention, an ultrasonic(US)/RF transmitter beacon is worn by the rider, and an array of ultrasonic receivers and an RF receiver is mounted below the handlebars of the transporter, along with interface electronics. Various ultrasonic transmitters/receivers may be employed, such as those supplied by Devantech Ltd. of Norfolk, England. The transmitter beacon is a small piece of Dehrin® acetal resin with three ultrasound transmitters, at a typical frequency of 40 kHz, mounted at 90 and ±45 degrees. This produces a cone of sound of about 160 degrees. The driver electronics are mounted on a printed circuit board buried behind the transmitters, and a small RF transmitter is mounted below. A belt clip from a wireless phone attaches the transmitter to the user, while power is supplied by batteries. The receiver array is a bar with receivers mounted at various locations. The ultrasound receivers are also mounted in small pieces of Delrin®, with the electronics located behind the bar at each location. To increase the size of the reception cone, 2 U.S. receivers are used at each location, one mounted facing straight out and the other at 45 degrees to that. For the outboard sensors, the 45-degree receiver faced inward and for the inboard receivers, the 45 degree receiver faced outwards. This makes it possible to use the two outboard receivers (left and right) for location when the rider is at the center of the machine, but as the rider moves right, the two right sensors take over, and the same when the rider moves to the left. An ultrasonic rangefinder, such as a Devantech Model SRF-04, may provide both the transmitter and receiver functions and circuitry, however modifications are within the scope of the present invention. The beacon portion consolidates three drivers onto a single board. In addition, the microcontroller code residing on the transmitter boards allows the board to transmit continuously. The board designed to interface to the computer was breadboarded with microcontrollers of the same type as the Devantech boards. The function of this board s to create a square wave that represents the time difference of arrival between the RF pulse and the ultrasonic pulse (wave goes high when the RF pulse arrives, and low when the US pulse arrives), and correctly interface this wave to the computer circuitry. Since RF travels at the speed of light, and sound at the speed of sound, this scheme results in an accurate ultrasonic time of flight (TOF) signal. With reference to FIG. 5D, the counter timer board residing in the computer chassis receives 4 waveforms representing the 4 TOF's from the transmitter to the 4 receivers, and using a 400 KHz clock, determines the duration of each pulse (in counts of the 400 khz clock). This info is then passed to the algorithms for distance calculation and additional processing. When a balancing transporter is traveling at any significant speed, the rider needs to lean into a commanded turn in order to counteract the centripetal accelerations due to the turn. This machine uses the body location sensors to turn the machine. When the rider is centered on the machine, no turn input is generated. When the rider leans to the left, a left turn is commanded, and the same for the right. Thus the turn is not initiated until the users CG is properly located. In addition, by knowing the users exact CG location (as by positioning the transmitter at the waist of the rider), the system is able to exactly match the wheel speed/tum rate to the angle the user is at, theoretically exactly canceling out the forces acting on the body. Thus the amount of turn is tuned for the CG location of the rider and wheel speed. In accordance with the invention, time-of flight (TOF) information from an ultrasonic transmitter is transmitted to at least 2 ultrasonic receivers. Time of flight was calculated from the difference of a RF received pulse edge to a U.S. received pulse edge. Since the speed of sound is substantially a constant (within the operation of the machine), distance can be calculated from its time of flight from transmitter to receiver. The law of cosines along with the known distances of the receivers from center and from each other is then used to calculate the location of the transmitter in the lateral direction. Because of the redundant receivers, the lateral location is unique, and immune to changes in height and fore/aft distance from the bar (unless this change resulted in a loss of line-of sight (LOS). Feet Force In accordance with another embodiment of the invention, yaw control input is provided to a transporter by sensing the rider's weight distribution by using force sensors on the foot plate. In order to steer, the rider leans in the direction of desired turn. Lean, right: turn right; lean left: turn left. Many variations can be derived from a base system containing many force sensors located at the foot plate. A PCB board provides all signal conditioning for the force sensors. The sensor signals are output from the PCB board as zero to five volt analog signals. Spare A/D inputs on the amplifiers are used to read in the 8 analog signals and provide an 8 -bit count to the software for each sensor. The primary variation implemented and tested uses sensors on the left and sensors on the right sides of the foot plate. When the person leans to the right, the right sensor signals become large, indicating a turn to the right. When the person leans to the left, the left sensor signals become large, indicating a turn to the left. A special foot plate was constructed to allow force distribution to be measured at four corners of a rigid plate. The resulting system is advantageously very maneuverable at low speeds and a rider may became more proficient at this yaw input than the twist grip yaw input. There is a tradeoff between the bandwidth of the device that enables the system handle disturbances better, and the perceived responsiveness of the system. As a natural movement, when turning on a personal transporter, a user tends to shift weight in the direction of the turn. The reason for this is the centripetal force generated by turning tends to push the person off the transporter. The same user movement is required when riding a 3-wheel or a 4-wheel all-terrain-vehicle (ATV). As a result, a natural input to turn that encourages good user position is to turn right when the user shifts their weight to the right. In this configuration, the user is in the ideal position to make a right turn. Skiers and skaters tend to push off with their right foot to turn left. The reason for this is they shift their weight distribution from the right to the left by using their feet. On a personal transporter in accordance with the present invention, users needs to shift their weight from right to left not using their feet, but using the handlebars for this input device. If the sign were reversed to accommodate the skiers and skaters' preference to lean right and turn left, an unstable system would result. As the user leans right, the transporter turns left, generating a centripetal force that pushes the user more to right, generating more left turn command. Referring to FIG. 6A, the force sensing element is located at the end of the flexible ribbon in a circle about the size of a dime. With no force on the sensor, the resistance is around 800 Mohms. With 100 lbs on the sensor, the output is around 200 Mohms. To condition the signal, op-amps were used to create an active amplifier and an active anti-aliasing filter. The goal of the amplifier is to generate an output that is proportional to the change in resistance. The goal of the filter is to prevent measurements above 50 Hz from being measured. An inverting amplifier is used since it provides an output proportional to the change in resistance. An inverting lowpass filter is used as an anti-aliasing filter and to change to the voltage back to 0 to 5 volts. A ±12 Volt supply is used to power the op-amps to remain within the linear safe regions of the op-amps. The sensors are located under a metal foot-plate, one in each corner, as shown in FIG. 6A. A metal plate on top allows the standard rider-detect buttons to be pressed while providing a hard surface to press against each of the 4 sensors. The metal plate is shown in FIG. 6B. The overall yaw command from the sensor measurements to the yaw command delivered to the control system is shown in FIG. 6C. Since a user often shifts his weight slightly while standing in place, a deadband is added to the sensor processing. As shown in FIG. 6D, deadband 48 provides a region around zero yaw input where slight yaw inputs result in no yaw command. To calculate the yaw command from the sensors, the following equation is used: ψ . cmd = ( right front + right rear ) 2 - ( left front + left rear ) 2 , where {dot over (ψ)}cmd is the commanded rate of change in yaw. Each sensor provides 0 Volts, or 0 counts with no weight on it, and 5 Volts, or 255 counts fully loaded. A deadband of around 40 counts provided smooth enough control with enough room to feel comfortable. Additionally, filters may be employed to filter the command signal, with passbands typically centered from about 0.5 Hz to about 3 Hz. When moving in reverse, if the same equations are used to generate the yaw command, the resulting system has positive feedback. When the transporter performs an “S-turn”, in reverse, if the user leans to the right, the transporter will turn to the left and create a centripetal force on the user, pushing the user to the right. To solve this issue, a “C-turn” may be implemented. A ramp function is used to reverse the yaw command when the transporter begins moving in reverse. To keep a consistent turning motion, when turning in place, the ramp only switches the direction of the yaw command when it moves in reverse. FIG. 6E shows the ramp function for switching yaw command in reverse as a function of wheel velocity. The rampRev function is used to modify the yaw velocity command as follows: {dot over (ψ)}cmd={dot over (ψ)}cmd+2·rampRevLPF·{dot over (ψ)}cmd The rampRev signal is lowpass filtered at 5.0 Hz to smooth the effects of the ramp. A brake switch, such as brake switch 7 (shown in FIG. 3A) may be connected to turn the yaw command off when it is pressed. When the button is pressed, a yaw command multiplier of 0 is applied, whereas, if it is released, the yaw command multiplier is 1. A 0.5 Hz Low Pass Filter is used to smooth the transitions between on and off. Handlebar Lean One of the key properties of a good directional input device is its ability to provide directional input while managing lateral acceleration. High lateral acceleration turns require the user to lean into the turn to keep from falling off or tipping over the transporter. An optimal directional input device will require the user to have their body properly positioned when commanding a directional input. A twist grip yaw input, such as discussed above with reference to FIG. 3, encourages proper body positioning through the orientation of its rotation axis and the design of the knob and handle combination. It is possible, however, to make an uncoordinated input depending on the driver's technique Another method of encouraging proper body positioning is to make one or more handlebars into a joystick. By pivoting the bar near the base of the machine, the user can move his or her body at high speeds and merely hold onto the handlebar and command an input. When properly tuned, the user's body is already in position to react against the lateral acceleration at the initiation of the turn, reducing the likelihood of an improperly coordinated turn. In the handlebar lean machine, the yaw input is proportional to the handlebar angle with respect to the chassis. Preferably, the pivot axis is mounted as low as practical on the transporter ground-contacting module in order to allow the bar motion to follow the users body motion naturally, since a person leans most stably by pivoting at the ankles. In other words, a low pivot handlebar tracks the body kinematics. In this embodiment, the yaw input is converted into a yaw command using standard personal transporter algorithms, which apply a fixed gain to yaw input at low speeds, but scale the gain at higher speed to make the yaw input correspond to lateral acceleration instead of yaw rate. This works well with the handlebar lean device, since the desired lean angle is roughly proportional to lateral acceleration. The result is a very natural input method, where the user “thinks” right or left via leaning, and the machine follows. {dot over (ψ)}cmd=K(ΦHB−ΦRoll) where K is a constant; ΦHB is the handlebar angle with respect to the platform; ΦRoll is the platform lean with respect to gravity {dot over (ψ)}cmd is the yaw command. Other embodiments of the invention may have an inclined or horizontally mounted pivot handlebar. In machines with inclined pivots, the angle of the pivot with respect to the contact patch and surface provided interesting turning dynamics. Specifically, the axis of rotation may affect the dynamics of turning on a slope or on a flat surface. Preferably, the machine has a low horizontal pivot. A horizontal pivot can easily track the kinematics of the body during a turn. In accordance with yet other embodiment of the invention, with the direction of travel as the reference point, the pivoted handlebar may be either mounted in the front or the rear of the transporter. The configuration of a rear mounted pivot handlebar enables a user to steer the transporter with other parts of the body such as the knees, in addition to using a limb coupled to the handlebar. Furthermore, the transporter may include a feature that disables the lean steer when a user is mounting or dismounting. The feature may be activated when the transporter determines that a user is partially on/off the platform such that the transporter may not turn into or away from the user while mounting or dismounting. Of the various mechanisms suited to provide for handlebar lean, a first is described with reference to FIG. 7A. Motion of handlebar 700 is constrained to a plane that is substantially transverse to the direction of forward motion of personal transporter 10 by means of parallel link bars 702 that are pivotally coupled both to platform 12 and to handlebar 700. Motion of the handlebar may also be biased to a central position and/or damped by means of springs 704 or shock absorbers. In an alternate embodiment shown in FIG. 7B, handlebar 700 may be coupled to platform 12 of the transporter 10 by flexure elements 708, again constraining motion of the handlebar substantially to a plane transverse to the direction of forward motion and allowing tilting of the handlebar in an arc centered upon a virtual pivot at, or near, the plane of platform 12. In either of the embodiments of FIGS. 7A and 7B, one or more sensors 710 detect the position of handlebar 700 or of members 702 coupling the handlebar to the rest of the transporter, either with respect to the vertical or with respect to a direction fixed with respect to the ground-contacting module. Sensor 710 may be a load cell, for example, disposed along control shaft 16. Furthermore, the springs or shock absorbers coupled to the handlebar may be used to limit the turning rate of the transporter if desired. Preferably, the motion of the handlebar is not biased to a central position. In embodiments where the handlebar is not biased to a central position, there is no preloading around the center and thus a user can precisely and accurately steer the transporter. In accordance with an embodiment depicted in FIG. 7C, two separate handlebar segments 720 and 722 may be moved separately, by leaning of the user 8, relative to platform 12 of the transporter. In the embodiment shown, the position of each handlebar segment is biased to a specified ‘neutral’ height within respective sleeves 724 and 726 by means of springs, or otherwise. A relative height offset is transmitted to the yaw controller to control turning, as described in connection with other user input modalities. Yet a further embodiment of the invention is depicted in FIG. 7D, where rotation in clockwise and counterclockwise directions 730 and 732 of handlebar 700 relative to support stalk 16 is sensed to generate a signal that transmits a user input to yaw controller 502 (shown in FIG. 2). A shock absorber 734 is preferably built in to the pivotal coupling of handlebar 700 about shaft 16. A handlebar lean device in accordance with a further embodiment of the invention features a pivot mechanism shown in FIG. 7E. Pivot 70 is adjustable in both spring constant and preload, and has a fixed range of motion of ±15°. Preferably, the pivot has an unlimited range of motion. The pivot is mounted as low as possible on the ground-contacting module chassis 26, and the handle 16 is mounted to the rotating portion of the mechanism. A pair of shock absorbers 74 may provide additional damping and stiffness. Shock absorbers 74 are mounted slightly off horizontal to maximize their perpendicularity to the control shaft 16 throughout the range of motion. The shocks are adjustable in both spring constant and damping. The spring constant is adjustable by pressurizing the shock air reservoir. The damping adjustment is made with a knob that varies an orifice size internal to the shock. Shock absorbers 74 are shown in FIG. 7F. Internal to the pivot mechanism is a cam and spring loaded follower. The cam compresses the follower springs, which generates the restoring spring force. To change the spring constant, a different cam is substituted in the pivot and some cases the number of Belleville springs is changed. The preload is adjusted externally using a screw, which moves a wedge to position the Belleville spring stack. Various degrees of stiffness may be provided by interchangeable cams. With the stiffest cam installed and the shock absorbers at ambient pressure, a preload of approximately 8 lbs. results, as measured at the handlebar. Approximately 40 pounds of force are required to deflect the handlebar to its full 15° travel. One issue that must be addressed in handlebar lean control is the effect of terrain sensitivity. If the machine is driven over obstacles or rough terrain, a roll disturbance is forced on the machine/rider system since the resulting change in position of the user may cause an unintended yaw input is put into the system. Yaw control modalities that depend upon the overall body lean of a standing person are prone to be more sensitive to terrain than, say, yaw control by means of a twist grip. To combat this roll sensitivity, a roll compensation algorithm may be employed. In such an algorithm, the yaw input is modified to compensate for the roll angle of the chassis, making the yaw input the angle of the handlebar with respect to gravity. Since it is easier for the user to maintain body position with respect to gravity rather than the platform, this facilitates rejection of roll disturbances. In accordance with certain embodiments of the invention, a method for reducing terrain sensitivity employs an algorithm for filtering yaw inputs based on the roll rate of the chassis. The instantaneous rate of rolling, referred to as Roll Rate, is readily available from the Pitch State Estimator, such as that described, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 6,332,103, which derives the orientation of the transporter based on one or more gyroscopes, an inclinometer, or combinations of the above. Large roll transients cause the rider to be accelerated and, if the roll transients were to be rigidly coupled, through the rider, to the yaw control mechanism, they would cause unintended yaw input. There are two distinct parts of the solution: rejecting terrain while riding straight and rejecting terrain while turning; the first is a special case of the second. While disabling yaw during periods of large roll rates would solve the problem for motion in a fixed direction, more input is required in order to decouple roll from steered motion. An unknown input is an estimate of the “intended” yaw input from the rider, i.e. the intention, say, to ride around in a 20′ circle. While this information is not directly available, it can be usefully inferred from the history of the yaw input. Simply low-pass filtering the data provides an estimate of yaw input. However, this causes a response delay that is noticeable to the rider. On the other hand, if low-pass filtered data are used only when high roll rates are present, the rider is less likely to notice the delay. The algorithm, then, in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the invention, employs a mixer, controlled by roll rate, between direct yaw input and a heavily filtered version. A transfer function models the amount of roll rate that will couple into the yaw signal. It is a function of various factors, including the design of the yaw input, the rider's ability, and how the rider is holding on to the yaw input. By using this mixing method, the transfer function can largely be ignored or at most minimized through tuning. The four main tuning points are: How fast the mixer slews to the filtered version, how fast the mixer slews back, what threshold the mix starts and ends, and the corner frequency of the low pass filter (LPF) on yaw input. There are limits to the amount of uncommanded yaw that can be removed due to setting the mix threshold. By setting it high there is more un-commanded yaw, by setting it low there are more false trips and the rider will begin to notice the time lag on the yaw signal. Setting the LPF frequency also has tradeoffs. If yaw is too heavily filtered, then there will be a noticeable delay and a possibility of yaw transients coupling in from the past. Setting it too low reduces the ability of the mixer to remove the transients. Referring now to FIG. 7G, the mixer block is defined as: yaw command=F*Yaw Input+(1−F)*Yaw Filtered, where F is the mixer function which is a continuously varying signal between 0.0 and 1.0. In accordance with various further embodiments of the invention, unintended yaw control is reduced while reacting against the shaft to reposition the body of the rider. The center of rotation at the handlebar may be repositioned, allowing the user to pull laterally on the bar without causing any displacement. In another embodiment, shown in FIG. 7H, shaft 16 is free to move in two coupled degrees of freedom. The user is able lock the bar by limiting one DOF by engaging gears 78 when they are needed to react against the bar. A yaw command may be comprised of an admixture, linear or otherwise, of inputs derived from torque of shaft 16 about its axis and from motion of shaft 16 with respect to the vertical direction. Alternatively, a force or torque input may be used. A lateral force load cell allows the user to torque the bar in order to reposition it. Likewise, a torque sensitive bar may be provided to allow the user to pull laterally on the bar. Another issue that must be addressed in handlebar lean control is the effect of turning while moving backwards or in reverse. As described supra, the system may deal with lean turning while moving backward, by switching the direction of the yaw command, to perform a “S-turn” or a “C-turn”. Preferably, the system performs a “S-Turn”. The system may further compensate for the dynamics of turning while moving backward by desensitizing the lean steering movement. Desensitizing the lean steering while reversing can advantageously facilitate using the same equations to generate the yaw command, the resulting system has positive feedback. Any of these foregoing embodiments may be combined, within the scope of the present invention, with a rotary yaw control input device such as that depicted in FIGS. 3A-3C. In this arrangement the rotary control is used for low speed yaw, and the lean device would be used to command lateral acceleration at higher speeds. Active Handlebar In accordance with further embodiments of the invention, an active handlebar system provides for active control of the handlebar angle with respect to the chassis. The handlebar is mounted on a powered pivot. The handlebar is positioned with respect to the chassis based on lateral acceleration and roll angle of the chassis. If the user maintains good coupling with the handlebar, the bar provides assistance in positioning their body to improve lateral stability. A skilled user leans automatically with the bar, exerting almost no lateral force. If an unexpected obstacle or turn is made, however, the active bar can provide assistance to even the most experienced operator. This system is also particularly useful on slopes, both while traversing and during turning maneuvers. In order to keep the user most stable, the bar should be positioned parallel the resultant vector of lateral acceleration and gravity. In the system described here, lateral acceleration was determined only using the wheel velocities, without taking advantage of any other available state estimator information. Lateral acceleration is given by the equation: αlat=ωv Where ω is the yaw rate and v is the velocity of the transporter. ω is based on the difference in wheel velocities (V1 and Vr) and the wheel track, T. ω = V l - V r T v is determined by the average wheel velocity: v = V l + V r 2 Combing these equations gives: a lat = ( V l - V r ) T · ( V l + V r ) 2 = V l 2 - V r 2 2 T Since tan (αlat)≈αlat for small angles, the bar position from vertical is proportional to the difference in the square of each wheel speed. This position must be compensated by adding the roil angle of the chassis, which results in a handlebar position based on the vector sum of lateral acceleration and the acceleration due to gravity. The operation of the active handlebar is further described as follows. The user commands yaw, such as with the rotary yaw input shown in FIGS. 3A-3C. The user may allow the active bar to assist in the user's positioning by rigidly coupling to the handlebar with his arms, or he can maintain a softer coupling and use the active bar to provide him with feedback. In another embodiment, the user preferably commands yaw with the lean of the handlebar as shown in FIGS. 8A-8C. FIGS. 8A-8C show the handlebar response to roll and turning events. Note, in FIG. 8C, the alignment of the handlebar with the user's legs. FIGS. 9A and 9B show the basic mechanical hardware layout of a powered pivot. The powered pivot is made up of a harmonic drive reduction unit 92 powered by an electric motor 90. The output of the drive is coupled to the control shaft via an adapter 94. The powered pivot creates a torque between the chassis 12 and the control shaft 16 (shown in FIG. 8A), which can be regulated to provide the position control required by the active handlebar system. A harmonic drive is a very compact high reduction ratio gear set that is efficient and backdriveable. It works by using an elliptical bearing, called the “wave generator”, to “walk” a slightly smaller flexible gear 96, called the “flex spline” around the inside of a larger rigid gear, called the “circular spline”. Suitable harmonic drives are available from HD Systems, Inc. of Hauppauge, N.Y. and are described in the appended pages. The active handlebar system uses standard algorithms to control the wheels. The handlebar is controlled with a position loop that commands a position proportional to the difference in the square of the wheel velocities. Although a theoretical gain can be calculated and converted to the proper fixed point units, in practice it was determined empirically. The position loop is a standard PID loop using motor encoder data for feedback. The tuning objectives are good ramp tracking, minimum settling time, and minimum overshoot. The loop was tuned using a modified triangle wave. The handlebar controller used the position at startup as the zero (center) position. The user had to position the bar and hold it centered at startup. Absolute position feedback may be provided to allow the bar to self-center. Some filtering and dead banding are done to the command before commanding the motor. In a specific embodiment, the filtering was ultimately needed to smooth out any noise on the wheel speeds and dead banding was used to keep the bar still when turning in place on slightly inclined terrains. A 1 Hz first order filtered estimate of lateral acceleration is multiplied by a first gain (typically, on the order of 0.001) and roll compensated by adding roll angle multiplied by a second gain (typically, on the order of 0.15). Afterwards a software induced dead band, and later compensation, of 15% of the max motor position command (typically, 400 counts.) The final result is filtered by a 0.2 Hz filter. This filter may be used to round out the knee introduced at the dead band and to slow down the movement of the handlebar. Further Mechanical Sensing of Body Position In accordance with other embodiments of the invention, the position of the rider's body, or of one or more parts thereof, may be sensed mechanically as a means to command yaw or fore/aft motion of a personal transporter. One such embodiment has been described with reference to FIG. 5B. In accordance with another such embodiment, described with reference to FIG. 10A, body sensing is accomplished by a device 910 that tracks the motion of the right knee through a pivot 912 in line with the ankle. Pivot 912 is instrumented with a potentiometer 914, with potentiometer gains adjusted appropriately to the range of motion of the knee. A controller distinguishes between rider motion intended as account for input anomalies caused by terrain. The rider commands a yaw input by shifting his body in the direction he would like to turn, as an experienced rider of a personal transporter would do, shifting his center of gravity towards the inside of the turn to prevent the centripetal acceleration of the powerbase from pulling his feet from under him. The yaw input device tracks body position by recording the motion of the right knee as it rotates about a longitudinal axis through the right ankle. The rider interacts with the device through a cuff 910 which fits closely around the upper shin just below the knee. The cuff is height-adjustable and padded to allow a snug fit without discomfort. The cuff is attached via an arm to a pivot ahead of the foot, located such that its axis runs longitudinally in relation to the chassis, and in line with the ankle. (Anthropometric data from Dreyfuss Associates' The Measure of Man and Woman suggested the ankle pivot should be approximately 4″ from the baseplate for an average rider wearing shoes). A potentiometer records the angle of the arm in a manner very similar to the twist-grip yaw input device described above with reference to FIGS. 3A-3C. A mechanical body position yaw input device incorporates a centering mechanism that is described with reference to FIG. 10B. A centering mechanism 920 returns the device to neutral (no yaw input) position when the rider is not in contact with the mechanism, and provides tactile feedback to the user as to the location of the neutral position. Preload (adjustable by adding or subtracting washers) was set such that the rider needed to exert a force of 1 kg to move the device from center. At maximum travel (25° in either direction) the rider experiences a force of approximately 2 kg. In addition to the pivot axis on which the potentiometer is located, there is another non-encoded axis at ankle height, perpendicular to the first, which allows the cuff to move with the knee as the rider bends knees and ankles during active riding. A torsion spring acts about this non-encoded axis to keep the cuff pressed firmly against the rider. The spring is not preloaded and generates approximately 20 kg/mm per degree, such that the rider experiences a force of 1.5 kg at his knee in a typical riding posture (25° forward of unloaded position) and 3 kg at full forward travel (50°). At full forward position there is a stop which allows the rider to command pitch torque to the chassis through forward knee pressure. Due to variations in the underlying terrain, there are situations in which the rider's body position does not necessarily correlate to intended yaw input. One situation is traversing a sideslope, during which time the rider will need to lean uphill to stay balanced. Another situation is striking an obstacle with one wheel, which may cause the machine to roll sharply while the rider stays upright. During both of these situations the potentiometer will record that the body position has moved relative to the machine, which is normally interpreted as a yaw command. While terrain-induced body position presents a challenge to a system which translates body position into yaw, steps can be taken to mitigate these situations. A system discussed below addresses the terrain-induced yaw inputs described above with separate algorithms for side slopes and sudden wheel impacts. On machines with yaw inputs derived from body position it is necessary to compensate for the difference in roll angle to the bodies' natural tendency to line up with gravity. The only exception to this is the case where there is a sufficient restoring force on the yaw input to overcome the rider's natural tendency to keep the yaw input in-line with their body. In order to roll compensate the yaw input a calculation needs to be made. This calculation entails measuring the amount of roll angle that couples into the yaw input. The following function is used to calculate a roll compensated yaw input: roll compensated yaw input=yaw input−(Gain_RollContributionToYawInput*roll) For example: Gain_RollContributionToYawInput=(1.44/1.0), where 1 count of roll gives 1.44 counts of yaw. In accordance with another embodiment of the invention, the rider may hit a button which resets their current knee position as neutral. Although there is no measurable backlash in the centering device, the mechanism can flex before overcoming the centering device preload. This translates to about 1° of knee motion in either direction which does not command a yaw. This can be reduced by increasing the stiffness of the structure relative to the preload. A loose fit between the knee cuff and the knee adds an additional 1-2° of motion that does not produce a signal. Additionally, the potentiometer may exhibit hysteresis, which may be compensated by addition of a software dead band. Dead band has the advantage of allowing the rider a small amount of motion, which reduces fatigue. However, precision and slalom performance is compromised by dead band. User-adjustable or speed-sensitive deadband may also be embodied. Asymmetrical gains may be useful to compensate for the asymmetry inherent in measuring the motion of one of two legs. Since body position determines yaw input, appropriate mapping of rider position to lateral acceleration at speed is more significant in this device than in a hand-steered device. In accordance with another embodiment of the invention, described with reference to FIG. 10C, two steel “whiskers” 930 (approximately 50 cm long and 35 cm apart), are provided at approximately hip height. Leaning left or right pushes on the whiskers and twist the potentiometer (gains are doubled in software). The length of the whiskers is preferred so that the rider, in the course of leaning backwards and forwards, does not exit the device and lose yaw input capability. Another embodiment of the invention, discussed with reference to FIG. 10D, employs two body torso position sensors 940 with handgrips 942 bolted to either side of the chassis. Smooth planks 944 (approximately 60 cm long and adjustably spaced), are attached to a leaning shaft on either side of the rider's ribcage to sense body position above the waist so as to account for body lean accomplished by bending at the waist. A longitudinal axis of rotation advantageously eliminates lean-sensitive gains that might be present in other designs. Linear Slide Directional Input The “linear slide” directional input device is a shear force sensitive means of steering a personal transporter. The device has a platform that can slide in the lateral direction of the machine, directly in line with lateral accelerations seen during turning. During a turn the user feels a lateral acceleration in the vehicle frame of reference. The lateral acceleration causes a shear force between the user and the vehicle, which is reacted through the footplate and the handlebar. Because the user has two points to react this force, one can be used as a directional input driven through the other. In this implementation the user reacts on the handlebar. The linear slide mechanism measures this reaction through displacement of the platform, and uses it as a directional command. This input method is directly coupled to lateral acceleration, with the user modulating the coupling by reacting off the handlebar. At zero lateral acceleration, the user can create a directional input by pushing laterally on the handlebar. At non-zero acceleration, the user's handlebar force adds to the lateral acceleration force to create the input. The linear slide mechanism was designed to sit on top of the chassis of a personal transporter, replacing the foot mat assembly. It is marginally smaller that the existing foot plate area to allow for plate displacement. The platform wraps around the control shaft base. The maximum platform travel is approx ±1 inch. The footplate mechanism 950 is shown in FIG. 11. The assembly is clamped to the platform of a human transporter with four blocks that capture the base plate of the slide. The blocks allow the assembly to move vertically in order to activate the rider detect switches. Because the weight of the assembly alone is sufficient to activate the switches, it is counterbalanced with two ball plungers. These insure that the rider detect switches only activate when a rider is on the transporter. The upper platform rides on 1/2 inch linear ball bearings which, in turn, ride on a ground rod mounted to the lower platform. A spring and stop arrangement provides preloaded centering force. A linear potentiometer converts the platform position to an analog voltage, which is input to the user interface circuit board in place of the potentiometer employed in conjunction with the twist grip embodiment described above with reference to FIG. 3. Algorithms for operation of the linear slide yaw input are essentially those of the twist grip yaw input, as described in detail in U.S. Pat. No. 6,789,640, albeit with an opposite yaw gain polarity. Several embodiments of the invention are related to the device just described. In accordance with one embodiment, individual pivoting footplates are shear sensitive and pivot at a point above the surface of the plate, preferably 4 to 6 inches above the surface. This allows some lateral acceleration coupling, but give the user the ability to stabilize the coupling through leg or ankle rotation. Alternatively, the linear slide may be moved to the handlebar. This allows a user to use his legs for reacting to lateral accelerations without commanding input. However, since most of the lateral acceleration is reacted in the legs, coupling with lateral acceleration is largely lost by moving the linear slide to the handlebar. The described embodiments of the invention are intended to be merely exemplary and numerous variations and modifications will be apparent to those skilled in the art. In particular, many of the controllers and methods of direction and speed control described herein may be applied advantageously to personal transporters that are not balancing personal transporters. Balancing transporters present particular requirements for combining yaw and balance controls, as discussed in the foregoing description and in U.S. Pat. No. 6,789,640.All such variations and modifications are intended to be within the scope of the present invention as defined in any appended claims. | <SOH> BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION <EOH>Dynamically stabilized transporters refer to personal transporters having a control system that actively maintains the stability of the transporter while the transporter is operating. The control system maintains the stability of the transporter by continuously sensing the orientation of the transporter, determining the corrective action to maintain stability, and commanding the wheel motors to make the corrective action. For vehicles that maintain a stable footprint, coupling between steering-control, on the one hand, and control of the forward motion of the vehicles is not an issue of concern since, under typical road conditions, stability is maintained by virtue of the wheels being in contact with the ground throughout the course of a turn. In a balancing transporter, however, any torque applied to one or more wheels affects the stability of the transporter. Coupling between steering and balancing control mechanisms is one subject of U.S. Pat. No. 6,789,640, which is incorporated herein by reference. Directional inputs that advantageously provide intuitive and natural integration of human control with the steering requirements of a balancing vehicle are the subject of the present invention. | <SOH> SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION <EOH>In accordance with preferred embodiments of the present invention, a controller is provided that may be employed for providing user input of a desired direction of motion or orientation for a transporter. The controller has an input for receiving specification by a user of a value based on a detected body orientation of the user. User-specified input may be conveyed by the user using any of a large variety of input modalities, including: ultrasonic body position sensing; foot force sensing; handlebar lean; active handlebar; mechanical sensing of body position; and linear slide directional input. In those embodiments of the invention wherein the transporter is capable of balanced operation on one or more ground-contacting elements, an input is provided for receiving specification from the user of a desired direction of motion, or a desired velocity value based on a detected body orientation of the user. A processor generates a command signal based at least on the user-specified direction and velocity value in conjunction with a pitch command signal that is based on a pitch error in such a manner as to maintain balance of the transporter in the course of achieving the specified direction and velocity. The input of a desired direction may also include a user-specified yaw value, yaw rate value, or fore/aft direction. In various other embodiments of the invention, the controller has a summer for differencing an instantaneous yaw value from the user-specified yaw value to generate a yaw error value such that the yaw command signal generated by the processor is based at least in part on the yaw error value. The input for receiving user specification may include a pressure sensor disposed to detect orientation of the user, an ultrasonic sensor disposed to detect orientation of the user, or a force sensor disposed on a platform supporting the user for detecting weight distribution of the user. In yet other embodiments, the input for receiving user specification includes a shaft disposed in a plane transverse to an axis characterizing rotation of the two laterally disposed wheels, the desired direction and velocity specified on the basis of orientation of the shaft. In accordance with further embodiments of the invention, the balancing transporter may includes a handlebar, and the controller may further have a powered pivot for positioning the handlebar based at least upon one of lateral acceleration and roll angle of the transporter. In particular, the controller may have a position loop for commanding a handlebar position substantially proportional to the difference in the square of the velocity of a first wheel and the square of the velocity of a second wheel. In accordance with yet other embodiments of the invention, an apparatus is provided for prompting a rider to be positioned on a vehicle in such a manner as to reduce lateral instability due to lateral acceleration of the vehicle. The apparatus has an input for receiving specification by the rider of a desired direction of travel and an indicating means for reflecting to the rider a desired instantaneous body orientation based at least on current lateral acceleration of the vehicle. The indicating means may include a handlebar pivotable with respect to the vehicle, the handlebar driven in response to vehicle turning. | 20040913 | 20071002 | 20050609 | 78789.0 | 10 | YEAGLEY, DANIEL S | CONTROL OF A PERSONAL TRANSPORTER BASED ON USER POSITION | UNDISCOUNTED | 1 | CONT-ACCEPTED | 2,004 |
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10,939,962 | ACCEPTED | Low profile flip up site | A low profile, self-aligning, flip-up mechanism for aiming devices used with firearms. The mechanism folds the aiming device into the contour of the firearm during non-use. The mechanism is spring-loaded and flips into a vertical operational position with a simple movement of a finger or thumb. The mechanism includes at least two separate aiming elements that are mounted in a fashion that allows them to rotate relative to one another thereby facilitating a smaller storage profile. The mechanism also causes the aiming device to self-align itself as it moves into an operational position assuring vertical position repeatability. | 1. A flip-up aiming sight for use with a firearm, comprising: a base member having a bottom surface and a top surface, said bottom surface configured to mounted on an upper receiver of said firearm, said top surface having a mounting element extending upwardly therefrom, a sight housing having an upper section and a lower section, said upper section including two side walls extending upwardly therefrom, said side walls forming an aperture therebetween for containing an aiming means, said lower section configured to be rotationally mounted to said mounting element on said base, wherein said sight housing can be placed in a first, inactive position adjacent the general contour of the firearm and a second, active position protruding substantially vertically from said firearm; and an aiming device including at least two aiming elements rotatably mounted within said aperture in said upper section of said sight housing, wherein said aiming elements are rotated to a position parallel to one another and both of said aiming elements reside entirely within said aperture in said upper section and are substantially entirely parallel to said base when said sight housing is in said inactive position. 2. The flip-up aiming sight of claim 1, said aiming elements further comprising: at least two aiming elements mounted within said aperture in said upper section of said sight housing, said two aiming elements being movable relative to one another allowing a user to select one of said aiming elements for use when said sight housing is in said active position, wherein said at least two aiming elements can be positioned substantially parallel to one another and parallel to said base when said sight housing is in said inactive position. 3. The flip-up aiming sight of claim 2, further comprising an adjustment screw extending through said aperture in said upper section of said sight housing and a lower end of said at least two aiming elements, said adjustment screw operable to move said aiming elements laterally within said aperture in said upper section of said sight housing 4. The flip-up aiming sight of claim 1, wherein said base member is a supplemental rail configured to be mounted onto said upper receiver of said firearm, said mounting element being located on an upper rear surface thereof. 5. The flip-up aiming sight of claim 1, wherein said bottom surface of said base member is a clamping device configured to interface with a Weaver type interface rail. 6. The flip-up aiming sight of claim 1, wherein said base member includes clamping means to interface directly with the upper receiver of said firearm. 7. The flip-up aiming sight of claim 1, wherein said base member includes claiming means to interface with a supplemental rail system mounted on said firearm. 8. The flip-up aiming sight of claim 1, wherein said base member is formed integrally into a supplemental rail that is configured for mounting onto the upper receiver of said firearm. 9. The flip-up aiming sight of claim 1, further comprising: a spring adapted to urge said sight housing from said first inactive position to said second active position; a retainer for selectively retaining said sight housing in said first inactive position. 10. The flip-up aiming sight of claim 1, further comprising: an alignment member attached to said base member, adjacent said mounting element, said alignment member having two vertical sides, each vertical side having a top edge with an alignment chamfer formed thereon; and two sight housing lower aperture alignment surfaces corresponding to said alignment chamfers, whereby in the sight housing generally upright position the alignment surfaces are wedged against the alignment chamfers, respectively, bringing the sight housing to rest in the same vertical position every time it is placed into the active position. 11. A flip-up aiming sight for use with a firearm, said sight protruding generally vertically from the firearm when being used and horizontally folded down into the firearm's general contour when not in use, said flip-up aiming sight comprising: a base member, said base member forming a supplemental interface rail for mounting onto a firearm upper receiver, said base member having a bottom surface and a top surface, said bottom surface configured to mounted on the upper receiver, said top surface having a mounting element extending upwardly from a rear portion thereof, a sight housing, said sight housing having an upper section and a lower section, said upper section forming an aperture for containing an aiming means, said lower section configured to be rotationally mounted to said mounting element on said base, wherein said sight housing can be placed in a first, inactive position adjacent the general contour of the firearm and a second, active position protruding substantially vertically from said firearm; and at least two aiming elements rotatably mounted within said aperture in said upper section of said sight housing, said two aiming elements being movable relative to one another allowing a user to select one of said aiming elements for use when said sight housing is in said active position, wherein said at least two aiming elements can be positioned substantially parallel to one another and parallel to said base when said sight housing is in said inactive position. 12. The flip-up aiming sight of claim 11, further comprising: a spring in said sight housing adapted to urge said sight housing from said first inactive position to said second active position; means for selectively retaining said sight housing in said first inactive position. 13. The flip-up aiming sight of claim 11, further comprising: an alignment member attached to said base member, adjacent said mounting element, said alignment member having two vertical sides, each vertical side having a top edge with an alignment chamfer formed thereon; and two sight housing lower aperture alignment surfaces corresponding to said alignment chamfers, whereby in the sight housing generally upright position the alignment surfaces are wedged against the alignment chamfers, respectively, bringing the sight housing to rest in the same vertical position every time it is placed into the active position. 14. A flip-up aiming sight for mounting onto a supplemental rail system, said sight protruding generally vertically from the rail system when being used and horizontally folded down into the rail system's general contour when not in use, said flip-up aiming sight comprising: a base member, said base member having a bottom surface and a top surface, said bottom surface being formed as a clamping device configured to interface with a supplemental rail, said top surface having a mounting element extending upwardly from a rear portion thereof, a sight housing, said sight housing having an upper section and a lower section, said upper section forming an aperture for containing an aiming means, said lower section configured to be rotationally mounted to said mounting element on said base, wherein said sight housing can be placed in a first, inactive position adjacent the general contour of the rail system and a second, active position protruding substantially vertically from said rail system; and at least two aiming elements mounted within said aperture in said upper section of said sight housing, said two aiming elements being movable relative to one another allowing a user to select one of said aiming elements for use when said sight housing is in said active position, wherein said at least two aiming elements can be positioned substantially parallel to one another and parallel to said base when said sight housing is in said inactive position. 15. The flip-up aiming sight of claim 14, further comprising: a spring in said sight housing adapted to urge said sight housing from said first inactive position to said second active position; means for selectively retaining said sight housing in said first inactive position. 16. The flip-up aiming sight of claim 14, further comprising: an alignment member attached to said base member, adjacent said mounting element, said alignment member having two vertical sides, each vertical side having a top edge with an alignment chamfer formed thereon; and two sight housing lower aperture alignment surfaces corresponding to said alignment chamfers, whereby in the sight housing generally upright position the alignment surfaces are wedged against the alignment chamfers, respectively, bringing the sight housing to rest in the same vertical position every time it is placed into the active position. 17. A flip-up aiming sight for use with a firearm, said sight comprising: a base member having an upper surface and further having a bottom surface configured to mate with an upper receiver surface of said firearm; a sight housing having a lower section pivotably mounted to an upper surface of said base member, wherein said sight housing is pivotably movable relative to said base member between an inactive position adjacent the base member and an active position protruding upwardly from the base member, said sight housing further having an upper section including first and second upwardly extending, spaced sidewalls, said sidewalls cooperating to define an aperture therebetween, said aperture being longitudinally aligned with a front sight of said firearm when in use with said firearm; and an aiming assembly disposed within said aperture, said aiming assembly comprising a first aiming leg and a second aiming leg, wherein at least one of said first and second aiming legs being pivotably mounted between said sidewalls and being pivotably movable with respect to the other such that said at least one of said first and second aiming legs is pivotably movable between a first position wherein said first and second aiming legs are positioned in parallel facing relation, and a second position wherein said first and second aiming legs is positioned perpendicular to the other. 18. The sight of claim 17, wherein said first aiming leg is a fixed aiming leg having a larger iron sight opening and said second aiming leg is a pivotably movable aiming leg having a smaller iron sight opening, said second aiming leg being pivotably movable relative to said first aiming leg. 19. The flip-up aiming sight of claim 17, further comprising an adjustment screw extending through said aperture in said upper section of said sight housing and a lower end of said at least two aiming elements, said adjustment screw operable to move said aiming elements laterally within said aperture in said upper section of said sight housing | CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS This application is related to and claims priority from earlier filed U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60/511,878, filed Oct. 16, 2003, the contents of which are fully incorporated herein by reference. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates generally to modular sighting devices for weapons. More specifically, the present invention relates to a low profile configuration for a for providing a flip-up type sighting mechanism that folds down onto the firearm in a compact manner to prevent damage or snagging when not in use. Generally, sighting mechanisms for firearms are bulky and protrude outside the firearm's general contour. This construction creates a greater opportunity for the sighting mechanism to be caught on clothing or brush while the fire arm is being carried thereby knocking the sighting mechanism out of alignment. Prior art devices that have attempted to address this problem by allowing removal of the sighting mechanism or providing a hinged attachment of the sighting mechanism. Generally, however, the prior art devices require that each time the sighting mechanism is moved into the active position, the sighting mechanism must be re-aligned before it is ready for use. Although this re-alignment step may be acceptable when the firearm is used in a controlled environment such as a firing range, it is not acceptable for a firearm employed for field use, such as hunting or combat environments where immediate, fully aligned use of the sight is required. This is of particular concern in the field of combat firearms. A firearm that is used in the field requires a sighting mechanism that is located out of the way during times of non-use, thereby providing a streamlined profile that is not likely to be bumped or jarred out of alignment. Further, the sight must be quickly engageable when the firearm is urgently needed. The readiness time for the sighting mechanism to move from the non-use or down position to the use or up position must be minimized. Additionally, when moved from the down position to the up position, the sight must be fully and accurately aligned. It is critical that the sighting mechanism have the ability to be consistently and quickly engaged, and provide accurate aiming. Further, the sight must maintain as small profile as possible when in the retracted storage position to prevent bumping or jarring of the sight. In prior art devices such as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,533,292, issued to Swan, a self-aligning flip-up sight is provided that provides a sighting mechanism that can be easily moved from a storage position to an active position without requiring re-alignment of the sights. However, this device has a relatively large vertical profile, even when it is in the retracted position. The large profile results from the use of two iron peep sights mounted fixedly at a 90° angle relative to one another. In order for the sighting mechanism to be moved into the storage position, the iron sight must be placed into a position that allows one of the legs of the iron sight assembly to lie parallel to the firearm with the other leg pointing upwardly. If the iron sight assembly is not in this position, the mechanism cannot be moved into the storage position. Further, when the iron sight assembly is in the proper storage position, one of the legs extends upwardly from the upper surface of the firearm thereby requiring that the protective shoulders of the sighting mechanism extend a sufficient distance to protect this protruding leg of the iron sight. In this manner, the sighting mechanism has a profile that is larger than desired to allow the mounting of additional accessories if desired. Specifically, if a user wished to mount an optical telescopic sight in addition to the retractable sight, an additional spacer would be necessary to allow the required clearance. In view of the foregoing disadvantages inherent in the prior art devices, there is a need for a device that provides an improved method of compacting and activating optical and iron sight sighting device. There is a further need for a sighting mechanism that provides improved engagement method for firearms sighting devices which has the ability to consistently and quickly engage, and provide accurate aiming, while providing a reduced profile in the storage position thereby reducing potential interference with other ancillary aiming devices and attachments. BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In this regard, the present invention provides for a low-profile self-aligning flip-up sight. The present invention sighting device folds downwardly against a mounting rail either directly on the fire arm, onto a receiver sleeve mounting area or other desirable location, thereby keeping the sighting device within the firearm's contour during non-use and streamlining the profile of a weapon. The sighting device is spring-loaded and flips into an operational position with a simple movement of a finger or thumb. The device includes a pair of iron sights that are also pivotally mounted relative to one another allowing them to fold against one another in the retracted position while moving into a position wherein the two sighting elements are oriented at a substantially 90° angle in the deployed position. Further, the present invention sighting device self-aligns itself as it moves into an operational position, thereby providing accurate and consistent aiming while eliminating the need for re-alignment each time the sight is deployed. The present invention is particularly suited for iron sight type sighting devices. The sighting device includes two iron sight elements, one having a large aperture and one having a small aperture. In the prior art, when two iron sights were provided they were rigidly mounted perpendicular to one another. The sight was then selectibly positionable so that one or the other of the two iron sights was in the operative position while the other sight was positioned out of the way in a position that was substantially parallel to the barrel of the firearm. However as noted above, when utilized in a flip-up type sighting mechanism, if the sight was positioned in the wrong manner, one of the iron sight elements would prevent the sighting mechanism from closing. Even when positioned in the proper alignment, extended shoulders were required to protect the protruding top arm of the sight from impact. To resolve this issue the present invention provides that the two iron sights are mounted so as to be pivotably movable relative to one another. The present invention is a flip-up sight and is comprised of three major components namely, a base, an alignment member and a sight housing. The sight housing contains the actual aiming system in the form of collapsible iron sights. The aiming system is comprised of two independent legs pivotally mounted on a central sight adjustment screw positioned within the sight housing. The two legs cooperate to form a collapsible aiming system. Each leg includes a circular aiming peep sight, one sight being larger than the other. In the deployed position, the leg with the larger aperture is always in the upright position, the leg with the smaller aperture can be rotated approximately 90° around the sight adjustment screw and is configured to be retained in one of two selected positions. Accordingly, when the large aperture sight is desired the small aperture sight can be folded down out of the way of the large aperture. Further, when the sight housing is placed into the stored position, folded down against the base, the two legs of the aiming system can fold against one another allowing the sight housing to store tightly against the base while preventing one of the sighting elements from protruding outwardly from the firearm. Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a sighting mechanism for a firearm that includes at least two aiming elements and has a compact profile when placed into a storage position. It is a further object of the present invention to provide a sighting mechanism for a firearm that can be retracted to a low profile storage position against the contour of the firearm while being quickly and easily deployable to a fully aligned active position. It is yet a further object of the present invention to provide a retractable sighting assembly for a firearm that includes at least two user selectable aiming elements that can be fully retracted into a low profile storage position against the contour of the firearm. These together with other objects of the invention, along with various features of novelty which characterize the invention, are pointed out with particularity in the claims annexed hereto and forming a part of this disclosure. For a better understanding of the invention, its operating advantages and the specific objects attained by its uses, reference should be had to the accompanying drawings and descriptive matter in which there is illustrated a preferred embodiment of the invention. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS In the drawings which illustrate the best mode presently contemplated for carrying out the present invention: FIG. 1 is a front perspective view of the flip up sight of the present invention in the deployed position with the large aperture aiming element in the active position; FIG. 2 is a front perspective view of the flip up sight of the present invention in the deployed position with the small aperture aiming element in the active position; FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line 3-3 of FIG. 1; FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the flip up sight in the retracted position; FIG. 5 is a firearm with the flip up sight assembly in the retracted position mounted on the receiver thereof; FIG. 6 is a perspective view of the flip up sight in the deployed position with the sighting elements reversed and the large aperture aiming element in the active position; and FIG. 7 is a perspective view of the alignment member. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Now referring to the drawings, the retractable flip-up sighting device of the present invention is shown and generally illustrated in the figures as 10. In particular, the present invention is a retractable flip-up sight 10 for a fire arm wherein the flip-up sight 10 has a reduced profile when in the retracted position. This feature allows improved shielding and protection of the aiming elements within the sighting device 10 when in the retracted storage position. Further, the sighting device 10 includes a self-aligning feature that ensures that the sighting elements remain in proper alignment with the firearm each time the sighting elements are deployed into the active position from the storage position. The flip-up sight assembly includes three major components: a base 12, a sight housing 14, and an aiming device 16. Further, to facilitate the self-aligning feature, the sighting device 10 includes an alignment member 18. The sight housing 14 serves to contain and support the actual aiming device 16 while also including features to protect the aiming device 16. The sighting device 10 is designed to be mounted preferably on a Swan universal receiver sleeve, extended rigid frame receiver sleeve, or any other attachment device such as the receiver rail that is attached on the top of a firearm upper receiver. Additionally, the sighting device 10 may be used in place of or in conjunction with most conventional firearm sighting mechanisms. Turning now to FIG. 1, the base 12 is formed to include an interface means 20 to allow the sighting mechanism 10 to be mounted onto a variety of firearms. The base has 12 an upper surface 22 and a lower surface 24, wherein the lower surface 24 has a cross-sectional profile that is configured to interface with the dovetailed shape of a typical receiver sleeve. The base 12 also includes a right side 26, a left side 28, a front 30 and rear 32 wherein the right side 26 and left side 28 include lower interface members 20 for retaining the sighting mechanism 10 on a receiver sleeve. Two identical, vertical and parallel mounting tabs 34 extend perpendicularly upward from the base 12 upper surface 22. The tabs 34 are thin, have a rectangular shape and lie in vertical parallel planes a predetermined distance apart. The tab 34 planes are parallel to the base 12 sides 26, 28. A spring trough resides between the tabs 34. The width of the trough is defined by the separation between the tabs 34. Each of the mounting tabs 34 includes a mounting pin hole with a common center on an aligned axis perpendicular to the axis of the base 12. The sight housing 14 has two parallel side plates, a catch plate 36 and an adjustment plate 38, positioned in vertical planes. The sight housing 14 is further defined by an upper support region 40 between the catch plate 36 and the adjustment plate 38. The upper support region 40 is configured to retain and protect the aiming elements 16a, 16b. The sight housing 14 also includes a lower interface region 42 which includes an inside surface bounded by the catch plate 36, the adjustment plate 38 and further may include alignment surfaces 44 to enable the self alignment feature of the present invention as will be described in detail below. The catch plate 36 and the adjustment plate 38 have holes 46 in the lower interface region 42 thereof, the holes 46 corresponding to the mounting pin holes in the tabs 32 on the base 12. The aiming elements 16a, 16b include at least one sighting device such as for example an open iron type peep sight having an aperture therein. Similarly, the aiming elements 16a, 16b could include any conceivable aiming device such as a magnifying sight or an open sight. As shown in the Figs., the aiming elements include preferably two different aiming elements such as a large aperture iron sight 16a and a small aperture iron sight 16b. Similarly, the present invention may include 3 or more aiming elements 16 and fall within the scope of the present invention. The aiming elements 16 include a top aiming end and a bottom mounting end whereby the aiming elements 16 are mounted into the upper support region 40 of the sight housing 14. The aiming elements 16 are mounted on and retained in the upper support region 40 of the sight housing 14 by the sight adjustment screw 48 that is positioned and attached between the catch plate 36 and the adjustment plate 38. An arced spring 41 is attached along the bottom of the upper support region 40 and applies pressure against the bottom edge of the aiming elements 16 thereby allowing the elements 16 to rotate independently of one another approximately 90 degrees around the sight adjustment screw 48 and hold in the desired position by engaging one of two detents 43. A sight adjustment knob 50 is attached to one end of the sight adjustment screw 48 wherein the aiming elements 16 are adapted to be moved laterally across the sight adjustment screw 48 as the sight adjustment knob 50 is turned allowing fine tune adjustment of the aiming elements 16 for compensation in alignment with the firearm as well as windage adjustment. As can be seen by viewing FIG. 1 in conjunction with FIG. 2, multiple aiming elements 16 can be used in the sight housing 14 in conjunction with one another. In FIG. 1, the active aiming element 16a is a large aperture iron sight and is in the up or active position. The inactive element is a small aperture iron sight 16b and is shown folded downwardly in the inactive position. In FIG. 2, the small aperture iron sight 16b is shown in the up position against the large aperture iron sight 16a. In this position the small aperture iron sight 16a is the active sight because when looking through the aiming elements 16 the only aperture through which the user can aim the firearm is the small aperture because the rest of the small aperture aiming element partially blocks the large aperture. Further, as will be more fully discussed later, both aiming elements 16 would be positioned in this manner when the sight housing 14 is placed into the retraced storage position. It should be also appreciated, as can be seen in FIG. 5, that the relative positioning of the aiming elements 16 may be reversed placing the small aperture aiming element 16b in the rear position closest to the user and the large aperture aiming element 16a in the front position without departing from the disclosure of the present invention. Further, a third or more aiming elements 16 could be added as well and still reside within the present disclosure. Referring now to FIG. 6, the U-shaped alignment member 18 has two vertical sides 52, 54 and a front face 56. The vertical sides 52, 54 have inner surfaces that are parallel to one another and an outwardly chamfered top edge. The vertical sides 52, 54 each have a mounting pin hole 58 located in their rearward upper quadrants perpendicular to the inner faces wherein when the alignment member 18 is installed onto the base member 12, the mounting pin hole 58 in the vertical sides corresponds to the mounting pin holes in the tabs 34 on the base 12. In this manner when the alignment member 18 is installed onto the base 12 the inner faces of the vertical sides 52, 54 rest against the tabs 34 with the mounting pin holes in the tabs 34 being in alignment with the mounting pin holes 58 in the vertical sides 52, 54 of the alignment member 18. To further assist in retaining the alignment member 18 on the base 12, additional holes 60 are provided in both the alignment member 18 and the tabs 34 on the base 12 where by a spring pin is installed through the common spring pin holes 60 to retain the alignment member 18 and the base 12 in assembled relation. Alternatively, other fasteners such as bolts or rivets could be used and still fall within the scope of the present invention. Turning back now to FIG. 1, the sighting device 10 of the present invention is shown in the deployed or “open” position, the sight housing 14 lower interface region 42 is positioned over the outer faces of the vertical sides 52, 54 of the U-shaped alignment member 18 such that the mounting pin holes in the in the side walls of the sight housing 14 share a common center with the mounting pin hole in the alignment member 18 and the mounting pin hole in the mounting tabs 34. A mounting spring pin 70 is then inserted into the mounting pin hole thereby attaching the sight housing 14, U-shaped alignment member 18 and the mounting tabs 34 together. Accordingly, the sight housing 14 is pivotally attached by the mounting spring pin 70 to the alignment member 18 and the mounting tabs 34 such that the sight housing 14 can rotate about the mounting spring pin 70 a predetermined amount. Alternatively, other fasteners such as bolts or rivets could be used in place of the mounting spring pin. As can best be seen in FIG. 3, a finger release clamp 72 is provided to hold the sight housing 14 in a retracted or down position against the base 12. The finger release clamp 14 engages a pin catch slot 74 formed in the catch plate 36 thereby holding the sight housing 14 in a normally closed first position. The finger release clamp 72 is mounted in a pin bore which is drilled into the base 12. A tension spring is also mounted in the pin bore thereby providing resistive force against rotation of the finger release clamp 72. A half-cylindrical notch is formed in the upper surface of the base 12. The purpose of the notch is to provide a place in the base for the clamp 72 to fold into, out of the way, when it is not holding the sight housing 14 in a down position. Another notch is formed in the rear of the catch plate 36. The purpose of this catch plate notch is to avoid damage to the sight housing 14 if it gets knocked down with great force into the clamp 72 which is partially protruding from the base notch. Rotating the finger release clamp 72 away from the sight housing 14 disengages the finger release clamp 72 from the pin catch slot 74 and allows rotation of the sight housing 14 from the normally closed first position to the open second position. A torsional spring 76 urges the sight housing 14 from the closed first position to a vertical open second position. The torsional spring 76 surrounds the mounting spring pin 70 in the lower aperture 42 between the mounting tabs 34. In this embodiment as can best be seen in referring to FIGS. 5 and 6, a self aligning feature is also provided within the aiming device 10 of the present invention. While the inclusion of this feature is not a critical component of the overall device of the present invention, its inclusion further enhances the overall performance of such a device. Accordingly, consistent vertical positioning of the sight housing 14 is accomplished with the aid of alignment chamfers 78, formed on the top edges of the vertical sides 52, 54 of the U-shaped alignment member 18. In this embodiment of the invention, the chamfer 78 slopes are at a forty-five degree angle and the longitudinal axes of the alignment chamfers 78 are substantially parallel to the longitudinal axis of the base 12. The sight housing 14 has corresponding alignment surfaces 44. When the sight housing 14 is released to the open second position, the alignment surfaces 44 are wedged against the alignment chamfers 78, respectively, bringing the sight housing 14 to rest in the same vertical position every time it is released. The slopes of the alignment surfaces 44 correspond to the slopes of the alignment chamfers 78. Repeatability is further ensured by the “squeezing” action of the alignment surface 44 and catch plate 36 against the U-shaped alignment member 18 vertical side toward the base mounting tab 34, and the corresponding “squeezing” action of the alignment surface 44 and adjustment plate 38 against the U-shaped alignment member 18 vertical side toward the base mounting tab 34. This ensures repeated and accurate alignment of the U-shaped alignment member vertical sides during each movement of the sight housing 14 to the open, second position. It should also be appreciated that the alignment member 18 may be eliminated in favor of chamfering the tops of the tabs 34 thereby providing the same type of alignment action each time the sight housing 14 is deployed. It should also be noted that when the sight housing 14 is in the retracted position, both of the aiming elements 16a and 16b are folded flat against one another and rest flat against the profile of the firearm 84. Further, the aiming elements 16a and 16b in this position are shielded by the catch plate 36 and the adjustment plate 38. As can be seen in FIG. 4, the sighting device 10 is shown as being integrated into a receiver rail 80 that is attached to the upper receiver 82 of a firearm 84. It can be seen that the sighting device 10 has a small and compact profile when placed in the retracted position. This can be contrasted with the prior art devices that utilized an L-shapes aiming element. In the prior art when the sight housing was in the retracted position, one of the legs of the aiming element projected outwardly from the firearm. This projection necessitated that the side walls of the sight housing be wider to provide protection for the projecting leg of the aiming element. In the present invention, with both aiming elements 16a and 16b folded flat against the contour of the firearm 84, the walls of the sight housing 14 can be narrower, providing a smaller overall profile depth allowing the sighting device 10 to reside in a more compact position against the firearm 84. While the above-described embodiment uses a conventional firearm “iron” peep sight as the aiming elements 16, the principles of the present invention are also applicable to the newer optics sights currently becoming available, i.e., compact single optic frames with lens projected beam optics. The newer optics sights have a radial axis parallel to the transverse plane of the weapon and a central axis parallel to the longitudinal axis of the weapon. The newer optics sights have aiming optics which are quite flat along their central axis. The sights focus energy from illumination means on the flat aiming optics. The illumination means may be a laser, or other directed energy illuminator which directs energy onto the aiming lens. The present invention permits, for the first time, an ability to fold down aiming optics when not in use, and provides an ability to flip up the aiming optics to a preset configuration for actual use. Problems with the aiming optics being caught on clothing or brush when carried and knocked out of alignment from this contact or contact with other solid objects, are thereby eliminated. Accordingly, the basic sight apparatus is the same whether or not an “iron” aiming element is used or an optics sight is used. It can therefore be seen that the present invention provides an improved sighting device 10 that has a smaller and more compact profile when placed into a storage position as compared to the sighting devices in the prior art. Further, the present invention can be modified to accommodate a number of different aiming elements 16 and can be integrated onto a variety of different firearms to provide a highly accurate low profile flip up sight for use in actual field conditions typically associated with combat weaponry. For these reasons, the instant invention is believed to represent a significant advancement in the art, which has substantial commercial merit. While there is shown and described herein certain specific structure embodying the invention, it will be manifest to those skilled in the art that various modifications and rearrangements of the parts may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the underlying inventive concept and that the same is not limited to the particular forms herein shown and described except insofar as indicated by the scope of the appended claims. | <SOH> BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION <EOH>The present invention relates generally to modular sighting devices for weapons. More specifically, the present invention relates to a low profile configuration for a for providing a flip-up type sighting mechanism that folds down onto the firearm in a compact manner to prevent damage or snagging when not in use. Generally, sighting mechanisms for firearms are bulky and protrude outside the firearm's general contour. This construction creates a greater opportunity for the sighting mechanism to be caught on clothing or brush while the fire arm is being carried thereby knocking the sighting mechanism out of alignment. Prior art devices that have attempted to address this problem by allowing removal of the sighting mechanism or providing a hinged attachment of the sighting mechanism. Generally, however, the prior art devices require that each time the sighting mechanism is moved into the active position, the sighting mechanism must be re-aligned before it is ready for use. Although this re-alignment step may be acceptable when the firearm is used in a controlled environment such as a firing range, it is not acceptable for a firearm employed for field use, such as hunting or combat environments where immediate, fully aligned use of the sight is required. This is of particular concern in the field of combat firearms. A firearm that is used in the field requires a sighting mechanism that is located out of the way during times of non-use, thereby providing a streamlined profile that is not likely to be bumped or jarred out of alignment. Further, the sight must be quickly engageable when the firearm is urgently needed. The readiness time for the sighting mechanism to move from the non-use or down position to the use or up position must be minimized. Additionally, when moved from the down position to the up position, the sight must be fully and accurately aligned. It is critical that the sighting mechanism have the ability to be consistently and quickly engaged, and provide accurate aiming. Further, the sight must maintain as small profile as possible when in the retracted storage position to prevent bumping or jarring of the sight. In prior art devices such as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,533,292, issued to Swan, a self-aligning flip-up sight is provided that provides a sighting mechanism that can be easily moved from a storage position to an active position without requiring re-alignment of the sights. However, this device has a relatively large vertical profile, even when it is in the retracted position. The large profile results from the use of two iron peep sights mounted fixedly at a 90° angle relative to one another. In order for the sighting mechanism to be moved into the storage position, the iron sight must be placed into a position that allows one of the legs of the iron sight assembly to lie parallel to the firearm with the other leg pointing upwardly. If the iron sight assembly is not in this position, the mechanism cannot be moved into the storage position. Further, when the iron sight assembly is in the proper storage position, one of the legs extends upwardly from the upper surface of the firearm thereby requiring that the protective shoulders of the sighting mechanism extend a sufficient distance to protect this protruding leg of the iron sight. In this manner, the sighting mechanism has a profile that is larger than desired to allow the mounting of additional accessories if desired. Specifically, if a user wished to mount an optical telescopic sight in addition to the retractable sight, an additional spacer would be necessary to allow the required clearance. In view of the foregoing disadvantages inherent in the prior art devices, there is a need for a device that provides an improved method of compacting and activating optical and iron sight sighting device. There is a further need for a sighting mechanism that provides improved engagement method for firearms sighting devices which has the ability to consistently and quickly engage, and provide accurate aiming, while providing a reduced profile in the storage position thereby reducing potential interference with other ancillary aiming devices and attachments. | <SOH> BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION <EOH>In this regard, the present invention provides for a low-profile self-aligning flip-up sight. The present invention sighting device folds downwardly against a mounting rail either directly on the fire arm, onto a receiver sleeve mounting area or other desirable location, thereby keeping the sighting device within the firearm's contour during non-use and streamlining the profile of a weapon. The sighting device is spring-loaded and flips into an operational position with a simple movement of a finger or thumb. The device includes a pair of iron sights that are also pivotally mounted relative to one another allowing them to fold against one another in the retracted position while moving into a position wherein the two sighting elements are oriented at a substantially 90° angle in the deployed position. Further, the present invention sighting device self-aligns itself as it moves into an operational position, thereby providing accurate and consistent aiming while eliminating the need for re-alignment each time the sight is deployed. The present invention is particularly suited for iron sight type sighting devices. The sighting device includes two iron sight elements, one having a large aperture and one having a small aperture. In the prior art, when two iron sights were provided they were rigidly mounted perpendicular to one another. The sight was then selectibly positionable so that one or the other of the two iron sights was in the operative position while the other sight was positioned out of the way in a position that was substantially parallel to the barrel of the firearm. However as noted above, when utilized in a flip-up type sighting mechanism, if the sight was positioned in the wrong manner, one of the iron sight elements would prevent the sighting mechanism from closing. Even when positioned in the proper alignment, extended shoulders were required to protect the protruding top arm of the sight from impact. To resolve this issue the present invention provides that the two iron sights are mounted so as to be pivotably movable relative to one another. The present invention is a flip-up sight and is comprised of three major components namely, a base, an alignment member and a sight housing. The sight housing contains the actual aiming system in the form of collapsible iron sights. The aiming system is comprised of two independent legs pivotally mounted on a central sight adjustment screw positioned within the sight housing. The two legs cooperate to form a collapsible aiming system. Each leg includes a circular aiming peep sight, one sight being larger than the other. In the deployed position, the leg with the larger aperture is always in the upright position, the leg with the smaller aperture can be rotated approximately 90° around the sight adjustment screw and is configured to be retained in one of two selected positions. Accordingly, when the large aperture sight is desired the small aperture sight can be folded down out of the way of the large aperture. Further, when the sight housing is placed into the stored position, folded down against the base, the two legs of the aiming system can fold against one another allowing the sight housing to store tightly against the base while preventing one of the sighting elements from protruding outwardly from the firearm. Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a sighting mechanism for a firearm that includes at least two aiming elements and has a compact profile when placed into a storage position. It is a further object of the present invention to provide a sighting mechanism for a firearm that can be retracted to a low profile storage position against the contour of the firearm while being quickly and easily deployable to a fully aligned active position. It is yet a further object of the present invention to provide a retractable sighting assembly for a firearm that includes at least two user selectable aiming elements that can be fully retracted into a low profile storage position against the contour of the firearm. These together with other objects of the invention, along with various features of novelty which characterize the invention, are pointed out with particularity in the claims annexed hereto and forming a part of this disclosure. For a better understanding of the invention, its operating advantages and the specific objects attained by its uses, reference should be had to the accompanying drawings and descriptive matter in which there is illustrated a preferred embodiment of the invention. | 20040914 | 20080415 | 20050901 | 60868.0 | 2 | CLEMENT, MICHELLE RENEE | LOW PROFILE FLIP UP SITE | SMALL | 0 | ACCEPTED | 2,004 |
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10,940,022 | ACCEPTED | Display processing switching construct utilized in information device | A display processing construct utilized in information device, discloses a first and a second display processing devices. The display signal outputs from the first and second display processing devices are against the switches separately, wherein the switching of switches are utilized to choose or control the delivery of display signal from the first or the second display processing devices to the displayer. Further a selector is used to control or choose the contact of the switch of the first or second display processing devices so as to deliver the display signal from the first or the second display processing devices to the displayer and contain the power supply module to offer the power to said selected display processing device. The user can choose the appropriate display processing device according to the desirable effectiveness of the displaying and further advance the function of the information device and save the power of the battery. | 1. A display processing switching construct utilized in information device comprising: a first display processing device; a second display processing device; a microprocessor to drive the first display processing device or the second display processing device; a displayer to receive the display signal from the first display processing device or the second display processing device and to present the image; a first switch to switch the display signal of the first display processing device to the displayer under the contact condition; a second switch to switch the display signal of the second display processing device to the displayer under the contact condition; a power supply module to offer the power to each hardware device of the information device; and a selector choosing which display processing device to output display signal, controlling the power supply circuit of the power supply module to offer power to the display processing device, and enabling the contact of the switch corresponding to the display processing device so as to make the display signal being transmitted to the displayer. 2. The display processing construct as claimed in claim 1, wherein the first display processing device refers to a low efficiency display processing device and the second display processing device refers to a high efficiency display processing device. 3. The display processing construct as claimed in claim 1, wherein the first display processing device refers to a display chipset or display card. 4. The display processing construct as claimed in claim 1, wherein the second display processing device refers to a display chipset or display card. 5. The display processing construct as claimed in claim 1, wherein the selector refers to an electronic switch. 6. The display processing construct as claimed in claim 1, wherein the selector is a selective item of display processing device of basic input output system in the information device. 7. The display processing construct as claimed in claim 1, wherein the information device refers to a notebook computer. 8. A display processing switching construct utilized in information device comprising: a first display processing device; a second display processing device; a microprocessor driving the first display processing device or the second display processing device; a displayer receiving the display signal from the first display processing device or the second display processing device and presenting image; a switch module transmitting the display signal to the displayer; a power supply module offering power to each hardware device in the information device; and a selector choosing which display processing device to output display signal, controlling the power supply circuit of the power supply module to offer power to the display processing device, and enabling the switch module to get contact and to transmit the display signal to the displayer. 9. The display processing construct as claimed in claim 8, wherein the switch module further comprises a first switch and a second switch corresponding to the display signal of the first display processing device or the second display processing device under the contact state, and the switch against the display processing device, which delivers display signal, can be enabled by the selector to transmit display signal to the displayer. 10. The display processing construct as claimed in claim 8, wherein the first display processing device refers to a low efficiency display processing device and the second display processing device refers to a high efficiency display processing device. 11. The display processing construct as claimed in claim 8, wherein the first display processing device refers to a display chipset or display card. 12. The display processing construct as claimed in claim 8, wherein the second display processing device refers to a display chipset or display card. 13. The display processing construct as claimed in claim 8, wherein the selector refers to an electronic switch. 14. The display processing construct as claimed in claim 8, wherein the selector refers to a selective item of display processing device of basic input output system in an information device. 15. The display processing construct as claimed in claim 8, wherein the information device refers to a notebook computer. 16. A display processing switching construct utilized in information device comprising: a first display processing device; a second display processing device; a microprocessor driving the first display processing device or second display processing device; a displayer receiving the display signal from the first display processing device or second display processing device and presenting image; a power supply module offering power to each hardware of the information device; and a switching module controlling and choosing the display signal from the first display processing device or the second display processing device. 17. The display processing construct as claimed in claim 16, wherein the switching module further comprises a switch module transmitting the display signal to the displayer; and a selector choosing the display processing device to transmit the display signal, controlling the power supply circuit of the power supply module to the intended display processing device to output display signal, and enabling the contact of the switch module to transmit display signal to the displayer. 18. The display processing construct as claimed in claim 17, wherein the switch module further comprises a first switch and a second switch against the displayer signal from the first display processing device or the second display processing device under the contact state, and the intended switch, which conveys the display signal, can be enabled to get contact and make the display signal being delivered to the displayer. 19. The display processing construct as claimed in claim 16, wherein the first display processing device refers to a low efficiency display processing device and the second display processing device refers to a high efficiency display processing device. 20. The display processing construct as claimed in claim 16, wherein the first display processing device refers to a display chipset or display card. 21. The display processing construct as claimed in claim 16, wherein the second display processing device refers to a display chipset or display card. 22. The display processing construct as claimed in claim 16, wherein the selector refers to an electronic switch. 23. The display processing construct as claimed in claim 16, wherein the selector refers to a selective item of display processing device of basic input output system in an information device. 24. The display processing construct as claimed in claim 16, wherein the information device refers to a notebook computer. | BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention is related to a display processing construct, especially a plurality of display processing devices installed in the information device so that the user can switch the module according to the requirement to select an appropriate display processing device so as to manage a better image display effectiveness. 2. Description of the Related Art In the busy twenty-first century, the convenient portable information devices for the workers are regarded as very important companies. Such as the notebook computer and portable electronic device can offer the workers to deal with affairs, including in time checking and sending e-mails, writing report, usual data processing, and son on, whenever in the long commutation so as to save time. Moreover, it can even relax the exhaustion in the long trip by displaying music or video. In addition, the workers who often get out to hold meeting so as to brief or introduce the company's products can utilize the portable information device to make meeting record, briefing, or product introducing so as to dispense the heavy document, presentation data, or product posters, thus facilitating the convenience and efficiency on the job. Following the requirement of people, the function of the computer software has been evolving strongly and completely, especially the image processing function. Therefore, that forces the display processing device, such as display card or display chipset, installed in the information device, to comply with high efficiency so as to be compatible with the computer software with high display efficiency such as 3D drawing software, 3D image processing software, game software, and so on. In the contrary, the utilized display processing device with high efficiency would definitely gorge more power, but if the information device performs the low efficiency display software by high efficiency display processing device, it would shorten the life of information device after a long time of using the power supply of battery. However, at this moment, the information device can only be installed with a display processing device and that would cause the inconvenience to the users. Therefore, the present invention is to propose a kind of display processing construct utilized in the information device to conquer the failure that the conventional information deice can be installed with only a display processing device. The information device is installed with a plurality of display processing devices to offer the user to switch to an appropriate display processing device according to the running environment of information device to conquer the above-mentioned problem. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The main purpose of the present invention is to offer the user to switch a high efficiency display processing device by installing a high efficiency display processing device and a low efficiency display processing device in the information device as using the computer software with high display efficiency so as to advance the using function of information device. The other purpose of the present invention is to offer a display processing construct utilized in information device by installing a high efficiency display processing device and a low efficiency display processing device in the information device so as to offer the user to transfer to low efficiency display processing device as running in the low efficiency environment or performing low efficiency computer software, thus punching down the consumed power of portable information device, saving power, and further enhancing the using time of information device. The present invention is applied in the display processing construct of the information device, wherein a first and a second display processing devices are included to process display signals; a microprocessor is utilized to drive the first or second display processing device, a switching module is utilized to control or choose the display signal from the first or second display processing device; a power supply module is used to offer power to said first display processing device, second display processing device, microprocessor, and switching module. Wherein, the switching module further comprises a first and a second switches against said first and second display processing devices separately to transmit the display signal to the displayer. Besides, a selector is utilized to control and choose the power supply circuit of the power supply module and the contact of the first and the second switches so as to let said first or second display processing devices transmit display signal to a displayer and play image. To have a further understanding about the features of the structure and the achieved effects, of the present invention, the preferred embodiment and detailed description are unfolded as following. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1, the first preferred embodiment of implementation block diagram, is the display processing switching construct in the information device of the present invention. FIG. 2, the implementation flow chart, is the display processing switching construct in the information device of the present invention. FIG. 3, the second preferred embodiment of implementation block diagram, is the display processing switching construct in the information device of the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT The present invention is to offer the user to choose appropriate display processing device according to the displaying efficiency requirement of the computer software performed by the information device by installing a plurality of display processing devices in the information device so as to advance the using function of information device, punch down the consumed power, and further enhance the using time of information device. FIG. 1 depicts the implementation block diagrams of display processing construct utilized in information device. As shown in FIG. 1, which is the preferred embodiment of the present invention, the information device is installed with a first display processing device 10 and a second display processing device 15, and the information device can be a notebook computer. And the two display processing devices 10 and 15 refer to low efficiency and high efficiency display processing devices separately. After the display efficiency test by 3D Bench Mark 2001, the score under 1500 would be classified as first display processing device 10, and the score above 1500 would be regarded as the second display processing device 15. Wherein, the first and second display processing devices 10 and 15 refer to the display card or display chipset such as VGA (Video Graphic Array), SVGA (Super VGA), or XGA (Extended Graphic Array). A microprocessor 20 is to drive the two display processing devices 10 and 15 and receive the display information from the display processing devices 10 and 15, and send back the processed display information to the display processing devices 10 and 15 for proceeding. The processed display information is stored in the random access memory of the two display processing devices 10 and 15, and at last, the digital display information is transferred into analog display signal by random access memory digital/analog converter (RAMDAC) of the two display processing devices 10 and 15, and delivered to a displayer 30 so as to present images. A power supply module 40 is to offer power to all hardware devices of the information device. And a switching module 50 comprises a selector 52, a first switch 56, and a second switch 58. The selector 52 is offered for the used to choose the first low efficiency display processing device 10 or the second high efficiency display processing device 15 according to the display efficiency of the intended computer software. The selector 52 refers to an electronic switch, or button on the keyboard for the user to press and choose, or set choices of basic input output system in information device (i.e., additionally setting a selective fixed item of display processing device in the basic input output system for the user to choose and transfer between the two display processing devices 10 and 15). Because the displayer 30 only have a display signal input port, the two switches 56 and 58 would be switched to transfer the two display processing devices 10 and 15 alternatively so as to transmit the display signal to the displayer 30. The two switches 56 and 58 of switching module 50 are separately against two display processing devices 10 and 15, and under the contact state of the two switches 56 and 58, the two display processing devices 10 and 15 would be able to convey display signal to the displayer 30 via the two switches 56 and 58 to show the images. The selector 52 controls the two switches 56 and 58. After the selector 52 being operated by the user, the selector 52 would maneuver the power supply module 40 to switch power supply circuit according to the display processing device 10 or 15 selected by the user and transmit signal to the corresponding switch 56 or 58 to control the contact of switch 56 or 58. For example, if the selector 52 transmits a low voltage level 0, it would enable the contact of the first switch 56, and for the same reason, if the signal is high voltage level 1, it would enable the contact of the second switch 58. With FIG. 1 for reference, FIG. 2 is the embodiment flow chart of display processing construct utilized in information device of the present invention. As the user intends to run the computer software, such as performing a general documentation for example in the preferred embodiment of the present invention, step S1 indicates that the user operates the selector 52 to choose an appropriate display processing device 10 or 15, such as pressing the preset button on the keyboard to choose a first low efficiency display processing device 10. Then, when the user presses to start the device, meanwhile as shown in step S2, the selector 52 controls the power supply circuit of power supply module (without depicted picture) 40 only to deliver power to the first display processing device 10, and at the same time also transmits the signal to the first switch 56. Following, the first switch 56 as shown in step S3 receives the signal and judges whether it is low voltage level signal or not, and if yes, the step S4 will be proceeded. The first switch 56 will be contacted to make the first display processing device 10 able to convey display signal to the displayer 30. At last, the displayer 30 as shown in step S6 is to receive the display signal and output the display image. On the contrary, if the user would like to perform high display efficiency computer software such as 3D drawing software, 3D image processing software, and game software on the information device, the preset button can be pressed to select the second high efficiency display processing device 15. As the user presses the power supply button to start, the selector 52 would control the power supply circuit of the power supply module 40 to deliver power to the second display processing device 15 and to transmit the high voltage level signal to the second switch 58. Following, as shown in step S5, the second switch 58 is enabled to get contact and further makes the second display processing device 15 to transmit display signal to the displayer 30, and at last, as shown in step S6, the displayer receives the display signal and show the image. Therefore, as using the general low display efficiency computer software, the present invention can offer the users selecting the first low display efficiency display processing device 10 to decrease the consumed energy of battery of information device and to advance the using time of information device. While running the high display efficiency computer software, the second high efficiency display processing device 15 is selected to enhance the display efficiency of the information device. FIG. 3 is another preferred embodiment of implementation block diagram in the present invention. As shown in FIG. 3, the first switch 56 and the second switch 58 are modularized into a switch module 55, and the functions of other devices are the same as shown in the first embodiment. Besides, the transmission interface between the selector 52 and the switch module 55 can be single direction transmission as shown in the figure. The first and the second switches 56 and 58 are simultaneously enabled to receive the transmitted voltage level signal from the selector 52, but each individually responds the level signal to get contact. For example, the first switch 56 only responds the low voltage level signal to get contact and the second switch 58 only responds the high voltage level signal to get contact. In conclusion, a plurality of display processing devices 10 and 15 are installed in the information device in the present invention to offer the user to choose the appropriate display processing device 10 or 15 according to the requirement of the performed software. While running the low display efficiency software, the first low display efficiency display processing device 10 is selected to improve the power consuming problem of battery in the conventional art that the high efficiency display processing device is used in the information device. While running the high display efficiency computer software, the second high efficiency display processing device 15 can be selected to enhance the using function of the information device. In conclusion, this invention definitely achieves creativity, improvement, and more usability for the users in the industry. This being the case, it should be qualified for the patent applications in the intellectual patent regulation of our country, thus being proposed for the approval of the patent. Looking forward to the kind rendering of the approval at the earliest convenience. The above-mentioned practice is only a preferred embodiment of this invention, not the specified limit of it. All the parallel changes and revisions of the shape, the structure, the feature, and the spirit evolving from this invention should be included in the field of the claimed patent of this invention. | <SOH> BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION <EOH>1. Field of the Invention The present invention is related to a display processing construct, especially a plurality of display processing devices installed in the information device so that the user can switch the module according to the requirement to select an appropriate display processing device so as to manage a better image display effectiveness. 2. Description of the Related Art In the busy twenty-first century, the convenient portable information devices for the workers are regarded as very important companies. Such as the notebook computer and portable electronic device can offer the workers to deal with affairs, including in time checking and sending e-mails, writing report, usual data processing, and son on, whenever in the long commutation so as to save time. Moreover, it can even relax the exhaustion in the long trip by displaying music or video. In addition, the workers who often get out to hold meeting so as to brief or introduce the company's products can utilize the portable information device to make meeting record, briefing, or product introducing so as to dispense the heavy document, presentation data, or product posters, thus facilitating the convenience and efficiency on the job. Following the requirement of people, the function of the computer software has been evolving strongly and completely, especially the image processing function. Therefore, that forces the display processing device, such as display card or display chipset, installed in the information device, to comply with high efficiency so as to be compatible with the computer software with high display efficiency such as 3D drawing software, 3D image processing software, game software, and so on. In the contrary, the utilized display processing device with high efficiency would definitely gorge more power, but if the information device performs the low efficiency display software by high efficiency display processing device, it would shorten the life of information device after a long time of using the power supply of battery. However, at this moment, the information device can only be installed with a display processing device and that would cause the inconvenience to the users. Therefore, the present invention is to propose a kind of display processing construct utilized in the information device to conquer the failure that the conventional information deice can be installed with only a display processing device. The information device is installed with a plurality of display processing devices to offer the user to switch to an appropriate display processing device according to the running environment of information device to conquer the above-mentioned problem. | <SOH> SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION <EOH>The main purpose of the present invention is to offer the user to switch a high efficiency display processing device by installing a high efficiency display processing device and a low efficiency display processing device in the information device as using the computer software with high display efficiency so as to advance the using function of information device. The other purpose of the present invention is to offer a display processing construct utilized in information device by installing a high efficiency display processing device and a low efficiency display processing device in the information device so as to offer the user to transfer to low efficiency display processing device as running in the low efficiency environment or performing low efficiency computer software, thus punching down the consumed power of portable information device, saving power, and further enhancing the using time of information device. The present invention is applied in the display processing construct of the information device, wherein a first and a second display processing devices are included to process display signals; a microprocessor is utilized to drive the first or second display processing device, a switching module is utilized to control or choose the display signal from the first or second display processing device; a power supply module is used to offer power to said first display processing device, second display processing device, microprocessor, and switching module. Wherein, the switching module further comprises a first and a second switches against said first and second display processing devices separately to transmit the display signal to the displayer. Besides, a selector is utilized to control and choose the power supply circuit of the power supply module and the contact of the first and the second switches so as to let said first or second display processing devices transmit display signal to a displayer and play image. To have a further understanding about the features of the structure and the achieved effects, of the present invention, the preferred embodiment and detailed description are unfolded as following. | 20040914 | 20080603 | 20060112 | 98475.0 | G09G500 | 0 | KOVALICK, VINCENT E | DISPLAY PROCESSING SWITCHING CONSTRUCT UTILIZED IN INFORMATION DEVICE | UNDISCOUNTED | 0 | ACCEPTED | G09G | 2,004 |
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10,940,028 | ACCEPTED | Programmable wireless transceiving module | A programmable wireless transceiving module applicable to a wireless electronic product comprises a main body, a control unit, a wireless transceiving unit, a programmable memory, and several conducting pins. A circuit board with the control unit thereon is provided in the main body. The control unit is connected to the wireless transceiving unit and the programmable memory. The wireless transceiving unit can use the programmable memory to store programs, and can be connected with other electronic products for signal transmission via the conducting pins. The programmable wireless transceiving module can be used as a terminal product for plug-and-play and an industrial component to support various electronic products requiring the wireless transceiving function, and can reduce the production cost. Users can also freely download digital control programs and data for supporting related electronic products by themselves. | 1. A programmable wireless transceiving module applicable to an ordinary electronic product comprising: a main body with a circuit board disposed therein, several metal contacts being provided on said circuit board; a control unit disposed in said main body and located on said circuit board; a wireless transceiving unit disposed on said circuit board and connected to said control unit, said wireless transceiving unit being controlled by said control unit for wireless transmission of said electronic product to transmit and receive digital data or sound, said wireless transceiving unit also providing download of related programs required by said electronic product; a programmable memory disposed on said circuit board and connected to said control unit for storing and decoding related application programs and control codes; and several conducting pins disposed on said circuit board and connected with said control unit via said metal contacts, said conducting pins being exposed out of said main body to provide electric connection with said electronic product for signal transmission. 2. The programmable wireless transceiving module as claimed in claim 1, wherein said circuit board is a bluetooth transceiving module. 3. The programmable wireless transceiving module as claimed in claim 1, wherein said programmable memory is an electronic erasable programmable read only memory or a flash memory. 4. The programmable wireless transceiving module as claimed in claim 1, wherein said electronic product has a connection interface connected with said control unit and said conducting pins for signal transmission. 5. The programmable wireless transceiving module as claimed in claim 1, wherein said signal is a sound signal or a digital signal. 6. The programmable wireless transceiving module as claimed in claim 1, wherein said electronic product is a USB dongle, a headset, a carkit, a mouse, a remote controller, or a wireless adaptor. 7. The programmable wireless transceiving module as claimed in claim 1, wherein said main body is disposed in said electronic product. | FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a programmable wireless transceiving module and, more particularly, to a programmable wireless transceiving module having both the characteristics of terminal product and industrial component. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Along with technological progress of electronic products, their functions diversify more and more. The wireless transceiving function applicable to electronic products has gradually become inevitable for wireless electronic products. A wireless transceiving module is generally used on the circuit of an electronic product. Through manual soldering, it is disposed on a printed circuit board (PCB) in an electronic product with the circuit from function test, mechanical assembly, accessory packaging, to product inspection; or it is separately manufactured into an industrial component to endow a related product with the wireless transmission function through industrial processing. If the wireless transceiving module is disposed on a PCB in an electronic product, there may be large pressure of stocks to cause waste of resources and loss in operation due to product modeling, difference of product types and engineering change. On the other hand, if the wireless transceiving module is separately manufactured into an industrial component, professional production techniques are required to accomplish the wireless transmission function, hence greatly increasing the manufacturing cost and the lead time and thus turning down the business competition. Accordingly, the present invention aims to provide a programmable wireless transceiving module to enhance competition in the industry and solve the above problem in the prior art. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide a programmable wireless transceiving module having both the characteristics of terminal product and industrial component. When used as a terminal product, the plug-and-play function can be exploited separately to achieve connection with other electronic products having the wireless transceiving function. When used as an industrial component, the programmable wireless transceiving module can be directly connected with terminals of any other type electronic products via preserved interface contacts to accomplish wireless transceiving actions of digital data or sound without extra professional processing, assembly and test. Another object of the present invention is to provide a programmable wireless transceiving module so that users can access related drivers or control codes from websites by themselves to apply the programmable wireless transceiving module to different wireless electronic products. To achieve the above objects, the present invention provides a programmable wireless transceiving module, which comprises a main body, a control unit, a wireless transceiving unit, a programmable memory, and several conducting pins. A circuit board with the control unit thereon is provided in the main body. The control unit is connected to the wireless transceiving unit and the programmable memory. The wireless transceiving unit can use the programmable memory to store programs, and can be connected with other electronic products for signal transmission via the conducting pins. The various objects and advantages of the present invention will be more readily understood from the following detailed description when read in conjunction with the appended drawings, in which: BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the present invention; and FIG. 2 is a circuit block diagram of the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention proposes a programmable wireless transceiving module having both the characteristics of terminal product and industrial component. The programmable wireless transceiving module can apply to an ordinary electronic product like a USB dongles, a headset, a carkit, a mouse, and a wireless adaptor, and can further be widely used in 3C electric appliances and remote controllers. Please refer to FIG. 1 as well as FIG. 2. A programmable wireless transceiving module 20 comprises a main body 202 with a user interface provided thereon for convenient operations of users. Pads of related control interfaces like programming interfaces (PI), IO interfaces, decoding and encoding interfaces, RS232 interfaces (UART) and USB interfaces are preserved on the main body 202. A circuit board 204 like a printed circuit board (PCB) is disposed in the main body 202. A control unit 206, a wireless transceiving unit 208 which is a bluetooth transceiving module, and a programmable memory 210 are disposed on the circuit board 204. The programmable memory 210 is usually an electrically erasable programmable read only memory (EEPROM) or a flash memory. The control unit 206 is connected to the wireless transceiving unit 208 and the programmable memory 210. The wireless transceiving unit 208 is controlled by the control unit 206 for download of programs required by electronic products so that users can download for upgrade of programs by themselves and transceiving actions of the electronic products can be accomplished. The programmable memory 210 can store the programs downloaded by the wireless transceiving unit 208. Several conducting contacts 212 are disposed on the circuit board 204. The conducting contacts 212 are connected to the control unit 206, and are exposed out of the main body 202 to be used as connection interfaces. When the programmable wireless transceiving module 20 is used independently, the conducting contacts 212 on the PCB are used for direct connection with a USB terminal of a computer for wireless transmission of digital information or sound signals. That is, the main body 202 is directly connected with a USB connection terminal of a computer via the conducting contacts 212. When the main body 202 is used as a wireless transceiving unit of another electronic product, it can be used for direct download of related digital programs or control codes supporting electronic products via the conducting contacts 212 through a personal computer. The programs can be stored in the programmable memory 210. The product of the present invention can be used to support related electronic products via the conducting contacts to accomplish the object of wireless transmission. A PCB with circuits required by several electronic products thereon is disposed in the electronic product. In addition to being used independently for connection with any electronic product, the programmable wireless transceiving module 20 can also be installed on a PCB of an electronic product. The wireless transceiving module is together manufactured on the PCB and connected with other circuits in the prior art instead. Therefore, if the programmable wireless transceiving module 20 is damaged, it is only necessary to replace a new programmable transceiving module 20 instead of the whole PCB in the prior art, hence reducing the cost. To sum up, the present invention makes use of a built-in EEPROM having the programmable function to accomplish download of programs required by an electronic product, the plug-and-play function, and mass production. It is only necessary to use a programmable wireless transceiving module to apply to various electronic products requiring the wireless transceiving function. In addition to being used independently for connection with other electronic products, the programmable wireless transceiving module of the present invention can also be installed on a PCB in an electronic product. If the wireless transceiving module is damaged, it is only necessary to replace a new wireless transceiving module instead of the whole PCB in the prior art, hence lowering the cost. Although the present invention has been described with reference to the preferred embodiments thereof, it will be understood that the invention is not limited to the details thereof. Various substitutions and modifications have been suggested in the foregoing description, and others will occur to those of ordinary skill in the art. Therefore, all such substitutions and modifications are intended to be embraced within the scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims. | <SOH> BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION <EOH>Along with technological progress of electronic products, their functions diversify more and more. The wireless transceiving function applicable to electronic products has gradually become inevitable for wireless electronic products. A wireless transceiving module is generally used on the circuit of an electronic product. Through manual soldering, it is disposed on a printed circuit board (PCB) in an electronic product with the circuit from function test, mechanical assembly, accessory packaging, to product inspection; or it is separately manufactured into an industrial component to endow a related product with the wireless transmission function through industrial processing. If the wireless transceiving module is disposed on a PCB in an electronic product, there may be large pressure of stocks to cause waste of resources and loss in operation due to product modeling, difference of product types and engineering change. On the other hand, if the wireless transceiving module is separately manufactured into an industrial component, professional production techniques are required to accomplish the wireless transmission function, hence greatly increasing the manufacturing cost and the lead time and thus turning down the business competition. Accordingly, the present invention aims to provide a programmable wireless transceiving module to enhance competition in the industry and solve the above problem in the prior art. | <SOH> SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION <EOH>An object of the present invention is to provide a programmable wireless transceiving module having both the characteristics of terminal product and industrial component. When used as a terminal product, the plug-and-play function can be exploited separately to achieve connection with other electronic products having the wireless transceiving function. When used as an industrial component, the programmable wireless transceiving module can be directly connected with terminals of any other type electronic products via preserved interface contacts to accomplish wireless transceiving actions of digital data or sound without extra professional processing, assembly and test. Another object of the present invention is to provide a programmable wireless transceiving module so that users can access related drivers or control codes from websites by themselves to apply the programmable wireless transceiving module to different wireless electronic products. To achieve the above objects, the present invention provides a programmable wireless transceiving module, which comprises a main body, a control unit, a wireless transceiving unit, a programmable memory, and several conducting pins. A circuit board with the control unit thereon is provided in the main body. The control unit is connected to the wireless transceiving unit and the programmable memory. The wireless transceiving unit can use the programmable memory to store programs, and can be connected with other electronic products for signal transmission via the conducting pins. The various objects and advantages of the present invention will be more readily understood from the following detailed description when read in conjunction with the appended drawings, in which: | 20040914 | 20061017 | 20060105 | 94626.0 | H04Q720 | 0 | BEAMER, TEMICA M | PROGRAMMABLE WIRELESS TRANSCEIVING MODULE | SMALL | 0 | ACCEPTED | H04Q | 2,004 |
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10,940,149 | ACCEPTED | Circular knit bra having different areas of stretchability and method of making the same | There is provided a circular knit brassiere having a body portion with a pair of breast cups and a pair of side panels. Each side panel is connected to a different breast cup. The brassiere has different degrees of stretchability in each breast cup and side panel as compared to the center region of the brassiere. Tighter stitches with shorter stitch lengths than in the center region are used in the breast cups, thereby providing support for the breasts. Looser stitches, with longer stitch lengths than in the center region, are used in each side to provide improved flexibility and comfort to the wearer. | 1. A circular knit brassiere comprising: a body portion having an area that includes a pair of breast cups and a pair of side panels, each breast cup being positioned between the area and a different one of the pair of breast cups adjacent said area, wherein said area except for said pair of breast cups has a baseline of stretchability, each of said breast cups has a first degree of stretchability, and each of said pair of side panels has a second degree of stretchability. 2. The brassiere of claim 1, wherein said first degree of stretchability has less stretch than the baseline. 3. The brassiere of claim 2, wherein said second degree of stretchability has greater stretch than the baseline. 4. The brassiere of claim 1, wherein said first degree of stretchability is derived from tighter stitch length and density than stitch length and density of the baseline. 5. The brassiere of claim 1, wherein said second degree of stretchability has greater stretch than the baseline. 6. The brassiere of claim 5, wherein said second degree of stretchability is derived from looser stitch length and density than the stitch length and density of the baseline. 7. The brassiere of claim 1, wherein each of said side panels has at least two regions of stretchability. 8. The brassiere of claim 1, wherein each of said pair of side panels has two regions of stretchability. 9. The brassiere of claim 8, wherein said two regions of stretchability include an inner side panel region adjacent said area, and an outer side panel region adjacent said inner side panel region, and wherein said outer side panel region has greater stretchability than said inner side panel region. 10. The brassiere of claim 9, wherein said inner side panel region has a cross stretch ranging about 2% to about 8% of the baseline. 11. The brassiere of claim 9, wherein said outer side panel region has a cross stretch ranging about 8% to about 15% of the baseline. 12. The brassiere of claim 1, wherein said breast cup has a cross stretch ranging about −25% to about −30% of the baseline. 13. The brassiere of claim 1, wherein each of said pair of side panels has progressive degrees of stretchability with less stretchability adjacent said area. 14. A circular knit brassiere comprising: a body portion having an area with a pair of breast cups and having a pair of side panels adjacent said pair of breast cups, wherein said area except for said pair of breast cups has a baseline of stretchability, each of said pair of breast cups has a first degree of stretchability that is less stretchability than the baseline, and each of said side panels has a second degree of stretchability that is greater stretchability than the baseline. 15. The brassiere of claim 14, wherein said first degree of stetchability has a higher degree of stitch tightness and density with shorter stitch length than said second degree of stretchability. 16. The brassiere of claim 14, wherein each of said side panels has two regions of stretchability. 17. The brassiere of claim 16, wherein said two regions of stretchability include an inner side panel region adjacent said area, and an outer side panel region adjacent said inner side panel region. 18. The brassiere of claim 17, wherein said inner side panel region has said second degree of stretchability, and wherein said outer side panel region has a third degree of stretchability that is greater said second degree of stretchability of said inner side panel region. 19. The brassiere of claim 17, wherein said inner side panel region has a cross stretch ranging about 2% to about 8% of the baseline. 20. The brassiere of claim 17, wherein said outer side panel region has a cross stretch ranging about 8% to about 15% of the baseline. 21. The brassiere of claim 14, wherein each of said breast cups has a cross stretch ranging about −25% to about −30% of the baseline. 22. The brassiere of claim 14, wherein each of said side panels has progressive degrees of stretchability with less stretchability adjacent said area. | BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to brassieres and methods of making same. More particularly, the present invention provides circular knit brassieres having varying degrees of stretchability in a body portion or half of a brassiere that includes a breast cup and its respective side panel. The present invention further provides that the body portion has different degrees of stitch tightness and density. 2. Description of the Prior Art Modern brassieres are designed in an attempt to accommodate the needs for comfort during wear, as well as support. Thus, these brassieres attempt to provide flexibility, freedom of movement, and breast support. Circular knit brassieres have become popular since they appear to maximize comfort and flexibility. Circular knit technology has been used to create brassieres that accommodate a need for maximum stretchability and freedom of movement. While brassieres of circular knit construction have become popular, they may not have provided for the maximum comfort and flexibility that are desired in an undergarment, as well as breast cup support. Therefore, a need still exists for a circular knit brassiere having maximum support and comfort in the breast cups, yet increased flexibility, support and comfort, as well as stability, throughout the remainder of the brassiere. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide a seamless circular knit brassiere having different or varying degrees of stretchability in the body portion or portions of the brassiere, that is differing in degrees of stretchability about the waistline direction of the brassiere. It is another object of the present invention to provide such a seamless circular knit brassiere in which the different degrees of stretchability are three or more discrete areas in the brassiere along the body portion. It is yet another object of the present invention to provide such a seamless circular knit brassiere in which the different degrees of stretchability is gradual throughout all or a substantially all of the body portion. It is still another object of the present invention to provide such a seamless circular knit brassiere in which the different degrees of stretchability are achieved by differences in density and stitch construction. It is still yet another object of the present invention to provide a seamless circular knit brassiere that has progressive areas of differential stretchability from the breast cup to the back along the body portion of the brassiere. It is a further object of the present invention to provide a seamless circular knit brassiere that has a tighter stitch in the breast cup and a less tighter stitch in the side and/or rear panel of the body portion. It is still a further object of the present invention to provide a method of making a seamless circular knit brassiere having integrally selected knitted areas with varying degrees of stretchability. It is yet a further object of the present invention to provide a method of making such a seamless circular knit brassiere in which the different degrees of stretchability are achieved by different stitch tightness and density. It is still yet a further object of the present invention to provide such a method of making a seamless circular knit brassiere in which select yarn feed-in tensioning is used while either changing or still maintaining the same basic stitch construction configuration. These and other objects and advantages of the present invention are achieved by a brassiere formed from a circular knit bra blank. The brassiere has a body portion with a pair of breast cups and side panels with each side panel connected to a different one of the pair of breast cups. The brassiere has different degrees of stretchability in each breast cup and side panel, as compared to the center or center region of the brassiere. Tighter stitches than in the center region are used in the breast cups, thereby providing support for the breasts. Looser stitches than in the center region are used in the side panels of the brassiere to provide improved flexibility and comfort to the wearer. In a preferred embodiment, each side panel has at least two discrete areas or regions of different stretchability. The region of the side panel nearest to the breast cup has a lesser degree of stretchability than the region of the side panel farthest from the breast cup. In still another preferred embodiment of the present invention, the different degrees of stretchability in the side panels are gradual throughout each side panel. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The foregoing and still other objects and advantages of the present invention will be more apparent from the following detailed explanation of the preferred embodiments of the invention in connection with the accompanying drawings. FIG. 1 is a front view of a brassiere according to a first embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 2 is a rear view of a brassiere according to a second embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 3 is a schematic view of the differential tightness areas in the body portion of the brassiere of FIG. 1; FIG. 4 is the stitch of highest density, having shorter stitch lengths, of a breast cup of the brassiere of the present invention; FIG. 5 is the stitch of intermediate density, having longer stitch lengths, of the breast cup of the brassiere of the present invention; and FIG. 6 is the stitch of least density, having the longest stitch lengths, of the breast cup of the brassiere of the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Referring to the drawings, and in particular FIG. 1, there is provided a bra or brassiere according to the present invention generally represented by reference numeral 10. Brassiere 10 is preferably formed from a unitary, circular knit bra blank so that there are no seams. Brassiere 10 can be a single layer or two or more layers of fabric. Preferably, brassiere 10 is formed of a single layer of fabric. Referring to FIG. 1, brassiere 10 has a body portion 20. In a less preferred embodiment, brassiere 10 can be formed of two or more integrally connected body portions 20. Body portion 20 has a center region 22 with a pair of breast cups 26, and a pair of side panels 28 positioned adjacent to its respective breast cup. The portion of the center region 22 that does not include breast cups 26 is an area 24. Area 24 includes an anchor chest band 23. Brassiere 10 preferably has a pair of shoulder straps 40 with each shoulder strap connected to a different portion of body portion 20. The shoulder straps 40 are preferably adjustable. Brassiere 10 may also have a pair of underwires 34 with each underwire disposed adjacent a lower margin edge of a different one of the pair of breast cups 26 to provide support. Brassiere 10, and in particular body portion 20, can terminate in a lower marginal edge 32. Each side panel 28, and thus body portion 20, is removably joined to the other side panel at the back of the wearer by conventional fasteners 36, such as, a hook-and-eye, snap, or velcro closure, to form a back closure brassiere 10. However, such fasteners 36 can be in center region 22 so that brassiere 10 would be a front closure brassiere. As shown in FIG. 3, center region 22 has area 24 that is the area of the center region except for breast cup 26. This area 24 has a baseline stretchability that is considered zero for the purposes of this application. Breast cup 26 has a first degree of stretchability that is less than baseline or area 24. In a preferred embodiment which is the subject of a copending application, each breast cup 26 has discrete or different or varying areas of stretchability in the breast cup itself. Side panel 28 of body portion 20 preferably has at least two discrete or somewhat discrete side panel areas or regions, namely first or inner side panel region 29 and second or outer side panel region 30. The first or inner side panel region 29 is positioned between breast cup 26 and second, or outer side panel region 30. Inner side panel region 29 has a second degree of stretchability, while outer side panel region 30 has a third degree of stretchability. Inner side panel region 29 and outer side panel region 30, respectively second and third regions of stretchability, have a greater stretchability than area 24. Also, outer side panel region 30 has a greater stretchability than inner side panel region 29. Thus, body portion 20 has a baseline of zero stretchability in area 24. Each breast cup 26 has a lesser degree of stretchability than baseline or area 24. Inner side panel region 29 has a greater degree of stretchability than baseline in area 24 and each breast cup 26, while outer side panel region 30 has an even greater degree of stretchability than baseline (area 24), breast cups 26 and side panel 29. Accordingly, stretchability of body portion 20 increases from breast cups 26 to fasteners 36. FIG. 2 illustrates the rear portion of brassiere 10 having a second embodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment, breast cup 26 again has a lesser degree of stretchability than baseline or area 24, and side panel 28 has a greater degree of stretchability than baseline or area 24. However, side panel 28 does not have any discrete regions of stretchability, but instead has a gradual or progressive increase in stretchability starting adjacent breast cups 26 and moving away from area 24 toward fasteners 36. Thus, as in the first embodiment, stretchability of body portion 20 increases from breast cups 26 to fasteners 36. While the knit construction or stitch pattern of brassiere 10 may be formed of one or more conventional knit stitches, the degrees of stretchability are achieved by differences in stitch tightness/length or stitch density. FIG. 4 illustrates an example of the tightest stitch pattern. This stitch pattern has the shortest stitch length, and therefore the tightest stitch density. This stitch is used in breast cup 26. As discussed above, the copending application discusses the preferred embodiment in which breast cup 26 has areas or zones of varying tight stitch patterns, all of which are preferably tighter than stitches in area 24. FIG. 5 illustrates an example of the intermediate stitch density pattern used in inner side panel region 29 of FIG. 3. This stitch pattern has a medium stitch length, and therefore a medium stitch density. FIG. 6 illustrates an example of the loosest stitch pattern having a longer stitch length, and therefore a lower stitch density. This stitch is used in outer side panel region 30, of the FIG. 1 embodiment of the present invention. In the FIG. 2 embodiment, side panel 28 would have progressive or gradual varying stitch patterns that would preferably range from the intermediate stitch pattern of FIG. 5 to the loose stitch pattern of FIG. 6. In a stitch graduation test in which brassiere blanks were knitted using various stepping motor values, the cross stretch of the fabric used areas or regions of brassiere 10 was determined. The knitting machine most commonly used in circular knit technology is manufactured under the brand name Santoni®. The software used to run the Santoni® circular knit machine allows the user to assign a stepping motor value that determines the knit tension of the fabric. At the default, Santoni® stepping motor value of 60, which is considered the baseline zero point, the cross stretch of the fabric tubular blank was 32.3 inches. Thus, area 24, which is baseline zero point, has a cross stretch of 32.3 inches. Breast cup 26 area is knitted at a Santoni stepping motor value of −30. Using this value, breast cup 26 area has been measured with a tubular blank cross stretch of 24 inches, which is a −26% difference from the baseline value of 32.3 inches. This means that breast cup 26 has 26% less stretch or is tighter than baseline or area 24. Preferably, the cross stretch of breast cup 26 ranges about −25% to about −30% of baseline. More preferably, the cross stretch of breast cup 26 is −26% of baseline. The tighter stitches in breast cup 26 result in a breast cup that retains significant opacity properties and does not become more sheer in coverage, particularly during molding of the cups than the remaining bra body fabric and side panel portions. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 3, the first preferred embodiment of the present invention has discrete inner and outer side panel regions 29 and 30, respectively. As shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, the stitch length in each of these inner and outer side panel regions 29, 30 is different. Using looser stitches provides more flexible and normally greater comfort to the wearer, while decreasing the amount of support. Clearly, outer side panel region 30 has more flexibility and more comfort, yet less support, than inner side panel region 29. However, in a brassiere, less support and more flexibility and comfort is desired toward the back of the wearer where outer side panel region 30 is located. Inner side panel region 29, which is located adjacent to breast cup 26, has the intermediate stitch pattern illustrated in FIG. 5. Inner side panel region 29 is knitted at a Santoni® stepping motor value of +6. Using this value, inner side panel region 29 has a cross stretch of 33.7 inches on the tubular blank, which is a 4% increase of the baseline or baseline value of 32.3 inches. Preferably, the cross stretch of inner side panel region 29 ranges about 2% to about 8% higher than the baseline. More preferably, the cross stretch of inner side panel region 29 is 4% greater than the baseline. Outer side panel region 30, which in this embodiment is located immediately adjacent to inner side panel region 29, has the looser stitch pattern illustrated in FIG. 6. Outer side panel region 30 is knitted at a Santoni® stepping motor value of +14. Using this value, outer side panel region 30 in testing the tubular blank has a cross stretch of 35.8 inches, which is an 11% increase of the baseline value of 32.3 inches. Preferably, the cross stretch of outer side panel region 30 ranges about 8% to about 15% of baseline. More preferably, the cross stretch of outer side panel region 30 is 11%. Brassiere 10 preferably is knit of an elastomeric or stretch knitted fabric. Such fabrics may be made by varying combinations of cotton or polyester or nylon and spandex yarns. Such yarns provide softness, comfort, and desired wicking properties. While the two embodiments of the present invention discussed herein show each of breast cups 26 adjacent inner side panel region 29 or side panel 28, a panel may be inserted and either sewn, glued, or thermofused onto body portion 20 between the breast cup and the side panel region or side panel provided this panel does not effect the stretchability of inner side panel region 29 or side panel 28. The present invention has been described with particular reference to the preferred embodiments. It should be understood that the foregoing descriptions and examples are only illustrative of the invention. Various alternatives and modifications thereof can be devised by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. Accordingly, the present invention is intended to embrace all such alternatives, modifications, and variations that fall within the scope of the appended claims. | <SOH> BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION <EOH>1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to brassieres and methods of making same. More particularly, the present invention provides circular knit brassieres having varying degrees of stretchability in a body portion or half of a brassiere that includes a breast cup and its respective side panel. The present invention further provides that the body portion has different degrees of stitch tightness and density. 2. Description of the Prior Art Modern brassieres are designed in an attempt to accommodate the needs for comfort during wear, as well as support. Thus, these brassieres attempt to provide flexibility, freedom of movement, and breast support. Circular knit brassieres have become popular since they appear to maximize comfort and flexibility. Circular knit technology has been used to create brassieres that accommodate a need for maximum stretchability and freedom of movement. While brassieres of circular knit construction have become popular, they may not have provided for the maximum comfort and flexibility that are desired in an undergarment, as well as breast cup support. Therefore, a need still exists for a circular knit brassiere having maximum support and comfort in the breast cups, yet increased flexibility, support and comfort, as well as stability, throughout the remainder of the brassiere. | <SOH> SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION <EOH>It is an object of the present invention to provide a seamless circular knit brassiere having different or varying degrees of stretchability in the body portion or portions of the brassiere, that is differing in degrees of stretchability about the waistline direction of the brassiere. It is another object of the present invention to provide such a seamless circular knit brassiere in which the different degrees of stretchability are three or more discrete areas in the brassiere along the body portion. It is yet another object of the present invention to provide such a seamless circular knit brassiere in which the different degrees of stretchability is gradual throughout all or a substantially all of the body portion. It is still another object of the present invention to provide such a seamless circular knit brassiere in which the different degrees of stretchability are achieved by differences in density and stitch construction. It is still yet another object of the present invention to provide a seamless circular knit brassiere that has progressive areas of differential stretchability from the breast cup to the back along the body portion of the brassiere. It is a further object of the present invention to provide a seamless circular knit brassiere that has a tighter stitch in the breast cup and a less tighter stitch in the side and/or rear panel of the body portion. It is still a further object of the present invention to provide a method of making a seamless circular knit brassiere having integrally selected knitted areas with varying degrees of stretchability. It is yet a further object of the present invention to provide a method of making such a seamless circular knit brassiere in which the different degrees of stretchability are achieved by different stitch tightness and density. It is still yet a further object of the present invention to provide such a method of making a seamless circular knit brassiere in which select yarn feed-in tensioning is used while either changing or still maintaining the same basic stitch construction configuration. These and other objects and advantages of the present invention are achieved by a brassiere formed from a circular knit bra blank. The brassiere has a body portion with a pair of breast cups and side panels with each side panel connected to a different one of the pair of breast cups. The brassiere has different degrees of stretchability in each breast cup and side panel, as compared to the center or center region of the brassiere. Tighter stitches than in the center region are used in the breast cups, thereby providing support for the breasts. Looser stitches than in the center region are used in the side panels of the brassiere to provide improved flexibility and comfort to the wearer. In a preferred embodiment, each side panel has at least two discrete areas or regions of different stretchability. The region of the side panel nearest to the breast cup has a lesser degree of stretchability than the region of the side panel farthest from the breast cup. In still another preferred embodiment of the present invention, the different degrees of stretchability in the side panels are gradual throughout each side panel. | 20040914 | 20070130 | 20050623 | 57841.0 | 1 | HALE, GLORIA M | CIRCULAR KNIT BRA HAVING DIFFERENT AREAS OF STRETCHABILITY AND METHOD OF MAKING THE SAME | UNDISCOUNTED | 1 | CONT-ACCEPTED | 2,004 |
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10,940,214 | ACCEPTED | System for monitoring and managing body weight and other physiological conditions including iterative and personalized planning, intervention and reporting capability | A nutrition and activity management system is disclosed that monitors energy expenditure of an individual through the use of a body-mounted sensing apparatus. The apparatus is particularly adapted for continuous wear. The system is also adaptable or applicable to measuring a number of other physiological parameters and reporting the same and derivations of such parameters. A weight management embodiment is directed to achieving an optimum or preselected energy balance between calories consumed and energy expended by the user. An adaptable computerized nutritional tracking system is utilized to obtain data regarding food consumed, Relevant and predictive feedback is provided to the user regarding the mutual effect of the user's energy expenditure, food consumption and other measured or derived or manually input physiological contextual parameters upon progress toward said goal. | 1. A system for monitoring human physiological parameters and providing status information therefor, the system comprising: an apparatus adapted for placement on the human body which: (a) receives at least one of (i) detected and (ii) manually input data related to a first human physiological parameter; (b) directly detecting at least a second human physiological parameter; and (c) providing status information with respect to the mutual effect of changes of said first and second human physiological parameters upon each other. 2. A system as described in claim 1, wherein said apparatus is a sensor device for mounting on the human body. 3. A system as described in claim 2, wherein said sensor device is an armband sensor device for mounting on the upper arm of the human body. 4. A system as described in claim 2, wherein said sensor device further comprises at least one sensor for detecting at least one of said first and second human physiological parameters. 5. A system as described in claim 2, wherein said at least one sensor further comprises at least one of: a sensor for measuring GSR including at least two electrical contacts, a skin temperature sensor, an ambient temperature sensor, an accelerometer, an ambient light sensor, an ambient sound sensor, an EMG sensor, an ECG sensor, a heart parameter related sensor, a GPS sensor and a skin impedance sensor. 6. A system as described in claim 2, wherein said sensor device further comprises at least one sensor for detecting contextual parameter. 7. A system as described in claim 6, further comprising at least one sensor for detecting additional human physiological status parameters. 8. A system as described in claim 7, wherein said first and second human physiological parameters, said additional human physiological parameters and said contextual parameters are utilized to derive data indicative of the nature of an activity of the wearer. 9. A system as described in claim 8, wherein said first and second human physiological parameters and said data indicative of the nature of an activity of the wearer are correlated by time. 10. A system as described in claim 9, wherein said system provides output data comprising said time correlated first and second physiological parameters and said data indicative of the nature of the activity of the wearer. 11. A system as described in claim 1, wherein said first human physiological parameter is daily caloric intake. 12. A system as described in claim 11, wherein said daily caloric intake is manually input . 13. A system as described in claim 12, wherein said daily caloric intake is manually input by the user. 14. A system as described in claim 12, wherein said daily caloric intake is manually input for a user by another individual. 15. A system as described in claim 12, wherein said daily caloric intake is manually input for multiple users by a single person. 16. A system as described in claim 11, further comprising a prepopulated food database, from which food items are selected for the calculation of daily caloric intake. 17. A system as described in claim 16, wherein said database may be amended with custom items. 18. A system as described in claim 16, further comprising a prioritized list of food items from which food items may be selected. 19. A system as described in claim 18, wherein said list of food items is dynamically updated based upon frequency of selection. 20. A system as described in claim 18, wherein said list of food items is dynamically updated based upon one of: time of day, day of week, meal, season and meal plan. 21. A system as described in claim 16, further comprising a database of menu plans, including suggested foods for consumption. 22. A system as described in claim 1, wherein said first human physiological parameter is blood glucose level. 23. A system as described in claim 1, further comprising a glucometer in electronic communication with said system, wherein said blood glucose level is transmitted to said system from said glucometer. 24. A system as described in claim 1, wherein said second human physiological parameter is energy expenditure. 25. A system as described in claim 24, wherein said energy expenditure is manually input. 26. A system as described in claim 25, further comprising a database of activities having an energy expenditure value associated therewith, from which a user may select an appropriate activity. 27. A system as described in claim 1, wherein said system detects energy expenditure as the second human physiological parameter. 28. A system as described in claim 27, wherein said energy expenditure is detected by a sensor device adapted for mounting on the human body. 29. A system as described in claim 27, wherein energy expenditure is calculated according to the formula: TEE=BMR+AE+TEF+AT wherein BMR is basal metabolic rate, AE is activity energy expenditure, TEF is thermic effect of food and AT is adaptive thermogenesis. 30. A system as described in claim 1, further comprising an additional detection device in electronic communication with said system wherein at least one of said first and second human physiological parameters is obtained from said additional detection device. 31. A system as described in claim 30, wherein said additional detection device further comprises one of a weight scale and a glucometer, a blood pressure cuff and a pulse oximeter. 32. A system as described in claim 1, further comprising a data entry device for manual input of data related to said human physiological parameters. 33. A system as described in claim 1, further comprising a processor for calculating data indicative of at one of said first and second human physiological parameters of the user. 34. A system as described in claim 33, wherein said data indicative of at least one of said first and second human physiological parameters is energy balance. 35. A system as described in claim 1, further comprising a display means for displaying information to a user. 36. A system as described in claim 1, wherein said system is in electronic communication with an external computing device. 37. A system as described in claim 36, wherein said external computing device is in electronic communication through a data information network. 38. A system as described in claim 36, wherein said external computing device is provided with data from said system. 39. A system as described in claim 37, wherein said external computing device is in electronic communication with a plurality of other like systems. 40. A system as described in claim 39, wherein said system and said external computing device exchange data for the purpose of creating databases of aggregate data output from said system. 41. A system as described in claim 39, wherein said system, said external computing device and said other like systems exchange data for the purpose of creating aggregate data output from all of said systems. 42. A system as described in claim 36, wherein said external computing device exchanges data with said system for the purpose of modifying the operation of said system. 43. A system for monitoring and managing body weight comprised of: a body mounted detection apparatus for detecting data indicative of human status parameters selected from the group consisting of energy expenditure and nutritional parameters of an individual; and a monitoring unit in communication with said detection apparatus for receiving at least one of (i) manually input and (ii) detected human status parameter data and manipulating said data to provide feedback with respect to the mutual effect of changes in said human status parameters upon each other. 44. A system as described in claim 43 wherein said body mounted detection apparatus comprises at least one sensor for detecting at least one of said human status parameters. 45. A system as described in claim 44 wherein said body mounted detection apparatus is an armband sensor device. 46. A system as described in claim 44, wherein said body mounted detection apparatus further comprises at least one sensor for detecting contextual parameters. 47. A system as described in claim 46, further comprising at least one sensor for detecting additional human status parameters. 48. A system as described in claim 47, wherein said human status parameters, said additional human status parameters and said contextual parameters are utilized to derive data indicative of the nature of an activity of the wearer. 49. A system as described in claim 48, wherein said human status parameters and said data indicative of the nature of the activity of the wearer are correlated by time. 50. A system as described in claim 49, wherein said system provides output data comprising said time correlated human status parameters and said data indicative of the nature of the activity of the wearer. 51. A system as described in claim 44, wherein said at least one sensor further comprises at least one of: a sensor for measuring GSR including at least two electrical contacts, a skin temperature sensor, an ambient temperature sensor, an accelerometer, an ambient light sensor, an ambient sound sensor, an EMG sensor, an ECG sensor, a heart parameter related sensor, a GPS sensor and a skin impedance sensor. 52. A system as described in claim 44, wherein said human status parameter data includes weight data for said individual. 53. A system as described in claim 52, wherein said weight data is utilized to calculate change in weight of said individual. 54. A system as described in claim 53, wherein said change in weight and detected energy expenditure are utilized to calculate daily caloric intake. 55. A system as described in claim 43, wherein said first human status parameter is daily caloric intake. 56. A system as described in claim 55, wherein said daily caloric intake is manually input. 57. A system as described in claim 56, wherein said daily caloric intake is manually input by the user. 58. A system as described in claim 56, wherein said daily caloric intake is manually input for a user by another individual. 59. A system as described in claim 56, wherein said daily caloric intake is manually input for multiple users by a single person. 60. A system as described in claim 55, further comprising a prepopulated food database, from which food items are selected for the calculation of daily caloric intake. 61. A system as described in claim 60, wherein said database may be amended with custom items. 62. A system as described in claim 60, further comprising a prioritized list of food items from which food items may be selected. 63. A system as described in claim 62, wherein said list of food items is dynamically updated based upon frequency of selection. 64. A system as described in claim 62, wherein said list of frequently consumed items is dynamically updated based upon one of: time of day, day of week, meal, season, and meal plan. 65. A system as described in claim 62, further comprising a database of menu plans, including suggested foods for consumption. 66. A system as described in claim 43, wherein one of said human status parameters is energy expenditure. 67. A system as described in claim 66, wherein said energy expenditure is manually input. 68. A system as described in claim 67, further comprising a database of activities having an energy expenditure value associated therewith, from which a user may select an appropriate activity. 69. A system as described in claim 43, wherein said system detects energy expenditure as the a human status parameter. 70. A system as described in claim 69, wherein said energy expenditure is detected by a sensor device adapted for mounting on the human body. 71. A system as described in claim 69, wherein energy expenditure is calculated according to the formula: TEE=BMR+AE+TEF+AT wherein BMR is basal metabolic rate, AE is activity energy expenditure, TEF is thermic effect of food and AT is adaptive thermogenesis. 72. A system as described in claim 43, further comprising an additional detection device in electronic communication with said system wherein at least one of said human status parameters is obtained from said additional detection device. 73. A system as described in claim 72, wherein said additional detection device further comprises a weight scale. 74. A system as described in claim 43, further comprising a data entry device for manual input of data related to said human status parameters. 75. A system as described in claim 43, further comprising a processor for calculating data indicative of at one of said first and second human status parameters of the user. 76. A system as described in claim 75, wherein said data indicative of at least one of said human status parameters is energy balance. 77. A system as described in claim 43, further comprising a display means for displaying information to a user. 78. A system as described in claim 43, wherein said system is in electronic communication with an external computing device. 79. A system as described in claim 78, wherein said external computing device is in electronic communication through a data information network. 80. A system as described in claim 78, wherein said external computing device is provided with data from said system. 81. A system as described in claim 79, wherein said external computing device is in electronic communication with a plurality of other like systems. 82. A system as described in claim 81, wherein said system and said external computing device exchange data for the purpose of creating databases of aggregate data output from said system. 83. A system as described in claim 81, wherein said system, said external computing device and said other like systems exchange data for the purpose of creating aggregate data output from all of said systems. 84. A system as described in claim 78, wherein said external computing device exchanges data with said system for the purpose of modifying the operation of said system. 85. A system as described in claim 43, further comprising a feedback and coaching engine wherein said feedback and coaching engine analyzes said mutual effect of changes of said human physiological parameters upon each other and provides one of feedback and status information to said individual. 86. A system as described in claim 85, wherein said one of feedback and status information is in the form of suggestions to said individual. 87. A system as described in claim 85, wherein said status information includes said human status parameters. 88. A system as described in claim 85, wherein said feedback and coaching engine provides output which is modified based on at least one of the individual's detected human status parameters and said status information. 89. A method of providing feedback regarding human physiological parameters of an individual, said method comprising the steps of: placing a detection apparatus upon the body of said individual for detecting a first human physiological status parameter; obtaining input data from at least one of (i) manually input data and (ii) data detected from said detection apparatus indicative of said first and a second human physiological status parameter; and manipulating said data to provide feedback with respect to the mutual effect of changes in said human status parameters upon each other. 90. A method as described in claim 89, wherein said first human physiological status parameter is energy expenditure. 91. A method as described in claim 89, further comprising the step of detecting contextual parameters. 92. A method as described in claim 91, further comprising the step of detecting additional human physiological status parameters. 93. A method as described in claim 92, further comprising the step of deriving data indicative of the nature of an activity of the wearer from said first and second human physiological status parameters, said additional human physiological status parameters and said contextual parameters. 94. A method as described in claim 93, wherein said data indicative of the nature of the activity of a wearer and said first and second human physiological status parameters are correlated by time. 95. A method as described in claim 94, wherein output data is provided for said time correlated first and second physiological status parameters and said data indicative of the nature of the activity of the wearer. 96. A method as described in claim 89, wherein said first human physiological parameter is daily caloric intake. 97. A method as described in claim 96, wherein said daily caloric intake is manually input. 98. A method as described in claim 97, wherein said daily caloric intake is manually input by the user. 99. A method as described in claim 96, wherein said daily caloric intake is manually input for a user by another individual. 100. A method as described in claim 97, wherein said daily caloric intake is manually input for multiple users by a single person. 101. A method as described in claim 97, further comprising a prepopulated food database, from which food items are selected for the calculation of daily caloric intake. 102. A method as described in claim 101, wherein said database may be amended with custom items. 103. A method as described in claim 102, further comprising a prioritized list of food items from which food items may be selected. 104. A method as described in claim 103, wherein said list of food items is dynamically updated based upon frequency of selection. 105. A method as described in claim 103, wherein said list of food items is dynamically updated based upon one of time of day, day of week, meal, season and meal plan. 106. A method as described in claim 101, further comprising a database of menu plans, including suggested foods for consumption. 107. A method as described in claim 89, wherein said first human physiological parameter is blood glucose level. 108. A method as described in claim 89, further comprising a glucometer in electronic communication with said system, wherein said blood glucose level is transmitted to said system from said glucometer. 109. A method as described in claim 89, further comprising a blood pressure cuff in electronic communication with said system, wherein said blood pressure is transmitted to said system from said blood pressure cuff. 110. A method as described in claim 89, further comprising a pulse oximeter in electronic communication with said system, wherein said pulse is transmitted to said system from pulse oximeter. 111. A method as described in claim 89, wherein said second human physiological parameter is energy expenditure. 112. A method as described in claim 111, wherein said energy expenditure is manually input. 113. A method as described in claim 112, further comprising a database of activities having an energy expenditure value associated therewith, from which a user may select an appropriate activity. 114. A method as described in claim 89, wherein said system detects energy expenditure as the second human physiological parameter. 115. A method as described in claim 114, wherein said energy expenditure is detected by a sensor device adapted for mounting on the human body. 116. A method as described in claim 114, wherein energy expenditure is calculated according to the formula: TEE=BMR+AE+TEF+AT wherein BMR is basal metabolic rate, AE is activity energy expenditure, TEF is thermic effect of food and AT is adaptive thermogenesis. 117. A method as described in claim 89, further comprising obtaining at least one of said first and second human physiological parameters from an additional detection device. 118. A method as described in claim 117, wherein said additional detection device further comprises one of a weight scale and a glucometer. 119. A method as described in claim 89, further comprising the step of deriving energy balance from said human physiological parameters. 120. A method as described in claim 119, wherein energy balance is derived from daily caloric intake and energy expenditure. 121. A method as described in claim 119, wherein said energy balance is utilized to track and predict changes in human physiological parameters. 122. A method as described in claim 120, wherein said feedback is provided regarding said mutual effect of daily caloric intake and energy expenditure upon each other. 123. A method as described in claim 97, wherein a user may substitute a summary entry based on the size of the meal. 124. A method as described in claim 97, wherein a combination of food items may be suggested. 125. A method as described in claim 97, wherein historical meal entry information is used to prompt the user to simplify manual input of current foods. 126. A method as described in claim 97, wherein said food database further comprises a search capability. 127. A method as described in claim 89, wherein said feedback is generated by a feedback and coaching engine. 128. A method as described in claim 127, wherein said feedback is provided regarding said mutual effect of nutritional and energy expenditure parameters upon each other. 129. A method as described in claim 89, wherein said feedback presents a variety of choices or suggestions. 130. A method as described in claim 129, wherein said suggestions include meal and vitamin supplements. 131. A method as described in claim 89, wherein said feedback is in the form of an intermittent status report. 132. A method as described in claim 131, wherein said intermittent status report is presented in an additional display box or window. 133. A method as described in claim 131, wherein said intermittent status report may be generated by a key string or parameter set. 134. A method as described in claim 131, wherein said intermittent status report contains information related to a user's preset goals. 135. A method as described in claim 89, wherein said feedback is requested by the user. 136. A method as described in claim 89, wherein said feedback is requested periodically. 137. A method as described in claim 89, further comprising the step of the individual providing responses to said feedback. 138. A method as described in claim 89, further comprising the steps of detecting responses of said individual to said feedback; and modifying said feedback according to the responses of said individual for the optimization of said feedback. 139. A method as described in claim 138, wherein said modification of said feedback is with respect to the tone of future feedback. 140. A method as described in claim 138, wherein said modification of said feedback is with respect to the severity of future feedback. 141. A method as described in claim 138, wherein said modification of said feedback is with respect to the content of future feedback. 142. A method as described in claim 138, wherein said feedback parameters are one of: context, estimated daily caloric intake and logged intake. 143. A method as described in claim 138, wherein said feedback is modified based upon one of: an entire population for a given situation, a particular group of individuals and from the individual. 144. A method as described in claim 138, wherein said modification of said feedback further comprises dynamically adjusting said feedback based upon a delayed reinforcement cycle in which the responses to the provided feedback are utilized to adjust subsequent feedback in order to optimize said feedback. 145. A method as described in claim 138, wherein said suggestions are related to said individual's detected nutritional parameters. 146. A method as described in claim 138, wherein said suggestions are one of: increase total energy expenditure, decrease daily caloric intake, combination of increase in total energy expenditure and decrease in daily caloric intake, and reset goals. 147. A method as described in claim 138, wherein said suggestions include an option to generate a new meal plan. 148. A method as described in claim 138, wherein said suggestions include an option to generate a new exercise plan. 149. A method as described in claim 138, wherein said suggestions are one of: a hint to wear the detection apparatus more, a hint to visit the gym more, a hint to log food items more regularly, and specific hints regarding the status of the individual. 150. A method as described in claim 127, wherein said feedback and coaching engine provides recommendations based on past history of recommendations and the user's physiological data. 151. A method as described in claim 89, wherein a sequence of one of negative, positive and neutral oriented human physiological status parameters are monitored. 152. A method as described in claim 151, wherein said sequence of one of negative, positive and neutral human status parameters are recorded as a pattern for future review. 153. A method as described in claim 152, wherein said recorded patterns are analyzed, matched and utilized to detect one of: (i) current and (ii) future sequences of negative, positive and neutral human physiological status parameters. 154. A method as described in claim 153, wherein said analysis and matching of recorded patterns are based on one of (i) data from the individual's personal history and (ii) aggregate data of other individuals. 155. A method as described in claim 153, wherein said feedback may be tailored to a specific sequence of one of negative, positive and neutral human physiological status parameters. 156. A method as described in claim 89, wherein the medium of the feedback is one of: telephony, email, mail, facsimile, or web site. 157. A method as described in claim 89, wherein said feedback is in the form of an intermittent status report. 158. A method as described in claim 157, wherein said intermittent status report is presented in an additional display box or window. 159. A method as described in claim 157, wherein said intermittent status report may be generated by a key string or parameter set. 160. A method as described in claim 157, wherein said intermittent status report contains information related to said individual's goals. 161. A method as described in claim 89, wherein said feedback is requested by the user. 162. A method as described in claim 89, wherein said feedback is requested periodically. 163. A method as described in claim 157, wherein said intermittent status report is selected from the group consisting of: today, a specific day, an average of several days, and since the beginning of the program. 164. A method as described in claim 157, wherein said intermittent status report is based on actual and goal values of energy expenditure and daily caloric intake. 165. A method as described in claim 157, wherein said intermittent status report provides suggestions based on time of day. 166. A method as described in claim 157, wherein said intermittent status report is based on the percentage of daily caloric intake. 167. A method as described in claim 157, wherein said intermittent status report is based on percentage of energy expenditure. 168. A method as described in claim 157, further comprising the step of choosing said intermittent status report, said choosing step logic including one of: a decision tree, a planning system, a constraint satisfaction system, a frame based system, a case based system, a rule based system, predicate calculus, a general purpose planning system, and a probabilistic network. 169. A method as described in claim 157, wherein said intermittent status report is based on energy balance. 170. A method as described in claim 169, wherein an energy balance value is calculated from energy expenditure and daily caloric intake 171. A method as described in claim 170, wherein an arbitrary threshold is chosen as a goal tolerance to place a user into a specific category based on current goal status. 172. A method as described in claim 171, wherein said category is indicated by a balance status indicator. 173. A method as described in claim 171, wherein said category is one of: a user has met and exceeded a daily energy balance goal, a user should meet a daily energy balance goal, and a user will not meet a daily energy balance goal. 174. A method as described in claim 171, wherein an arbitrary time is chosen as a threshold to determine if the time of day is one of early and late. 175. A method as described in claim 174, wherein the current time is compared to the arbitrary time in relation to the current goal status. 176. A method as described in claim 175, wherein said intermittent status report is generated indicating whether an individual is able to meet the energy balance goal based on the time of day. 177. A method as described in claim 176, wherein said intermittent status report indicates a suggestion for an energy expenditure activity to assist in accomplishing the energy balance goal. 178. A method as described in claim 177, wherein said intermittent status report suggests an activity based on goal status. 179. A method as described in claim 89, further comprising the step of establishing a database of data output. 180. A method as described in claim 179, wherein said database includes patterns of physiological data. 181. A method as described in claim 179, wherein said database includes patterns of contextual data. 182. A method as described in claim 179, wherein said database includes patterns of activity data derived from physiological and contextual data. 183. A method as described in claim 179, further comprising the step of analyzing said data output to establish data patterns. 184. A method as described in claim 183, further comprising the step of storing said data patterns. 185. A method as described in claim 184, further comprising the step of comparing stored data patterns to detected data to identify and categorize said detected data into additional data patterns. 186. A method as described in claim 184, further comprising the steps of: (i) comparing stored data patterns to detected data to identify such detected data as being similar to at least one of said stored data patterns and (ii) predicting future detected data. 187. A method as described in claim 186, further comprising the step of generating output based upon said prediction of said future detected data. 188. A method as described in claim 187, wherein said output is an alarm. 189. A method as described in claim 187, wherein said output is a report. 190. A method as described in claim 187, wherein said output is utilized as input by another device. 191. A method as described in claim 89, further comprising the final step of utilizing said feedback for the purpose of establishing an initial assessment for a health modification plan. 192. A method as described in claim 191, further comprising an additional final step of utilizing said feedback for assessing interim status of progress toward said health modification plan. 193. A method of weight loss management, said method comprising the steps of: establishing a weight modification goal; continuously monitoring a user's energy expenditure through the use of a detection apparatus mounted on the body of the user adapted to detect at least one of human physiological and contextual parameters from the body of the wearer; recording weight entries of the user; providing feedback including said energy expenditure of said user to said user regarding progress of said user against said weight modification goals; and modifying the behavior of the user based upon said feedback. 194. A method as described in claim 193, further comprising the step of obtaining daily caloric intake for the user. 195. A method as described in claim 193, wherein said daily caloric intake is manually input by the user. 196. A method as described in claim 195, further comprising a prepopulated food database, from which food items are selected for the calculation of daily caloric intake. 197. A method as described in claim 196, wherein said database may be amended with custom items. 198. A method as described in claim 195, further comprising a list of prioritized food items from which food items may be selected. 199. A method as described in claim 198, wherein said list of food items is dynamically updated based upon frequency of selection. 200. A method as described in claim 198, wherein said list of food items is dynamically updated based upon one of: time of day, day of week, meal, season, and meal plan. 201. A method as described in claim 195, further comprising a database of menu plans, including suggested foods for consumption. 202. A method as described in claim 193, wherein said energy expenditure is manually input. 203. A method as described in claim 202, further comprising a database of activities having an energy expenditure value associated therewith, from which a user may select an appropriate activity. 204. A method as described in claim 193, wherein said energy expenditure is detected by a sensor device adapted for mounting on the human body. 205. A method as described in claim 193, wherein energy expenditure is calculated according to the formula: TEE=BMR+AE+TEF+AT wherein BMR is basal metabolic rate, AE is activity energy expenditure, TEF is thermic effect of food and AT is adaptive thermogenesis. 206. A method as described in claim 193, wherein said weight entries are obtained from an additional detection device. 207. A method as described in claim 193, further comprising the step of deriving energy balance from said human physiological parameters. 208. A method as described in claim 207, wherein energy balance is derived from daily caloric intake and energy expenditure. 209. A method as described in claim 207, wherein said energy balance is utilized to track and predict changes in weight loss progress. 210. A method as described in claim 208, wherein said feedback is provided regarding said mutual effect of daily caloric intake and energy expenditure upon each other. 211. A method as described in claim 194, wherein a user may substitute a summary entry based on the size of the meal. 212. A method as described in claim 195, wherein a combination of food items may be suggested. 213. A method as described in claim 195, wherein historical meal entry information is used to prompt the user to simplify manual input of current foods. 214. A method as described in claim 196, wherein said food database further comprises a search capability. 215. A method as described in claim 193, further comprising the step of detecting additional human physiological parameters. 216. A method as described in claim 215, further comprising the step of deriving data indicative of the nature of an activity of the wearer from said at least one human physiological parameter, said additional human physiological parameters and said contextual parameters. 217. A method as described in claim 216, wherein said data indicative of the nature of the activity of a wearer and said at least one human physiological parameter are correlated by time. 218. A method as described in claim 217, wherein output data is providing for said time correlated at least one human physiological parameter and said data indicative of the nature of the activity of the wearer. 219. A method as described in claim 193, wherein said feedback is generated by a feedback and coaching engine. 220. A method as described in claim 219, wherein said feedback is provided regarding said mutual effect of daily caloric intake and energy expenditure parameters upon each other. 221. A method as described in claim 193, wherein said feedback presents a variety of choices or suggestions. 222. A method as described in claim 221, wherein said suggestions include meal and vitamin supplements. 223. A method as described in claim 193, wherein said feedback is in the form of an intermittent status report. 224. A method as described in claim 223, wherein said intermittent status report is presented in an additional display box or window. 225. A method as described in claim 223, wherein said intermittent status report may be generated by a key string or parameter set. 226. A method as described in claim 223, wherein said intermittent status report contains information related to a user's weight modification goals. 227. A method as described in claim 193, wherein said feedback is requested by the user. 228. A method as described in claim 193, wherein said feedback is requested periodically. 229. A method as described in claim 193, further comprising the step of the user providing responses to said feedback. 230. A method as described in claim 229, further comprising the steps of detecting responses of said user to said feedback; and modifying said feedback according to the responses of said user for the optimization of said feedback. 231. A method as described in claim 230, wherein said modification of said feedback is with respect to the tone of future feedback. 232. A method as described in claim 230, wherein said modification of said feedback is with respect to the severity of future feedback. 233. A method as described in claim 230, wherein said modification of said feedback is with respect to the content of future feedback. 234. A method as described in claim 230, wherein said feedback parameters are one of: context, estimated daily caloric intake and logged intake. 235. A method as described in claim 230, wherein said feedback is modified based upon one of: feedback from an entire population for a given situation, feedback from a particular group of individuals and feedback from the individual. 236. A method as described in claim 230, wherein said modification of said feedback further comprises dynamically adjusting said feedback based upon a delayed reinforcement cycle in which the responses to the provided feedback are utilized to adjust subsequent feedback in order to optimize said feedback. 237. A method as described in claim 221, wherein said suggestions are related to said user's progress toward said weight modification goal. 238. A method as described in claim 221, wherein said suggestions are one of: increase total energy expenditure, decrease daily caloric intake, combination of increase in total energy expenditure and decrease in daily caloric intake, and reset goals. 239. A method as described in claim 221, wherein said suggestions include an option to generate a new meal plan. 240. A method as described in claim 221, wherein said suggestions include an option to generate a new exercise plan. 241. A method as described in claim 221, wherein said suggestions are one of: wearing the detection apparatus more, visiting the gym more, logging food items more regularly, and other specific suggestions regarding the status of the individual. 242. A method as described in claim 219, wherein said feedback and coaching engine provides recommendations based on past history of recommendations and the user's physiological data. 243. A method as described in claim 193, wherein negative, positive and neutral progress toward said weight modification goal is monitored. 244. A method as described in claim 243, wherein data indicative of said negative, positive and neutral progress is recorded as a pattern for future review. 245. A method as described in claim 244, wherein said recorded patterns are analyzed, matched and utilized to detect one of (i) current and (ii) future negative, positive and neutral progress toward said weight modification goals. 246. A method as described in claim 245, wherein said analysis and matching of recorded patterns are based on one of (i) data from the individual's personal history and (ii) aggregate data of other individuals. 247. A method as described in claim 243, wherein said feedback may be tailored to specific aspects of said negative, positive and neutral progress toward said weight modification goals. 248. A method as described in claim 193, wherein the medium of the feedback is one of: telephony, email, facsimile, or web site. 249. A method as described in claim 223, wherein said intermittent status report is selected from the group consisting of: today, a specific day, an average of several days, and since the beginning of the program. 250. A method as described in claim 223, wherein said intermittent status report is based on actual and goal values of energy expenditure and daily caloric intake. 251. A method as described in claim 223, wherein said intermittent status report provides suggestions based on time of day. 252. A method as described in claim 223, wherein said intermittent status report is based on the percentage of daily caloric intake. 253. A method as described in claim 223, wherein said intermittent status report is based on percentage of energy expenditure. 254. A method as described in claim 223, further comprising the step of choosing said intermittent status report, said choosing step logic including one of: a decision tree, a planning system, a constraint satisfaction system, a frame based system, a case based system, a rule based system, predicate calculus, a general purpose planning system, and a probabilistic network. 255. A method as described in claim 223, wherein said intermittent status report is based on energy balance. 256. A method as described in claim 255, wherein an energy balance value is calculated from energy expenditure and daily caloric intake. 257. A method as described in claim 256, wherein an arbitrary threshold is chosen as a goal tolerance to place the user into a specific category based on current goal status. 258. A method as described in claim 257, wherein said category is indicated by a balance status indicator. 259. A method as described in claim 257, wherein said category is one of: a user has met and exceeded a daily energy balance goal, a user should meet a daily energy balance goal, and a user will not meet a daily energy balance goal. 260. A method as described in claim 256, wherein an arbitrary time is chosen as a threshold to determine if the time of day is one of early and late. 261. A method as described in claim 260, wherein the current time is compared to the arbitrary time in relation to the current goal status. 262. A method as described in claim 261, wherein said intermittent status report is generated indicating whether an individual is able to meet the energy balance goal based on the time of day. 263. A method as described in claim 262, wherein said intermittent status report indicates a suggestion for an energy expenditure activity to assist in accomplishing the energy balance goal. 264. A method as described in claim 263, wherein said intermittent status report suggests an activity based on goal status. 265. A method as described in claim 193, further comprising the step of establishing a database of data output. 266. A method as described in claim 265, wherein said database includes patterns of physiological data. 267. A method as described in claim 265, wherein said database includes patterns of contextual data. 268. A method as described in claim 265, wherein said database includes patterns of activity data derived from physiological and contextual data. 269. A method as described in claim 265, further comprising the step of analyzing said data output to establish data patterns. 270. A method as described in claim 269, further comprising the step of storing said data patterns. 271. A method as described in claim 270, further comprising the step of comparing stored data patterns to detected data to identify and categorize said detected data into additional data patterns. 272. A method as described in claim 271, further comprising the steps of: (i) comparing stored data patterns to detected data to identify such detected data as being similar to at least one of said stored data patterns and (ii) predicting future detected data. 273. A method as described in claim 272, further comprising the step of generating output based upon said prediction of said future detected data. 274. A method as described in claim 273, wherein said output is an alarm. 275. A method as described in claim 273, wherein said output is a report. 276. A method as described in claim 273, wherein said output is utilized as input by another device. 277. A method as described in claim 193, further comprising a final step of utilizing said feedback for the purpose of establishing an initial assessment for said weight modification goal. 278. A method as described in claim 277, further comprising an additional final step of utilizing said feedback for assessing interim status of progress toward said weight modification goal. | CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS This application is a continuation in part of co-pending U.S. application Ser. No. 10/638,588, filed Aug. 11, 2003, which is a continuation of co-pending U.S. application Ser. No. 09/602,537, filed Jun. 23, 2000, which is a continuation-in-part of co-pending U.S. application Ser. No. 09/595,660, filed Jun. 16, 2000. This application also claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/502,764 filed on Sep. 13, 2003 and U.S. Provisional Application No. 50/555,280 filed on Mar. 22, 2004. FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a weight control system. More specifically, the system may be used as part of a behavioral modification program for calorie control, weight control or general fitness. In particular, the invention, according to one aspect, relates to an apparatus used in conjunction with a software platform for monitoring caloric consumption and/or caloric expenditure of an individual. Additionally, the invention relates to a method of tracking progress toward weight goals. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Research has shown that a large number of the top health problems in society are either caused in whole or in part by an unhealthy lifestyle. More and more, our society requires people to lead fast-paced, achievement-oriented lifestyles that often result in poor eating habits, high stress levels, lack of exercise, poor sleep habits and the inability to find the time to center the mind and relax. Additionally, obesity and body weight have become epidemic problems facing a large segment of the population, notably including children and adolescents. Recognizing this fact, people are becoming increasingly interested in establishing a healthier lifestyle. Traditional medicine, embodied in the form of an HMO or similar organization, does not have the time, the training, or the reimbursement mechanism to address the needs of those individuals interested in a healthier lifestyle. There have been several attempts to meet the needs of these individuals, including a perfusion of fitness programs and exercise equipment, dietary plans, self-help books, alternative therapies, and most recently, a plethora of health information web sites on the Internet. Each of these attempts is targeted to empower the individual to take charge and get healthy. Each of these attempts, however, addresses only part of the needs of individuals seeking a healthier lifestyle and ignores many of the real barriers that most individuals face when trying to adopt a healthier lifestyle. These barriers include the fact that the individual is often left to himself or herself to find motivation, to implement a plan for achieving a healthier lifestyle, to monitor progress, and to brainstorm solutions when problems arise; the fact that existing programs are directed to only certain aspects of a healthier lifestyle, and rarely come as a complete package; and the fact that recommendations are often not targeted to the unique characteristics of the individual or his life circumstances. With respect to weight loss, specifically, many medical and other commercial methodologies have been developed to assist individuals in losing excess body weight and maintaining an appropriate weight level through various diet, exercise and behavioral modification techniques. Weight Watchers is an example of a weight loss behavior modification system in which an individual manages weight loss with a points system utilizing commercially available foods. All food items are assigned a certain number of points based on serving size and content of fat, fiber and calories. Foods that are high in fat are assigned a higher number of points. Foods that are high in fiber receive a lower number of points. Healthier foods are typically assigned a lower number of points, so the user is encouraged to eat these food items. A user is assigned a daily points range which represents the total amount of food the user should consume within each day. Instead of directing the user away from a list of forbidden foods, a user is encouraged to enjoy all foods in moderation, as long as they fit within a user's points budget. The program is based on calorie reduction, portion control and modification of current eating habits. Exercise activities are also assigned points which are subtracted from the points accumulated by a user's daily caloric intake. Weight Watchers attempts to make a user create a balance of exercise and healthy eating in their life. However, because only caloric value of food is specifically tracked, the program tends to fail in teaching the user about the nutritional changes they need to make to maintain weight loss. Calorie content is not the only measurement that a user should take into control when determining what food items to consume. Items that contain the same caloric content may not be nutritiously similar. So, instead of developing healthy eating habits, a user might become dependent on counting points. It is important to note that the Weight Watchers program deals essentially with caloric intake only and not caloric expenditure. Similarly, Jenny Craig is also a weight loss program. Typically, an individual is assigned a personal consultant who monitors weight loss progress. In addition, the individual will receive pre-selected menus which are based on the Food Guide Pyramid for balanced nutrition. The menus contain Jenny Craig branded food items which are shipped to the individual's home or any other location chosen by the individual. The Jenny Craig program teaches portion control because the food items to be consumed are pre-portioned and supplied by Jenny Craig. However, such a close dietary supervision can be a problem once the diet ends because the diet plan does not teach new eating habits or the value of exercise. Instead it focuses mainly on short term weight loss goals. The integration of computer and diet tracking systems has created several new and more automated approaches to weight loss. Available methodologies can be tailored to meet the individual's specific physiological characteristics and weight loss goals. BalanceLog, developed by HealtheTech, Inc. and the subject of U.S. Published Application No. 20020133378 is a software program that provides a system for daily tracking and monitoring of caloric intake and expenditure. The user customizes the program based on metabolism in addition to weight and nutrition goals. The user is able to create both exercise and nutrition plans in addition to tracking progress. However, the BalanceLog system has several limitations. First, a user must know their resting metabolic rate, which is the number of calories burned at rest. The user can measure their resting metabolic rate. However, a more accurate rate can be measured by appointment at a metabolism measurement location. A typical individual, especially an individual who is beginning a weight and nutrition management plan may view this requirement as an inconvenience. The system can provide an estimated resting metabolic rate based on a broad population average if a more accurate measurement cannot be made. However, the resting metabolic rate can vary widely between individuals having similar physiological characteristics. Thus, an estimation may not be accurate and would affect future projections of an individual's progress. Second, the system is limited by the interactivity and compliance of the user. Every aspect of the BalanceLog system is manual. Every item a user eats and every exercise a user does must be logged in the system. If a user fails to do this, the reported progress will not be accurate. This manual data entry required by BalanceLog assumes that the user will be in close proximity to a data entry device, such as a personal digital assistant or a personal computer, to enter daily activities and consumed meals. However, a user may not consistently or reliably be near their data entry device shortly thereafter engaging in an exercise or eating activity. They may be performing the exercise activity at a fitness center or otherwise away from such a device. Similarly, a user may not be eating a certain meal at home, so they may not be able to log the information immediately after consuming the meal. Therefore, a user must maintain a record of all food consumed and activities performed so that these items can be entered into the BalanceLog system at a later time. Also, the BalanceLog system does not provide for the possibility of estimation. A user must select the food consumed and the corresponding portion size of the food item. If a time lapse has occurred between the meal and the time of entry and the user does not remember the meal, the data may not be entered accurately and the system would suffer from a lack of accuracy. Similarly, if a user does not remember the details of an exercise activity, the data may not be correct. Finally, the BalanceLog system calculates energy expenditure based only upon the information entered by the user. A user may only log an exercise activity such as running on a treadmill for thirty minutes for a particular day. This logging process does not take into account the actual energy expenditure of the individual, but instead relies on averages or look-up tables based upon general population data, which may not be particularly accurate for any specific individual. The program also ignores the daily activities of the user such as walking up stairs or running to catch the bus. These daily activities need to be taken into account for a user to accurately determine their total amount of energy expenditure. Similarly FitDay, a software product developed by Cyser Software, is another system that allows a user to track both nutrition and exercise activity to plan weight loss and monitor progress. The FitDay software aids a user in controlling diet through the input of food items consumed. This software also tracks the exercise activity and caloric expenditure through the manual data entry by the user. The FitDay software also enables the user to track and graph body measurements for additional motivation to engage in exercise activity. Also, FitDay also focuses on another aspect of weight loss. The system prompts a user for information regarding daily emotions for analysis of the triggers that may affect a user's weight loss progress. FitDay suffers from the same limitations of Balance Log. FitDay is dependent upon user input for its calculations and weight loss progress analysis. As a result, the information may suffer from a lack of accuracy or compliance because the user might not enter a meal or an activity. Also, the analysis of energy expenditure is dependent on the input of the user and does not take the daily activities of the user into consideration. Overall, if an individual consumes fewer calories than the number of calories burned, they user should experience a net weight loss. While the methods described above offer a plurality of ways to count consumed calories, they do not offer an efficient way to determine the caloric expenditure. Additionally, they are highly dependent upon compliance with rigorous data entry requirements. Therefore, what is lacking in the art is a management system that can accurately and automatically monitor daily activity and energy expenditure of the user to reduce the need for strict compliance with and the repetitive nature of manual data entry of information. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION A nutrition and activity management system is disclosed that can help an individual meet weight loss goals and achieve an optimum energy balance of calories burned versus calories consumed. The system may be automated and is also adaptable or applicable to measuring a number of other physiological parameters and reporting the same and derivations of such parameters. The preferred embodiment, a weight management system, is directed to achieving an optimum energy balance, which is essential to progressing toward weight loss-specific goals. Most programs, such as the programs discussed above, offer methods of calorie and food consumption tracking, but that is only half of the equation. Without an accurate estimation of energy expenditure, the optimum energy balance cannot be reached. In other embodiments, the system may provide additional or substitute information regarding limits on physical activity, such as for a pregnant or rehabilitating user, or physiological data, such as blood sugar level, for a diabetic. The management system that is disclosed provides a more accurate estimation of the total energy expenditure of the user. The other programs discussed above can only track energy expenditure through manual input of the user regarding specific physical activity of a certain duration. The management system utilizes an apparatus on the body that continuously monitors the heat given off by a user's body in addition to motion, skin temperature and conductivity. Because the apparatus is continuously worn, data is collected during any physical activity performed by the user, including exercise activity and daily life activity. The apparatus is further designed for comfort and convenience so that long term wear is not unreasonable within a wearer's lifestyle activities. It is to be specifically noted that the apparatus is designed for both continuous and long term wear. Continuous is intended to mean, however, nearly continuous, as the device may be removed for brief periods for hygienic purposes or other de minimus non-use. Long term wear is considered to be for a substantial portion of each day of wear, typically extending beyond a single day. The data collected by the apparatus is uploaded to the software platform for determining the number of calories burned, the number of steps taken and the duration of physical activity. The management system that is disclosed also provides an easier process for the entry and tracking of caloric consumption. The tracking of caloric consumption provided by the management system is based on the recognition that current manual nutrition tracking methods are too time consuming and difficult to use, which ultimately leads to a low level of compliance, inaccuracy in data collection and a higher percentage of false caloric intake estimates. Most users are too busy to log everything they eat for each meal and tend to forget how much they ate. Therefore, in addition to manual input of consumed food items, the user may select one of several other methods of caloric input which may include an estimation for a certain meal based upon an average for that meal, duplication of a previous meal and a quick caloric estimate tool. A user is guided through the complex task of recalling what they ate in order to increase compliance and reduce the discrepancy between self-reported and actual caloric intake. The combination of the information collected from the apparatus and the information entered by the user is used to provide feedback information regarding the user's progress and recommendations for reaching dietary goals. Because of the accuracy of the information, the user can proactively make lifestyle changes to meet weight loss goals, such as adjusting diet or exercising to burn more calories. The system can also predict data indicative of human physiological parameters including energy expenditure and caloric intake for any given relevant time period as well as other detected and derived physiological or contextual information. The user may then be notified as to their actual or predicted progress with respect to the optimum energy balance or other goals for the day. An apparatus is disclosed for monitoring certain identified human status parameters which includes at least one sensor adapted to be worn on an individual's body. A preferred embodiment utilizes a combination of sensors to provide more accurately sensed data, with the output of the multiple sensors being utilized in the derivation of additional data. The sensor or sensors utilized by the apparatus may include a physiological sensor selected from the group consisting of respiration sensors, temperature sensors, heat flux sensors, body conductance sensors, body resistance sensors, body potential sensors, brain activity sensors, blood pressure sensors, body impedance sensors, body motion sensors, oxygen consumption sensors, body chemistry sensors, body position sensors, body pressure sensors, light absorption sensors, body sound sensors, piezoelectric sensors, electrochemical sensors, strain gauges, and optical sensors. The sensor or sensors are adapted to generate data indicative of at least a first parameter of the individual and a second parameter of the individual, wherein the first parameter is a physiological parameter. The apparatus also includes a processor that receives at least a portion of the data indicative of the first parameter and the second parameter. The processor is adapted to generate derived data from at least a portion of the data indicative of a first parameter and a second parameter, wherein the derived data comprises a third parameter of the individual. The third parameter is an individual status parameter that cannot be directly detected by the at least one sensor. In an alternate embodiment, the apparatus for monitoring human status parameters is disclosed that includes at least two sensors adapted to be worn on an individual's body selected from the group consisting of physiological sensors and contextual sensors, wherein at least one of the sensors is a physiological sensor. The sensors are adapted to generate data indicative of at least a first parameter of the individual and a second parameter of the individual, wherein the first parameter is physiological. The apparatus also includes a processor for receiving at least a portion of the data indicative of at least a first parameter and a second parameter, the processor being adapted to generate derived data from the data indicative of at least a first parameter and a second parameter. The derived data comprises a third parameter of the individual, for example one selected from the group consisting of ovulation state, sleep state, calories burned, basal metabolic rate, basal temperature, physical activity level, stress level, relaxation level, oxygen consumption rate, rise time, time in zone, recovery time, and nutrition activity. The third parameter is an individual status parameter that cannot be directly detected by any of the at least two sensors. In either embodiment of the apparatus, the at least two sensors may be both physiological sensors, or may be one physiological sensor and one contextual sensor. The apparatus may further include a housing adapted to be worn on the individual's body, wherein the housing supports the sensors or wherein at least one of the sensors is separately located from the housing. The apparatus may further include a flexible body supporting the housing having first and second members that are adapted to wrap around a portion of the individual's body. The flexible body may support one or more of the sensors. The apparatus may further include wrapping means coupled to the housing for maintaining contact between the housing and the individual's body, and the wrapping means may support one or more of the sensors. Either embodiment of the apparatus may further include a central monitoring unit remote from the at least two sensors that includes a data storage device. The data storage device receives the derived data from the processor and retrievably stores the derived data therein. The apparatus also includes means for transmitting information based on the derived data from the central monitoring unit to a recipient, which recipient may include the individual or a third party authorized by the individual. The processor may be supported by a housing adapted to be worn on the individual's body, or alternatively may be part of the central monitoring unit. A weight-loss directed software program is disclosed that automates the tracking of the energy expenditure of the individual through the use of the apparatus and reduces the repetitive nature of data entry in the determination of caloric consumption in addition to providing relevant feedback regarding the user's weight loss goals. The software program is based on the energy balance equation which has two components: energy intake and energy expenditure. The difference between these two values is the energy balance. When this value is negative, a weight loss should be achieved because fewer calories were consumed than expended. A positive energy balance will most likely result in no loss of weight or a weight gain. The weight-loss directed software program may include an energy intake tracking subsystem, an energy expenditure tracking subsystem, a weight tracking subsystem and an energy balance and feedback subsystem. The energy intake tracking subsystem preferably incorporates a food database which includes an extensive list of commonly consumed foods, common branded foods available at regional and national food chains, and branded off the shelf entrees and the nutrient information for each item. The user also has the capability to enter custom preparations or recipes which then become a part of the food in the database. The energy expenditure subsystem includes a data retrieval process to retrieve the data from the apparatus. The system uses the data collected by the apparatus to determine total energy expenditure. The user has the option of manually entering data for an activity engaged in during a time when the apparatus was not available. The system is further provided with the ability to track and recognize certain activity or nutritional intake parameters or patterns and automatically provide such identification to the user on a menu for selection, as disclosed in copending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/682,293, the disclosure of which is incorporated by reference. Additionally, the system may directly adopt such identified activities or nutritional information without input from the user, as appropriate. The energy balance and feedback subsystem provides feedback on behavioral strategies to achieve energy balance proactively. A feedback and coaching engine analyzes the data generated by the system to provide the user with a variety of choices depending on the progress of the user. A management system is disclosed which includes an apparatus that continuously monitors a user's energy expenditure and a software platform for the manual input of information by the user regarding physical activity and calories consumed. This manual input may be achieved by the user entering their own food, by a second party entering the food for them such as an assistant in a assisted living situation, or through a second party receiving the information from the user via voice, phone, or other transmission mechanism. Alternatively, the food intake can be automatically gathered through either a monitoring system that captures what food is removed from an storage appliance such as a refrigerator or inserted into a food preparation appliance such as an oven or through a derived measure from one or more physiological parameters. The system may be further adapted to obtain life activities data of the individual, wherein the information transmitted from the central monitoring unit is also based on the life activities data. The central monitoring unit may also be adapted to generate and provide feedback relating to the degree to which the individual has followed a suggested routine. The feedback may be generated from at least a portion of at least one of the data indicative of at least a first parameter and a second parameter, the derived data and the life activities data. The central monitoring unit may also be adapted to generate and provide feedback to a recipient relating to management of an aspect of at least one of the individual's health and lifestyle. This feedback may be generated from at least one of the data indicative of a first parameter, the data indicative of a second parameter and the derived data. The feedback may include suggestions for modifying the individual's behavior. The system may be further adapted to include a weight and body fat composition tracking subsystem to interpret data received from: manual input, a second device such as a transceiver enabled weight measuring device, or data collected by the apparatus. The system may also be further adapted to include a meal planning subsystem that allows a user to customize a meal plan based on individual fitness and weight loss goals. Appropriate foods are recommended to the user based on answers provided to general and medical questionnaires. These questionnaires are used as inputs to the meal plan generation system to ensure that foods are selected that take into consideration specific health conditions or preferences of the user. The system may be provided with functionality to recommend substitution choices based on the food category and exchange values of the food and will match the caloric content between substitutions. The system may be further adapted to generate a list of food or diet supplement intake recommendations based on answers provided by the user to a questionnaire. The system may also provide the option for the user to save or print a report of summary data. The summary data could provide detailed information about the daily energy intake, daily energy expenditure, weight changes, body fat composition changes and nutrient information if the user has been consistently logging the foods consumed. Reports containing information for a certain time period, such as 7 days, 30 days, 90 days and from the beginning of the system usage may also be provided. The system may also include an exercise planning subsystem that provides recommendations to the user for cardiovascular and resistance training. The recommendations could be based on the fitness goals submitted by the questionnaire to the system. The system may also provide feedback to the user in the form of a periodic or intermittent status report. The status report may be an alert located in a box on a location of the screen and is typically set off to attract the user's attention. Status reports and images are generated by creating a key string based on the user's current view and state and may provide information to the user about their weight loss goal progress. This information may include suggestions to meet the user's calorie balance goal for the day. Although this description addresses weight loss with specificity, it should be understood that this system may also be equally applicable to weight maintenance or weight gain. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Further features and advantages of the present invention will be apparent upon consideration of the following detailed description of the present invention, taken in conjunction with the following drawings, in which like reference characters refer to like parts, and in which: FIG. 1 is a diagram of an embodiment of a system for monitoring physiological data and lifestyle over an electronic network according to the present invention; FIG. 2 is a block diagram of an embodiment of the sensor device shown in FIG. 1; FIG. 3 is a block diagram of an embodiment of the central monitoring unit shown in FIG. 1; FIG. 4 is a block diagram of an alternate embodiment of the central monitoring unit shown in FIG. 1; FIG. 5 is a representation of a preferred embodiment of the Health Manager web page according to an aspect of the present invention; FIG. 6 is a representation of a preferred embodiment of the nutrition web page according to an aspect of the present invention; FIG. 7 is an block diagram representing the configuration of the management system for a specific user according to an aspect of the present invention. FIG. 8 is a block diagram of a preferred embodiment of the weight tracking system according to an aspect of the present invention. FIG. 9 is a block diagram of a preferred embodiment of the update information wizard interface according to one aspect of the present invention. FIG. 10 is a representation of a preferred embodiment of the activity level web page according to an aspect of the present invention; FIG. 11 is a representation of a preferred embodiment of the mind centering web page according to an aspect of the present invention; FIG. 12 is a representation of a preferred embodiment of the sleep web page according to an aspect of the present invention; FIG. 13 is a representation of a preferred embodiment of the daily activities web page according to an aspect of the present invention; FIG. 14 is a representation of a preferred embodiment of the Health Index web page according to an aspect of the present invention; FIG. 15 is a representation of a preferred embodiment of the Weight Manager interface according to an aspect of the present invention; FIG. 16 is a logical diagram illustrating the generation of intermittent status reports according to an aspect of the present invention; FIG. 17 is a logical diagram illustrating the generation of an intermittent status report based on energy expenditure values according to an aspect of the present invention; FIG. 18 is a logical diagram illustrating the generation of an intermittent status report based on caloric intake in addition to state status determination according to an aspect of the present invention; FIG. 19 is a logical diagram illustrating the calculation of state determination according to an aspect of the present invention; FIG. 20 is a front view of a specific embodiment of the sensor device shown in FIG. 1; FIG. 21 is a back view of a specific embodiment of the sensor device shown in FIG. 1; FIG. 22 is a side view of a specific embodiment of the sensor device shown in FIG. 1; FIG. 23 is a bottom view of a specific embodiment of the sensor device shown in FIG. 1; FIGS. 24 and 25 are front perspective views of a specific embodiment of the sensor device shown in FIG. 1; FIG. 26 is an exploded side perspective view of a specific embodiment of the sensor device shown in FIG. 1; FIG. 27 is a side view of the sensor device shown in FIGS. 20 through 26 inserted into a battery recharger unit; and FIG. 28 is a block diagram illustrating all of the components either mounted on or coupled to the printed circuit board forming a part of the sensor device shown in FIGS. 20 through 26. FIG. 29 is a block diagram showing the format of algorithms that are developed according to an aspect of the present invention; and FIG. 30 is a block diagram illustrating an example algorithm for predicting energy expenditure according to the present invention. DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS In general, according to the present invention, data relating to the physiological state, the lifestyle and certain contextual parameters of an individual is collected and transmitted, either subsequently or in real-time, to a site, preferably remote from the individual, where it is stored for later manipulation and presentation to a recipient, preferably over an electronic network such as the Internet. Contextual parameters as used herein means parameters relating to activity state or to the environment, surroundings and location of the individual, including, but not limited to, air quality, sound quality, ambient temperature, global positioning and the like. Referring to FIG.1, located at user location 5 is sensor device 10 adapted to be placed in proximity with at least a portion of the human body. Sensor device 10 is preferably worn by an individual user on his or her body, for example as part of a garment such as a form fitting shirt, or as part of an arm band or the like. Sensor device 10, includes one or more sensors, which are adapted to generate signals in response to physiological characteristics of an individual, and a microprocessor. Proximity as used herein means that the sensors of sensor device 10 are separated from the individual's body by a material or the like, or a distance such that the capabilities of the sensors are not impeded. Sensor device 10 generates data indicative of various physiological parameters of an individual, such as the individual's heart rate, pulse rate, beat-to-beat heart variability, EKG or ECG, respiration rate, skin temperature, core body temperature, heat flow off the body, galvanic skin response or GSR, EMG, EEG, EOG, blood pressure, body fat, hydration level, activity level, oxygen consumption, glucose or blood sugar level, body position, pressure on muscles or bones, and UV radiation exposure and absorption. In certain cases, the data indicative of the various physiological parameters is the signal or signals themselves generated by the one or more sensors and in certain other cases the data is calculated by the microprocessor based on the signal or signals generated by the one or more sensors. Methods for generating data indicative of various physiological parameters and sensors to be used therefor are well known. Table 1 provides several examples of such well known methods and shows the parameter in question, an example method used, an example sensor device used, and the signal that is generated. Table 1 also provides an indication as to whether further processing based on the generated signal is required to generate the data. TABLE 1 Further Parameter Example Method Example Sensor Signal Processing Heart Rate EKG 2 Electrodes DC Voltage Yes Pulse Rate BVP LED Emitter and Change in Resistance Yes Optical Sensor Beat-to-Beat Heart Beats 2 Electrodes DC Voltage Yes Variability EKG Skin Surface 3-10 Electrodes DC Voltage No* Potentials (depending on location) Respiration Rate Chest Volume Strain Gauge Change in Resistance Yes Change Skin Temperature Surface Thermistors Change in Resistance Yes Temperature Probe Core Temperature Esophageal or Thermistors Change in Resistance Yes Rectal Probe Heat Flow Heat Flux Thermopile DC Voltage Yes Galvanic Skin Skin Conductance 2 Electrodes Conductance No Response EMG Skin Surface 3 Electrodes DC Voltage No Potentials EEG Skin Surface Multiple Electrodes DC Voltage Yes Potentials EOG Eye Movement Thin Film DC Voltage Yes Piezoelectric Sensors Blood Pressure Non-Invasive Electronic Change in Resistance Yes Korotkuff Sounds Sphygromarometer Body Fat Body Impedance 2 Active Electrodes Change in Impedance Yes Activity Body Movement Accelerometer DC Voltage, Yes Capacitance Changes Oxygen Oxygen Uptake Electro-chemical DC Voltage Change Yes Consumption Glucose Level Non-Invasive Electro-chemical DC Voltage Change Yes Body Position (e.g. N/A Mercury Switch DC Voltage Change Yes supine, erect, Array sitting) Muscle Pressure N/A Thin Film DC Voltage Change Yes Piezoelectric Sensors UV Radiation N/A UV Sensitive Photo DC Voltage Change Yes Absorption Cells It is to be specifically noted that a number of other types and categories of sensors may be utilized alone or in conjunction with those given above, including but not limited to relative and global positioning sensors for determination of location of the user; torque & rotational acceleration for determination of orientation in space; blood chemistry sensors; interstitial fluid chemistry sensors; bio-impedance sensors; and several contextual sensors, such as: pollen, humidity, ozone, acoustic, body and ambient noise and sensors adapted to utilize the device in a biofingerprinting scheme. The types of data listed in Table 1 are intended to be examples of the types of data that can be generated by sensor device 10. It is to be understood that other types of data relating to other parameters can be generated by sensor device 10 without departing from the scope of the present invention. The microprocessor of sensor device 10 may be programmed to summarize and analyze the data. For example, the microprocessor can be programmed to calculate an average, minimum or maximum heart rate or respiration rate over a defined period of time, such as ten minutes. Sensor device 10 may be able to derive information relating to an individual's physiological state based on the data indicative of one or more physiological parameters. The microprocessor of sensor device 10 is programmed to derive such information using known methods based on the data indicative of one or more physiological parameters. Table 2 provides examples of the type of information that can be derived, and indicates some of the types of data that can be used therefor. TABLE 2 Derived Information Example Input Data Signals Ovulation Skin temperature, core temperature, oxygen consumption Sleep onset/wake Beat-to-beat variability, heart rate, pulse rate, respiration rate, skin temperature, core temperature, heat flow, galvanic skin response, EMG, EEG, EOG, blood pressure, oxygen consumption Calories burned Heart rate, pulse rate, respiration rate, heat flow, activity, oxygen consumption Basal metabolic rate Heart rate, pulse rate, respiration rate, heat flow, activity, oxygen consumption Basal temperature Skin temperature, core temperature Activity level Heart rate, pulse rate, respiration rate, heat flow, activity, oxygen consumption Stress level EKG, beat-to-beat variability, heart rate, pulse rate, respiration rate, skin temperature, heat flow, galvanic skin response, EMG, EEG, blood pressure, activity, oxygen consumption Relaxation level EKG, beat-to-beat variability, heart rate, pulse rate, respiration rate, skin temperature, heat flow, galvanic skin response, EMG, EEG, blood pressure, activity, oxygen consumption Maximum oxygen consumption rate EKG, heart rate, pulse rate, respiration rate, heat flow, blood pressure, activity, oxygen consumption Rise time or the time it takes to rise from Heart rate, pulse rate, heat flow, oxygen consumption a resting rate to 85% of a target maximum Time in zone or the time heart rate was Heart rate, pulse rate, heat flow, oxygen consumption above 85% of a target maximum Recovery time or the time it takes heart Heart rate, pulse rate, heat flow, oxygen consumption rate to return to a resting rate after heart rate was above 85% of a target maximum Additionally, sensor device 10 may also generate data indicative of various contextual parameters relating to activity state or the environment surrounding the individual. For example, sensor device 10 can generate data indicative of the air quality, sound level/quality, light quality or ambient temperature near the individual, or even the motion or global positioning of the individual. Sensor device 10 may include one or more sensors for generating signals in response to contextual characteristics relating to the environment surrounding the individual, the signals ultimately being used to generate the type of data described above. Such sensors are well known, as are methods for generating contextual parametric data such as air quality, sound level/quality, ambient temperature and global positioning. FIG. 2 is a block diagram of an embodiment of sensor device 10. Sensor device 10 includes at least one sensor 12 and microprocessor 20. Depending upon the nature of the signal generated by sensor 12, the signal can be sent through one or more of amplifier 14, conditioning circuit 16, and analog-to-digital converter 18, before being sent to microprocessor 20. For example, where sensor 12 generates an analog signal in need of amplification and filtering, that signal can be sent to amplifier 14, and then on to conditioning circuit 16, which may, for example, be a band pass filter. The amplified and conditioned analog signal can then be transferred to analog-to-digital converter 18, where it is converted to a digital signal. The digital signal is then sent to microprocessor 20. Alternatively, if sensor 12 generates a digital signal, that signal can be sent directly to microprocessor 20. A digital signal or signals representing certain physiological and/or contextual characteristics of the individual user may be used by microprocessor 20 to calculate or generate data indicative of physiological and/or contextual parameters of the individual user. Microprocessor 20 is programmed to derive information relating to at least one aspect of the individual's physiological state. It should be understood that microprocessor 20 may also comprise other forms of processors or processing devices, such as a microcontroller, or any other device that can be programmed to perform the functionality described herein. Optionally, central processing unit may provide operational control or, at a minimum, selection of an audio player device 21. As will be apparent to those skilled in the art, audio player 21 is of the type which either stores and plays or plays separately stored audio media. The device may control the output of audio player 21, as described in more detail below, or may merely furnish a user interface to permit control of audio player 21 by the wearer. The data indicative of physiological and/or contextual parameters can, according to one embodiment of the present invention, be sent to memory 22, such as flash memory, where it is stored until uploaded in the manner to be described below. Although memory 22 is shown in FIG. 2 as a discrete element, it will be appreciated that it may also be part of microprocessor 20. Sensor device 10 also includes input/output circuitry 24, which is adapted to output and receive as input certain data signals in the manners to be described herein. Thus, memory 22 of the sensor device 10 will build up, over time, a store of data relating to the individual user's body and/or environment. That data is periodically uploaded from sensor device 10 and sent to remote central monitoring unit 30, as shown in FIG. 1, where it is stored in a database for subsequent processing and presentation to the user, preferably through a local or global electronic network such as the Internet. This uploading of data can be an automatic process that is initiated by sensor device 10 periodically or upon the happening of an event such as the detection by sensor device 10 of a heart rate below a certain level, or can be initiated by the individual user or some third party authorized by the user, preferably according to some periodic schedule, such as every day at 10:00 p.m. Alternatively, rather than storing data in memory 22, sensor device 10 may continuously upload data in real time. The uploading of data from sensor device 10 to central monitoring unit 30 for storage can be accomplished in various ways. In one embodiment, the data collected by sensor device 10 is uploaded by first transferring the data to personal computer 35 shown in FIG. 1 by means of physical connection 40, which, for example, may be a serial connection such as an RS232 or USB port. This physical connection may also be accomplished by using a cradle, not shown, that is electronically coupled to personal computer 35 into which sensor device 10 can be inserted, as is common with many commercially available personal digital assistants. The uploading of data could be initiated by then pressing a button on the cradle or could be initiated automatically upon insertion of sensor device 10 or upon proximity to a wireless receiver. The data collected by sensor device 10 may be uploaded by first transferring the data to personal computer 35 by means of short-range wireless transmission, such as infrared or RF transmission, as indicated at 45. Once the data is received by personal computer 35, it is optionally compressed and encrypted by any one of a variety of well known methods and then sent out over a local or global electronic network, preferably the Internet, to central monitoring unit 30. It should be noted that personal computer 35 can be replaced by any computing device that has access to and that can transmit and receive data through the electronic network, such as, for example, a personal digital assistant such as the Palm VII sold by Palm, Inc., or the Blackberry 2-way pager sold by Research in Motion, Inc. Alternatively, the data collected by sensor device 10, after being encrypted and, optionally, compressed by microprocessor 20, may be transferred to wireless device 50, such as a 2-way pager or cellular phone, for subsequent long distance wireless transmission to local telco site 55 using a wireless protocol such as e-mail or as ASCII or binary data. Local telco site 55 includes tower 60 that receives the wireless transmission from wireless device 50 and computer 65 connected to tower 60. According to the preferred embodiment, computer 65 has access to the relevant electronic network, such as the Internet, and is used to transmit the data received in the form of the wireless transmission to the central monitoring unit 30 over the Internet. Although wireless device 50 is shown in FIG. 1 as a discrete device coupled to sensor device 10, it or a device having the same or similar functionality may be embedded as part of sensor device 10. Sensor device 10 may be provided with a button to be used to time stamp events such as time to bed, wake time, and time of meals. These time stamps are stored in sensor device 10 and are uploaded to central monitoring unit 30 with the rest of the data as described above. The time stamps may include a digitally recorded voice message that, after being uploaded to central monitoring unit 30, are translated using voice recognition technology into text or some other information format that can be used by central monitoring unit 30. Note that in an alternate embodiment, these time-stamped events can be automatically detected. In addition to using sensor device 10 to automatically collect physiological data relating to an individual user, a kiosk could be adapted to collect such data by, for example, weighing the individual, providing a sensing device similar to sensor device 10 on which an individual places his or her hand or another part of his or her body, or by scanning the individual's body using, for example, laser technology or an iStat blood analyzer. The kiosk would be provided with processing capability as described herein and access to the relevant electronic network, and would thus be adapted to send the collected data to the central monitoring unit 30 through the electronic network. A desktop sensing device, again similar to sensor device 10, on which an individual places his or her hand or another part of his or her body may also be provided. For example, such a desktop sensing device could be a blood pressure monitor in which an individual places his or her arm. An individual might also wear a ring having a sensor device 10 incorporated therein. A base, not shown, could then be provided which is adapted to be coupled to the ring. The desktop sensing device or the base just described may then be coupled to a computer such as personal computer 35 by means of a physical or short range wireless connection so that the collected data could be uploaded to central monitoring unit 30 over the relative electronic network in the manner described above. A mobile device such as, for example, a personal digital assistant, might also be provided with a sensor device 10 incorporated therein. Such a sensor device 10 would be adapted to collect data when mobile device is placed in proximity with the individual's body, such as by holding the device in the palm of one's hand, and upload the collected data to central monitoring unit 30 in any of the ways described herein. An alternative embodiment includes the incorporation of third party devices, not necessary worn on the body, collect additional data pertaining to physiological conditions. Examples include portable blood analyzers, glucose monitors, weight scales, blood pressure cuffs, pulse oximeters, CPAP machines, portable oxygen machines, home thermostats, treadmills, cell phones and GPS locators. The system could collect from, or in the case of a treadmill or CPAP, control these devices, and collect data to be integrated into the streams for real time or future derivations of new parameters. An example of this is a pulse oximeter on the user's finger could help measure pulse and therefore serve a surrogate reading for blood pressure. Additionally, a user could utilize one of these other devices to establish baseline readings in order to calibrate the device. Furthermore, in addition to collecting data by automatically sensing such data in the manners described above, individuals can also manually provide data relating to various life activities that is ultimately transferred to and stored at central monitoring unit 30. An individual user can access a web site maintained by central monitoring unit 30 and can directly input information relating to life activities by entering text freely, by responding to questions posed by the web site, or by clicking through dialog boxes provided by the web site. Central monitoring unit 30 can also be adapted to periodically send electronic mail messages containing questions designed to elicit information relating to life activities to personal computer 35 or to some other device that can receive electronic mail, such as a personal digital assistant, a pager, or a cellular phone. The individual would then provide data relating to life activities to central monitoring unit 30 by responding to the appropriate electronic mail message with the relevant data. Central monitoring unit 30 may also be adapted to place a telephone call to an individual user in which certain questions would be posed to the individual user. The user could respond to the questions by entering information using a telephone keypad, or by voice, in which case conventional voice recognition technology would be used by central monitoring unit 30 to receive and process the response. The telephone call may also be initiated by the user, in which case the user could speak to a person directly or enter information using the keypad or by voice/voice recognition technology. Central monitoring unit 30 may also be given access to a source of information controlled by the user, for example the user's electronic calendar such as that provided with the Outlook product sold by Microsoft Corporation of Redmond, Wash., from which it could automatically collect information. The data relating to life activities may relate to the eating, sleep, exercise, mind centering or relaxation, and/or daily living habits, patterns and/or activities of the individual. Thus, sample questions may include: What did you have for lunch today? What time did you go to sleep last night? What time did you wake up this morning? How long did you run on the treadmill today? Feedback may also be provided to a user directly through sensor device 10 in a visual form, for example through an LED or LCD or by constructing sensor device 10, at least in part, of a thermochromatic plastic, in the form of an acoustic signal or in the form of tactile feedback such as vibration. Such feedback may be a reminder or an alert to eat a meal or take medication or a supplement such as a vitamin, to engage in an activity such as exercise or meditation, or to drink water when a state of dehydration is detected. Additionally, a reminder or alert can be issued in the event that a particular physiological parameter such as ovulation has been detected, a level of calories burned during a workout has been achieved or a high heart rate or respiration rate has been encountered. As will be apparent to those of skill in the art, it may be possible to download data from central monitoring unit 30 to sensor device 10. The flow of data in such a download process would be substantially the reverse of that described above with respect to the upload of data from sensor device 10. Thus, it is possible that the firmware of microprocessor 20 of sensor device 10 can be updated or altered remotely, i.e., the microprocessor can be reprogrammed, by downloading new firmware to sensor device 10 from central monitoring unit 30 for such parameters as timing and sample rates of sensor device 10. Also, the reminders/alerts provided by sensor device 10 may be set by the user using the web site maintained by central monitoring unit 30 and subsequently downloaded to the sensor device 10. Referring to FIG. 3, a block diagram of an embodiment of central monitoring unit 30 is shown. Central monitoring unit 30 includes CSU/DSU 70 which is connected to router 75, the main function of which is to take data requests or traffic, both incoming and outgoing, and direct such requests and traffic for processing or viewing on the web site maintained by central monitoring unit 30. Connected to router 75 is firewall 80. The main purpose of firewall 80 is to protect the remainder of central monitoring unit 30 from unauthorized or malicious intrusions. Switch 85, connected to firewall 80, is used to direct data flow between middleware servers 95a through 95c and database server 110. Load balancer 90 is provided to spread the workload of incoming requests among the identically configured middleware servers 95a through 95c. Load balancer 90, a suitable example of which is the F5 ServerIron product sold by Foundry Networks, Inc. of San Jose, Calif., analyzes the availability of each middleware server 95a through 95c, and the amount of system resources being used in each middleware server 95a through 95c, in order to spread tasks among them appropriately. Central monitoring unit 30 includes network storage device 100, such as a storage area network or SAN, which acts as the central repository for data. In particular, network storage device 100 comprises a database that stores all data gathered for each individual user in the manners described above. An example of a suitable network storage device 100 is the Symmetrix product sold by EMC Corporation of Hopkinton, Mass. Although only one network storage device 100 is shown in FIG. 3, it will be understood that multiple network storage devices of various capacities could be used depending on the data storage needs of central monitoring unit 30. Central monitoring unit 30 also includes database server 110 which is coupled to network storage device 100. Database server 110 is made up of two main components: a large scale multiprocessor server and an enterprise type software server component such as the 8/8i component sold by Oracle Corporation of Redwood City, Calif., or the 506 7 component sold by Microsoft Corporation of Redmond, Wash. The primary functions of database server 110 are that of providing access upon request to the data stored in network storage device 100, and populating network storage device 100 with new data. Coupled to network storage device 100 is controller 115, which typically comprises a desktop personal computer, for managing the data stored in network storage device 100. Middleware servers 95a through 95c, a suitable example of which is the 22OR Dual Processor sold by Sun Microsystems, Inc. of Palo Alto, Calif., each contain software for generating and maintaining the corporate or home web page or pages of the web site maintained by central monitoring unit 30. As is known in the art, a web page refers to a block or blocks of data available on the World-Wide Web comprising a file or files written in Hypertext Markup Language or HTML, and a web site commonly refers to any computer on the Internet running a World-Wide Web server process. The corporate or home web page or pages are the opening or landing web page or pages that are accessible by all members of the general public that visit the site by using the appropriate uniform resource locator or URL. As is known in the art, URLs are the form of address used on the World-Wide Web and provide a standard way of specifying the location of an object, typically a web page, on the Internet. Middleware servers 95a through 95c also each contain software for generating and maintaining the web pages of the web site of central monitoring unit 30 that can only be accessed by individuals that register and become members of central monitoring unit 30. The member users will be those individuals who wish to have their data stored at central monitoring unit 30. Access by such member users is controlled using passwords for security purposes. Preferred embodiments of those web pages are described in detail below and are generated using collected data that is stored in the database of network storage device 100. Middleware servers 95a through 95c also contain software for requesting data from and writing data to network storage device 100 through database server 110. When an individual user desires to initiate a session with the central monitoring unit 30 for the purpose of entering data into the database of network storage device 100, viewing his or her data stored in the database of network storage device 100, or both, the user visits the home web page of central monitoring unit 30 using a browser program such as Internet Explorer distributed by Microsoft Corporation of Redmond, Wash., and logs in as a registered user. Load balancer 90 assigns the user to one of the middleware servers 95a through 95c, identified as the chosen middleware server. A user will preferably be assigned to a chosen middleware server for each entire session. The chosen middleware server authenticates the user using any one of many well known methods, to ensure that only the true user is permitted to access the information in the database. A member user may also grant access to his or her data to a third party such as a health care provider or a personal trainer. Each authorized third party may be given a separate password and may view the member user's data using a conventional browser. It is therefore possible for both the user and the third party to be the recipient of the data. When the user is authenticated, the chosen middleware server requests, through database server 110, the individual user's data from network storage device 100 for a predetermined time period. The predetermined time period is preferably thirty days. The requested data, once received from network storage device 100, is temporarily stored by the chosen middleware server in cache memory. The cached data is used by the chosen middleware server as the basis for presenting information, in the form of web pages, to the user again through the user's browser. Each middleware server 95a through 95c is provided with appropriate software for generating such web pages, including software for manipulating and performing calculations utilizing the data to put the data in appropriate format for presentation to the user. Once the user ends his or her session, the data is discarded from cache. When the user initiates a new session, the process for obtaining and caching data for that user as described above is repeated. This caching system thus ideally requires that only one call to the network storage device 100 be made per session, thereby reducing the traffic that database server 110 must handle. Should a request from a user during a particular session require data that is outside of a predetermined time period of cached data already retrieved, a separate call to network storage device 100 may be performed by the chosen middleware server. The predetermined time period should be chosen, however, such that such additional calls are minimized. Cached data may also be saved in cache memory so that it can be reused when a user starts a new session, thus eliminating the need to initiate a new call to network storage device 100. As described in connection with Table 2, the microprocessor of sensor device 10 may be programmed to derive information relating to an individual's physiological state based on the data indicative of one or more physiological parameters. Central monitoring unit 30, and preferably middleware servers 95a through 95c, may also be similarly programmed to derive such information based on the data indicative of one or more physiological parameters. It is also contemplated that a user will input additional data during a session, for example, information relating to the user's eating or sleeping habits. This additional data is preferably stored by the chosen middleware server in a cache during the duration of the user's session. When the user ends the session, this additional new data stored in a cache is transferred by the chosen middleware server to database server 110 for population in network storage device 100. Alternatively, in addition to being stored in a cache for potential use during a session, the input data may also be immediately transferred to database server 110 for population in network storage device 100, as part of a write-through cache system which is well known in the art. Data collected by sensor device 10 shown in FIG. 1 is periodically uploaded to central monitoring unit 30. Either by long distance wireless transmission or through personal computer 35, a connection to central monitoring unit 30 is made through an electronic network, preferably the Internet. In particular, connection is made to load balancer 90 through CSU/DSU 70, router 75, firewall 80 and switch 85. Load balancer 90 then chooses one of the middleware servers 95a through 95c to handle the upload of data, hereafter called the chosen middleware server. The chosen middleware server authenticates the user using any one of many well known methods. If authentication is successful, the data is uploaded to the chosen middleware server as described above, and is ultimately transferred to database server 110 for population in the network storage device 100. Referring to FIG. 4, an alternate embodiment of central monitoring unit 30 is shown. In addition to the elements shown and described with respect to FIG. 3, the embodiment of the central monitoring unit 30 shown in FIG. 4 includes a mirror network storage device 120 which is a redundant backup of network storage device 100. Coupled to mirror network storage device 120 is controller 122. Data from network storage device 100 is periodically copied to mirror network storage device 120 for data redundancy purposes. Third parties such as insurance companies or research institutions may be given access, possibly for a fee, to certain of the information stored in mirror network storage device 120. Preferably, in order to maintain the confidentiality of the individual users who supply data to central monitoring unit 30, these third parties are not given access to such user's individual database records, but rather are only given access to the data stored in mirror network storage device 120 in aggregate form. Such third parties may be able to access the information stored in mirror network storage device 120 through the Internet using a conventional browser program. Requests from third parties may come in through CSU/DSU 70, router 75, firewall 80 and switch 85. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 4, a separate load balancer 130 is provided for spreading tasks relating to the accessing and presentation of data from mirror drive array 120 among identically configured middleware servers 135a through 135c. Middleware servers 135a through 135c each contain software for enabling the third parties to, using a browser, formulate queries for information from mirror network storage device 120 through separate database server 125. Middleware servers 135a through 135c also contain software for presenting the information obtained from mirror network storage device 120 to the third parties over the Internet in the form of web pages. In addition, the third parties can choose from a series of prepared reports that have information packaged along subject matter lines, such as various demographic categories. As will be apparent to one of skill in the art, instead of giving these third parties access to the backup data stored in mirror network storage device 120, the third parties may be given access to the data stored in network storage device 100. Also, instead of providing load balancer 130 and middleware servers 135a through 135c, the same functionality, although at a sacrificed level of performance, could be provided by load balancer 90 and middleware servers 95a through 95c. When an individual user first becomes a registered user or member, that user completes a detailed survey. The purposes of the survey are to: identify unique characteristics/circumstances for each user that they might need to address in order to maximize the likelihood that they will implement and maintain a healthy lifestyle as suggested by central monitoring unit 30; gather baseline data which will be used to set initial goals for the individual user and facilitate the calculation and display of certain graphical data output such as the Health Index pistons; identify unique user characteristics and circumstances that will help central monitoring unit 30 customize the type of content provided to the user in the Health Manager's Daily Dose; and identify unique user characteristics and circumstances that the Health Manager can guide the user to address as possible barriers to a healthy lifestyle through the problem-solving function of the Health Manager. In an alternative embodiment specifically directed to a weight loss or management application, as more fully described herein, a user may elect to wear the sensor device 10 long term or continuously in order to observe changes in certain health or weight related parameters. Alternatively, the user may elect to only wear the sensor device 10 for a brief, initial period of time in order to establish a baseline or initial evaluation of their typical daily caloric intake and energy expenditure. This information may form the basis for diet and/or exercise plans, menu selections, meal plans and the like, and progress may be checked periodically by returning to use of the sensor device 10 for brief periods within the time frame established for the completion of any relevant weight loss or change goal. The specific information to be surveyed may include: key individual temperamental characteristics, including activity level, regularity of eating, sleeping, and bowel habits, initial response to situations, adaptability, persistence, threshold of responsiveness, intensity of reaction, and quality of mood; the user's level of independent functioning, i.e., self-organization and management, socialization, memory, and academic achievement skills; the user's ability to focus and sustain attention, including the user's level of arousal, cognitive tempo, ability to filter distractions, vigilance, and self-monitoring; the user's current health status including current weight, height, and blood pressure, most recent general physician visit, gynecological exam, and other applicable physician/healthcare contacts, current medications and supplements, allergies, and a review of current symptoms and/or health-related behaviors; the user's past health history, i.e., illnesses/surgeries, family history, and social stress events, such as divorce or loss of a job, that have required adjustment by the individual; the user's beliefs, values and opinions about health priorities, their ability to alter their behavior and, what might contribute to stress in their life, and how they manage it; the user's degree of self-awareness, empathy, empowerment, and self-esteem, and the user's current daily routines for eating, sleeping, exercise, relaxation and completing activities of daily living; and the user's perception of the temperamental characteristics of two key persons in their life, for example, their spouse, a friend, a co-worker, or their boss, and whether there are clashes present in their relationships that might interfere with a healthy lifestyle or contribute to stress. In the weight loss or management application, an individual user first becomes a registered user or member of a software platform and is issued a body monitoring apparatus that collects data from the user. The user may further personalize the apparatus by input of specific information into the software platform. This information may include: name, birth date, height, weight, gender, waistline measurements, body type, smoker/nonsmoker, lifestyle, typical activities, usual bed time and usual wake time. After the user connects the apparatus to a personal computer or other similar device by any of the means of the connectivity described above, the apparatus configuration is updated with this information. The user may also have the option to set a reminder which may be a reminder to take a vitamin at a certain time, to engage in physical activity, or to upload data. After the configuration process is complete, the program displays how the device should be worn on the body, and the user removes the apparatus from the personal computer for placement of the apparatus in the appropriate location on the body for the collection of data. Alternatively, some of this personalization can happen through an initial trial wearing period. In the more generally directed embodiments, each member user will have access, through the home web page of central monitoring unit 30, to a series of web pages customized for that user, referred to as the Health Manager. The opening Health Manager web page 150 is shown in FIG. 5. The Health Manager web pages are the main workspace area for the member user. The Health Manager web pages comprise a utility through which central monitoring unit 30 provides various types and forms of data, commonly referred to as analytical status data, to the user that is generated from the data it collects or generates, namely one or more of: the data indicative of various physiological parameters generated by sensor device 10; the data derived from the data indicative of various physiological parameters; the data indicative of various contextual parameters generated by sensor device 10; and the data input by the user. Analytical status data is characterized by the application of certain utilities or algorithms to convert one or more of the data indicative of various physiological parameters generated by sensor device 10, the data derived from the data indicative of various physiological parameters, the data indicative of various contextual parameters generated by sensor device 10, and the data input by the user into calculated health, wellness and lifestyle indicators. For example, based on data input by the user relating to the foods he or she has eaten, things such as calories and amounts of proteins, fats, carbohydrates, and certain vitamins can be calculated. As another example, skin temperature, heart rate, respiration rate, heat flow and/or GSR can be used to provide an indicator to the user of his or her stress level over a desired time period. As still another example, skin temperature, heat flow, beat-to-beat heart variability, heart rate, pulse rate, respiration rate, core temperature, galvanic skin response, EMG, EEG, EOG, blood pressure, oxygen consumption, ambient sound and body movement or motion as detected by a device such as an accelerometer can be used to provide indicators to the user of his or her sleep patterns over a desired time period. Located on the opening Health Manager web page 150 is Health Index 155. Health Index 155 is a graphical utility used to measure and provide feedback to member users regarding their performance and the degree to which they have succeeded in reaching a healthy daily routine suggested by central monitoring unit 30. Health Index 155 thus provides an indication for the member user to track his or her progress. Health Index 155 includes six categories relating to the user's health and lifestyle: Nutrition, Activity Level, Mind Centering, Sleep, Daily Activities and How You Feel. The Nutrition category relates to what, when and how much a person eats and drinks. The Activity Level category relates to how much a person moves around. The Mind Centering category relates to the quality and quantity of time a person spends engaging in some activity that allows the body to achieve a state of profound relaxation while the mind becomes highly alert and focused. The Sleep category relates to the quality and quantity of a person's sleep. The Daily Activities category relates to the daily responsibilities and health risks people encounter. Finally, the How You Feel category relates to the general perception that a person has about how they feel on a particular day. Each category has an associated level indicator or piston that indicates, preferably on a scale ranging from poor to excellent, how the user is performing with respect to that category. When each member user completes the initial survey described above, a profile is generated that provides the user with a summary of his or her relevant characteristics and life circumstances. A plan and/or set of goals is provided in the form of a suggested healthy daily routine. The suggested healthy daily routine may include any combination of specific suggestions for incorporating proper nutrition, exercise, mind centering, sleep, and selected activities of daily living in the user's life. Prototype schedules may be offered as guides for how these suggested activities can be incorporated into the user's life. The user may periodically retake the survey, and based on the results, the items discussed above will be adjusted accordingly. The Nutrition category is calculated from both data input by the user and sensed by sensor device 10. The data input by the user comprises the time and duration of breakfast, lunch, dinner and any snacks, and the foods eaten, the supplements such as vitamins that are taken, and the water and other liquids consumed during a relevant, pre-selected time period. Based upon this data and on stored data relating to known properties of various foods, central monitoring unit 30 calculates well known nutritional food values such as calories and amounts of proteins, fats, carbohydrates, vitamins, etc., consumed. The Nutrition Health Index piston level is preferably determined with respect to the following suggested healthy daily routine: eat at least three meals; eat a varied diet consisting of 6-11 servings of bread, pasta, cereal, and rice, 2-4 servings fruit, 3-5 servings of vegetables, 2-3 servings of fish, meat, poultry, dry beans, eggs, and nuts, and 2-3 servings of milk, yogurt and cheese; and drink 8 or more 8 ounce glasses of water. This routine may be adjusted based on information about the user, such as sex, age, height and/or weight. Certain nutritional targets may also be set by the user or for the user, relating to daily calories, protein, fiber, fat, carbohydrates, and/or water consumption and percentages of total consumption. Parameters utilized in the calculation of the relevant piston level include the number of meals per day, the number of glasses of water, and the types and amounts of food eaten each day as input by the user. Nutritional information is presented to the user through nutrition web page 160 as shown in FIG. 6. The preferred nutritional web page 160 includes nutritional fact charts 165 and 170 which illustrate actual and target nutritional facts, respectively as pie charts, and nutritional intake charts 175 and 180 which show total actual nutritional intake and target nutritional intake, respectively as pie charts. Nutritional fact charts 165 and 170 preferably show a percentage breakdown of items such as carbohydrates, protein and fat, and nutritional intake charts 175 and 180 are preferably broken down to show components such as total and target calories, fat, carbohydrates, protein, and vitamins. Web page 160 also includes meal and water consumption tracking 185 with time entries, hyperlinks 190 which allow the user to directly access nutrition-related news items and articles, suggestions for refining or improving daily routine with respect to nutrition and affiliate advertising elsewhere on the network, and calendar 195 for choosing between views having variable and selectable time periods. The items shown at 190 may be selected and customized based on information learned about the individual in the survey and on their performance as measured by the Health Index. In the weight management embodiment, a user may also have access through central monitoring unit 30 to a software platform referred to as the Weight Manager which may be included in the Health Manager module or independent. It is also contemplated that Weight Manager may be a web-based application. When the Weight Manager software platform is initialized, a registered user may login to the Weight Manager. If a user is not registered, they must complete the registration process before using another part of the software platform. The user begins the registration process by selecting a user name and password and entering the serial number of the apparatus. FIG. 7 is a block diagram illustrating the steps used to configure the personalized Weight Manager. During the initial configuration of the Weight Manager, the user may personalize the system with specific information in the user profile 1000 of the Weight Manager. The user may also return to the user profile 1000 at any time during the use of the system to modify the information. On the body parameters screen 1005 the user may enter specific information including: name, birth date, height, weight, sex, waistline measurement, right or left handedness, body frame size, smoker/nonsmoker, physical activity level, bed time and wake time. On the reminders screen 1010 the user may select a time zone from a pull-down menu in addition to setting a reminder. If any information on the body parameter screen 1005 or the reminders screen 1010 is modified, an armband update button 1015 allows the user to start the upload process for armband configuration 1020. On the weight goals screen 1025, the user is given the option of setting weight loss goals. If the user selects this option, the user will be asked to enter the following information to establish these goals: current weight, goal weight, goal date to reach the goal weight, the target daily caloric intake and the target daily caloric burn rate. The system will then calculate the following: body mass index at the user's current weight, the body mass index at the goal weight, weight loss per week required to reach goal weight by the target date, and the daily caloric balance at the entered daily intake and burn rates. The screen may also display risk factor bars that show the risk of certain conditions such as diabetes, heart disease, hypertension, stroke and premature death at the user's current weight in comparison to the risk at the goal weight. The current and goal risk factors of each disease state may be displayed side-by-side for the user. The user is given a start over option 1030 if they have not entered any information for more than 5 days. The user may also establish a diet and exercise plan on the diet and exercise plan screen 1035 from a selection of plans which may include a low carb, high protein diet plan or a more health condition related diet and exercise plan such as that prescribed by the American Heart Association or the American Diabetes Association. It is to be specifically noted that all such diets, including many not listed herein, are interchangeable for the purposes of this application. The user's diet plan is selected from a pull-down menu. The user also enters their expected intake of fat, carbohydrates and protein as percentages of their overall caloric intake. The user also selects appropriate exercises from a pull down menu or these exercises can be manually entered. According to one aspect of the present invention, the system generates individualized daily meal plans to help the user attain their health and fitness goals. The system uses a database of food and meals (combinations of foods) to create daily menus. The database of food and meals is used in conjunction with user preferences, health and fitness goals, lifestyle, body type and dietary restrictions which constrain the types of meals included in the menu. These individual constraints determine a personalized calorie range and nutritional breakdown for the user's meal plan. Meals are assigned to menus in a best-first strategy to fall within a desired tolerance of the optimal daily caloric and nutritional balance. According to another aspect of the present invention, the system may utilize the information regarding the user's daily energy expenditure to produce menus with calories that may compensate for the user's actual energy expenditure throughout the day. For example, if a user typically exercises right before lunch, the lunch can be made slightly larger. The feedback between the information gathered from the armband and the menus can help the user achieve fitness and health goals more quickly. The user logs meals on a daily basis by selecting individual food items from the food database. The food database provides an extensive list of commonly consumed foods, e.g., milk, bread, common foods available at certain regional or national restaurant chains, e.g., McDonald's and Burger King, as well as brand name entrees, e.g., Weight Watchers or Mrs. T's, available in grocery stores. The name of the food, caloric content of the food and the nutrient information is stored in the database. Equivalent foods can be found in the case of simple preparations. If the user elects to not provide detailed nutritional information, a summary meal entry, such as large, medium or small meal, may be substituted. This will provide a baseline nutritional input for the energy balance features described herein. Over time, as described more fully below, the accuracy of these estimations can be improved through feedback of the system which monitors and estimates the amount of calories actually consumed and correlates the same to the large, medium and small categories. For greater accuracy, the capability to add custom preparations is an option. There are two ways a user can add a custom food. The first is by creating a custom food or meal by adding either the ingredients or dishes of a larger composite dish or meal. The second way is by entering the data found on the back of processed or packaged foods. Either way constitutes an addition to the user's food database for later retrieval. If the user wants to add their own custom food, the food database provides the capability to the user to name their own preparation, enter the ingredients and also the caloric and nutrient contents. When entering a custom preparation, the user must specify a name and at least one ingredient. Once the preparation is added as a custom food to the database, it is available to be selected as the rest of the foods in the database for that user. The custom food data may include calories, total fat, sodium content, total carbohydrate content, total protein content, fiber and cholesterol in each serving. These values may be estimated based on the ingredients entered. Another aspect of the current invention is to utilize adaptive and inferential methods to further simplify the food entry process. These methods include helping the user correctly choose the portion sizes of meals or ingredients and by automatically simplifying the system for the user over time. One example of the first method is to query the user when certain foods are entered. For example, when lasagna is entered, the user is queried about details of the lasagna dish to help narrow down the caloric content of the food. Furthermore, the user's portion sizes can be compared to the typical portion sizes entered for the given meal, and the user is queried when their entry is out of range. Finally, the user can be queried about commonly related foods when certain foods are entered. For example, when a turkey sandwich is entered, the user can be prompted about condiments, since it is highly likely that some condiments were consumed. In general, these suggestions are driven based on conditional probabilities. Given that the user had beer, for example, the system might suggest pizza. These suggestions can be hard-coded or derived from picking out common patterns in the population database or a regional, familial, seasonal or individual subset. In a similar vein, the user's patterns and their relationship to the rest of the population can also be used to drive other aspects of the food entry interaction. For example, if the user has a particular combination of foods regularly, the system suggests that the user make that combination a custom meal. Another aspect of this invention is that the order of foods in the frequent food list or in the database lookup can be designed to maximize the probability that the user will select foods with the fewest clicks possible. Instead of launching the page with a blank meal, the system can also guess at the meal using the historical meal entry information, the physiological data, the user's body parameters, general population food entry data, or in light of relationships with specific other users. For example, if the system has noticed that two or more users often have nearly identical meals on a regular pattern, the system can use one user's entry to prompt the second user. For example, if a wife had a cheeseburger, the system can prompt the husband with the same meal. For a group of six individuals that seems to all have a particular brand of sandwiches for lunch on Tuesdays, the system can use the input from one to drive the promptings for the other users. Additionally, in institutional settings, such as a hospital or lo assisted living center, where large numbers of the same meal or meals are being distributed, a single entry for each meal component could be utilized for all of the wearer/patients. Another aspect is to use the physiology directly to drive suggestions, for example, if the system detects a large amount of activity, sports drinks can be prompted. The food input screen is the front end to the food database. The user interface provides the capability to search the food database. The search is both interactive and capable of letter and phrase matching to speed input. The user begins a search by entering at least three characters in the input box. The search should be case insensitive and order independent of the words entered into the input box. The results of the food search may be grouped in categories such as My Foods, Popular Foods or Miscellaneous Foods. Within each group in the search results, the foods should be listed first with foods that start with the search string and then alphabetically. After selecting a food item, the user selects the portion size of the selected food. The portion size and the measure depend upon the food selected, e.g., item, serving, gram, ounce. Meal information can also be edited after it is entered. The user may enter as many different meals per day as they choose including breakfast, after breakfast snack, lunch, after lunch snack, dinner and after dinner snack. The system may also automatically populate the user's database of custom foods with the entries from their selected meal plan. This will provide a simple method for the user to track what they have consumed and also a self reported way of tracking compliance with the program. FIG. 8 is a block diagram illustrating a weight tracking subsystem 1040 which allows a user to record weight changes over time and receive feedback. A user enters an initial weight entry 1045 into the weight tracking subsystem 1040. The weight tracking subsystem 1040 calculates the percent weight change 1050 since the last time the user has made a weight entry. If a newly entered weight is more than 3% above or below the last weight, a weight verification page 1055 is displayed for the user to confirm that the entered weight is correct. If the entered weight is not more than 3% above or below the last weight, the weight tracking subsystem 1040 saves the entry as the current weight 1060. It is to be specifically noted that the weight tracking subsystem 1040 may utilize body fat measurements and calculations in addition to, or in substitution for, the weight entry 1045. The current weight 1060 is compared to the target weight selected by the user through a weight loss comparison 1065. If a weight is entered which is equal to or below the goal weight, a congratulatory page 1070 displays which has fields for resetting the goal weight. In the preferred embodiment, a comparison is made every six entries between the current weight x and the (x-6)th weight to determine an interval weight loss 1075. Based on the information provided by the user in the registration process regarding weight loss goals, in addition to the input of the user through use of the system, an expected weight loss 1080 is calculated based on these nutritional and energy expenditure values. If interval weight loss 1075 between the two weights is greater than 10 or more pounds from the preprogrammed expected weight loss 1080, the user may be directed to a weight discrepancy error page 1085a directing the user to contact technical support. If the difference between the two weights if four pounds or more, the user may be directed a second weight discrepancy error page 1085b displaying a list of potential reasons for the discrepancy. Another aspect of the weight tracking subsystem is the estimation of the date at which the user's weight should equal the defined goal value input by the user during the registration or as updated at a later time. An algorithm calculates a rate of weight change based on the sequence of the user's recorded weight entries. A Kalman smoother is applied to the sequence to eliminate the effects of noise due to scale imprecision and day to day weight variability. The date at which the user will reach their weight goal is predicted based on the rate of weight change. The total energy expenditure of the user can be estimated either by using the apparatus or by manually entering the duration and type of activities. The apparatus automates the estimation process to speed up and simplify data entry, but it is not required for the use of the system. It is known that total body metabolism is measured as total energy expenditure (TEE) according to the following equation: TEE=BMR+AE+TEF+AT, wherein BMR is basal metabolic rate, which is the energy expended by the body during rest such as sleep; AE is activity energy expenditure, which is the energy expended during physical activity; TEF is thermic effect of food, which is the energy expended while digesting and processing the food that is eaten; and AT is adaptive thermogenesis, which is a mechanism by which the body modifies its metabolism to extreme temperatures. It is estimated that it costs humans about 10% of the value of food that is eaten to process the food. TEF is therefore estimated to be 10% of the total calories consumed. Thus, a reliable and practical method of measuring TEF would enable caloric consumption to be measured without the need to manually track or record food related information. Specifically, once TEF is measured, caloric consumption can be accurately estimated by dividing TEF by 0.1 (TEF=0.1*Calories Consumed; Calories Consumed=TEF/0.1). FIG. 9 is a block diagram of the update information wizard interface 1090 illustrating the process of data retrieval from the apparatus to update energy expenditure. The user is given at least three options for updating energy expenditure including: an unable to upload armband data option 1095a, a forgot to wear armband data option 1095b, and an upload armband data option 1095c. When data is retrieved from the apparatus, the system may provide a semi-automated interface. The system is provided with the capability to communicate with the apparatus both wirelessly and with a wired USB connection. The system prompts the user to select the mode of communication before the retrieval of data. It is contemplated that the most common usage model may be wireless retrieval. If wireless retrieval is used, a wired connection could be used primarily for field upgrades of the firmware in the armband. Each apparatus is associated with a particular user and the apparatus is personalized so that it cannot be interchanged between different users. The system will use the data collected by the armband for estimating the total energy expenditure. This value is calculated using an algorithm contained within the software. The database stores the minute-by-minute estimates of the energy expenditure values, the number of steps, the amount of time the apparatus was worn, the active energy expenditure values, the user's habits, which, in the preferred embodiment are stored as typical hourly non-physically active energy expenditure, their reported exercise while not wearing the apparatus, and the time spent actively. Referring again to FIG. 9, if the user selects the unable to upload armband data option 1095a or the forgot to wear armband option 1095b, the user may elect the estimate energy expenditure option 1100, If the user selects the upload armband data option 1095c, the user may begin retrieving the data from the apparatus. If the apparatus was worn intermittently or not worn for a period of time, the system can provide the user with a manual activity entry option 1105 to manually enter the type of activity they have engaged in during this period. The options available include a sedentary option, a list of activities from the American College of Sports Medicine Metabolic Equivalent Table and a list of activities previously entered during the use of the device. Over time, the options may be presented in order of highest to lowest incidence, speeding the data input by placing the most frequent options at the top of the list. Additionally, the system may observe patterns of activity based upon time of day, day of the week and the like and suggest an activity with high probability for the particular missing time period. If nothing was entered for activities, the system will estimate the user's energy expenditure using their previously stored data. In the preferred embodiment, this is done using a histogram estimation and analysis incorporating a set of hourly data sets, each of which includes a running average of the non-exercise energy expenditure recorded by the apparatus. Additionally, the user may select a exercise calculator to estimate the calories burned during any particular activity in the database. The user selects the appropriate activity from a list and a time period for the activity. The system calculates the approximate calories that would be burned by the user during that time period, based upon either or both of (i) a lookup table of average estimate data or (ii) prior measurements for that user during those specific activities. According to an aspect of the present invention, the armband may detect when the user is physically active and sedentary. During the physically active times, the usage patterns are not updated. Instead the user is asked to report on their highly active periods. During the non-physically active times, the usage pattern is updated and the information gathered is then used during reported sedentary time when the user did not wear the armband. The system, either through the software platform, the body monitor, or both, can improve its performance in making accurate statements about the wearer by gathering and analyzing data, finding patterns, finding relations, or correlating data about the person over time. For example, if the user gives explicit feedback, such as time stamping a particular activity to the system, the system can this to directly improve the system's ability to identify that activity. As another example, the system can build a characterization of an individual's habits over time to further improve the quality of the derived measures. For example, knowing the times a user tends to exercise, for how long they tend to exercise, or the days they tend not to exercise can all be valuable inputs to the prediction of when physical activity is occurring. It will be obvious to one skilled in the art that the characterizations of habits and detected patterns are themselves possible derived parameters. Furthermore, these characterizations of habits and patterns can allow the system to be intuitive when the sensors are not working or the apparatus is not attached to the user's body. For example, if the user does not wear the apparatus and measured energy expenditure is not available, or neglects to input a meal, the data can be estimated from the characterizations of habits and prior observed meals and activities, as stated more fully herein. For the more general embodiment, the Activity Level category of Health Index 155 is designed to help users monitor how and when they move around during the day and utilizes both data input by the user and data sensed by sensor device 10. The data input by the user may include details regarding the user's daily activities, for example the fact that the user worked at a desk from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. and then took an aerobics class from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. Relevant data sensed by sensor device 10 may include heart rate, movement as sensed by a device such as an accelerometer, heat flow, respiration rate, calories burned, GSR and hydration level, which may be derived by sensor device 60 or central monitoring unit 30. Calories burned may be calculated in a variety of manners, including: the multiplication of the type of exercise input by the user by the duration of exercise input by the user; sensed motion multiplied by time of motion multiplied by a filter or constant; or sensed heat flux multiplied by time multiplied by a filter or constant. The Activity Level Health Index piston level is preferably determined with respect to a suggested healthy daily routine that includes: exercising aerobically for a pre-set time period, preferably 20 minutes, or engaging in a vigorous lifestyle activity for a pre-set time period, preferably one hour, and burning at least a minimum target number of calories, preferably 205 calories, through the aerobic exercise and/or lifestyle activity. The minimum target number of calories may be set according to information about the user, such as sex, age, height and/or weight. Parameters utilized in the calculation of the relevant piston level include the amount of time spent exercising aerobically or engaging in a vigorous lifestyle activity as input by the user and/or sensed by sensor device 10, and the number of calories burned above pre-calculated energy expenditure parameters. Information regarding the individual user's movement is presented to the user through activity level web page 200 shown in FIG. 10, which may include activity graph 205 in the form of a bar graph, for monitoring the individual user's activities in one of three categories: high, medium and low intensity with respect to a pre-selected unit of time. Activity percentage chart 210, in the form or a pie chart, may also be provided for showing the percentage of a pre-selected time period, such as one day, that the user spent in each category. Activity level web page 200 may also include calorie section 215 for displaying items such as total calories burned, daily target calories burned, total caloric intake, and duration of aerobic activity. Finally, activity level web page 200 may include at least one hyperlink 220 to allow a user to directly access relevant news items and articles, suggestions for refining or improving daily routine with respect to activity level and affiliate advertising elsewhere on the network. Activity level web page 200 may be viewed in a variety of formats, and may include user-selectable graphs and charts such as a bar graph, pie chart, or both, as selectable by Activity level check boxes 225. Activity level calendar 230 is provided for selecting among views having variable and selectable time periods. The items shown at 220 may be selected and customized based on information learned about the individual in the survey and on their performance as measured by the Health Index. The Mind Centering category of Health Index 155 is designed to help users monitor the parameters relating to time spent engaging in certain activities which allow the body to achieve a state of profound relaxation while the mind becomes focused, and is based upon both data input by the user and data sensed by the sensor device 10. In particular, a user may input the beginning and end times of relaxation activities such as yoga or meditation. The quality of those activities as determined by the depth of a mind centering event can be measured by monitoring parameters including skin temperature, heart rate, respiration rate, and heat flow as sensed by sensor device 10. Percent change in GSR as derived either by sensor device 10 or central monitoring unit 30 may also be utilized. The Mind Centering Health Index piston level is preferably calculated with respect to a suggested healthy daily routine that includes participating each day in an activity that allows the body to achieve profound relaxation while the mind stays highly focused for at least fifteen minutes. Parameters utilized in the calculation of the relevant piston level include the amount of time spent in a mind centering activity, and the percent change in skin temperature, heart rate, respiration rate, heat flow or GSR as sensed by sensor device 10 compared to a baseline which is an indication of the depth or quality of the mind centering activity. Information regarding the time spent on self-reflection and relaxation is presented to the user through mind centering web page 250 shown in FIG. 1l. For each mind centering activity, referred to as a session, the preferred mind centering web page 250 includes the time spent during the session, shown at 255, the target time, shown at 260, comparison section 265 showing target and actual depth of mind centering, or focus, and a histogram 270 that shows the overall level of stress derived from such things as skin temperature, heart rate, respiration rate, heat flow and/or GSR. In comparison section 265, the human figure outline showing target focus is solid, and the human figure outline showing actual focus ranges from fuzzy to solid depending on the level of focus. The preferred mind centering web page may also include an indication of the total time spent on mind centering activities, shown at 275, hyperlinks 280 which allow the user to directly access relevant news items and articles, suggestions for refining or improving daily routine with respect to mind centering and affiliate advertising, and a calendar 285 for choosing among views having variable and selectable time periods. The items shown at 280 may be selected and customized based on information learned about the individual in the survey and on their performance as measured by the Health Index. The Sleep category of Health Index 155 is designed to help users monitor their sleep patterns and the quality of their sleep. It is intended to help users learn about the importance of sleep in their healthy lifestyle and the relationship of sleep to circadian rhythms, being the normal daily variations in body functions. The Sleep category is based upon both data input by the user and data sensed by sensor device 10. The data input by the user for each relevant time interval includes the times the user went to sleep and woke up and a rating of the quality of sleep. As noted in Table 2, the data from sensor device 10 that is relevant includes skin temperature, heat flow, beat-to-beat heart variability, heart rate, pulse rate, respiration rate, core temperature, galvanic skin response, EMG, EEG, EOG, blood pressure, and oxygen consumption. Also relevant is ambient sound and body movement or motion as detected by a device such as an accelerometer. This data can then be used to calculate or derive sleep onset and wake time, sleep interruptions, and the quality and depth of sleep. The Sleep Health Index piston level is determined with respect to a healthy daily routine including getting a minimum amount, preferably eight hours, of sleep each night and having a predictable bed time and wake time. The specific parameters which determine the piston level calculation include the number of hours of sleep per night and the bed time and wake time as sensed by sensor device 10 or as input by the user, and the quality of the sleep as rated by the user or derived from other data. Information regarding sleep is presented to the user through sleep web page 290 shown in FIG. 12. Sleep web page 290 includes a sleep duration indicator 295, based on either data from sensor device 10 or on data input by the user, together with user sleep time indicator 300 and wake time indicator 305. A quality of sleep rating 310 input by the user may also be utilized and displayed. If more than a one day time interval is being displayed on sleep web page 290, then sleep duration indicator 295 is calculated and displayed as a cumulative value, and sleep time indicator 300, wake time indicator 305 and quality of sleep rating 310 are calculated and illustrated as averages. Sleep web page 290 also includes a user-selectable sleep graph 315 which calculates and displays one sleep related parameter over a pre-selected time interval. For illustrative purposes, FIG. 12 shows heat flow over a one-day period, which tends to be lower during sleeping hours and higher during waking hours. From this informnation, a person's bio-rhythms can be derived. Sleep graph 315 may also include a graphical representation of data from an accelerometer incorporated in sensor device 10 which monitors the movement of the body. The sleep web page 290 may also include hyperlinks 320 which allow the user to directly access sleep related news items and articles, suggestions for refining or improving daily routine with respect to sleep and affiliate advertising available elsewhere on the network, and a sleep calendar 325 for choosing a relevant time interval. The items shown at 320 may be selected and customized based on information learned about the individual in the survey and on their performance as measured by the Health Index. The Activities of Daily Living category of Health Index 155 is designed to help users monitor certain health and safety related activities and risks and is based in part on data input by the user. Other data which is utilized by the Activities of Daily Living category is derived from the sensor data, in the form of detected activities which are recognized based on physiological and/or contextual data, as described more fully in this application. The Activities of Daily Living category is divided into four sub-categories: personal hygiene, which allows the user to monitor activities such as brushing and flossing his or her teeth and showering; health maintenance, that tracks whether the user is taking prescribed medication or supplements and allows the user to monitor tobacco and alcohol consumption and automobile safety such as seat belt use; personal time, that allows the user to monitor time spent socially with family and friends, leisure, and mind centering activities; and responsibilities, that allows the user to monitor certain work and financial activities such as paying bills and household chores. The Activities of Daily Living Health Index piston level is preferably determined with respect to the healthy daily routine described below. With respect to personal hygiene, the routine requires that the users shower or bathe each day, brush and floss teeth each day, and maintain regular bowel habits. With respect to health maintenance, the routine requires that the user take medications and vitamins and/or supplements, use a seat belt, refrain from smoking, drink moderately, and monitor health each day with the Health Manager. With respect to personal time, the routine requires the users to spend at least one hour of quality time each day with family and/or friends, restrict work time to a maximum of nine hours a day, spend some time on a leisure or play activity each day, and engage in a mind stimulating activity. With respect to responsibilities, the routine requires the users to do household chores, pay bills, be on time for work, and keep appointments. The piston level is calculated based on the degree to which the user completes a list of daily activities as determined by information input by the user. Information relating to these activities is presented to the user through daily activities web page 330 shown in FIG. 13. In preferred daily activities web page 330, activities chart 335, selectable for one or more of the sub-categories, shows whether the user has done what is required by the daily routine. A colored or shaded box indicates that the user has done the required activity, and an empty, non-colored or shaded box indicates that the user has not done the activity. Activities chart 335 can be created and viewed in selectable time intervals. For illustrative purposes, FIG. 13 shows the personal hygiene and personal time sub-categories for a particular week. In addition, daily activities web page 330 may include daily activity hyperlinks 340 which allow the user to directly access relevant news items and articles, suggestions for improving or refining daily routine with respect to activities of daily living and affiliate advertising, and a daily activities calendar 345 for selecting a relevant time interval. The items shown at 340 may be selected and customized based on information learned about the individual in the survey and on their performance as measured by the Health Index. The How You Feel category of Health Index 155 is designed to allow users to monitor their perception of how they felt on a particular day, and is based on information, essentially a subjective rating, that is input directly by the user. A user provides a rating, preferably on a scale of 1 to 5, with respect to the following nine subject areas: mental sharpness; emotional and psychological well being; energy level; ability to cope with life stresses; appearance; physical well being; self-control; motivation; and comfort in relating to others. Those ratings are averaged and used to calculate the relevant piston level. Referring to FIG. 14, Health Index web page 350 is shown. Health Index web page 350 enables users to view the performance of their Health Index over a user selectable time interval including any number of consecutive or non-consecutive days. Using Health Index selector buttons 360, the user can select to view the Health Index piston levels for one category, or can view a side-by-side comparison of the Health Index piston levels for two or more categories. For example, a user might want to just turn on Sleep to see if their overall sleep rating improved over the previous month, much in the same way they view the performance of their favorite stock. Alternatively, Sleep and Activity Level might be simultaneously displayed in order to compare and evaluate Sleep ratings with corresponding Activity Level ratings to determine if any day-to-day correlations exist. Nutrition ratings might be displayed with How You Feel for a pre-selected time interval to determine if any correlation exists between daily eating habits and how they felt during that interval. For illustrative purposes, FIG. 14 illustrates a comparison of Sleep and Activity Level piston levels for the week of June 10 through June 16. Health Index web page 350 also includes tracking calculator 365 that displays access information and statistics such as the total number of days the user has logged in and used the Health Manager, the percentage of days the user has used the Health Manager since becoming a subscriber, and percentage of time the user has used the sensor device 10 to gather data. Referring again to FIG. 5, opening Health Manager web page 150 may include a plurality of user selectable category summaries 156a through 156f, one corresponding to each of the Health Index 155 categories. Each category summary 156a through 156f presents a pre-selected filtered subset of the data associated with the corresponding category. Nutrition category summary 156a displays daily target and actual caloric intake. Activity Level category summary 156b displays daily target and actual calories burned. Mind Centering category summary 156c displays target and actual depth of mind centering or focus. Sleep category summary 156d displays target sleep, actual sleep, and a sleep quality rating. Daily Activities category summary 156e displays a target and actual score based on the percentage of suggested daily activities that are completed. The How You Feel category summary 156f shows a target and actual rating for the day. Opening Health Manager web page 150 also may include Daily Dose section 157 which provides, on a daily time interval basis, information to the user, including, but not limited to, hyperlinks to news items and articles, commentary and reminders to the user based on tendencies, such as poor nutritional habits, determined from the initial survey. The commentary for Daily Dose 157 may, for example, be a factual statement that drinking 8 glasses of water a day can reduce the risk of colon cancer by as much as 32%, accompanied by a suggestion to keep a cup of water by your computer or on your desk at work and refill often. Opening Health Manager web page 150 also may include a Problem Solver section 158 that actively evaluates the user's performance in each of the categories of Health Index 155 and presents suggestions for improvement. For example, if the system detects that a user's Sleep levels have been low, which suggest that the user has been having trouble sleeping, Problem Solver 158 can provide suggestions for way to improve sleep. Problem Solver 158 also may include the capability of user questions regarding improvements in performance. Opening Health Manager web page 150 may also include a Daily Data section 159 that launches an input dialog box. The input dialog box facilitates input by the user of the various data required by the Health Manager. As is known in the art, data entry may be in the form of selection from pre-defined lists or general free form text input. Finally, opening Health Manager web page 150 may include Body Stats section 161 which may provide information regarding the user's height, weight, body measurements, body mass index or BMI, and vital signs such as heart rate, blood pressure or any of the identified physiological parameters. Referring again to the weight management embodiment, energy balance is utilized to track and predict weight loss and progress. The energy balance equation has two components, energy intake and energy expenditure, and the difference between these two values is the energy balance. Daily caloric intake equals the number of calories that a user consumes within a day. Total energy expenditure is the amount of calories expended by a user whether at rest or engaging in any type of activity. The goal of the system is to provide a way to track daily caloric intake and automatically monitor total energy expenditure accurately so users can track their status and progress with respect to these two parameters. The user is also provided with feedback regarding additional activities necessary to achieve their energy balance. To achieve weight loss the energy balance should be negative which means that fewer calories were consumed than expended. A positive energy balance has the potential to result in weight gain or no loss of weight. The management system automates the ability of the user to track energy balance through the energy intake tracking subsystem, the energy expenditure tracking subsystem and the energy balance and feedback subsystem. Referring again to FIG. 9, if the user has not entered any meals or food items consumed since the last update, the user will be prompted to initiate the energy intake subsystem 1110 to log caloric intake for the appropriate meals. The energy intake subsystem may estimate the average daily caloric intake of the user using the total energy expenditure estimate and the change in the user's weight and/or body fat composition. The inputs to this system include the user's body fat composition or weight, at regular intervals related to the relevant time period, and the energy expenditure estimation. If the user has not updated their weight within the last 7 days, they will be directed to a weight reminder page 1115. The energy expenditure estimation is based on the basic equivalence of 3500 kcal equal to a 1 lb change in weight. The software program will also attempt to smooth the estimation by accounting for fluctuations in water retained by the body and for differences in the way the user has collected weight readings, e.g. different times of the day or different weight scales. It is to be specifically noted that the system may also be utilized to derive the caloric intake from the energy expenditure of the user and the changes in weight which are input by the user or otherwise detected by the system. This is accomplished by utilizing the same basic calculations described herein, however the net weight gain or loss is utilized as the reference input. In the equation A+B=C, A is equal to caloric intake, B equal to energy expenditure and C equal to the net weight gain or loss. The system may not be able to determine the specific information regarding the type of food items consumed by the user, but it can calculate what the caloric intake for the user would be, given the known physiological parameters and the energy expenditure measured during the relevant time period. Changes in body fat and water weight may also be incorporated into this calculation for greater accuracy. This calculation of daily caloric intake may also be performed even when the user is entering nutritional information as a check against the accuracy of the data input, or to tune the correlation between the small, medium and large size meal options described above, in the more simplified method of caloric input, and the actual calorie consumption of the user, as is disclosed in co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/682,759, the specification of which is incorporated herein by reference. Lastly, this reverse calculation can be utilized in the institutional setting to determine whether or to what degree the patients are consuming the meals provided and entered into the system. Logging of the foods consumed is completely optional for the user. By using this feature the user can get feedback about how much food they think they consumed compared to what they actually consumed, as measured by the energy intake estimation subsystem described above. If the user chooses to log food intake, a semi automated interface guides the user through the breakfast, after breakfast snack, lunch, after lunch snack, dinner, and after dinner snack progression. If the user does not have the need to enter any data, e.g., the user did not have a snack after breakfast, options may be provided to skip the entry. Immediate feedback about the caloric content of the selected foods also may be provided. For any of the 6 meal events, the software assumes one of the following scenarios to be true: a user has eaten the meal and wants to log in what they ate food by food; a user has eaten the meal but has eaten the same thing as a previous day; a user has eaten the meal but can not recall what they ate; a user has eaten the meal, can recall what they ate, but does not want to enter in what they ate food by food; a user has skipped the meal; a user has not eaten the meal yet. The software forces the user to apply these scenarios for each meal chronologically since the last meal event was entered into the system. This ensures there are no gaps in the data. Gaps in the data lead to misleading calculations of calorie balance. If the user wants to log food items, the software responds by prompting the user to type in the first few letters of a food into the dynamic search box which automatically pulls the closest matches from the food database into a scrollable drop down list just below the entry. Upon selection of an entry, the food appears in a consumed foods list to the right of the drop down, where addition of information such as unit of measure and serving size can be edited, or the food can be deleted from the consumed foods list. The total number of calories per meal is automatically calculated at the bottom of the consumed foods list. This method is repeated until the meal has been recounted. In the event that a food does not exist in the database, a message appears in the drop down box suggesting that the user can add a custom food to their personal database. If a user has eaten the same thing as a previous day, the user selects the appropriate day and the meal chosen appears to the right. The user hits the next button to enter it into the system. This specifically capitalizes on the tendency of people to have repetitive eating patterns such as the same foods for the same meals over increments of time. If a user cannot recall a meal, the software responds by bringing up a screen that calculates an average of the total number of calories consumed for that meal over a certain number of days and presents that number to the user. If the user has eaten a meal, but does not want to enter the consumed food items, the software may bring up a screen that enables the user to quickly estimate caloric intake by either entering a number of calories consumed or selecting a word amount such as normal, less than normal, more than normal, a lot or very little. Depending on the selection, estimated caloric intake increases or decreases from the average, or what is typical based on an average range. For example, if on average the user consumes between 850 and 1000 kcal for dinner, and specifies that for the relevant meal that he ate more than usual, the estimate may be higher than 1000 kcal. If a user specifies that they did not eat a certain meal yet, they may choose to proceed to the weight management center. This accounts for the fact that users eat meals at different points of the day, but never one before the other. To keep the amount of time a user has to spend entering the meal information to a minimum, the system may also offer the option to select from a list of frequently consumed foods. The user can select food items from the frequent foods list and minimize the need to search the database for commonly consumed foods. The frequent foods tool is designed to further expedite the task of accurately recalling and entering food consumption. It is based on the observation that people tend to eat only 35-50 unique foods seasonally. People tend to eat a core set of favorite breakfast foods, snacks, side dishes, lunches, and fast food based on personal preference, and issues concerning convenience, like places they can walk or drive to from work for lunch. The frequent foods tool works by tallying the number of times specific food entries are selected from the database by the user for each of the six daily meal events. The total number of selections of a specific food entry is recorded, and the top foods with the most selections appears in a frequent foods list in order of popularity. Additionally, the system is also aware of other meal related parameters of the user, such as meal plan or diet type, and speeds data entry by limiting choices or placing more relevant foods at the top of the lists. FIG. 15 is a representation of a preferred embodiment of the Weight Manager interface 1120. Weight Manager interface 1120 is provided with a multi section screen having a navigation bar 1121 which comprises a series of subject matter tabs 1122. The tabs are customizable with the program but typically include sections for report writing and selection 1122b, a navigation tab to the user's profile 1122c, a navigation tab to the armband sensor device update section 1122d, a navigation tab to the meal entry section 1122e and a message section 1122f. The interface 1120 is further provided, as shown in FIG. 15, with an operational section 1122a entitled balance which comprises the primary user functions of the Weight Manager interface 1120. A calendar section 1123 provides the user with the ability to select and view data from or for any particular date. A feedback section 1125 provide commentary as described herein, and a dashboard section 1126 provides graphical output regarding the selected days energy intake and expenditure. Finally, a weight loss progress section 1135 provides a graphical output of weight versus time for any given date selected in calendar section 1123. A feedback and coaching engine analyzes the data generated by the total energy expenditure and daily caloric intake calculations, as previously discussed, to provide the user with feedback in the feedback section 1125. The feedback may present a variety of choices depending on the current state of the progress of the user. If the user is both losing weight and achieving the target daily caloric intake and total energy expenditure goals, they are encouraged to continue the program without making any adjustments. If the user is not losing weight according to the preset goals, the user may be presented with an option to increase the total energy expenditure, decrease the daily caloric intake, combination of increase in total energy expenditure and decrease in daily caloric intake to reach energy balance goals or reset goals to be more achievable. The feedback may further include suggestions as to meal and vitamin supplements. This feedback and coaching may also be incorporated in the intermittent status reports described below, as both present similar information. If the user chooses to decrease daily caloric intake the user may be presented with an option to generate a new meal plan to suit their new daily caloric goal. If the user chooses to increase total expenditure energy goal, the user may be presented with an exercise plan to guide them to the preset goals. A total energy expenditure estimation calculator utility may also be available to the users. The calculator utility may enable the user to select from multiple exercise options. If the user chooses to increase total energy expenditure and decrease daily caloric intake to reach the preset goals, the meal plan and exercise choices may be adjusted accordingly. Safety limitations may be placed on both the daily caloric intake and total energy expenditure recommendations. For example, a meal plan with fewer than 1200 kcal a day and exercise recommendations for more than an hour a day may not be recommended based on the imposed safety limitations. Additionally, the user may be provided with suggestions for achieving a preset goal. These suggestions may include simple hints, such as to wear their armband more often, visit the gym more, park farther from the office, or log food items more regularly, as well as specific hints about why the user might not be seeing the expected results. In an alternative embodiment, the recommendations given by the coaching engine are based on a wider set of inputs, including the past history of recommendations and the user's physiological data. The feedback engine can optionally engage the user in a serious of questions to elicit the underlying source for their failure to achieve a preset goal. For example, the system can ask questions including whether the user had visitors, was the user out of town over the weekend, was the user too busy to have time to exercise, or if the user dine out a lot during the week. Asking these questions gives the user encouragement and helps the user understand the reasons that a preset goal has not been achieved. Another aspect of this alternative embodiment of the feedback system is that the system can evaluate the results of giving the feedback to the user. This is accomplished through the tracking of the parameters which are the subject of the feedback, such as context and estimated daily caloric intake or logged intake. This feature enables the system to be observational and not just result based, because it can monitor the nature of compliance and modify the feedback accordingly. For example, if the system suggests eating less, the system can measure how much less the user eats in the next week and use this successful response as feedback to tune the system's effectiveness with respect to the user's compliance with the original feedback or suggestions. Other examples of such delayed feedback for the system are whether the user exercises more when the system suggests it, whether the user undertakes more cardiovascular exercise when prompted to, and whether the user wears the armband more when it is suggested. This type of delayed feedback signal, and the system's subsequent adaptation thereto is identified as reinforcement learning, as is well known in the art. This learning system tunes the behavior of a system or agent based on delayed feedback signals. In this alternate embodiment, the system is tuned at three levels of specificity through the reinforcement learning framework. First, the feedback is adapted for the entire population for a given situation, e.g. what is the right feedback to give when the user is in a plateau. Second, the feedback is adapted for groups of people, e.g. what is the right feedback in situation X for people like person Y or what is the right feedback for women when the person hasn't been achieving intake goals for three weeks, which may be different from the nature or character or tone of the feedback given to men under the same conditions. Finally, the system can also adapt itself directly based on the individual, e.g. i.e., what is the best feedback for this particular user who has not exercised enough in a given week. In another aspect of the invention, the feedback provided to the user might be predictive in nature. At times, an individual may experience non-goal or negatively oriented situations, such as weight gain, during a weight loss regimen. The situations may also be positive or neutral. Because of the continuous monitoring of data through the use of the system, the events surrounding, that is, immediately prior and subsequent to, the situation can be analyzed to determine and classify the type of event. The sequence of events, readings or parameters can be recorded as a pattern, which the system can store and review. The system can compare current data regarding this situation to prior data or patterns to determine if a similar situation has occurred previously and further to predict if a past episode is going to occur in the near term. The system may then provide feedback regarding the situation, and, with each occurrence, the system can tailor the feedback provided to the user, based on the responses provided by or detected from the user. The system can further tailor the feedback based on the effectiveness of the feedback. As the system is further customized for the user, the system may also proactively make suggestions based on the user's detected responses to the feedback. For example, in the situation where a user has reached a plateau in weight management, the system may formulate new suggestions to enable a user to return to a state of progress. Furthermore, the system modifies the reinforcement learning framework with regard to detected or nondetected responses to the provided feedback. For example, if the system suggests that the user should increase their energy expenditure, but the individual responds by wearing the armband more often, the system can modify the framework based on the user's sensitivities to the feedback. The reinforcement is not only from the direct interaction of the user with the system, but also any difference in behavior, even if the connection is not immediately obvious. It should be specifically noted that the predictive analysis of the data regarding negatively positively or neutrally oriented situations may be based on the user's personal history or patterns or based on aggregate data of similar data from other users in the population. The population data may be based on the data gathered from users of any of the embodiments of the system, including but not limited to weight management. Moreover, as the user experiences multiple occasions of similar situations, the system may begin to understand how the individual arrived at this stage and how the person attempted to correct the situation, successfully or unsuccessfully. The system reinforces its learning and adaptation through pattern matching to further modify future feedback the next time this situation may occur. For example, it is not uncommon in weight management for a user to experience a plateau, which is the slowing of the user's metabolism to slow in order to conserve calories and also a period during which a user may not realize any progress toward preset goals. Also, occasions may occur which cause the user to deviate from a preset goal either temporarily or long-term such as long weekends, vacations, business trips or periods of consistent weather conditions, the system may provide reminders prior to the plateau or the event, warning of an impending problem and providing suggestions for avoidance. In an alternate embodiment, when the user experiences a negative, positive or neutral situation that is likely to affect achieved progress, the system may display the risk factors discussed above as they are affected by the situation. For example, if the user has experienced a negative situation that has caused an increase in weight, the system may determine that the user's risk for heart disease is now elevated. This current elevated risk is displayed accordingly in the risk factor bar for that condition and compared to the risk at the user's goal level. It will be clear to one skilled in the art that the description just given for guiding a person through an automated process of behavior modification with reinforcement with respect to a series of physiologic and/or contextual states of the individual's body and their previous behavior responses, while described for the specific behavior modification goal of weight management, need not be limited to that particular behavior modification goal. The process could also be adapted and applied without limitation to sleep management, pregnancy wellness management, diabetes disease management, cardiovascular disease management, fitness management, infant wellness management, and stress management, with the same or other additional inputs or outputs to the system. Equally appreciable is a system in which a user is a diabetic using the tool for weight management and, therefore, insulin level and has had a serious or series of symptoms or sudden changes in blood glucose level recorded in the data. In this embodiment, the inputs would be the same as the weight embodiment, calories ingested, types of calories, activity and energy expenditure and weight. With respect to the insulin level, management where the feedback of this system was specifically tuned for predicted body insulin levels, calorie intake, calorie burn, activity classifications and weight measurement could be utilized. User input would include glucometer readings analogous to the weight scale of the weight loss embodiment. It should be noted that insulin level is indirectly related to energy balance and therefore weight management. Even for a non-diabetic, a low insulin level reflects a limitation on energy expenditure, since the body is unable to obtain its maximum potential. In addition to monitoring of physiological and contextual parameters, environmental parameters may also be monitored to determine the effect on the user. These parameters may include ozone, pollen count, and humidity and may be useful for, but not limited to, a system of asthma management. There are many aspects to the feedback that can be adapted in different embodiments of this system. For example, the medium of the feedback can be modified. Based on performance, the system can choose to contact the user through phone, email, fax, or the web site. The tone or format of the message itself can be modified, for example by choosing a strong message delivered as a pop-up message. A message such as “You've been too lazy! I'm ordering you to get out there and exercise more this week” or a more softly toned message delivered in the feedback section of the site, such as “You've been doing pretty well,. but if you can find more time to exercise this week, you'll stay closer to your targets”. The system may also include a reporting feature to provide a summary of the energy expenditure, daily caloric intake, energy balance or nutritional information for a period of time. The user may be provided with an interface to visualize graphically and analyze the numbers of their energy balance. The input values for the energy balance calculation are the daily caloric intake that was estimated using the total energy expenditure and weight or body fat changes and total energy expenditure estimates based on the usage of the energy expenditure tracking system. The user may be provided with this information both in an equation form and visually. Shortcuts are provided for commonly used summary time periods, such as daily, yesterday, last 7 days, last 30 days and since beginning. The report can also be customized in various ways including what the user has asked to see in the past or what the user actually has done. The reports may be customized by third party specifications or by user selection. If the user has not exercised, the exercise tab can be left out. The user may ask to see a diary of past feedback to see the type of feedback previously received. If the feedback has all been about controlling daily caloric intake, the reports can be more about nutrition. One skilled in the art will recognize that the reports can be enhanced in all the ways that the feedback engine can be enhanced and can be viewed as an extension of the feedback engine. Referring again to FIG. 15, the balance tab 1122a presents a summary of the user's weight loss progress in a variety of formats. For the balance section 1122a, a weight loss progress graph 1135 illustrates the user's weight loss progress from day the user began using the total weight loss system to the present date. Energy balance section 1136 provides details regarding the user's actual and goal energy balance including the actual and goal calories consumed and actual and goal calories burned. Energy balance graph 1137 is a graphical representation of this same information. Dashboard section 1126 also has a performance indicator section 1146 which lets the user know the state of their energy balance in relation to their goal. The information contained within the performance indicator section 1146 may be a graphical representation of the information in the feedback section 1125. Optionally, the system may display a list of the particular foods consumed during the relevant time period and the nutritional aspects of the food, such as calories, carbohydrate and fat content in chart form. Similarly, the display may include a charted list of all activities conducted during the relevant time period together with relevant data such as the duration of the activity and the calories burned. The system may further be utilized to log such activities at a user-selected level of detail, including individual exercises, calisthenics and the like. In an alternative embodiment, the system may also provide intermittent feedback to the user in the feedback section 1125, alone or in conjunction with the feedback and coaching engine. The feedback and coaching engine is a more specific or alternative embodiment of the Problem Solver, as described above. The feedback may also be presented in an additional display box or window, as appropriate, in the form of a periodic or intermittent status report 1140. The intermittent status report 1140 may also be requested by the user at any time. The status report may be an alert located in a box on a location of the screen and is typically set off to attract the user's attention. Status reports and images are generated by creating a key string, or parameter set, based on the user's current view and state and may provide information to the user about their weight loss goal progress. This information typically includes suggestions to meet the user's calorie balance goal for the day. Intermittent status reports 1140 are generated on the balance tab 1122a of the Weight Manager Interface 1120. The purpose of the intermittent status report 1140 is to provide immediate instructional feedback to the user for the selected view. A properties file containing key value pairs is searched to match message and images which establishes certain selection criteria to the corresponding key. In the preferred embodiment, there are four possible views for intermittent status reports 1140: Today, Specific Day, Average (Last 7 or 30 Day) and Since Beginning. A user state is incorporated as part of the selection criteria for intermittent status report 1140. The user state is based on the actual and goal values of energy expenditure and daily caloric intake as previously described. The goal and predicted energy balance based, on the respective energy expenditure and daily caloric intake values, is also utilized as an additional comparison factor in user states 4 and 5. The possible user states are shown in Table 3: TABLE 3 State Description Calculation 1 A user will not reach energy goal and (energy expenditure < goal energy daily caloric intake is below budget expenditure) and (daily caloric intake <= goal daily caloric intake) Where = has a tolerance of ± is 50 calories 2 A user has or will have burned more (energy expenditure >= goal energy calories than the goal, and daily expenditure) and (daily caloric intake <= goal caloric intake is below budget daily caloric intake) Where = has a tolerance of ± is 50 calories 3 A user hasn't exercised enough and (energy expenditure < goal energy has eaten too much expenditure) and (daily caloric intake > goal daily caloric intake) Where = has a tolerance of ± is 50 calories 4 A user has exceeded caloric intake (energy expenditure >= goal energy goals, but energy expenditure should expenditure) and (daily caloric intake > goal make up for it daily caloric intake) && (predicted energy balance >= goal energy balance) Where = has a tolerance of ± is 50 calories 5 A user has exceeded caloric intake (energy expenditure >= goal energy goals, but energy expenditure goals expenditure) and (daily caloric intake > goal will not make up for it daily caloric intake) && (predicted energy balance < goal energy balance) Where = has a tolerance of ± is 50 calories The user's current energy balance is also used to determine part of the selection criteria. TABLE 4 String Calculation Black (energy expenditure - daily caloric intake) > 40 Even −40 < (energy expenditure - daily caloric intake) < 40 Red 40 < (energy expenditure - daily caloric intake) The last part of the selection criteria depends on the type of view selected, as previously described above. Specifically, the today view incorporates two parameters to predict the ability of the user to correct the energy balance deficiencies by the end of the relevant time period: TABLE 5 String Description Early A favorite activity takes less than an hour to correct the energy balance and it is before 11:00 PM; or an activity appropriate for the user will correct the energy balance and enough time remains in the relevant period for its completion. Late A favorite activity takes more than an hour to correct the energy balance or it is after 11:00 PM; or there is insufficient time to complete an activity which will return a positive result for energy balance. All other views use two types of information for estimating the validity of the goals: TABLE 6 String Calculation validgoals If (state 2 or 4) then 80% > % DCI or % EE > 120% and there is a valid activity to make up the difference in less than an hour else just based on percent suspectgoals If (state 2 or 4) then 80% > % DCI or % EE > 120% or there is NOT a valid activity to make up the difference in less than an hour else just based on percent where % DCI or % EE represents the current percent of daily caloric intake or energy expenditure, as appropriate, in relation to the goal of the user. A similar method is used to determine the messages below each horizontal bar chart as shown in FIG. 15. The next part of the selection criteria is achievement status, which is determined by the current value of daily caloric intake or energy expenditure in relation to the goal set by the user. The parameters are as follows: TABLE 7 String Calculation above Value > goal even Value = goal below Value < goal In alternative embodiments, the representation underlying the method for choosing the feedback could be, but are not limited to being, a decision tree, planning system, constraint satisfaction system, frame based system, case based system rule-based system, predicate calculus, general purpose planning system, or a probabilistic network. In alternative embodiments, another aspect of the method is to adapt the subsystem choosing the feedback. This can be done, for example, using a decision-theoretic adaptive probabilistic system, a simple adaptive planning system, or a gradient descent method on a set of parameters. With respect to the calculation of energy balance, the armband sensor device continuously measures a person's energy expenditure. During the day the human body is continuously burning calories. The minimal rate that a human body expends energy is called resting metabolic rate, or RMR. For an average person, the daily RMR is about 1500 calories. It is more for larger people. Energy expenditure is different than RMR because a person knows throughout the day how many calories have been burned so far, both at rest and when active. At the time when the user views energy expenditure information, two things are known. First, the caloric burn of that individual from midnight until that time of day, as recorded by armband sensor device. Second, that user's RMR from the current time until the end of the day. The sum of these numbers is a prediction of the minimum amount of calories that the user expends during the day. This estimate may be improved by applying a multiplicative factor to RMR. A person's lifestyle contributes greatly to the amount of energy they expend. A sedentary person who does not exercise burns calories only slightly more than those consumed by their RMR. An athlete who is constantly active burns significantly more calories than RMR. These lifestyle effects on RMR may be estimated as multiplicative factors to RMR ranging from 1.1 for a sedentary person to 1.7 for an athlete. This multiplicative factor may also calculated from an average measurement of the person's wear time based on the time of day or the time of year, or it may be determined from information a user has entered in date or time management program, as described above. Using such a factor greatly improves the predictive nature of the estimated daily expenditure for an individual. The final factor in predicting a weight-loss trend is a nutrition log. A nutrition log allows a person keeps track of the food they are eating. This records the amount of calories consumed so far during the day. Knowing the amount of calories consumed and a prediction of the amount of calories a person can burn allows the armband sensor device to compute a person's energy balance. Energy balance is the difference between calories burned and calories consumed. If a person is expending more calories than they are consuming, they are on a weight-loss trend. A person who is consuming more calories than they are burning is on a weight-gain trend. An energy balance prediction is an estimate made at any time during the day of a person's actual daily energy balance for that day. Suggestions are provided in the form of intermittent status reports, which take one of three general forms. First, a person may be in compliance to achieve the preset goal. This means that the energy balance prediction is within a tolerance range which approximates the daily goal. Second, a person may have already achieved the preset goal. If that user's energy balance indicates that more calories may be burned during the day than have been consumed, the user may be congratulated for surpassing the preset goal. Lastly, a user may have consumed more calories than what is projected to be burned. In this case, the system can calculate how many more calories that user may need to burn to meet the goal. Using the predicted energy expenditure associated with common activities, such as walking, the system can also make suggestions on methods for achieving the goal within a defined period. For example, a person who needs to burn 100 more calories might be advised to take a 30 minute walk in order to achieve a goal given that the system is aware that such activity can burn the necessary calories. Many people settle into routines, especially during the work week. For example, a person may wake up at about the same time every day, go to work, then exercise after work before going home and relaxing. Their eating patterns may also be similar from day to day. Detecting such similarities in a person's behaviors can allow the armband sensor device to make more accurate predictions about a person's energy balance and therefore that person's weight-loss trends. There are several ways the energy balance predications can be improved by analyzing an user's past data. First, the amount of rest verses activity in a person's lifestyle can be used to improve the RMR estimate for the remainder of the day. Second, the day can be broken down into time units to improve estimation. For example, a person who normally exercises in the morning and rests in the evening has a different daily profile than a person who exercises in the evening. The energy expenditure estimate can be adjusted based on time-of-day to better predict an individual's energy balance. A person's activity may also vary depending on a daily or weekly schedule, the time of the year, or degree of progress toward preset goals. The energy expenditure estimate can therefore be adjusted accordingly. Again, this information may be obtained from a time or date management program. Third, creating an average of a person's daily energy expenditure over a certain time can also be used to predict how many calories a person normally burns. Likewise, detecting trends in a person's eating habits can be used to estimate how many calories a person is expected to consume. For example, a person who eats a large breakfast but small dinner has a different profile than a person who skips breakfast but eats a number of small meals during the day. These different eating habits can also be reflected in an user's energy balance to provide a more accurate daily estimate. The concept of energy balance is not limited to single days. It may also be applied to multiple days, weeks, months or even years. For example, people often overeat on special occasions such as holidays, birthdays or anniversaries. Such unusual consumption eating spurts may be spurious or may contribute to long-term patterns. Actual energy balance over time can indicate weight-loss or weight-gain trends and help an individual adjust his goal to match actual exercise and eating habits. The logic for the calculation of the intermittent status reports 1140 is provided in the references to FIGS. 16-19. FIG. 16 illustrates the calculation of the intermittent status reports 1140 using information from both the energy expenditure and caloric intake values. If the intermittent status report status 1150 indicates that an intermittent status report 1140 has already been prepared for today, the intermittent status report program returns the energy balance value 1155 which is the difference between the energy expenditure and the daily caloric intake. An arbitrary threshold, for example 40 calories, is chosen as a goal tolerance to place the user into one of three categories. If the difference between the energy expenditure and the daily caloric intake is greater than +40 calories, a balance status indicator 1160 indicates that the user has significantly exceeded a daily energy balance goal for the day. If the difference between the values is less than −40 calories, a balance status indicator 1160 indicates that the user has failed to meet a daily energy balance goal. If the difference between the values is near or equal to 0, as defined by the tolerance between ±40 calories difference, a balance status indicator 1160 indicates that the user has met a daily energy balance goal. The program performs a time check 1165. Depending on whether the current time is before or after an arbitrary time limit, the program determines if it is early or late. Further, the program displays an energy balance goal intermittent status report 1170 indicating whether an individual has time to meet their energy balance goal within the time limit of the day or other period, based on the time of day, in addition to a suggestion for an energy expenditure activity to assist in accomplishing the goal, all based upon the prior intermittent status report 1040 for that day. If the intermittent status report status 1150 determines that an intermitted status report 1040 has not been prepared for today, the program retrieves the energy balance value 1155 and determines if the energy expenditure is greater or less than the caloric intake value. Depending on the value of the difference between the energy expenditure value and the caloric intake value which is indicated by the balance status indicator 1160, the program performs a user state determination. The user state determination 1175 is the overall relationship between the user's goal and actual energy expenditure for the relevant time periods and the goal and actual daily caloric intake for that same period. After the program determines the user's state, the program determines the goal status 1180 of the user. If the status of the goals is within a certain percentage of completion, the program performs a time determination 1185 in regard to whether or not the user can still meet these goals, within the time frame, by performing a certain activity. The program displays a relevant energy balance goal intermittent status report 1170 to the user. The content of intermittent status report 1170 is determined by the outcome of these various determinations and is selected from an appropriate library of reference material. FIG. 17 illustrates the generation of an intermittent status report based only on energy expenditure. If the intermittent status report status 1150 indicates that an intermittent status report 104 has been prepared for the day, the program calculates the energy expenditure goal progress 1190 which is the difference between the goal energy expenditure and the current energy expenditure. If the energy expenditure exceeds the goal energy expenditure, the program determines any required exercise amount 1195 that may be needed to enable the user to achieve energy expenditure goals for the day. Similarly, if the current or predicted energy expenditure value is less than the goal energy expenditure, the program determines any required exercise amount 1195 to enable to the user to meet the daily goal. An energy expenditure intermittent status report 1200 will be generated based on this information with suggested exercise activity. If an intermittent status report 1040 has not already been prepared for the relevant time period, the intermittent status report status 1150 instructs the program to calculate the energy expenditure goal progress 1190 using the goal and predicted energy expenditure values. Based on this value, the program determines any required exercise amount 1195 to enable the user to achieve energy expenditure goals. An energy expenditure intermittent status report 1200a is generated based on this information with any suggested exercise activity. FIG. 18 illustrates how the program generates an intermittent status report based solely on caloric intake. The caloric status 1205 is calculated, which is the difference between the goal caloric intake and predicted caloric intake. If the predicted caloric intake is greater than the goal caloric intake, the user has exceeded the caloric budget. If the predicted caloric intake is less than the goal caloric intake the user has consumed less calories than the caloric budget. If the value is near or equal to 0, the user has met their caloric budget. A caloric intake intermittent status report 1210 is generated based on this information. Similarly, FIG. 18 illustrates how the program makes a user state status determination 1215 of the user's caloric intake. This calculation may be the same for the determination of the user's state of energy expenditure. The user state status is determined by subtracting the difference between the predicted caloric intake and the goal caloric intake. An arbitrary threshold, for example 50, is chosen as a goal tolerance to place the user into one of three categories. If the difference between the predicted caloric intake and the goal caloric intake is greater than +50 calories, the state status determination result is 1. If the difference between the predicted caloric intake and the goal caloric intake is less than −50 calories, the state status determination result is −1. If the goal amount is greater than the predicted amount, the program returns a negative 1. If the difference between the values is near or equal to 0, as defined by the tolerance between ±50 caloric difference, the state status determination result is 0. Based on the user state status determination described above, FIG. 19 illustrates how the program ultimately makes the user state determination 1175. The program makes a user state status determination 1215 of the user's caloric intake determination based on the above calculation. After the program returns the value of 1, 0 or −1, the program makes a user state status determination 1215 of the user's energy expenditure. Based on the combination of the values, a user state determination 1 175 is calculated. A specific embodiment of sensor device 10 is shown which is in the form of an armband adapted to be worn by an individual on his or her upper arm, between the shoulder and the elbow, as illustrated in FIGS. 20-25. Although a similar sensor device may be worn on other parts of the individual's body, these locations have the same function for single or multi-sensor measurements and for the automatic detection and/or identification of the user's activities or state. For the purpose of this disclosure, the specific embodiment of sensor device 10 shown in FIGS. 20-25 will, for convenience, be referred to as armband sensor device 400. Armband sensor device 400 includes computer housing 405, flexible wing body 410, and, as shown in FIG. 25, elastic strap 415. Computer housing 405 and flexible wing body 410 are preferably made of a flexible urethane material or an elastomeric material such as rubber or a rubber-silicone blend by a molding process. Flexible wing body 410 includes first and second wings 418 each having a thru-hole 420 located near the ends 425 thereof. First and second wings 418 are adapted to wrap around a portion of the wearer's upper arm. Elastic strap 415 is used to removably affix armband sensor device 400 to the individual's upper arm. As seen in FIG. 25, bottom surface 426 of elastic strap 415 is provided with velcro loops 416 along a portion thereof. Each end 427 of elastic strap 415 is provided with velcro hook patch 428 on bottom surface 426 and pull tab 429 on top surface 430. A portion of each pull tab 429 extends beyond the edge of each end 427. In order to wear armband sensor device 400, a user inserts each end 427 of elastic strap 415 into a respective thru-hole 420 of flexible wing body 410. The user then places his arm through the loop created by elastic strap 415, flexible wing body 410 and computer housing 405. By pulling each pull tab 429 and engaging velcro hook patches 428 with velcro loops 416 at a desired position along bottom surface 426 of elastic strap 415, the user can adjust elastic strap 415 to fit comfortably. Since velcro hook patches 428 can be engaged with velcro loops 416 at almost any position along bottom surface 426, armband sensor device 400 can be adjusted to fit arms of various sizes. Also, elastic strap 415 may be provided in various lengths to accommodate a wider range of arm sizes. As will be apparent to one of skill in the art, other means of fastening and adjusting the size of elastic strap may be used, including, but not limited to, snaps, buttons, or buckles. It is also possible to use two elastic straps that fasten by one of several conventional means including velcro, snaps, buttons, buckles or the like, or merely a single elastic strap affixed to wings 418. Alternatively, instead of providing thru-holes 420 in wings 418, loops having the shape of the letter D, not shown, may be attached to ends 425 of wings 418 by one of several conventional means. For example, a pin, not shown, may be inserted through ends 425, wherein the pin engages each end of each loop. In this configuration, the D-shaped loops would serve as connecting points for elastic strap 415, effectively creating a thru-hole between each end 425 of each wing 418 and each loop. As shown in FIG. 18, which is an exploded view of armband sensor device 400, computer housing 405 includes a top portion 435 and a bottom portion 440. Contained within computer housing 405 are printed circuit board or PCB 445, rechargeable battery 450, preferably a lithium ion battery, and vibrating motor 455 for providing tactile feedback to the wearer, such as those used in pagers, suitable examples of which are the Model 12342 and 12343 motors sold by MG Motors Ltd. of the United Kingdom. Top portion 435 and bottom portion 440 of computer housing 405 sealingly mate along groove 436 into which 0-ring 437 is fit, and may be affixed to one another by screws, not shown, which pass through screw holes 438a and stiffeners 438b of bottom portion 440 and apertures 439 in PCB 445 and into threaded receiving stiffeners 451 of top portion 435. Alternately, top portion 435 and bottom portion 440 may be snap fit together or affixed to one another with an adhesive. Preferably, the assembled computer housing 405 is sufficiently water resistant to permit armband sensor device 400 to be worn while swimming without adversely affecting the performance thereof. As can be seen in FIG. 13, bottom portion 440 includes, on a bottom side thereof, a raised platform 430. Affixed to raised platform 430 is heat flow or flux sensor 460, a suitable example of which is the micro-foil heat flux sensor sold by RdF Corporation of Hudson, N.H. Heat flux sensor 460 functions as a self-generating thermopile transducer, and preferably includes a carrier made of a polyamide film. Bottom portion 440 may include on a top side thereof, that is on a side opposite the side to which heat flux sensor 460 is affixed, a heat sink, not shown, made of a suitable metallic material such as aluminum. Also affixed to raised platform 430 are GSR sensors 465, preferably comprising electrodes formed of a material such as conductive carbonized rubber, gold or stainless steel. Although two GSR sensors 465 are shown in FIG. 21, it will be appreciated by one of skill in the art that the number of GSR sensors 465 and the placement thereof on raised platform 430 can vary as long as the individual GSR sensors 465, i.e., the electrodes, are electrically isolated from one another. By being affixed to raised platform 430, heat flux sensor 460 and GSR sensors 465 are adapted to be in contact with the wearer's skin when armband sensor device 400 is worn. Bottom portion 440 of computer housing 405 may also be provided with a removable and replaceable soft foam fabric pad, not shown, on a portion of the surface thereof that does not include raised platform 430 and screw holes 438a. The soft foam fabric is intended to contact the wearer's skin and make armband sensor device 400 more comfortable to wear. Electrical coupling between heat flux sensor 460, GSR sensors 465, and PCB 445 may be accomplished in one of various known methods. For example, suitable wiring, not shown, may be molded into bottom portion 440 of computer housing 405 and then electrically connected, such as by soldering, to appropriate input locations on PCB 445 and to heat flux sensor 460 and GSR sensors 465. Alternatively, rather than molding wiring into bottom portion 440, thru-holes may be provided in bottom portion 440 through which appropriate wiring may pass. The thru-holes would preferably be provided with a water tight seal to maintain the integrity of computer housing 405. Rather than being affixed to raised platform 430 as shown in FIG. 21, one or both of heat flux sensor 460 and GSR sensors 465 may be affixed to the inner portion 466 of flexible wing body 410 on either or both of wings 418 so as to be in contact with the wearer's skin when armband sensor device 400 is worn. In such a configuration, electrical coupling between heat flux sensor 460 and GSR sensors 465, whichever the case may be, and the PCB 445 may be accomplished through suitable wiring, not shown, molded into flexible wing body 410 that passes through one or more thru-holes in computer housing 405 and that is electrically connected, such as by soldering, to appropriate input locations on PCB 445. Again, the thru-holes would preferably be provided with a water tight seal to maintain the integrity of computer housing 405. Alternatively, rather than providing thru-holes in computer housing 405 through which the wiring passes, the wiring may be captured in computer housing 405 during an overmolding process, described below, and ultimately soldered to appropriate input locations on PCB 445. As shown in FIGS. 12, 16, 17 and 18, computer housing 405 includes a button 470 that is coupled to and adapted to activate a momentary switch 585 on PCB 445. Button 470 may be used to activate armband sensor device 400 for use, to mark the time an event occurred or to request system status information such as battery level and memory capacity. When button 470 is depressed, momentary switch 585 closes a circuit and a signal is sent to processing unit 490 on PCB 445. Depending on the time interval for which button 470 is depressed, the generated signal triggers one of the events just described. Computer housing 405 also includes LEDs 475, which may be used to indicate battery level or memory capacity or to provide visual feedback to the wearer. Rather than LEDs 475, computer housing 405 may also include a liquid crystal display or LCD to provide battery level, memory capacity or visual feedback information to the wearer. Battery level, memory capacity or feedback information may also be given to the user tactily or audibly. Armband sensor device 400 may be adapted to be activated for use, that is collecting data, when either of GSR sensors 465 or heat flux sensor 460 senses a particular condition that indicates that armband sensor device 400 has been placed in contact with the user's skin. Also, armband sensor device 400 may be adapted to be activated for use when one or more of heat flux sensor 460, GSR sensors 465, accelerometer 495 or 550, or any other device in communication with armband sensor device 400, alone or in combination, sense a particular condition or conditions that indicate that the armband sensor device 400 has been placed in contact with the user's skin for use. At other times, armband sensor device 400 would be deactivated, thus preserving battery power. Computer housing 405 is adapted to be coupled to a battery recharger unit 480 shown in FIG. 27 for the purpose of recharging rechargeable battery 450. Computer housing 405 includes recharger contacts 485, shown in FIGS. 12, 15, 16 and 17, that are coupled to rechargeable battery 450. Recharger contracts 485 may be made of a material such as brass, gold or stainless steel, and are adapted to mate with and be electrically coupled to electrical contacts, not shown, provided in battery recharger unit 480 when armband sensor device 400 is placed therein. The electrical contacts provided in battery recharger unit 480 may be coupled to recharging circuit 481 a provided inside battery recharger unit 480. In this configuration, recharging circuit 481 would be coupled to a wall outlet, such as by way of wiring including a suitable plug that is attached or is attachable to battery recharger unit 480. Alternatively, electrical contacts 480 may be coupled to wiring that is attached to or is attachable to battery recharger unit 480 that in turn is coupled to recharging circuit 481b external to battery recharger unit 480. The wiring in this configuration would also include a plug, not shown, adapted to be plugged into a conventional wall outlet. Also provided inside battery recharger unit 480 is RF transceiver 483 adapted to receive signals from and transmit signals to RF transceiver 565 provided in computer housing 405 and shown in FIG. 28. RF transceiver 483 is adapted to be coupled, for example by a suitable cable, to a serial port, such as an RS 232 port or a USB port, of a device such as personal computer 35 shown in FIG. 1. Thus, data may be uploaded from and downloaded to armband sensor device 400 using RF transceiver 483 and RF transceiver 565. It will be appreciated that although RF transceivers 483 and 565 are shown in FIGS. 19 and 20, other forms of wireless transceivers may be used, such as infrared transceivers. Alternatively, computer housing 405 may be provided with additional electrical contacts, not shown, that would be adapted to mate with and be electrically coupled to additional electrical contacts, not shown, provided in battery recharger unit 480 when armband sensor device 400 is placed therein. The additional electrical contacts in the computer housing 405 would be coupled to the processing unit 490 and the additional electrical contacts provided in battery recharger unit 480 would be coupled to a suitable cable that in turn would be coupled to a serial port, such as an RS R32 port or a USB port, of a device such as personal computer 35. This configuration thus provides an alternate method for uploading of data from and downloading of data to armband sensor device 400 using a physical connection. FIG. 28 is a schematic diagram that shows the system architecture of armband sensor device 400, and in particular each of the components that is either on or coupled to PCB 445. As shown in FIG. 25, PCB 445 includes processing unit 490, which may be a microprocessor, a microcontroller, or any other processing device that can be adapted to perform the functionality described herein. Processing unit 490 is adapted to provide all of the functionality described in connection with microprocessor 20 shown in FIG. 2. A suitable example of processing unit 490 is the Dragonball EZ sold by Motorola, Inc. of Schaumburg, Ill. PCB 445 also has thereon a two-axis accelerometer 495, a suitable example of which is the Model ADXL210 accelerometer sold by Analog Devices, Inc. of Norwood; Mass. Two-axis accelerometer 495 is preferably mounted on PCB 445 at an angle such that its sensing axes are offset at an angle substantially equal to 45 degrees from the longitudinal axis of PCB 445 and thus the longitudinal axis of the wearer's arm when armband sensor device 400 is worn. The longitudinal axis of the wearer's arm refers to the axis defined by a straight line drawn from the wearer's shoulder to the wearer's elbow. The output signals of two-axis accelerometer 495 are passed through buffers 500 and input into analog to digital converter 505 that in turn is coupled to processing unit 490. GSR sensors 465 are coupled to amplifier 510 on PCB 445. Amplifier 510 provides amplification and low pass filtering functionality, a suitable example of which is the Model AD8544 amplifier sold by Analog Devices, Inc. of Norwood, Mass. The amplified and filtered signal output by amplifier 510 is input into amp/offset 515 to provide further gain and to remove any bias voltage and into filter/conditioning circuit 520, which in turn are each coupled to analog to digital converter 505. Heat flux sensor 460 is coupled to differential input amplifier 525, such as the Model INA amplifier sold by Burr-Brown Corporation of Tucson, Ariz., and the resulting amplified signal is passed through filter circuit 530, buffer 535 and amplifier 540 before being input to analog to digital converter 505. Amplifier 540 is configured to provide further gain and low pass filtering, a suitable example of which is the Model AD8544 amplifier sold by Analog Devices, Inc. of Norwood, Mass. PCB 445 also includes thereon a battery monitor 545 that monitors the remaining power level of rechargeable battery 450. Battery monitor 545 preferably comprises a voltage divider with a low pass filter to provide average battery voltage. When a user depresses button 470 in the manner adapted for requesting battery level, processing unit 490 checks the output of battery monitor 545 and provides an indication thereof to the user, preferably through LEDs 475, but also possibly through vibrating motor 455 or ringer 575. An LCD may also be used. PCB 445 may include three-axis accelerometer 550 instead of or in addition to two-axis accelerometer 495. The three-axis accelerometer outputs a signal to processing unit 490. A suitable example of three-axis accelerometer is the μPAM product sold by I.M. Systems, Inc. of Scottsdale, Ariz. Three-axis accelerometer 550 is preferably tilted in the manner described with respect to two-axis accelerometer 495. PCB 445 also includes RF receiver 555 that is coupled to processing unit 490. RF receiver 555 may be used to receive signals that are output by another device capable of wireless transmission, shown in FIG. 28 as wireless device 558, worn by or located near the individual wearing armband sensor device 400. Located near as used herein means within the transmission range of wireless device 558. For example, wireless device 558 may be a chest mounted heart rate monitor such as the Tempo product sold by Polar Electro of Oulu, Finland. Using such a heart rate monitor, data indicative of the wearer's heart rate can be collected by armband sensor device 400. Antenna 560 and RF transceiver 565 are coupled to processing unit 490 and are provided for purposes of uploading data to central monitoring unit 30 and receiving data downloaded from central monitoring unit 30. RF transceiver 565 and RF receiver 555 may, for example, employ Bluetooth technology as the wireless transmission protocol. Also, other forms of wireless transmission may be used, such as infrared transmission. Vibrating motor 455 is coupled to processing unit 490 through vibrator driver 570 and provides tactile feedback to the wearer. Similarly, ringer 575, a suitable example of which is the Model SMT916A ringer sold by Projects Unlimited, Inc. of Dayton, Ohio, is coupled to processing unit 490 through ringer driver 580, a suitable example of which is the Model MMBTA14 CTI darlington transistor driver sold by Motorola, Inc. of Schaumburg, Ill., and provides audible feedback to the wearer. Feedback may include, for example, celebratory, cautionary and other threshold or event driven messages, such as when a wearer reaches a level of calories burned during a workout. Also provided on PCB 445 and coupled to processing unit 490 is momentary switch 58.5. Momentary switch 585 is also coupled to button 470 for activating momentary switch 585. LEDs 475, used to provide various types of feedback information to the wearer, are coupled to processing unit 490 through LED latch/driver 590. Oscillator 595 is provided on PCB 445 and supplies the system clock to processing unit 490. Reset circuit 600, accessible and triggerable through a pin-hole in the side of computer housing 405, is coupled to processing unit 490 and enables processing unit 490 to be reset to a standard initial setting. Rechargeable battery 450, which is the main power source for the armband sensor device 400, is coupled to processing unit 490 through voltage regulator 605. Finally, memory functionality is provided for armband sensor device 400 by SRAM 610, which stores data relating to the wearer of arm band sensor device 400, and flash memory 615, which stores program and configuration data, provided on PCB 445. SRAM 610 and flash memory 615 are coupled to processing unit 490 and each preferably have at least 512K of memory. In manufacturing and assembling armband sensor device 400, top portion 435 of computer housing 405 is preferably formed first, such as by a conventional molding process, and flexible wing body 410 is then overmolded on top of top portion 435. That is, top portion 435 is placed into an appropriately shaped mold, i.e., one that, when top portion 435 is placed therein, has a remaining cavity shaped according to the desired shape of flexible wing body 410, and flexible wing body 410 is molded on top of top portion 435. As a result, flexible wing body 410 and top portion 435 will merge or bond together, forming a single unit. Alternatively, top portion 435 of computer housing 405 and flexible wing body 410 may be formed together, such as by molding in a single mold, to form a single unit. The single unit however formed may then be turned over such that the underside of top portion 435 is facing upwards, and the contents of computer housing 405 can be placed into top portion 435, and top portion 435 and bottom portion 440 can be affixed to one another. As still another alternative, flexible wing body 410 may be separately formed, such as by a conventional molding process, and computer housing 405, and in particular top portion 435 of computer housing 405, may be affixed to flexible wing body 410 by one of several known methods, such as by an adhesive, by snap-fitting, or by screwing the two pieces together. Then, the remainder of computer housing 405 would be assembled as described above. It will be appreciated that rather than assembling the remainder of computer housing 405 after top portion 435 has been affixed to flexible wing body 410, the computer housing 405 could be assembled first and then affixed to flexible wing body 410. In a variety of the embodiments described above, it is specifically contemplated that the activity or nutritional data be input or detected by the system for derivation of the necessary data. As identified in several embodiments, the automatic detection of certain activities and/or nutritional intake may be substituted for such manual input. One aspect of the present invention relates to a sophisticated algorithm development process for creating a wide range of algorithms for generating information relating to a variety of variables from the data received from the plurality of physiological and/or contextual sensors on sensor device 400. Such variables may include, without limitation, energy expenditure, including resting, active and total values, daily caloric intake, sleep states, including in bed, sleep onset, sleep interruptions, wake, and out of bed, and activity states, including exercising, sitting, traveling in a motor vehicle, and lying down, and the algorithms for generating values for such variables may be based on data from, for example, the 2-axis accelerometer, the heat flux sensor, the GSR sensor, the skin temperature sensor, the near-body ambient temperature sensor, and the heart rate sensor in the embodiment described above. Note that there are several types of algorithms that can be computed. For example, and without limitation, these include algorithms for predicting user characteristics, continual measurements, durative contexts, instantaneous events, and cumulative conditions. User characteristics include permanent and semi-permanent parameters of the wearer, including aspects such as weight, height, and wearer identity. An example of a continual measurement is energy expenditure, which constantly measures, for example on a minute by minute basis, the number of calories of energy expended by the wearer. Durative contexts are behaviors that last some period of time, such as sleeping, driving a car, orjogging. Instantaneous events are those that occur at a fixed or over a very short time period, such as a heart attack or falling down. Cumulative conditions are those where the person's condition can be deduced from their behavior over some previous period of time. For example, if a person hasn't slept in 36 hours and hasn't eaten in 10 hours, it is likely that they are fatigued. Table 8 below shows numerous examples of specific personal characteristics, continual measurements, durative measurements, instantaneous events, and cumulative conditions. TABLE 8 personal characteristics age, sex, weight, gender, athletic ability, conditioning, disease, height, susceptibility to disease, activity level, individual detection, handedness, metabolic rate, body composition continual measurements mood, beat-to-beat variability of heart beats, respiration, energy expenditure, blood glucose levels, level of ketosis, heart rate, stress levels, fatigue levels, alertness levels, blood pressure, readiness, strength, endurance, amenability to interaction, steps per time period, stillness level, body position and orientation, cleanliness, mood or affect, approachability, caloric intake, TEF, XEF, ‘in the zone’-ness, active energy expenditure, carbohydrate intake, fat intake, protein intake, hydration levels, truthfulness, sleep quality, sleep state, consciousness level, effects of medication, dosage prediction, water intake, alcohol intake, dizziness, pain, comfort, remaining processing power for new stimuli, proper use of the armband, interest in a topic, relative exertion, location, blood-alcohol level durative measurements exercise, sleep, lying down, sitting, standing, ambulation, running, walking, biking, stationary biking, road biking, lifting weights, aerobic exercise, anaerobic exercise, strength- building exercise, mind-centering activity, periods of intense emotion, relaxing, watching TV, sedentary, REM detector, eating, in-the- zone, interruptible, general activity detection, sleep stage, heat stress, heat stroke, amenable to teaching/learning, bipolar decompensation, abnormal events (in heart signal, in activity level, measured by the user, etc), startle level, highway driving or riding in a car, airplane travel, helicopter travel, boredom events, sport detection (football, baseball, soccer, etc), studying, reading, intoxication, effect of a drug instantaneous events falling, heart attack, seizure, sleep arousal events, PVCs, blood sugar abnormality, acute stress or disorientation, emergency, heart arrhythmia, shock, vomiting, rapid blood loss, taking medication, swallowing cumulative conditions Alzheimer's, weakness or increased likelihood of falling, drowsiness, fatigue, existence of ketosis, ovulation, pregnancy, disease, illness, fever, edema, anemia, having the flu, hypertension, mental disorders, acute dehydration, hypothermia, being-in-the-zone It will be appreciated that the present invention may be utilized in a method for doing automatic journaling of a wearer's physiological and contextual states. The system can automatically produce a journal of what activities the user was engaged in, what events occurred, how the user's physiological state changed over time, and when the user experienced or was likely to experience certain conditions. For example, the system can produce a record of when the user exercised, drove a car, slept, was in danger of heat stress, or ate, in addition to recording the user's hydration level, energy expenditure level, sleep levels, and alertness levels throughout a day. These detected conditions can be utilized to time- or event-stamp the data record, to modify certain parameters of the analysis or presentation of the data, as well as trigger certain delayed or real time feedback events. According to the algorithm development process, linear or non-linear mathematical models or algorithms are constructed that map the data from the plurality of sensors to a desired variable. The process consists of several steps. First, data is collected by subjects wearing sensor device 400 who are put into situations as close to real world situations as possible, with respect to the parameters being measured, such that the subjects are not endangered and so that the variable that the proposed algorithm is to predict can, at the same time, be reliably measured using, for example, highly accurate medical grade lab equipment. This first step provides the following two sets of data that are then used as inputs to the algorithm development process: (i) the raw data from sensor device 400, and (ii) the data consisting of the verifiably accurate data measurements and extrapolated or derived data made with or calculated from the more accurate lab equipment. This verifiable data becomes a standard against which other analytical or measured data is compared. For cases in which the variable that the proposed algorithm is to predict relates to context detection, such as traveling in a motor vehicle, the verifiable standard data is provided by the subjects themselves, such as through information input manually into sensor device 400, a PC, or otherwise manually recorded. The collected data, i.e., both the raw data and the corresponding verifiable standard data, is then organized into a database and is split into training and test sets. Next, using the data in the training set, a mathematical model is built that relates the raw data to the corresponding verifiable standard data. Specifically, a variety of machine learning techniques are used to generate two types of algorithms: 1) algorithms known as features, which are derived continuous parameters that vary in a manner that allows the prediction of the lab-measured parameter for some subset of the data points. The features are typically not conditionally independent of the lab-measured parameter e.g. VO2 level information from a metabolic cart, douglas bag, or doubly labeled water, and 2) algorithms known as context detectors that predict various contexts, e.g., running, exercising, lying down, sleeping or driving, useful for the overall algorithm. A number of well known machine learning techniques may be used in this step, including artificial neural nets, decision trees, memory-based methods, boosting, attribute selection through cross-validation, and stochastic search methods such as simulated annealing and evolutionary computation. After a suitable set of features and context detectors are found, several well known machine learning methods are used to combine the features and context detectors into an overall model. Techniques used in this phase include, but are not limited to, multilinear regression, locally weighted regression, decision trees, artificial neural networks, stochastic search methods, support vector machines, and model trees. These models are evaluated using cross-validation to avoid over-fitting. At this stage, the models make predictions on, for example, a minute by minute basis. Inter-minute effects are next taken into account by creating an overall model that integrates the minute by minute predictions. A well known or custom windowing and threshold optimization tool may be used in this step to take advantage of the temporal continuity of the data. Finally, the model's performance can be evaluated on the test set, which has not yet been used in the creation of the algorithm. Performance of the model on the test set is thus a good estimate of the algorithm's expected performance on other unseen data. Finally, the algorithm may undergo live testing on new data for further validation. Further examples of the types of non-linear functions and/or machine learning method that may be used in the present invention include the following: conditionals, case statements, logical processing, probabilistic or logical inference, neural network processing, kernel based methods, memory-based lookup including kNN and SOMs, decision lists, decision-tree prediction, support vector machine prediction, clustering, boosted methods, cascade-correlation, Boltzmann classifiers, regression trees, case-based reasoning, Gaussians, Bayes nets, dynamic Bayesian networks, HMMs, Kalman filters, Gaussian processes and algorithmic predictors, e.g. learned by evolutionary computation or other program synthesis tools. Although one can view an algorithm as taking raw sensor values or signals as input, performing computation, and then producing a desired output, it is useful in one preferred embodiment to view the algorithm as a series of derivations that are applied to the raw sensor values. Each derivation produces a signal referred to as a derived channel. The raw sensor values or signals are also referred to as channels, specifically raw channels rather than derived channels. These derivations, also referred to as functions, can be simple or complex but are applied in a predetermined order on the raw values and, possibly, on already existing derived channels. The first derivation must, of course, only take as input raw sensor signals and other available baseline information such as manually entered data and demographic information about the subject, but subsequent derivations can take as input previously derived channels. Note that one can easily determine, from the order of application of derivations, the particular channels utilized to derive a given derived channel. Also note that inputs that a user provides on an Input/Output, or I/O, device or in some fashion can also be included as raw signals which can be used by the algorithms. For example, the category chosen to describe a meal can be used by a derivation that computes the caloric estimate for the meal. In one embodiment, the raw signals are first summarized into channels that are sufficient for later derivations and can be efficiently stored. These channels include derivations such as summation, summation of differences, and averages. Note that although summarizing the high-rate data into compressed channels is useful both for compression and for storing useful features, it may be useful to store some or all segments of high rate data as well, depending on the exact details of the application. In one embodiment, these summary channels are then calibrated to take minor measurable differences in manufacturing into account and to result in values in the appropriate scale and in the correct units. For example, if, during the manufacturing process, a particular temperature sensor was determined to have a slight offset, this offset can be applied, resulting in a derived channel expressing temperature in degrees Celsius. For purposes of this description, a derivation or function is linear if it is expressed as a weighted combination of its inputs together with some offset. For example, if G and H are two raw or derived channels, then all derivations of the form A*G+B*H+C, where A, B, and C are constants, is a linear derivation. A derivation is non-linear with respect to its inputs if it can not be expressed as a weighted sum of the inputs with a constant offset. An example of a nonlinear derivation is as follows: if G>7 then return H*9, else return H*3.5±912. A channel is linearly derived if all derivations involved in computing it are linear, and a channel is nonlinearly derived if any of the derivations used in creating it are nonlinear. A channel nonlinearly mediates a derivation if changes in the value of the channel change the computation performed in the derivation, keeping all other inputs to the derivation constant. According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the algorithms that are developed using this process will have the format shown conceptually in FIG. 29. Specifically, the algorithm will take as inputs the channels derived from the sensor data collected by the sensor device from the various sensors, and demographic information for the individual as shown in box 1600. The algorithm includes at least one context detector 1605 that produces a weight, shown as W1 through WN, expressing the probability that a given portion of collected data, such as is collected over a minute, was collected while the wearer was in each of several possible contexts. Such contexts may include whether the individual was at rest or active. In addition, for each context, a regression algorithm 1610 is provided where a continuous prediction is computed taking raw or derived channels as input. The individual regressions can be any of a variety of regression equations or methods, including, for example, multivariate linear or polynomial regression, memory based methods, support vector machine regression, neural networks, Gaussian processes, arbitrary procedural functions and the like. Each regression is an estimate of the output of the parameter of interest in the algorithm, for example, energy expenditure. Finally, the outputs of each regression algorithm 1610 for each context, shown as A1 through AN, and the weights W1 through WN are combined in a post-processor 1615 which outputs the parameter of interest being measured or predicted by the algorithm, shown in box 1620. In general, the post-processor 1615 can consist of any of many methods for combining the separate contextual predictions, including committee methods, boosting, voting methods, consistency checking, or context based recombination. Referring to FIG. 30, an example algorithm for measuring energy expenditure of an individual is shown. This example algorithm may be run on sensor device 400 having at least an accelerometer, a heat flux sensor and a GSR sensor, or an I/O device 1200 that receives data from such a sensor device as is disclosed in co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/682,759, the specification of which is incorporated herein by reference. In this example algorithm, the raw data from the sensors is calibrated and numerous values based thereon, i.e., derived channels, are created. In particular, the following derived channels, shown at 1600 in FIG. 30, are computed from the raw signals and the demographic information: (1) longitudinal accelerometer average, or LAVE, based on the accelerometer data; (2) transverse accelerometer sum of average differences, or TSAD, based on the accelerometer data; (3) heat flux high gain average variance, or HFvar, based on heat flux sensor data; (4) vector sum of transverse and longitudinal accelerometer sum of absolute differences or SADs, identified as VSAD, based on the accelerometer data; (5) galvanic skin response, or GSR, in both low and combined gain embodiments; and (6) Basal Metabolic Rate or BMR, based on demographic information input by the user. Context detector 1605 consists of a naive Bayesian classifier that predicts whether the wearer is active or resting using the LAVE, TSAD, and HFvar derived channels. The output is a probabilistic weight, W1 and W2 for the two contexts rest and active. For the rest context, the regression algorithm 1610 is a linear regression combining channels derived from the accelerometer, the heat flux sensor, the user's demographic data, and the galvanic skin response sensor. The equation, obtained through the algorithm design process, is A*VSAD+B*HFvar+C*GSR+D*BMR+E, where A, B, C, D and E are constants. The regression algorithm 1610 for the active context is the same, except that the constants are different. The post-processor 1615 for this example is to add together the weighted results of each contextual regression. If A1 is the result of the rest regression and A2 is the result of the active regression, then the combination is just W1*A1+W2*A2, which is energy expenditure shown at 1620. In another example, a derived channel that calculates whether the wearer is motoring, that is, driving in a car at the time period in question might also be input into the post-processor 1615. The process by which this derived motoring channel is computed is algorithm 3. The post-processor 1615 in this case might then enforce a constraint that when the wearer is predicted to be driving by algorithm 3, the energy expenditure is limited for that time period to a value equal to some factor, e.g. 1.3 times their minute by minute basal metabolic rate. This algorithm development process may also be used to create algorithms to enable sensor device 400 to detect and measure various other parameters, including, without limitation, the following: (i) when an individual is suffering from duress, including states of unconsciousness, fatigue, shock, drowsiness, heat stress and dehydration; and (ii) an individual's state of readiness, health and/or metabolic status, such as in a military environment, including states of dehydration, under-nourishment and lack of sleep. In addition, algorithms may be developed for other purposes, such as filtering, signal clean-up and noise cancellation for signals measured by a sensor device as described herein. As will be appreciated, the actual algorithm or function that is developed using this method will be highly dependent on the specifics of the sensor device used, such as the specific sensors and placement thereof and the overall structure and geometry of the sensor device. Thus, an algorithm developed with one sensor device will not work as well, if at all, on sensor devices that are not substantially structurally identical to the sensor device used to create the algorithm. Another aspect of the present invention relates to the ability of the developed algorithms to handle various kinds of uncertainty. Data uncertainty refers to sensor noise and possible sensor failures. Data uncertainty is when one cannot fully trust the data. Under such conditions, for example, if a sensor, for example an accelerometer, fails, the system might conclude that the wearer is sleeping or resting or that no motion is taking place. Under such conditions it is very hard to conclude if the data is bad or if the model that is predicting and making the conclusion is wrong. When an application involves both model and data uncertainties, it is very important to identify the relative magnitudes of the uncertainties associated with data and the model. An intelligent system would notice that the sensor seems to be producing erroneous data and would either switch to alternate algorithms or would, in some cases, be able to fill the gaps intelligently before making any predictions. When neither of these recovery techniques are possible, as was mentioned before, returning a clear statement that an accurate value can not be returned is often much preferable to returning information from an algorithm that has been determined to be likely to be wrong. Determining when sensors have failed and when data channels are no longer reliable is a non-trivial task because a failed sensor can sometimes result in readings that may seem consistent with some of the other sensors and the data can also fall within the normal operating range of the sensor. Clinical uncertainty refers to the fact that different sensors might indicate seemingly contradictory conclusions. Clinical uncertainty is when one cannot be sure of the conclusion that is drawn from the data. For example, the accelerometers might indicate that the wearer is motionless, leading toward a conclusion of a resting user, the galvanic skin response sensor might provide a very high response, leading toward a conclusion of an active user, the heat flow sensor might indicate that the wearer is still dispersing substantial heat, leading toward a conclusion of an active user, and the heart rate sensor might indicate that the wearer has an elevated heart rate, leading toward a conclusion of an active user. An inferior system might simply try to vote among the sensors or use similarly unfounded methods to integrate the various readings. The present invention weights the important joint probabilities and determines the appropriate most likely conclusion, which might be, for this example, that the wearer is currently performing or has recently performed a low motion activity such as stationary biking. According to a further aspect of the present invention, a sensor device such as sensor device 400 may be used to automatically measure, record, store and/or report a parameter Y relating to the state of a person, preferably a state of the person that cannot be directly measured by the sensors. State parameter Y may be, for example and without limitation, calories consumed, energy expenditure, sleep states, hydration levels, ketosis levels, shock, insulin levels, physical exhaustion and heat exhaustion, among others. The sensor device is able to observe a vector of raw signals consisting of the outputs of certain of the one or more sensors, which may include all of such sensors or a subset of such sensors. As described above, certain signals, referred to as channels same potential terminology problem here as well, may be derived from the vector of raw sensor signals as well. A vector X of certain of these raw and/or derived channels, referred to herein as the raw and derived channels X, will change in some systematic way depending on or sensitive to the state, event and/or level of either the state parameter Y that is of interest or some indicator of Y, referred to as U, wherein there is a relationship between Y and U such that Y can be obtained from U. According to the present invention, a first algorithm or function f1 is created using the sensor device that takes as inputs the raw and derived channels X and gives an output that predicts and is conditionally dependent, expressed with the symbol , on (i) either the state parameter Y or the indicator U, and (ii) some other state parameter(s) Z of the individual. This algorithm or function f1 may be expressed as follows: f1(X)U+Z or f1(X)Y+Z According to the preferred embodiment, f1 is developed using the algorithm development process described elsewhere herein which uses data, specifically the raw and derived channels X, derived from the signals collected by the sensor device, the verifiable standard data relating to U or Y and Z contemporaneously measured using a method taken to be the correct answer, for example highly accurate medical grade lab equipment, and various machine learning techniques to generate the algorithms from the collected data. The algorithm or function f1 is created under conditions where the indicator U or state parameter Y, whichever the case may be, is present. As will be appreciated, the actual algorithm or function that is developed using this method will be highly dependent on the specifics of the sensor device used, such as the specific sensors and placement thereof and the overall structure and geometry of the senor device. Thus, an algorithm developed with one sensor device will not work as well, if at all, on sensor devices that are not substantially structurally identical to the sensor device used to create the algorithm or at least can be translated from device to device or sensor to sensor with known conversion parameters. Next, a second algorithm or function f2 is created using the sensor device that takes as inputs the raw and derived channels X and gives an output that predicts and is conditionally dependent on everything output by f1 except either Y or U, whichever the case may be, and is conditionally independent, indicated by the symbol , of either Y or U, whichever the case may be. The idea is that certain of the raw and derived channels X from the one or more sensors make it possible to explain away or filter out changes in the raw and derived channels X coming from non-Y or non-U related events. This algorithm or function f2 may be expressed as follows: f2(X)Z and (f2(X)Y or f2(X)U Preferably, f2, like f1, is developed using the algorithm development process referenced above. f2, however, is developed and validated under conditions where U or Y, whichever the case may, is not present. Thus, the gold standard data used to create f2 is data relating to Z only measured using highly accurate medical grade lab equipment. Thus, according to this aspect of the invention, two functions will have been created, one of which, f1, is sensitive to U or Y, the other of which, f2, is insensitive to U or Y. As will be appreciated, there is a relationship between f1 and f2 that will yield either U or Y, whichever the case may be. In other words, there is a function f3 such that f3 (f1, f2)=U or f3 (f1, f2)=Y. For example, U or Y may be obtained by subtracting the data produced by the two functions (U=f1−f2 or Y=f1−f2). In the case where U, rather than Y, is determined from the relationship between f1 and f2, the next step involves obtaining Y from U based on the relationship between Y and U. For example, Y may be some fixed percentage of U such that Y can be obtained by dividing U by some factor. One skilled in the art will appreciate that in the present invention, more than two such functions, e.g. (f1, f2, f3, . . . f_n−1) could be combined by a last function f_n in the manner described above. In general, this aspect of the invention requires that a set of functions is combined whose outputs vary from one another in a way that is indicative of the parameter of interest. It will also be appreciated that conditional dependence or independence as used here will be defined to be approximate rather than precise. The method just described may, for example, be used to automatically measure and/or report the caloric consumption or intake of a person using the sensor device, such as that person's daily caloric intake, also known as DCI. Automatic measuring and reporting of caloric intake would be advantageous because other non-automated methods, such as keeping diaries and journals of food intake, are hard to maintain and because caloric information for food items is not always reliable or, as in the case of a restaurant, readily available. It is known that total body metabolism is measured as total energy expenditure (TEE) according to the following equation: TEE=BMR+AE+TEF+AT, wherein BMR is basal metabolic rate, which is the energy expended by the body during rest such as sleep, AE is activity energy expenditure, which is the energy expended during physical activity, TEF is thermic effect of food, which is the energy expended while digesting and processing the food that is eaten, and AT is adaptive thermogenesis, which is a mechanism by which the body modifies its metabolism to extreme temperatures. It is estimated that it costs humans about 10% of the value of food that is eaten to process the food. TEF is therefore estimated to be 10% of the total calories consumed. Thus, a reliable and practical method of measuring TEF would enable caloric consumption to be measured without the need to manually track or record food related information. Specifically, once TEF is measured, caloric consumption can be accurately estimated by dividing TEF by 0.1 (TEF=0.1*Calories Consumed; Calories Consumed=TEF/0.1). According to a specific embodiment of the present invention relating to the automatic measurement of a state parameter Y as described above, a sensor device as described above may be used to automatically measure and/or record calories consumed by an individual. In this embodiment, the state parameter Y is calories consumed by the individual and the indicator U is TEF. First, the sensor device is used to create f1, which is an algorithm for predicting TEE. f1 is developed and validated on subjects who ate food, in other words, subjects who were performing activity and who were experiencing a TEF effect. As such, f1 is referred to as EE(gorge) to represent that it predicts energy expenditure including eating effects. The verifiable standard data used to create f1 is a VO2 machine. The function f1, which predicts TEE, is conditionally dependent on and predicts the item U of interest, which is TEF. In addition, f1 is conditionally dependent on and predicts Z which, in this case, is BMR+AE+AT. Next, the sensor device is used to create f2, which is an algorithm for predicting all aspects of TEE except for TEF. f2 is developed and validated on subjects who fasted for a period of time prior to the collection of data, preferably 4-6 hours, to ensure that TEF was not present and was not a factor. Such subjects will be performing physical activity without any TEF effect. As a result, f2 is conditionally dependent to and predicts BMR+AE+AT but is conditionally independent of and does not predict TEF. As such, f2 is referred to as EE(fast) to represent that it predicts energy expenditure not including eating effects. Thus, f1 so developed will be sensitive to TEF and f2 so developed will be insensitive to TEF. As will be appreciated, in this embodiment, the relationship between f1 and f2 that will yield the indicator U, which in this case is TEF, is subtraction. In other words, EE (gorge)−EE (fast)=TEF. Once developed, functions f1 and f2 can be programmed into software stored by the sensor device and executed by the processor of the sensor device. Data from which the raw and derived channels X can be derived can then be collected by the sensor device. The outputs of f1 and f2 using the collected data as inputs can then be subtracted to yield TEF. Once TEF is determined for a period of time such as a day, calories consumed can be obtained for that period by dividing TEF by 0.1, since TEF is estimated to be 10% of the total calories consumed. The caloric consumption data so obtained may be stored, reported and/or used in lieu of the manually collected caloric consumption data utilized in the embodiments described elsewhere herein. Preferably, the sensor device is in communication with a body motion sensor such as an accelerometer adapted to generate data indicative of motion, a skin conductance sensor such as a GSR sensor adapted to generate data indicative of the resistance of the individual's skin to electrical current, a heat flux sensor adapted to generate data indicative of heat flow off the body, a body potential sensor such as an ECG sensor adapted to generate data indicative of the rate or other characteristics of the heart beats of the individual, and a temperature sensor adapted to generate data indicative of a temperature of the individual's skin. In this preferred embodiment, these signals, in addition the demographic information about the wearer, make up the vector of signals from which the raw and derived channels X are derived. Most preferably, this vector of signals includes data indicative of motion, resistance of the individual's skin to electrical current and heat flow off the body. As a limiting case of attempting to estimate TEF as described above, one can imagine the case where the set of additional state parameters Z is zero. This results in measuring TEF directly through the derivational process using linear and non-linear derivations described earlier. In this variation, the algorithmic process is used to predict TEF directly, which must be provided as the verifiable-standard training data. As an alternative to TEF, any effect of food on the body, such as, for example, drowsiness, urination or an electrical effect, or any other signs of eating, such as stomach sounds, may be used as the indicator U in the method just described for enabling the automatic measurement of caloric consumption. The relationship between U and the state parameter Y, which is calories consumed, may, in these alternative embodiments, be based on some known or developed scientific property or equation or may be based on statistical modeling techniques. As an alternate embodiment, DCI can be estimated by combining measurements of weight taken at different times with estimates of energy expenditure. It is known from the literature that weight change (measured multiple times under the same conditions so as to filter out effects of water retention and the digestive process) is related to energy balance and caloric intake as follows: (Caloric Intake−Energy Expenditure)/K=weight gain in pounds, where K is a constant preferably equal to 3500. Thus, given that an aspect of the present invention relates to a method and apparatus for measuring energy expenditure that may take input from a scale, the caloric intake of a person can be accurately estimated based on the following equation: Caloric Intake=Energy Expenditure+(weigh gain in pounds*K). This method requires that the user weigh themselves regularly, but requires no other effort on their part to obtain a measure of caloric intake. Also note also that DCI can be estimated using an algorithm that takes sensor data and attempts to directly estimate the calories consumed by the wearer, using that number of calories as the verifiable standard and the set of raw and derived channels as the training data. This is just an instance of the algorithmic process described above. Another specific instantiation where the present invention can be utilized relates to detecting when a person is fatigued. Such detection can either be performed in at least two ways. A first way involves accurately measuring parameters such as their caloric intake, hydration levels, sleep, stress, and energy expenditure levels using a sensor device and using the two function (f1 and f2) approach described with respect to TEF and caloric intake estimation to provide an estimate of fatigue. A second way involves directly attempting to model fatigue using the direct derivational approach described in connection with FIGS. 29 and 30. This example illustrates that complex algorithms that predict the wearer's physiologic state can themselves be used as inputs to other more complex algorithms. One potential application for such an embodiment of the present invention would be for first-responders (e.g. firefighters, police, soldiers) where the wearer is subject to extreme conditions and performance matters significantly. In a pilot study, the assignee of the present invention analyzed data from firefighters undergoing training exercises and determined that reasonable measures of heat stress were possible using combinations of calibrated sensor values. For example, if heat flux is too low for too long a period of time but skin temperature continues to rise, the wearer is likely to have a problem. It will be appreciated that algorithms can use both calibrated sensor values and complex derived algorithms. According to an alternate embodiment of the present invention, rather than having the software that implements f1 and f2 and determines U and/or Y therefrom be resident on and executed by the sensor device itself, such software may be resident on and run by a computing device separate from the sensor device. In this embodiment, the computing device receives, by wire or wirelessly, the signals collected by the sensor device from which the set of raw and derived channels X are derived and determines U and/or Y from those signals as described above. This alternate embodiment may be an embodiment wherein the state parameter Y that is determined by the computing device is calories consumed and wherein the indicator is some effect on the body of food, such as TEF. The computing device may display the determined caloric consumption data to the user. In addition, the sensor device may also generate caloric expenditure data as described elsewhere herein which is communicated to the computing device. The computing device may then generate and display information based on the caloric consumption data and the caloric expenditure data, such as energy balance data, goal related data, and rate of weight loss or gain data. The terms and expressions which have been employed herein are used as terms of description and not as limitation, and there is no intention in the use of such terms and expressions of excluding equivalents of the features shown and described or portions thereof, it being recognized that various modifications are possible within the scope of the invention claimed. Although particular embodiments of the present invention have been illustrated in the foregoing detailed description, it is to be further understood that the present invention is not to be limited to just the embodiments disclosed, but that they are capable of numerous rearrangements, modifications and substitutions. | <SOH> BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION <EOH>Research has shown that a large number of the top health problems in society are either caused in whole or in part by an unhealthy lifestyle. More and more, our society requires people to lead fast-paced, achievement-oriented lifestyles that often result in poor eating habits, high stress levels, lack of exercise, poor sleep habits and the inability to find the time to center the mind and relax. Additionally, obesity and body weight have become epidemic problems facing a large segment of the population, notably including children and adolescents. Recognizing this fact, people are becoming increasingly interested in establishing a healthier lifestyle. Traditional medicine, embodied in the form of an HMO or similar organization, does not have the time, the training, or the reimbursement mechanism to address the needs of those individuals interested in a healthier lifestyle. There have been several attempts to meet the needs of these individuals, including a perfusion of fitness programs and exercise equipment, dietary plans, self-help books, alternative therapies, and most recently, a plethora of health information web sites on the Internet. Each of these attempts is targeted to empower the individual to take charge and get healthy. Each of these attempts, however, addresses only part of the needs of individuals seeking a healthier lifestyle and ignores many of the real barriers that most individuals face when trying to adopt a healthier lifestyle. These barriers include the fact that the individual is often left to himself or herself to find motivation, to implement a plan for achieving a healthier lifestyle, to monitor progress, and to brainstorm solutions when problems arise; the fact that existing programs are directed to only certain aspects of a healthier lifestyle, and rarely come as a complete package; and the fact that recommendations are often not targeted to the unique characteristics of the individual or his life circumstances. With respect to weight loss, specifically, many medical and other commercial methodologies have been developed to assist individuals in losing excess body weight and maintaining an appropriate weight level through various diet, exercise and behavioral modification techniques. Weight Watchers is an example of a weight loss behavior modification system in which an individual manages weight loss with a points system utilizing commercially available foods. All food items are assigned a certain number of points based on serving size and content of fat, fiber and calories. Foods that are high in fat are assigned a higher number of points. Foods that are high in fiber receive a lower number of points. Healthier foods are typically assigned a lower number of points, so the user is encouraged to eat these food items. A user is assigned a daily points range which represents the total amount of food the user should consume within each day. Instead of directing the user away from a list of forbidden foods, a user is encouraged to enjoy all foods in moderation, as long as they fit within a user's points budget. The program is based on calorie reduction, portion control and modification of current eating habits. Exercise activities are also assigned points which are subtracted from the points accumulated by a user's daily caloric intake. Weight Watchers attempts to make a user create a balance of exercise and healthy eating in their life. However, because only caloric value of food is specifically tracked, the program tends to fail in teaching the user about the nutritional changes they need to make to maintain weight loss. Calorie content is not the only measurement that a user should take into control when determining what food items to consume. Items that contain the same caloric content may not be nutritiously similar. So, instead of developing healthy eating habits, a user might become dependent on counting points. It is important to note that the Weight Watchers program deals essentially with caloric intake only and not caloric expenditure. Similarly, Jenny Craig is also a weight loss program. Typically, an individual is assigned a personal consultant who monitors weight loss progress. In addition, the individual will receive pre-selected menus which are based on the Food Guide Pyramid for balanced nutrition. The menus contain Jenny Craig branded food items which are shipped to the individual's home or any other location chosen by the individual. The Jenny Craig program teaches portion control because the food items to be consumed are pre-portioned and supplied by Jenny Craig. However, such a close dietary supervision can be a problem once the diet ends because the diet plan does not teach new eating habits or the value of exercise. Instead it focuses mainly on short term weight loss goals. The integration of computer and diet tracking systems has created several new and more automated approaches to weight loss. Available methodologies can be tailored to meet the individual's specific physiological characteristics and weight loss goals. BalanceLog, developed by HealtheTech, Inc. and the subject of U.S. Published Application No. 20020133378 is a software program that provides a system for daily tracking and monitoring of caloric intake and expenditure. The user customizes the program based on metabolism in addition to weight and nutrition goals. The user is able to create both exercise and nutrition plans in addition to tracking progress. However, the BalanceLog system has several limitations. First, a user must know their resting metabolic rate, which is the number of calories burned at rest. The user can measure their resting metabolic rate. However, a more accurate rate can be measured by appointment at a metabolism measurement location. A typical individual, especially an individual who is beginning a weight and nutrition management plan may view this requirement as an inconvenience. The system can provide an estimated resting metabolic rate based on a broad population average if a more accurate measurement cannot be made. However, the resting metabolic rate can vary widely between individuals having similar physiological characteristics. Thus, an estimation may not be accurate and would affect future projections of an individual's progress. Second, the system is limited by the interactivity and compliance of the user. Every aspect of the BalanceLog system is manual. Every item a user eats and every exercise a user does must be logged in the system. If a user fails to do this, the reported progress will not be accurate. This manual data entry required by BalanceLog assumes that the user will be in close proximity to a data entry device, such as a personal digital assistant or a personal computer, to enter daily activities and consumed meals. However, a user may not consistently or reliably be near their data entry device shortly thereafter engaging in an exercise or eating activity. They may be performing the exercise activity at a fitness center or otherwise away from such a device. Similarly, a user may not be eating a certain meal at home, so they may not be able to log the information immediately after consuming the meal. Therefore, a user must maintain a record of all food consumed and activities performed so that these items can be entered into the BalanceLog system at a later time. Also, the BalanceLog system does not provide for the possibility of estimation. A user must select the food consumed and the corresponding portion size of the food item. If a time lapse has occurred between the meal and the time of entry and the user does not remember the meal, the data may not be entered accurately and the system would suffer from a lack of accuracy. Similarly, if a user does not remember the details of an exercise activity, the data may not be correct. Finally, the BalanceLog system calculates energy expenditure based only upon the information entered by the user. A user may only log an exercise activity such as running on a treadmill for thirty minutes for a particular day. This logging process does not take into account the actual energy expenditure of the individual, but instead relies on averages or look-up tables based upon general population data, which may not be particularly accurate for any specific individual. The program also ignores the daily activities of the user such as walking up stairs or running to catch the bus. These daily activities need to be taken into account for a user to accurately determine their total amount of energy expenditure. Similarly FitDay, a software product developed by Cyser Software, is another system that allows a user to track both nutrition and exercise activity to plan weight loss and monitor progress. The FitDay software aids a user in controlling diet through the input of food items consumed. This software also tracks the exercise activity and caloric expenditure through the manual data entry by the user. The FitDay software also enables the user to track and graph body measurements for additional motivation to engage in exercise activity. Also, FitDay also focuses on another aspect of weight loss. The system prompts a user for information regarding daily emotions for analysis of the triggers that may affect a user's weight loss progress. FitDay suffers from the same limitations of Balance Log. FitDay is dependent upon user input for its calculations and weight loss progress analysis. As a result, the information may suffer from a lack of accuracy or compliance because the user might not enter a meal or an activity. Also, the analysis of energy expenditure is dependent on the input of the user and does not take the daily activities of the user into consideration. Overall, if an individual consumes fewer calories than the number of calories burned, they user should experience a net weight loss. While the methods described above offer a plurality of ways to count consumed calories, they do not offer an efficient way to determine the caloric expenditure. Additionally, they are highly dependent upon compliance with rigorous data entry requirements. Therefore, what is lacking in the art is a management system that can accurately and automatically monitor daily activity and energy expenditure of the user to reduce the need for strict compliance with and the repetitive nature of manual data entry of information. | <SOH> SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION <EOH>A nutrition and activity management system is disclosed that can help an individual meet weight loss goals and achieve an optimum energy balance of calories burned versus calories consumed. The system may be automated and is also adaptable or applicable to measuring a number of other physiological parameters and reporting the same and derivations of such parameters. The preferred embodiment, a weight management system, is directed to achieving an optimum energy balance, which is essential to progressing toward weight loss-specific goals. Most programs, such as the programs discussed above, offer methods of calorie and food consumption tracking, but that is only half of the equation. Without an accurate estimation of energy expenditure, the optimum energy balance cannot be reached. In other embodiments, the system may provide additional or substitute information regarding limits on physical activity, such as for a pregnant or rehabilitating user, or physiological data, such as blood sugar level, for a diabetic. The management system that is disclosed provides a more accurate estimation of the total energy expenditure of the user. The other programs discussed above can only track energy expenditure through manual input of the user regarding specific physical activity of a certain duration. The management system utilizes an apparatus on the body that continuously monitors the heat given off by a user's body in addition to motion, skin temperature and conductivity. Because the apparatus is continuously worn, data is collected during any physical activity performed by the user, including exercise activity and daily life activity. The apparatus is further designed for comfort and convenience so that long term wear is not unreasonable within a wearer's lifestyle activities. It is to be specifically noted that the apparatus is designed for both continuous and long term wear. Continuous is intended to mean, however, nearly continuous, as the device may be removed for brief periods for hygienic purposes or other de minimus non-use. Long term wear is considered to be for a substantial portion of each day of wear, typically extending beyond a single day. The data collected by the apparatus is uploaded to the software platform for determining the number of calories burned, the number of steps taken and the duration of physical activity. The management system that is disclosed also provides an easier process for the entry and tracking of caloric consumption. The tracking of caloric consumption provided by the management system is based on the recognition that current manual nutrition tracking methods are too time consuming and difficult to use, which ultimately leads to a low level of compliance, inaccuracy in data collection and a higher percentage of false caloric intake estimates. Most users are too busy to log everything they eat for each meal and tend to forget how much they ate. Therefore, in addition to manual input of consumed food items, the user may select one of several other methods of caloric input which may include an estimation for a certain meal based upon an average for that meal, duplication of a previous meal and a quick caloric estimate tool. A user is guided through the complex task of recalling what they ate in order to increase compliance and reduce the discrepancy between self-reported and actual caloric intake. The combination of the information collected from the apparatus and the information entered by the user is used to provide feedback information regarding the user's progress and recommendations for reaching dietary goals. Because of the accuracy of the information, the user can proactively make lifestyle changes to meet weight loss goals, such as adjusting diet or exercising to burn more calories. The system can also predict data indicative of human physiological parameters including energy expenditure and caloric intake for any given relevant time period as well as other detected and derived physiological or contextual information. The user may then be notified as to their actual or predicted progress with respect to the optimum energy balance or other goals for the day. An apparatus is disclosed for monitoring certain identified human status parameters which includes at least one sensor adapted to be worn on an individual's body. A preferred embodiment utilizes a combination of sensors to provide more accurately sensed data, with the output of the multiple sensors being utilized in the derivation of additional data. The sensor or sensors utilized by the apparatus may include a physiological sensor selected from the group consisting of respiration sensors, temperature sensors, heat flux sensors, body conductance sensors, body resistance sensors, body potential sensors, brain activity sensors, blood pressure sensors, body impedance sensors, body motion sensors, oxygen consumption sensors, body chemistry sensors, body position sensors, body pressure sensors, light absorption sensors, body sound sensors, piezoelectric sensors, electrochemical sensors, strain gauges, and optical sensors. The sensor or sensors are adapted to generate data indicative of at least a first parameter of the individual and a second parameter of the individual, wherein the first parameter is a physiological parameter. The apparatus also includes a processor that receives at least a portion of the data indicative of the first parameter and the second parameter. The processor is adapted to generate derived data from at least a portion of the data indicative of a first parameter and a second parameter, wherein the derived data comprises a third parameter of the individual. The third parameter is an individual status parameter that cannot be directly detected by the at least one sensor. In an alternate embodiment, the apparatus for monitoring human status parameters is disclosed that includes at least two sensors adapted to be worn on an individual's body selected from the group consisting of physiological sensors and contextual sensors, wherein at least one of the sensors is a physiological sensor. The sensors are adapted to generate data indicative of at least a first parameter of the individual and a second parameter of the individual, wherein the first parameter is physiological. The apparatus also includes a processor for receiving at least a portion of the data indicative of at least a first parameter and a second parameter, the processor being adapted to generate derived data from the data indicative of at least a first parameter and a second parameter. The derived data comprises a third parameter of the individual, for example one selected from the group consisting of ovulation state, sleep state, calories burned, basal metabolic rate, basal temperature, physical activity level, stress level, relaxation level, oxygen consumption rate, rise time, time in zone, recovery time, and nutrition activity. The third parameter is an individual status parameter that cannot be directly detected by any of the at least two sensors. In either embodiment of the apparatus, the at least two sensors may be both physiological sensors, or may be one physiological sensor and one contextual sensor. The apparatus may further include a housing adapted to be worn on the individual's body, wherein the housing supports the sensors or wherein at least one of the sensors is separately located from the housing. The apparatus may further include a flexible body supporting the housing having first and second members that are adapted to wrap around a portion of the individual's body. The flexible body may support one or more of the sensors. The apparatus may further include wrapping means coupled to the housing for maintaining contact between the housing and the individual's body, and the wrapping means may support one or more of the sensors. Either embodiment of the apparatus may further include a central monitoring unit remote from the at least two sensors that includes a data storage device. The data storage device receives the derived data from the processor and retrievably stores the derived data therein. The apparatus also includes means for transmitting information based on the derived data from the central monitoring unit to a recipient, which recipient may include the individual or a third party authorized by the individual. The processor may be supported by a housing adapted to be worn on the individual's body, or alternatively may be part of the central monitoring unit. A weight-loss directed software program is disclosed that automates the tracking of the energy expenditure of the individual through the use of the apparatus and reduces the repetitive nature of data entry in the determination of caloric consumption in addition to providing relevant feedback regarding the user's weight loss goals. The software program is based on the energy balance equation which has two components: energy intake and energy expenditure. The difference between these two values is the energy balance. When this value is negative, a weight loss should be achieved because fewer calories were consumed than expended. A positive energy balance will most likely result in no loss of weight or a weight gain. The weight-loss directed software program may include an energy intake tracking subsystem, an energy expenditure tracking subsystem, a weight tracking subsystem and an energy balance and feedback subsystem. The energy intake tracking subsystem preferably incorporates a food database which includes an extensive list of commonly consumed foods, common branded foods available at regional and national food chains, and branded off the shelf entrees and the nutrient information for each item. The user also has the capability to enter custom preparations or recipes which then become a part of the food in the database. The energy expenditure subsystem includes a data retrieval process to retrieve the data from the apparatus. The system uses the data collected by the apparatus to determine total energy expenditure. The user has the option of manually entering data for an activity engaged in during a time when the apparatus was not available. The system is further provided with the ability to track and recognize certain activity or nutritional intake parameters or patterns and automatically provide such identification to the user on a menu for selection, as disclosed in copending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/682,293, the disclosure of which is incorporated by reference. Additionally, the system may directly adopt such identified activities or nutritional information without input from the user, as appropriate. The energy balance and feedback subsystem provides feedback on behavioral strategies to achieve energy balance proactively. A feedback and coaching engine analyzes the data generated by the system to provide the user with a variety of choices depending on the progress of the user. A management system is disclosed which includes an apparatus that continuously monitors a user's energy expenditure and a software platform for the manual input of information by the user regarding physical activity and calories consumed. This manual input may be achieved by the user entering their own food, by a second party entering the food for them such as an assistant in a assisted living situation, or through a second party receiving the information from the user via voice, phone, or other transmission mechanism. Alternatively, the food intake can be automatically gathered through either a monitoring system that captures what food is removed from an storage appliance such as a refrigerator or inserted into a food preparation appliance such as an oven or through a derived measure from one or more physiological parameters. The system may be further adapted to obtain life activities data of the individual, wherein the information transmitted from the central monitoring unit is also based on the life activities data. The central monitoring unit may also be adapted to generate and provide feedback relating to the degree to which the individual has followed a suggested routine. The feedback may be generated from at least a portion of at least one of the data indicative of at least a first parameter and a second parameter, the derived data and the life activities data. The central monitoring unit may also be adapted to generate and provide feedback to a recipient relating to management of an aspect of at least one of the individual's health and lifestyle. This feedback may be generated from at least one of the data indicative of a first parameter, the data indicative of a second parameter and the derived data. The feedback may include suggestions for modifying the individual's behavior. The system may be further adapted to include a weight and body fat composition tracking subsystem to interpret data received from: manual input, a second device such as a transceiver enabled weight measuring device, or data collected by the apparatus. The system may also be further adapted to include a meal planning subsystem that allows a user to customize a meal plan based on individual fitness and weight loss goals. Appropriate foods are recommended to the user based on answers provided to general and medical questionnaires. These questionnaires are used as inputs to the meal plan generation system to ensure that foods are selected that take into consideration specific health conditions or preferences of the user. The system may be provided with functionality to recommend substitution choices based on the food category and exchange values of the food and will match the caloric content between substitutions. The system may be further adapted to generate a list of food or diet supplement intake recommendations based on answers provided by the user to a questionnaire. The system may also provide the option for the user to save or print a report of summary data. The summary data could provide detailed information about the daily energy intake, daily energy expenditure, weight changes, body fat composition changes and nutrient information if the user has been consistently logging the foods consumed. Reports containing information for a certain time period, such as 7 days, 30 days, 90 days and from the beginning of the system usage may also be provided. The system may also include an exercise planning subsystem that provides recommendations to the user for cardiovascular and resistance training. The recommendations could be based on the fitness goals submitted by the questionnaire to the system. The system may also provide feedback to the user in the form of a periodic or intermittent status report. The status report may be an alert located in a box on a location of the screen and is typically set off to attract the user's attention. Status reports and images are generated by creating a key string based on the user's current view and state and may provide information to the user about their weight loss goal progress. This information may include suggestions to meet the user's calorie balance goal for the day. Although this description addresses weight loss with specificity, it should be understood that this system may also be equally applicable to weight maintenance or weight gain. | 20040913 | 20130319 | 20050526 | 68116.0 | 1 | ARCHER, MARIE | SYSTEM FOR MONITORING AND MANAGING BODY WEIGHT AND OTHER PHYSIOLOGICAL CONDITIONS INCLUDING ITERATIVE AND PERSONALIZED PLANNING, INTERVENTION AND REPORTING CAPABILITY | UNDISCOUNTED | 1 | CONT-ACCEPTED | 2,004 |
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10,940,366 | ACCEPTED | Mounting system with wedge | A mount for securing an associated object such as a sign to a supporting structure having wall defining an opening therein and having an outer surface and an inner surface, includes a mounting element adapted to receive the object. The mounting element has a body having an opening therein that is defined by edges. The opening has a predetermined shape. The body has a pair of resilient fingers extending rearwardly from the body. The fingers define portions of the edges of the opening in the body. A wedge has a base and a pair of resilient legs depending from the base. The wedge has a predetermined shape adapted for receipt in the body opening. The legs each have a notch formed therein. The mounting element is positioned with the resilient fingers in the supporting structure wall opening with the fingers locked to the supporting structure wall and the wedge is received in the body opening to interfere with the mounting element fingers flexing inward, securing the mounting element to the support structure. | 1. A mount for securing an associated object to a supporting structure, the supporting structure having wall defining an opening therein, the wall having an outer surface and an inner surface, the mount comprising: a mounting element adapted to receive the object, the mounting element having a body, the body having an opening therein defined by edges and having a predetermined shape, the body having a pair of resilient fingers extending rearwardly from the body, the fingers defining portions of the edges of the opening in the body, a wedge having a base and a pair of resilient legs depending from the base, the wedge having a predetermined shape adapted for receipt in the body opening, the legs each having a notch formed therein, wherein the mounting element is positioned with the resilient fingers in the supporting structure wall opening with the fingers locked to the supporting structure wall and wherein the wedge is received in the body opening to interfere with the mounting element fingers flexing inward and to secure the mounting element to the support structure. 2. The mount in accordance with claim 1 wherein each of the mounting element resilient fingers have an inclined surface extending from a free end of the finger toward the body. 3. The mount in accordance with claim 2 wherein the inclined surfaces each define a barb on the finger. 4. The mount in accordance with claim 1 wherein the wedge legs each include a channel formed therein between the base and a free end of each leg. 5. The mount in accordance with claim 4 including an inclined surface formed on each leg extending from the free end and forming a lip of the channel. 6. The mount in accordance with claim 1 wherein the opening in the body is rectangular and wherein the wedge has a rectangular cross-sectional shape for mating receipt in the rectangular opening. 7. The mount in accordance with claim 6 wherein the fingers are disposed on opposite sides of the rectangular opening and wherein the wedge is disposed in the opening between the fingers. 8. The mount in accordance with claim 1 including a pivoting portion mounted to the mounting element. 9. The mount in accordance with claim 8 including a pivot pin mounting the pivoting portion to the mounting element. 10. A mount for securing an associated object to a supporting structure, the supporting structure having wall defining an opening therein, the wall having an outer surface and an inner surface, the mount comprising: a mounting element adapted to receive the object, the mounting element having a body, the body having an opening therein defined by edges and having a predetermined shape, the body having a pair of resilient fingers extending rearwardly from the body, the fingers defining portions of the edges of the opening in the body, an interference member configured for receipt in the body opening and locking to the supporting structure wall, the interference member adapted for snuggle fitting between the mounting element resilient fingers. 11. The mount in accordance with claim 10 wherein the resilient fingers and the interference member each include a barb formed at about an end thereof for securing the mounting element and the interference member to the supporting structure wall. 12. The mount in accordance with claim 10 wherein the interference member includes a pair of flexible legs, and wherein the legs each include a channel therein. 13. The mount in accordance with claim 12 wherein the channel is configured so as to define an edge of a barb. 14. The mount in accordance with claim 13 wherein the resilient fingers each include a barb at about an end thereof. 15. The mount in accordance with claim 14 wherein the barbs are flexible inwardly and wherein the interference member is positioned between the fingers, at the barbs, to prevent inward flexing of the barbs. | BACKGROUND OF INVENTION It is often times desirable to mount a sign, display or other object onto a supporting structure. For example, in order to access the area behind such a sign (e.g., to restock a shelf), it is desirable to mount the sign to a structure (such as a storage rack or a pallet rack) by some type of movable or flexible arrangement. In one such arrangement, the sign is mounted to a rack by a hinge; that is, the sign is pivotally mounted to the rack by a hinge arrangement such as that disclosed in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/680,909 to Padiak et al., which application is commonly assigned with the present application and is incorporated herein by reference. The hinges, however, must be adequately secured to the support structure. One way in which the hinge is secured to the supporting structure is by flexible extensions or fingers that extend rearwardly from the base or mounting portion that are snugly fitted into an opening in the supporting structure. In this arrangement, the extensions engage the sides of the opening. Barbs at the end of the fingers lock the mounting portion to the support. To disengage the mounting element, the extensions are squeezed together or the mounting portion is twisted side to side, to loosen the fingers and disengage the barbs. However, there are drawbacks to this mounting system. For one, after repeated engagement and disengagement, the fingers can become weakened and fatigued, and as a result lose their resiliency and thus the ability to spring back after being pushed through the opening in the supporting structure. As a result, the mounting element and the object (e.g., the sign) may not be secured to the supporting structure as desired. Accordingly, there is a need for a mounting system that secures the mounting element to the supporting structure. Desirably, such a mounting system permits installation of the mount (hinge) without the need for tools. More desirably, such a mount is readily installed and locks into place, but is also readily removed, when desired. BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION A mount is configured for securing an associated object, such as a sign, to a supporting structure, which supporting structure has a wall defining an opening therein, having an outer surface and an inner surface. The mount includes a mounting element adapted to receive the object. The mounting element has a body having an opening therein that is defined by edges and has a predetermined shape. Preferably, the opening is a rectangular opening. The body has a pair of resilient fingers that extend rearwardly from the body. The fingers define portions of the edges of the opening in the body. That is, the fingers extend rearwardly from the body at the edges of the opening. A preferred resilient finger has an inclined surface and defines a barb on the finger. A wedge has a base and a pair of resilient legs depending from the base. The wedge has a predetermined shape and is adapted for receipt in the body opening. The mounting element is positioned with the resilient fingers in the supporting structure wall opening with the fingers locked to the supporting structure wall. The wedge is received in the body opening to interfere with the mounting element fingers flexing inward and to secure the mounting element to the support structure. In a preferred arrangement, the wedge legs each include a channel formed therein between the base and a free end of each leg. Preferably, the legs each include an inclined surface extending from the free end and forming a lip of the channel. In a present mount, the opening in the body is rectangular and the wedge has a rectangular cross-sectional shape for mating receipt in the rectangular opening. The fingers are disposed on opposite sides of the rectangular opening and the wedge is disposed in the opening between the fingers. The mount can be used to mount or support, for example, a sign. One such sign is a pivoting sign in which case a pivoting portion is mounted to the mounting element. A pivot pin is used to mount the pivoting portion to the mounting element. These and other features and advantages of the present invention will be apparent from the following detailed description, in conjunction with the appended claims. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS The benefits and advantages of the present invention will become more readily apparent to those of ordinary skill in the relevant art after reviewing the following detailed description and accompanying figures, wherein: FIG. 1 is a perspective illustration of a sign mounted to a support structure (post) having a mount system with wedge embodying the principles of the present invention; FIG. 2 is a partial perspective view of a mounting element and a wedge show in an exploded view with a portion of the support post; FIG. 3 is the partial perspective illustration of FIG. 2 with the mounting element and wedge mounted to the portion of a supporting structure; FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view taken along the plane marked 4-4 in FIG. 3; and FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view taken along the plane marked 5-5 in FIG. 3. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION While the present invention is susceptible of embodiment in various forms, there is shown in the drawings and will hereinafter be described some embodiments with the understanding that the present disclosure is to be considered an exemplification of the invention and is not intended to limit the invention to the specific embodiments illustrated. It should be understood that the title of this section of this specification, namely, “Detailed Description Of The Invention”, relates to a requirement of the United States Patent Office, and does not imply, nor should be inferred to limit the subject matter disclosed herein. Referring now to the figures, and in particular to FIG. 1, there is shown one embodiment of a mounting system 10 with a wedge 12 in accordance with the principles of the present invention. Such a system 10 permits readily mounting, for example, a sign S having a hinged or other mount 14 to a support structure, such as the vertical posts or uprights 16 of a storage (pallet) rack system 18. As seen in FIG. 1, a portion of the supporting structure (e.g., the rack upright 16) has an opening 20 formed in a wall 22 thereof. The wall 22 is defined by inner and outer wall surfaces, 22a,b, respectively. In this embodiment, the opening 20 is shown as a square. However, the opening 20 can be other suitable shapes and sizes, as is known in the art, such as, e.g., rectangular or teardrop. The exemplary mount 14 includes a first fixed or mounting portion 24 and a second pivoting portion 26 that are connected to one another by a pivot pin 28. The mount and pivot portions 24, 26 can be connected in myriad ways as will be appreciated by those skilled in the art, including those shown in the aforementioned application Ser. No. 10/680,909 to Padiak et al. Preferably these portions are fabricated and manufactured easily and inexpensively. In a preferred embodiment, the pivot portion 26 is secured to a mountable object (not shown), such as, e.g., a sign, display or other suitable object by a fastener, such as a screw through an opening 30 in the pivoting portion 26, or by an adhesive, clips, hooks or the like. As is known in the art, the mount portion 24 can include a pair of mounting extensions or fingers 32a,b that extend rearwardly from the body 34 of the mount portion 24. Each of the mounting fingers 32a,b includes a rearwardly extending wall 36a,b having inwardly facing surfaces 38a,b that are spaced from one another so that the inwardly facing surfaces 38a,b oppose each other. Each finger 32a,b also has an outward facing surface 40a,b that has a lip or barb 42a,b formed thereon. Preferably, the surface 44a,b between the end of the finger 46a,b and the barb 42a,b is inclined. The fingers 32a,b, along with the edges of the body between the fingers as indicated at 48, define an opening 50 in the body 34. The fingers 32a,b are configured for insertion into the opening 20 in the upright (support) 16 such that the outwardly facing surfaces 40a,b engage opposite sides of the opening 20. In this manner, the barbs 42a,b engage the opposite edges of the opening 20 and secure the hinge 14 to the post 16. The barbs 42a,b engage the support opening 20 at an inner surface 22a of the wall 22 at the opening 50 when the mount body 34 rests on the outside surface 22b of the post 16. In this manner, the wall 22 that defines the opening 20 is “sandwiched” between the barb 42a,b and the mount body 34. In that the hinge 14 is formed from a polymer, the fingers 32a,b are typically flexible and are readily inserted into the opening 20 with the inclined surfaces 44a,b facilitating insertion and receipt of the fingers 32a,b in the opening 20. The fingers 32a,b can be flexed inward to release or disengage the fingers 32a,b from the post wall 22 to remove the mount 14 from the post 16. A locking wedge 56 is positioned in the mount opening 50. The wedge 56 has a base 58 and a pair of legs 60a,b extending or depending from the base 58. The legs 60a,b, which are connected to one another by the base 58, have an outer wall 62a,b and an inner wall 64a,b. The outer walls 62a,b each include an inclined surface 66a,b extending from a free end 68a,b of the leg toward the base 58. The legs 60a,b each include a notch or channel 70a,b formed in the outer wall 62a,b, between the base 58 and the free end 68a,b. The notches 70a,b, along with the inclined outer wall 66a,b define a lip or barb 72a,b on the leg 60a,b. The notches 72a,b are configured to engage the post wall 22 when the wedge 56 is inserted into the mount opening 50. The barbs 72a,b are disposed to retain the wedge 56 in position in the mount opening 50 and engaged with the post wall 22 when the wedge 56 is inserted into the mount opening 50. As will be appreciated by those skilled in the art, the wedge 56 is inserted into the mount opening 50 and into the post opening 20. The wedge legs 60a,b lock into place in the post 16 by engagement of the notches 72a,b with the post wall 22. In addition, the wedge 56 fits snug up against the mount fingers 32a,b and interferes with inward flexing of the fingers 32a,b. As such, the wedge 56 prevents loosening of the mount 14 by preventing the mount fingers 32a,b from flexing inward and coming free from the post 16. The hinge 14 and wedge 56 are formed from polymeric materials, such as high density polyethylene, polypropylene and the like, and are formed as injection molded parts. Other materials and processes for using and molding these materials will be recognized and appreciated by those skilled in the art. All patents referred to herein, are hereby incorporated herein by reference, whether or not specifically done so within the text of this disclosure. In the disclosures, the words “a” or “an” are to be taken to include both the singular and the plural. Conversely, any reference to plural items shall, where appropriate, include the singular. From the foregoing it will be observed that numerous modifications and variations can be effectuated without departing from the true spirit and scope of the novel concepts of the present invention. It is to be understood that no limitation with respect to the specific embodiments illustrated is intended or should be inferred. The disclosure is intended to cover by the appended claims all such modifications as fall within the scope of the claims. | <SOH> BACKGROUND OF INVENTION <EOH>It is often times desirable to mount a sign, display or other object onto a supporting structure. For example, in order to access the area behind such a sign (e.g., to restock a shelf), it is desirable to mount the sign to a structure (such as a storage rack or a pallet rack) by some type of movable or flexible arrangement. In one such arrangement, the sign is mounted to a rack by a hinge; that is, the sign is pivotally mounted to the rack by a hinge arrangement such as that disclosed in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/680,909 to Padiak et al., which application is commonly assigned with the present application and is incorporated herein by reference. The hinges, however, must be adequately secured to the support structure. One way in which the hinge is secured to the supporting structure is by flexible extensions or fingers that extend rearwardly from the base or mounting portion that are snugly fitted into an opening in the supporting structure. In this arrangement, the extensions engage the sides of the opening. Barbs at the end of the fingers lock the mounting portion to the support. To disengage the mounting element, the extensions are squeezed together or the mounting portion is twisted side to side, to loosen the fingers and disengage the barbs. However, there are drawbacks to this mounting system. For one, after repeated engagement and disengagement, the fingers can become weakened and fatigued, and as a result lose their resiliency and thus the ability to spring back after being pushed through the opening in the supporting structure. As a result, the mounting element and the object (e.g., the sign) may not be secured to the supporting structure as desired. Accordingly, there is a need for a mounting system that secures the mounting element to the supporting structure. Desirably, such a mounting system permits installation of the mount (hinge) without the need for tools. More desirably, such a mount is readily installed and locks into place, but is also readily removed, when desired. | <SOH> BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION <EOH>A mount is configured for securing an associated object, such as a sign, to a supporting structure, which supporting structure has a wall defining an opening therein, having an outer surface and an inner surface. The mount includes a mounting element adapted to receive the object. The mounting element has a body having an opening therein that is defined by edges and has a predetermined shape. Preferably, the opening is a rectangular opening. The body has a pair of resilient fingers that extend rearwardly from the body. The fingers define portions of the edges of the opening in the body. That is, the fingers extend rearwardly from the body at the edges of the opening. A preferred resilient finger has an inclined surface and defines a barb on the finger. A wedge has a base and a pair of resilient legs depending from the base. The wedge has a predetermined shape and is adapted for receipt in the body opening. The mounting element is positioned with the resilient fingers in the supporting structure wall opening with the fingers locked to the supporting structure wall. The wedge is received in the body opening to interfere with the mounting element fingers flexing inward and to secure the mounting element to the support structure. In a preferred arrangement, the wedge legs each include a channel formed therein between the base and a free end of each leg. Preferably, the legs each include an inclined surface extending from the free end and forming a lip of the channel. In a present mount, the opening in the body is rectangular and the wedge has a rectangular cross-sectional shape for mating receipt in the rectangular opening. The fingers are disposed on opposite sides of the rectangular opening and the wedge is disposed in the opening between the fingers. The mount can be used to mount or support, for example, a sign. One such sign is a pivoting sign in which case a pivoting portion is mounted to the mounting element. A pivot pin is used to mount the pivoting portion to the mounting element. These and other features and advantages of the present invention will be apparent from the following detailed description, in conjunction with the appended claims. | 20040914 | 20070424 | 20060316 | 87489.0 | A46B1702 | 0 | STERLING, AMY JO | MOUNTING SYSTEM WITH WEDGE | SMALL | 0 | ACCEPTED | A46B | 2,004 |
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10,940,554 | ACCEPTED | X-Y address type solid state image pickup device and method of producing the same | In an X-Y address type solid state image pickup device represented by a CMOS image sensor, a back side light reception type pixel structure is adopted in which a wiring layer is provided on one side of a silicon layer including photo-diodes formed therein, and visible light is taken in from the other side of the silicon layer, namely, from the side (back side) opposite to the wiring layer. Wiring can be made without taking a light-receiving surface into account, and the degree of freedom in wiring for the pixels is enhanced. | 1. A solid state image pickup device comprising: a plurality of unit pixels comprising an active device for converting a signal charge obtained through photo-electric conversion by a photo-electric conversion device into an electrical signal and outputting said electrical signal, wherein a wiring layer comprising a wiring for said active device is provided on one side of a device layer comprising said photo-electric conversion device, and incident light is taken into said photo-electric conversion device from the other side of said device layer; and wherein an impurity region is formed at a light-receiving-side of said device layer. 2. A solid-state image pickup device according to claim 1, wherein said impurity region is a p-type region. 3. A solid-state image pickup device comprising: a plurality of unit pixels comprising an active device for converting a signal charge obtained through photo-electric conversion by a photo-electric conversion device into an electrical signal and outputting said electrical signal, wherein a wiring layer comprising wiring for said active device is provided at one side of a device layer comprising said photo-electric conversion device and incident light is taken into said photo-electric conversion device from the other side of said device layer, and wherein a p-type region is formed at a surface portion of said device layer, which is the portion opposite to light-receiving side. 4-6. (Canceled) | BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to an X-Y address type solid state image pickup device in which unit pixels each including an active device for converting a signal charge obtained through photo-electric conversion by a photo-electric conversion device into an electrical signal and outputting the electrical signal are arranged in a matrix form, and a method of producing the same. Solid state image pickup devices are generally classified into a charge transfer type solid state image pickup device represented by a CCD image sensor and an X-Y address type solid state image pickup device represented by a CMOS image sensor. Of the two types, the X-Y address type solid state image pickup device will be described referring to FIG. 9 which shows an example of the sectional structure of the CMOS image sensor taken as an example. As is clear from FIG. 9, the CMOS image sensor has a construction in which a pixel portion 100 for photo-electric conversion of incident light and a peripheral circuit portion 200 for reading a signal by driving pixels, processing the signal and outputting the processed signal are integrated on the same chip (substrate). Transistors constituting the pixel portion 100 and transistors constituting the peripheral circuit portion 200 have a part of wiring in common. The pixel portion 100 includes a photo-diode 102 provided on the surface of an N type silicon substrate 101 having a thickness of about several hundreds of μm, and a color filter 105 and a micro-lens 106 arranged on the upper side of the photo-diode 102 with a wiring layer 103 and a passivation layer 104 therebetween. The color filter 105 is provided for obtaining color signals. In the pixel portion 100, transistors and wirings are present between the photo-diode 102 and the color filter 105. Therefore, in order to enhance the ratio of the incident light on the photo-diode 102 to the incident light on the pixel portion 100, namely, numerical aperture, the incident light is focused on the photo-diode 102 through the gaps between the wirings by the micro-lens 106. However, in the related art of the pixel structure in which the incident light is taken into the photo-diode 102 through the wiring layer 103 as mentioned above, a portion of the light focused by the micro-lens 106 is scattered by the wirings, resulting in various problems as follows. {circle over (1)} The amount of light is reduced by the portion scattered by the wirings, so that sensitivity is lowered. {circle over (2)} The portion of light scattered by the wirings enter into photo-diodes in the adjacent pixels, resulting in color mixture. {circle over (3)} Characteristics are lowered due to limitations on the basis of wiring, such as the limitations that a wiring cannot be disposed on the upper side of the photo-diode 102 and a thick wiring cannot be laid, and it is difficult to miniaturize the pixels. {circle over (4)} The light is incident skewly on pixels and the ratio of the light portion scattered to the entire amount of the incident light is increased in a peripheral area, so that dark shading occurs heavily at the pixels in the peripheral area. {circle over (5)} It is difficult to produce a COMS image sensor by an advanced CMOS process with an increased number of wiring layers, because the distance from the micro-lens 106 to the photo-diode 102 is increased. {circle over (6)} A library of advanced CMOS processes cannot be used due to {circle over (5)} above, a change in layout of the circuit in the library is needed, and an increase in area is caused by limitations on the wiring layer, so that production cost is raised and pixel area per pixel is enlarged. Further, when light with a long wavelength such as red color light undergoes photo-electric conversion in a P well 107 located deeper than the photo-diode 102 in FIG. 9, the electrons generated diffuse through the P well 107, to enter into photo-diodes at other positions, resulting in color mixture. In addition, if the electrons enter into a pixel shielded from light for detection of black, a black level may be detected erroneously. Besides, in the CMOS image sensors in recent years, there is the tendency that the functions which have been provided on different chips, such as a camera signal processing circuit and a DSP (Digital Signal Processor), are mounted on the same chip as the pixel portion. Because the process generation is advanced in the manner of 0.4 μm→0.25 μm→0.18 μm→0.13 μm, if the CMOS image sensors themselves cannot cope with these new processes, they cannot share in the benefit of miniaturization, and cannot utilize the rich CMOS circuit library and IP. However, the degree of multilayer property of the wiring structure advances as the process generation advances; for example, three-layer wiring is used in the 0.4 μm process, and, on the other hand, eight-layer wiring is used in the 0.13 μm process. Besides, the thickness of wiring is also increased, and the distance from the micro-lens 106 to the photo-diode 102 is increased by a factor of three to five. Therefore, with the face side irradiation type pixel structure in which light is led to the light-receiving surface of the photo-diode 102 through the wiring layer according to the related art, it has come to be impossible to efficiently focus the light on the light-receiving surface of the photo-diode 102, and, as a result, the above-mentioned problems {circle over (1)} to {circle over (6)} have come to be conspicuous. On the other hand, the charge transfer type solid state image pickup devices include the back side light reception type frame transfer CCD image sensor which receives light from the back side. In the back side light reception type frame transfer CCD image sensor, a silicon substrate is thinned to receive light on the rear side (back side), a signal charge obtained through photo-electric conversion inside silicon is caught by a depletion layer extending from the face side, is accumulated in a potential well on the face side and is outputted. An example of the sectional structure of a photo-diode in the back side light reception type frame transfer CCD image sensor is shown in FIG. 10. In this example, the photo-diode is composed of a P type region 303 at the surface on the side of an oxide film 302 provided with wirings or the like with respect to-the silicon substrate 301, and is covered by an N type well (epi layer) 304 through a depletion layer 305. A reflective film 306 of aluminum is provided on the oxide film 302. In the case of the back side light reception type CCD image sensor having the above-mentioned structure, there is the problem that the sensitivity to blue light for which absorbance is high is lowered. In addition, the signal charge generated upon photo-electric conversion at a shallow position of the light incident on the rear side diffuses, to enter into photo-diodes in the surroundings at a certain ratio. In addition to these problems, the CCD image sensor is characterized in that the height of the wiring layer need not be enlarged because system-on-chip is not conducted, focusing by an on-chip lens is easy because a light-shielding film can be dropped into the surroundings of the photo-diode owing to an exclusive process, the above-mentioned problems {circle over (1)} to {circle over (6)} are not generated, and it is unnecessary to adopt the back side light reception structure. For these reasons, the back side light reception type CCD image sensor is rarely used at present. On the other hand, in the case of the CMOS image sensor, the process used is one obtained by minor modifications of a standard CMOS process, so that adoption of the back side light reception structure offers the merits that the process is not affected by a wiring step and the newest process can always be used, which merits cannot be obtained with the CCD image sensor. However, as contrasted to the CCD image sensor, the wirings are present in many layers in the form of crossing lines, so that the above-mentioned problems {circle over (1)} to {circle over (6)} appear conspicuously as the problems peculiar to the CMOS image sensor (and hence the X-Y address type solid state image pickup device represented by this). SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in consideration of the above-mentioned problems. Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide an X-Y address type solid state image pickup device represented by a CMOS image sensor in which miniaturization of pixels and a higher numerical aperture are made possible by adopting a back side light reception structure, and a method of producing the same. In order to attain the above object, according to the present invention, there is provided an X-Y address type solid state image pickup device including a plurality of unit pixels each including an active device for converting a signal charge obtained through photo-electric conversion by a photo-electric conversion device into an electrical signal and outputting the electrical signal, the unit pixels being arranged in a matrix form, wherein a back side light reception type pixel structure is adopted in which a wiring layer for wiring the active devices is provided on one side of a device layer provided with the photo-electric conversion devices, and incident light is taken into the photo-electric conversion devices from the other side of the device layer, namely, from the side opposite to the wiring layer. In the X-Y address type solid state image pickup device, the back side light reception type pixel structure is adopted, whereby it is unnecessitated to perform wiring by taking a light-receiving surface into account. Namely, wiring on the photo-electric conversion device region is made possible. By this, the degree of freedom in wiring the pixels is enhanced, and miniaturization of the pixels can be contrived. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS These and other objects of the invention will be seen by reference to the description, taken in connection with the accompanying drawing, in which: FIG. 1 is a general constitutional diagram showing an example of a CMOS image sensor according to one embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 2 is a circuit diagram showing an example of circuit constitution of unit pixel; FIG. 3 is a sectional view showing an example of the structures of a pixel portion and a peripheral circuit portion; FIG. 4 is a sectional structural view showing an example of a well structure of a silicon layer; FIG. 5 is a plan pattern diagram showing active regions (regions of gate oxide films), gate (polysilicon) electrodes and contact portions of both of them; FIG. 6 is a plan pattern diagram showing metallic wirings above the gate electrodes and contact portions therebetween, together with the active regions; FIG. 7 shows step diagrams (No. 1) for illustrating the process of fabricating a CMOS image sensor having the back side light reception type pixel structure; FIG. 8 shows step diagrams (No. 2) for illustrating the process of fabricating the CMOS image sensor having the back side light reception type pixel structure; FIG. 9 is a sectional structural view showing a conventional structure of CMOS image sensor; and FIG. 10 is a sectional view showing the sectional structure of a photo-diode in a back side light reception type frame transfer CCD image sensor. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Now, an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail below referring to the drawings. In the present embodiment, a CMOS image sensor is taken as an example of the X-Y address type solid state image pickup device and will be described. FIG. 1 is a general constitutional diagram showing an example of the CMOS image sensor according to one embodiment of the present invention. As is clear from FIG. 1, this CMOS image sensor forms a pixel portion 11, a vertical (V) selection circuit 12, an S/H (Sample/Hold) & CDS (Correlated Double Sampling) circuit 13, a horizontal (H) selection circuit 14, a timing generator (TG) 15, an AGC (Automatic Gain Control) circuit 16, an A/D converter circuit 17, a digital amplifier 18 and the like, which are mounted on the same substrate (chip) 19. The pixel portion 11 composes a multiplicity of unit pixels (described later) arranged in a matrix form, and wirings include address conductors and the like disposed on a row basis and vertical signal conductors disposed on a column basis. The vertical selection circuit 12 sequentially selects pixels on a row basis, and pixel signals are read from individual pixels in the selected row into the S/H & CDS circuit 13. The S/H & CDS circuit 13 subtracts zero level from a signal level for each of the pixel signals read out, removes fixed pattern dispersion (noise) on a pixel basis, and holds the signals. The horizontal selection circuit 14 sequentially take out the pixel signals held in the S/H & CDS circuit 13, and transfers the pixel signals to the AGC circuit 16. The AGC circuit 16 amplifies the signals with an appropriate gain, and transfers the amplified signals to the A/D converter circuit 17. The A/D converter circuit 17 converts the analog signals into digital signals, and transfers the digital signals to the digital amplifier 18. The digital amplifier 18 amplifies the digital signals appropriately, and outputs the amplified digital signals. The operations of the vertical selection circuit 12, the S/H & CDS circuit 13, the horizontal selection circuit 14, the AGC circuit 16, the A/D converter circuit 17 and the digital amplifier 18 are performed based on various timing signals generated by the timing generator 15. An example of circuit constitution of the unit pixel, which is a part peculiar to this CMOS image sensor, is shown in FIG. 2. As is clear from the figure, the unit pixel includes, for example, a photo-diode 21 as a photo-electric conversion device, and for the single photo-diode 21, the unit pixel includes four transistors, namely, a transfer transistor 22, an amplifying transistor 23, an address transistor 24 and a reset transistor 25 as active devices. The photo-diode 21 has its anode grounded, and performs photo-electric conversion for converting the incident light into an amount of charge (here, electrons) according to the amount of light. The transfer transistor 22 is connected between the cathode of the photo-diode 21 and a floating diffusion FD, and its gate is supplied with a transfer signal through a transfer wiring 26, thereby transferring the electrons generated upon photo-electric conversion by the photo-diode 21 to the floating diffusion FD. To the floating diffusion FD is connected the gate of the amplifying transistor 23. The amplifying transistor 23 is connected to the vertical signal conductor 27 through the address transistor 24, and constitutes a source follower together with a fixed current source I which is provided outside the pixel portion. When an address signal is given to the gate of the address transistor 24 through the address wiring 28 and the address transistor 24 is turned ON, the amplifying transistor 23 amplifies the potential of the floating diffusion FD and output a voltage according to the potential to the vertical signal conductor 27. The vertical signal conductor 27 transmits the voltage outputted from each pixel to the S/H & CDS circuit 13. The reset transistor 25 is connected between a power source Vdd and the floating diffusion FD, and its gate is supplied with a reset signal through a reset conductor 29, thereby resetting the potential of the floating diffusion FD to the potential of the power source Vdd. These operations are conducted simultaneously for the individual pixels in one row, because the wirings 26, 28, 29 connected respectively to the gates of the transfer transistor 22, the address transistor 24 and the reset transistor 25 are arranged on a row basis. Here, as the wirings for the unit pixel, there are provided three wirings in the horizontal direction, namely, the transfer wiring 26, the address wiring 28 and the reset wiring 29, one wiring in the vertical direction, namely, the vertical signal conductor 27, and, further, a Vdd supply wiring, an internal wiring for connecting the floating diffusion FD with the gate of the amplifying transistor 23, and a two-dimensional wiring (not shown) used for a light-shielding film for a pixel boundary portion and a black level detecting pixel. FIG. 3 is a sectional view showing an example of the structures of the pixel portion and the peripheral circuit portion. In FIG. 3, by polishing a wafer by CMP (Chemical Mechanical Polishing), a silicon (Si) layer (device layer) 31 having a thickness of about 10 to 20 μm is formed. The desirable range of the thickness is 5 to 15 μm for visible rays, 15 to 50 μm for infrared rays, and 3 to 7 μm for ultraviolet rays. The light-shielding film 33 is provided on one side of the silicon layer 31, with an SiO2 film 32 therebetween. Different from the wirings, the light-shielding film 33 is laid out taking only optical elements into account. The light-shielding film 33 is provided with an opening portion 33A. A silicon nitride film (SiN) 34 is provided on the light-shielding film 33 as a passivation film, and a color filter 35 and a micro-lens 36 are provided on the upper side of the opening portion 33A. Namely, in this pixel structure, the light incident from one side of the silicon layer 31 is led to a light-receiving surface of the photo-diode 37 (described later) provided at the silicon layer 31 through the micro-lens 36 and the color filter 35. A wiring layer 38 including transistors and metallic wirings therein is provided on the other side of the silicon layer 31, and a substrate support member 39 is adhered to the lower side of the wiring layer 38. Here, in the CMOS image sensor according to the related art, the face side light reception type pixel structure has been adopted in which the wiring layer is on the face side and incident light is taken in from the wiring layer side. On the other hand, in the CMOS image sensor according to the present embodiment, the back side light reception type pixel structure is adopted in which the incident light is taken in from the side (back side) opposite to the wiring layer 38. As is clear from the back side light reception type pixel structure, only the light-shielding layer 33 is present as a metallic layer in the range from the micro-lens 36 to the photo-diode 37, and the height of the light-shielding layer 33 from the photo-diode 37 is as small as the thickness of the SiO2 film 32 (for example, about 0.5 μm), so that limitations on focusing due to the scattering by metallic layers can be obviated. FIG. 4 is a sectional structural view showing an example of a well structure of the silicon layer 31, in which the same portions as those in FIG. 3 are denoted by the same symbols. In this example, an N− type substrate 41 is used. The thickness of the silicon layer 31 is desirably 5 to 15 μm for visible rays, as described above; in this example, it is 10 μm. By this, good photo-electric conversion of visible rays can be achieved. On one side of the silicon layer 31, a shallow P+ layer 42 is provided over the entire area of the pixel portion. A pixel isolation region is formed of a deep P well 43, which is connected to the P+ layer 42 on the one side. The photo-diode 37 is formed by utilizing the N− type substrate 41, namely, by not providing the P well there. This N− type region (substrate) 41 is the photo-electric conversion region, and it is completely depleted because it is small in area and concentration. An N+ region 44 for accumulating the signal charge (in this example, electrons) is provided on the N− type region (substrate) 41, and, further, a P+ layer 45 for forming an embedded photo-diode is provided thereon. As is clear from FIG. 4, the photo-diode 37 is so formed as to be greater in surface area on the light-receiving surface side than on the side of the wiring layer 38. With this structure, the incident light can be taken in efficiently. The signal charge obtained through photo-electric conversion by the photo-diode 37 and accumulated in the N+ region 44 is transferred to the FD (floating diffusion) 47 composed of N+ type region by a transfer transistor 46 (the transfer transistor 22 in FIG. 2). The photo-diode 37 side and the FD 47 are electrically isolated from each other by a P− layer 48. The other transistors (the amplifying transistor 23, the address transistor 24 and the reset transistor 25 in FIG. 2) than the transfer transistor 46 in the pixel are formed in the deep P well 43, in the same manner as usual. On the other hand, as for the peripheral circuit region, a P well 49 is formed with such a depth as not to reach the P+ layer 42 on the back side, an N well 50 is further formed inside the P well 49, and a CMOS circuit is formed in the region of these wells 49, 50. Next, an example of layout of the pixels will be described referring to FIGS. 5 and 6. In FIGS. 5 and 6, the same portions as those in FIG. 2 are denoted by the same symbols. FIG. 5 is a plan pattern diagram showing active regions (regions of gate oxide film), gate (polysilicon) electrodes, and contact portions of both of them. As is clear from the figure, one photo-diode (PD) 21 and four transistors 22 to 25 exist per unit pixel. FIG. 6 is a plan pattern diagram showing metallic wirings above the gate electrodes and contact portions therebetween, together with the active regions. Here, the metallic wirings (for example, aluminum wirings) have a three-layer structure, in which the first layer is used as in-pixel wirings, the second layer is used as wirings in the vertical direction, namely, as vertical signal. conductors 27 and drain conductors, and the third layer is used as wirings in the horizontal direction, namely, transfer wirings 26, address wirings 28, and reset wirings 29. As is clear from the wiring pattern of FIG. 6, the vertical signal conductor 27, the transfer wiring 26, the address wiring 28 and the reset wiring 29 are arranged on the photo-diode region. In the conventional pixel structure, namely, in the face side light reception type pixel structure in which light is taken in from the wiring layer side, these wirings have been laid out by avoiding the photo-diode region. On the other hand, in the pixel structure according to this embodiment, as is clear from FIG. 3, the back side light reception type pixel structure is adopted in which the light is taken in from the opposite side (back side) of the wiring layer, so that the wirings can be laid out on the photo-diode region. As has been described above, in the X-Y address type solid state image pickup device represented by the CMOS image sensor, the back side light reception type pixel structure is adopted in which visible light is received from the back side of the photo-diodes 37. Therefore, the need for wiring by taking the light-receiving surface into account as in the conventional face side light reception type pixel structure is eliminated, so that the degree of freedom in wiring for pixels is enhanced, miniaturization of the pixels can be contrived, and the system can be produced by an advanced CMOS process with an increased number of wiring layers. In addition, since the photo-diode 37 is formed with such a depth as to reach the P+ layer 45 on the back side, the sensitivity to blue light for which absorbance is high is enhanced. Besides, since photo-electric conversion at a deeper portion than the photo-diode 37 does not occur, it is possible to obviate color mixture and erroneous detection of black level which might otherwise be generated. Further, as is clear particularly from FIG. 3, the wiring layer 38 is not present on the light-receiving surface side, so that it is possible to provide the light-shielding film 33, the color filter 35 and the micro-lens 36 at lower positions relative to the light-receiving surface. Accordingly, the problems of lowering of sensitivity, color mixture, and reduction of light amount at peripheral areas as encountered in the related art can be solved. Next, the process for fabricating the CMOS image sensor having the back side light reception type pixel structure constituted as described above will be described referring to the step diagrams shown in FIGS. 7 and 8. First, a device isolator and a gate electrode (polysilicon electrode) are formed at a surface of an N− type substrate 51, then the deep P well 43 at the pixel portion, the shallow P+ layer 42 at the photo-diode portion, the shallow P well 49 at the peripheral circuit portion and the N well 50 as above-mentioned are formed by ion implantation, and, further, transistors and pixel active regions and the like are formed by the same step as that for the conventional CMOS image sensor (Step 1). At this time, the substrate 51 is trenched by about several tens of μm for forming a register mark for the back side. Next, the first to third layers of metallic wiring (1A1, 2A1, 3A1), a pad (PAD) 52 and an interlayer insulating film 53 are provided on the surface of the substrate 51 (Step 2). At this time, for example, tungsten (W) or aluminum (Al) is embedded in the register mark portion for back side which has been trenched in Step 1, thereby forming the register mark 54. Subsequently, a first substrate support member (for example, glass, silicon, an organic film or the like) 55A is made to flow on the upper surface of the wiring layer in a thickness of several hundreds of μm (Step 3). At this time, the upper side of the pad 52 is preliminarily masked with a resist 56. Next, the resist 56 on the upper side of the pad 52 is removed, and a surface treatment is conducted to cause a metal to flow into the bump thus formed (Step 4). Subsequently, an electrical conductor 57 is caused to flow into the bump opening on the upper side of the pad 52 and on the surface of the first substrate support member 55A (Step 5) Thereafter, the electrical conductor 57 on the surface of the substrate support member 55 is removed, leaving only the portion on the upper side of the pad 52 (Step 6). The left portion becomes a pad 52′. Next, a second substrate support member 55B is caused to flow for protecting the pad 52′ during processing of the back side and for planarization of the surface, then polishing is conducted, the wafer is turned upside down, and polishing is conducted by CMP until the thickness of the substrate 51 becomes about 10 μm (Step 7). Subsequently, an SiO2 film is formed in a thickness of about 10 nm by CVD (Chemical Vapor Deposition), then a resist is applied according to the register mark 54, and the entire surface of the pixel portion is dosed with boron so that the SiO2 interface is filled with positive holes (Step 8). In Step 8, further, an SiO2 film 58 is formed by CVD on the back side in a thickness of about 500 nm, then a light-shielding film 59 is formed by use of Al or W, and thereafter a plasma SiN film is formed as a passivation film 60 by CVD. Next, a color filter 61 and a micro-lens 62 are formed by the same method as in the case of the conventional CMOS image sensor (Step 9). At this time, stepper registration is conducted by use of the register mark 54 or by use of the light-shielding film 59. Subsequently, the second substrate support member 55B on the pad 52′ is removed by etching, to expose the pad 52′ (Step 10). In this case, if required, the second substrate support member 55B is polished to a desired thickness for registration of the micro-lens 62 and for planarization of the chip. According to the method described above, the back side light reception type pixel structure can be produced easily. In addition, a structure in which the pad 52′ is exposed on the side opposite to the light-receiving surface. Therefore, the present CMOS image sensor can be mounted directly on the substrate in the condition where the light-receiving surface is directed upwards. While a preferred embodiment of the invention has been described using specific terms, such description is for illustrative purpose only, and it is to be understood that changes and variations may be made without departing from the spirit or scope of the following claims. | <SOH> BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION <EOH>The present invention relates to an X-Y address type solid state image pickup device in which unit pixels each including an active device for converting a signal charge obtained through photo-electric conversion by a photo-electric conversion device into an electrical signal and outputting the electrical signal are arranged in a matrix form, and a method of producing the same. Solid state image pickup devices are generally classified into a charge transfer type solid state image pickup device represented by a CCD image sensor and an X-Y address type solid state image pickup device represented by a CMOS image sensor. Of the two types, the X-Y address type solid state image pickup device will be described referring to FIG. 9 which shows an example of the sectional structure of the CMOS image sensor taken as an example. As is clear from FIG. 9 , the CMOS image sensor has a construction in which a pixel portion 100 for photo-electric conversion of incident light and a peripheral circuit portion 200 for reading a signal by driving pixels, processing the signal and outputting the processed signal are integrated on the same chip (substrate). Transistors constituting the pixel portion 100 and transistors constituting the peripheral circuit portion 200 have a part of wiring in common. The pixel portion 100 includes a photo-diode 102 provided on the surface of an N type silicon substrate 101 having a thickness of about several hundreds of μm, and a color filter 105 and a micro-lens 106 arranged on the upper side of the photo-diode 102 with a wiring layer 103 and a passivation layer 104 therebetween. The color filter 105 is provided for obtaining color signals. In the pixel portion 100 , transistors and wirings are present between the photo-diode 102 and the color filter 105 . Therefore, in order to enhance the ratio of the incident light on the photo-diode 102 to the incident light on the pixel portion 100 , namely, numerical aperture, the incident light is focused on the photo-diode 102 through the gaps between the wirings by the micro-lens 106 . However, in the related art of the pixel structure in which the incident light is taken into the photo-diode 102 through the wiring layer 103 as mentioned above, a portion of the light focused by the micro-lens 106 is scattered by the wirings, resulting in various problems as follows. {circle over (1)} The amount of light is reduced by the portion scattered by the wirings, so that sensitivity is lowered. {circle over (2)} The portion of light scattered by the wirings enter into photo-diodes in the adjacent pixels, resulting in color mixture. {circle over (3)} Characteristics are lowered due to limitations on the basis of wiring, such as the limitations that a wiring cannot be disposed on the upper side of the photo-diode 102 and a thick wiring cannot be laid, and it is difficult to miniaturize the pixels. {circle over (4)} The light is incident skewly on pixels and the ratio of the light portion scattered to the entire amount of the incident light is increased in a peripheral area, so that dark shading occurs heavily at the pixels in the peripheral area. {circle over (5)} It is difficult to produce a COMS image sensor by an advanced CMOS process with an increased number of wiring layers, because the distance from the micro-lens 106 to the photo-diode 102 is increased. {circle over (6)} A library of advanced CMOS processes cannot be used due to {circle over (5)} above, a change in layout of the circuit in the library is needed, and an increase in area is caused by limitations on the wiring layer, so that production cost is raised and pixel area per pixel is enlarged. Further, when light with a long wavelength such as red color light undergoes photo-electric conversion in a P well 107 located deeper than the photo-diode 102 in FIG. 9 , the electrons generated diffuse through the P well 107 , to enter into photo-diodes at other positions, resulting in color mixture. In addition, if the electrons enter into a pixel shielded from light for detection of black, a black level may be detected erroneously. Besides, in the CMOS image sensors in recent years, there is the tendency that the functions which have been provided on different chips, such as a camera signal processing circuit and a DSP (Digital Signal Processor), are mounted on the same chip as the pixel portion. Because the process generation is advanced in the manner of 0.4 μm→0.25 μm→0.18 μm→0.13 μm, if the CMOS image sensors themselves cannot cope with these new processes, they cannot share in the benefit of miniaturization, and cannot utilize the rich CMOS circuit library and IP. However, the degree of multilayer property of the wiring structure advances as the process generation advances; for example, three-layer wiring is used in the 0.4 μm process, and, on the other hand, eight-layer wiring is used in the 0.13 μm process. Besides, the thickness of wiring is also increased, and the distance from the micro-lens 106 to the photo-diode 102 is increased by a factor of three to five. Therefore, with the face side irradiation type pixel structure in which light is led to the light-receiving surface of the photo-diode 102 through the wiring layer according to the related art, it has come to be impossible to efficiently focus the light on the light-receiving surface of the photo-diode 102 , and, as a result, the above-mentioned problems {circle over (1)} to {circle over (6)} have come to be conspicuous. On the other hand, the charge transfer type solid state image pickup devices include the back side light reception type frame transfer CCD image sensor which receives light from the back side. In the back side light reception type frame transfer CCD image sensor, a silicon substrate is thinned to receive light on the rear side (back side), a signal charge obtained through photo-electric conversion inside silicon is caught by a depletion layer extending from the face side, is accumulated in a potential well on the face side and is outputted. An example of the sectional structure of a photo-diode in the back side light reception type frame transfer CCD image sensor is shown in FIG. 10 . In this example, the photo-diode is composed of a P type region 303 at the surface on the side of an oxide film 302 provided with wirings or the like with respect to-the silicon substrate 301 , and is covered by an N type well (epi layer) 304 through a depletion layer 305 . A reflective film 306 of aluminum is provided on the oxide film 302 . In the case of the back side light reception type CCD image sensor having the above-mentioned structure, there is the problem that the sensitivity to blue light for which absorbance is high is lowered. In addition, the signal charge generated upon photo-electric conversion at a shallow position of the light incident on the rear side diffuses, to enter into photo-diodes in the surroundings at a certain ratio. In addition to these problems, the CCD image sensor is characterized in that the height of the wiring layer need not be enlarged because system-on-chip is not conducted, focusing by an on-chip lens is easy because a light-shielding film can be dropped into the surroundings of the photo-diode owing to an exclusive process, the above-mentioned problems {circle over (1)} to {circle over (6)} are not generated, and it is unnecessary to adopt the back side light reception structure. For these reasons, the back side light reception type CCD image sensor is rarely used at present. On the other hand, in the case of the CMOS image sensor, the process used is one obtained by minor modifications of a standard CMOS process, so that adoption of the back side light reception structure offers the merits that the process is not affected by a wiring step and the newest process can always be used, which merits cannot be obtained with the CCD image sensor. However, as contrasted to the CCD image sensor, the wirings are present in many layers in the form of crossing lines, so that the above-mentioned problems {circle over (1)} to {circle over (6)} appear conspicuously as the problems peculiar to the CMOS image sensor (and hence the X-Y address type solid state image pickup device represented by this). | <SOH> SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION <EOH>The present invention has been made in consideration of the above-mentioned problems. Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide an X-Y address type solid state image pickup device represented by a CMOS image sensor in which miniaturization of pixels and a higher numerical aperture are made possible by adopting a back side light reception structure, and a method of producing the same. In order to attain the above object, according to the present invention, there is provided an X-Y address type solid state image pickup device including a plurality of unit pixels each including an active device for converting a signal charge obtained through photo-electric conversion by a photo-electric conversion device into an electrical signal and outputting the electrical signal, the unit pixels being arranged in a matrix form, wherein a back side light reception type pixel structure is adopted in which a wiring layer for wiring the active devices is provided on one side of a device layer provided with the photo-electric conversion devices, and incident light is taken into the photo-electric conversion devices from the other side of the device layer, namely, from the side opposite to the wiring layer. In the X-Y address type solid state image pickup device, the back side light reception type pixel structure is adopted, whereby it is unnecessitated to perform wiring by taking a light-receiving surface into account. Namely, wiring on the photo-electric conversion device region is made possible. By this, the degree of freedom in wiring the pixels is enhanced, and miniaturization of the pixels can be contrived. | 20040914 | 20090922 | 20050210 | 57929.0 | 2 | LOUIE, WAI SING | X-Y ADDRESS TYPE SOLID STATE IMAGE PICKUP DEVICE AND METHOD OF PRODUCING THE SAME | UNDISCOUNTED | 1 | CONT-ACCEPTED | 2,004 |
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10,940,662 | ACCEPTED | Electric torch | An electric torch includes a bulb holder, a head and a body. The bulb holder includes a bulb housing and a bulb received in the bulb housing. The bulb includes a first electrically conductive terminal and a second electrically conductive terminal. A recessed portion is formed at the first electrically conductive terminal whereby the first electrically conductive terminal is easily bent at the recessed portion. The head includes a head housing which includes a first thread segment at the upper outside surface thereof and a thread segment at the lower inside surface thereof, a reflector housing fixed to the upper portion of the bulb housing and abuttingly received in the head housing, and a head cover. The reflector housing has an arcuate reflecting concave at the upper inside thereof. A through hole is defined in the center of the reflecting concave for extension of the bulb. An inner thread segment is formed at the upper portion of the head cover for engaging with the first thread segment of the head housing. The body has a base comprising an outer thread segment at the upper portion thereof for engaging with the thread segment of the head housing. An upper receiving chamber is defined in the upper portion of the base. A conductive member is received in the bottom of the upper receiving chamber for electrically connecting with a battery in the base. | 1. An electric torch comprising a bulb holder comprising a bulb housing and a bulb received in the bulb housing, the bulb comprising a first electrically conductive terminal and a second electrically conductive terminal, a recessed portion being formed at the first electrically conductive terminal whereby the first electrically conductive terminal is easily bent at the recessed portion; a head comprising a head housing which comprises a first thread segment at the upper outside surface thereof and a thread segment at the lower inside surface thereof, a reflector housing fixed to the upper portion of the bulb housing and abuttingly received in the head housing, and a head cover, the reflector housing having an arcuate reflecting concave at the upper inside thereof, a through hole being defined in the center of the reflecting concave for extension of the bulb, an inner thread segment being formed at the upper portion of the head cover for engaging with the first thread segment of the head housing; and a body comprising a base, the base comprising an outer thread segment at the upper portion thereof for engaging with the thread segment of the head housing, an upper receiving chamber being defined in the upper portion of the base, a conductive member being received in the bottom of the upper receiving chamber for electrically connecting with a battery in the base. 2. The electric torch as claimed in claim 1, wherein the bulb housing comprises a bulb hole and a bulb housing receiving chamber in communication to the bulb hole. 3. The electric torch as claimed in claim 1, wherein the bulb housing has a thread segment at the upper outside surface thereof, an engaging chamber is defined in the bottom of the reflector housing in communication to the through hole of the reflecting concave, an inner thread segment is formed at the engaging chamber for engaging with the thread segment of the bulb housing. 4. The electric torch as claimed in claim 3, wherein when the bulb locates at the focus of the reflecting concave, glue is disposed between the inner thread segment of the reflector housing and the thread segment of the bulb housing thereby fixing the reflector housing to the bulb housing. 5. The electric torch as claimed in claim 1, wherein the first electrically conductive terminal is ground by a file to form the recessed portion which is generally a triangular cutout with a bottom angle about 90 degrees. 6. The electric torch as claimed in claim 1, wherein the bulb holder comprises an annular metal plate received in the bulb housing receiving chamber of the bulb housing, a through hole is defined in the annular metal plate for extension of the first and second electrically conductive terminals. 7. The electric torch as claimed in claim 6, wherein the bulb holder comprises an insulative sleeve received in the bulb housing receiving chamber of the bulb housing, the insulative sleeve is adjacent to the annular metal plate, an eccentric hole for extension of the second electrically conductive terminal and a sleeve receiving chamber in communication to the eccentric hole are respectively defined in the insulative sleeve. 8. The electric torch as claimed in claim 7, wherein the bulb holder comprises a conductive metal plate received in the insulative sleeve, an eccentric hole is defined in the conductive metal plate for extension of the second electrically conductive terminal. 9. The electric torch as claimed in claim 7, wherein the bulb holder comprises an inner metal sleeve received in the insulative sleeve, an inner sleeve receiving chamber is defined in the inner metal sleeve. 10. The electric torch as claimed in claim 9, wherein the inner sleeve receiving chamber of the inner metal sleeve receives an inner spring therein. 11. The electric torch as claimed in claim 1, wherein an outer spring abuts between the bulb housing and the upper receiving chamber of the base. 12. The electric torch as claimed in claim 1, wherein the head housing further comprises a second thread segment, the second thread segment engages with a positioning annulus formed at the bottom of the head cover. 13. The electric torch as claimed in claim 1, wherein at least one annular recess is defined in the outside surface of the head housing for receiving a waterproof ring. 14. The electric torch as claimed in claim 1, wherein an abutting chamber is defined in the upper inside of the head housing for abuttingly receiving the reflector housing. 15. The electric torch as claimed in claim 14, wherein the reflector housing has an abutting annulus at the upper outside surface thereof for abutting against the abutting chamber. 16. The electric torch as claimed in claim 1, wherein a transparent shield is disposed at the top of the reflector housing, an annular flange inwardly extends from the upper portion of the head cover, a waterproof ring is disposed between the annular flange and the transparent shield. 17. The electric torch as claimed in claim 1, wherein at least one annular recess is defined in the base below the portion of the base threadedly engaging with the head housing, each annular recess receives a waterproof ring. 18. The electric torch as claimed in claim 1, wherein the bottom of the upper receiving chamber of the base threadedly engages with the recessed annulus for positioning the conductive member. 19. The electric torch as claimed in claim 1, wherein the bottom of the conductive member engagingly receives a spring for abutting against the battery. 20. An electric torch comprising a bulb holder comprising a bulb housing and a bulb received in the bulb housing; a head comprising a head housing and a reflector housing fixed to the upper portion of the bulb housing, the head housing having a thread segment at the lower inner side surface thereof, the reflector housing having an arcuate reflecting concave at the upper inside thereof, a through hole being defined in the center of the reflecting concave for extension of the bulb; and a body comprising a base, the base comprising an outer thread segment at the upper portion thereof for engaging with the thread segment of the head housing, an upper receiving chamber being defined in the upper portion of the base, a recessed annulus being formed at the bottom of the upper receiving chamber, a conductive member being disposed at the center of recessed annulus for electrically connecting with a battery in the base. | BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an electric torch, and particularly to an electric torch which prevents a bulb thereof from adversely affecting during assembly and ensures the bulk at the focus of a reflecting concave after assembly. 2. Prior Art An electric torch is one daily article for lighting. Particularly when power cut takes place in house, no power is supplied to outside at night, or the army or the police works at night, the electric torch is a necessary tool for lighting. The electric torch has a bulb which includes two electrically conductive terminals parallelly and outwardly extending from the bulb. In assembly of the electric torch, the two electrically conductive terminals are directly inserted into two metallic sockets for electrical connection. However, the bulb is easy to fall off, particularly when the electric torch is fixed to a gun for shooting lighting. To encounter the above problem, one of the two terminals is bent to connect to a body of the electric torch thereby preventing the bulb from falling off. However, when the electrically conductive terminal of the bulb is bent with a bending force, micro-splits may occur between the electrically conductive terminal and a glass shell of the bulb at the periphery of the terminal whereby the airtight between the terminals and the glass shell is adversely affected or even damaged. Since vacuum is configured in the shell, air will gradually flow into the shell through the micro-splits. So a filament of the bulb is easy to oxygenize when the filament generates high heat whereby the bulb burns out immediately or the working life of the bulb is shortened. Furthermore, the bulb is preferred to locate at the focus of a reflecting concave of a reflector of the electric torch. The reflector is rotatable to adjust the position relationship between the bulb and the reflector thereby placing the bulb at the focus of the reflecting concave. However, the reflector is easily rotated during use, which changes the position relationship between the reflector and the bulb. Therefore the bulb is easy to leave the focus of the reflecting concave which adversely affecting the lighting of the electric torch. To encounter the above problem, a user may adjust the reflector to place the bulb at the focus again. However, it is inconvenient to adjust the reflector during use. Particularly, when the army or the police uses the electric torch for work, it is time consuming to adjust the reflector to place the bulb at the focus, which may result in losing a good chance or even danger. Moreover, a common user cannot professionally adjust the reflector to place the bulb at the focus which reducing the lighting effect of the electric torch. Additionally, when the electric torch falls down or is fixed to a gun for shooting lighting, a battery of the electric torch tends to quickly move relative to the body of the electric torch due to the acceleration of gravity or the recoil of shooting and so the battery is exerted with an external force. However, since the central portion of a negative pole of the battery is extremely thin, the negative pole is readily recessed due to the external force, which results in poor electrical contact between the bulb and the battery. Therefore, it is required to improve the conventional electric torch. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide an electric torch which can prevent micro-splits from occurring at a bulb of the electric torch during assembly. Another object of the present invention is to provide an electric torch which has a bulb fixed at the focus of a reflecting concave of the electric torch thereby preventing the bulb from leaving the focus for convenient use. Further object of the present invention is to provide an electric torch which has a recessed annulus abutting against the peripheral portion of a negative pole of a battery of the electric torch thereby preventing the negative pole from being recessed and so preventing the battery from being in poor electrical connection with a bulb. To achieve the above-mentioned objects, an electric torch in accordance with the present invention includes a bulb holder, a head and a body. The bulb holder includes a bulb housing and a bulb received in the bulb housing. The bulb includes a first electrically conductive terminal and a second electrically conductive terminal. A recessed portion is formed at the first electrically conductive terminal whereby the first electrically conductive terminal is easily bent at the recessed portion. The head includes a head housing which includes a first thread segment at the upper outside surface thereof and a thread segment at the lower inside surface thereof, a reflector housing fixed to the upper portion of the bulb housing and abuttingly received in the head housing, and a head cover. The reflector housing has an arcuate reflecting concave at the upper inside thereof. A through hole is defined in the center of the reflecting concave for extension of the bulb. An inner thread segment is formed at the upper portion of the head cover for engaging with the first thread segment of the head housing. The body has a base comprising an outer thread segment at the upper portion thereof for engaging with the thread segment of the head housing. An upper receiving chamber is defined in the upper portion of the base. A conductive member is received in the bottom of the upper receiving chamber for electrically connecting with a battery in the base. Other objects, advantages and novel features of the present invention will be drawn from the following detailed embodiments of the present invention with attached drawings, in which: BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an electric torch of the present invention; FIG. 2 is an exploded view of FIG. 1; FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of FIG. 1; and FIG. 4 is a partially enlarged view of FIG. 3. DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring to FIGS. 14, an electric torch of the present invention includes a bulb holder 10, a head 20 and a body 30. The bulb holder 10 includes a bulb housing 11, a bulb 12, an annular metal plate 13, an insulative sleeve 14, a conductive metal plate 15, an inner metal sleeve 16, an inner spring 17 and an outer spring 18. A bulb hole 111 and a bulb housing receiving chamber 112 in communication to the bulb hole 111 are respectively defined in the bulb housing 11 (see FIG. 4). The bulb housing 11 includes a thread segment 113 disposed at the top of the outer surface thereof and a recessed segment 114 disposed at the bottom of the outer surface thereof. The bulb 12 has two electrically conductive terminals 121, 122. A recessed portion 123 is defined in the electrically conductive terminal 121 through grinding the electrically conductive terminal 121 with a file. The recessed portion 123 is generally a triangular cutout with a bottom angle about 90 degrees. A through hole 131 is defined in the annular metal plate 13. The diameter of the through hole 131 is larger than the width between the two electrically conductive terminals 121, 122. An eccentric hole 141 and a sleeve receiving chamber 142 in communication to the eccentric hole 141 are respectively defined in the insulative sleeve 14 (see FIG. 4). An eccentric hole 151 is defined in the conductive metal plate 15. An inner sleeve receiving chamber 161 is defined in the inner metal sleeve 16. In assembly of the bulb holder 10, the bulb 12 is received in the bulb hole 111 of the bulb housing 11 with the two electrically conductive terminals 121, 122 thereof extending into the bulb housing receiving chamber 112 of the bulb housing 11. The electrically conductive terminal 121 is bent at the recessed portion 123. The annular metal plate 13 is inserted into the bulb housing receiving chamber 112 with the electrically conductive terminal 122 extending through the through hole 131 thereof and being not in contact with the annular metal plate 13. The annular metal plate 13 abuts against the bent electrically conductive terminal 121. The insulative sleeve 14 is then inserted into the bulb housing receiving chamber 112 with the electrically conductive terminal 122 extending through the eccentric hole 141 and into the sleeve receiving chamber 142. The conductive metal plate 15 is then inserted into the sleeve receiving chamber 142 with the electrically conductive terminal 122 extending through the eccentric hole 151 and then being bent. The inner metal sleeve 16 is then received in the sleeve receiving chamber 142 and abuts against the bent terminal 122. The inner sleeve receiving chamber 162 of the inner metal sleeve 16 receives the inner spring 17 whereby the inner metal sleeve 16 resiliently abuts against the bent electrically conductive terminal 122. The head 20 includes a head housing 21, a reflector housing 22, a transparent shield 23, a waterproof ring 24, a head cover 25 and a positioning annulus 26. The head housing 21 is generally a hollow tube. A first thread segment 211, two annular recesses 213 and a second thread segment 212 are formed at the upper outside surface of the head housing 21. A thread segment 214 is formed at the lower inside surface of the head housing 21 (see FIG. 4). Two waterproof rings 215 are respectively received in the two annular recesses 213. An abutting chamber 216 with a relatively large inside diameter is defined in the upper portion of the head housing 21. The reflector housing 22 includes an abutting annulus 221 at the upper outside thereof and an arcuate reflecting concave 222 at the upper inside thereof. A through hole 223 is defined in the center of the reflecting concave 222. An engaging chamber 224 is defined in the lower inside of the reflector housing 22 in communication to the through hole 223. An inner thread segment 225 is disposed at the engaging chamber 224. The transparent shield 23 and the waterproof ring 24 are disposed at the top of the reflector housing 22. The head cover 25 includes an annular flange 251 inwardly extending from the top thereof and an inner thread segment 252 formed at the inside surface thereof. The positioning annulus 26 is formed with an inner thread segment 261. The body 30 includes a base 31. The base 31 includes an outer thread segment 311 at the top thereof. An upper receiving chamber 312 is defined in the upper portion of the base 31. Two annular recesses 317 are defined in the outer surface of the base 31. A recessed annulus 313 is threadedly fixed to the lower portion of the upper receiving chamber 312. A metallic conductive member 314 is positioned at the center of the recessed annulus 313 (see FIG. 4). A receiving chamber 314a is defined in the lower center of the conductive member 314 and receives a spring 315 therein for electrically conductive connection with a battery 316 in the base 31. The outside diameter of the upper portion of the spring 315 is slightly larger than the inside diameter of the receiving chamber 314a thereby securing the spring 315 in the receiving chamber 314a. Each annular recess 317 receives a waterproof ring 318 therein. A lower sleeve 32 is threadedly fixed to the bottom of the base 31. The lower sleeve 32 cooperates with a button 33 and a resilient pressing mechanism 34 to form a rotating switch (see FIG. 3). The resilient pressing mechanism 34 is conventional and so is not detailedly described herein. In assembly of the bulb holder 10, the head 20 and the body 30, the thread segment 113 of the bulb housing 11 threadedly engages with the inner thread segment 225 of the engaging chamber 224 of the reflector housing 22. The bulb holder 10 and the reflector housing 22 are received in the head housing 21 with the abutting annulus 221 of the reflector housing 22 abutting against the abutting chamber 216 of the head housing 21 and with the thread segment 214 of the head housing 21 threadedly engaging with the outer thread segment 311 of the base 31. The outer spring 18 resiliently abuts between the thread segment 113 of the bulb housing 11 and the upper receiving chamber 312 of the base 31. The inner thread segment 261 of the positioning annulus 26 threadedly engages with the second thread segment 212 of the head housing 21. One waterproof ring 217 abuts between the positioning annulus 26 and the head housing 21. The transparent shield 23 is positioned on the reflector housing 22. The head cover 25 covers the transparent shield 23 with the inner thread segment 252 thereof threadedly engaging with the first thread segment 211 of the head housing 21 and with the waterproof ring 24 abutting between the annular flange 251 and the transparent shield 23. During the reflector housing 22 threadedly engaging with the bulb housing 11, the bulb 12 can be adjusted to locate at the focus of the reflecting concave 222 through testing lighting reflecting effect of the bulb 12 and the reflecting concave 222 of the reflector housing 22. After the bulb 12 is located at the focus of the reflecting concave 222, the bulb housing 11 is fixed at the reflector housing 22. For example, glue is disposed between the thread segment 113 of the bulb housing 11 and the inner thread segment 225 of the reflector housing 22. Thus, after assembly, the bulb 12 always locates at the focus of the reflecting concave for convenient use of the electric torch. Furthermore, the electrically conductive terminal 121 of the bulb 12 is bent after extending through the bulb hole 111 of the bulb housing 11. Though the bent portion of the terminal 121 is close to the body of bulb 12, the electrically conductive terminal 121 is readily bent due to the recessed portion 123 of the electrically conductive terminal 121, and so the glass shell at the junction of the electrically conductive terminal 121 and the bulb 12 is not exerted with a bending force thereby preventing micro-splits from occurring at the bulb 12 and therefore ensuring the quality of the bulb 12. Additionally, the center portion of the negative pole of the battery 316 is extremely thin and so the center portion of the negative pole is easily recessed due to an external force (particularly to a CR-123 lithium battery). However, the peripheral portion of the negative pole of the battery 316 is able to bear a larger external force than the center portion of the negative pole. When the battery 316 is exerted with the acceleration of gravity or a shooting recoil, since the recessed annulus 313 abuts against the peripheral portion of the negative pole of the battery 316, the center portion of the negative pole of the battery 316 is exerted with a lower external force only thereby preventing the negative pole from being recessed and so preventing the battery 316 from being in poor electrical connection with the bulb 12. It is understood that the invention may be embodied in other forms without departing from the spirit thereof. Thus, the present examples and embodiments are to be considered in all respects as illustrative and not restrictive, and the invention is not to be limited to the details given herein. | <SOH> BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION <EOH>1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an electric torch, and particularly to an electric torch which prevents a bulb thereof from adversely affecting during assembly and ensures the bulk at the focus of a reflecting concave after assembly. 2. Prior Art An electric torch is one daily article for lighting. Particularly when power cut takes place in house, no power is supplied to outside at night, or the army or the police works at night, the electric torch is a necessary tool for lighting. The electric torch has a bulb which includes two electrically conductive terminals parallelly and outwardly extending from the bulb. In assembly of the electric torch, the two electrically conductive terminals are directly inserted into two metallic sockets for electrical connection. However, the bulb is easy to fall off, particularly when the electric torch is fixed to a gun for shooting lighting. To encounter the above problem, one of the two terminals is bent to connect to a body of the electric torch thereby preventing the bulb from falling off. However, when the electrically conductive terminal of the bulb is bent with a bending force, micro-splits may occur between the electrically conductive terminal and a glass shell of the bulb at the periphery of the terminal whereby the airtight between the terminals and the glass shell is adversely affected or even damaged. Since vacuum is configured in the shell, air will gradually flow into the shell through the micro-splits. So a filament of the bulb is easy to oxygenize when the filament generates high heat whereby the bulb burns out immediately or the working life of the bulb is shortened. Furthermore, the bulb is preferred to locate at the focus of a reflecting concave of a reflector of the electric torch. The reflector is rotatable to adjust the position relationship between the bulb and the reflector thereby placing the bulb at the focus of the reflecting concave. However, the reflector is easily rotated during use, which changes the position relationship between the reflector and the bulb. Therefore the bulb is easy to leave the focus of the reflecting concave which adversely affecting the lighting of the electric torch. To encounter the above problem, a user may adjust the reflector to place the bulb at the focus again. However, it is inconvenient to adjust the reflector during use. Particularly, when the army or the police uses the electric torch for work, it is time consuming to adjust the reflector to place the bulb at the focus, which may result in losing a good chance or even danger. Moreover, a common user cannot professionally adjust the reflector to place the bulb at the focus which reducing the lighting effect of the electric torch. Additionally, when the electric torch falls down or is fixed to a gun for shooting lighting, a battery of the electric torch tends to quickly move relative to the body of the electric torch due to the acceleration of gravity or the recoil of shooting and so the battery is exerted with an external force. However, since the central portion of a negative pole of the battery is extremely thin, the negative pole is readily recessed due to the external force, which results in poor electrical contact between the bulb and the battery. Therefore, it is required to improve the conventional electric torch. | <SOH> SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION <EOH>Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide an electric torch which can prevent micro-splits from occurring at a bulb of the electric torch during assembly. Another object of the present invention is to provide an electric torch which has a bulb fixed at the focus of a reflecting concave of the electric torch thereby preventing the bulb from leaving the focus for convenient use. Further object of the present invention is to provide an electric torch which has a recessed annulus abutting against the peripheral portion of a negative pole of a battery of the electric torch thereby preventing the negative pole from being recessed and so preventing the battery from being in poor electrical connection with a bulb. To achieve the above-mentioned objects, an electric torch in accordance with the present invention includes a bulb holder, a head and a body. The bulb holder includes a bulb housing and a bulb received in the bulb housing. The bulb includes a first electrically conductive terminal and a second electrically conductive terminal. A recessed portion is formed at the first electrically conductive terminal whereby the first electrically conductive terminal is easily bent at the recessed portion. The head includes a head housing which includes a first thread segment at the upper outside surface thereof and a thread segment at the lower inside surface thereof, a reflector housing fixed to the upper portion of the bulb housing and abuttingly received in the head housing, and a head cover. The reflector housing has an arcuate reflecting concave at the upper inside thereof. A through hole is defined in the center of the reflecting concave for extension of the bulb. An inner thread segment is formed at the upper portion of the head cover for engaging with the first thread segment of the head housing. The body has a base comprising an outer thread segment at the upper portion thereof for engaging with the thread segment of the head housing. An upper receiving chamber is defined in the upper portion of the base. A conductive member is received in the bottom of the upper receiving chamber for electrically connecting with a battery in the base. Other objects, advantages and novel features of the present invention will be drawn from the following detailed embodiments of the present invention with attached drawings, in which: | 20040915 | 20061017 | 20060209 | 63795.0 | F21L200 | 0 | MAKIYA, DAVID J | ELECTRIC TORCH | SMALL | 0 | ACCEPTED | F21L | 2,004 |
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10,940,701 | ACCEPTED | Dynamic background rater for internet content | The present invention extends to methods, systems, and computer program products for dynamically rating Internet content. A computer receives an indication that at least one URL is available to be rated and that resources (e.g., a content rater) are available for rating the URL. The computer selects a URL, which identifies a portion of Internet content, and transfers the URL to at least two different content classifiers. The computer accesses first rating data corresponding to the identified portion of Internet from a first content classifier. The computer accesses second rating data corresponding to the identified portion of Internet from a second content classifier. The computer combines at least the first rating data and the second rating data into a combined rating corresponding to a specified content category. The computer indicates that the identified portion of Internet content is included in the specified content category. | 1. At a computer system, a method for dispatching an Internet-content identifier to a content-rating system, the method comprising: an act of receiving an indication that at least one unrated Internet-content identifier is available to be rated; an act of receiving an indication that resources are available for rating the unrated Internet-content identifier; an act of selecting an Internet-content identifier from among the at least one unrated Internet-content identifier based on content-identifier selection criteria; an act of selecting some of the available resources to rate the unrated Internet-content identifier; and an act of transferring the selected Internet-content identifier to the selected available resources. 2. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the act of indicating that at least one unrated Internet-content identifier is available to be rated comprises an act of indicating that an unrated URL is available to be rated. 3. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the act of indicating that resources are available for rating the unrated Internet-content identifier comprises an act of indicating that a content rater is available to rate an unrated URL. 4. The method of as recited in claim 1, wherein the act of selecting an Internet-content identifier based on content-identifier selection criteria comprises an act of selecting the Internet-content identifier randomly. 5. The method of as recited in claim 1, wherein the act of selecting an Internet-content identifier based on content-identifier selection criteria comprises an act of selecting the content identifier that has received a threshold number of requests for rating. 6. The method of as recited in claim 1, wherein the act of selecting an Internet-content identifier based on content-identifier selection criteria comprises an act of selecting a content identifier that has waited a threshold amount of time to be rated. 7. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the act of selecting some of the available resources to rate the unrated Internet-content identifier comprises an act of selecting a content rater, from among one or more available content raters, to rate an unrated URL. 8. The method as recited in claim 7, wherein the act of selecting a content rater, from among one or more available content raters comprises an act of selecting the content rater that has been idle for a threshold amount of time. 9. The method as recited in claim 8, wherein the act of selecting an available content rater, from among one or more available content raters comprises an act of selecting a content rater based on URL specific criteria. 10. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the act of transferring the selected Internet-content identifier to the selected available resources comprises an act of transferring a URL to a selected content rater, selected from among one or more available content raters. 11. The method as recited in claim 1, further comprising: an act of determining a content category rating for the selected Internet-content identified; and an act of storing the content category rating along with the Internet-content identifier. 12. At a computer system, a method of rating Internet content, the method comprising: an act of receiving an Internet-content identifier that identifies a portion of Internet content; an act of transferring the Internet-content identifier to at least two different content classifiers; an act of accessing first rating data from a first content classifier, the first rating data corresponding to the identified portion of Internet content; an act of accessing second rating data from a second content classifier, the second rating data corresponding to the identified portion of Internet content; an act of combining at least the first rating data and the second rating data into a combined rating indicative of a specified content category; and an act of indicating that the identified portion of Internet content is classified as being included in the specified content category. 13. The method as recited in claim 12, wherein the act of receiving an Internet-content identifier comprises an act of receiving a URL. 14. The method as recited in claim 12, wherein the act of transferring the Internet-content identifier to at least two different content classifiers comprises an act of transferring a URL to least two different content classifiers selected from among a dynamic real time rater, an outbound link classifier and an inbound link classifier. 15. The method as recited in claim 12, wherein the act of accessing first rating data from a first content classifier comprises an act of accessing an indication that the identified portion of Internet content is included in a first specified category. 16. The method as recited in claim 12, wherein the act of accessing first rating data from a first content classifier comprises an act of accessing a first multiplier, content rating, and weight from the first content classifier. 17. The method as recited in claim 12, wherein the act of accessing first rating data from a first content classifier comprises an act of accessing a content rating that was generated based on an evaluation of the contents of the identifier portion of Internet content. 18. The method as recited in claim 12, wherein the act of accessing a first rating data from a first content classifier comprises an act of accessing a content rating that was generated based on an evaluation of links from the identified portion of Internet content to other Internet content. 19. The method as recited in claim 12, wherein the act of accessing first rating data from a first content classifier comprises an act of accessing a content rating that was generated based on an evaluation of links from other Internet content to the identified portion of Internet content. 20. The method as recited in claim 12, wherein the act of accessing first rating data from a first content classifier comprises an act of accessing a content rating that was generated based on a classifier-specific weighting factor. 21. The method as recited in claim 12, wherein the act of accessing first rating data from a first content classifier comprises an act of accessing a content rating that is assigned a priority multiplier. 22. The method as recited in claim 12, wherein the act of accessing second rating data from a second content classifier comprises an act of accessing an indication that the portion of content is included in a second specified category. 23. The method as recited in claim 12, wherein the act of accessing second rating data from a second content classifier comprises an act of accessing a second multiplier, content rating, and weight from the second content classifier. 24. The method as recited in claim 12, wherein the act of combining at least the first rating data and the second rating data into a combined rating comprises an act of combining rating data from at least two different content classifiers selected from among a dynamic real time rater, an outbound link classifier, and an inbound link classifier. 25. The method as recited in claim 12, wherein the act of combining at least the first rating data and the second rating data into a combined rating comprises an act of combining at least the first rating data and the second rating data into a combined rating that indicates the portion of Internet content is an a content category selected from among sports, recreation, news, media, education, health, financial services, and adult content. 26. The method as recited in claim 12, wherein the act of combining at least the first rating data and the second rating data into a combined rating comprises an act of combining at least first rating data and the second rating into a combined rating that indicates the portion of Internet content is an a higher level category that includes one or more lower level categories. 27. The method as recited in claim 12, wherein the act of combining at least the first rating data and the second rating data into a combined rating comprises an act of combining at least the first rating data and the second rating data into a combined rating that indicates the portion of Internet content is not ratable. 28. The method as recited in claim 12, wherein the act of combining at least the first rating data and the second rating data into a combined rating comprises an act of calculating a combined rating based on category-specific point totals, where the separate point totals within each category were individually derived different classifiers. 29. The method as recited in claim 28, wherein the point total from each classifier is a factor of the degree of precision for which the classifier accurately predicts content categories. 30. The method as recited in claim 12, wherein the act of combining at least the first rating data and the second rating data into a combined rating comprises an act of combining the first and second content ratings into a combined rating that satisfies a threshold for inclusion in a specified content category. 31. The method of claim 12, further comprising: an act of accessing one or more additional rating data from a corresponding one or more additional content classifiers, each additional rating data resulting from rating the identified Internet content using different rating criteria. 32. The method as recited in claim 12, further comprising: an act of storing specified content category along with the Internet-content identifier. 33. A computer program product for use in a computer system, the computer program for implementing a method of dispatching an Internet-content identifier to a content rating system, the computer program product comprising one or more computer-readable media having stored thereon computer-executable instructions that, when executable by a processor, perform the following: receive an indication that at least one unrated Internet-content identifier is available to be rated; receive an indication that resources are available for rating the unrated Internet-content identifier; select an Internet-content identifier from among the at least one unrated Internet-content identifier based on content-identifier selection criteria; select some of the available resources to rate the unrated Internet-content identifier; and transferr the selected Internet-content identifier to the selected available resources. 34. The computer program product as recited in claim 33, wherein the selected Internet-content identifier comprises a URL. 35. The computer program product as recited in claim 33, wherein available resources comprise available content raters. 36. A computer program product for use in a computer system, the computer program for implementing a method of rating Internet content, the computer program product comprising one or more computer-readable media having stored thereon computer-executable instructions that, when executable by a processor, perform the following: receive an Internet-content identifier that identifies a portion of Internet content; transfer the Internet-content identifier to at least two different content classifiers; access first rating data from a first content classifier, the first rating data corresponding to the identified portion of Internet content; access second rating data from a second content classifier, the second rating data corresponding to the identified portion of Internet content; combine at least the first rating data and the second rating data into a combined rating indicative of a specified content category; and indicate that the identified portion of Internet content is classified as being included in the specified content category. 37. The computer program product as recited in claim 35, wherein the selected Internet-content identifier comprises a URL. | CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS The present application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 60/503,140, filed Sep. 15, 2003, and entitled “Dynamic Background Rater”, which is herein incorporated by reference in its entirety. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. The Field of the Invention The invention generally relates to rating Internet content. More specifically, the invention relates to dynamically generating Internet-content ratings 2. The Relevant Technology The Internet is a vast repository of information. The Internet allows individuals, companies, and other organizations to author and publish information that becomes readily available to Internet users. In addition to information, the websites may also offer services and entertainment functions. The Internet allows the interconnection of various content servers. For instance, there exist numerous software programs that allow quick and cheap authoring and publication of web-page documents to web-page document servers. These factors have resulted in the continued proliferation Internet-based content, at an astounding rate. New content, such as, for example, Web sites and Web pages, is added to the Internet on a daily basis. Unfortunately, there is limited, if any, editorial control over what is published on the Internet. In general, there are virtually no standards for accuracy and in many cases little or no standards for decency. Further, the ubiquity of the Internet allows content legal posted at first physical location (e.g., first state or country) to be accessed from second physical location (e.g., a second state or country) where the content may be illegal. For example, a gambling web site may be operated from a physical location that allows legalized gambling but accessed in a second location where gambling is illegal. The ready availability of questionable and potentially illegal material has also created various problems in corporate and home environments. In the corporate environment, an employee's ability to access pornography or other objectionable material may create a hostile work environment for other employees subjecting the corporation to various legal liabilities. Additionally, employee productivity may suffer as a result of employees accessing the Internet for personal reasons while the employees should be performing company tasks. In a home environment, parents may have an interest in controlling the content in web-page documents accessible by children or others in the home. Unfortunately, Internet Service Providers (“ISPs”) and Web-page operators typically provide little protection to prevent children from accessing sites that may include pornography, gambling, hate and racism, and other potentially undesirable content. Accordingly, various Web filtering mechanisms have been developed to block electronic content, for example, based on a domain or URL associated with the electronic content. Web filtering mechanisms typically place domains and/or URLs into content categories (e.g., sports, legal, technology, news, etc.). An administrator can then assign user access rights to each content category. For example, the administrator of can configure a Web filtering product (a desktop computer, gateway, caching device, firewall, etc.) to permit or block user access to content categories. Access rights to particular content categories can be based on personal or organizational Internet access policies. For example, an organizational policy can require blocking access to gambling and adult content sites, while allowing access to all other sites. However, Web site operators are aware that such filtering mechanisms exists and oftern take measures to attempt to counter the filtering mechanisms. For example, Web site operators can frequently change URLs, Internet Protocol (“IP”) addresses, or domain names or include content form other categories in their Web-based content. Thus, Web sites that do not want to be blocked, like pornography and gambling Web sites, are constantly varying their configuration to circumvent filtering systems and filtering companies. This adds a new level of difficulty to the filtering process, since rules that are currently valid for blocking Web sites might not be valid in the future. Conventionally, some filtering of web-page documents is done by software installed on client computers. However, this requires constant updating of a database on the client to maintain a list of content categories and, for example, approved and non-approved sites. Additionally, this client side filtering software may be disabled by tech savvy employees or children. Further, software installed on a client provides no provision for new sites or new web-page documents that are added to the Internet between database updates. Accordingly, there have been at least some attempts to implement automated and/or server-based approaches to Internet content filtering. However, the ever-increasing and ever changing Web-based content causes many of these approaches to suffer from the same problems (e.g., accuracy) associated with client side filtering. Accordingly, what would be advantageous are mechanisms for dynamically rating Internet content. BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The foregoing problems with the prior state of the art are overcome by the principles of the present invention, which are directed towards methods and computer program products for dynamically rating Internet content. In some embodiments, a computer system dispatches an Internet-content identifier (e.g., a Uniform Resource Locator (“URL”)) to a content-rating system. The computer system receives an indication that at least one unrated Internet-content identifier is available to be rated. The computer system receives an indication that resources (e.g., a content rater) are available for rating the unrated Internet-content identifier. The computer system selects an Internet-content identifier from among the at least one unrated Internet-content identifier based on content-identifier selection criteria. The computer system selects some of the available resources to rate the unrated Internet-content identifier. The computer system transfers the selected Internet-content identifier to the selected available resources. In other embodiments, a computer system rates Internet content. The computer system receives an Internet-content identifier that identifies a portion of Internet content. The computer system transfers the Internet-content identifier to at least two different content classifiers. The computer system accesses first rating data corresponding to the identified portion of Internet content from a first content classifier. The computer system accesses second rating data corresponding to the identified portion of Internet content from a second content classifier. The computer system combines at least the first rating data and the second rating data into a combined rating corresponding to a specified content category. The computer system indicates that the identified portion of Internet content is included in the specified content category (e.g., sports, news, education, etc.) These and other objects and features of the present invention will become more fully apparent from the following description and appended claims, or may be learned by the practice of the invention as set forth hereinafter. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS To further clarify the above and other advantages and features of the present invention, a more particular description of the invention will be rendered by reference to specific embodiments thereof which are illustrated in the appended drawings. It is appreciated that these drawings depict only typical embodiments of the invention and are therefore not to be considered limiting of its scope. The invention will be described and explained with additional specificity and detail through the use of the accompanying drawings in which: FIG. 1 illustrates an example of a computer architecture that facilitates dispatching unrated Internet-content identifiers to resources that can rate the unrated Internet-content identifiers. FIG. 2 illustrates an example of a computer architecture, including a detailed view of a content rater, that facilitates rating Internet content. FIG. 3 illustrates an example flowchart of a method for dispatching unrated Internet-content identifiers to resources that can rate the unrated Internet-content identifiers. FIG. 4 illustrates an example flowchart of a method for rating Internet content. FIG. 5 illustrates a suitable operating environment for the principles of the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The principles of the present invention provide for dynamically rating Internet content. In some embodiments, a computer system dispatches an Internet-content identifier (e.g., a Uniform Resource Locator (“URL”)) to a content-rating system. The computer system receives an indication that at least one unrated Internet-content identifier is available to be rated. The computer system receives an indication that resources (e.g., a content rater) are available for rating the unrated Internet-content identifier. The computer system selects an Internet-content identifier from among the at least one unrated Internet-content identifier based on content-identifier selection criteria. The computer system selects some of the available resources to rate the unrated Internet-content identifier. The computer system transfers the selected Internet-content identifier to the selected available resources. In other embodiments, a computer system rates Internet content. The computer system receives an Internet-content identifier that identifies a portion of Internet content. The computer system transfers the Internet-content identifier to at least two different content classifiers. The computer system accesses first rating data corresponding to the identified portion of Internet content from a first content classifier. The computer system accesses second rating data corresponding to the identified portion of Internet content from a second content classifier. The computer system combines at least the first rating data and the second rating data into a combined rating corresponding to a specified content category. The computer system indicates that the identified portion of Internet content is included in the specified content category (e.g., sports, news, education, etc.) Embodiments within the scope of the present invention include computer-readable media for carrying or having computer-executable instructions or data structures stored thereon. Such computer-readable media may be any available media, which is accessible by a general-purpose or special-purpose computer system. By way of example, and not limitation, such computer-readable media can comprise physical storage media such as RAM, ROM, EPROM, CD-ROM or other optical disk storage, magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices, or any other media which can be used to carry or store desired program code means in the form of computer-executable instructions, computer-readable instructions, or data structures and which may be accessed by a general-purpose or special-purpose computer system to cause the general-purpose computer system or special-purpose computer system to perform a certain function or group of functions. Computer-executable instructions include, for example, binaries, intermediate format instructions such as assembly language, interpretable code, or even source code. As used herein, the term “module” or “component” refers to software objects or routines that execute on the computing system. Computer-executable instructions can be included in different components, modules, engines, and services described herein and may be implemented as objects or processes that execute on the computing system (e.g., as separate threads). While the system and methods described herein are preferably implemented in software, implementations in software and hardware or hardware are also possible and contemplated. FIG. 1 illustrates an example of a computer architecture 100 that facilitates dispatching unrated Internet-content identifiers to resources that can rate the unrated Internet-content identifiers. Computer architecture 100 utilizes a distributed architecture, which allows for scalability of the entire system by allowing multiple content-rating machines to be connected simultaneously to the system. The components of computer architecture 100 can be included in a Local Area Network (“LAN”), Wide Area Network (“WAN”), or even the Internet. Accordingly, other computer systems can exchange data, such as, for example, URLs, electronic mail message, and Web pages, with the components of computer architecture 100. Data can be exchanged using various protocols, such as, for example, Internet Protocol (“IP”), Transmission Control Protocol (“TCP”), and HyperText Transfer Protocol (“HTTP”). In some embodiments, unrated Uniform Resource Locators (“URLs”), such as, for example, URL 111 are received and stored in storage 101. Storage 101 can be any type of computer-readable media, such as, for example, a magnetic disk or Random Access Memory (“RAM”). While a URL is one mechanism for identifying Internet-content, it should be understood that the embodiments of the present invention are not limited to URLs. It would be apparent to one skilled in the art, after having reviewed this description, that other mechanisms, in addition to URLs, can be used to identify and/or locate Internet content. For example, Uniform Resource Names (“URNs”) and other types of Uniform Resource Identifiers (“URIs”) may be also used to identify Internet content. In computer architecture 100, URL dispatcher 102 manages the retrieval and subsequent dispatch of URLs from the unrated storage 101 to the content raters 103a through 103n (e.g., java objects). A series of three periods (and ellipsis) indicates that one or more additional content raters can be included between content rater 103a and content rater 103n. URL dispatcher 102 monitors the availability of unrated URLs stored at storage 101, as well as the availability of content raters included in content raters 103 to rate unrated URLs. When an unrated URL and a content rater are available, URL dispatcher 102 can dispatch the available unrated URL (e.g., URL 111) to the available content rater for subsequent rating. For example, within system memory and/or over a network, URL dispatcher 102 can transfer unrated URLs from storage module 101 to content rating modules 103. Each content rater 103a through 103n independently rates content identified by a received URL. It would be apparent to one skill in the art, after having reviewed this description, that this distributed system at least in part facilitates the scalability of the content rater modules 103. Accordingly, the number of content raters can be efficiently adjusted (increased or decreased) based on demands for assigning content ratings. Content raters included in content raters 103 can be implemented as a single process thread and can be implemented at the same computer system or distributed across a plurality of different computer systems. Each content rater 103a through 103n assigns the identified content to a specified (and potentially predetermined) content category. Content categories can include, for example, Education, Financial Services, Health, News/Media, and Sports/Recreation, as depicted. Assigned content categories are stored in the Rated URL Storage module 104. A rated URL (e.g., URL 111) can be stored in storage 104 along with an indication of the content category (e.g., content category 112) that was assigned to the identified content. Storage 104 can be any type of computer-readable media, such as, for example, a magnetic disk or Random Access Memory (“RAM”). Storage 101 and storage 104 may be located at a single physical device, such as, for example, a magnetic hard disk. FIG. 3 illustrates an example flowchart of a method 300 for dispatching unrated Internet-content identifiers to resources that can rate the unrated Internet-content identifiers. The method 300 will be described with respect with respect to the modules and data depicted in computer architecture 100. Method 300 includes an act of receiving an indication that at least one unrated Internet-content identifier is available to be rated (act 301). For example, URL dispatcher 102 can receive an indication that URL 111 (stored at storage 101) is available to be rated. Inter-process and/or network messaging can be used to notify URL dispatcher 102 of unrated URLs stored at storage 101. Method 300 includes an act of receiving an indication that resources are available for rating the unrated Internet-content identifier (act 302). For example, URL dispatcher 102 can receive an indication that one or more content raters included in content raters 103 are available to rate URL 111. Content raters 103 can intermittently or in response to some event (e.g., completion of rating a prior URL) communicate with URL dispatcher 102 to indicate availability to rate a URL. Alternatley, URL dispatcher 102 can from time to time query content raters 103 to identify available content raters 103a through 103n. Inter-process and/or network messaging can be used to notify URL dispatcher 102 of available content raters included in content raters 103. Method 300 includes an act of selecting an Internet-content identifier from among the at least one unrated Internet-content identifier based on content-identifier selection criteria (act 303). For example, URL dispatcher 102 can select URL 111 from among other URLs stored at storage 111. Content-identifier selection criteria can include, for example, selecting an Internet-content identifier randomly, based on a priority, based on wait time (e.g., in a queue), based on an indication of the entity that is requesting rating, based on policies of a rating service provider, based on a number of requests to rate the Internet-content identifier, etc. For example, an unrated URL submitted by a premium customer may be given selection priority over an unrated URL submitted by a standard customer. It may also be that a content rater is specifically allocated for unrated URLs from a specified customer. Thus, when a URL from the specified customer is received, the URL may be selected when the specifically allocated server becomes available. Method 300 includes an act of selecting some of the available resources to rate the unrated Internet-content identifier (act 304). For example, URL dispatcher 102 can select content rater 103n, from among content raters 103, to rate URL 111. A content rater can be selected, for example, randomly, based on how long the content rater has been idle, based on policies or a rating service provider, etc. In some embodiments, a content rater is selected based on URL specific criteria, such as, for example, the priority of a selected URL, the sender of a selected URL, etc. For example, as previously described when a URL is from a specified customer, a specifically allocated server can be selected. Method 300 includes an act of transferring the selected Internet-content identifier to the selected available resources (act 305). For example, URL dispatcher 102 can dispatch URL 111 to content rater 103n. Content rater 103n can determine a content category rating for the URL 111. For example, content rater 103n can determine that URL 111 is in sports category 112. Content rater 103n can store education category 112 along with URL 111 at storage 104. Thus, from time to time, other computer systems can submit URLs to storage 101 to have the submitted URLs rated. The other computer systems can subsequently refer back to storage 104 to access ratings for submitted URLs. Accordingly, these other computer systems may be relieved from having to maintain content filtering software. FIG. 2 illustrates an example of computer architecture 200, including a more detailed view of content rater 103n, that facilitates rating Internet content. Content rater 103n can utilize a distributed plurality of classifiers. Each classifier can be configured to rate content based on different criteria and/or algorithms. Thus, Web site content can be analyzed using a variety of different mechanisms (instead of a single rating source) that are combined in to a single, potentially much more accurate, rating. Each classifier can be given a rating multiplier. A classifier's rating multiplier indicates the relative precision of the classifier, for example, based on the prior accuracy of the classifier, compared to other classifiers. A higher rating multiplier can indicate that a corresponding classifier is relatively more accurate than a classifier with a lower rating multiplier. As depicted in computer architecture 200, content rater 103n includes dynamic real time rater 201, outbound link classifier 202, inbound link classifier 203, classifier 204, and classifier 206. When content rater 103n receives an unrated URL (e.g., URL 217) from URL dispatcher 102, content rater 103n can provide the unrated URL to each classifier in the plurality of classifiers. For example, content rater 103n can provide URL 217 as input to dynamic real time rater 201, outbound link classifier 202, inbound link classifier 203, classifier 204, and classifier 206. Dynamic real time rater 201 can rate content identified by a URL by examining the characteristics of the content. For example, dynamic real time rater 201 can parse content and determine if the content has characteristics corresponding to a particulate content category. It may be that dynamic real time rater 201 compares content to a database of characteristics to attempt to match (e.g., word matching or image matching) the content with a particular content category. Dynamic real time rater 201 can provide content ratings in essentially real-time. Dynamic Real Time Rater 201 assigns a content rating (e.g., rating 210), corresponding to a content category (e.g., sports and recreation), and a weight (e.g., weight 211) based on the probable accuracy of the assigned content rating (e.g., 90%). Outbound link classifier 202 can rate content identified by a URL based on the ratings of outbound links contained in the identified content (e.g., embedded URLs) that identify other content. For example, URL #1 may identify a first portion of Internet content. Contained in the first portion of Internet content may be URL #2 and URL #3, that identify (or link to) a other corresponding portions of Internet content. Accordingly, outbound link classifier 202 can utilize the rating of URL #2 and URL #3 when rating content identified by URL #1. Outbound link classifier 202 assigns a content rating (e.g., rating 230), corresponding to a content category (e.g., sports and recreation), and a weight (e.g., weight 231) based on the probable accuracy of the assigned content rating (e.g., 85%). Inbound link classifier 203 can rate content identified by a URL based on the ratings of outbound links from other content to the content identified by the URL. For example, when content identified by both URL #4 and URL #5 contain URL #6, inbound link classifier 203 can utilize the rating of URL #4 and URL #5 when rating content identified by URL #6. Inbound link classifier 203 assigns a content rating (e.g., rating 250), corresponding to a content category (e.g., news and media), and a weight (e.g., weight 251) based on the probable accuracy of the assigned content rating (e.g., 75%). Classifiers 204 and 206 can use other classification criteria and classification algorithms (e.g., based on other rated and unrated related content) to rate identified Internet content. Classifier 204 assigns a content rating (e.g., rating 260), corresponding to a content category (e.g., news and media), and a weight (e.g., weight 261) based on the probable accuracy of the assigned content rating (e.g., 80%). Classifier 206 assigns a content rating (e.g., rating 270), corresponding to a content category (e.g., education), and a weight (e.g., weight 261) based on the probable accuracy of the assigned content rating (e.g., 85%). Ratings combiner 207 can receive content ratings, weights, and multipliers from a plurality of classifiers and combine the content ratings, weights, and multipliers into a combined rating for identified Internet content. For example, ratings combiner 207 can combine ratings, weights, and multipliers from each of dynamic real time rater 201, outbound link classifier 202, inbound link classifier 203, related rated classifier 204, and related unrated classifier 206 into a combined rating for content identified by URL 217. Calculating a combined rating can include calculating points based on ratings, weights, and multipliers. For example, ratings combiner 206 can calculate 1.8 points (2*0.9) for the content category sports and recreation based on multiplier 209, rating 210, and weight 211. Ratings combiner 206 can calculate 0.85 points (1*0.85) for the content category sports and recreation based on multiplier 229, rating 230, and weight 231. Ratings combiner 206 can calculate 0.75 points (1*0.75) for the content category news and media based on multiplier 249, rating 250, and weight 251. Ratings combiner 206 can calculate 0.8 points (1*0.8) for the content category news and media based on multiplier 259, rating 260, and weight 261. Ratings combiner 206 can calculate 0.85 points (1*0.85) for the content category education based on multiplier 269, rating 270, and weight 271. Ratings combiner 207 can total points for each category as depicted by table 212. Rated content can be assigned to a specified category, when the total points for the category exceed a threshold (e.g., threshold 213). For example, content identifier by URL 217 is assigned to the sports and recreation category since the total points for sports and recreation (2.65) exceeds threshold 213 (2.0). Ratings combiner 207 can store URLs along with corresponding ratings. For example, URL 217 can be stored along with assigned category 214. Threshold rating 213 can be adjusted to increase the amount of content that is assigned a content rating or increase the accuracy associated with assigned content ratings. For example, as ratings threshold 213 is increased, content ratings will become more and more accurate (since more points are needed to satisfy the ratings threshold). On the other hand, as the ratings threshold 213 is decreased, the amount of content that can be assigned a content rating increases (since fewer points are needed to satisfy the ratings threshold). Accordingly, an administrator can adjust threshold rating 213 to tune content rating system. FIG. 4 illustrates an example flowchart of a method 400 for rating Internet content. The method 400 will be described with respect to the data and modules in computer architecture 200. Method 400 includes an act of receiving an Internet-content identifier that identifies a portion of Internet content (act 401). For example, content identified 103n can receive URL 217 that identifies a Web page. Method 400 includes an act of transferring the Internet-content identifier to at least two different content classifiers (act 402). For example, content rater 103n can provide URL 217 as input to at least two of dynamic real time rater 201, outbound link classifier 202, inbound link classifier 203, classifier 204, and classifier 206. Method 400 includes an act of accessing first rating data from a first content classifier, the first rating data corresponding to the identified portion of Internet content (act 403). Method 400 includes an act of accessing second rating data from a second content classifier, the second rating data corresponding to the identified portion of Internet content (act 404). For example, ratings combiner 207 can receive a multiplier, rating, and weight from at least two of dynamic real time rater 201, outbound link classifier 202, inbound link classifier 203, classifier 204, and classifier 206. Method 400 includes an act of combining at least the first and second rating data into a combined rating indicative of a specified content category (act 405). For example, ratings combiner 207 can combine corresponding multipliers, ratings, and weights from at least two of dynamic real time rater 201, outbound link classifier 202, inbound link classifier 203, classifier 204, and classifier 206. Method 400 includes an act of indicating that the identified portion of Internet content is classified as being included in the specified content category (act 406). For example, ratings combiner 207 can indicate that URL 217 is classified as being included in a sports and recreation category. In some embodiments, components of computer architecture 100 and 200 are implemented as Java classes. For example, URL dispatcher 102, content raters 103a through 103n, dynamic real time rater 201, outbound link classifier 202, inbound link classifier 203, classifier 204, and classifier 206 are implemented as Java classes. A dynamic rating thread can manage the rating life cycle of a URL as the URL is rated. A thread retrieves a URL from the URL dispatcher 102, passes the URL through a rating generator (e.g., classifiers 201, 202, 203, 204 & 206), transfers the URL to a ratings combiner 207 to receive the rating, and finally stores the rating along with the URL. A thread manager can launch and manage all dynamic rating threads in a memory space. Rating generators can inherit from a base RatingGenerator Java class, thus implementing the abstract methods that allow computer architectures 100 and 200 to access ratings from each classifier. New classifiers can be designed to inherit from the base RatingGenerator and thus can be efficiently integrated into an existing rating architecture. In another embodiment of the invention, content categories are arranged in a hierarchy. Content categories that are higher in the hierarchy can contained one or more lower sub-content categories. For example, a higher level sports category can include lower level football, baseball, soccer, and basketball categories. Thus, when content is being rated, a content rater can attempt to rate content into a lower level category (e.g., baseball). If the content rater is unable to obtain a rating for the lower level category, the content rater next attempts to rate the content into a corresponding higher level category (e.g., sports). Thus, a content rater may be able to provide a more general content rating (e.g., sports), when content is not distinguishable between a plurality of more specific content categories (e.g., soccer and football). That is, points for more specific content categories do not exceed a ratings threshold. In some environments, a more general content rating may be over no rating. Embodiments of the present invention can be included in a general filtering system that provides up-to-date ratings for newly discovered, or recently relocated, Internet content. The filtering system can rate Web sites that have been accessed by users, but that are not yet known to the filtering system. For example, accessed URLs can be logged into an unrated database table, which are then processed by a dynamic background rating process. Once rated, these new ratings are then pushed to a rated database table and then pushed out to filtering service points accessible to customers. FIG. 5 illustrates a suitable operating environment for the principles of the present invention. FIG. 5 and the following discussion are intended to provide a brief, general description of a suitable computing environment in which the invention may be implemented. Although not required, the invention will be described in the general context of computer-executable instructions, such as program modules, being executed by computer systems. Generally, program modules include routines, programs, objects, components, data structures, and the like, which perform particular tasks or implement particular abstract data types. Computer-executable instructions, associated data structures, and program modules represent examples of the program code means for executing acts of the methods disclosed herein. With reference to FIG. 5, an example system for implementing the invention includes a general-purpose computing device in the form of computer system 520, including a processing unit 521, a system memory 522, and a system bus 523 that couples various system components including the system memory 522 to the processing unit 521. Processing unit 521 can execute computer-executable instructions designed to implement features of computer system 520, including features of the present invention. The system bus 523 may be any of several types of bus structures including a memory bus or memory controller, a peripheral bus, and a local bus using any of a variety of bus architectures. The system memory includes read only memory (“ROM”) 524 and random access memory (“RAM”) 525. A basic input/output system (“BIOS”) 526, containing the basic routines that help transfer information between elements within computer system 520, such as during start-up, may be stored in ROM 524. The computer system 520 may also include magnetic hard disk drive 527 for reading from and writing to magnetic hard disk 539, magnetic disk drive 528 for reading from or writing to removable magnetic disk 529, and optical disk drive 530 for reading from or writing to removable optical disk 531, such as, or example, a CD-ROM or other optical media. The magnetic hard disk drive 527, magnetic disk drive 528, and optical disk drive 530 are connected to the system bus 523 by hard disk drive interface 532, magnetic disk drive-interface 533, and optical drive interface 534, respectively. The drives and their associated computer-readable media provide nonvolatile storage of computer-executable instructions, data structures, program modules, and other data for the computer system 520. Although the example environment described herein employs magnetic hard disk 539, removable magnetic disk 529 and removable optical disk 531, other types of computer readable media for storing data can be used, including magnetic cassettes, flash memory cards, digital versatile disks, Bernoulli cartridges, RAMs, ROMs, and the like. Program code means comprising one or more program modules may be stored on hard disk 539, magnetic disk 529, optical disk 531, ROM 524 or RAM 525, including an operating system 535, one or more application programs 536, other program modules 537, and program data 538. A user may enter commands and information into computer system 520 through keyboard 540, pointing device 542, or other input devices (not shown), such as, for example, a microphone, joy stick, game pad, scanner, or the like. These and other input devices can be connected to the processing unit 521 through input/output interface 546 coupled to system bus 523. Input/output interface 546 logically represents any of a wide variety of different interfaces, such as, for example, a serial port interface, a PS/2 interface, a parallel port interface, a Universal Serial Bus (“USB”) interface, or an Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (“IEEE”) 1394 interface (i.e., a FireWire interface), or may even logically represent a combination of different interfaces. A monitor 547 or other display device is also connected to system bus 523 via video interface 548. Other peripheral output devices (not shown), such as, for example, speakers and printers, can also be connected to computer system 420. Computer system 520 is connectable to networks, such as, for example, an office-wide or enterprise-wide computer network, a home network, an intranet, and/or the Internet. Computer system 520 can exchange data with external sources, such as, for example, remote computer systems, remote applications, and/or remote databases over such networks. Computer system 520 includes network interface 553, through which computer system 520 receives data from external sources and/or transmits data to external sources. As depicted in FIG. 5, network interface 553 facilitates the exchange of data with remote computer system 583 via link 551. Network interface 553 can logically represent one or more software and/or hardware modules, such as, for example, a network interface card and corresponding Network Driver Interface Specification (“NDIS”) stack. Link 551 represents a portion of a network (e.g., an Ethernet segment), and remote computer system 583 represents a node of the network. Likewise, computer system 520 includes input/output interface 546, through which computer system 520 receives data from external sources and/or transmits data to external sources. Input/output interface 546 is coupled to modem 554 (e.g., a standard modem, a cable modem, or digital subscriber line (“DSL”) modem) via link 559, through which computer system 520 receives data from and/or transmits data to external sources. As depicted in FIG. 5, input/output interface 546 and modem 554 facilitate the exchange of data with remote computer system 593 via link 552. Link 552 represents a portion of a network and remote computer system 493 represents a node of the network. While FIG. 5 represents a suitable operating environment for the present invention, the principles of the present invention may be employed in any system that is capable of, with suitable modification if necessary, implementing the principles of the present invention. The environment illustrated in FIG. 5 is illustrative only and by no means represents even a small portion of the wide variety of environments in which the principles of the present invention may be implemented. In accordance with the present invention, modules including URL dispatchers, content raters, classifiers, and ratings combiners, as well as associated data, including content categories, URLs, and Web page content can be stored and accessed from any of the computer-readable media associated with computer system 520. For example, portions of such modules and portions of associated program data may be included in operating system 535, application programs 536, program modules 537 and/or program data 538, for storage in system memory 522. When a mass storage device, such as, for example, magnetic hard disk 539, is coupled to computer system 520, such modules and associated program data may also be stored in the mass storage device. In a networked environment, program modules depicted relative to computer system 520, or portions thereof, can be stored in remote memory storage devices, such as, system memory and/or mass storage devices associated with remote computer system 583 and/or remote computer system 593. Execution of such modules may be performed in a distributed environment. The present invention may be embodied in other specific forms without departing from its spirit or essential characteristics. The described embodiments are to be considered in all respects only as illustrative and not restrictive. The scope of the invention is, therefore, indicated by the appended claims rather than by the foregoing description. All changes which come within the meaning and range of equivalency of the claims are to be embraced within their scope. | <SOH> BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION <EOH>1. The Field of the Invention The invention generally relates to rating Internet content. More specifically, the invention relates to dynamically generating Internet-content ratings 2. The Relevant Technology The Internet is a vast repository of information. The Internet allows individuals, companies, and other organizations to author and publish information that becomes readily available to Internet users. In addition to information, the websites may also offer services and entertainment functions. The Internet allows the interconnection of various content servers. For instance, there exist numerous software programs that allow quick and cheap authoring and publication of web-page documents to web-page document servers. These factors have resulted in the continued proliferation Internet-based content, at an astounding rate. New content, such as, for example, Web sites and Web pages, is added to the Internet on a daily basis. Unfortunately, there is limited, if any, editorial control over what is published on the Internet. In general, there are virtually no standards for accuracy and in many cases little or no standards for decency. Further, the ubiquity of the Internet allows content legal posted at first physical location (e.g., first state or country) to be accessed from second physical location (e.g., a second state or country) where the content may be illegal. For example, a gambling web site may be operated from a physical location that allows legalized gambling but accessed in a second location where gambling is illegal. The ready availability of questionable and potentially illegal material has also created various problems in corporate and home environments. In the corporate environment, an employee's ability to access pornography or other objectionable material may create a hostile work environment for other employees subjecting the corporation to various legal liabilities. Additionally, employee productivity may suffer as a result of employees accessing the Internet for personal reasons while the employees should be performing company tasks. In a home environment, parents may have an interest in controlling the content in web-page documents accessible by children or others in the home. Unfortunately, Internet Service Providers (“ISPs”) and Web-page operators typically provide little protection to prevent children from accessing sites that may include pornography, gambling, hate and racism, and other potentially undesirable content. Accordingly, various Web filtering mechanisms have been developed to block electronic content, for example, based on a domain or URL associated with the electronic content. Web filtering mechanisms typically place domains and/or URLs into content categories (e.g., sports, legal, technology, news, etc.). An administrator can then assign user access rights to each content category. For example, the administrator of can configure a Web filtering product (a desktop computer, gateway, caching device, firewall, etc.) to permit or block user access to content categories. Access rights to particular content categories can be based on personal or organizational Internet access policies. For example, an organizational policy can require blocking access to gambling and adult content sites, while allowing access to all other sites. However, Web site operators are aware that such filtering mechanisms exists and oftern take measures to attempt to counter the filtering mechanisms. For example, Web site operators can frequently change URLs, Internet Protocol (“IP”) addresses, or domain names or include content form other categories in their Web-based content. Thus, Web sites that do not want to be blocked, like pornography and gambling Web sites, are constantly varying their configuration to circumvent filtering systems and filtering companies. This adds a new level of difficulty to the filtering process, since rules that are currently valid for blocking Web sites might not be valid in the future. Conventionally, some filtering of web-page documents is done by software installed on client computers. However, this requires constant updating of a database on the client to maintain a list of content categories and, for example, approved and non-approved sites. Additionally, this client side filtering software may be disabled by tech savvy employees or children. Further, software installed on a client provides no provision for new sites or new web-page documents that are added to the Internet between database updates. Accordingly, there have been at least some attempts to implement automated and/or server-based approaches to Internet content filtering. However, the ever-increasing and ever changing Web-based content causes many of these approaches to suffer from the same problems (e.g., accuracy) associated with client side filtering. Accordingly, what would be advantageous are mechanisms for dynamically rating Internet content. | <SOH> BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION <EOH>The foregoing problems with the prior state of the art are overcome by the principles of the present invention, which are directed towards methods and computer program products for dynamically rating Internet content. In some embodiments, a computer system dispatches an Internet-content identifier (e.g., a Uniform Resource Locator (“URL”)) to a content-rating system. The computer system receives an indication that at least one unrated Internet-content identifier is available to be rated. The computer system receives an indication that resources (e.g., a content rater) are available for rating the unrated Internet-content identifier. The computer system selects an Internet-content identifier from among the at least one unrated Internet-content identifier based on content-identifier selection criteria. The computer system selects some of the available resources to rate the unrated Internet-content identifier. The computer system transfers the selected Internet-content identifier to the selected available resources. In other embodiments, a computer system rates Internet content. The computer system receives an Internet-content identifier that identifies a portion of Internet content. The computer system transfers the Internet-content identifier to at least two different content classifiers. The computer system accesses first rating data corresponding to the identified portion of Internet content from a first content classifier. The computer system accesses second rating data corresponding to the identified portion of Internet content from a second content classifier. The computer system combines at least the first rating data and the second rating data into a combined rating corresponding to a specified content category. The computer system indicates that the identified portion of Internet content is included in the specified content category (e.g., sports, news, education, etc.) These and other objects and features of the present invention will become more fully apparent from the following description and appended claims, or may be learned by the practice of the invention as set forth hereinafter. | 20040914 | 20090908 | 20050317 | 70062.0 | 3 | LAI, MICHAEL C | DYNAMIC BACKGROUND RATER FOR INTERNET CONTENT | UNDISCOUNTED | 0 | ACCEPTED | 2,004 |
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10,940,860 | ACCEPTED | LED lamp | An LED lamp includes: a substrate; a cluster of LEDs, which are arranged two-dimensionally on the substrate; and an interconnection circuit, which is electrically connected to the LEDs. The LEDs include a first group of LEDs, which are located around the outer periphery of the cluster, and a second group of LEDs, which are located elsewhere in the cluster. The interconnection circuit has an interconnection structure for separately supplying drive currents to at least one of the LEDs in the first group and to at least one of the LEDs in the second group separately from each other. | 1. An LED lamp comprising: a substrate; a cluster of LEDs, which are arranged two-dimensionally on the substrate; and an interconnection circuit, which is electrically connected to the LEDs, 1wherein the LEDs include a first group of LEDs, which are located around the outer periphery of the cluster, and a second group of LEDs, which are located elsewhere in the cluster, and wherein the interconnection circuit has an interconnection structure for separately supplying drive currents to at least one of the LEDs in the first group and to at least one of the LEDs in the second group separately from each other. 2. The LED lamp of claim 1, wherein the interconnection circuit has a first interconnection pattern for electrically connecting together at least two of the LEDs in the first group and a second interconnection pattern for electrically connecting together at least two of the LEDs in the second group. 3. The LED lamp of claim 2, wherein the interconnection circuit is electrically connected to a dimmer, and wherein the dimmer has the function of controlling the amounts of light emitted from the first and second groups of LEDs, which are electrically connected to the first and second interconnection patterns, respectively, independently of each other. 4. The LED lamp of claim 2, wherein the first interconnection pattern of the interconnection circuit is electrically connected to a dimmer, and wherein the dimmer has the function of controlling the amount of light emitted from the first group of LEDs, which are electrically connected to the first interconnection pattern. 5. The LED lamp of claim 2, further comprising a resistor, which is connected to at least one of the first and second interconnection patterns, wherein the resistor reduces a difference between the amounts of currents flowing through the first and second interconnection patterns. 6. The LED lamp of claim 1, wherein each said LED includes an LED bare chip and a phosphor resin portion that covers the LED bare chip, and wherein the phosphor resin portion includes: a phosphor for transforming the emission of the LED bare chip into light having a longer wavelength than the emission; and a resin in which the phosphor is dispersed. 7. The LED lamp of claim 1, wherein the outer periphery is defined along the outermost ones of the LEDs in the first group. 8. The LED lamp of claim 1, wherein each said LED includes a lens for controlling the spatial distribution of the emission of the LED, and wherein the lens of the LEDs in the second group has a structure that realizes a narrower spatial distribution than the lens of the LEDs in the first group. 9. The LED lamp of claim 1, wherein the emission of the LEDs in the first group has a lower color temperature than that of the LEDs in the second group. | BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an LED lamp and more particularly relates to a white LED lamp that can be used as general illumination. 2. Description of the Related Art A light emitting diode (LED) is a semiconductor device that can radiate an emission in a bright color with high efficiency even though its size is small. The emission of an LED has an excellent monochromatic peak. To obtain white light from LEDs, a conventional LED lamp arranges red, green and blue LEDs close to each other and gets the light rays in those three different colors diffused and mixed together. An LED lamp of this type, however, easily produces color unevenness because the LED of each color has an excellent monochromatic peak. That is to say, unless the light rays emitted from the respective LEDs are mixed together uniformly, color unevenness will be produced inevitably in the resultant white light. Thus, to overcome such a color unevenness problem, an LED lamp for obtaining white light by combining a blue LED and a yellow phosphor was developed (see Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication No. 10-242513 and Japanese Patent No. 2998696, for example). According to the technique disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication No. 10-242513, white light is obtained by combining together the emission of a blue LED and the yellow emission of a yellow phosphor, which is produced when excited by the emission of the blue LED. That is to say, the white light can be obtained by using just one type of LEDs. Accordingly, the color unevenness problem, which arises when white light is produced by arranging multiple types of LEDs close together, is avoidable. An LED lamp with a bullet-shaped appearance as disclosed in Japanese Patent No. 2998696 may have a configuration such as that illustrated in FIG. 1, for example. As shown in FIG. 1, the LED lamp 200 includes an LED chip 121, a bullet-shaped transparent housing 127 to cover the LED chip 121, and leads 122a and 122b to supply current to the LED chip 121. A cup reflector 123 for reflecting the emission of the LED chip 121 in the direction indicated by the arrow D is provided for the mount portion of the lead 122b on which the LED chip 121 is mounted. The LED chip 121 on the mount portion is encapsulated with a first resin portion 124, in which a phosphor 126 is dispersed and which is further encapsulated with a second resin portion 125. If the LED chip 121 emits a blue light ray, the phosphor 126 converts a portion of the blue light ray into a yellow light ray. As a result, the blue and yellow light rays are mixed together to produce white light. However, the luminous flux of a single LED is too low. Accordingly, to obtain a luminous flux comparable to that of an incandescent lamp, a fluorescent lamp or any other general illumination used extensively today, an LED lamp preferably includes a plurality of LEDs that are arranged as an array. LED lamps of that type are disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publications No. 2003-59332 and No. 2003-124528. A relevant prior art is also disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication No. 2004-172586. Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication No. 2004-172586 discloses an LED lamp that can overcome the color unevenness problem of the bullet-type LED lamp disclosed in Japanese Patent No. 2998696. In the bullet-type LED lamp 200 shown in FIG. 1, the first resin portion 124 is formed by filling the cup reflector 123 with a resin to encapsulate the LED chip 121 and then curing the resin. For that reason, the first resin portion 124 easily has a rugged upper surface as shown in FIG. 2. Accordingly, the thickness of the resin including the phosphor 126 loses its uniformity, thus making non-uniform the amounts of the phosphor 126 present along the optical paths E and F of multiple light rays going out of the LED chip 121 through the first resin portion 124. As a result, the unwanted color unevenness is produced. To overcome such a problem, the LED lamp disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication No. 2004-172586 is designed such that the reflective surface of a light reflecting member (i.e., a reflector) is spaced apart from the side surface of a resin portion in which a phosphor is dispersed. FIGS. 3A and 3B are respectively a side cross-sectional view and a plan view illustrating an LED lamp as disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication No. 2004-172586. In the LED lamp 300 shown in FIGS. 3A and 3B, an LED (LED bare chip) 112 mounted on a substrate 111 is covered with a resin portion 113 in which a phosphor is dispersed. A reflector 151 with a reflective surface 151a is bonded to the substrate 111 such that the reflective surface 151a of the reflector 151 is spaced apart from the side surface of the resin portion 113. Thus, the shape of the resin portion 113 can be freely designed without being restricted by the shape of the reflective surface 151a of the reflector 151. As a result, the color unevenness can be reduced significantly. By arranging a plurality of LED lamps having the structure shown in FIGS. 3A and 3B in columns and rows, an LED array such as that shown in FIG. 4 is obtained. In the LED lamp 300 shown in FIG. 4, the resin portions 113, each covering its associated LED chip 112, are arranged in matrix on the substrate 111, and a reflector 151, having a plurality of reflective surfaces 151a for the respective resin portions 113, is bonded onto the substrate 111. In such an arrangement, the luminous fluxes of a plurality of LEDs can be combined together. Thus, a luminous flux, comparable to that of an incandescent lamp, a fluorescent lamp or any other general illumination source that is used extensively today, can be obtained easily. If the LED lamp 300 shown in FIG. 4 is used as general illumination, no color unevenness will be produced and a sufficiently high luminous flux can be obtained. However, the present inventors further analyzed this LED lamp 300 to discover that the LED lamp 300 with such a high luminous flux (which is sometimes called a “high-flux LED lamp”) often produces an uncomfortable glaring impression on the viewer although everybody in the prior art has been paying most of their attention to how to increase the luminous flux of the LED lamp. That is to say, as for general illumination, “the brighter, the better” policy is often too simple to work and it is not preferable to make such a glaring impression on the viewer. According to JIS C8106, the “glare” refers to viewer's uncomfortableness or decreased ability to recognize small objects, or even every object in general, due to an inadequate luminance distribution within his or her vision, which is formed by the excessively high luminance of the luminaire within his or her sight. Generally speaking, the viewer tends to find a light source very glaring (i) if the luminance of the light source exceeds a certain limit, (ii) if the viewer's eyes have got used to the darkness surrounding him or her, (iii) if the source of the glare is too close to his or her eyes, and/or (iv) if the apparent size or the number of the glaring sources is big. Accordingly, it is believed that the viewer is very likely to find an LED lamp glaring if the LED lamp includes a plurality of LEDs, has a high luminance, and is used in a relatively dark place. Among other things, the LED lamp uses the emissions of multiple LEDs and therefore has a much stronger directivity than that of a fluorescent lamp, for example. As a result, the LED lamp tends to produce a stronger glaring impression on the viewer in many cases. Nevertheless, if the luminance of the LED lamp were decreased to reduce such a glare, then the LED lamp would be too dark to use as general illumination. Also, since the degree of that glare changes with the surroundings, there is no need to darken the LED lamp in a situation where the LED lamp should not look glaring. In view of these considerations, if there were an LED lamp that can either take anti-glare measures, or cast bright light as usual, with the glare producing conditions taken into account fully, that would be a very convenient commodity. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In order to overcome the problems described above, preferred embodiments of the present invention provide an LED lamp that can reduce the glare significantly. An LED lamp according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention preferably includes: a substrate; a cluster of LEDs, which are arranged two-dimensionally on the substrate; and an interconnection circuit, which is electrically connected to the LEDs. The LEDs preferably include a first group of LEDs, which are located around the outer periphery of the cluster, and a second group of LEDs, which are located elsewhere in the cluster. The interconnection circuit preferably has an interconnection structure for separately supplying drive currents to at least one of the LEDs in the first group and to at least one of the LEDs in the second group separately from each other. In one preferred embodiment of the present invention, the interconnection circuit preferably has a first interconnection pattern for electrically connecting together at least two of the LEDs in the first group and a second interconnection pattern for electrically connecting together at least two of the LEDs in the second group. In this particular preferred embodiment, the interconnection circuit is preferably electrically connected to a dimmer. The dimmer preferably has the function of controlling the amounts of light emitted from the first and second groups of LEDs, which are electrically connected to the first and second interconnection patterns, respectively, independently of each other. In an alternative preferred embodiment, the first interconnection pattern of the interconnection circuit is preferably electrically connected to a dimmer. The dimmer preferably has the function of controlling the amount of light emitted from the first group of LEDs, which are electrically connected to the first interconnection pattern. In another preferred embodiment, the LED lamp preferably further includes a resistor, which is connected to at least one of the first and second interconnection patterns. The resistor preferably reduces a difference between the amounts of currents flowing through the first and second interconnection patterns. In still another preferred embodiment, each said LED preferably includes an LED bare chip and a phosphor resin portion that covers the LED bare chip. The phosphor resin portion preferably includes: a phosphor for transforming the emission of the LED bare chip into light having a longer wavelength than the emission; and a resin in which the phosphor is dispersed. In still another preferred embodiment, the outer periphery is preferably defined along the outermost ones of the LEDs in the first group. In yet another preferred embodiment, each said LED preferably includes a lens for controlling the spatial distribution of the emission of the LED, and the lens of the LEDs in the second group preferably has a structure that realizes a narrower spatial distribution than the lens of the LEDs in the first group. In yet another preferred embodiment, the emission of the LEDs in the first group preferably has a lower color temperature than that of the LEDs in the second group. An LED lamp according to any of various preferred embodiments of the present invention described above can control the amount of light emitted from LEDs located around the outer periphery and the amount of light emitted from LEDs located elsewhere independently of each other. Thus, the luminance of the outer LEDs, which changes the degree of glare significantly, can be controlled selectively. As a result, the glare can be reduced effectively. Other features, elements, processes, steps, characteristics and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description of preferred embodiments of the present invention with reference to the attached drawings. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view schematically illustrating a configuration for an LED lamp with a bullet shaped appearance as disclosed in Japanese Patent No. 2998696. FIG. 2 is an enlarged cross-sectional view illustrating a main portion of the LED lamp shown in FIG. 1. FIGS. 3A and 3B are respectively a side cross-sectional view and a plan view illustrating an LED lamp as disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication No. 2004-172586. FIG. 4 is a perspective view illustrating an exemplary configuration in which the LED lamps shown in FIGS. 3A and 3B are arranged in matrix. FIG. 5 is a plan view illustrating an LED lamp 400 in which four LEDs 10 are arranged. FIG. 6A shows a circuit 410 in which the four LEDs 10 are connected in series together, and FIG. 6B shows a circuit 420 in which the four LEDs 10 are connected in parallel to each other. FIG. 7 is a circuit diagram showing a circuit 430 obtained by connecting four serial connections of the LEDs 10 parallel to each other. FIG. 8 is a circuit diagram showing a circuit 440 obtained by connecting four parallel connections of the LEDs 10 in series to each other. FIG. 9 is a perspective view schematically illustrating a state where an LED lamp 500, including 16 LEDs 10 arranged as a 4×4 matrix, is turned ON. FIG. 10 is a perspective view schematically illustrating an arrangement for an LED lamp 100 according to a first specific preferred embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 11 is a cross-sectional view schematically illustrating a configuration for an LED 10. FIG. 12 is a circuit diagram showing a configuration for an LED lamp 100 according to the first preferred embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 13 is a circuit diagram showing a configuration for another LED lamp 100 according to the first preferred embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 14 is a circuit diagram showing a configuration for a dimmer 30. FIG. 15 is a perspective view schematically illustrating a configuration for a card LED lamp 100 according to the first preferred embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 16 is a perspective view illustrating how the card LED lamp 100 may be used. FIG. 17 is a cross-sectional view illustrating an LED 10 and its surrounding portions in an LED lamp 100 including a reflector 151. FIG. 18 is a perspective view schematically illustrating a configuration for a desk lamp 150. FIG. 19 is a perspective view schematically illustrating a configuration for another desk lamp 150. FIG. 20 is a perspective view schematically illustrating a configuration for still another desk lamp 150. FIG. 21 is a perspective view schematically illustrating a configuration for a flashlight 160. FIGS. 22A and 22B are enlarged cross-sectional views illustrating two main portions of an LED lamp according to a second specific preferred embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 23 is a perspective view showing the process step of forming multiple phosphor resin portions 13 by a screen process printing technique. FIG. 24 is a perspective view showing the process step of forming multiple phosphor resin portions 13 by an intaglio printing technique. FIGS. 25A and 25B are plan views showing the upper and lower surfaces 52a and 52b of the block 52 for use in the intaglio printing process. FIG. 26 is a perspective view showing the process step of forming multiple phosphor resin portions 13 by a transfer (planographic) technique. FIG. 27 is a perspective view showing the process step of forming multiple phosphor resin portions 13 by a dispenser method. FIGS. 28A and 28B are respectively a side cross-sectional view and a plan view illustrating a configuration in which two LED bare chips 12A and 12B are arranged within a single phosphor resin portion 13. FIGS. 29A through 29D illustrate exemplary interconnection structures for LED lamps according to alternative preferred embodiments of the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Before preferred embodiments of the present invention are described, examples of LED lamps, each operating by lighting a plurality of LEDs, will be described with reference to FIGS. 5 through 8. FIG. 5 illustrates an LED lamp 400 in which four LEDs 10 are arranged on a substrate 11. As for the LED lamp 400 shown in FIG. 5, if the four LEDs 10 thereof are connected in series to each other, then the circuit 410 shown in FIG. 6A is obtained. On the other hand, if the four LEDs 10 thereof are connected in parallel to each other, then the circuit 420 shown in FIG. 6B is obtained. When many LEDs 10 are included in an LED lamp, the serial and parallel connections may be combined together. For example, in an LED lamp in which sixteen LEDs 10 are arranged in a 4×4 matrix, the circuit 430 shown in FIG. 7 may be obtained by connecting together four serial connections of LEDs 10 parallel to each other. Alternatively, the circuit 440 shown in FIG. 8 may also be obtained by connecting together four parallel connections of LEDs 10 in series to each other. In each of the circuits 400, 410, 420, 430 and 440 described above, the multiple LEDs 10 emit light rays with the same luminous flux. However, even if those LEDs 10 emit the light rays with the same luminous flux, not all of those light rays are directed toward the same object (e.g., a book in a situation where the LED lamp is used as a desk lamp). That is to say, since the light rays diffuse, some of the light rays are directed toward the particular object but others diffuse toward the surroundings. FIG. 9 schematically illustrates a lighted state of an LED lamp 500 in which sixteen LEDs 10 are arranged as a 4×4 array on a substrate 11. In the LED lamp 500, these LEDs 10 may be connected together so as to form either the circuit 430 shown in FIG. 7 or the circuit 440 shown in FIG. 8. As shown in FIG. 9, the light rays A, which have been radiated from outer LEDs 10a among the sixteen LEDs 10 arranged as the 4×4 matrix, tend to diffuse more easily than the light rays B that have been radiated from the other inner LEDs 10b. In other words, the light rays B tend to be directed toward the object such as a book easily and can perform the function of illuminating the object fully. Meanwhile, the light rays A might reach the eyes of the viewer who does not like the light's striking his or her eyes. Accordingly, the light rays A, radiated from the outer LEDs 10a, are likely to leave the unwanted glaring impression on the viewer. To prevent the LED lamp 500 shown in FIG. 9 from producing the glare, not just the luminous flux of the light rays A but also that of the light rays B need to be reduced as well. This is because the LED lamp 500 adopts a circuit configuration that equalizes the luminous fluxes of the respective LEDs 10. That is to say, as long as the circuit configuration shown in FIG. 7 or 8 is adopted, it is impossible to selectively decrease the luminous fluxes of the outer LEDs 10a only. However, if the currents supplied to the respective LEDs 10 were all decreased uniformly, then the overall luminous flux of the light striking the object would be too low to use the LED lamp 500 as general illumination. Thus, the present inventors got the basic idea of the present invention by discovering that the glare should be reduced effectively by providing two separate circuits for the outer LEDs 10a and the inner LEDs 10b, respectively, and by selectively adjusting the luminance of the outer LEDs 10a only. Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which any pair of components having substantially the same function and appearing on multiple sheets will be identified by the same reference numeral for the sake of simplicity. It should be noted that the present invention is in no way limited to the following specific preferred embodiments. Embodiment 1 First, an LED lamp 100 according to a first specific preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 10 and 11. FIG. 10 schematically shows an arrangement for the LED lamp 100. As shown in FIG. 10, the LED lamp 100 includes a substrate 11, a plurality of LEDs 10 arranged two-dimensionally on the substrate 11, and an interconnection circuit 20 that is electrically connected to the LEDs 10. The LEDs 10 make up a cluster of LEDs that are densely arranged two-dimensionally. The LEDs 10 included in that LED cluster are roughly classified into the two groups. Specifically, a first group consists of the LEDs 10a that are located in the outside portion of the cluster, while a second group consists of the LEDs lob that are located in the inside portion of the cluster. The interconnection circuit 20 of this preferred embodiment includes a first interconnection pattern 21 and a second interconnection pattern 22, which is provided independently of the first interconnection pattern 21. The first and second interconnection patterns 21 and 22 are provided for the first and second groups of LEDs, respectively. That is to say, the outer LEDs 10a are electrically connected to the first interconnection pattern 21, while the inner LEDs lob are electrically connected to the second interconnection pattern 22. In this preferred embodiment, the LEDs 10a located around the outer periphery and the LEDs lob located elsewhere (i.e., in the inside area) are connected to mutually different interconnection patterns 21 and 22, respectively, and therefore, the luminance of the outer LEDs 10a can be changed selectively. As a result, the glare can be cut down effectively. For example, if the interconnection circuit 20 is electrically connected to a dimmer (not shown) so as to make the dimmer control the amount of the light emitted from the outer LEDs 10a, which are electrically connected to the first interconnection pattern 21, and the amount of the light emitted from the inner LEDs 10b, which are electrically connected to the second interconnection pattern 22, independently of each other, then no glare should be produced. Alternatively, instead of connecting both the first and second interconnection patterns 21 and 22 to the dimmer, just the first interconnection pattern 21 may be electrically connected to the dimmer (not shown) so as to control the amount of light emitted from the outer LEDs 10a. FIG. 11 schematically illustrates the cross-sectional structure of an LED 10 according to this preferred embodiment. As shown in FIG. 11, the LED 10 includes an LED bare chip 12 and a phosphor resin portion 13 that covers the LED bare chip 12. The phosphor resin portion 13 includes a phosphor (or luminophor) for transforming the emission of the LED bare chip 12 into light having a longer wavelength than the emission and a resin in which the phosphor is dispersed. The LED bare chip 12 is mounted on the substrate 11, on which the first and second interconnection patterns 21 and 22 shown in FIG. 10 are provided. The LED bare chip 12 is an LED chip that produces light having a peak wavelength falling within the visible range of 380 nm to 780 nm. The phosphor dispersed in the phosphor resin portion 13 produces an emission that has a different peak wavelength from that of the LED bare chip 12 within the visible range of 380 nm to 780 nm. In this preferred embodiment, the LED bare chip 12 is a blue LED that emits a blue light ray and the phosphor included in the phosphor resin portion 13 is a yellow phosphor that transforms the blue ray into a yellow ray. The blue and yellow rays are mixed together to produce white light. The LED bare chip 12 is preferably an LED chip made of a gallium nitride (GaN) based material and emits light with a wavelength of 460 nm, for example. For example, if a blue-ray-emitting LED chip is used as the LED bare chip 12, then (Y.Sm)3, (Al.Ga)5O12:Ce or (Y0.39Gd0.57Ce0.03Sm0.01)3Al5O12 may be used effectively as the phosphor. In this preferred embodiment, the phosphor resin portion 13 preferably has a substantially cylindrical shape. If the LED bare chip 12 has approximately 0.3 mm×0.3 mm dimensions, then the phosphor resin portion 13 may have a diameter of about 0.7 mm to about 0.9 mm, for example. In the configuration shown in FIG. 10, the LEDs 10 are arranged in a 4×4 matrix on the substrate 11. However, the number of the LEDs 10 does not have to be sixteen as shown in FIG. 10 but may be the product of N and M (where N and M are both integers that are equal to or greater than two). Furthermore, the two-dimensional arrangement of the LEDs 10 is not limited to the matrix arrangement such as that shown in FIG. 10, either, but may also be a substantially concentric arrangement, a spiral arrangement or any other suitable arrangement. In any of those alternative arrangements, at least the amount of the light emitted from the outer LEDs 10a, which is a primary cause of the glare, has to be controlled by connecting the LEDs 10a to the interconnection pattern 21. FIG. 12 shows a circuit configuration for an LED lamp 100 in which sixty-four LEDs 10 are arranged as an 8×8 matrix. The LEDs 10a located around the outer periphery are connected to a first interconnection pattern 21, while the other LEDs lob located elsewhere are connected to a second interconnection pattern 22. In the example illustrated in FIG. 12, the number of the outer LEDs 10a is different from that of the inner LEDs 10b, and therefore, a resistor 23 is additionally provided for the second interconnection pattern 22 in order to substantially equalize the amounts of currents flowing through the first and second interconnection patterns 21 and 22 with each other. Alternatively, the number of the outer LEDs 10a may be equalized with that of the inner LEDs 10b as shown in FIG. 13. In that case, the amounts of currents flowing through the first and second interconnection patterns 21 and 22 are typically equal to each other, and there is almost no need to provide the resistor 23 such as that shown in FIG. 12. FIG. 14 shows an exemplary dimmer 30 to be electrically connected to the first interconnection pattern 21. The dimmer 30 shown in FIG. 14 has its circuit configuration designed such that an AC voltage supplied from an AC outlet 31 (e.g., an AC voltage of 100 V) is rectified and converted into a DC voltage and then the power is controlled with a regulator 36. As shown in FIG. 14, the dimmer 30 includes a fuse 32, a power transformer 33, a diode bridge 34, a smoothing capacitor 35 and the regulator 36. The terminal 37 outputs a DC voltage (positive) and the terminal 38 has a ground potential. In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the terminals 37 and 38 are preferably connected to the first interconnection pattern 21. For example, the positive and negative terminals of the first interconnection pattern 21 shown in FIG. 12 or 13 may be respectively connected to the terminals 37 and 38 of the dimmer 30. The regulator 36 preferably controls the amount of the current to be supplied to the outer LEDs 10a, which are connected to the first interconnection pattern 21, thereby controlling the amount of the light emitted from those outer LEDs 10a. Optionally, two dimmers 20 may be provided and connected to the first and second interconnection patterns 21 and 22, respectively. In that case, the amounts of light emitted from the two groups of LEDs 10a and 10b can be controlled independently of each other. It should be noted that the dimmer(s) for controlling the amount(s) of light emitted from the LEDs 10a (and 10b) does not have to have the configuration shown in FIG. 14 but may have any other suitable configuration. Even if the LED lamp 100 of this preferred embodiment is making a glaring impression on the viewer, that glare can be erased quickly by getting the amount of the light emitted from the outer LEDs 10a controlled by the dimmer 30. In that case, the amount of the light emitted from the inner LEDs 10b can be kept as it is. Thus, the glare can be reduced without decreasing the overall luminous flux of the LED lamp 100. In addition, the light emitted from the inner LEDs lob illuminates the object exclusively. As used herein, the “object” may refer to a book, for example, when the LED lamp 100 is used as a desk or bedside lamp. Accordingly, even if the luminous flux of the LED lamp 100 decreased significantly, there might still be no problem as long as the user can view the object (e.g., read that book) satisfactorily. For example, if a lens structure that realizes a sufficiently narrow spatial distribution of emission is provided in front of the inner LEDs 10b, most of the light illuminating the object comes from the inner LEDs 10b. Accordingly, the amount of the light illuminating the object can be kept substantially constant even when the amount of light coming from the outer LEDs 10a is controlled. Optionally, instead of using the dimmer 30, a switching mechanism for selectively turning the LEDs 10a ON and OFF may also be adopted. Then, the object can be illuminated with the light cast from the LEDs 10b with the glare reduced by turning the LEDs 10a OFF. It should be noted that if the user of the LED lamp 100 feels uncomfortable about the state in which only the outer LEDs 10a are darkened or turned OFF, then a mechanism for controlling the brightness ratio between the outer and inner LEDs 10a and 10b either automatically or manually may be adopted and used for erasing such uncomfortableness. The LED lamp 100 of this preferred embodiment may also be implemented as a card LED lamp such as that shown in FIG. 15. In the card LED lamp 100 shown in FIG. 15, the substrate 11 includes a feeder section 120, which is electrically connected to the LEDs 10 by way of the first and second interconnection patterns 21 and 22 embedded in the substrate 11. The detailed configuration of the feeder section 120 is not shown in FIG. 15. Optionally, a feeder terminal may be provided on the surface of the feeder section 120. When the card LED lamp shown in FIG. 15 is actually used, a metallic reflector with multiple openings to accommodate the respective LEDs 10 (see the reflector 151 shown in FIG. 4) is preferably put on the substrate 11. It should be noted that the substrate 11 and the reflector (151) may be collectively called the “substrate” of the LED lamp 100. Alternatively, if the surface of the substrate 11 is turned into a reflective surface, then the substrate 11 itself may be used as an optical reflective member. This card LED lamp 100 may be used as shown in FIG. 16. FIG. 16 shows the LED lamp 100 obtained by bonding the reflector 151 to the substrate 11, a connector 130 to/from which the LED lamp 100 is attachable and removable freely, and a lighting circuit 133 to be electrically connected to the LED lamp 100 by way of the connector 130. The lighting circuit 133 preferably has the function of controlling either the amount of the light emitted from the outer LEDs 10a only or the amounts of the light emitted from the outer and inner LEDs 10a and 10b independently of (or in cooperation with) each other. The LED lamp 100 is inserted into the connector 130 that has a pair of guide grooves 131. The connector 130 includes a feeder electrode (not shown) to be electrically connected to the feeder electrode (not shown, either) that is provided on the feeder section 120 of the LED lamp 100. The feeder electrode of the connector 130 is electrically connected to the lighting circuit 133 by way of lines 132. FIG. 17 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a portion of the LED lamp 100 with the reflector 151, surrounding the LED 10, on a larger scale. In FIG. 17, the LED bare chip 12 is flip-chip bonded to an interconnection pattern 42 of a multilayer wiring board 41, which is attached to the metal plate 40. In this case, the metal plate 40 and the multilayer wiring board 41 together make up the substrate 11. The LED bare chip 12 is covered with the phosphor resin portion 13. And the phosphor resin portion 13 is further covered with a lens 14, which may be made of a resin, for example. In this preferred embodiment, the multilayer wiring board 41 includes a two-layered interconnection pattern 42, in which interconnects belonging to the two different layers are connected together by way of via metals 43. Specifically, the interconnects 42 belonging to the upper layer are connected to the electrodes of the LED chip 12 via Au bumps 44. In the example illustrated in FIG. 17, an underfill (stress relaxing) layer 45 is preferably provided between the reflector 151 and the multilayer wiring board 41. This underfill layer 45 can not only relax the stress, resulting from the difference in thermal expansion coefficient between the metallic reflector 151 and the multilayer wiring board 42, but also ensure electrical insulation between the reflector 151 and the upper-level interconnects of the multilayer wiring board 41. The reflector 151 has an opening 15 to accommodate the phosphor resin portion 13 that covers the LED bare chip 12. The side surface defining the opening 15 is used as a reflective surface 151a for reflecting the light that has been emitted from the LED 10. In this case, the reflective surface 151a is spaced apart from the side surface of the phosphor resin portion 13 such that the shape of the phosphor resin portion 13 is not affected by the reflective surface 151a so much as to produce color unevenness. The specifics and effects of this spacing arrangement are described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication No. 2004-172586, the entire contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference. FIGS. 10 and 15 show substantially cylindrical phosphor resin portions 13. As used herein, the substantially cylindrical shape may refer to not only a completely circular cross section but also a polygonal cross section with at least six vertices. This is because a polygon with at least six vertices substantially has axial symmetry and can be virtually identified with a “circle”. By using a phosphor resin portion 13 with such a substantially cylindrical shape, even if the LED bare chip 12 being ultrasonic flip-chip bonded to the substrate 11 rotated due to the ultrasonic vibrations applied thereto, the luminous intensity distribution of the LED would not be affected so easily. The LED lamp 100 of this preferred embodiment is easily applicable to a desk or bedside lamp or to a flashlight. FIGS. 18, 19 and 20 show exemplary applications of the card LED lamp 100 to desk lamps 150. FIG. 21 shows an exemplary application of the card LED lamp 100 to a flashlight 160. The desk lamp 150 shown in FIG. 18 is designed so as to illuminate the object by using just one card LED lamp 100. When the card LED lamp 100 is inserted into the connector 130, the amount of the light emitted from the outer LEDs 10a can be controlled as described above. In the example illustrated in FIG. 18, the base 135 of the desk lamp 150 includes a controller dial (anti-glare dial) 136 such that the glare can be cut down by adjusting the dial 136. However, even if the amount of the light emitted from the outer LEDs 10a has been decreased by turning the dial 136, just the amount of unwanted diffusing light can be reduced and the object (e.g., a book) can still be illuminated with a sufficient amount of light coming from the inner LEDs 10b. The LED lamp 100 of this preferred embodiment does not always have to be used by itself but may be used with at least another in combination. FIG. 19 schematically illustrates a configuration for a desk lamp 150 that uses two card LED lamps 100 at the same time. The desk lamps shown in FIGS. 18 and 19 use the card LED lamps 100. However, the LED lamps 100 do not have to be the card type. Even if the desk lamps are operated using non-removable LED lamps 100, the glare can still be reduced effectively. FIG. 20 shows a configuration for a desk lamp 150 that uses four LED lamps 100 at the same time. When four LED lamps 100 are used at a time, some of the LEDs 10a, which are located around the outer periphery in each LED lamp 100, become inner LEDs 10b. In the example illustrated in FIG. 20, the LEDs 10 located within the area 155 may be used as additional inner LEDs. Thus, the LEDs 10 located within this area 155 may be designed just like the inner LEDs 10b. Alternatively, to mass-produce and use the LED lamps 100 of the same type in quantities, even the LEDs 10 within the area 155 may be used as outer LEDs 10a as they are. As for the desk lamp 150 shown in FIG. 20, the anti-glare effects are also achieved no matter whether the card LED lamps 100 are used or not. That is to say, it does not matter whether the LED lamps 100 are removable or not. FIG. 21 shows a configuration for a flashlight 160 that uses the LED lamp 100. The flashlight 160 shown in FIG. 21 includes not only a normal switch 162 for turning this flashlight ON or OFF but also an anti-glare switch 164 as well. Specifically, when the anti-glare switch 164 is pressed down, the light emitted from the outer LEDs 10a is either decreased or put out, thereby preventing the flashlight 160 from producing the glaring impression. For example, the flashlight 160 may be used in a normal mode to illuminate a broad range but is preferably switched into the anti-glare mode in order to prevent this flashlight 160 from leaving the glaring impression on the people surrounding it. In the LED lamp 100 of this preferred embodiment, the amount of the light emitted from the outer LEDs 10a, which changes the degree of the glare, can be controlled selectively among the two-dimensional arrangement of LEDs 10, and therefore, the glare can be reduced effectively. As a result, the present invention contributes to further popularizing LED lamps as general illumination units. In the preferred embodiment described above, the outer LEDs 10a are supposed to be outermost ones as shown in FIGS. 10 and 12. However, as shown in FIG. 13, even non-outermost LEDs 10 may also be used as the outer LEDs 10a, too. As another alternative, to further enhance the anti-glare effects, the outermost and second outermost LEDs 10 may be used as the outer LEDs 10a in the arrangement shown in FIG. 12, for example. Also, in the preferred embodiment described above, the white LED lamp 100, including a plurality of LEDs 10 each made up of a blue LED chip 12 and a yellow phosphor, has been described. However, a white LED lamp, which produces white light by combining an ultraviolet LED chip, emitting an ultraviolet ray, with a phosphor that produces red (R), green (G) and blue (B) rays when excited with the ultraviolet ray, was also developed recently. Thus, the LED lamp 100 may also be of that type. The ultraviolet LED chip emits an ultraviolet ray with a peak wavelength of 200 nm to 410 nm. The phosphor producing red (R), green (G) and blue (B) rays has peak wavelengths of 450 nm, 540 nm and 610 nm within the visible range of 380 nm to 780 nm. Furthermore, in the preferred embodiment described above, the LED 10 is supposed to include the LED bare chip 12. However, the LED does not always have to include a LED bare chip. Rather, the same anti-glare effects are achievable by applying the present invention to any other type of LED lamp as long as the outer LEDs of the LED lamp might produce the glaring impression. For example, the anti-glare effects are also achievable in not just the white LED lamp of the preferred embodiment described above but also a single-color LED lamp emitting an R, G or B ray. Also, as long as the LED lamp (or LED module) includes at least four LEDs 10, the LEDs 10 can be grouped into the outer LEDs 10a and inner LEDs 10b. Embodiment 2 Hereinafter, an LED lamp according to a second specific preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described. In the LED lamp 100 of the first preferred embodiment described above, the amount of the light emitted from the outer LEDs 10a is controlled appropriately, thereby reducing the glare effectively. In this preferred embodiment, an arrangement for further reducing the glare is adopted. FIGS. 22A and 22B schematically illustrate a configuration for a lens 14a that covers the outer LED 10a and a configuration for a lens 14b that covers the inner LED 10b, respectively. As shown in FIGS. 22A and 22B, in this preferred embodiment, the inner lens 14b has a lens structure that forms a narrower luminous intensity distribution than the outer lens 14a does. By adopting such an arrangement, even if the amount of the light emitted from the outer LEDs 10a has been decreased, it is harder for the light emitted from the inner LEDs 10b to diffuse outward due to the action of the lenses 14b. As a result, the glare can be reduced even more effectively. To make the inner lenses 14b form such a narrow luminous intensity distribution, the inner lenses 14b may have a hemispherical convex shape and a half beam angle of 35 degrees or less, for example. Light in a color with a relatively low color temperature (e.g., a bulb color) tends to produce a lighter glaring impression on the human eyes than light in a color with a relatively high color temperature (e.g., a substantially daylight color including a daylight color and neutral white). For that reason, it is also an effective measure to take to set the color temperature of the light emitted from the outer LEDs 10a lower than that of the light emitted from the inner LEDs 10b. To make such color temperature settings, one of the following techniques may be adopted. One technique is to set the volume of the outer phosphor resin portion 13 greater than that of the inner phosphor resin portion 13. Then, the light emitted from the LED bare chip 12 in the outer LED 10a has to go through a greater amount of phosphor. Accordingly, the outgoing light of the outer LED 10a becomes closer to bulb color and comes to have a lower color temperature. Another technique is to set the concentration of the phosphor in the outer phosphor resin portion 13 higher than that of the phosphor in the inner phosphor resin portion 13. Then, the light emitted from the LED bare chip 12 in the outer LED 10a has to go through a greater amount of phosphor. Accordingly, the outgoing light of the outer LED 10a also becomes closer to bulb color and comes to have a lower color temperature, too. The color temperatures of the outgoing light of the inner and outer LEDs may also be adjusted by changing the types or the mixture ratio of the phosphors for the inner and outer phosphor resin portions 13. In fabricating the LED lamp 100 such as that shown in FIG. 15, it is convenient to adopt a method of forming the multiple phosphor resin portions 13 in the same process step (i.e., at the same time). Various methods may be used to form the phosphor resin portions 13 simultaneously. Examples of those methods include a screen process printing method, an intaglio printing method, a transfer method and a dispenser method. Hereinafter, a method of making the phosphor resin portions 13 will be described with reference to FIGS. 23 through 27. FIG. 23 shows the process step of forming the phosphor resin portions 13 by the screen process printing technique. First, a substrate 11 on which multiple LED chips 12 are arranged is prepared. FIG. 23 shows only two LED chips 12 to make this method easily understandable. Actually, however, a substrate 11 on which a number of LED chips 12 are arranged two-dimensionally (e.g., in matrix, substantially concentrically or spirally) should be prepared to fabricate the LED lamp 100 of this preferred embodiment. Next, a printing plate 51, having a plurality of openings (or through holes) 51a in the same size as that of the phosphor resin portions 13 (13a and 13b) to be obtained, is placed over the substrate 11 such that the LED chips 12 are located within the openings 51a. Then, the printing plate 51 and the substrate 11 are brought into close contact with each other. Thereafter, a squeeze 50 is moved in a printing direction, thereby filling the openings 51a with a resin paste 60 on the printing plate 51 and covering the LED chips 12 with the resin paste 60. When the printing process is finished, the printing plate 51 is removed. The phosphor is dispersed in the resin paste 60. Accordingly, when the resin paste 60 is cured, the phosphor resin portions 13 can be obtained. If the volume of the outer phosphor resin portions 13 should be greater than that of the inner phosphor resin portions 13, then the openings 51a for the outer LED chips 12 preferably have an increased size. As for the other methods to be described below, the same process step as this process step of the screen process printing method will not be described again but the description will be focused on only their unique process steps. FIG. 24 shows the process step of forming the phosphor resin portions 13 by the intaglio printing method. FIGS. 25A and 25B respectively show the upper surface 52a and lower surface 52b of a printing plate 52 for use in this intaglio printing process. When the intaglio printing method is adopted, the printing plate 52 shown in FIGS. 25A and 25B, having recesses 53 (i.e., not reaching the upper surface 52a) on the lower surface 52b, is prepared and those recesses 53 are filled with a resin paste 60. Then, as shown in FIG. 24, the printing plate 52 is placed over the substrate 11 on which the LED chips 12 are arranged and the printing plate 52 and the substrate 11 are brought into close contact with each other. Thereafter, by removing the printing plate 52, the phosphor resin portions 13 can be obtained. If the volume of the outer phosphor resin portions 13 should be greater than that of the inner phosphor resin portions 13, then the recesses 53 for the outer LED chips 12 preferably have an increased size. That is to say, the recesses 53 may be classified into a group with a relatively large volume and a group with a relatively small volume. FIG. 26 shows the process step of forming the phosphor resin portions 13 by the transfer (planographic) method. According to this method, a photosensitive resin film 56 is deposited on a block 55, a plurality of openings 57, corresponding in shape to the phosphor resin portions 13 to be obtained, are provided using a resist, and then those openings 57 are filled with a resin paste 60. Thereafter, the block 55 is pressed against the substrate 11, thereby transferring the resin paste 60 onto the substrate 11. In this manner, the phosphor resin portions 13 are formed so as to cover the LED chips 12. If the volume of the outer phosphor resin portions 13 should be greater than that of the inner phosphor resin portions 13, then the openings 57 for the outer LED chips 12 preferably have an increased size. Also, if the concentration of the phosphor in the outer phosphor resin portions 13 should be higher than that of the phosphor in the inner phosphor resin portions 13, then a resin paste 60 with a relatively high phosphor concentration may be injected into the openings 57 for the outer LED chips 12. FIG. 27 shows the process step of forming the phosphor resin portions 13 by the dispenser method. According to this method, the phosphor resin portions 13 are formed by spraying a predetermined amount of resin paste 60 over the LED chips 12 on the substrate 11 using a dispenser 58 including syringes 59 to spray the resin paste 60. If a greater amount of resin paste 60 is sprayed for the outer phosphor resin portions 13b than for the inner phosphor resin portions 13a, then the size, volume and the phosphor concentration of the outer phosphor resin portions 13b can be all increased. Optionally, the configuration of the phosphor resin portions 13 described above and the lens structures shown in FIGS. 22A and 22B may be used in combination. It depends on the specific intended application whether those configurations are combined or not and exactly what configurations should be combined together. In the first and second preferred embodiments described above, one LED bare chip 12 is provided within one phosphor resin portion 13. However, the present invention is in no way limited to those specific preferred embodiments. If necessary, two or more LED bare chips 12 may be provided within a single phosphor resin portion 13. FIGS. 28A and 28B illustrate such an alternative arrangement in which two LED bare chips 12A and 12B are provided within one phosphor resin portion 13. In this case, the LED bare chips 12A and 12B may emit either light rays falling within the same wavelength range or light rays falling within mutually different wavelength ranges. For example, the LED bare chip 12A may be a blue LED chip and the LED bare chip 12B may be a red LED chip. Then, the two or more LED bare chips 12 (e.g., 12A and 12B in this example) that are covered with the same phosphor resin portion 13 have a peak wavelength of 380 nm to 470 nm (e.g., a wavelength of 460 nm if there is provided only one LED bare chip 12A of one type) and a peak wavelength of 610 nm to 650 nm (e.g., a wavelength of 620 nm if there is provided only one LED bare chip 12B of another type). That is to say, the peak wavelengths of the at least two LED bare chips 12 all fall within the visible range of 380 nm to 780 nm. When the blue LED chip 12A and red LED chip 12B are both used, a white LED lamp, of which the color rendering performance is excellent in red colors, can be obtained. More specifically, if a blue LED chip and a yellow phosphor are combined, white can be produced but that white is somewhat short of red components. Consequently, the resultant white LED lamp exhibits insufficient color rendering performance in red colors. However, if the red LED chip 12B is combined with the blue LED chip 12A, then the color rendering performance of the white LED lamp in red colors can be improved. As a result, an LED lamp that can be used even more effectively as general illumination is realized. The present invention has been described by way of illustrative preferred embodiments. However, the present invention is in no way limited to those specific preferred embodiments but may be modified in various manners. For example, in the configurations shown in FIGS. 12 and 13, the LEDs 10 may also be connected in parallel to each other. It should be noted that the first interconnection pattern for electrically connecting together the LEDs 10 located around the outer periphery and the second interconnection pattern for electrically connecting together the other LEDs 10 located elsewhere are not limited to those shown in FIGS. 12 and 13. Hereinafter, this respect will be described in detail. FIGS. 29A through 29D illustrate alternative interconnection structures for LED lamps according to other preferred embodiments of the present invention. In FIGS. 29A through 29D, the solid circles ● represent LEDs to be connected to one interconnection pattern and the open circles ◯ represent LEDs to be connected to another interconnection pattern. In the example illustrated in FIG. 29A, fifteen out of the sixteen LEDs around the outer periphery are connected to the first interconnection pattern 21 but the other LED is connected to the second interconnection pattern 22. On the other hand, in the example illustrated in FIG. 29B, twelve out of the sixteen LEDs around the outer periphery are connected to the first interconnection pattern 21 but the other four LEDs are connected to the second interconnection pattern 22. In this manner, not all of the outer LEDs have to be connected to the same interconnection pattern. FIG. 29C shows a situation where the interconnection structure has three interconnection patterns 21, 22 and 23. Thus, the number of the interconnection patterns that a single LED lamp has is not always two but may be three or more. In the example illustrated in FIG. 29D, two clusters of LEDs are arranged within a single LED lamp. In this case, the LEDs located in the outside portion of each LED cluster are connected to the first interconnection pattern 21, while the LEDs located in the inside portion thereof are connected to the second interconnection pattern 22. If these two LED clusters are provided sufficiently close to each other, these two clusters function as one cluster of LEDs. However, if the gap between these two LED clusters exceeds 4 mm, for example, the interconnection structure, which can control the amount of the light emitted from the outer LEDs of each cluster, may be adopted as shown in FIG. 29D. In the example illustrated in FIG. 29D, the first interconnection pattern 21 for the LED cluster on the left-hand side and the first interconnection pattern 21 for the LED cluster on the right-hand side are preferably connected together by way of a lower-level interconnect (not shown). In the same way, the second interconnection pattern 22 for the LED cluster on the left-hand side and the second interconnection pattern 22 for the LED cluster on the right-hand side are preferably connected together by way of another lower-level interconnect (not shown). Accordingly, the amounts of light emitted from the LEDs in the right and left LED clusters can be controlled in the same way. Alternatively, if a number of LED clusters are included in a single LED lamp, the amounts of light emitted from the LEDs in those clusters may also be controlled independently of each other. Various preferred embodiments of the present invention described above provide an LED lamp that can reduce the glare significantly, and therefore, contribute to further popularizing LED lamps as general illumination. While the present invention has been described with respect to preferred embodiments thereof, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that the disclosed invention may be modified in numerous ways and may assume many embodiments other than those specifically described above. Accordingly, it is intended by the appended claims to cover all modifications of the invention that fall within the true spirit and scope of the invention. This application is based on Japanese Patent Applications No. 2003-322645 filed Sep. 16, 2003 and No. 2004-259304 filed Sep. 7, 2004, the entire contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference. | <SOH> BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION <EOH>1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an LED lamp and more particularly relates to a white LED lamp that can be used as general illumination. 2. Description of the Related Art A light emitting diode (LED) is a semiconductor device that can radiate an emission in a bright color with high efficiency even though its size is small. The emission of an LED has an excellent monochromatic peak. To obtain white light from LEDs, a conventional LED lamp arranges red, green and blue LEDs close to each other and gets the light rays in those three different colors diffused and mixed together. An LED lamp of this type, however, easily produces color unevenness because the LED of each color has an excellent monochromatic peak. That is to say, unless the light rays emitted from the respective LEDs are mixed together uniformly, color unevenness will be produced inevitably in the resultant white light. Thus, to overcome such a color unevenness problem, an LED lamp for obtaining white light by combining a blue LED and a yellow phosphor was developed (see Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication No. 10-242513 and Japanese Patent No. 2998696, for example). According to the technique disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication No. 10-242513, white light is obtained by combining together the emission of a blue LED and the yellow emission of a yellow phosphor, which is produced when excited by the emission of the blue LED. That is to say, the white light can be obtained by using just one type of LEDs. Accordingly, the color unevenness problem, which arises when white light is produced by arranging multiple types of LEDs close together, is avoidable. An LED lamp with a bullet-shaped appearance as disclosed in Japanese Patent No. 2998696 may have a configuration such as that illustrated in FIG. 1 , for example. As shown in FIG. 1 , the LED lamp 200 includes an LED chip 121 , a bullet-shaped transparent housing 127 to cover the LED chip 121 , and leads 122 a and 122 b to supply current to the LED chip 121 . A cup reflector 123 for reflecting the emission of the LED chip 121 in the direction indicated by the arrow D is provided for the mount portion of the lead 122 b on which the LED chip 121 is mounted. The LED chip 121 on the mount portion is encapsulated with a first resin portion 124 , in which a phosphor 126 is dispersed and which is further encapsulated with a second resin portion 125 . If the LED chip 121 emits a blue light ray, the phosphor 126 converts a portion of the blue light ray into a yellow light ray. As a result, the blue and yellow light rays are mixed together to produce white light. However, the luminous flux of a single LED is too low. Accordingly, to obtain a luminous flux comparable to that of an incandescent lamp, a fluorescent lamp or any other general illumination used extensively today, an LED lamp preferably includes a plurality of LEDs that are arranged as an array. LED lamps of that type are disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publications No. 2003-59332 and No. 2003-124528. A relevant prior art is also disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication No. 2004-172586. Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication No. 2004-172586 discloses an LED lamp that can overcome the color unevenness problem of the bullet-type LED lamp disclosed in Japanese Patent No. 2998696. In the bullet-type LED lamp 200 shown in FIG. 1 , the first resin portion 124 is formed by filling the cup reflector 123 with a resin to encapsulate the LED chip 121 and then curing the resin. For that reason, the first resin portion 124 easily has a rugged upper surface as shown in FIG. 2 . Accordingly, the thickness of the resin including the phosphor 126 loses its uniformity, thus making non-uniform the amounts of the phosphor 126 present along the optical paths E and F of multiple light rays going out of the LED chip 121 through the first resin portion 124 . As a result, the unwanted color unevenness is produced. To overcome such a problem, the LED lamp disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication No. 2004-172586 is designed such that the reflective surface of a light reflecting member (i.e., a reflector) is spaced apart from the side surface of a resin portion in which a phosphor is dispersed. FIGS. 3A and 3B are respectively a side cross-sectional view and a plan view illustrating an LED lamp as disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication No. 2004-172586. In the LED lamp 300 shown in FIGS. 3A and 3B , an LED (LED bare chip) 112 mounted on a substrate 111 is covered with a resin portion 113 in which a phosphor is dispersed. A reflector 151 with a reflective surface 151 a is bonded to the substrate 111 such that the reflective surface 151 a of the reflector 151 is spaced apart from the side surface of the resin portion 113 . Thus, the shape of the resin portion 113 can be freely designed without being restricted by the shape of the reflective surface 151 a of the reflector 151 . As a result, the color unevenness can be reduced significantly. By arranging a plurality of LED lamps having the structure shown in FIGS. 3A and 3B in columns and rows, an LED array such as that shown in FIG. 4 is obtained. In the LED lamp 300 shown in FIG. 4 , the resin portions 113 , each covering its associated LED chip 112 , are arranged in matrix on the substrate 111 , and a reflector 151 , having a plurality of reflective surfaces 151 a for the respective resin portions 113 , is bonded onto the substrate 111 . In such an arrangement, the luminous fluxes of a plurality of LEDs can be combined together. Thus, a luminous flux, comparable to that of an incandescent lamp, a fluorescent lamp or any other general illumination source that is used extensively today, can be obtained easily. If the LED lamp 300 shown in FIG. 4 is used as general illumination, no color unevenness will be produced and a sufficiently high luminous flux can be obtained. However, the present inventors further analyzed this LED lamp 300 to discover that the LED lamp 300 with such a high luminous flux (which is sometimes called a “high-flux LED lamp”) often produces an uncomfortable glaring impression on the viewer although everybody in the prior art has been paying most of their attention to how to increase the luminous flux of the LED lamp. That is to say, as for general illumination, “the brighter, the better” policy is often too simple to work and it is not preferable to make such a glaring impression on the viewer. According to JIS C8106, the “glare” refers to viewer's uncomfortableness or decreased ability to recognize small objects, or even every object in general, due to an inadequate luminance distribution within his or her vision, which is formed by the excessively high luminance of the luminaire within his or her sight. Generally speaking, the viewer tends to find a light source very glaring (i) if the luminance of the light source exceeds a certain limit, (ii) if the viewer's eyes have got used to the darkness surrounding him or her, (iii) if the source of the glare is too close to his or her eyes, and/or (iv) if the apparent size or the number of the glaring sources is big. Accordingly, it is believed that the viewer is very likely to find an LED lamp glaring if the LED lamp includes a plurality of LEDs, has a high luminance, and is used in a relatively dark place. Among other things, the LED lamp uses the emissions of multiple LEDs and therefore has a much stronger directivity than that of a fluorescent lamp, for example. As a result, the LED lamp tends to produce a stronger glaring impression on the viewer in many cases. Nevertheless, if the luminance of the LED lamp were decreased to reduce such a glare, then the LED lamp would be too dark to use as general illumination. Also, since the degree of that glare changes with the surroundings, there is no need to darken the LED lamp in a situation where the LED lamp should not look glaring. In view of these considerations, if there were an LED lamp that can either take anti-glare measures, or cast bright light as usual, with the glare producing conditions taken into account fully, that would be a very convenient commodity. | <SOH> SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION <EOH>In order to overcome the problems described above, preferred embodiments of the present invention provide an LED lamp that can reduce the glare significantly. An LED lamp according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention preferably includes: a substrate; a cluster of LEDs, which are arranged two-dimensionally on the substrate; and an interconnection circuit, which is electrically connected to the LEDs. The LEDs preferably include a first group of LEDs, which are located around the outer periphery of the cluster, and a second group of LEDs, which are located elsewhere in the cluster. The interconnection circuit preferably has an interconnection structure for separately supplying drive currents to at least one of the LEDs in the first group and to at least one of the LEDs in the second group separately from each other. In one preferred embodiment of the present invention, the interconnection circuit preferably has a first interconnection pattern for electrically connecting together at least two of the LEDs in the first group and a second interconnection pattern for electrically connecting together at least two of the LEDs in the second group. In this particular preferred embodiment, the interconnection circuit is preferably electrically connected to a dimmer. The dimmer preferably has the function of controlling the amounts of light emitted from the first and second groups of LEDs, which are electrically connected to the first and second interconnection patterns, respectively, independently of each other. In an alternative preferred embodiment, the first interconnection pattern of the interconnection circuit is preferably electrically connected to a dimmer. The dimmer preferably has the function of controlling the amount of light emitted from the first group of LEDs, which are electrically connected to the first interconnection pattern. In another preferred embodiment, the LED lamp preferably further includes a resistor, which is connected to at least one of the first and second interconnection patterns. The resistor preferably reduces a difference between the amounts of currents flowing through the first and second interconnection patterns. In still another preferred embodiment, each said LED preferably includes an LED bare chip and a phosphor resin portion that covers the LED bare chip. The phosphor resin portion preferably includes: a phosphor for transforming the emission of the LED bare chip into light having a longer wavelength than the emission; and a resin in which the phosphor is dispersed. In still another preferred embodiment, the outer periphery is preferably defined along the outermost ones of the LEDs in the first group. In yet another preferred embodiment, each said LED preferably includes a lens for controlling the spatial distribution of the emission of the LED, and the lens of the LEDs in the second group preferably has a structure that realizes a narrower spatial distribution than the lens of the LEDs in the first group. In yet another preferred embodiment, the emission of the LEDs in the first group preferably has a lower color temperature than that of the LEDs in the second group. An LED lamp according to any of various preferred embodiments of the present invention described above can control the amount of light emitted from LEDs located around the outer periphery and the amount of light emitted from LEDs located elsewhere independently of each other. Thus, the luminance of the outer LEDs, which changes the degree of glare significantly, can be controlled selectively. As a result, the glare can be reduced effectively. Other features, elements, processes, steps, characteristics and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description of preferred embodiments of the present invention with reference to the attached drawings. | 20040914 | 20070417 | 20050317 | 75124.0 | 4 | TRUONG, BAO Q | LED LAMP | UNDISCOUNTED | 0 | ACCEPTED | 2,004 |
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10,941,182 | ACCEPTED | Pullulan film compositions | The invention concerns compositions based on pullulan and a setting system for the use in pharmaceutical, veterinary, food, cosmetic or other products like films for wrapping food, aspics or jellies, preferably for predosed formulations like soft or hard capsules. The composition preferably further contains a surfactant. By using aqueous solution of the inventive compositions, the hard pullulan capsules are produced by a conventional dipping moulding process under the same process condition range than conventional gelatine capsules. | 87. A film forming composition comprising: pullulan; a surfactant; and a setting system comprising carrageenan. 88. The film forming composition of claim 87, wherein the surfactant is selected from the group consisting of cationic surfactants, anionic surfactants, non-ionic surfactants, amphoteric surfactants, and mixtures thereof. 89. The film forming composition of claim 87, wherein the surfactant is selected from the group consisting of sodium lauryl sulphate (SLS), dioctyl sodium sulfosuccinate (DDS), benzalkonium chloride, benzethonium chloride, cetrimide (trimethyl-tetradecylammonium bromide), fatty acid sugar esters, glyceryl monooleate, polyoxyethylene sorbitan fatty acid esters, polyvinyl alcohol, dimethylpolysiloxan, sorbitan esters, lecithin, and mixtures thereof. 90. The film forming composition of claim 87, wherein the setting system comprises kappa-carrageenan. 91. The film forming composition of claim 87, wherein the setting system further comprises at least one sequestering agent. 92. The film forming composition of claim 91, wherein the at least one sequestering agent is selected from the group consisting of ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid, acetic acid, boric acid, citric acid, edetic acid, gluconic acid, lactic acid, phosphoric acid, tartaric acid, or salts thereof, methaphosphates, dihydroxyethylglycine, lecithin or beta cyclodextrin. 93. The film forming composition of claim 87, wherein the setting system further comprises cations. 94. A film forming composition comprising: pullulan; a surfactant; and a setting system comprising gellan. 95. The film forming composition of claim 94, wherein the surfactant is selected from the group consisting of cationic surfactants, anionic surfactants, non-ionic surfactants, amphoteric surfactants, and mixtures thereof. 96. The film forming composition of claim 94, wherein the surfactant is selected from the group consisting of sodium lauryl sulphate (SLS), dioctyl sodium sulfosuccinate (DDS), benzalkonium chloride, benzethonium chloride, cetrimide (trimethyl-tetradecylammonium bromide), fatty acid sugar esters, glyceryl monooleate, polyoxyethylene sorbitan fatty acid esters, polyvinyl alcohol, dimethylpolysiloxan, sorbitan esters, lecithin, and mixtures thereof. 97. The film forming composition of claim 94, wherein the setting system further comprises at least one sequestering agent. 98. The film forming composition of claim 97, wherein the at least one sequestering agent is selected from the group consisting of ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid, acetic acid, boric acid, citric acid, edetic acid, gluconic acid, lactic acid, phosphoric acid, tartaric acid, or salts thereof, methaphosphates, dihydroxyethylglycine, lecithin or beta cyclodextrin. 99. The film forming composition of claim 94, wherein the setting system further comprises cations. 100. A capsule comprising: pullulan; a surfactant; and a setting system selected from the group consisting of gellan, carrageenan and mixtures thereof. 101. The film forming composition of claim 100, wherein the surfactant is selected from the group consisting of cationic surfactants, anionic surfactants, non-ionic surfactants, amphoteric surfactants, and mixtures thereof. 102. The film forming composition of claim 100, wherein the surfactant is selected from the group consisting of sodium lauryl sulphate (SLS), dioctyl sodium sulfosuccinate (DDS), benzalkonium chloride, benzethonium chloride, cetrimide (trimethyl-tetradecylammonium bromide), fatty acid sugar esters, glyceryl monooleate, polyoxyethylene sorbitan fatty acid esters, polyvinyl alcohol, dimethylpolysiloxan, sorbitan esters, lecithin, and mixtures thereof. 103. The film forming composition of claim 100, wherein the setting system further comprises at least one sequestering agent. 104. The film forming composition of claim 103, wherein the at least one sequestering agent is selected from the group consisting of ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid, acetic acid, boric acid, citric acid, edetic acid, gluconic acid, lactic acid, phosphoric acid, tartaric acid, or salts thereof, methaphosphates, dihydroxyethylglycine, lecithin or beta cyclodextrin. 105. The film forming composition of claim 100, wherein the setting system further comprises cations. 106. The film forming composition of claim 100, further comprising colouring agents in a range from about 0% to 10% based upon the weight of the composition. | The invention concerns pullulan compositions for the use in pharmaceutical, veterinary, food, cosmetic or other products like films for wrapping food, aspics or jellies, preferably for predosed formulations like soft or hard capsules. Conventional hard capsules are made with gelatine by dip moulding process. The dip molding process is based on the setting ability of hot gelatine solutions by cooling. For the industrial manufacture of pharmaceutical capsules gelatine is most preferred for its gelling, film forming and surface active properties. The manufacture of hard gelatine capsules by dip moulding process exploits fully its gelling and film forming abilities. A typical dip moulding process comprises the steps of dipping mould pins into a hot solution of gelatine, removing the pins from the gelatine solution, allowing the gelatine solution attached on pins to set by cooling, drying and stripping the so-formed shells from the pins. The setting of the solution on the mould pins after dipping is the critical step to obtain a uniform thickness of the capsule shell. On a totally automatic industrial hard gelatine capsule machine, the process consists to dip mould pins into hot gelatine solution, to remove the pins from the solution, to turn the pins from downside to upside, to dry the gelatine solution (gel) attached on the pins, to strip the capsule shell and finally to cut and pre-joint the cap and body. The immediate setting of the gelatine solution on the dip pins after dipping is the key step in the process. Otherwise, the gelatine solution would flow down, leading to a very low top thickness, and no capsule of quality could be produced. Attempts have been made to manufacture capsules with materials other than gelatine, notably with modified cellulose. Successful industrial examples are the capsules made of hydroxypropyl methylcellulose (HPMC). Pullulan is a natural, viscous polysaccharide extracellularly produced by growing certain yeasts on starch syrups. It has good film forming properties and a particularly low oxygen permeability. Its existence was reported for the first time in 1938. Hayashibara Company started the commercial production in 1976. There are numerous patents about the use of pullulan in moulded articles, edible films, and coatings. U.S. Pat. No. 4,623,394 describes a molded article which exhibits a controlled desintegrability under hydrous conditions. The composition of the molded article consists essentially of a combination of pullulan and a heteromannan, the amount of heteromannan being, based on the dry solids, 1 to 100% of the pullulan. JP5-65222-A describes a soft capsule, capable of stabilizing a readily oxidizable substance enclosed therein, exhibiting easy solubility, and being able to withstand a punching production method. The soft capsule is obtained by blending a capsule film substrate such as gelatin, agar, or carrageenan with pullulan. U.S. Pat. No. 3,784,390-A, corresponding to FR 2,147,112 and GB 1,374,199, discloses that certain mixtures of pullulan with at least one member of the group consisting of amylose, polyvinyl alcohol, and gelatine can be shaped by compression molding or extrusion at elevated temperatures or by evaporation of water from its aqueous solutions to form shaped bodies, such as films or coatings. To retain the valuable properties of pullulan to an important extent the mixture should not contain more than 120 percent amylose, 100 percent polyvinyl alcohol, and/or 150 percent gelantine based on the weight of the pullulan in the mixture. U.S. Pat. No. 4,562,020, discloses a continuous process for producing a self-supporting glucan film, comprising casting an aqueous glucan solution on the surface of a corona-treated endless heat-resistant plastic belt, drying the glucan solution thereon while heating and releasing the resultant self-supporting glucan film. Suitable glucans are those which substantially consist of repeating maltotriose units, such as pullulan or elsinan. JP-60084215-A2 discloses a film coating composition for a solid pharmaceutical having improved adhesive properties on the solid agent. The film is obtained by incorporating pullulan with a film coating base material such as methylcellulose. JP-2000205-A2 discloses a perfume-containing coating for a soft capsule. The coating is obtained by adding a polyhydric alcohol to a pullulan solution containing an oily perfume and a surfactant such as a sugar ester having a high HLB. U.S. Pat. No. 2,949,397 describes a method of making a mineral filled paper which comprises the step of coating finely divided mineral filler particles with an aqueous colloidal dispersion of plant mucilage in the form of substituted mannan selected from the group consisting of manno-glactans and gluco-glactans. U.S. Pat. No. 3,871,892 describes the preparation of pullulan esters by the reaction of pullulan with aliphatic or aromatic fatty acids or their derivatives in the presence of suitable solvents and/or catalysers. The pullulan esters can be shaped by compression molding or extrusion at elevated temperatures or by evaporation of solvents from their solutions to form shaped bodies such as films or coatings. U.S. Pat. No. 3,873,333 discloses adhesives or pastes prepared by dissolving or dispersing uniformly a pullulan ester and/or ether in water or in a mixture of water and acetone in an amount between 5 percent to 40 percent of the solvent. U.S. Pat. No. 3,932,192 describes a paper coating material containing pullulan and a pigment. U.S. Pat. No. 4,257,816 discloses a novel blend of algin, TKP, and guar gum which are useful in commercial gum applications, particularly for the paper-industry, where thickening, suspending, emulsifying, stabilizing, film-forming and gel-forming are needed. U.S. Pat. No. 3,997,703 discloses a multilayered molded plastic having at least one layer comprising pullulan and at least one layer selected from the group consisting of layers composed of homopolymers and copolymers of olefins and/or vinyl compounds, polyesters, polyamides, celluloses, polyvinylalcohol, rubber hydrochlorides, paper, and aluminum foil. GB 1,533,301 describes a method of improving the water-resistance of pullulan by the addition of a water-soluble dialdehyde polysaccharides to pullulan. GB 1559 644 also describes a method of improving the water-resistance of pullulan articles. The improved articles are manufactured by means of a process comprising bringing a mixture or shaped composition of a (a) pullulan or a water soluble derivative thereof and (b) polyuronide or a water-soluble salt thereof in contact with an aqueous and/or alcoholic solution of a di- or polyvalent metallic ion. Although capsules were mentioned or claimed in these patents, their compositions do not have sufficient setting ability or none at all. Consequently, these compositions do, not allow an industrial scale hard capsule production, and no attempt has been described to produce pullulan hard capsules by means of conventional dipping moulding processes. Another problem with conventional pullulan hard capsules is their poor surface gliding performance, which leads to a high opening force of the pre-joint capsules and a high closing force. Indeed, these are two key parameters for a good filling performance on automatic high speed capsule filling equipment. During the filling process, the filling equipment opens, fills and recloses the capsules in an extremely high cadence. High opening or closing force can lead to defects such as non open, punched capsule ends and etc, and consequently to frequent machine stops. The object of the present invention is therefore the provision of improved pullulan compositions which overcome the drawbacks of the prior art compositions. This object is solved according to the film forming composition, the container for unit dosage, the caplets, the capsules, the aqueous solutions, the use of the aqueous solutions for the manufacturing of hard capsules in a dip molding process, and the manufacturing of hard capsules from aqueous pullulan solutions according to the independent claims. Further advantageous features, aspects and details of the invention are evident from the dependent claims, the description and the drawings. The claims are to be understood as a first non-limiting approach to define the invention in general terms. The invention provides a film-forming composition comprising pullulan and a setting system. Surprisingly, we found that the addition of a very small amount of a setting system, preferably comprising hydrocolloids acting as a gelling agent, most preferably polysaccharides, confers an appropriate setting ability with cooling to pullulan solution so that the production of hard pullulan capsules can be produced with a conventional dip moulding process. In a preferred embodiment, the film forming composition may preferably further contain a cation containing salt, comprising at least one cation. Optionally, the film forming composition may further comprise at least one sequestering agent. In an aspect of the present invention the film compositions are used for the manufacturing of hard capsules by conventional dip moulding process as normally used in the production of conventional hard gelatine capsules. In an additional aspect of the present invention there are provided aqueous solutions comprising the film forming compositions of the present invention for the manufacture of capsules. The setting system gets the solution to set on the dipped pins, thus assuring a uniform capsule shell thickness. The setting system is preferably composed of a gelling agent, such as said hydrocolloids or polysaccharides, and optionally salt and sequestering agent. The cation containing salt in the composition serves to enhance the setting ability of the gelling agents. Preferably, the salt comprises cations such as K+, Li+, Na+, NH4+, Ca2+, or Mg2+, etc. The amount of cations is preferably less than 3%, especially 0.01 to 1% by weight in the aqueous pullulan solution. The preferred salt concentration in the solution is less than 2%. In a further aspect of the present invention there are provided compositions for the use in pharmaceutical, veterinary, food, cosmetic or other products like films for wrapping food, aspics or jellies, preferably for predosed formulations like soft or hard capsules and wherein the pullulan compositions has in aqueous solution a sufficient setting ability. In a particular aspect of the present invention there are provided containers for unit dosage forms for agrochemicals, seeds, herbs, foodstuffs, dyestuffs, pharmaceuticals, or flavoring agents produced from the film forming compositions of the present invention. Preferably, such containers are capsules, especially pharmaceutical capsules. The capsule halves of the capsules are preferably sealed with one or more layers of the film forming compositions of the present invention. The capsule halves are preferably sealed by means of a liquid fusion process. The capsules of the present invention may preferably release the product they are filled with at low temperatures, preferably at room temperature. In a further aspect of the present invention there are provided caplets encapsulated in a film forming composition of the present invention. Compared to gelatine or HPMC, the advantages of pullulan can be mentioned as follows: Non-animal origin No chemical modification, totally natural. Higher product quality consistency by the fermentation process control. High homogeneity and transparency of films Very low oxygen permeability. Its capsules are particularly useful for the filling of oxygen sensitive products such as fish and vegetable oils. Relatively low water content, lower than gelatine. High stability of various properties over storage such as mechanical and dissolution properties. The addition of a setting system, preferably based on polysaccharides, to pullulan solutions enables the adaptation of specific and desired gelling properties for the production of hard pullulan capsules by a conventional dipping process. For the production of such capsules it is extremely important that the film forming pullulan solution remaining on the mould pins after dipping is prohibited from flowing down the pins. Otherwise the obtained film will not have the desired uniform thickness. Consequently the present invention enables that the hard pullulan capsules can be produced with the same equipment used for the production of conventional hard gelatine capsules in the same range of process conditions. Furthermore capsules produced from compositions of the present invention have the same dimensional specifications and allow the use of the existing filling machinery and do not require specific and new equipment for the filling process. In an preferred embodiment of the present invention, the concentration of pullulan in the dipping aqueous solution is in a range of 10 to 60%, preferably 10 to 50%, more preferably 15 to 40%, and most preferably 10 to 40% by weight. Although pullulan of various molecular weight is usable, pullulan has a viscosity from 100 cps to 2000 cps at above mentioned concentration and at dipping temperature (40-70° C.) is preferred. The pullulan without desalting (Japanese food grade) is usable, however the desalted pullulan (Japanese pharmaceutical excipients grade) is preferable for its improved mechanical properties. In preferred embodiments of the present invention the setting system comprises a hydrocolloid or mixtures of hydrocolloids. Suitable hydrocolloids or mixtures thereof for the present invention, producing synergistic properties, may be selected from the group comprising natural seaweeds, natural seed gums, natural plant exudates, natural fruit extracts, biosynthetic gums, gelatines, biosynthetic processed starch or cellulosic materials, preferred are the polysaccharides. In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the polysaccharides are selected from the group comprising alginates, agar gum, guar gum, locust bean gum (carob), carrageenan, tara gum, gum arabic, ghatti gum, Khaya grandifolia gum, tragacanth gum, karaya gum, pectin, arabian (araban), xanthan, gellan, starch, Konjac mannan, galactomannan, funoran, and other exocellular polysaccharides. Preferred are exocellular polysaccharides. Preferred exocellular polysaccharides for use in the present invention are selected from the group comprising xanthan, acetan, gellan, welan, rhamsan, furcelleran, succinoglycan, scleroglycan, schizophyllan, tamarind gum, curdlan, and dextran. In a further preferred embodiment of the present invention the hydrocolloids of the setting system are kappa-carrageenan or gellan gum or combinations like xanthan with locust bean gum or xanthan with konjac mannan. Among the setting systems mentioned above, the systems of kappa-carrageenan with cations and gellan gum with cations are specifically preferred. They produce high gel strength at low concentrations and have good compatibility with pullulan. The amount of the setting agent is preferably in the range of 0.01 to 5% by weight and especially preferred 0.03 to 1.0% in the aqueous pullulan solution of the present invention. In a further preferred embodiment of the present invention the sequestering agents are selected from the group comprising ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid, acetic acid, boric acid, citric acid, edetic acid, gluconic acid, lactic acid, phosphoric acid, tartaric acid, or salts thereof, methaphosphates, dihydroxyethylglycine, lecithin or beta cyclodextrin and combinations thereof. Especially preferred is ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid or salts thereof or citric acid or salts thereof. In another preferred embodiment of the present invention, the amount of the sequestering agent is preferably less than 3%, especially 0.01 to 1% by weight of the aqueous dipping solution. In the case that gellan is used as gelling agent, the compositions preferably contain a sequestering agent to improve the capsule solubility. The preferred sequestering, agents are ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid or salts thereof and citric acid and salts thereof. The amount is preferably less than 1% in the solution compositions. The pullulan compositions of the present invention may in a further preferred embodiment additionally comprise pharmaceutically or food acceptable colouring agents in the range of from 0% to 10% based upon the weight of the film. The colouring agents may be selected from the group comprising azo-, quinophthalone-, triphenylmethane-, xanthene- or indigoid dyes, iron oxides or hydroxides, titanium dioxide or natural dyes or mixtures thereof. Examples are patent blue V, acid brilliant green BS, red 2G, azorubine, ponceau 4R, amaranth, D+C red 33, D+C red 22, D+C red 26, D+C red 28, D+C yellow 10, yellow 2 G, FD+C yellow 5, FD+C yellow 6, FD+C red 3, FD+C red 40, FD+C blue 1, FD+C blue 2, FD+C green 3, brilliant black BN, carbon black, iron oxide black, iron oxide red, iron oxide yellow, titanium dioxide, riboflavin, carotenes, anthocyanines, turmeric, cochineal extract, clorophyllin, canthaxanthin, caramel, or betanin. The inventive pullulan compositions may in a further preferred embodiment additionally contain at least one pharmaceutically or food acceptable plasticiser or flavoring agent. In yet another preferred embodiment of the present invention the pullulan containers, such as capsules may be coated with a suitable coating agent like cellulose acetate phthalate, polyvinyl acetate phthalate, methacrylic acid gelatines, hypromellose phthalate, hydroxypropylmethyl cellulose phthalate, hydroxyalkyl methyl cellulose phthalates, hydroxypropyl methylcellulose acetate succinate or mixtures thereof to provide e.g. enteric properties. In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the film-forming compositions further comprise one or more surfactants. The surfactant in the compositions improves the capsule surface properties in such a way that the capsule works well on the conventional automatic high speed capsule filling equipment. We have surprisingly found that the addition of a small quantity of selected surfactants of pharmaceutical or food quality, we can improve dramatically the pullulan film surface gliding performance, consequently to get the capsule opening and closing forces to the range required by filling equipment. Therefore, the present invention provides compositions for hard pullulan capsules with improved surface properties containing pullulan, setting system and surfactant and the aqueous solutions of said film forming compositions for the manufacturing of the capsules. With these preferably aqueous solutions, we can produce hard pullulan capsules with good filling performance by conventional dip mould process just like hard gelatine capsules. A further percieved disadavantage of unmodified pullulan capsule film is its adhesive nature or tackiness when touched by hand. The rapid remoisturing properties of pullulan results in a percieved tackiness when holding the capsule film in the hand for 30 seconds or more. An additional disadvantage is evident on swallowing the capsule film as the film may adhere to the tongue, palet (upper mouth), throat or oesophagus and compare unfavorably with traditional gelatin film capsules. Patient compliance is a major advantage of the traditional hard gelatin capsule and supported by several market studies whcih cite “ease of swallow” as an important factor in patient preference for the capsule oral dosage form. In order to solve this percieved disadvantage of pullulan capsule film, surprisingly it has been found that a surfactant content in the pullulan capsule film provides an acceptable temporary water-repellant surface for handling or swallowing the capsule. Additionally, the selected surfactant may be applied externally as a transparent coating in the range 0.5 to 100 microns. The selected surfactants are water soluble at 37C. The pullulan in the compositions is the base material for hard capsule making. Its preferred concentration in the aqueous solutions comprising the surfactant is from 10 to 40%. The preferred gelling agents for the use with the surfactant are kappa-carrageenan and gellan with a concentration in the solutions 0.05-3%. The surfactant in the compositions is aimed to improve the capsule surface gliding performance, and so the capsule filling performance on filling equipment. The surfactant can be cationic, anionic, non-ionic or amphoteric, and preferably selected from pharmaceutical and food quality such as sodium lauryl sulphate (SLS), dioctyl sodium sulfosuccinate (DSS), benzalkonium chloride, benzethonium chloride, cetrimide (trimethyltetradecylammonium bromide), fatty acid sugar esters, glyceryl monooleate, polyoxyethylene sorbitan fatty acid esters, polyvinyl alcohol, dimethylpolysiloxan, sorbitan esters or lecithin. Its amount based on pullulan is preferably 0.01% to 3%. The above mentioned and other features of the present invention will be better understood by reference to the following examples and the accompanying figure, in which: FIG. 1 shows a graph listing dissolution test results of capsules according to the present invention filled with acetaminophen in deionized water at 37° C. (USP XXIII dissolution). The following examples and tests, not limitative, demonstrate the pullulan capsule production and properties. Furthermore, the examples demonstrate the hard capsule making, the surface gliding improvement, and the capsule filling improvement. EXAMPLE 1 1.0 kg of pullulan (PI-20, Japanese Pharmaceutical Excipients grade) powder is mixed with 10 g of kappa-carrageenan. To 4.0 kg of deionised water under stirring at room temperature is added 20 g of potassium acetate (0.2% by weight in the solution), followed by addition of the above mixture (20% of pullulan and 0.2% of carrageenan in the solution). The powder addition and stirring speeds should be very high in order to avoid the forming of lumps, which take a long time to be dissolved. The solution is heated up to 70° C. under stirring to totally dissolve the carrageenan and pullulan. It is possible to dissolve the components directly at 70° C., but the tendency of pullulan to lump is much higher. The pullulan solution thus prepared is defoamed under slow stirring and then poured into a dipping dish of a pilot machine of conventional hard gelatine capsule production equipment. While keeping the dipping pullulan solution at 60° C., natural transparent hard pullulan capsules of size 0 were produced according to the conventional process with the same dimensional specifications to the conventional hard gelatine capsules. EXAMPLE 2 1.0 kg of pullulan (PI-20) powder is mixed with 6 g of gellan. To 4.0 kg of deionised water under stirring at room temperature is added 20 g of potassium acetate (0.4% by weight in the solution) and 2 g of ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid disodium salt (0.04% in the solution), followed by addition of the above mixture (20% of pullulan and 0.12% of gellan in the solution). Heat the solution up to 75° C. under stirring to dissolve totally the gellan and pullulan. The pullulan solution thus prepared is defoamed under slow stirring and then poured into a dipping dish of a pilot machine of conventional hard gelatine capsule production equipment. While keeping the dipping pullulan solution at 60° C., natural transparent hard capsules of size 0 were produced according to the conventional process with the same dimensional specifications to the conventional hard gelatine capsules. Disintegration Test Results: Table 1: Disintegration test results (according to USP XXIII 1995-<701>Disintegration): Capsule Example 1 Example 2 Capsule emptied time 3.0 min 2.0 min Total disintegration time 10.0 min 11.8 min Dissolution test results of capsules filled with acetaminophen in deionised water at 37° C. (USP XXIII dissolution) are represented in Fig. 1. EXAMPLE 3 Pullulan Film Gliding Improvement In 400 g of demineralised water at room temperature were dispersed under stirring 0.05 g SLS (500 ppm/pullulan), 1 g of kappa-carrageenan (0.2%), 1.25 g of potassium acetate (0.25%) and 100 g of pullulan (20%). The mixture is heated to 70° C. under stirring for complete solubilisation and then the stirring is reduced for defoaming. The solution then is used to cast on glass plates of 4 mm thickness to form pullulan films of about 100 μm thickness after drying at room conditions. The pullulan film gliding performance is evaluated by a test on a slanted plan, a method commonly used by gelatine producers. The method determines the smallest angle of inclination of glass plate to provoke the gliding of a film coated glass plate over another one with films face to face. Consequently, the smaller the gliding angle, the better the film gliding performance. Repeat the above example with surfactant contents listed in Table 2. In Table 2, we gathered the gliding performance for different surfactants and quantity. TABLE 2 Pullulan gliding performance (°) Surfactant No 500 ppm 1000 ppm 5000 ppm SLS 29 9 5 6 Hydrolysed deoil 9 9 7 lecithin Polysorbate 20 12 12 Polysorbate 80 10 9 Sorbitan laurate 10 8 Sorbitan oleate 9 7 EXAMPLE 4 Pullulan Capsule Production and Performance In 142 liters of demineralised water at room temperature were dispersed under stirring 20 g hydrolysed deoil lecithin (500 ppm/pullulan), 363 g kappa-carrageenan (0.2%) and 40 kg pullulan (22%). The mixture is heated up to 70° C. under stirring for total solubilisation. 455 g potassium acetate previously dissolved in some water was then added into the solution. A slurry made with 800 g TiO2, 3 litres hot water and 3 liters so prepared pullulan solution by high shearing was added into the solution in order to produce white opaque capsules. After defoaming, the solution is finally stabled at 60° C. A second identical preparation was made. The two preparations were used to feed a conventional hard gelatine capsule production machine, white opaque hard pullulan capsules were then produced in the similar way to hard gelatine capsules. As reference, transparent pullulan hard capsules without surfactant in the formulation were produced in the same way as above., The improvement of hard pullulan, capsules by the addition of surfactant is illustrated by the data gathered in Table 3, and was confirmed by a filling trial on a filling equipment KGF400. TABLE 3 Opening force of pre- Capsule lock capsule Closing force Capsule of 12 g 6.0 N example 2 Reference 36 g 7.6 N capsule | 20040915 | 20070911 | 20050210 | 99082.0 | 1 | KLEMANSKI, HELENE G | PULLULAN FILM COMPOSITIONS | UNDISCOUNTED | 1 | CONT-ACCEPTED | 2,004 |
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10,941,205 | ACCEPTED | Multi-layer uplift bra | A multi-layer uplift bra which enhances a woman's natural curves while providing adequate support and coverage for the breasts includes a bottom portion capable of encircling the torso of a wearer, a pair of breast cups joined at a center portion, and a pair of straps, each of which being connected at one end to a breast cup and at another end to the bottom portion of the bra. The pair of straps are capable of extending over a pair of shoulders of the wearer. The breast cups include a first layer for lifting the breasts and creating cleavage and a second layer for supporting and holding the breasts in place. A joining means is provided for joining the first and second layers together along the bottom portion of the multi-layer uplift bra. | 1. A multi-layer uplift bra including a bottom portion capable of encircling the torso of a wearer, a pair of breast cups joined at a center portion, and a pair of straps each of which being connected at one end to a breast cup and at another end to said bottom portion of said bra, said pair of straps capable of extending over a pair of shoulders of such wearer, said multi-layer uplift bra comprising; (a) a first layer positioned adjacent to the breasts for lifting the breasts and creating cleavage; (b) a second layer for supporting and holding said breasts in place positioned over said first layer and extending over substantially an entire top edge of said first layer, said second layer extending vertically parallel to a surface of the wearer's breast and in skin contact with the wearer to hold the upper portion of the breast extending above the first layer in place to reduce unsightly bulges and produce a smooth line to the breast and; (c) joining means for joining said first and second layers together along said bottom portion of said multi-layer uplift bra. 2. (canceled) 3. A multi-layer uplift bra as recited in claim 1 wherein said first layer includes one of an under wire or padding for creating cleavage and holding said breasts in an upward and outward direction. 4. A multi-layer uplift bra as recited in claim 1 wherein said first layer includes a combination of an under wire and padding for creating cleavage and holding said breasts in an upward and outward direction. 5. (canceled) 6. (canceled) 7. A multi-layer uplift bra as recited in claim 1 wherein said second layer is formed from one of a smooth satin material and a lace material. 8. A multi-layer uplift bra as recited in claim 1 including one of a front or back clasp for securing said bottom portion of said bra about the torso of such wearer. 9. A multi-layer uplift bra as recited in claim 1 wherein said pair of straps includes means for making such straps adjustable in length about the shoulders of such wearer. 10. A multi-layer uplift bra as recited in claim 1 wherein said first and second layers are joined at the sides of said breast cups and at the connection point of breast cups with said pair of straps of said multi-layer uplift bra. 11. A multi-layer uplift bra as recited in claim 1 wherein said joining means comprises one of sewing, fusing, and gluing. 12. (canceled) 13. (canceled) 14. (canceled) 15. (canceled) 16. (canceled) 17. (canceled) | FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates, in general, to an improved uplift bra. More particularly, the invention pertains to a multi-layer uplift bra which enhances a woman's natural curves while providing adequate support and coverage for the breasts. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION A multitude of bra designs for various purposes such as cleavage enhancement, support, padding, and the like are well known in the art. Many of the cleavage enhancement bras known in the art have serious drawbacks which include the production of unsightly bulges of uncovered breast portions which make for an undesirable line underneath form fitting shirts. Another drawback of cleavage enhancement bras is that occasionally the breasts “fall out” of the bra which can cause embarrassment to the wearer. Additionally, some cleavage enhancement bras include padding therein to enhance the breasts of small to average breasted women. When women wearing these types of bras bend over, the bra often pulls away from the breast also causing embarrassment to the wearer. A drawback of so-called support bras is that in order to achieve the needed support and/or coverage for the wearer, the natural curves of the woman are often suppressed. As a result of the various drawbacks of these bras which are currently in use, some women have had to resort to wearing two separate bras at one time, one for breast enhancement and the other for support and coverage of the breast. The wearing of two separate bras can be uncomfortable and cumbersome as it requires the use of two separate attachment members, two separate elastic bands extending around the wearer's torso and dual straps on each shoulder. Additionally, the requirement of buying two separate bras which are worn at the same time can be cost prohibitive. There is a need in the art to produce a bra which is capable of enhancing the natural curves and/or cleavage of a woman while providing sufficient support and coverage of the breast to avoid embarrassment to the wearer and to produce a smooth line beneath form fitting shirts. OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION It is therefore an object of the invention to produce a multi-layer uplift bra which enhances the cleavage of the wearer while properly supporting the breast. Another object of the invention is to produce a multi-layer uplift bra which provides adequate coverage to the wearer and produces a smooth line beneath clothing. Yet another object of the invention is to produce a multi-layer uplift bra which is comfortable to the wearer. A further object is to produce a multi-layer uplift bra which capitalizes on the advantages of both cleavage enhancement bras and support bras in a cost efficient manner. In addition to the objects and advantages listed above, various other objectives and advantages of the improved uplift bra disclosed herein will become more readily apparent to persons skilled in the relevant art from a reading of the detailed description section of this document. The other objects and advantages will become particularly apparent when the detailed description is considered along with the drawings and claims presented herein. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Briefly, and in accordance with the forgoing objectives, the invention comprises a multi-layer uplift bra which enhances a woman's natural curves while providing adequate support and coverage for the breasts. The uplift bra includes a bottom portion capable of encircling the torso of a wearer, a pair of breast cups joined at a center portion, and a pair of straps, each of which being connected at one end to a breast cup and at another end to the bottom portion of the bra. The pair of straps are capable of extending over a pair of shoulders of the wearer. The breast cups of the invention include a first layer for lifting the breasts and creating cleavage and a second layer for supporting and holding the breasts in place. A joining means is provided for joining the first and second layers together along the bottom portion of the multi-layer uplift bra. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 shows a front elevation view with parts of the layers cut away to illustrate the multi-layer uplift bra constructed according to the invention. FIG. 2 shows a cross-sectional side view taken along line 2-2 of FIG. 1. FIG. 3 shows a side elevation view of the multi-layer uplift bra of the invention. FIG. 4 shows a front elevation view of the multi-layer uplift bra of the invention. FIG. 5 shows a rear elevation view of the multi-layer uplift bra of the invention illustrating adjusting means and attachment means for the bra. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Before describing the invention in detail, the reader is advised that, for the sake of clarity and understanding, identical components having identical functions have been marked where possible with the same reference numerals in each of the Figures provided in this document. Referring now to FIGS. 1 and 4, there is shown a front elevation view of the multi-layer uplift bra, generally illustrated as 10. The uplift bra 10 comprises a bottom portion 12 capable of encircling the torso of a wearer 14, a pair of breast cups 16 joined at a center portion 18, and a pair of straps 20 each of which being connected at one end 22 to a breast cup 16 and at another end 24 to the bottom portion 12 of the bra. The pair of straps 20 are capable of extending over a pair of shoulders 26 of the wearer. Referring now more particularly to FIGS. 1-3 there is shown a first layer 28 for lifting the breasts and creating cleavage and a second layer 30 for supporting and holding the breasts 31 in place. A joining means 32 is provided for joining the first 28 and second 30 layers together along the bottom portion 12 of the multi-layer uplift bra 10. The joining means 32 can be any well known joining means such as sewing, fusing, gluing and the like. The first layer 28, for lifting the breasts and creating cleavage, can be positioned adjacent to the breasts 31. This first layer 28 can include an under wire 34, padding 36 or a combination of an under wire 34 and padding 36 for creating cleavage and holding the breasts 31 in an upward and outward direction. The second layer 30, for supporting and holding the breasts 31 in place, is positioned outside of the first layer 28. The second layer 30 extends over a top edge 38 of the first layer 28 to hold the upper portion 40 of the breast 31 extending above the first layer 28 in place to reduce unsightly bulges and produce a smooth line to the breast 31. The second layer 30 can be formed from any well known material such as a smooth satin material, a lace material, or the like. The first 28 and second 30 layers of the bra 10 are joined at the sides 48 of the breast cups 16 and at the connection point 22 of the breast cups 16 with the pair of straps 20. Now referring to FIG. 5, there is shown a well known clasp 44 for securing the bottom portion 12 of the bra about the torso 14 of the wearer. Alternatively, a front clasp 42, as shown in FIG. 4 may be provided for securing the bra 10 about the wearer such those well known in the art. Additionally, as shown in FIGS. 3 and 5, the pair of straps 20 can include means 46 for making the straps adjustable in length about the shoulders 26 of the wearer. The adjusting means can be positioned in the front or the back of the wearer's shoulders 26. Although the multi-layer uplift bra 10 of the invention has been described above as having a first layer 28, for lifting and creating cleavage, positioned adjacent the wearer's breasts 31 and a second layer 30, for supporting and holding the breasts 31 in place, being positioned outside of the first layer, it is not intended that the invention be limited in such a manner. The present invention can also include an embodiment wherein the second layer for supporting and holding the breasts in place can be positioned adjacent to the wearer's breasts and the first layer for lifting and creating cleavage can be positioned outside of this second layer. The degree of lifting, coverage, and support would not be effected by the order of placement of the layers with respect to the wearer's breast. The invention has been described in such full, clear, concise and exact terms so as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains to make and use the same. It should be understood that variations, modifications, equivalents and substitutions for components of the specifically described embodiments of the invention may be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as set forth in the appended claims. Persons who possess such skill will also recognize that the foregoing description is merely illustrative and not intended to limit any of the ensuing claims to any particular narrow interpretation. | <SOH> BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION <EOH>A multitude of bra designs for various purposes such as cleavage enhancement, support, padding, and the like are well known in the art. Many of the cleavage enhancement bras known in the art have serious drawbacks which include the production of unsightly bulges of uncovered breast portions which make for an undesirable line underneath form fitting shirts. Another drawback of cleavage enhancement bras is that occasionally the breasts “fall out” of the bra which can cause embarrassment to the wearer. Additionally, some cleavage enhancement bras include padding therein to enhance the breasts of small to average breasted women. When women wearing these types of bras bend over, the bra often pulls away from the breast also causing embarrassment to the wearer. A drawback of so-called support bras is that in order to achieve the needed support and/or coverage for the wearer, the natural curves of the woman are often suppressed. As a result of the various drawbacks of these bras which are currently in use, some women have had to resort to wearing two separate bras at one time, one for breast enhancement and the other for support and coverage of the breast. The wearing of two separate bras can be uncomfortable and cumbersome as it requires the use of two separate attachment members, two separate elastic bands extending around the wearer's torso and dual straps on each shoulder. Additionally, the requirement of buying two separate bras which are worn at the same time can be cost prohibitive. There is a need in the art to produce a bra which is capable of enhancing the natural curves and/or cleavage of a woman while providing sufficient support and coverage of the breast to avoid embarrassment to the wearer and to produce a smooth line beneath form fitting shirts. | <SOH> SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION <EOH>Briefly, and in accordance with the forgoing objectives, the invention comprises a multi-layer uplift bra which enhances a woman's natural curves while providing adequate support and coverage for the breasts. The uplift bra includes a bottom portion capable of encircling the torso of a wearer, a pair of breast cups joined at a center portion, and a pair of straps, each of which being connected at one end to a breast cup and at another end to the bottom portion of the bra. The pair of straps are capable of extending over a pair of shoulders of the wearer. The breast cups of the invention include a first layer for lifting the breasts and creating cleavage and a second layer for supporting and holding the breasts in place. A joining means is provided for joining the first and second layers together along the bottom portion of the multi-layer uplift bra. | 20040915 | 20060711 | 20060316 | 57841.0 | A41C310 | 1 | HALE, GLORIA M | MULTI-LAYER UPLIFT BRA | SMALL | 0 | ACCEPTED | A41C | 2,004 |
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10,941,398 | ACCEPTED | Sell-side benchmarking of security trading | A benchmark price reflective of trading in a financial instrument for benchmarking sell-side traders performance is provided by calculating based on received trades a buy volume weighted average price and a sell volume weighted average price for every contra-side party trading in a selected security during a period of time. Ineligible contra-parties are filter out from the determined buy and sell volume weighted average prices and the remaining contra-parties are ranked based on the determined volume weighted average prices from best price to worst to produce ranked, buy volume weighted average prices and ranked sell volume weighted average prices. | 1. A method executed in a computer system, the method comprising: receiving trades that include contra-side party information for each side of the trade; calculating, in a computer based on the received trades, a buy volume weighted average price and a sell volume weighted average price for every contra-side party trading in a selected security during a selected period of time; filtering out ineligible contra-parties to the determined volume weighted average buy and sell prices; and ranking the remaining contra-parties based on the determined volume weighted average prices from best price to worst to produce ranked buy volume weighted average prices for the contra-parties and ranked sell volume weighted average prices for the contra-parties. 2. The method of claim 1 further comprising: determining the selected time interval over which calculating of the buy and sell weighted average prices are determined. 3. The method of claim 2 wherein determining the time interval takes into consideration the trading activity of the security. 4. The method of claim 1 further comprising: filtering out ineligible trades; and using remaining trades to determine the buy volume weighted average prices and sell volume weighted average prices for every market participant trading during the period. 5. The method of claim 1 wherein filtering ineligible contra-parties, comprises: determining whether contra-parties are firms that do not provide trading services or firms that only bought or sold a small amount of shares. 6. The method of claim 1 repeating the method at the determined time intervals. 7. The method of claim 1 further comprising performing the method for a single security. 8. The method of claim 1 further comprising performing the method for plural securities over different intervals of time, which intervals are determined at least in part based on trading characteristics of each of the plural securities. 9. The method of claim 1 further comprising producing products based at least in part on the ranked volume weighted average prices for buy and sell volume weighted average prices. 10. The method of claim 9 further comprising broadcasting the products over a network. 11. A computer program product residing on a computer readable medium, the product for determining a benchmarking price reflective of trading in a financial instrument, the product comprises instructions for causing a processor to: calculate in a computer based on received trades a buy volume weighted average price and a sell volume weighted average price for every contra-side party trading in a selected security during a period of time; filter out determined buy and sell volume weighted average prices for ineligible contra-parties; rank remaining contra-parties based on the determined volume weighted average prices from best price to worst to produce a ranked, buy volume weighted average price; and rank remaining contra-parties based on the determined volume weighted average prices from best price to worst to produce a ranked, sell volume weighted average price. 12. The computer program product of claim 11 further comprising instructions to: determine the selected time interval over which to calculate the buy and sell weighted average prices. 13. The computer program product of claim 11 wherein instructions to determine the time interval take into consideration the trading activity of the security. 14. The computer program product of claim 11 further comprising instructions to: filter out ineligible trades; and provide filtered trades to determine the buy volume weighted average price and sell volume weighted average price for every market participant trading during the period. 15. The computer program product of claim 11 wherein instructions to filter ineligible contra-parties, further comprises instructions to: determine whether contra-parties are firms that do not provide trading services or firms that only bought or sold a small amount of shares. 16. The computer program product of claim 11 further comprising instructions to: perform the method for plural securities over different intervals of time, which intervals are determined at least in part based on individual trading characteristics of the plural securities. 17. The computer program product of claim 11 further comprising instructions to: produce products based at least in part on the ranked buy and sell volume weighted average prices. 18. The computer program product of claim 11 further comprising instructions to: broadcast the products over a network. 19. A computer system comprises: a processor: a memory; and a computer program product residing on a computer readable medium, the product for determining a benchmarking price reflective of trading in a financial instrument, the product comprises instructions for causing the computer system to: calculate in a computer based on received trades a buy volume weighted average price and a sell volume weighted average price for every contra-side party trading in a selected security during a period of time; filter out determined buy and sell volume weighted average prices for ineligible contra-parties; rank remaining contra-parties based on the determined volume weighted average prices from best price to worst to produce ranked, buy volume weighted average prices; and rank remaining contra-parties based on the determined volume weighted average prices from best price to worst to produce ranked, sell volume weighted average prices. 20. The system of claim 19, wherein the computer program product further comprising instructions to: filter out ineligible trades; and provide filtered trades to determine the buy volume weighted average price and sell volume weighted average price for every market participant trading during the period. 21. The system of claim 19, wherein the computer program product further comprising instructions to: determine whether contra-parties are firms that do not provide trading services or firms that only bought or sold a small amount of shares. 22. The system of claim 19, wherein the computer program product further comprising instructions to: determine the buy volume weighted average price and sell volume weighted average price for plural securities over different intervals of time, which intervals are determined at least in part based on individual trading characteristics of the plural securities. 23. The system of claim 19, wherein the computer program product further comprising instructions to: produce products based at least in part on the ranked buy and sell volume weighted average prices; and broadcast the products over a network. 24. A method of disseminating benchmarking information over an electronic network, the method comprising: receiving a ranking of contra-parties based on determined volume weighted average prices from best price to worst price for a set of sell transactions; receiving a ranking of contra-parties based on determined volume weighted average prices from best price to worst price for a set of buy transactions; producing a ranked, buy volume weighted average price for the contra-parties and a ranked sell volume weighted average price for the contra-parties; publishing, over the electronic network the buy volume weighted average price for the contra-parties and the sell volume weighted average price for the contra-parties. 25. The method of claim 24 further comprising: determining an average benchmark price of the top N volume-weight average prices publishing, over a network the buy average benchmark price of the top N volume-weight average prices for the contra-parties and the sell average benchmark price of the top N volume-weight average prices. 26. The method of claim 24 further comprising: determining a range between the best buy volume weighted average price and a value of a volume weighted average price of all transactions; determining a range between the best sell volume weighted average price and the value of the volume weighted average price of all transactions; and publishing the determined ranges over a network. 27. The method of claim 24 further comprising: determining a list of market participants that achieved the benchmark price most often or for the greatest traded value over a period of time; and publishing the list of market participants over the electronic network. | BACKGROUND Institutional investors often use Volume Weighted Average Prices (VWAPs) to gauge whether they obtained a good price on a large order they sent to a sell-side trader. In the context of institutional trading, the “buy-side” refers to large investors (such as mutual funds) that ‘buy’ trading services from broker-dealers and the like. The “sell-side” refers to those broker-dealers and other types of traders that sell a service of buying and selling securities such as stock. For example, consider a mutual fund manager who would like to purchase 1 million shares of a security. Releasing such a large order for the security to the market at one time might cause the market in the security to move against the order. Thus, to avoid this, the manager of the mutual fund may send such a buy order to a sell-side trader who “works the order,” e.g., executing several buy orders over several hours. At some point, the order is filled. The mutual fund manager can determine that the sell-side trader obtained an average price of, e.g., $25, for shares over all of the buy orders in the security. However, the mutual fund manager may want to know whether the $25 average price was a good price for that order at that time. The only readily available benchmark that exists which can be used by the manager to access if it received a good average price is the volume weighted average price of all transactions that occurred during the period (VWAP). SUMMARY The volume weighted average price (VWAP) is a simple weighted average of all transactions that occurred during a period. The VWAP includes a multitude of different trade sizes and trading strategies, including situations where getting the best price was not the trader's goal. Beating such an average is not an appropriate standard to set for traders. In some cases the VWAP benchmark will be too low either because it includes many trades where achieving the best price was not the goal (such as when the goal is to trade quickly, irrespective of price) or because it includes all market participants, even those that performed poorly during that period. In other cases, the VWAP benchmark is too high because it includes market participants who were not working large customer orders. According to an aspect of the present invention, a method executed in a computer system includes receiving trades that include contra-side party information for each side of the trade. The method also includes calculating, in a computer based on the received trades, a buy volume weighted average price and a sell volume weighted average price for every contra-side party trading in a selected security during a selected period of time. The method also includes filtering out ineligible contra-parties to the determined volume weighted average buy and sell prices, and ranking the remaining contra-parties based on the determined volume weighted average prices from best price to worst to produced ranked buy and sell volume weighted average prices for the contra-parties. At least the following embodiments are within the scope of the invention. The method determines the selected time interval over which to calculate the buy and sell weighted average prices. Determining the time interval takes into consideration the trading activity of the security. Ineligible trades are filtered out and remaining trades are used to determine the buy volume weighted average prices and sell volume weighted average prices for every market participant trading during the period. Filtering ineligible contra-parties includes determining whether contra-parties are firms that do not provide trading services or firms that only bought or sold a small amount of shares. The method is performed the method for a single security. The method is performed for plural securities over different intervals of time, which intervals are determined at least in part based on trading characteristics of each of the plural securities. Products are produced based at least in part on the ranked buy and sell volume weighted average prices. The products are broadcast over a network. According to an additional aspect of the present invention, a computer program product determines a benchmarking price reflective of trading in a financial instrument. The product includes instructions for causing a processor to calculate in a computer based on received trades a buy volume weighted average price and a sell volume weighted average price. The prices are calculated for every contra-side party trading in a selected security during a period of time. Buying and selling volume weighted average prices are filtered out for ineligible contra-parties. The computer program product also includes instructions to rank remaining contra-parties based on the determined volume weighted average prices from best price to worst to produce a ranked, buy volume weighted average price and rank remaining contra-parties based on the determined volume weighted average prices from best price to worst to produce a ranked, sell volume weighted average price. According to an additional aspect of the present invention, a computer system includes a processor, a memory and a computer program product residing on a computer readable medium. The product is for determining a benchmarking price reflective of trading in a financial instrument. The product includes instructions for causing the computer system to calculate a buy volume weighted average price and a sell volume weighted average price based on received trades for every contra-side party trading in a selected security during a period of time. The product filters out the determined buy and sell volume weighted average prices for ineligible contra-parties. The product also ranks remaining contra-parties based on the determined volume weighted average prices from best price to worst to produce a ranked, buy volume weighted average price and ranks remaining contra-parties based on the determined volume weighted average prices from best price to worst to produce a ranked, sell volume weighted average price. According to an additional aspect of the present invention, a method of disseminating benchmarking information over an electronic network includes receiving a ranking of contra-parties based on determined volume weighted average prices, from best price to worst price, for a set of sell transactions. The method also includes receiving a ranking of contra-parties based on determined volume weighted average prices, from best price to worst price, for a set of buy transactions. The method includes producing a ranked, buy volume weighted average price for the contra-parties and a ranked sell volume weighted average price for the contra-parties and publishing, over the electronic network the buy volume weighted average price for the contra-parties and the sell volume weighted average price for the contra-parties. One or more aspects of the invention may provide one or more of the following advantages. The invention determines a competitive volume weighted average price (CVWAP), which is a more appropriate benchmark for traders working large orders. The CVWAP is constructed from a sub-set of trades that most likely reflect trading skills of the market participants represented in the sub-set of trades. The CVWAP is constructed from a sub-set of participants who are most likely working large amounts of volume. The CVWAP thus, represents the best performance among market participants that are working large orders. The CVWAP prices can be used to construct data products that can be used to more accurately gauge how sell-side traders perform in handling orders for buy-side participants. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a computer system in a network. FIGS. 2A and 2B are a flow chart depicting a benchmarking process. FIG. 3 is a flow chart depicting a process for publishing products derived from the benchmarking process in FIG. 2. DESCRIPTION Referring to FIG. 1, a system 10 includes a computer 11 that includes a programmable processor 12, random access memory (RAM) 14, storage 16, e.g., a hard drive, and an input/output (I/O) controller 16, all coupled by a bus 15. Storage 16 stores executable computer programs, including programs embodying a Competitive Volume Weighted Average Price (CVWAP) process 20 for calculating price benchmarks and for publishing price benchmark products based on the competitive volume weighted average price. Buy-side investors can use the products produced from the competitive volume weighted average process 20 to determine whether their sell-side trader obtained a good price for a large transaction. Other interfaces, programs, such as an operating system, and devices user such as user interface devices can be included. In addition, the system 11 includes a network interface card (NIC) or the like for broadcasting a message stream 18 comprising a data that includes Competitive Volume Weighted Average Price (CVWAP) derived price benchmarks. The message stream 18 is typically broadcast over a network 14, using convention network based protocols. The message stream 18 can be broadcast over the Internet to the public, or can be broadcast to subscribers over private or virtual private networks, video and audio networks and so forth. In one embodiment, the message stream 18 is received by, e.g., a client system 19a, and is displayed on a display 19a or otherwise rendered to a user at the client system 19a. In some embodiments, the computer 11 is a server type of computer and can be included in a cluster of such computers. The computer 11 can be responsible for more than just Competitive Volume Weighted Average Price (CVWAP) process 20 and can be used in electronic trading, electronic reporting of trades and so forth. In addition, in a practical system, several computers can be used to perform the various functions discussed above. The computer 11 receives trade executions or confirmations of executions 22. The computer 11 can load the Competitive Volume Weighted Average Price (CVWAP) process 20 into memory 14, so that the processor 12 executes the process 20. Trades in securities are generally electronically tracked and reported (e.g., derived from trade or execution reports 22), whether trading is in a computerized trading system or floor trading system, or some hybrid trading model. The trade reporting includes information associated with the executed trade such as the particular security traded, the volume traded, the price of the trade, parties to the trade, and so forth. The computer system 11 receives numerous trade reports 22 associated with various securities traded over the course of a trading day. The Competitive Volume Weighted Average Price (CVWAP) process 20 uses the received trade reports to determine the Competitive Volume Weighted Average Price (CVWAP) for each of the securities over various time intervals, e.g., continuously, every 30 minutes, every hour, or every day and so forth, depending on the characteristics of the security. In a computerized trading system 10, the market participants, electronically trade with other market participants (as opposed to trading on a trading floor). An example of an electronically trading system is the Nasdaq Stock Market® and an example of a floor-trading system is the New York Stock Exchange®. In general, trade reporting is computerized whether floor trading or electronic trading is performed. To keep an appropriate accounting of executed trades, the trading venue can require that each trade report be received within a fixed time-period, e.g., 90 seconds, after each respective trade is executed. Due to increases in computation speed and network bandwidth, computer 11 typically receives trade reports nearly instantly after the execution of the respective trade. Market participants are typically, market makers, specialists, broker/dealers, electronic communication networks (ECN's), exchanges with unlisted trading privileges (UTP exchanges) or any other entity that can post orders to an exchange or market. In some trading venues, such as a market, one or many market makers make markets in a particular security, whereas in other trading venues, such as an exchange, generally a single specialist handles trading for a particular security. Still in other venues, trading occurs via a matching network. Referring to FIGS. 2A and 2B, mutual funds and other institutional investors and the like, often give large orders to “sell-side traders,” i.e., traders that sell their trading services to institutional investors, which are commonly denoted as buy-side traders, i.e., investors that buy trading services from the sell-side traders. An exchange, market, or other trading venue such as an electronic commerce network (ECN), has the trade information in the trade reports that enables the trading venue to produce benchmarks for specialized trading. Such trading venues have access to trading information such as party and the contra-side party to a transaction. The computer 11 executes the competitive Volume Weighted Average Price (CVWAP) process 20 to determine a CVWAP benchmark price for each stock traded in the trading venue or for each stock that is actively trading in the trading venue and so forth. The competitive Volume Weighted Average Price (CVWAP) is calculated at various intervals of the day which can vary depending on the stock that it is being calculated for. Time intervals can be very short for securities that trade a large number of shares over short periods of time or can be longer time intervals, perhaps even one per day or per week, for securities that trade less actively. Factors that can be used to assess a suitable time interval for a particular stock include, choosing the time interval by setting a minimum dollar value that should be traded during the period for each issue. Thus, if the minimum dollar value is $100,000, and the possible intervals are 5 minutes, 30 minutes, 1 hour, 1 day, and 1 week, then each stock is assigned the interval that is closest to the time it takes on average for that issue to trade $100,000 of value. Other factors can be used. The time period is one parameter used to determine whether to initiate a determination of the CVWAP. The CVWAP determines 32 if an appropriate time interval has been reached to start the competitive VWAP process for a particular security. For each security for which a CVWAP is desired, the CVWAPs process 20 access 33 trades in that particular security that occurred during the period. The trades can be in various formats and are typically retrieved from a database or flat file. The process filters 34 out trades that are ineligible for the competitive VWAP benchmark. Ineligible trades may include trades that do not represent “street trading.” Examples of ineligible trades include print-back trades (where a trader finishes working an order for a client, and prints a trade with that client to transfer the shares to the client), crosses (where a firm internally crosses two customer orders, one to sell and another to buy), or trades that occur in a closing cross. Ineligible trades may also include trades reported late or with other trade report modifiers that would indicate that the trade does not represent the trading expertise of the firm. From the filtered trades, the process calculates 36 an individual buy VWAP and sell VWAP of each market participant. These calculations are performed for every market participant trading during the period. The process 36 thus produces two lists of VWAPS sorted by market participant. For example, if market participant “ABCD” had 22 buy executions in a security “XXXX” during the period then the process 36 calculates market participant's ABCD's buy VWAP over those trades as follows: Buy−VWAPABCD=(Σ(volumei*pricei))/(Σvolumei). The process 36 also calculates a sell VWAP for market participant ABCD for transactions where the market participant was selling security XXXX, as follows: Sell−VWAPABCD=(Σ(volumei*pricei))/(Σvolumei). That is, for a buy VWAP, the process determines the sum of the market value (market value is share volume times price) of every buy transaction for the market participant (ABCD) for the security i, (where “i” is security XXXX). The process 36 determines the sum of the share volumes of all buys of security i during the period and divides the market value for the market participant (ABCD) by the total volume of all transactions in (security i) of the participant. The Sell VWAP is similar except that all of the values used in the market value pertain to sell transactions for that participant. The process 20 determines if there are more market participants 37a, if so the next market participant is retrieved, 37b and the process 36 is repeated for all other market participants that participated in transactions during the period. If there are no further, market participants that participated in transactions during the period, the process filters 38 out ineligible contra-parties. Ineligible contra-parties can include firms that do not provide trading services or firms that only bought or sold a small amount of shares. This is done because this is a benchmark for traders that provide trading services and that trade large orders. A benchmark should not compare such traders who have different trading goals or who executed only small amount of volume (a much easier task that may result in a better price that no one could have obtained for a large order) to traders that are working order, e.g., sell-side traders or traders that are executing large proprietary orders. The process 20 applies market participants filter parameters to filter out the ineligible contra-side parties. For instance, a filter parameter can be that the minimum value that each eligible trader trades is at least, e.g., $10,000 of stock value. The minimum values could also be set individually depending on the overall market for a particular security. For instance, a heavily traded large capitalized stock might require the $10,000 threshold whereas a small capitalized stock with much lower trading volume may require, e.g., $2,000 in value. Other values for minimum traded amounts and indeed other types of filter parameters can be used. After filtering the ineligible contra-side parties the process 20 ranks 40 the remaining VWAPs from best price to worst. Thus, for a “buy VWAP calculation” the best price is the lowest price and for a “sell VWAP calculation” the best price is the highest price. The process 20 produces 42 and broadcasts 44 products that are derived from the CVWAP. Referring to FIG. 3, a process 50 to broadcast data products constructed from the CVWAP is shown. The process 50 receives 52 a CVWAP for buy transactions and a CVWAP for sell transactions, and constructs 54 one or more products from the received CVWAPS. One product that can be constructed 54a is a “CVWAP Best Benchmark Price” This would be the single best VWAP price obtained by any market participant. Because two VWAPs are calculated for each CVWAP, one for buy transactions and one for sell transactions, the best VWAP may not be from the same market participant. A second product constructed 54b is a “CVWAP Average Benchmark Price.” The CVWAP Average Benchmark Price could alternatively be the volume-weighted average VWAP of, e.g., the top 3 participants (volume-weight the average of the VWAPs). This benchmark is a slightly lower benchmark, but recognizes the possibility that a single participant might be a anomaly. A third product constructed 54c is a “CVWAP-VWAP Range.” This product gives the range between the CVWAPs (buy and sell) and either the worst market participant VWAPs or the overall VWAP. A very narrow range indicates that the best market participant performance was not very different from the overall average, an indication that trader-selection is not very important in that stock. A wide range indicates that certain participants obtained much better buy and sell prices, an indication that trader selection is very important in that stock. A fourth product constructed 54d is a “CVWAP Winners List” The CVWAP Winners List is a list of market participants that achieved the benchmark price most often or for the greatest traded value over a period of time. Process 50 disseminates 56 over the network messages that represent those products derived from the CVWAP process 20. The messages include values of one or more of the products. The disseminated messages are received 58 from the network, e.g., by subscribers at client systems 19a or by the general public. Receiving the messages includes displaying 58 the messages on a display of user device 19a. Various types of user devices can be used to display the messages. The messages can include at least the following fields: security name and/or ticker symbol, time-period, as well as messages that represent the products derived from the CVWAP. The “CVWAP Best Benchmark Price (BBP) would include at least two fields a best VWAP for buy transactions and a best VWAP for sell transactions. The “CVWAP Average Benchmark Price” would include at least two fields one for buy transactions and one for sell transactions. The “CVWAP-VWAP Range” would include at least one field with the CVWAP-VWAP range value. An exemplary message format shown in TABLE 1 can also include the conventional VWAP price that is based on both buy and sell transactions, since it is not screened by market participants. TABLE 1 Symbol Time- CVWAP CVWAP CVWAP CVWAP CVWAP- VWAP period BBP buy BBP sell Average Average VWAP Benchmark Benchmark Range Price buy Price sell Another, message (an exemplary format of which is shown in TABLE 2) could be the “CVWAP Winners List” that would list market participants that achieved the benchmark price most often or for the greatest traded value over a period of time. The Table 2 below gives an illustrative format, where the identifications of the market participants “ABCD” and so forth are derived from values in Table 3 discussed below. The fields could include the market participant identification, e.g., “ABCD” as shown, and a rating value, derived as discussed below. In addition, a practical winners list could include only a sub-set of all market participants, e.g., the top 5 as shown below or the top three, etc. Of course publishing the entire list is possible. TABLE 2 Highest ranked Second highest Third highest Fourth highest Fifth highest market participant market participant market participant market participant market participant Symbol Time-period “ABCD” “EFGH” “IJKL” “MNOP” “QRST” of rating value RATING VALUE RATING VALUE RATING VALUE RATING VALUE RATING VALUE In addition, the winner list can be based on many different criteria derived from the CVWAP process. For instance, a winner's list can include market participants for a single security, as shown above, or can be a winner's list of an industry sector, winner's list of just large capitalization stocks, small capitalization stock, a particular market index, or across all securities listed on an entire market or exchange. For example, TABLE 3 below provides the participant-level VWAP for “buys” of a security between 9:30 and 9:35 for market participants that bought at least 10,000 shares. The market participant that obtained the best price (market participant “ABCD”) paid about $0.12 less per share than market participant “HJLN” that got the worst price. TABLE I Market Participant Value Volume VWAP ABCD 310,126 14,600 $21.242 EFGH 222,845 10,490 $21.244 IJKL 2,802,270 131,841 $21.255 MNOP 1,539,829 72,442 $21.256 QRST 812,630 38,224 $21.260 UVWX 1,877,990 88,311 $21.266 YZAB 351,938 16,546 $21.270 CDEF 581,103 27,318 $21.272 GHIJ 460,161 21,628 $21.276 KLMN 308,092 14,480 $21.277 OPQR 295,335 13,880 $21.278 STUV 665,399 31,271 $21.278 WXYZ 405,340 19,049 $21.279 BCDE 335,391 15,760 $21.281 FGHI 2,336,923 109,789 $21.286 JKLM 2,102,482 98,773 $21.286 NOPQ 554,699 26,059 $21.286 RSTU 1,841,462 86,500 $21.289 VWXY 899,049 42,229 $21.290 ZABC 792,496 37,215 $21.295 DEFG 294,012 13,806 $21.296 HIJK 573,478 26,925 $21.299 LMNO 912,059 42,810 $21.305 PQRS 217,029 10,186 $21.307 TUVW 1,289,909 60,532 $21.310 XYZA 309,029 14,500 $21.312 BDFH 519,808 24,390 $21.312 JLNP 381,628 17,900 $21.320 RTVX 965,555 45,279 $21.325 ZBDF 325,906 15,272 $21.340 HJLN 832,563 38,975 $21.361 In this case, the CVWAP Best Benchmark Price would be $21.242, (market participant's “ABCD” price). The CVWAP Average Benchmark Price for the top 3 participants would be 21.253. The range (best to worst) would be $0.12. The range (best to VWAP) would be $0.06 (the VWAP was $21.302), and market maker ABCD would earn credit toward being on the CVWAP winners list at the end of the month. At the end of a period, the trading venue can produce rating values used to rank market participants based on how they performed over the day, week, or month, and so forth. A message corresponding to the winners list is produced from the rating values and ranking based on the rating values. In some embodiment, not all market participants are eligible for rating/ranking. For example, rating values need not be provided for firms that do not provide trading services. A simple rating value can be constructed by giving each market participant a point for each half-hour (or other period, e.g., fraction of a day) that the market participant set the CVWAP. Market participants could also earn fractions of a point for achieving prices better than the VWAP but not as good as the CVWAP. The number of points could be a function of the number of cents by which they beat the ordinary VWAP. The advantage of the simple rating value is that small firms that do relatively little volume would be more likely to earn a rating. Another rating value can be constructed by allocating points based on the number of shares traded and the number of cents that a participant beat the ordinary VWAP. Each participant that achieved an individual competitive VWAP that beat the ordinary VWAP would earn points calculated as the product of the number of shares and the number of cents that they beat the VWAP. Whichever way points are allocated to the rating values, at the end of the period the points are added and the market participants are ranked based on the rating values. Rankings could be calculated for the market overall, for sectors (such as “Top CVWAP Market Makers in Health Care Stocks”), and for individual stocks. The VWAP is a simple average of all transactions that occurred during a period. The VWAP includes a multitude of different trade sizes and trading strategies, including situations where getting the best price was not the trader's goal. Beating such an average is not an appropriate standard to set for traders. In some cases the VWAP benchmark will be too low either because it includes many trades where achieving the best price was not the goal (such as when the goal is to trade quickly, irrespective of price) or because it includes all market participants, even those that performed poorly during that period. In other cases, the VWAP benchmark is too high because it includes market participants who were not working large customer orders. The CVWAP on the other hand is a more appropriate benchmark for traders working large orders. The CVWAP is constructed from a sub-set of trades that is most likely to reflect trading skills of the market participants represented in the sub-set of trades. The CVWAP is constructed from a sub-set of participants who are most likely working large amounts of volume. The CVWAP thus, represents the best performance among market participants that are working large orders. The invention can be implemented in digital electronic circuitry, or in computer hardware, firmware, software, or in combinations thereof. Additionally, aspects of the invention can be implemented manually. For example, the calculations of the CVWAP can occur in systems that are part of trading system, reporting systems or off-line system that are feed data feeds and which publish some or all of the products discussed above. Also data structures can be used to represent the messages. These data structures can be stored in memory and in persistence storage and can be broadcast over the network. Apparatus of the invention can be implemented in a computer program product tangibly embodied in a machine-readable storage device for execution by a programmable processor and method actions can be performed by a programmable processor executing a program of instructions to perform functions of the invention by operating on input data and generating output. The invention can be implemented advantageously in one or more computer programs that are executable on a programmable system including at least one programmable processor coupled to receive data and instructions from, and to transmit data and instructions to, a data storage system, at least one input device, and at least one output device. Each computer program can be implemented in a high-level procedural or object oriented programming language, or in assembly or machine language if desired, and in any case, the language can be a compiled or interpreted language. Suitable processors include, by way of example, both general and special purpose microprocessors. Generally, a processor will receive instructions and data from a read-only memory and/or a random access memory. Generally, a computer will include one or more mass storage devices for storing data files, such devices include magnetic disks, such as internal hard disks, removable disks, magneto-optical disks, and optical disks. Storage devices suitable for tangibly embodying computer program instructions and data include all forms of non-volatile memory, including, by way of example, semiconductor memory devices, such as EPROM, EEPROM, and flash memory devices; magnetic disks such as, internal hard disks and removable disks; magneto-optical disks; and CD_ROM disks. Any of the foregoing can be supplemented by, or incorporated in, ASICs (application-specific integrated circuits). Other embodiments are within the scope of the appended claims. For example, the invention can be used to determine sell-side benchmarking products for other types of securities besides stocks or equities. That is, the benchmarking can be used to determine a benchmark price for securities such as options, bonds, ETF (electronically traded funds) or any other situation where there are diversity in trading situations and it is desired to produce a price reflective of a particular trading situation. | <SOH> BACKGROUND <EOH>Institutional investors often use Volume Weighted Average Prices (VWAPs) to gauge whether they obtained a good price on a large order they sent to a sell-side trader. In the context of institutional trading, the “buy-side” refers to large investors (such as mutual funds) that ‘buy’ trading services from broker-dealers and the like. The “sell-side” refers to those broker-dealers and other types of traders that sell a service of buying and selling securities such as stock. For example, consider a mutual fund manager who would like to purchase 1 million shares of a security. Releasing such a large order for the security to the market at one time might cause the market in the security to move against the order. Thus, to avoid this, the manager of the mutual fund may send such a buy order to a sell-side trader who “works the order,” e.g., executing several buy orders over several hours. At some point, the order is filled. The mutual fund manager can determine that the sell-side trader obtained an average price of, e.g., $25, for shares over all of the buy orders in the security. However, the mutual fund manager may want to know whether the $25 average price was a good price for that order at that time. The only readily available benchmark that exists which can be used by the manager to access if it received a good average price is the volume weighted average price of all transactions that occurred during the period (VWAP). | <SOH> SUMMARY <EOH>The volume weighted average price (VWAP) is a simple weighted average of all transactions that occurred during a period. The VWAP includes a multitude of different trade sizes and trading strategies, including situations where getting the best price was not the trader's goal. Beating such an average is not an appropriate standard to set for traders. In some cases the VWAP benchmark will be too low either because it includes many trades where achieving the best price was not the goal (such as when the goal is to trade quickly, irrespective of price) or because it includes all market participants, even those that performed poorly during that period. In other cases, the VWAP benchmark is too high because it includes market participants who were not working large customer orders. According to an aspect of the present invention, a method executed in a computer system includes receiving trades that include contra-side party information for each side of the trade. The method also includes calculating, in a computer based on the received trades, a buy volume weighted average price and a sell volume weighted average price for every contra-side party trading in a selected security during a selected period of time. The method also includes filtering out ineligible contra-parties to the determined volume weighted average buy and sell prices, and ranking the remaining contra-parties based on the determined volume weighted average prices from best price to worst to produced ranked buy and sell volume weighted average prices for the contra-parties. At least the following embodiments are within the scope of the invention. The method determines the selected time interval over which to calculate the buy and sell weighted average prices. Determining the time interval takes into consideration the trading activity of the security. Ineligible trades are filtered out and remaining trades are used to determine the buy volume weighted average prices and sell volume weighted average prices for every market participant trading during the period. Filtering ineligible contra-parties includes determining whether contra-parties are firms that do not provide trading services or firms that only bought or sold a small amount of shares. The method is performed the method for a single security. The method is performed for plural securities over different intervals of time, which intervals are determined at least in part based on trading characteristics of each of the plural securities. Products are produced based at least in part on the ranked buy and sell volume weighted average prices. The products are broadcast over a network. According to an additional aspect of the present invention, a computer program product determines a benchmarking price reflective of trading in a financial instrument. The product includes instructions for causing a processor to calculate in a computer based on received trades a buy volume weighted average price and a sell volume weighted average price. The prices are calculated for every contra-side party trading in a selected security during a period of time. Buying and selling volume weighted average prices are filtered out for ineligible contra-parties. The computer program product also includes instructions to rank remaining contra-parties based on the determined volume weighted average prices from best price to worst to produce a ranked, buy volume weighted average price and rank remaining contra-parties based on the determined volume weighted average prices from best price to worst to produce a ranked, sell volume weighted average price. According to an additional aspect of the present invention, a computer system includes a processor, a memory and a computer program product residing on a computer readable medium. The product is for determining a benchmarking price reflective of trading in a financial instrument. The product includes instructions for causing the computer system to calculate a buy volume weighted average price and a sell volume weighted average price based on received trades for every contra-side party trading in a selected security during a period of time. The product filters out the determined buy and sell volume weighted average prices for ineligible contra-parties. The product also ranks remaining contra-parties based on the determined volume weighted average prices from best price to worst to produce a ranked, buy volume weighted average price and ranks remaining contra-parties based on the determined volume weighted average prices from best price to worst to produce a ranked, sell volume weighted average price. According to an additional aspect of the present invention, a method of disseminating benchmarking information over an electronic network includes receiving a ranking of contra-parties based on determined volume weighted average prices, from best price to worst price, for a set of sell transactions. The method also includes receiving a ranking of contra-parties based on determined volume weighted average prices, from best price to worst price, for a set of buy transactions. The method includes producing a ranked, buy volume weighted average price for the contra-parties and a ranked sell volume weighted average price for the contra-parties and publishing, over the electronic network the buy volume weighted average price for the contra-parties and the sell volume weighted average price for the contra-parties. One or more aspects of the invention may provide one or more of the following advantages. The invention determines a competitive volume weighted average price (CVWAP), which is a more appropriate benchmark for traders working large orders. The CVWAP is constructed from a sub-set of trades that most likely reflect trading skills of the market participants represented in the sub-set of trades. The CVWAP is constructed from a sub-set of participants who are most likely working large amounts of volume. The CVWAP thus, represents the best performance among market participants that are working large orders. The CVWAP prices can be used to construct data products that can be used to more accurately gauge how sell-side traders perform in handling orders for buy-side participants. | 20040915 | 20110906 | 20060316 | 67648.0 | G06Q4000 | 0 | WONG, ERIC TAK WAI | SELL-SIDE BENCHMARKING OF SECURITY TRADING | UNDISCOUNTED | 0 | ACCEPTED | G06Q | 2,004 |
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10,941,471 | ACCEPTED | Efficient communication through networks | A method and device that interrogates the availability of a called party before placing a communication from the calling party to the called party. A callback may be initiated so that both communications are completed simultaneously. The routing of communication may take place through any one of a number of different networks and at another time of the day, even if the caller does not otherwise have access to those networks. | 1-37. (canceled) 38. A method for communication between two access devices via a data network, comprising the steps: receiving data to be transmitted at a first access device; sending the data on a route having at least a first portion and a second portion between a first access device and a second access device; performing a first conversion converting the data from a first format to a second format, the data to be transmitted being transmitted on the first portion of the route in the first format and the data to be transmitted being transmitted on the second portion of the route in the second format, the second format being an internet protocol; performing a second conversion converting the data from the second format to the first format so that the message is in the first format at the second access device. 39. The method of claim 38, wherein the first access device and the second access device comprise telecommunication nodes and said first format is a telecommunication protocol. 40. The method of claim 39, wherein said step of sending comprises sending the data from the first access device serially to a first central node, the data network, a second central node, and the second access device. 41. The method of claim 38, wherein said step of sending comprises sending data related to voice communication for a phone call from a calling party connected to the first access device to a called party connected to the second access device. 42. The method of claim 38, wherein the second portion of the route is in a data network. 43. The method of claim 38, wherein the first portion of the route is in a public communication network. 44. The method of claim 38, wherein a calling party is connected to the first access device for transmitting voice communication and a called party is connected to the second access device for receiving the voice communication and at least the second portion of the route is through the Internet. 45. The method of claim 38, wherein the second conversion is performed at the second access device. 46. The method of claim 38, wherein said second access device is a central office of a telecommunication network. 47. The method of claim 38, further comprising the step of selecting the route based on at least one criteria defined by user preference. 48. The method of claim 47, wherein the at least one criteria comprises a specified level of transmission quality. 49. The method of claim 47, wherein the at least one criteria comprises credit availability of a calling party. 50. The method of claim 47, wherein the at least one user criteria comprises cost of routing. 51. The method of claim 38, wherein said step of sending comprises execution of a call setup procedure. 52. The method of claim 38, further comprising the step of storing at least one of subscriber information, rate schedules, and call details. 53. The method of claim 38, wherein the data network uses Asynchronous Transfer Mode. 54. The method of claim 38, wherein the data network uses Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol. 55. The method of claim 38, wherein the data network uses Frame Relay techniques. 56. The method of claim 38, wherein the data to be transmitted is related to a fax transmission. 57. The method of claim 38, wherein the data to be transmitted comprises signaling messages. 58. In a system for transmitting communications from a calling party to a called party, a communication node accessible by the calling party using a telecommunication network, said node being arranged and dimensioned for receiving a communication in a first format from the calling party, converting the communication received from the calling party from the first format to a second format, wherein the second format is compatible with a data network, and transmitting the converted communication to a further node capable of connecting a local call to the called party on a further telecommunication network. 59. The node of claim 58, wherein said node is a telecommunication node and said first format is a telecommunication protocol. 60. The node of claim 58, wherein the data network is the Internet and said second format comprises an Internet protocol. 61. The node of claim 58, further comprising means for converting communications initiated by the called party and received from the data network from said second format to said first format. 62. The node of claim 58, further comprising means for receiving a local call from the calling party. 63. The node of claim 62, further comprising means for determining a called party number from the calling party by communicating using the local call. 64. The node of claim 58, further comprising an Internet server for connecting the node to the Internet and a telephone server for connecting the node to a circuit switched network. 65. The node of claim 58, wherein the telephone server comprises a Public Switched Telephone Network Interface. 66. The node of claim 58, wherein the node is further arranged and dimensioned for selecting a route to the called party based on at least one criteria of user preference. 67. The node of claim 58, wherein the at least one criteria comprises a specified level of transmission quality. 68. The node of claim 58, wherein the at least one criteria comprises credit availability of a calling party. 69. The node of claim 58, wherein the at least one user criteria comprises cost of routing. | CROSS-REFERENCE TO COPENDING PATENT APPLICATIONS This is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/320,269, filed Oct. 11, 1994. FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a system for providing transparent access to different types of communication networks that may be incompatible with each other and some of which may be incompatible with the equipment used by the calling party or the called party, least cost routing in such a system, maintaining quality of communication in such a system, prioritizing the routing of such communications, evaluating different communication access locations to determine where to send a communication, synchronizing communications, blocking incoming communications while waiting for the synchronizing to be completed, and minimizing the cost of communications using such a system. This system also monitors and records the services used on each of the unrelated service providers. This information is then utilized for billing purposes and for paying the service providers. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Presently when communication services are offered on a global basis, communications are established through the equipment of a plurality of service providers located in various countries. This communication is dominated by large carriers which have formed the global network through reciprocal agreements. Smaller competing carriers, who may offer the same service at lower prices, currently do not have reciprocal agreements between them. The invention provides these smaller competing carriers with access to each other without the use of the large carriers. Such access provides the calling party (e.g., a subscriber of the smaller competing carrier) with the option of obtaining optimum service at lower prices while ensuring that the appropriate service providers get paid. The calling party can now have cheaper access to different types of telecommunication networks that the party may not have access to under the current large carrier system. It may be cheaper or preferred for the calling party to use smaller carriers to communicate with another location by routing the communication over a digital data network rather than an analog voice network, or by routing the communication over a paging network rather than a cellular network or a combination of networks. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION One objective of the invention is to provide communication between otherwise incompatible communication networks in a manner that is transparent to the calling party (that is, the subscriber of the service initiating the communication), while assuring that each service provider that renders service in routing that communication gets paid. Preferably, the communication is routed based on the results from an evaluation of all available communication networks even though the calling party may have direct access to only one type of communication network. In accordance with the invention, control information in the form of an inquiry of the availability status of the party to be called may be sent through different networks by routing it through a control location of the inventive system that converts it into a compatible form. For instance, the called party may be using one type of network, such as a data network having E-mail, while the calling party is using another, such as a cellular network. With a conventional data network, sending an E-mail message to an address on the data network does not indicate the availability of a party on a cellular network to communicate. In accordance with one embodiment of the invention, however, the control location of the inventive system is connected with both the data network and the cellular network to convert the control information associated with E-mail into a form compatible on the cellular network for making an inquiry and then transmits the inquiry over the cellular network. The inventive system may have external or internal software and hardware that intercepts the normal transmission to route it appropriately. The system effects further routing, which may include converting between different forms of communication networks, compressing voice into data packets or decompressing data packets into voice, coding and decoding transmissions for security reasons, and multiplexing communications over the same lines. The system records the various routing transactions involved in the communication and calculates the billing of the transactions in a manner that is transparent to the calling party. Another objective of the invention is to interrogate the called party number's communication availability prior to conferencing the calling party and called party. The inventive system may have a control location that receives both a calling party and a called party access number or identification. After receiving these access numbers, the system initiates an inquiry to the called party from the control location and waits for a status signal as to the called party location's availability to take incoming calls. If the status signal indicates an available status, a first communication is initiated to the called party access number from the control location and a second communication is initiated to the calling party access number from the control location. Thereafter, the first and second communications are bridged using the same or different networks. In addition to interrogating the called party's availability status, the control location determines where to route the call by examining factors such as transmission cost, the appropriate network for the desired transmission, the service provider that provides this kind of network and the plurality of available called party locations that service the called party access number. The control location also considers communication networks that are available to the called party locations and the identity of service providers who provide those communication networks across the various called party locations. After receiving the calling party and called party access numbers, the control location performs an inquiry as to which service provider and which network can route the transmission. In addition to technological considerations, the control location also studies the various cost to perform the desired transmission and records such information for both monitoring and billing purposes. An authorizer uses such information to monitor all incoming and outgoing transactions between the network service providers and provide clearance insuring payment and settlement of all transaction for each of these operators. In routing communications, the control location takes into consideration customer defined preference criteria relating to preferences for particular types of communication network, transmission quality, cost, security, and priority of transmission. For example, if the quality of a transmission is not acceptable, the transmissions may be rerouted to any other available network that can transmit with better quality, thereby ensuring that the quality of the transmission satisfies the customer's preference criteria for transmission quality. The calling party access number itself may include a message or protocol containing preference criteria selections. Another objective of the invention involves synchronizing the completion of callback from the control location to the calling party and called party legs of communication. The synchronization involves the calculation of the waiting time that is necessary before the control location commences each callback. The waiting time may be fixed or read from memory off a data base located at the control location. This synchronization may result in completion of both communications simultaneously or with minimal delay, i.e., a significantly shorter delay than without the synchronization. Such synchronization results in more efficient use of the network at a lower cost. While the control location is waiting to initiate completion of one of the callback legs of communication, an incoming communication may block the completion of that one leg and thereby interrupt the synchronization from taking place. The blocking period may be for a fixed time period or may be based on information in a data base that includes information relating to the expected waiting time for completing communications. In accordance with all embodiments of the invention, the communication being established may be two-way. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING For a better understanding of the present invention, reference is made to the following description and accompanying drawing, while the scope of the invention is set forth in the appended claims. FIG. 1 is a conceptual block diagram indicating the principles of operation of the inventive method to interrogate over a data network and transmit voice over the data network. FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of a system overview having two servers at nodes connected to an Internet backbone. FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of a telephony server. FIG. 4 is a functional block diagram of the embodiment of FIG. 2. FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of a flow chart showing routing for versatility and priority of transmission. FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram of a flow chart showing synchronizing connection. FIGS. 7A-7G are schematic diagrams showing different types of communication routing techniques. FIG. 8 is a schematic representation of a central local node interacting with networks in accordance with the invention. FIG. 9 is a conceptual block diagram that is a further variation of that of FIG. 1. DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Turning to FIG. 1, a schematic drawing depicting a method of sending a voice or digital transmission to a local node is shown. For ease in understanding, this drawing is the same as FIG. 1 of the copending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/320,269 (the '269 application), filed Oct. 11, 1994 by the present inventor and entitled METHOD OF AND SYSTEM FOR EFFICIENT USE OF TELECOMMUNICATION NETWORKS (as amended), whose contents are incorporated herein by reference. The '269 application describes a technique by which hotels, and other similarly situated establishments, can make use of international callback technology. The reference numbers in FIG. 1 of the '269 application are the same as those in FIG. 1 of the present application, i.e., a telecommunications network 10, calling location 12, called location 14, transparent telecommunications node or intercept 16, first central local node 18, data network 20, central office 22, second central local node 24, phonecall 26, link 28 to central local node 18, link 30 to the external channel 20, link 32 to the second central local node 24, line 36 over which a first phonecall 27 is made to interrogate the called location 14 and over which is sent back a call supervision status signal 38, a callback 40, an uncompleted call signal 42, a message 44, a reverse answer supervision signal 47 and a calling location 48 that places a call 50A or receives a callback 52A. The calling location 12 may be where a data transmission originates or where a voice communication originates for eventual receipt by the calling location 14. While phonecalls are certainly one form of communication envisioned, the invention covers any type of communication, whether it involves public service telephone networks, cellular networks, paging networks, data networks, analog networks, etc. A call is to be interpreted as any form of communication over a network and not limited just to voice phonecalls. While such a technique is particularly suited to callback situations that employ a voice network, it is also applicable to employing digital data based networks such as the internet computer network For instance, instead of routing a call direct between locations A and B using technology X, it may be cheaper to use callbacks from location C to location A and from location C to location B using technology Y. As used in this application, the term “calling party” designates the initiator of the transmission or communication, which may include callers over phone networks, subscribers that use data, cellular or paging networks, etc. The term “called party” designates the ultimate receiver of the transmission or communication from the calling party and with whom communication is being effected. The called party may include users of phone networks, cellular networks, paging networks, data networks, etc. whose access device on the network serve as the destination to which the transmission or communication is directed from the calling party. In addition to transmitting voice through the telecommunication network 10, the voice may be converted into digital form in a conventional manner, e.g., compressed into data packets or sampled. At the first central local node 18, the call from the calling location 12 is converted to a data signal which is then sent over a data network such as the data network 20 to the called location or destination 14. Prior to reaching the called party, the data signal is reconverted into voice at the central office 22 (or control location) to be transmitted to the destination 14 via a public communications network or other connection line 36. Such a transaction bypasses the use of the international telephone networks and utilizes local calls instead. All internode connections are via the data network. In addition, by transmitting voice over a data network, the need for callback over a telephone network to save costs is obviated. Since data transmissions are virtually instantaneous, the costs associated with the waiting times for transmitting voice over conventional phone networks is avoided and even the costs associated with waiting times for making connection in a callback over a conventional phone network are avoided. Each node is capable of communicating with other nodes for purposes of routing the communication and act as a transit node, making inquiries to determine availability of the party at the destination to receive the communication, and even tracking down which network the party is presently accessing so that the communication may be routed there. For instance, a node at the called party may be preprogrammed with all different forms of communication networks and contact identifications that the party may be accessing, together with their addresses, access numbers, or other types of identification information to access them from the node. Upon receipt of a request inquiring as to the availability of the party to receive a communication, the node at the called party having the main identification or number associated with the called party checks the status of each of these communication networks at different access locations to determine whether any are being accessed by the party at that time. In this connection, the called party would have previously designated the main identifications (addresses, etc.) or phone numbers where it wants to be reached and what networks are to be employed. For instance, the check may reveal that the called party's computer is logged in or that the phone is hooked up, etc. If so, then the node has identified where the party rnay be accessed and then contacts the inquiring node to forward an authorization code for billing credit purposes so that the called party node may effect communication through this identified communication network. The authorization code limits the duration and services that may be provided. Alternatively, the system may send the authorization code together with the inquiry. The node that made the inquiry request sends the authorization code after checking in with a central node responsible for clearing all transactions and which registers every event on the network. The central node may be part of a distributed network of central nodes that are responsible for billing. After the called party node receives the authorization code and authenticates it for billing purposes, communication may be established to the party through the identified communication network that was tracked down and found to be accessible all transparent to the end user. An appropriate signal is transmitted to the requesting node that communication may commence between the parties. An example of tracking down the called party will now be described. Assume that the party spends half the year in North America using NACN cellular network and the remainder in Europe using GSM internet network hookup using Laptop computer. Under normal situations, these two forms of networks are not compatible so direct communication is not possible. However, in accordance with the invention, such a situation is rectified by communicating with a node that is programmed with information as to which of the possible networks the party may be using. If the node is in contact with the NACN system, it is also in contact with a node that is in contact with the GSM system Both nodes check their respective cellular systems to locate on which the party is or has been accessing or which has been turned off. Once the accessible location is identified, contact can be made from regular telephone to the laptop converting and routing the voice over data to the laptop on which it is converted back into voice. As an example of operation, the subscriber of the service provider first contacts a central local node by providing the calling party's identity access number or identification and the called party access number or identification, as well as the type of service desired as concerns routing preferences, service providers, level of transmission quality, timing of transmission, etc. The central local node polls the called party nodes to locate the network which the called party is accessing. For instance, one called party node may be programmed with access information on all the possible networks that the called party may be using, e.g., cellular, computer, paging, etc. This called party node then searches to find where the called party is or is likely to be and then informs the central local node that the communication may be sent to it upon receipt of an authorization number for the transaction. The central local node provides such authorization, perhaps after checking with the central node first that handles billing and determining that the calling party or service providers satisfy financial conditions for permitting service and future settlement. If the central local nodes do a least cost routing analysis, for instance, and determine that a callback from the called party is the cheaper way to complete the transaction and both the calling party's service provider and called party's service provider has received authorization, then the originating service provider will be billed. The central node records all such transactions for billing purposes. One application of the invention that allows the Internet or other data network to function like a telephone and fax machine will now be explained. Callers are allowed to dial anywhere in the world for the price of a local access and service fee and avoid using long distance carriers. Users may make such calls to have voice conversations and to send faxes to remote locations. For making voice calls, a local system is dialed via computer access or regular phone which prompts the users for the called party number or identification and then connects them to the called party over the Internet or other data network, such as by connecting them via a node through a local call or through other networks. For example, a calling party may access a node that converts the transmission into data to support the network that it chooses. For instance, it may connect to another node that converts the transmission into voice and then connects the communication into a local call to the called party with the called party node being operated by an independent service provider located elsewhere such as in another country. Of course, the connection takes place only after authorization is received to complete the local call. For sending faxes, the calling party sends a fax into a central local node and the fax is then forwarded to the called party over the Internet or other data network The fax may be sent in real time or as a store and a forward mode for later sending as part of a subsequent batch transmission, depending upon the preferences of the calling party. The present invention envisions the option of using a single communication device, such as a multimedia laptop computer, to initiate and receive all forms of communication by contacting a node or being contacted by a node in accordance with the invention and providing it with an identification access address and a called party access address, phone number or other type of identity code and any preferences concerning the transmission, such as level of quality of transmission, service providers, time of cost, transmission (e.g., real time or store and forward later), security, encryption, etc. Transparent to the calling party that is using the laptop, the node takes care of all further action such as tracking down the called party, handling financial billing and obtaining authorization for completing transactions via individual remote service providers, determining the preferred path to route communications even if over otherwise incompatible networks by converting the transmissions accordingly, checking the level of quality of transmission and making sure the transmission satisfies preferences. In addition to having access to a data network, the laptop may have appropriate software/hardware that give it access to a cellular digital packet data and, via a built-in fax modem, to a phone network. Thus, the laptop may be in contact with the node through any of these different communication networks and communicate over any of these communication networks as well, including performing two way voice calls. Other applications of the invention concern transmissions through conventional switched frame relay, conventional switched asynchronous transfer mode and other conventional data networks such as the Internet. Frame relay is an international standard for efficiently handling high-speed data over wide area networks that uses network bandwidth only when there is traffic to send. Asynchronous transfer mode allows users to combine voice, video and data on a single phone line and operates at up to Gigabyte-per-second speeds in which usable capacity is segmented into fixed-size cells each consisting of header and information fields allocated to services on demand. The Internet network differs from frame relay switching and asynchronous transfer mode by using transmission control protocol/Internet program, which is a set of protocols developed by the Department of Defense to link dissimilar computers across a variety of other networks and protocols. Referring to FIG. 2, several remote nodes 50, 52, 54 are shown on the Internet backbone 56. Each remote node has a telephone server 60 and an Internet server 62, although a common server may be used instead to provide both functions. The Internet server 62 has access to the Internet backbone 56. Both servers 60, 62 are networked using transmission control protocol/Internet program TCP/IP, which is a set of protocols that link dissimilar computers across a variety of other networks and protocols as conventionally used on local area networks, minicomputers and mainframes, or are networked with a router in the case of an ATM. Subscribers 64 dial into and are serviced by the telephone server 60, which is a computer based machine with conventional voice and fax processing hardware and software, so as to establish a connection with one of the remote nodes. Subscribers access the servers by using any of the conventional off-the-shelf phone and fax machines. Referring to FIG. 3, a calling party interface 70, operator interface 72 and a public switched telephone network PSTN interface 74 are shown. The subscriber interface 70 provides subscribers or calling parties with internet phone and fax service via the Internet is Server 62 of the remote nodes (see FIG. 2). The calling party may dial into the subscriber interface 70 through voice or data lines, for instance, with a computer or laptop. The PSTN interface 74 has lines that are used for inbound calls and lines that are used for outbound calls. These lines for inbound calls lead to industry standard dialogic hardware or a modem such that when a particular number is called, the identification or password of the calling party is checked for validity of identity. If determined to be valid, the calling party is requested to indicate what service is desired so that the communication may be routed accordingly over voice or data networks. The called party is contacted to determine availability for receiving the communication. If available, communication is established over the desired service. Otherwise, if real time communication is desired, the calling party is notified that contact is unavailable. If store and forward is the desired method of communication, then the called party is monitored until contact becomes available, at which time the communication may be transmitted. A store and forward type communication is one in which a desired communication, such as a telecopier transmission, is stored until it may be sent in accordance with other criteria, such as in batch format at off peak rates. Voice processing entails call processing and content processing. Call processing involves physically moving the call around such as through switching. Content processing involves actually interacting with the call's content, such as digitizing, storing, recognizing, compressing, multiplexing, editing or using it as input to a computer program. The operator interface 72 includes designated representatives of the service provider to interact with the system by means of a personal computer console to perform essential functions such as subscriber administration, rate schedule management, billing and system administration. These functions are remotely accessible by dial up. FIG. 4 shows the functional hardware in accordance with the invention. In addition to the previously mentioned fundamental external interfaces, the internal functional blocks that are necessary for the present invention include, as represented by blocks in the diagram, a data base 76, call management 78, switching, voice and fax messaging 80. The horizontal links 82 on either side of the switching and voice messaging block 80 are voice paths. The remaining links 84 are all data flow paths. The data base 76 is a database management system that is used as a repository for subscriber information, rate schedules, call details, and configuration information required to operate the system and the franchise. Switching via block 80 is required to establish voice or fax between the source and the called party. Pre-recorded audio messages are played back onto a voice pathway by voice messaging for purposes of greeting, indicating normal call setup progress, and checking system load status, subscriber account status, and error calculations. Voice messaging refers to a small set of system wide messages and not to arbitrary voice mail messages. Calls originating from the PSTN interface side are detected by the switching voice messaging block 80, which also communicates with call management 78 to establish a link with the called party node via the Internet server 62 of FIG. 2 or a voice or data line and to determine which message to playback if any. The call management 78 handles call set up requests from either the subscriber interface 70 side or PSTN interface 74 side to issue call set up commands to the subscriber interface 70 and to the switching voice messaging 80. It maintains status information on the subscriber interface and PSTN lines. The call management 78 is configurable to verify credit availability before setting up a call with other nodes if necessary, and monitor the call to issue voice messaging and call termination commands upon credit depletion. It handles call take down situations by recording call detail information in the database for eventual billing purposes and issuing relevant commands directly to subscriber interface 70. For establishing a call, the following steps may take place: The dialogic hardware answers the call. The switching voice messaging 80 sends a message to the answered call via the voice processing unit requesting entry of a called party access number, which after its entry is received and stored. The call management 78 checks the data base 76 for the user's billing status. If invalid, the voice processing unit plays a message and the call is disconnected. Otherwise, for valid callers, the call management 78 initiates the subscriber interface 70 to send a request packet over the Internet other data or voice line; the request packet consists of the called party number or identification and may include an authorization code. Upon receipt of the packet at a remote central local node, the remote central local node will dial the called party number or enter its address, perform a call analysis and send the result back to the subscriber interface at the origination node. Call management 78 checks the analysis result. If a connection link was established, then the call begins. Otherwise, the switching voice messaging 80 prompts the user via the voice processing unit with a message and options, such as dial another number or leave a message in a voice mailbox. Upon completion of the call, billing information will be stored in the data base 76 for further processing by the operator interface 72. FIG. 5 illustrates a technique for gaining access to a greater number of telecommunication networks. The normal transmission from an access device is intercepted by an intercept device, which routes the transmission to a central local node. At the central local node, an investigation is made as to what route is available for the specific service. After determining which route is available, the central local node determines all available nodes that can provide such a service for the called party end. The central local node then selects a specific available node based on considerations such as cost, line quality and security and priority. The central local node checks with an internal data base to determine the available networks at the called party end, the identity of the service providers who provide those networks across different nodes, and the different transmission costs associated with customer defined criteria. The network access devices supported at the called party end could be a telecopier, telex, voice telephone, cellular phone, radio phone, data entry terminal, etc. (different types of communication access devices). Transmission costs associated with customer defined criteria include customer preference for particular types of networks, encryption security, and/or priority of transmission such as transmit in real time or in a store and forward format as defined in the customer's message. A software defined network may be used to maintain quality (e.g., upon detection of degradation in quality, the bandwidth of the transmission may be widened in accordance with or prioritization of transmission instructions). If data packets do not arrive quick enough, then quality may be enhanced by increasing the bandwidth within predetermined bandwidth parameters on account of other voice data users. Another embodiment of the application of this invention concerns security. A calling party may prefer that the transmission take place over a secure, dedicated line, but does not is care about the route taken by the acknowledgment or reply to the transmission. As a result, the acknowledgement or reply may be routing over non-dedicated lines and through any communication networks, even from among selected networks of the calling party's choosing. For instance, the calling party may want the acknowledgement or reply to be routed over either cellular or computer network services. In accordance with the invention, such customer preferences may be found in the data base associated with the calling party and interpreted by the central local nodes. The central local nodes then instruct nodes responsible for the routing back of the reply or acknowledgement to follow the desired preference. Another example of the application of this invention relates to a customer's preference that a telecopier message be transmitted immediately instead of in delayed batch format or vice versa. The telecopier message is sent to a central local node (at the origin). After initializing the system, i.e., setting a carrier default 90, checking customer preferences for an operator of a service provider 92 and checking customer preference for selecting the desired service 94, the central local node determines 96 if there are any more central local nodes (CLN) from a least cost routing (LCR) table, which contains a list of central local nodes connected with service providers of different networks and their costs for providing service. If there are more central local nodes, the next one is selected 98. A determination 100 is made as to whether peak or off peak rates apply by basing it on the current time. Reference to a data base table 102 may be made to determine the average call length of service to the location by the customer to help figure out the most cost efficient route based on history of usage. A least cost routing comparison 104 is made to determine whether the new central local node's connection to the service provider offers the more favorable rate based on the average length of communication that what was being offered through the previously considered central local node. If better, the newly considered central local node (and its associated service provider) is selected. If worse, the previously selected central local node (and its associated service provider) will remain selected. This process is repeated 108 for each central local node and thereby each service provider. When done, the format of the call, the appropriate service provider, network and time of day are selected for sending the transmission to the selected central local node 110 and the billing information is updated 112. By selecting the appropriate network, it may be ascertained that it is less expensive to transmit the telecopier message in digital form over a data network than to transmit the telecopier message in voice callback format through the long distance carriers. Thus, the data network may be the network of choice for purposes of selecting the least cost between nodes. On the other hand, the central local node should give priority to the customer's preferences, which could mean that the transmission be routed through the most secure route which may not be the data network Instead, a secure transmission would be through a different routing and would result in an increase in transmission cost. FIG. 6 shows a flow chart for establishing a synchronized connection of both call legs, that is, synchronizing the completion of callback and called party communications by selecting specific system time and speed of callback time. A user is allowed to stay on a line or hang up to wait for a callback while the routing unit time the completion of both communications from the routing unit to the calling party access number and the called party access number and ensures that both occur simultaneously or according to cost efficiency of transaction. The routing unit checks an internal data base to determine how long to wait before commencement of opening communications with both so as to ensure synchronization of the callback and called party calls. This may be based on the historical performance of placing the callback and called party calls or placing a data call or tracking down a party. A routing unit initially receives the first leg 120 (location, city, destination) of the calling party and the second leg 122 (location, city, destination) of the called party and then looks up in a status call back table in memory 124 for the least estimated connection time. The difference 126 is calculated between the connection times of the two legs and the leg with the longer connection time needed is dialed 128. A timer 130 is set to the difference and counts down to zero 132. When the counting down is completed, the timer triggers the actuation to open communication with the leg with the shorter connection time 134 to establish the call 136. If a called party is to be called that is not found in the status call back table in memory 124, then the actuation to open communication takes place in the sequence of the called party leg first and then the other leg. The average connection times are then stored in the table in memory 124 for future synchronization of the two legs. The table is continuously updated every time calls are placed. The average connection times for both legs and the service providers that are available for connection to the called party location and city codes are stored in the table for retrieval upon demand. Another aspect of the invention concerns blocking the channels so no other incoming calls can interrupt during the time the routing unit performs the callback and called party calls. The intercept unit only releases the blocked channel a few seconds before the time specified in the history of completion of the callback and called party calls. Alternatively, the time delay may be based on a fixed minimum time period common for placing those types of calls. For instance, if a long distance call takes 10 to 15 seconds depending upon the called party, the time delay period that is set could always be 9 or 10 seconds under the time required to make that call. Thus, there is only a short time period during which an incoming call can interrupt the routing unit's synchronization of the completion of the callback and called party calls. It should be noted that the data base checked by the intercept unit may not be the same data base checked by the routing unit, although their contents could be the same. Such call blocking features are commercially available from VoiceSmart in software and hardware under the designation transparent local node (TLN) and hotel local node (HLN). By blocking such incoming calls, service providers no longer face the risk of bearing the expense of completing the second callback leg if the first callback leg becomes busy due to an incoming call. FIGS. 7A-7G exemplify different techniques for efficient routing communications in accordance with the invention. Access devices 150 and 156 (FIGS. 7A-7G) and nodes 152 (FIGS. 7A-7C, 7E-7F), 154 (FIGS. 7A-7G) and 160 (FIG. 7C) on a network are shown, but each node may be located in the same or different geographical region or country. The access device 150 may have an intercept capability to render the ensuing routing connections transparent to the users. Node 158 (FIG. 7B) represents an access device on a different network. For purposes of example, links 170 (FIGS. 7A-7G) and 174 (FIGS. 7A-7G) may be considered voice transmission lines and links 172 (FIGS. 7A-7C, 7F) and 173 (FIG. 7D) may be considered data transmission lines. Link 176 (FIG. 7B) may be a paging or cellular line. Links 178 (FIGS. 7E and 7G) and 180 (FIG. 7E) may be data lines. Links 182, 184 and 186 (FIG. 7F) may also be data lines. Each node may perform the function of terminating the call, such as when authorization is not forthcoming for carrying out the transaction. FIG. 7A shows nodes 152 and 154 effecting communication with their respective access devices 150 and 156, as would be done for simultaneous callback Initially, the initiator access device 150, transmits its identification and that of the other access device 156 to node 152. Node 152 requests node 154 to make an inquiry on the availability of access device 156. If available, then callback is made over respective links 170, 174, preferably for simultaneous communication. The two callbacks are bridged over link 172. Nodes 152 and 154 convert voice transmissions into data transmission and vice versa so that data transmissions travel between nodes 152 and 154 and voice transmissions travel from the access devices to the associated nodes 152, 154. Links 170, 172 and 174 may handle voice or data communications. FIG. 7B works in the same way as in FIG. 7A, except that node 154 pages the called party via paging device 158 over paging network 176. Once paged, the called party calls node 154 through access device 156 and communication is established by bridging over link 172. During the interim between paging of the called party and the calling to the node 154 by the called party through the access device 154, the access device 150 may either be waiting for communication to be established with node 152 or be called back by node 152 after node 152 is advised that the access device 156 has contacted the node 154. FIG. 7C is the same as that of FIG. 7A, except that an additional node 160 between nodes 152, 154 is shown to illustrate that the routing between nodes 152, 154 may not be direct, and also showing that access device 150 is communicating directly with node 152 rather than as a result of callback as in FIG. 7A and using two different data links 172 and 173. FIG. 7D shows that communication may be through a single node 154, rather than through two nodes as in FIGS. 7A-7C as in case where access device 150 is a computer that has direct access to data link 172. FIG. 7E shows also that communication may be through a single node 152, rather than through two nodes, but also shows that such communication is established after access device 150 communications with node 154 say through E-mail that communication is desired with access device 156. Instead of routing the transmission through node 154, node 154 signals to node 152 to make contact with access devices 150 and 156 directly. FIG. 7F shows a callback type of arrangement in which a request for establishing communication from access device 150 to access device 156 is made through one kind of network, but the actual callback is done over a different kind of network, although both kinds of networks share the same nodes 152, 154. As an example, the request could be through a data network 182, 184, 186 and the callback could be through two voice links 170, 174 from respective access devices 150, 156, with the two voice links being bridged by a data link 172. The nodes 152, 154 convert voice transmissions into data transmissions and vice versa as desired. FIG. 7G is the same as FIG. 7E, except that node 154 also performs the function of node 152 in FIG. 7E and thereby routes the transmissions through itself. In this case, a request for establishing communication with access device 156 from access device 150 is effected over a data link 178, such as through E-mail. In response, node 154 calls both access devices 150, 156, preferably so that each is contacted simultaneously, over a different network such as over voice lines 170, 174. In each of these examples of FIGS. 7A-7G, billing is handled transparent to the parties using the access devices 150, 156. Each of the nodes are in contact with a central node (or network of central nodes) that must clear the transaction before the termination nodes take action through a global authorizer. Once the transaction cleared, an authorization code is provided to the node. The authorization code may either be forwarded to some other node at the time a request is made to establish communication or may be in response for such from that other node. The central node, which includes the global authorizer, would check the total open credit or debit for the originating node, check for patterns of fraud, check for rights to terminate communication early based on available credit, and check the calling party credit standings with third parties. Based on the results of such checking, the global authorizer of the central node either approves or disapproves of the proposed transaction. Once the transaction is complete, the node responsible communicates such completion to the central node, which then updates account information accordingly. If a node is being shut down, the central node also communicates such shutdown to all other nodes so that they remove the shutdown node from the stored routing table of available nodes. FIG. 8 shows a central local node A interacting with a calling party access device interface and a global network of high capacity data networks. Access devices may communicate with central local nodes directly or through intercept devices which direct the communication to the central local node. Access devices are exemplified by telephones, pagers, cellular phones, laptops, facsimile machines, multimedia computer workstations, etc. The subscriber access device interface includes communication networks such as digital and analog telephone, paging and cellular, and data. The central local node includes an authorizer, converters for each communication network, a main processor and router, a main data base, compression and coding system and decompressing and decoding system. The global networks of high capacity data networks include the internet, frame relay and digital and analog voice lines. The authorizer is responsible for providing clearing transactions to provide authorization for making communication. The authorizer checks with a main data base within the central local node to determine whether the subscriber's credit is good and to what extent to ensure that service providers get paid. The data base may contain a history of the subscriber's usage and outstanding unpaid balance and other information relating to credit history. The main data base's information may be updated from information in other nodal data bases and vice versa, including that of the central node, which should contain the most current information and whose global authorizer may be responsible for authorizing all transactions in advance. By the same process, the global authorizer can check on the creditworthiness of service providers if the service providers will be responsible for paying each other. The converters convert the form of the communication to suit the particular network over which the communication will be routed, e.g., voice into data, etc. The main processor and router is responsible for checking with the main data base to determine which service providers and communication networks to utilize and to access circuitry to compress or decompress the communications as needed and to access circuitry to code or decode the communications for security purposes. The main processor and router route the communications through appropriate converters if necessary to suit the network being utilized for routing, i.e., internet, frame relay and ATM, or digital and analog voice lines. The main processor and router also direct the communication to the ultimate destination, i.e., access devices of the called party. In so doing, other central local nodes B or C may be used for part of the routing or else route directly to the access devices via the associated intercept if any for the access device. These intercept devices are also for directing communications. Converters are available conventionally, such as Texas Instrument digital signal processors which convert voice to data and vice versa. Intercepts are available from VoiceSmart by ordering TLN or HLN and are available conventional from phone companies. The intercept may be part of or separate from the access devices. The intercept evaluates whether savings may be achieved by routing to a node and, if so, routes the transmission to the central local node A of FIG. 8 and identifies the subscriber and called party or service type. The node receiving the routing from the intercept polls other nodes to trace the called party number or identification address. In this manner, the main processor and router of the node serves as an interrogator that interrogates the availability of the called party number or identification address. The node accesses a main data bank to check the communication network, call format and user preferences to determine the best connection between locations 150 and 156 of FIGS. 7A-7G. The node, through its authorizer, checks whether completing the routing of the transmission is authorized and obtains an authorization code from the global authorizer at the central node. The node converts the transmission if necessary for compatibility and records billing information to ensure proper end user billing. Also, the node updates user statistical usage and access for future use. Each of these tasks that are performed by the node are carried out in a manner that is transparent to the calling party. FIG. 9 is a variation of that of FIG. 1, but shares the same components that are identified by the same reference numerals. Additional two-way direct link connections 46A, 46B, 46C, 46D and 46E are included. For instance, one route for sending a request as to availability may be from the calling party access device 12 to the local access node 18 either directly or through the intercept 16 and then directly to either the communications network 10, the data network 20 or another network 200 such as a cellular network, ATM, and/or frame relay. The central switching unit 22 then receives the request from the network as to availability to check on the availability of the called party access device 14. Once the availability becomes known, an appropriate signal may be sent directly back to the central local node 18 either backtracking through the same route or through the second central local node 24 to either the communications network 10 or the data network 20 to thereafter reach the local access node 18, Note that the second central local node 24 may be considered a local access node for the called party access device 14. A central local node global authorizer 220 is shown to which permission must be obtained by confirming authorization requests before routing connections between the calling and called parties may take place. This global authorizer 220 may be part of the central node to which all the central local nodes are in communication. In FIG. 8, for instance, the connection from the main data base to the other node data bases would include connection with the central node and thereby with this global authorizer. Authorization requests would be sent to the global authorizer 220 via the applicable one or more of the networks 10, 20, 200. All the routing paths of FIGS. 7A to 7G are applicable to the block diagram of FIG. 9. Also, the representation of the interaction of the central local node with various networks as shown in FIG. 8 is applicable to FIGS. 1 and 9. FIG. 9 shows some links as bi-directional lines and others as two single-directional lines in opposite directions. This was done for convenience and is in no way intended to be limited to one form or the other. Routes may be through any path available, except that the routing through links 53A, 53B and 53C only arises if calling location 48 communicates in a manner compatible with the applicable one of the networks 10, 20 or 200. Otherwise, routing will have to be done through the central local node 18. If the calling party location uses a laptop computer and thus connects directly with the data network 20 and bypasses the central local node, the path of communication would still pass through either the central office 22 or the central local node 24 before reaching the called party access device 14. At the central office 22 or the central local node 24, therefore, the applicable billing information may be recorded. While intercept 16 and central local node 18 are shown as separate units, they may be combined together. Similarly, while the central office 22 and central local node 24 are shown as separate units, they may be combined together. By being combined together, a unitary device would provide the functions of both. While the foregoing description and drawings represent the preferred embodiments of the present invention, it will be understood that various changes and modifications may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. | <SOH> BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION <EOH>Presently when communication services are offered on a global basis, communications are established through the equipment of a plurality of service providers located in various countries. This communication is dominated by large carriers which have formed the global network through reciprocal agreements. Smaller competing carriers, who may offer the same service at lower prices, currently do not have reciprocal agreements between them. The invention provides these smaller competing carriers with access to each other without the use of the large carriers. Such access provides the calling party (e.g., a subscriber of the smaller competing carrier) with the option of obtaining optimum service at lower prices while ensuring that the appropriate service providers get paid. The calling party can now have cheaper access to different types of telecommunication networks that the party may not have access to under the current large carrier system. It may be cheaper or preferred for the calling party to use smaller carriers to communicate with another location by routing the communication over a digital data network rather than an analog voice network, or by routing the communication over a paging network rather than a cellular network or a combination of networks. | <SOH> SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION <EOH>One objective of the invention is to provide communication between otherwise incompatible communication networks in a manner that is transparent to the calling party (that is, the subscriber of the service initiating the communication), while assuring that each service provider that renders service in routing that communication gets paid. Preferably, the communication is routed based on the results from an evaluation of all available communication networks even though the calling party may have direct access to only one type of communication network. In accordance with the invention, control information in the form of an inquiry of the availability status of the party to be called may be sent through different networks by routing it through a control location of the inventive system that converts it into a compatible form. For instance, the called party may be using one type of network, such as a data network having E-mail, while the calling party is using another, such as a cellular network. With a conventional data network, sending an E-mail message to an address on the data network does not indicate the availability of a party on a cellular network to communicate. In accordance with one embodiment of the invention, however, the control location of the inventive system is connected with both the data network and the cellular network to convert the control information associated with E-mail into a form compatible on the cellular network for making an inquiry and then transmits the inquiry over the cellular network. The inventive system may have external or internal software and hardware that intercepts the normal transmission to route it appropriately. The system effects further routing, which may include converting between different forms of communication networks, compressing voice into data packets or decompressing data packets into voice, coding and decoding transmissions for security reasons, and multiplexing communications over the same lines. The system records the various routing transactions involved in the communication and calculates the billing of the transactions in a manner that is transparent to the calling party. Another objective of the invention is to interrogate the called party number's communication availability prior to conferencing the calling party and called party. The inventive system may have a control location that receives both a calling party and a called party access number or identification. After receiving these access numbers, the system initiates an inquiry to the called party from the control location and waits for a status signal as to the called party location's availability to take incoming calls. If the status signal indicates an available status, a first communication is initiated to the called party access number from the control location and a second communication is initiated to the calling party access number from the control location. Thereafter, the first and second communications are bridged using the same or different networks. In addition to interrogating the called party's availability status, the control location determines where to route the call by examining factors such as transmission cost, the appropriate network for the desired transmission, the service provider that provides this kind of network and the plurality of available called party locations that service the called party access number. The control location also considers communication networks that are available to the called party locations and the identity of service providers who provide those communication networks across the various called party locations. After receiving the calling party and called party access numbers, the control location performs an inquiry as to which service provider and which network can route the transmission. In addition to technological considerations, the control location also studies the various cost to perform the desired transmission and records such information for both monitoring and billing purposes. An authorizer uses such information to monitor all incoming and outgoing transactions between the network service providers and provide clearance insuring payment and settlement of all transaction for each of these operators. In routing communications, the control location takes into consideration customer defined preference criteria relating to preferences for particular types of communication network, transmission quality, cost, security, and priority of transmission. For example, if the quality of a transmission is not acceptable, the transmissions may be rerouted to any other available network that can transmit with better quality, thereby ensuring that the quality of the transmission satisfies the customer's preference criteria for transmission quality. The calling party access number itself may include a message or protocol containing preference criteria selections. Another objective of the invention involves synchronizing the completion of callback from the control location to the calling party and called party legs of communication. The synchronization involves the calculation of the waiting time that is necessary before the control location commences each callback. The waiting time may be fixed or read from memory off a data base located at the control location. This synchronization may result in completion of both communications simultaneously or with minimal delay, i.e., a significantly shorter delay than without the synchronization. Such synchronization results in more efficient use of the network at a lower cost. While the control location is waiting to initiate completion of one of the callback legs of communication, an incoming communication may block the completion of that one leg and thereby interrupt the synchronization from taking place. The blocking period may be for a fixed time period or may be based on information in a data base that includes information relating to the expected waiting time for completing communications. In accordance with all embodiments of the invention, the communication being established may be two-way. | 20040915 | 20070911 | 20050526 | 72174.0 | 4 | GAUTHIER, GERALD | EFFICIENT COMMUNICATION THROUGH NETWORKS | SMALL | 1 | CONT-ACCEPTED | 2,004 |
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10,941,472 | ACCEPTED | Angled patch panel with cable support bar for network cable racks | A patch panel mountable to a network rack includes a patch panel frame and rack mounting plates. The frame forms a central section having a longitudinal width sized to fit within the network rack. The rack mounting plates are provided on opposite longitudinal ends of the central section and allow the panel to be mounted to a network rack. The central section includes two panel sections angled outwardly in an inverted V-shape, and the central section has mounted thereon a plurality of cable connectors that receive cabling on the front side and the rear side of the patch panel frame. Each connector has a horizontal axis. | 1-27. (Canceled). 28. A patch panel mountable to a network rack, comprising: a frame having a longitudinal width sized to fit within the network rack, a front side and rack mounting plates provided on opposite longitudinal ends of the frame for mounting the frame horizontally, wherein the frame includes a first panel section and a second panel section angled relative thereto, each of the first and second panel sections having mountable thereon a plurality of first connectors that receive a plurality of second connectors having cable terminated therein on the front side of the frame, such that the cable exits the plurality of second connectors on the front side of the frame at an acute angle relative to a horizontal axis extending between the rack mounting plates. 29. The patch panel of claim 28, wherein the first and second panel sections are angled outwardly in a V-shape. 30. The patch panel of claim 28, wherein the first and second panel sections are symmetrical. 31. A patch panel mountable to a network rack, comprising: a frame having a longitudinal width sized to fit within the network rack, a predefined height, a front side and rack mounting plates provided on opposite longitudinal ends of the frame for mounting the frame horizontally, wherein the frame includes a first panel section and a second panel section angled relative thereto, each of the first and second panel sections having mountable thereon a plurality of first connectors that receive a plurality of second connectors having cable terminated therein on the front side of the frame, such that the cable exits the plurality of second connectors on the front side of the frame and flows substantially horizontally within the predefined height of the frame to the opposite longitudinal ends of the frame. 32. The patch panel of claim 31, wherein the first and second panel sections are angled outwardly in a V-shape. 33. The patch panel of claim 31, wherein the first and second panel sections are symmetrical. 34. A patch panel mountable to a network rack, comprising: a frame having rack mounting plates provided on opposite longitudinal ends of the frame, wherein the frame includes a first panel section, a second panel section angled relative thereto and a centerpiece connecting the first and second panel sections, each of the first and second panel sections having mountable thereon a first connector adjacent the centerpiece and a second connector adjacent a rack mounting plate, the second connector being closer than the first connector to a horizontal axis extending between the rack mounting plates. 35. The patch panel of claim 34, wherein the first and second panel sections are angled outwardly in a V-shape. 36. The patch panel of claim 34, wherein the first and second panel sections are symmetrical. 37. The patch panel of claim 34, wherein the centerpiece has no connectors mounted therein. 38. The patch panel of claim 34, wherein the centerpiece is substantially flat. | CROSS-REFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATIONS This application is a continuation of application Ser. No. 09/916,923, filed Jul. 26, 2001. Cables, such as UTP, ScTP, coaxial and fiber optic cables, transmit data, voice, video and/or audio information in the telecommunications industry. Patch panel and network equipment enclosure rack systems are well-known in the industry. They manage and organize such cables both to and from such equipment and/or to and from such patch panels. These systems usually include the standard EIA 19″, 23″ or other distribution frame rack on which one or more patch panels, network equipment, fiber optic enclosures and the like are mounted. Rack enclosures serve various functions, including their use as slack trays, splice trays, cable organizers and patch panels. These rack enclosures also serve as interconnect or cross-connect enclosures when they interface with equipment. Additionally, rack systems may serve as a telecommunications closet, allowing the cables to be terminated, spliced, patched and/or stored at various places along their length. There is a need for a patch panel design that eliminates the necessity for one or more of these cable management devices. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The foregoing and further objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following description of preferred embodiments with references to the accompanying drawings, wherein: FIG. 1 shows an exploded isometric view of a first embodiment of an angled patch panel frame according to the present invention and a cable support bar therefor; FIG. 2 shows a top view of the patch panel frame of FIG. 1; FIG. 3 shows an exploded view of an insert module loaded with four cable connector modules being inserted into the patch panel frame of FIG. 1; FIG. 4 shows the patch panel of FIG. 3 and the cable support bar mounted onto a 19″ standard rack; FIG. 5 is a detailed partial view of the 19″ standard rack and patch panel of FIG. 4; FIG. 6 shows a top view of the patch panel and the 19″ standard rack of FIG. 4; FIG. 7 show an isometric view of a second embodiment of an angled patch panel frame according to the present invention; FIG. 8 shows an insert module used in the second embodiment of the patch panel; and FIG. 9 shows an exploded view of an insert module loaded with four cable connector modules being loaded into the second embodiment of the patch panel. The patch panel frame 100 includes an outwardly angled central frame 110, a plurality of faceplate openings 120 and a mounting plate 130 at each end with a plurality of mounting apertures 135, as shown in FIG. 1. A flat centerpiece 140 located midway along frame 110 may be provided to space the openings 120 on opposite halves of the central frame 110 from each other. This centerpiece 140 also slightly reduces the depth D of the patch panel by eliminating the angle at a central portion where no openings 120 are located. Patch panel frame 100 is preferably formed of a suitable material, such as metal so as to be self grounding. However, frame 110 may be formed of any suitable rigid material, such as many plastics or composites. A separate or integral cable support bar 200 may be provided on a rear side of the patch panel. Cable support bar 200 includes a bar portion 210 and mounting plates 220. Both the patch panel frame 100 and cable support bar 200 are designed to mount on a rack. Patch panel frame 100 can be any size, but preferably is sized with a width W to fit within a conventional 19″ or 23″ EIA network rack that has spaced vertical rails or legs 510 that allow the mounting of various rack elements thereon (see FIGS. 4-5). The patch panel can occupy a single rack unit height of 1.75″ (4.45 cm) or multiple rack unit height, such as the two rack unit height illustrated (3.5″ or 8.9 cm). The rack 500 should have various mounting openings 520 or comparable devices to facilitate equipment mounting. When mounted, patch panel frame 100 protrudes out from the front of the rack 500 by a distance D of several inches, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 6, due to the outwardly angled frame 110. Patch panel frame 100 is angled outwardly in a generally inverted V-shape. FIG. 2 shows a top view of the angled patch panel frame 100. Each half of the central frame 110 is preferably a mirror image and angled from the other by an angle φ, which is an obtuse angle of a suitable angle of between about 90° and 180°, preferably an angle of between about 100° to 140°, and more preferably between about 110° and 130°. The illustrative embodiment shown has an angle φ of about 120°. This allows cables attached to the front of the patch panel to flow directly to one or more vertical cable managers located adjacent the network rack. Patch panel frame 100 has a plurality of faceplate openings 120 that receive insert modules 300, as shown in FIG. 3. The insert modules 300 are sized to fit within openings 120, preferably by snap fit. However, rather than replaceable modules, modules 300 may be integrated into frame 110. The modules and openings may be multiple rack unit heights or may be sized as a single rack unit height, as shown. In the first illustrative exemplary embodiment, patch panel frame 100 has twelve faceplate openings 120. These twelve faceplate openings 120 allow twelve insert modules 300 to be inserted into the patch panel frame 100, as shown in FIG. 3. There are several advantages to the inventive patch panel. By making the frame angled outwardly in an inverted V-shape, the axis of each cable connector is at the acute angle θ relative to a common central axis (parallel to the depth direction D). This provides front connector surfaces that are better oriented relative to front corners of the rack rails 510, where vertical cable managers or ducts 530 are provided that contain cables 540 that mate with front sides of various ones of the cable connector modules 400 as shown in FIG. 6. In particular, the angled frame 110 provides a connector surface that is at a reduced angle relative to an exit direction of the cables exiting the vertical cable manager as compared to conventional patch panels. That is, prior art, flat-faced patch panels which were oriented substantially parallel to the exit direction and required one or more 90° cable bends for connection. In general practice, this required an external horizontal cable manager to control the bends and provide a minimum bend radius. However, as the inventive patch panel has surfaces that intersect this exit direction (direction X in FIG. 6) at an acute angle, the bend necessary to achieve connection is substantially less than 90° as shown. This reduces or eliminates the need for additional horizontal cable management adjacent to the patch panel to guide exiting cables from the vertical cable managers 530 to the individual connector modules 400 as each cable 540 is routed directly from each connector module 400 to the adjacent vertical duct 530. Additionally, this structure results in slightly shorter patch cable lengths than before. Moreover, the outwardly angled frame 110 provides increased space behind patch panel frame 100 for housing the cabling. That is, as shown in FIG. 6, a conventional flat-faced patch panel would be flush to the rack rails 510 and would thus only provide an area of the inner rectangle between rails 510. However, with the angled patch panel, the receiving area is this inner rectangle plus the triangular area defined by the outwardly extending frame of patch panel 100. Further, by making the front face of the patch panel angled (in an inverted V-shape), rather than flat, there is additional surface area on the front face of the patch panel. That is, for a rack of a given width, such as 19″, a conventional flat patch panel would only have a surface area equal to 19″×N×1.75″, where N is the number of rack units in height. However, at any given angle θ, the total length of the two angled halves of frame 110 will be greater than the length of a corresponding flat piece. For example, with the inventive angled patch panel front face at an exemplary angle θ of 30°, the surface area is approximately 22″×N×1.75″. This and other surface areas for other angles θ can be simply solved using basic trigonometric principles. The aforementioned features work together to increase the functionality of the inventive patch panel. That is, the increased space behind the patch panel helps accommodate the cabling needs, and the uniformly angled connector modules better manage the cabling on the front side of the patch panel by reducing the necessary bend angle for incoming cabling, eliminating the need for external horizontal cable managers as often required with conventional patch panels. Cable support bar 200 is preferably separate from patch panel frame 100, but may be integrally formed therewith if desired. Cable support bar 200 may be attached to rack 500 using mounting apertures 225 either from the front when the patch panel frame 100 is attached, or from the back after the patch panel frame 100 has been attached. Attaching the cable support bar 200 from the back allows the end user to install the cable support bar 200 after all of the connectors have been terminated, thus eliminating any interference from the cable support bar 200 when terminating the connectors. In a second embodiment of the present invention shown in FIGS. 7-9, a variation in configuration is provided. Patch panel frame 700 is angled with angles φ and θ as in the first illustrative embodiment. However, for this embodiment, there are only six faceplate openings 720 in frame 710 that allow for twelve-pack insert modules 800 to be inserted therein. These modules occupy a double rack height. Like the previous embodiment, mounting plates 730 are provided for mounting the patch panel to a rack and a flat centerpiece 740 may be provided. The twelve-pack insert modules 800 for the second embodiment of the present invention are shown in FIG. 8. While more or less connector modules could be provided, the illustrative insert modules 800 are capable of receiving up to twelve single-spaced cable connector modules 900. To allow a snap fit within openings 720, insert modules 800 have four ‘upside down’ snaps 810, as shown in FIG. 8, which hold insert module 800 to patch panel frame 700. However, other methods of affixing insert modules 800 to openings 720 are contemplated. FIG. 9 shows an exploded view of an insert module 800 loaded with four exemplary cable connector modules 900 being positioned for mounting into patch panel frame 700. Five other insert modules 800 with cable connector modules 900 are shown already loaded into patch panel 700. While not necessary, the illustrative patch panel 700 covers two rack units as in the previous embodiment and fits into a standard 19″ network rack. With this configuration, a capacity of 72 cable connector ports can be achieved in a two rack height patch panel. | <SOH> BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS <EOH>The foregoing and further objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following description of preferred embodiments with references to the accompanying drawings, wherein: FIG. 1 shows an exploded isometric view of a first embodiment of an angled patch panel frame according to the present invention and a cable support bar therefor; FIG. 2 shows a top view of the patch panel frame of FIG. 1 ; FIG. 3 shows an exploded view of an insert module loaded with four cable connector modules being inserted into the patch panel frame of FIG. 1 ; FIG. 4 shows the patch panel of FIG. 3 and the cable support bar mounted onto a 19″ standard rack; FIG. 5 is a detailed partial view of the 19″ standard rack and patch panel of FIG. 4 ; FIG. 6 shows a top view of the patch panel and the 19″ standard rack of FIG. 4 ; FIG. 7 show an isometric view of a second embodiment of an angled patch panel frame according to the present invention; FIG. 8 shows an insert module used in the second embodiment of the patch panel; and FIG. 9 shows an exploded view of an insert module loaded with four cable connector modules being loaded into the second embodiment of the patch panel. detailed-description description="Detailed Description" end="lead"? The patch panel frame 100 includes an outwardly angled central frame 110 , a plurality of faceplate openings 120 and a mounting plate 130 at each end with a plurality of mounting apertures 135 , as shown in FIG. 1 . A flat centerpiece 140 located midway along frame 110 may be provided to space the openings 120 on opposite halves of the central frame 110 from each other. This centerpiece 140 also slightly reduces the depth D of the patch panel by eliminating the angle at a central portion where no openings 120 are located. Patch panel frame 100 is preferably formed of a suitable material, such as metal so as to be self grounding. However, frame 110 may be formed of any suitable rigid material, such as many plastics or composites. A separate or integral cable support bar 200 may be provided on a rear side of the patch panel. Cable support bar 200 includes a bar portion 210 and mounting plates 220 . Both the patch panel frame 100 and cable support bar 200 are designed to mount on a rack. Patch panel frame 100 can be any size, but preferably is sized with a width W to fit within a conventional 19″ or 23″ EIA network rack that has spaced vertical rails or legs 510 that allow the mounting of various rack elements thereon (see FIGS. 4-5 ). The patch panel can occupy a single rack unit height of 1.75″ (4.45 cm) or multiple rack unit height, such as the two rack unit height illustrated (3.5″ or 8.9 cm). The rack 500 should have various mounting openings 520 or comparable devices to facilitate equipment mounting. When mounted, patch panel frame 100 protrudes out from the front of the rack 500 by a distance D of several inches, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 6 , due to the outwardly angled frame 110 . Patch panel frame 100 is angled outwardly in a generally inverted V-shape. FIG. 2 shows a top view of the angled patch panel frame 100 . Each half of the central frame 110 is preferably a mirror image and angled from the other by an angle φ, which is an obtuse angle of a suitable angle of between about 90° and 180°, preferably an angle of between about 100° to 140°, and more preferably between about 110° and 130°. The illustrative embodiment shown has an angle φ of about 120°. This allows cables attached to the front of the patch panel to flow directly to one or more vertical cable managers located adjacent the network rack. Patch panel frame 100 has a plurality of faceplate openings 120 that receive insert modules 300 , as shown in FIG. 3 . The insert modules 300 are sized to fit within openings 120 , preferably by snap fit. However, rather than replaceable modules, modules 300 may be integrated into frame 110 . The modules and openings may be multiple rack unit heights or may be sized as a single rack unit height, as shown. In the first illustrative exemplary embodiment, patch panel frame 100 has twelve faceplate openings 120 . These twelve faceplate openings 120 allow twelve insert modules 300 to be inserted into the patch panel frame 100 , as shown in FIG. 3 . There are several advantages to the inventive patch panel. By making the frame angled outwardly in an inverted V-shape, the axis of each cable connector is at the acute angle θ relative to a common central axis (parallel to the depth direction D). This provides front connector surfaces that are better oriented relative to front corners of the rack rails 510 , where vertical cable managers or ducts 530 are provided that contain cables 540 that mate with front sides of various ones of the cable connector modules 400 as shown in FIG. 6 . In particular, the angled frame 110 provides a connector surface that is at a reduced angle relative to an exit direction of the cables exiting the vertical cable manager as compared to conventional patch panels. That is, prior art, flat-faced patch panels which were oriented substantially parallel to the exit direction and required one or more 90° cable bends for connection. In general practice, this required an external horizontal cable manager to control the bends and provide a minimum bend radius. However, as the inventive patch panel has surfaces that intersect this exit direction (direction X in FIG. 6 ) at an acute angle, the bend necessary to achieve connection is substantially less than 90° as shown. This reduces or eliminates the need for additional horizontal cable management adjacent to the patch panel to guide exiting cables from the vertical cable managers 530 to the individual connector modules 400 as each cable 540 is routed directly from each connector module 400 to the adjacent vertical duct 530 . Additionally, this structure results in slightly shorter patch cable lengths than before. Moreover, the outwardly angled frame 110 provides increased space behind patch panel frame 100 for housing the cabling. That is, as shown in FIG. 6 , a conventional flat-faced patch panel would be flush to the rack rails 510 and would thus only provide an area of the inner rectangle between rails 510 . However, with the angled patch panel, the receiving area is this inner rectangle plus the triangular area defined by the outwardly extending frame of patch panel 100 . Further, by making the front face of the patch panel angled (in an inverted V-shape), rather than flat, there is additional surface area on the front face of the patch panel. That is, for a rack of a given width, such as 19″, a conventional flat patch panel would only have a surface area equal to 19″×N×1.75″, where N is the number of rack units in height. However, at any given angle θ, the total length of the two angled halves of frame 110 will be greater than the length of a corresponding flat piece. For example, with the inventive angled patch panel front face at an exemplary angle θ of 30°, the surface area is approximately 22″×N×1.75″. This and other surface areas for other angles θ can be simply solved using basic trigonometric principles. The aforementioned features work together to increase the functionality of the inventive patch panel. That is, the increased space behind the patch panel helps accommodate the cabling needs, and the uniformly angled connector modules better manage the cabling on the front side of the patch panel by reducing the necessary bend angle for incoming cabling, eliminating the need for external horizontal cable managers as often required with conventional patch panels. Cable support bar 200 is preferably separate from patch panel frame 100 , but may be integrally formed therewith if desired. Cable support bar 200 may be attached to rack 500 using mounting apertures 225 either from the front when the patch panel frame 100 is attached, or from the back after the patch panel frame 100 has been attached. Attaching the cable support bar 200 from the back allows the end user to install the cable support bar 200 after all of the connectors have been terminated, thus eliminating any interference from the cable support bar 200 when terminating the connectors. In a second embodiment of the present invention shown in FIGS. 7-9 , a variation in configuration is provided. Patch panel frame 700 is angled with angles φ and θ as in the first illustrative embodiment. However, for this embodiment, there are only six faceplate openings 720 in frame 710 that allow for twelve-pack insert modules 800 to be inserted therein. These modules occupy a double rack height. Like the previous embodiment, mounting plates 730 are provided for mounting the patch panel to a rack and a flat centerpiece 740 may be provided. The twelve-pack insert modules 800 for the second embodiment of the present invention are shown in FIG. 8 . While more or less connector modules could be provided, the illustrative insert modules 800 are capable of receiving up to twelve single-spaced cable connector modules 900 . To allow a snap fit within openings 720 , insert modules 800 have four ‘upside down’ snaps 810 , as shown in FIG. 8 , which hold insert module 800 to patch panel frame 700 . However, other methods of affixing insert modules 800 to openings 720 are contemplated. FIG. 9 shows an exploded view of an insert module 800 loaded with four exemplary cable connector modules 900 being positioned for mounting into patch panel frame 700 . Five other insert modules 800 with cable connector modules 900 are shown already loaded into patch panel 700 . While not necessary, the illustrative patch panel 700 covers two rack units as in the previous embodiment and fits into a standard 19″ network rack. With this configuration, a capacity of 72 cable connector ports can be achieved in a two rack height patch panel. detailed-description description="Detailed Description" end="tail"? | 20040915 | 20050719 | 20050224 | 59121.0 | 4 | NGUYEN, PHUONG CHI THI | ANGLED PATCH PANEL WITH CABLE SUPPORT BAR FOR NETWORK CABLE RACKS | UNDISCOUNTED | 1 | CONT-ACCEPTED | 2,004 |
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10,941,609 | ACCEPTED | Adaptable layered heater system | A layered heater is provided that comprises at least one resistive layer defining a circuit configuration, the circuit configuration comprising at least one resistive trace oriented relative to a heating target and comprising a material having temperature coefficient characteristics such that the resistive trace provides power commensurate with demands of the heating target. In one form, resistive traces of the resistive layer are a PTC material having a relatively high TCR and are oriented approximately perpendicular to a primary heating direction. In another form, resistive traces of the resistive layer are an NTC material having a relatively high BETA coefficient and are oriented approximately parallel to a primary heating direction. | 1. A heater system comprising: a heating target defining a primary heating direction along which a heating target power gradient occurs; and a layered heater disposed proximate the heating target, the layered heater comprising at least one resistive layer defining a parallel circuit, the parallel circuit comprising a plurality of resistive traces, the resistive traces comprising a positive temperature coefficient material having a relatively high TCR and the resistive traces being oriented approximately perpendicular to the primary heating direction, wherein the resistive traces are responsive to the heating target power gradient such that the resistive traces output additional power proximate a higher heat sink and less power proximate a lower heat sink along the primary heating direction. 2. The heater system according to claim 1, wherein the layered heater is applied directly to the heating target. 3. The heater system according to claim 1 further comprising a substrate disposed proximate the heating target, wherein the layered heater is applied to the substrate. 4. A heater system comprising: a heating target defining a primary heating direction along which a heating target power gradient occurs; and a layered heater disposed proximate the heating target, the layered heater comprising at least one resistive layer defining a series circuit, the series circuit comprising a plurality of resistive traces, the resistive traces comprising a negative temperature coefficient material having a relatively high BETA coefficient material and the resistive traces being oriented approximately parallel to the primary heating direction, wherein the resistive traces are responsive to the heating target power gradient such that the resistive traces output additional power proximate a higher heat sink and less power proximate a lower heat sink along the primary heating direction. 5. A heater system comprising: a heating target defining at least a first heating direction along which a first heating target power gradient occurs and at least a second heating direction along which a second heating target power gradient occurs; and a layered heater disposed proximate the heating target, the layered heater comprising: a first conductive layer comprising a plurality of adjacent conductor elements; a resistive layer comprising a plurality of resistive regions applied on the conductor elements, wherein at least two resistive regions are applied to a single conductor element, the resistive regions comprising a negative temperature coefficient material having a relatively high BETA coefficient; a first dielectric layer applied between the plurality of resistive regions; a second conductive layer comprising: a plurality of adjacent conductor elements applied on the resistive regions and extending across adjacent conductor elements of the first conductive layer; and a pair of terminal pads applied on a corresponding pair of resistive regions; and a second dielectric layer applied over the second conductive layer but not over the terminal pads, wherein the layered heater is responsive to the first and second heating target power gradients such that the resistive regions output additional power proximate a higher heat sink and less power proximate a lower heat sink along the first and second heating directions. 6. A heater system comprising: a heating target defining at least a first heating direction along which a first heating target power gradient occurs and at least a second heating direction along which a second heating target power gradient occurs; and a layered heater disposed proximate the heating target, the layered heater comprising: a first conductive layer; a resistive layer applied on the first conductive layer, the resistive layer comprising a positive temperature coefficient material having a relatively high TCR; a second conductive layer applied on the resistive layer; and a dielectric layer applied on the second conductive layer, wherein the layered heater is responsive to the first and second heating target power gradients such that the resistive layer outputs additional power proximate a higher heat sink and less power proximate a lower heat sink along the first and second heating directions. 7. A layered heater comprising at least one resistive layer defining a circuit configuration, the circuit configuration comprising at least one resistive trace oriented relative to a heating target and comprising a material having temperature coefficient characteristics such that the resistive trace provides power commensurate with demands of the heating target. 8. A heater system comprising: a hot runner nozzle defining a longitudinal axis extending between a manifold end and a tip end of the hot runner nozzle; and a layered heater disposed proximate the hot runner nozzle, the layered heater comprising at least one resistive layer defining a parallel circuit, the parallel circuit comprising a plurality of resistive traces, the resistive traces comprising a positive temperature coefficient material having a relatively high TCR and the resistive traces being oriented approximately perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the hot runner nozzle, wherein the resistive traces are responsive to a heating target power gradient extending between the manifold end and the tip end such that the resistive traces output additional power proximate the manifold end and the tip end and less power between the manifold end and the tip end. 9. A heater system comprising: a hot runner nozzle defining a longitudinal axis extending between a manifold end and a tip end of the hot runner nozzle; and a layered heater disposed proximate the hot runner nozzle, the layered heater comprising at least one resistive layer defining: a plurality of resistive trace zones, each resistive trace zone comprising a different watt density than an adjacent resistive trace zone; and a plurality of resistive traces within the resistive trace zones, the resistive traces forming a parallel circuit and comprising a positive temperature coefficient material having a relatively high TCR and the resistive traces being oriented approximately perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the hot runner nozzle, wherein the resistive layer is responsive to a heating target power gradient extending between the manifold end and the tip end such that the resistive layer outputs additional power proximate the manifold end and the tip end and less power between the manifold end and the tip end. 10. A heater system comprising: a hot runner nozzle defining longitudinal axis extending between a manifold end and a tip end of the hot runner nozzle; and a layered heater disposed proximate the hot runner nozzle, the layered heater comprising at least one resistive layer defining a series circuit, the series circuit comprising a resistive trace, the resistive trace comprising a negative temperature coefficient material having a relatively high BETA coefficient, wherein the resistive trace is responsive to a heating target power gradient extending between the manifold end and the tip end such that the resistive trace outputs additional power proximate the manifold end and the tip end and less power between the manifold end and the tip end. 11. A heater system comprising: a hot runner nozzle defining longitudinal axis extending between a manifold end and a tip end of the hot runner nozzle; and a layered heater disposed proximate the hot runner nozzle, the layered heater comprising at least one resistive layer defining: a plurality of resistive trace zones, each resistive trace zone comprising a different watt density than an adjacent resistive trace zone; and a resistive trace within the resistive trace zones, the resistive trace forming a series circuit and comprising a negative temperature coefficient material having a relatively high BETA coefficient, wherein the resistive layer is responsive to a heating target power gradient extending between the manifold end and the tip end such that the resistive layer outputs additional power proximate the manifold end and the tip end and less power between the manifold end and the tip end. 12. A layered heater for use proximate a heating target, the heating target defining a primary heating direction along which a heating target power gradient occurs, the layered heater comprising a resistive layer defining: a plurality of resistive trace zones, each resistive trace zone comprising a different watt density than an adjacent resistive trace zone; and a plurality of resistive traces within the resistive trace zones, the resistive traces forming a parallel circuit and comprising a positive temperature coefficient material having a relatively high TCR and the resistive traces being oriented approximately perpendicular to the primary heating direction, wherein the resistive traces are responsive to the heating target power gradient such that the resistive traces output additional power proximate a higher heat sink and less power proximate a lower heat sink along the primary heating direction. 13. A layered heater for use proximate a heating target, the heating target defining a plurality of heating directions along which heating target power gradients occur, the layered heater comprising at least one resistive layer defining: a plurality of resistive trace zones, each resistive trace zone comprising a different watt density than an adjacent resistive trace zone; and a resistive trace within the resistive trace zones, the resistive trace forming a series circuit and comprising a negative temperature coefficient material having a relatively high BETA coefficient, wherein the resistive trace is responsive to the heating target power gradients such that the resistive trace outputs additional power proximate a higher heat sink and less power proximate a lower heat sink along the primary heating directions. 14. A layered heater for use proximate a heating target, the heating target defining a primary heating direction along which a heating target power gradient occurs, the layered heater comprising: at least one resistive layer defining a parallel circuit, the parallel circuit comprising a plurality of resistive traces, the resistive traces comprising a positive temperature coefficient material having a relatively high TCR and the resistive traces being oriented approximately perpendicular to the primary heating direction of the heating target, wherein the resistive traces are responsive to the heating target power gradient such that the resistive traces output additional power proximate a higher heat sink and less power proximate a lower heat sink along the primary heating direction. 15. A layered heater for use proximate a heating target, the heating target defining a primary heating direction along which a heating target power gradient occurs, the layered heater comprising: at least one resistive layer defining a series circuit, the series circuit comprising a plurality of resistive traces, the resistive traces comprising a negative temperature coefficient material having a relatively high BETA coefficient and the resistive traces being oriented approximately parallel to the primary heating direction, wherein the resistive traces are responsive to the heating target power gradient such that the resistive traces output additional power proximate a higher heat sink and less power proximate a lower heat sink along the primary heating direction. 16. A layered heater for use proximate a heating target, the heating target defining at least a first heating direction along which a first heating target power gradient occurs and at least second heating direction along which a second heating target power gradient occurs, the layered heater comprising: at least one resistive layer defining a series circuit, the series circuit comprising a resistive trace, the resistive trace comprising a negative temperature coefficient material having a relatively high BETA coefficient, wherein the resistive trace is responsive to the heating target power gradients such that the resistive trace outputs additional power proximate a higher heat sink and less power proximate a lower heat sink along the heating directions. 17. A layered heater for use proximate a heating target, the heating target defining at least a first heating direction along which a first heating target power gradient occurs and at least second heating direction along which a second heating target power gradient occurs, the layered heater comprising: a first conductive layer comprising a plurality of adjacent conductor elements; a resistive layer comprising a plurality of resistive regions applied on the conductor elements, wherein at least two resistive regions are applied to a single conductor element, the resistive regions comprising a negative temperature coefficient material having a relatively high BETA coefficient; a first dielectric layer applied between the plurality of resistive regions; a second conductive layer comprising: a plurality of adjacent conductor elements applied on the resistive regions and extending across adjacent conductor elements of the first conductive layer; and a pair of terminal pads applied on a corresponding pair of resistive regions; and a second dielectric layer applied over the second conductive layer but not over the terminal pads, wherein the layered heater is responsive to the first and second heating target power gradients such that the resistive regions output additional power proximate a higher heat sink and less power proximate a lower heat sink along the first and second heating directions. 18. A layered heater for use proximate a heating target, the heating target defining at least a first heating direction along which a first heating target power gradient occurs and at least second heating direction along which a second heating target power gradient occurs, the layered heater comprising: a first conductive layer; a resistive layer applied on the first conductive layer, the resistive layer comprising a positive temperature coefficient material having a relatively high TCR; a second conductive layer applied on the resistive layer; and a dielectric layer applied on the second conductive layer, wherein the layered heater is responsive to the first and second heating target power gradients such that the resistive layer outputs additional power proximate a higher heat sink and less power proximate a lower heat sink along the first and second heating directions. 19. A layered heater comprising: a first resistive trace; a positive terminal pad formed at one end of the first resistive trace; a negative terminal pad formed at another end of the first resistive trace; a second resistive trace formed proximate the first resistive trace; a positive terminal pad formed at one end of the second resistive trace; a negative terminal pad formed at another end of the second resistive trace; and a dielectric layer formed over the first resistive trace and the second resistive trace but not over the terminal pads, wherein the positive terminal pad formed at one end of the first resistive trace is adapted for connection to the positive terminal pad formed at one end of the second resistive trace, and the negative terminal pad formed at another end of the first resistive trace is adapted for connection to the negative terminal pad formed at another end of the second resistive trace such that a parallel circuit configuration is formed. 20. A method of heating a heating target, the method comprising the step of energizing a layered heater comprising at least one resistive layer defining a circuit configuration, wherein the circuit configuration comprises at least one resistive trace oriented relative to the heating target and comprising a material having temperature coefficient characteristics such that the resistive trace provides power commensurate with demands of the heating target. 21. A layered heater for use proximate a circular heating target, the heating target defining a primary heating direction extending radially along which a heating target power gradient occurs, the layered heater comprising: at least one resistive layer defining a parallel circuit, the parallel circuit comprising a plurality of resistive traces arranged circumferentially, the resistive traces comprising a positive temperature coefficient material having a relatively high TCR and the resistive traces being oriented approximately perpendicular to the primary heating direction of the circular heating target, wherein the resistive traces are responsive to the heating target power gradient such that the resistive traces output additional power proximate a higher heat sink and less power proximate a lower heat sink along the primary heating direction. 22. A layered heater for use proximate a circular heating target, the heating target defining a primary heating direction extending radially along which a heating target power gradient occurs, the layered heater comprising: a plurality of zones, each zone comprising a plurality of resistive traces arranged circumferentially and in a parallel circuit configuration, the resistive traces comprising a positive temperature coefficient material having a relatively high TCR and the resistive traces being oriented approximately perpendicular to the primary heating direction of the circular heating target, wherein the resistive traces are responsive to the heating target power gradient such that the resistive traces output additional power proximate a higher heat sink and less power proximate a lower heat sink along the primary heating direction and within each of the zones. | FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates generally to electrical heaters and more particularly to devices and methods for achieving a relatively constant temperature distribution in the presence of local heat sinks. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Layered heaters are typically used in applications where space is limited, when heat output needs vary across a surface, where rapid thermal response is desirous, or in ultra-clean applications where moisture or other contaminants can migrate into conventional heaters. A layered heater generally comprises layers of different materials, namely, a dielectric and a resistive material, which are applied to a substrate. The dielectric material is applied first to the substrate and provides electrical isolation between the substrate and the electrically-live resistive material and also reduces current leakage to ground during operation. The resistive material is applied to the dielectric material in a predetermined pattern and provides a resistive heater circuit. The layered heater also includes leads that connect the resistive heater circuit to an electrical power source, which is typically cycled by a temperature controller. The lead-to-resistive circuit interface is also typically protected both mechanically and electrically from extraneous contact by providing strain relief and electrical isolation through a protective layer. Accordingly, layered heaters are highly customizable for a variety of heating applications. Layered heaters may be “thick” film, “thin” film, or “thermally sprayed,” among others, wherein the primary difference between these types of layered heaters is the method in which the layers are formed. For example, the layers for thick film heaters are typically formed using processes such as screen printing, decal application, or film dispensing heads, among others. The layers for thin film heaters are typically formed using deposition processes such as ion plating, sputtering, chemical vapor deposition (CVD), and physical vapor deposition (PVD), among others. Yet another series of processes distinct from thin and thick film techniques are those known as thermal spraying processes, which may include by way of example flame spraying, plasma spraying, wire arc spraying, and HVOF (High Velocity Oxygen Fuel), among others. In many heating applications, a constant temperature across or along a heating target, e.g., a part such as a pipe or an outside environment to be heated, is often desired in order to maintain relatively steady state conditions during operation. For example, a constant temperature along a hot runner nozzle for injection molding equipment is desirous in order to maintain the molten resin that flows within the nozzle at a constant temperature and optimum viscosity for processing. However, each end of the hot runner nozzle presents a local heat sink relative to the overall hot runner nozzle. One end is connected to a manifold, which draws more heat away from the heater, and the other end, the tip, is exposed to the injection cavities/dies, which also draws more heat away from the heater. As a result, non-uniform heat transfer to the molten resin often occurs along the length of the hot runner nozzle, which translates into non-uniform temperature distribution and non-uniform viscosity of the molten resin. When the molten resin has a non-uniform temperature distribution, the resulting injection molded parts often contain defects or may even be scrapped. Increased machine cycle time can also be a result thereof. To address this problem, existing prior art hot runner nozzle heaters have been designed with a higher watt density local to the ends of the hot runner nozzle to compensate for the heat sinks. Although the heat sinks are somewhat compensated for with the local higher watt densities of the heater, the temperature distribution along the hot runner nozzle still does not achieve a constant level and thus temperature variations remain in the molten resin, resulting in a less than optimal process. Additionally, existing prior art hot runner nozzle heaters typically have no means to compensate for variable heat sinks that exist within a multiple-drop cavity system nor inherent variations due to manufacturing tolerances of the nozzle bodies themselves. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In one preferred form, the present invention provides a heater system comprising a heating target defining a primary heating direction along which a heating target power gradient occurs and a layered heater disposed proximate the heating target. The layered heater comprises at least one resistive layer defining a parallel circuit, the parallel circuit comprising a plurality of resistive traces. The resistive traces comprise a positive temperature coefficient material having a relatively high temperature coefficient of resistance (TCR) and the resistive traces are oriented approximately perpendicular to the primary heating direction. The resistive traces are responsive to the heating target power gradient such that the resistive traces output additional power proximate a higher heat sink and less power proximate a lower heat sink along the primary heating direction. In another form, a heater system is provided that comprises a heating target defining a primary heating direction along which a heating target power gradient occurs and a layered heater disposed proximate the heating target. The layered heater comprises at least one resistive layer defining a series circuit, the series circuit comprising a plurality of resistive traces. The resistive traces comprise a negative temperature coefficient material having a relatively high BETA coefficient material and the resistive traces are oriented approximately parallel to the primary heating direction. The resistive traces are responsive to the heating target power gradient such that the resistive traces output additional power proximate a higher heat sink and less power proximate a lower heat sink along the primary heating direction. In yet another form, a heater system is provided that comprises a heating target defining at least a first heating direction along which a first heating target power gradient occurs and at least a second heating direction along which a second heating target power gradient occurs. A layered heater is disposed proximate the heating target and comprises a first conductive layer comprising a plurality of adjacent conductor elements, and a resistive layer comprising a plurality of resistive regions applied on the conductor elements, wherein at least two resistive regions are applied to a single conductor element. The resistive regions comprise a negative temperature coefficient material having a relatively high BETA coefficient. The layered heater further comprises a first dielectric layer applied between the plurality of resistive regions and a second conductive layer. The second conductive layer comprises a plurality of adjacent conductor elements applied on the resistive regions and extending across adjacent conductor elements of the first conductive layer, and a pair of terminal pads applied on a corresponding pair of resistive regions. Additionally, a second dielectric layer applied over the second conductive layer but not over the terminal pads. The layered heater is responsive to the first and second heating target power gradients such that the resistive regions output additional power proximate a higher heat sink and less power proximate a lower heat sink along the first and second heating directions. Additionally, a heater system is provided that comprises a heating target defining at least a first heating direction along which a first heating target power gradient occurs and at least a second heating direction along which a second heating target power gradient occurs. A layered heater is disposed proximate the heating target and comprises a first conductive layer and a resistive layer applied on the first conductive layer, wherein the resistive layer comprises a positive temperature coefficient material having a relatively high TCR. A second conductive layer is applied on the resistive layer, and a dielectric layer is applied on the second conductive layer. The layered heater is responsive to the first and second heating target power gradients such that the resistive layer outputs additional power proximate a higher heat sink and less power proximate a lower heat sink along the first and second heating directions In another form of the present invention, a layered heater is provided that comprises at least one resistive layer defining a circuit configuration, the circuit configuration comprising at least one resistive trace oriented relative to a heating target and comprising a material having temperature coefficient characteristics such that the resistive trace provides power commensurate with demands of the heating target. Another heater system is provided that comprises a hot runner nozzle defining a longitudinal axis extending between a manifold end and a tip end of the hot runner nozzle and a layered heater disposed proximate the hot runner nozzle. The layered heater comprises at least one resistive layer defining a parallel circuit, the parallel circuit comprising a plurality of resistive traces. The resistive traces comprise a positive temperature coefficient material having a relatively high TCR and the resistive traces are oriented approximately perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the hot runner nozzle. The resistive traces are responsive to a heating target power gradient extending between the manifold end and the tip end such that the resistive traces output additional power proximate the manifold end and the tip end and less power between the manifold end and the tip end. Additional embodiments of the heater system for a hot runner nozzle comprise both parallel and series circuits having PTC (positive temperature coefficient) and NTC (negative temperature coefficient) materials, respectively, along with resistive trace zones comprising different watt densities as further described and illustrated herein. In another form, a layered heater for use proximate a heating target is provided, the heating target defining a primary heating direction along which a heating target power gradient occurs. The layered heater comprises a resistive layer defining a plurality of resistive trace zones, each resistive trace zone comprising a different watt density than an adjacent resistive trace zone. Additionally, a plurality of resistive traces are within the resistive trace zones, the resistive traces forming a parallel circuit and comprising a positive temperature coefficient material having a relatively high TCR and the resistive traces being oriented approximately perpendicular to the primary heating direction. Accordingly, the resistive traces are responsive to the heating target power gradient such that the resistive traces output additional power proximate a higher heat sink and less power proximate a lower heat sink along the primary heating direction. In yet another form, a layered heater is provided for use proximate a heating target, the heating target defining a primary heating direction along which a heating target power gradient occurs. The layered heater comprises at least one resistive layer defining a plurality of resistive trace zones, each resistive trace zone comprising a different watt density than an adjacent resistive trace zone. The resistive layer further defines a resistive trace within the resistive trace zones, the resistive trace forming a series circuit and comprising a negative temperature coefficient material having a relatively high BETA coefficient and the resistive trace being oriented approximately parallel to the primary heating direction. Accordingly, the resistive trace is responsive to the heating target power gradient such that the resistive trace outputs additional power proximate a higher heat sink and less power proximate a lower heat sink along the primary heating direction. In another form of the present invention, a layered heater is provided for use proximate a heating target, the heating target defining a primary heating direction along which a heating target power gradient occurs. The layered heater comprises at least one resistive layer defining a parallel circuit, the parallel circuit comprising a plurality of resistive traces. The resistive traces comprise a positive temperature coefficient material having a relatively high TCR and the resistive traces are oriented approximately perpendicular to the primary heating direction of the heating target. The resistive traces are responsive to the heating target power gradient such that the resistive traces output additional power proximate a higher heat sink and less power proximate a lower heat sink along the primary heating direction. In yet another form of the present invention, a layered heater is provided for use proximate a heating target, the heating target defining a primary heating direction along which a heating target power gradient occurs. The layered heater comprises at least one resistive layer defining a series circuit, the series circuit comprising a plurality of resistive traces. The resistive traces comprise a negative temperature coefficient material having a relatively high BETA coefficient and the resistive traces are oriented approximately parallel to the primary heating direction. The resistive traces are responsive to the heating target power gradient such that the resistive trace outputs additional power proximate a higher heat sink and less power proximate a lower heat sink along the primary heating direction. Further, a layered heater is provided in another form for use proximate a heating target, the heating target defining at least a first heating direction along which a first heating target power gradient occurs and at least second heating direction along which a second heating target power gradient occurs. The layered heater comprises at least one resistive layer defining a series circuit, the series circuit comprising a resistive trace, and the resistive trace comprising a negative temperature coefficient material having a relatively high BETA coefficient. The resistive trace is responsive to the heating target power gradients such that the resistive trace outputs additional power proximate a higher heat sink and less power proximate a lower heat sink along the heating directions. An additional form the present invention provides a layered heater for use proximate a heating target, the heating target defining at least a first heating direction along which a first heating target power gradient occurs and at least second heating direction along which a second heating target power gradient occurs. The layered heater comprises a first conductive layer comprising a plurality of adjacent conductor elements and a resistive layer comprising a plurality of resistive regions applied on the conductor elements. At least two resistive regions are applied to a single conductor element, the resistive regions comprising a negative temperature coefficient material having a relatively high BETA coefficient. The layered heater further comprises a first dielectric layer applied between the plurality of resistive regions and a second conductive layer. The second conductive layer comprises a plurality of adjacent conductor elements applied on the resistive regions and extending across adjacent conductor elements of the first conductive layer and a pair of terminal pads applied on a corresponding pair of resistive regions. Additionally, a second dielectric layer is applied over the second conductive layer but not over the terminal pads. The layered heater is responsive to the first and second heating target power gradients such that the resistive regions output additional power proximate a higher heat sink and less power proximate a lower heat sink along the first and second heating directions. An alternative form of the present invention provides a layered heater for use proximate a heating target, the heating target defining at least a first heating direction along which a first heating target power gradient occurs and at least second heating direction along which a second heating target power gradient occurs. The layered heater comprises a first conductive layer and a resistive layer applied on the first conductive layer, the resistive layer comprising a positive temperature coefficient material having a relatively high TCR. The layered heater further comprises a second conductive layer applied on the resistive layer and a dielectric layer applied on the second conductive layer. The layered heater is responsive to the first and second heating target power gradients such that the resistive layer outputs additional power proximate a higher heat sink and less power proximate a lower heat sink along the first and second heating directions. In another form, a layered heater is provided that comprises a first resistive trace, a positive terminal pad formed at one end of the first resistive trace, and a negative terminal pad formed at another end of the first resistive trace. Additionally, a second resistive trace is formed proximate the first resistive trace, a positive terminal pad formed at one end of the second resistive trace, and a negative terminal pad formed at another end of the second resistive trace. Further, a dielectric layer is formed over the first resistive trace and the second resistive trace but not over the terminal pads, wherein the positive terminal pad formed at one end of the first resistive trace is adapted for connection to the positive terminal pad formed at one end of the second resistive trace, and the negative terminal pad formed at another end of the first resistive trace is adapted for connection to the negative terminal pad formed at another end of the second resistive trace such that a parallel circuit configuration is formed. According to a method of the present invention, a layered heater comprising at least one resistive layer defining a circuit configuration is energized, wherein the circuit configuration comprises at least one resistive trace oriented relative to the heating target and comprising a material having temperature coefficient characteristics such that the resistive trace provides power commensurate with demands of the heating target. Yet another embodiment of the present invention comprises a layered heater for use proximate a circular heating target, the heating target defining a primary heating direction extending radially along which a heating target power gradient occurs. The layered heater comprises at least one resistive layer defining a parallel circuit, the parallel circuit comprising a plurality of resistive traces arranged circumferentially. The resistive traces comprise a positive temperature coefficient material having a relatively high TCR, and the resistive traces are oriented approximately perpendicular to the primary heating direction of the circular heating target. Accordingly, the resistive traces are responsive to the heating target power gradient such that the resistive traces output additional power proximate a higher heat sink and less power proximate a lower heat sink along the primary heating direction. In another embodiment of the present invention, a layered heater for use proximate a circular heating target is provided, the heating target defining a primary heating direction extending radially along which a heating target power gradient occurs. The layered heater comprises a plurality of zones, each zone comprising a plurality of resistive traces arranged circumferentially and in a parallel circuit configuration. The resistive traces comprise a positive temperature coefficient material having a relatively high TCR, and the resistive traces are oriented approximately perpendicular to the primary heating direction of the circular heating target. The resistive traces are responsive to the heating target power gradient such that the resistive traces output additional power proximate a higher heat sink and less power proximate a lower heat sink along the primary heating direction and within each of the zones. Further areas of applicability of the present invention will become apparent from the detailed description provided hereinafter. It should be understood that the detailed description and specific examples, while indicating the preferred embodiment of the invention, are intended for purposes of illustration only and are not intended to limit the scope of the invention. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The present invention will become more fully understood from the detailed description and the accompanying drawings, wherein: FIG. 1a is a side view of layered heater constructed in accordance with the principles of the present invention; FIG. 1b is an enlarged partial cross-sectional side view, taken along line A-A of FIG. 2a, of a layered heater constructed in accordance with the principles of the present invention; FIG. 2 is a side elevational view of a heating target in the form of a hot runner nozzle having a heating target power gradient in accordance with the principles of the present invention; FIG. 3 is a plan view of a layered heater system comprising a layered heater with a parallel circuit configuration and a positive temperature coefficient (PTC) material having a relatively high temperature coefficient of resistance (TCR) in accordance with the principles of the present invention; FIG. 4 is a side elevational view of a hot runner nozzle application with a layered heater having a parallel circuit configuration and a PTC material having a relatively high TCR in accordance with the principles of the present invention; FIG. 5 is a side elevational view of a hot runner nozzle application with a layered heater having a parallel circuit configuration and a PTC material having a relatively high TCR with resistive trace zones in accordance with the principles of the present invention; FIG. 6 is a graph illustrating the tailoring effect of the teachings of the present invention when applied to an engineered resistive trace having resistive trace zones in accordance with the principles of the present invention; FIG. 7 is a side elevational view of one embodiment of a layered heater having terminations for lead wires and constructed in accordance with the principles of the present invention; FIG. 8 is a plan view of a layered heater system comprising a layered heater with a series circuit configuration having a plurality of resistive traces and an NTC material having a relatively high BETA coefficient in accordance with the principles of the present invention; FIG. 9 is a plan view of a layered heater system comprising a layered heater with a series circuit configuration having a single resistive trace and a negative temperature coefficient (NTC) material having a relatively high BETA coefficient in accordance with the principles of the present invention; FIG. 10 is a side elevational view of a hot runner nozzle application with a layered heater having a series circuit configuration and a negative temperature coefficient (NTC) material having a relatively high BETA coefficient in accordance with the principles of the present invention; FIG. 11 is a series of plan views illustrating the construction of a layered heater having a series circuit configuration and an NTC material with a relatively high BETA coefficient to accommodate more than one primary heating direction in accordance with the principles of the present invention; FIG. 12 is a series of plan views illustrating the construction of a layered heater having a parallel circuit configuration and a PTC material with a relatively high TCR to accommodate more than one primary heating direction in accordance with the principles of the present invention; FIG. 13 is a plan view of a layered heater system disposed proximate a circular heating target with a parallel circuit configuration and a positive temperature coefficient (PTC) material having a relatively high temperature coefficient of resistance (TCR) in accordance with the principles of the present invention; and FIG. 14 is a plan view of a layered heater system disposed proximate a circular heating target having zones and constructed in accordance with the principles of the present invention. Corresponding reference numerals indicate corresponding parts throughout the several views of the drawings. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The following description of the preferred embodiments is merely exemplary in nature and is in no way intended to limit the invention, its application, or uses. Referring to FIGS. 1a and 1b, a general illustration and description of a layered heater, which is indicated by reference numeral 10, is provided. Generally, the layered heater 10 comprises a number of layers disposed on a substrate 12, wherein the substrate 12 may be a separate element disposed proximate the part or device (not shown) to be heated, or the substrate 12 may be the part or device itself. The part or device is hereinafter referred to as a “heating target,” which should be construed to mean any device, body, or medium that is intended to be heated such as a physical object or an environment adjacent the heater, e.g., air, fluid. Accordingly, the terms part, device, or target device, among others, should not be construed as limiting the scope of the present invention. The teachings of the present invention are applicable to any heating target, regardless of the form and/or composition of the heating target. As best shown in FIG. 1b, the layers generally comprise a dielectric layer 14, a resistive layer 16, and a protective layer 18. The dielectric layer 14 provides electrical isolation between the substrate 12 and the resistive layer 16 and is formed on the substrate 12 in a thickness commensurate with the power output, applied voltage, intended application temperature, or combinations thereof, of the layered heater 10. The resistive layer 16 is formed on the dielectric layer 14 and provides a heater circuit for the layered heater 10, thereby providing the heat to the substrate 12. The protective layer 18 is formed on the resistive layer 16 and is preferably an insulator, however other materials such as an electrically or thermally conductive material may also be employed according to the requirements of a specific heating application. As further shown, terminal pads 20 are generally disposed on the dielectric layer 14 and are in contact with the resistive layer 16. Accordingly, electrical leads 22 are in contact with the terminal pads 20 and connect the resistive layer 16 to a power source (not shown). (Only one terminal pad 20 and one electrical lead 22 are shown for clarity, and it should be understood that two terminal pads 20 with one electrical lead 22 per terminal pad 20 are often present in layered heaters). The terminal pads 20 are not required to be in contact with the dielectric layer 14, so long as the terminal pads 20 are electrically connected to the resistive layer 16 in some form. As further shown, the protective layer 18 is formed on the resistive layer 16 and is generally a dielectric material for electrical isolation and protection of the resistive layer 16 from the operating environment. Additionally, the protective layer 18 may cover a portion of the terminal pads 20 as shown so long as there remains sufficient area to promote an electrical connection with the power source. As used herein, the term “layered heater” should be construed to include heaters that comprise at least one functional layer (e.g., dielectric layer 14, resistive layer 16, and protective layer 18, among others), wherein the layer is formed through application or accumulation of a material to a substrate or another layer using processes associated with thick film, thin film, thermal spraying, or sol-gel, among others. These processes are also referred to as “layered processes,” “layering processes,” or “layered heater processes.” Such processes and functional layers are described in greater detail in co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/752,359, titled “Combined Layering Technologies for Electric Heaters,” filed on Jan. 6, 2004, which is commonly assigned with the present application and the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety. Referring now to FIG. 2, a heating target 30 is shown, which is illustrated as a hot runner nozzle in an exemplary form of the present invention. It should be understood that the teachings of the present invention are not limited to a hot runner nozzle and are applicable to a variety of other heating targets. Accordingly, the illustration and description of a hot runner nozzle application should not be construed as limiting the scope of the present invention. As shown, the hot runner nozzle 30 defines a proximal end 32 and a distal end 36. The proximal end 32 is secured or positioned adjacent to a manifold 34 of an injection molding machine, and the distal end 36, often referred to as the “tip,” is positioned adjacent the mold 38, where parts are formed during an injection molding process. As shown, the hot runner nozzle 30 comprises a primary heating direction 39, along which a heating target power gradient occurs as shown by the graph directly below the hot runner nozzle 30. Generally, more power is required at the proximal end 32 due to the heat sink of the manifold 34. Similarly, more power is required at the distal end 36 due to the heat sink of the mold 38. Accordingly, a power gradient occurs as a result of these heat sinks, which is undesirable when a substantially isothermal output, or even heat distribution, is desired to heat the molten resin flowing through the hot runner nozzle 30. Referring now to FIG. 3, a layered heater system according to one form of the present invention is illustrated and generally indicated by reference numeral 40. As shown, the layered heater system 40 comprises a heating target 42 defining a primary heating direction 44, along which a heating target power gradient occurs as previously illustrated. A heat sink is present at end portion 46 (shown dashed), and another heat sink is present at end portion 48 (shown dashed), which are shown in these locations for exemplary purposes only. It should be understood that one or a plurality of heat sinks may be present along the primary heating direction 44, so long as a heating target power gradient is present. Additionally, the heating target 42 may be one of a plurality of applications such as the hot runner nozzle as previously described, among many others, and is illustrated as a two-dimensional heating target for purposes of clarity in describing the operating principles of the present invention. Application of the teachings of the present invention to a three-dimensional heating target such as a hot runner nozzle are illustrated and described in greater detail below. As further shown, the layered heater system 40 comprises a layered heater 50 disposed proximate the heating target 42. The layered heater 50 comprises a resistive layer 52, wherein a plurality of resistive traces 54, 56, 58, and 60 define a parallel circuit as shown with power being applied to a first power bus 62 and a second power bus 64. As shown, the resistive traces 54, 56, 58, and 60 are oriented approximately perpendicular to the primary heating direction, the purpose of which will become clear with the following discussion of materials and electrical circuit principles. Additionally, the illustration of four (4) resistive traces 54, 56, 58, and 60 is exemplary only and should not be construed as limiting the scope of the present invention. The material for the resistive traces is preferably a positive temperature coefficient (PTC) material that has a relatively high temperature coefficient of resistance (TCR). For example, a TCR value of 1,500 ppm/° C. was satisfactorily employed in one form of the present invention, which translates into a power increase of approximately 0.15% per degree centigrade (° C.) decrease in temperature. Depending on the extent of the heat sink, more or less power per degree of temperature change may be designed into the resistive traces by selecting a material having a specific TCR value. The higher the TCR value, the more additional power that will be delivered to the heat sink area, and likewise, the lower the TCR value, the less additional power that will be delivered to the heat sink area. Accordingly, a wide range of materials having different TCR values may be employed in accordance with the teachings of the present invention, and the examples described herein should not be construed as limiting the scope of the present invention. So long as the TCR characteristics of the resistive trace material are such that a change in temperature due to a local heat sink causes a corresponding change in resistance of the resistive traces, which translates into a corresponding change in power to compensate for the heat sink, such TCR characteristics should be construed as falling within the scope of the present invention. In a parallel circuit, the voltage across each resistive trace 54, 56, 58, and 60 remains constant, and therefore, if the resistance in a particular resistive trace, e.g., 54, increases or decreases, the current must correspondingly decrease or increase in accordance with the constant applied voltage. The resistive traces 54 and 60 that are located proximate the end portions 46 and 48 will necessarily be of a lower temperature due to the heat sinks along the end portions 46 and 48. Accordingly, with a PTC material having a relatively high TCR, the resistance of the resistive traces 54 and 60 will also decrease with the lower temperature relative to the temperature of traces 56 and 58. And with the constant voltage power supply, the current through the resistive traces 54 and 60 will increase relative to the current in traces 56 and 58, thus producing a higher power output to compensate for the heat sinks. Although the higher power output will in turn drive the temperature of the resistive traces 54 and 60 up, the overall power proximate end portions 46 and 48 will be higher than the power output between the end portions 46 and 48, i.e., through resistive traces 56 and 58 where there exists lower heat sinking. Accordingly, in the areas of end portions 46 and 48, or areas of higher heat sink, the power of the layered heater 50 will increase to compensate for the heat sink, or additional draw of the end portions 46 and 48. Therefore, the increase in power output of the layered heater 50 enables a heating system capable of matching power output with the demands of the heating target 42. With the resistive traces 54, 56, 58 and 60 being oriented approximately perpendicular to the primary heating direction, the material of the resistive traces 54, 56, 58 and 60 is able to react most efficiently and effectively to the heating target power gradient along the primary heating direction. For example, if a resistive trace were oriented parallel to the primary heating direction, and with a constant voltage being maintained across the resistive trace, the current would not be capable of changing at different locations along the resistive trace to compensate for the heating target power gradient. Thus, in a parallel circuit with a heating target power gradient along a primary heating direction and a PTC material having a relatively high TCR, the operating principles of the present invention are most effective when the resistive traces are oriented approximately perpendicular to the primary heating direction. Referring now to FIG. 4, the principles of the present invention are illustrated in another embodiment of a layered heater system 70 for use in a hot runner nozzle 72. As shown, the layered heater system 70 comprises the hot runner nozzle 72 defining a longitudinal axis 74 extending between a manifold end 76 and a tip end 78. The layered heater system 70 further comprises a layered heater 80 disposed proximate the hot runner nozzle 72, wherein the layered heater 80 comprises at least one resistive layer 82 defining a parallel circuit as shown. The parallel circuit defines a plurality of resistive traces 84, 86, 88, and 90, which comprise a PTC material having a relatively high TCR. It should be understood that the illustration of four (4) resistive traces 84, 86, 88, and 90 is exemplary only and should not be construed as limiting the scope of the present invention. Further, the layered heater may be constructed according to the teachings of U.S. Pat. No. 5,973,296, which is commonly assigned with the present application, and the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety. Additionally, the layered heater may be constructed according to the teachings of U.S. Pat. No. 6,575,729, which is also incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. For example, the layered heater 70 may be applied directly to the outer surface of the hot runner nozzle 72, or the layered heater 70 may be applied to a separate substrate (not shown) such as a sleeve that is disposed around the hot runner nozzle 72. Such construction techniques with and without a separate substrate are described in greater detail in co-owned U.S. Pat. No. 5,973,296, which has been incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. As further shown, the resistive traces 84, 86, 88, and 90 are oriented approximately perpendicular to the longitudinal axis 74 of the hot runner nozzle 72. Accordingly, as previously described, the traces 84, 86, 88, and 90 are responsive to a heating target power gradient extending between the manifold end 76 and the tip end 78 such that the resistive traces 84 and 90 output additional power, and the resistive traces 86 and 88 output less power. As a result, the layered heater system 70 enables a more isothermal temperature distribution along the longitudinal axis 74, or the primary heating direction, which translates into a more constant temperature distribution throughout the molten resin (not shown) flowing through the hot runner nozzle 72. Referring now to FIG. 5, the principles of the present invention are applied to a hot runner nozzle 72 having an engineered resistive trace pattern that compensates for heat sinks. As shown, a layered heater system 100 comprises the hot runner nozzle 72 and a layered heater 102 disposed proximate the hot runner nozzle 72. The hot runner nozzle 72 defines the longitudinal axis 74 extending between the manifold end 76 and the tip end 78 as previously described, with a heating target power gradient occurring between the manifold end 76 and the tip end 78. As further shown, the layered heater 102 comprises at least one resistive layer 104 defining a plurality of resistive trace zones 106, 108, and 110. Resistive trace zones 106 and 110 each have higher watt densities in the form of resistive traces 112 and 114, respectively, that are spaced closer than the resistive traces 116 in resistive trace zone 108. Accordingly, each resistive trace zone, e.g, 106, comprises a different watt density than an adjacent resistive trace zone, e.g., 108, such that the resistive layer 104 is engineered to compensate for the heating target power gradient occurring along the longitudinal axis 74 of the hot runner nozzle 72. It should be understood that the watt density of each zone may also be varied using other techniques such as a variable width or thickness, among others, in addition to the variable spacing described herein. Such techniques are shown and described in copending U.S. application Ser. No. 10/797,259, filed Mar. 10, 2004 and titled “Variable Watt Density Layered Heater System,” which is commonly assigned with the present application and the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety. As further shown, the plurality of resistive traces 112, 114, and 116 within the resistive trace zones 106, 108, and 110 form a parallel circuit. Preferably, the resistive traces 112, 114, and 116 comprise a PTC material having a relatively high TCR, and the resistive traces 112, 114, and 116 are oriented approximately perpendicular to the longitudinal axis 74 of the hot runner nozzle 72 as shown. Accordingly, the resistive layer is responsive to a heating target power gradient extending between the manifold end 76 and the tip end 78 such that the resistive layer outputs additional power proximate the manifold end 76 and the tip end 78 relative to the power output between the manifold end 76 and the tip end 78. As shown in FIG. 6, the application of the present invention to an engineered resistive trace pattern having resistive trace zones that compensate for heat sinks further refines or tailors the ability of the layered heater to maintain a constant temperature along the heating target, e.g., hot runner nozzle 72. As shown, profile A represents the required power distribution, or demand profile, along a primary heating direction of the heating target in the presence of heat sinks as previously described and illustrated. Profile B represents the power gradient along the primary heating direction with the application of resistive trace zones, where the watt density of each resistive trace zone is varied according to the heating target power gradient. Although the regions along profile B compensate for the heat sinks, this profile does not match the demand profile A of the heating target. As further shown, profile C represents the power gradient along a primary heating direction without any features or characteristics that compensate for the heating target power gradient. And in accordance with the present invention, profile D represents the power gradient along the primary heating direction with the application of materials having specific temperature coefficient characteristics, and arranged in a specific circuit configuration and orientation, in addition to the application of resistive trace zones. As shown, profile D closely approximates profile A, or the demand profile of the heating target. Therefore, application of materials having specific temperature coefficient characteristics, and arranged in a specific circuit configuration and orientation, to an engineered resistive trace having resistive trace zones provides further refinement or fine-tuning of the layered heater 102 to compensate for heating target power gradients occurring along a heating target such that the layered heater 102 provides power commensurate with demands of the heating target. Referring now to FIG. 7, another form of the present invention is described and illustrated that provides terminations for resistive traces within resistive trace zones without a “cold spot” that typically occurs between power busses for parallel circuits. As shown, a layered heater 120 comprises at least one resistive layer 122 that defines a first resistive trace 124 and a second resistive trace 126 formed proximate the first resistive trace 124, each of which are shown as being “wrapped” around as a part of the layered heater 120. A positive terminal pad 128 is formed at one end of the first resistive trace 124, and a negative terminal pad 130 is formed at another end of the first resistive trace 124. Similarly, a positive terminal pad 132 is formed at one end of the second resistive trace 126, and a negative terminal pad 134 is formed at another end of the second resistive trace 126. As further shown, a dielectric layer 136 is formed over the first resistive trace 124 and the second resistive 126 trace but not over the terminal pads 128, 130, 132, and 134. Accordingly, the positive terminal pad 128 formed at one end of the first resistive trace 124 is adapted for connection to the positive terminal pad 132 formed at one end of the second resistive trace 126, and the negative terminal pad 130 formed at another end of the first resistive trace 124 is adapted for connection to the negative terminal pad 134 formed at another end of the second resistive trace 126 such that a parallel circuit configuration is formed. The terminal pads 128, 130, 132, 134 may be connected by a variety of methods including, but not limited to, hard wiring, a printed connection, or terminal bars, among others. Advantageously, with the terminal connections as illustrated and described, the resistive traces 124 and 126 provide more uniform heating of a heating target (not shown) and reduce the “cold spot” that occurs with known layered heaters having parallel circuit configurations. It should be understood that the illustration of two (2) resistive traces 124 and 126 is not intended to limit the scope of the present invention and that a plurality of resistive traces may be connected with the terminal connections according to the teachings herein while remaining within the scope of the present invention. Additionally, the resistive traces may also form configurations other than being “wrapped” around as a part of the layered heater while remaining within the scope of the present invention. For example, the resistive traces may be formed as a part of a two-dimensional layered heater as previously illustrated. Yet another form of the present invention is illustrated in FIG. 8, wherein a layered heater system 140 is illustrated comprising a heating target 142 and a layered heater 144 disposed proximate the heating target 142. As with previous embodiments, the heating target 142 defines a primary heating direction 146 along which a heating target power gradient occurs, with a heat sink at end portion 148 and at end portion 150 (both shown dashed). The layered heater 144 comprises at least one resistive layer 152, wherein a plurality of resistive traces 154, 156, 158, and 160 define a series circuit as shown. Preferably, the resistive traces 154, 156, 158, and 160 comprise a negative temperature coefficient (NTC) material having a relatively high BETA coefficient material. Generally, the BETA coefficient (β) is defined as a material constant of an NTC thermistor, which is a measure of its resistance at one temperature compared to its resistance at a different temperature. The BETA value may be calculated by the equation shown below and is expressed in degrees Kelvin (° K.): β=In(R@T1/R@T2)/((T2-1)−(T1-1)) Equation 1 Accordingly, the resistance of this material decreases with increasing temperature. And as further shown, the resistive traces 154, 156, 158, and 160 are oriented approximately parallel to the primary heating direction 146. In a series circuit, the current through each resistive trace 154, 156, 158, and 160 remains constant, and therefore, if the resistance in a particular portion of a resistive trace increases or decreases, the voltage must correspondingly decrease or increase in accordance with the constant current. With an NTC material having relatively high BETA coefficient, the resistance of the resistive traces 154, 156, 158, and 160 will increase with decreasing temperature proximate the end portions 148 and 150 (heat sinks), and thus the voltage will correspondingly increase to maintain the constant current. Therefore, the voltage increase will cause an increase in the power output of the layered heater 144 proximate the end portions 148 and 150 relative to the region between end portions 148 and 150, thus enabling a heating system capable of matching power output with the demands of the heating target 142. Additionally, with the resistive traces 154, 156, 158, and 160 being oriented approximately parallel to the primary heating direction, the material of the resistive traces 154, 156, 158, and 160 is able to react more efficiently and effectively to the heating target power gradient along the primary heating direction. Thus, in a series circuit with a heating target power gradient along a primary heating direction and a NTC material having a relatively high BETA coefficient, the operating principles of the present invention are most effective when the resistive traces are oriented approximately parallel to the primary heating direction. And as with the parallel circuit configurations with a PTC material having a relatively high TCR, the higher the BETA coefficient, the higher the power output to compensate for the heat sink(s). Likewise, the lower the BETA coefficient, the lower the power output to compensate for the heat sink(s). Accordingly, the BETA coefficient will vary depending on the application and the magnitude of the heat sink(s). So long as the BETA characteristics of the resistive trace material are such that a change in temperature due to a local heat sink causes a corresponding change in resistance of the resistive traces, which translates into a corresponding change in power to compensate for the heat sink, such BETA characteristics should be construed as falling within the scope of the present invention. Yet another form of a series circuit configuration is illustrated in FIG. 9, wherein a layered heater 170 is disposed proximate a heating target 172, and the heating target 172 defines at least a first heating direction 174 along which a first heating target power gradient occurs and a second heating direction 176 along which a second heating target power gradient occurs. The layered heater 170 comprises at least one resistive layer 178 defining a series circuit as shown, with a single resistive trace 180. Generally, the resistive trace 180 defines horizontal portions 182 and vertical portions 184 as shown. Preferably, the resistive trace 180 comprises an NTC material having a relatively high BETA coefficient such that the resistive trace 180 is responsive to the heating target power gradients to output additional power proximate a higher heat sink and less power proximate a lower heat sink along the heating directions 174 and 176. As previously described, if the resistance in a particular portion, e.g., vertical portion 184, increases or decreases, the voltage must correspondingly decrease or increase in accordance with the constant current. With an NTC material having relatively high BETA coefficient, the resistance of each portion 182 and 184 will increase with decreasing temperature, (proximate any heat sinks), and thus the voltage will correspondingly increase to maintain the constant current. Therefore, the voltage increase will cause an increase in the power output of the layered heater 174 proximate any heat sinks, thus enabling a heating system capable of matching power output with the demands of a heating target. Further, it should be understood that the embodiment illustrated and described is not limited to only two (2) heating directions and that a plurality of heating directions may be accommodated with a corresponding plurality of resistive trace portions while remaining within the scope of the present invention. Referring now to FIG. 10, another form of the present invention is illustrated with a series circuit configuration and NTC material as previously described applied to hot runner nozzle 72, along with resistive trace zones. As shown, a heater system 190 comprises the hot runner nozzle 72 with the longitudinal axis 74 extending between the manifold end 76 and tip end 78, along with a layered heater 192 disposed proximate the hot runner nozzle 72. The layered heater 192 comprises at least one resistive layer 194 defining a resistive trace 195 and a plurality of resistive trace zones 196, 198, and 200. Resistive trace zones 196 and 200 each have higher watt densities in the form of spacing that is closer than the resistive trace zone 198. Accordingly, as described above with the parallel circuit configuration, each resistive trace zone 196, 198, and 200 comprises a different watt density than an adjacent resistive trace zone in order to compensate for the heating target power gradient. It should be understood that the variable watt density approaches as described and incorporated by reference above with the parallel circuit configuration with resistive trace zones may also be employed with the series configuration illustrated herein while remaining within the scope of the present invention. As further shown, the resistive trace 195 forms a series circuit and preferably comprises an NTC material having a relatively high BETA coefficient. Accordingly, as previously described herein with NTC materials in a series circuit, the resistive layer 194 is responsive to the heating target power gradient extending between the manifold end 76 and the tip end 78 such that the resistive layer 194 outputs additional power proximate the manifold end 76 and the tip end 78 relative to the power provided between the manifold end 76 and the tip end 78. To accommodate more than one primary heating direction of a heating target, additional embodiments of the present invention are provided as shown in FIGS. 11 and 12. Referring first to FIG. 11, a layered heater system 230 comprises a heating target 232 defining a first heating direction 234 and a second heating direction 236. It should be understood that the teachings of the present invention may be applied to a heating target having a plurality of heating directions, and the illustration of only two heating directions herein should not be construed as limiting the scope of the present invention. Along the first heating direction 234, a first heating target power gradient occurs. Similarly, a second heating target power gradient occurs along the second heating direction 236. The layered heater system 230 further comprises a layered heater 240 disposed proximate the heating target 232, the construction of which is described layer-by-layer for purposes of clarity. As shown, the layered heater 240 comprises a first conductive layer 242 comprising a plurality of adjacent conductor elements 244. The conductor elements 244 may be applied directly to the heating target 232 or to a dielectric layer (not shown) according to the material and requirements of the specific heating target 232. As further shown, a resistive layer 246 comprises a plurality of resistive regions 248 applied on the conductor elements 244, wherein at least two resistive regions 248 are applied to a single conductor element 244. Preferably, the resistive regions 248 comprise an NTC material having a relatively high BETA coefficient. A first dielectric layer 250 is then applied between the plurality of resistive regions 248 as shown. Next, a second conductive layer 252 is applied, wherein the second conductive layer 252 comprises a plurality of adjacent conductor elements 254 applied on the resistive regions 248 and extending across adjacent conductor elements 244 of the first conductive layer 242. The second conductive layer 252 further comprises a pair of terminal pads 256 and 258 that are applied on a corresponding pair of resistive regions 248 as shown. Finally, a second dielectric layer 260 is applied over the second conductive layer 252 but not over the terminal pads 256 and 258. Accordingly, the layered heater 240 is responsive to the first and second power gradients of the heating directions 234 and 236 such that the resistive regions 248 output additional power proximate a higher heat sink and less power proximate a lower heat sink due to the series circuit configuration combined with the NTC material having a relatively high BETA coefficient as previously described. Referring now to FIG. 12, another form of the present invention is a layered heater system 270 comprises a heating target 272 defining a first heating direction 274 and a second heating direction 276. Along the first heating direction 274, a first heating target power gradient occurs. Similarly, a second heating target power gradient occurs along the second heating direction 276. The layered heater system 270 further comprises a layered heater 280 disposed proximate the heating target 272, the construction of which is now described layer-by-layer for purposes of clarity. As shown, the layered heater 280 comprises a first conductive layer 282 and a resistive layer 284 applied on the first conductive layer 282. The first conductive layer 282 also defines a terminal tab 283 for connection of a lead wire (not shown) in order to power the layered heater 280. Preferably, the resistive layer 284 comprises a PTC material having a relatively high TCR. As further shown, a second conductive layer 286 is applied on the resistive layer 284, and a dielectric layer 288 is applied on the second conductive layer 286. Additionally, the second conductive layer 286 defines a terminal tab 285 for connection of a second lead wire (not shown) to the layered heater 280. Accordingly, the layered heater 280 is responsive to the first and second heating target power gradients of the heating directions 274 and 276 such that the resistive layer 284 outputs additional power proximate a higher heat sink and less power proximate a lower heat sink in accordance with the teachings of the present invention. Furthermore, due to the continuous nature of the resistive layer 284, i.e., without individual resistive traces as previously described, the resistive layer 284 is inherently responsive to a plurality of heating directions with a corresponding plurality of heat sinks regardless of the orientation of the heating directions relative to the resistive layer 284. Yet another form of the present invention is illustrated in FIG. 13, wherein a layered heater system 300 comprises a heating target 302 defining a circular configuration with a primary heating direction 304 that extends radially as shown, along which a heating target power gradient occurs as previously described. A heat sink is present around the periphery of the heating target 302, wherein the heating target 302 in one form may be a hot plate for heating an object such as a beaker. As further shown, the layered heater system 300 comprises a layered heater 306 disposed proximate the heating target 302. The layered heater 306 comprises a resistive layer 308, wherein a plurality of resistive traces 310, 312, 314, and 316 define a parallel circuit as shown with power being applied to a first power bus 318 and a second power bus 320. As shown, the resistive traces 310, 312, 314, and 316 are oriented approximately perpendicular to the primary heating direction and are arranged in a parallel circuit configuration. Additionally, the resistive traces 310, 312, 314, and 316 comprise a PTC material having a relatively high TCR. Accordingly, in the area of the heat sink around the periphery of the heating target 302, the power of the layered heater 306 will increase to compensate for the heat sink, or additional draw around the periphery. As a result, the power proximate resistive traces 310 and 312 will be higher relative to the power proximate resistive traces 314 and 316 in accordance with the teachings of the present invention. Thus, the layered heater system 300 compensates according to the size of the object placed on the heating target 302. Referring to FIG. 14, yet another form of a layered heater system for the circular heating target 302 is illustrated and generally indicated by reference numeral 330. This layered heater system 330 comprises layered heater 332 disposed proximate the heating target 302. The layered heater 332 defines a plurality of zones 334 and 336 to compensate for an object (e.g., beaker, not shown) that is not centered on the heating target 302 or for a plurality of objects placed on the heating target 302. Although only two (2) zones 334 and 336 are illustrated, it should be understood that more than two (2) zones may be employed while remaining within the scope of the present invention. The layered heater 332 further comprises a resistive layer 338, wherein a plurality of resistive traces 340, 342, 344, and 346 are disposed within zone 334 and extend between a first power bus 348 and a second power bus 350. Additionally, the layered heater 332 comprises a plurality of resistive traces 352, 354, 356, and 358 disposed within zone 336, which also extend between the first power bus 348 and the second power bus 350. As previously described, the resistive traces 340, 342, 344, 346, 352, 354, 356, and 358 are oriented approximately perpendicular to the primary heating direction 304 and are arranged in a parallel circuit configuration. Additionally, these resistive traces comprise a PTC material having a relatively high TCR. Accordingly, the power proximate resistive traces 340, 342, 352, and 354 will be higher relative to the power proximate resistive traces 344, 346, 356, and 358 in accordance with the teachings of the present invention. Moreover, each of the zones 334 and 336 provide local power according to the demands within each of these zones to compensate for an object that is not centered on the heating target 302, or to compensate for a plurality of objects placed on the heating target 302, for example, one beaker 360 (shown dashed) in zone 334 and another beaker 362 (shown dashed) in zone 336. The description of the invention is merely exemplary in nature and, thus, variations that do not depart from the gist of the invention are intended to be within the scope of the invention. For example, the layered heater systems and layered heaters as described herein may be employed with a two-wire controller as shown and described in co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/719327, titled “Two-Wire Layered Heater System,” filed Nov. 21, 2003, which is commonly assigned with the present application and the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety. Such variations are not to be regarded as a departure from the spirit and scope of the invention. | <SOH> BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION <EOH>Layered heaters are typically used in applications where space is limited, when heat output needs vary across a surface, where rapid thermal response is desirous, or in ultra-clean applications where moisture or other contaminants can migrate into conventional heaters. A layered heater generally comprises layers of different materials, namely, a dielectric and a resistive material, which are applied to a substrate. The dielectric material is applied first to the substrate and provides electrical isolation between the substrate and the electrically-live resistive material and also reduces current leakage to ground during operation. The resistive material is applied to the dielectric material in a predetermined pattern and provides a resistive heater circuit. The layered heater also includes leads that connect the resistive heater circuit to an electrical power source, which is typically cycled by a temperature controller. The lead-to-resistive circuit interface is also typically protected both mechanically and electrically from extraneous contact by providing strain relief and electrical isolation through a protective layer. Accordingly, layered heaters are highly customizable for a variety of heating applications. Layered heaters may be “thick” film, “thin” film, or “thermally sprayed,” among others, wherein the primary difference between these types of layered heaters is the method in which the layers are formed. For example, the layers for thick film heaters are typically formed using processes such as screen printing, decal application, or film dispensing heads, among others. The layers for thin film heaters are typically formed using deposition processes such as ion plating, sputtering, chemical vapor deposition (CVD), and physical vapor deposition (PVD), among others. Yet another series of processes distinct from thin and thick film techniques are those known as thermal spraying processes, which may include by way of example flame spraying, plasma spraying, wire arc spraying, and HVOF (High Velocity Oxygen Fuel), among others. In many heating applications, a constant temperature across or along a heating target, e.g., a part such as a pipe or an outside environment to be heated, is often desired in order to maintain relatively steady state conditions during operation. For example, a constant temperature along a hot runner nozzle for injection molding equipment is desirous in order to maintain the molten resin that flows within the nozzle at a constant temperature and optimum viscosity for processing. However, each end of the hot runner nozzle presents a local heat sink relative to the overall hot runner nozzle. One end is connected to a manifold, which draws more heat away from the heater, and the other end, the tip, is exposed to the injection cavities/dies, which also draws more heat away from the heater. As a result, non-uniform heat transfer to the molten resin often occurs along the length of the hot runner nozzle, which translates into non-uniform temperature distribution and non-uniform viscosity of the molten resin. When the molten resin has a non-uniform temperature distribution, the resulting injection molded parts often contain defects or may even be scrapped. Increased machine cycle time can also be a result thereof. To address this problem, existing prior art hot runner nozzle heaters have been designed with a higher watt density local to the ends of the hot runner nozzle to compensate for the heat sinks. Although the heat sinks are somewhat compensated for with the local higher watt densities of the heater, the temperature distribution along the hot runner nozzle still does not achieve a constant level and thus temperature variations remain in the molten resin, resulting in a less than optimal process. Additionally, existing prior art hot runner nozzle heaters typically have no means to compensate for variable heat sinks that exist within a multiple-drop cavity system nor inherent variations due to manufacturing tolerances of the nozzle bodies themselves. | <SOH> SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION <EOH>In one preferred form, the present invention provides a heater system comprising a heating target defining a primary heating direction along which a heating target power gradient occurs and a layered heater disposed proximate the heating target. The layered heater comprises at least one resistive layer defining a parallel circuit, the parallel circuit comprising a plurality of resistive traces. The resistive traces comprise a positive temperature coefficient material having a relatively high temperature coefficient of resistance (TCR) and the resistive traces are oriented approximately perpendicular to the primary heating direction. The resistive traces are responsive to the heating target power gradient such that the resistive traces output additional power proximate a higher heat sink and less power proximate a lower heat sink along the primary heating direction. In another form, a heater system is provided that comprises a heating target defining a primary heating direction along which a heating target power gradient occurs and a layered heater disposed proximate the heating target. The layered heater comprises at least one resistive layer defining a series circuit, the series circuit comprising a plurality of resistive traces. The resistive traces comprise a negative temperature coefficient material having a relatively high BETA coefficient material and the resistive traces are oriented approximately parallel to the primary heating direction. The resistive traces are responsive to the heating target power gradient such that the resistive traces output additional power proximate a higher heat sink and less power proximate a lower heat sink along the primary heating direction. In yet another form, a heater system is provided that comprises a heating target defining at least a first heating direction along which a first heating target power gradient occurs and at least a second heating direction along which a second heating target power gradient occurs. A layered heater is disposed proximate the heating target and comprises a first conductive layer comprising a plurality of adjacent conductor elements, and a resistive layer comprising a plurality of resistive regions applied on the conductor elements, wherein at least two resistive regions are applied to a single conductor element. The resistive regions comprise a negative temperature coefficient material having a relatively high BETA coefficient. The layered heater further comprises a first dielectric layer applied between the plurality of resistive regions and a second conductive layer. The second conductive layer comprises a plurality of adjacent conductor elements applied on the resistive regions and extending across adjacent conductor elements of the first conductive layer, and a pair of terminal pads applied on a corresponding pair of resistive regions. Additionally, a second dielectric layer applied over the second conductive layer but not over the terminal pads. The layered heater is responsive to the first and second heating target power gradients such that the resistive regions output additional power proximate a higher heat sink and less power proximate a lower heat sink along the first and second heating directions. Additionally, a heater system is provided that comprises a heating target defining at least a first heating direction along which a first heating target power gradient occurs and at least a second heating direction along which a second heating target power gradient occurs. A layered heater is disposed proximate the heating target and comprises a first conductive layer and a resistive layer applied on the first conductive layer, wherein the resistive layer comprises a positive temperature coefficient material having a relatively high TCR. A second conductive layer is applied on the resistive layer, and a dielectric layer is applied on the second conductive layer. The layered heater is responsive to the first and second heating target power gradients such that the resistive layer outputs additional power proximate a higher heat sink and less power proximate a lower heat sink along the first and second heating directions In another form of the present invention, a layered heater is provided that comprises at least one resistive layer defining a circuit configuration, the circuit configuration comprising at least one resistive trace oriented relative to a heating target and comprising a material having temperature coefficient characteristics such that the resistive trace provides power commensurate with demands of the heating target. Another heater system is provided that comprises a hot runner nozzle defining a longitudinal axis extending between a manifold end and a tip end of the hot runner nozzle and a layered heater disposed proximate the hot runner nozzle. The layered heater comprises at least one resistive layer defining a parallel circuit, the parallel circuit comprising a plurality of resistive traces. The resistive traces comprise a positive temperature coefficient material having a relatively high TCR and the resistive traces are oriented approximately perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the hot runner nozzle. The resistive traces are responsive to a heating target power gradient extending between the manifold end and the tip end such that the resistive traces output additional power proximate the manifold end and the tip end and less power between the manifold end and the tip end. Additional embodiments of the heater system for a hot runner nozzle comprise both parallel and series circuits having PTC (positive temperature coefficient) and NTC (negative temperature coefficient) materials, respectively, along with resistive trace zones comprising different watt densities as further described and illustrated herein. In another form, a layered heater for use proximate a heating target is provided, the heating target defining a primary heating direction along which a heating target power gradient occurs. The layered heater comprises a resistive layer defining a plurality of resistive trace zones, each resistive trace zone comprising a different watt density than an adjacent resistive trace zone. Additionally, a plurality of resistive traces are within the resistive trace zones, the resistive traces forming a parallel circuit and comprising a positive temperature coefficient material having a relatively high TCR and the resistive traces being oriented approximately perpendicular to the primary heating direction. Accordingly, the resistive traces are responsive to the heating target power gradient such that the resistive traces output additional power proximate a higher heat sink and less power proximate a lower heat sink along the primary heating direction. In yet another form, a layered heater is provided for use proximate a heating target, the heating target defining a primary heating direction along which a heating target power gradient occurs. The layered heater comprises at least one resistive layer defining a plurality of resistive trace zones, each resistive trace zone comprising a different watt density than an adjacent resistive trace zone. The resistive layer further defines a resistive trace within the resistive trace zones, the resistive trace forming a series circuit and comprising a negative temperature coefficient material having a relatively high BETA coefficient and the resistive trace being oriented approximately parallel to the primary heating direction. Accordingly, the resistive trace is responsive to the heating target power gradient such that the resistive trace outputs additional power proximate a higher heat sink and less power proximate a lower heat sink along the primary heating direction. In another form of the present invention, a layered heater is provided for use proximate a heating target, the heating target defining a primary heating direction along which a heating target power gradient occurs. The layered heater comprises at least one resistive layer defining a parallel circuit, the parallel circuit comprising a plurality of resistive traces. The resistive traces comprise a positive temperature coefficient material having a relatively high TCR and the resistive traces are oriented approximately perpendicular to the primary heating direction of the heating target. The resistive traces are responsive to the heating target power gradient such that the resistive traces output additional power proximate a higher heat sink and less power proximate a lower heat sink along the primary heating direction. In yet another form of the present invention, a layered heater is provided for use proximate a heating target, the heating target defining a primary heating direction along which a heating target power gradient occurs. The layered heater comprises at least one resistive layer defining a series circuit, the series circuit comprising a plurality of resistive traces. The resistive traces comprise a negative temperature coefficient material having a relatively high BETA coefficient and the resistive traces are oriented approximately parallel to the primary heating direction. The resistive traces are responsive to the heating target power gradient such that the resistive trace outputs additional power proximate a higher heat sink and less power proximate a lower heat sink along the primary heating direction. Further, a layered heater is provided in another form for use proximate a heating target, the heating target defining at least a first heating direction along which a first heating target power gradient occurs and at least second heating direction along which a second heating target power gradient occurs. The layered heater comprises at least one resistive layer defining a series circuit, the series circuit comprising a resistive trace, and the resistive trace comprising a negative temperature coefficient material having a relatively high BETA coefficient. The resistive trace is responsive to the heating target power gradients such that the resistive trace outputs additional power proximate a higher heat sink and less power proximate a lower heat sink along the heating directions. An additional form the present invention provides a layered heater for use proximate a heating target, the heating target defining at least a first heating direction along which a first heating target power gradient occurs and at least second heating direction along which a second heating target power gradient occurs. The layered heater comprises a first conductive layer comprising a plurality of adjacent conductor elements and a resistive layer comprising a plurality of resistive regions applied on the conductor elements. At least two resistive regions are applied to a single conductor element, the resistive regions comprising a negative temperature coefficient material having a relatively high BETA coefficient. The layered heater further comprises a first dielectric layer applied between the plurality of resistive regions and a second conductive layer. The second conductive layer comprises a plurality of adjacent conductor elements applied on the resistive regions and extending across adjacent conductor elements of the first conductive layer and a pair of terminal pads applied on a corresponding pair of resistive regions. Additionally, a second dielectric layer is applied over the second conductive layer but not over the terminal pads. The layered heater is responsive to the first and second heating target power gradients such that the resistive regions output additional power proximate a higher heat sink and less power proximate a lower heat sink along the first and second heating directions. An alternative form of the present invention provides a layered heater for use proximate a heating target, the heating target defining at least a first heating direction along which a first heating target power gradient occurs and at least second heating direction along which a second heating target power gradient occurs. The layered heater comprises a first conductive layer and a resistive layer applied on the first conductive layer, the resistive layer comprising a positive temperature coefficient material having a relatively high TCR. The layered heater further comprises a second conductive layer applied on the resistive layer and a dielectric layer applied on the second conductive layer. The layered heater is responsive to the first and second heating target power gradients such that the resistive layer outputs additional power proximate a higher heat sink and less power proximate a lower heat sink along the first and second heating directions. In another form, a layered heater is provided that comprises a first resistive trace, a positive terminal pad formed at one end of the first resistive trace, and a negative terminal pad formed at another end of the first resistive trace. Additionally, a second resistive trace is formed proximate the first resistive trace, a positive terminal pad formed at one end of the second resistive trace, and a negative terminal pad formed at another end of the second resistive trace. Further, a dielectric layer is formed over the first resistive trace and the second resistive trace but not over the terminal pads, wherein the positive terminal pad formed at one end of the first resistive trace is adapted for connection to the positive terminal pad formed at one end of the second resistive trace, and the negative terminal pad formed at another end of the first resistive trace is adapted for connection to the negative terminal pad formed at another end of the second resistive trace such that a parallel circuit configuration is formed. According to a method of the present invention, a layered heater comprising at least one resistive layer defining a circuit configuration is energized, wherein the circuit configuration comprises at least one resistive trace oriented relative to the heating target and comprising a material having temperature coefficient characteristics such that the resistive trace provides power commensurate with demands of the heating target. Yet another embodiment of the present invention comprises a layered heater for use proximate a circular heating target, the heating target defining a primary heating direction extending radially along which a heating target power gradient occurs. The layered heater comprises at least one resistive layer defining a parallel circuit, the parallel circuit comprising a plurality of resistive traces arranged circumferentially. The resistive traces comprise a positive temperature coefficient material having a relatively high TCR, and the resistive traces are oriented approximately perpendicular to the primary heating direction of the circular heating target. Accordingly, the resistive traces are responsive to the heating target power gradient such that the resistive traces output additional power proximate a higher heat sink and less power proximate a lower heat sink along the primary heating direction. In another embodiment of the present invention, a layered heater for use proximate a circular heating target is provided, the heating target defining a primary heating direction extending radially along which a heating target power gradient occurs. The layered heater comprises a plurality of zones, each zone comprising a plurality of resistive traces arranged circumferentially and in a parallel circuit configuration. The resistive traces comprise a positive temperature coefficient material having a relatively high TCR, and the resistive traces are oriented approximately perpendicular to the primary heating direction of the circular heating target. The resistive traces are responsive to the heating target power gradient such that the resistive traces output additional power proximate a higher heat sink and less power proximate a lower heat sink along the primary heating direction and within each of the zones. Further areas of applicability of the present invention will become apparent from the detailed description provided hereinafter. It should be understood that the detailed description and specific examples, while indicating the preferred embodiment of the invention, are intended for purposes of illustration only and are not intended to limit the scope of the invention. | 20040915 | 20130917 | 20060316 | 69676.0 | H05B316 | 1 | JENNISON, BRIAN W | Adaptable layered heater system | UNDISCOUNTED | 0 | ACCEPTED | H05B | 2,004 |
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10,941,684 | ACCEPTED | Animal pen flooring system | An animal confinement pen flooring system, particularly adapted for swine farrowing operations, includes at least first and third rows of spaced-apart molded plastic foraminous flooring panels and an intermediate row of cast iron foraminous flooring panels, all of the panels being supported on spaced-apart elongated support rails in a stand off position above a subfloor. The plastic and cast iron panels each include opposed sets of hooked-shaped flanges for engagement with support rails, respectively, for supporting the panels thereon. The cast iron panels each include a boss and an opposed recess disposed on opposite sides thereof for interconnecting adjacent panels by cooperating hook portions formed on the boss and in the recess of the adjacent panel, respectively. The combination of the cast iron and molded plastic flooring panels provides enhanced comfort for swine in farrowing operations. | 1-13. (canceled) 14. A flooring system for an animal confinement pen comprising: plural, spaced apart, upstanding, elongated, parallel support rails for supporting said flooring system in a standoff position from a subfloor; a first row of plastic foraminous flooring panels supported on spaced apart first and second ones of said support rails, said first row of panels including plural panels disposed side-by-side, each of said panels of said first row including on opposite sides thereof opposed sets of spaced apart support flanges engaged with respective ones of said first and second support rails; a second row of metal foraminous flooring panels supported by said second one of said support rails and a third one of said support rails, said panels of said second row being coplanar with said panels of said first row and said panels of said second row including spaced apart support flanges on opposite sides thereof, respectively, and engaged with said second and third support rails, respectively, said support flanges on one side of said panels of said second row being interfitted between cooperating ones of said support flanges of said panels of said first row, respectively; a third row of plastic foraminous flooring panels supported on said third one of said support rails and a fourth one of said support rails, said third row of panels including plural panels disposed side by side, each of said panels of said third row including on opposite sides thereof opposed sets of support flanges engaged with said third and fourth support rails, respectively, one set of support flanges of said panels of said third row being interfitted between one set of support flanges on an opposite side of said panels of said second row for interlocking said panels of said second row with said panels of said third row, said panels of said third row being coplanar with said panels of said second row; and said panels of said second row include reinforcing webs, and plural elongated slots formed in an animal support surface of said panels of said second row, respectively, between said webs. 15. The flooring system set forth in claim 14 wherein: said panels of said second row include depending reinforcing flanges reinforcing said webs of said panels of said second row, respectively. 16. The flooring system set forth in claim 15 wherein: each of said panels of said second row is provided with spaced apart bosses projecting from selected ones of said reinforcing flanges and disposed adjacent respective ones of said support flanges to assist in locating and minimizing shifting movement of said panels of said second row with respect to said second and third support rails, respectively. 17. The flooring system set forth in claim 14 wherein: said panels of said second row each include on one side edge a boss projecting from a web between opposed sides of said panels of said second row which include said support flanges, respectively, and including a depending hook part for disposition in a recess formed on an opposite side of an adjacent panel of said second row, and a cooperating upstanding hook part delimiting one side of said recess, said hook parts being cooperable to latch adjacent panels of said second row together, respectively, to prevent separation of said panels forming said flooring system. 18. The flooring system set forth in claim 14 wherein: said panels of said second row are formed of cast iron, respectively. 19. A flooring system for an animal confinement pen comprising: plural, spaced apart, upstanding, elongated, parallel support rails for supporting said flooring system in a standoff position from a subfloor; a first row of molded plastic foraminous flooring panels supported on spaced apart first and second ones of said support rails, said first row of panels including plural panels disposed side-by-side, each of said panels of said first row including on opposite sides thereof opposed sets of spaced apart support flanges engaged with respective ones of said first and second support rails; a second row of metal flooring panels supported by said second one of said support rails and a third one of said support rails, said panels of said second row including spaced apart support flanges on opposite sides thereof, respectively, and engaged with said second and third support rails, respectively, said support flanges on one side of said panels of said second row being interfitted between cooperating ones of said support flanges of said panels of said first row, respectively; a third row of molded plastic foraminous flooring panels supported on said third one of said support rails and a fourth one of said support rails, said third row of panels including plural panels disposed side by side, each of said panels of said third row including on opposite sides thereof opposed sets of support flanges engaged with said third and fourth support rails, respectively, one set of support flanges of said panels of said third row being interfitted between one set of support flanges of said panels of said second row for interlocking said panels of said second row with said panels of said third row; said panels of said second row each include reinforcing webs, and plural elongated slots formed in an animal support surface of said panels of said intermediate row, respectively, between respective ones of said webs; each of said panels of said second row include reinforcing flanges reinforcing said webs of said panels of said second row, respectively; and each of said panels of said second row is provided with spaced apart bosses projecting from selected ones of said reinforcing flanges and disposed adjacent respective ones of said hook-shaped flanges for locating and minimizing shifting movement of said panels of said second row with respect to said second and third support rails, respectively. 20. A flooring system for an animal confinement pen comprising: plural, spaced apart, upstanding, elongated, parallel support rails for supporting said flooring system in a standoff position from a subfloor; a first row of molded plastic foraminous flooring panels supported on spaced apart first and second ones of said support rails, said first row of panels including plural panels disposed side-by-side, each of said panels of said first row including on opposite sides thereof opposed sets of spaced apart support flanges engaged with respective ones of said first and second support rails; a second row of foraminous cast iron flooring panels supported by said second one of said support rails and a third one of said support rails, said panels of said second row including spaced apart support flanges on opposite sides thereof, respectively, and engaged with said second and third support rails, respectively, said support flanges on one side of said panels of said second row being interfitted between cooperating ones of said support flanges of said panels of said first row, respectively; and a third row of molded plastic foraminous flooring panels supported on said third one of said support rails and a fourth one of said support rails, said third row of panels including plural panels disposed side by side, each of said panels of said third row including on opposite sides thereof opposed sets of support flanges engaged with said third and fourth support rails, respectively, one set of support flanges of said panels of said third row being interfitted between one set of support flanges of said panels of said second row for interlocking said panels of said second row with said panels of said third row. 21. The flooring system set forth in claim 20 wherein: each of said panels of said second row is provided with spaced apart bosses projecting from respective depending flanges and disposed adjacent respective ones of said support flanges to assist in locating and minimizing shifting movement of said panels of said second row with respect to said second and third support rails, respectively. | BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Animal confinement pens, particularly pens for confining sows and piglets in swine farrowing houses present certain problems with respect to the flooring systems for use in such pens. For example, the flooring systems are preferably supported in a standoff position with respect to a subfloor so that animal wastes may be removed from the confinement pens by way of the space between the raised flooring and subflooring therebelow. Raised flooring systems may be characterized by elongated spaced-apart support rails and removable foraminous flooring panels supported thereby. The construction of farrowing pen flooring panels is preferably of thermoplastic covering at least a portion of the confinement pen. However, the weight of the sow is such that conventional plastic flooring panels do not provide adequate support. Moreover, it has been determined that the sow prefers to reside on a cast iron or similar metallic panel which is of adequate strength but which also provides for a heating and cooling effect preferred by the sow. On the other hand the infant pigs prefer the more constant temperature and smoothness of molded plastic flooring and do not require the extra strength provided by cast iron, steel or other suitable metals which may be used for flooring panels. Continuing improvements have been desired in animal pen flooring systems of the general type described herein. The present invention overcomes certain disadvantages in prior art flooring systems and provides an improved flooring system which utilizes both molded plastic and cast iron or other metal panels which are secured to each other and to spaced apart support rails in an improved manner. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention provides an improved flooring system, particularly useful for animal confinement pens and more particularly useful for confinement pens used in swine farrowing operations. In accordance with one aspect of the present invention, a flooring system is provided wherein spaced-apart elongated support rails are adapted to support spaced-apart rows of molded plastic flooring panels between which is disposed a row of cast iron or similar metal flooring panels. Both types of flooring panels are provided with elongated hook-like support flanges which are interleaved with each other and which engage upstanding elongated support rails to support the flooring in a standoff position from a subfloor to facilitate animal waste disposal. An improved arrangement in accordance with the present invention is one wherein an elongated set of cast iron or similar metal panels are interlocked with each other and supported by spaced-apart support rails. The metal panels are configured to be interleaved with opposed sets of molded plastic flooring panels which are also partially supported by the same pair of support rails which support the metal panels and are further supported by a second set of spaced apart elongated support rails disposed outboard of the first mentioned set of rails. The present invention further provides an improved animal confinement pen flooring system wherein the center set of flooring panels is provided by separate panels which are supported on the aforementioned support rails but which are also interlocked with each other to form a more rigid flooring system. The center panels are each provided with an integrally formed laterally projecting tongue and hook part on one side of the panel and the adjacent panel is provided with a recess and cooperating hook part on an opposite side of the panel. Each center panel may be identical or one or more of the center panels may be of different widths to provide the required overall dimension of the confinement pen. Those skilled in the art will further appreciate the above-mentioned advantages and superior features of the invention together with other important aspects thereof upon reading the detailed description which follows in conjunction with the drawings. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an animal confinement pen flooring system in accordance with the present invention; FIG. 2 is a top plan view of a cast iron or similar cast metal flooring panel in accordance with the present invention; FIG. 3 is a bottom plan view of the flooring panel shown in FIG. 2; FIG. 4 is a detail view showing a recess and hook part formed on one lateral side of the flooring panel shown in FIGS. 2 and 3; FIG. 5 is a section view taken generally along the line 5-5 of FIG. 1; FIG. 6 is a section view taken generally along the line 6-6 of FIG. 1; FIG. 7 is a section view taken generally along the line 7-7 of FIG. 1; FIG. 8 is a section view taken along the line 8-8 of FIG. 1; and FIG. 9 is a section view taken generally along the line 9-9 of FIG. 1. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF A PREFERRED EMBODIMENT In the description which follows, like parts are marked throughout the specification and drawing with the same reference numerals, respectively. The drawing figures are not necessarily to scale and certain features may be shown exaggerated in scale in the interest of clarity and conciseness. Referring to FIG. 1, there is illustrated a flooring system in accordance with the present invention and generally designated by the numeral 10. The flooring system 10 is adapted to be supported in a standoff position from a subfloor 12 by plural, spaced-apart elongated somewhat inverted T-shaped rails 14, see FIGS. 5 and 6 also, for example. The rails 14 are preferably supported by spaced-apart support blocks 16, as shown in FIG. 1, one shown for each of the four rails 14 illustrated in the drawing figure. Those skilled in the art will recognize that the support blocks 16 may be spaced apart along each rail 14, as required, to provide suitable support for each rail, respectively. The flooring system 10 further includes plural spaced-apart rows of generally rectangular shape molded plastic flooring panels 18 which are foraminous to allow animal waste to drop therethrough onto the subfloor 12 to be suitably removed therefrom. Each of the panels 18 includes spaced apart laterally projecting hooked shaped flanges 20 and 22 which are disposed on opposite sides of the panels, as shown. The side of a panel 18 which includes the flanges 20 is also provided with half length flanges, each generally designated by the numeral 21. The opposed spaced-apart rows of panels 18 are separated by a row of cast metal flooring panels characterized by plural panels 24 supported side by side, and suitably interconnected, as will be explained in further detail herein. Panels 24 are preferably formed of cast iron, although other cast or forged metals may be used. As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, each of the panels 24 is characterized as a generally rectangular, preferably square, member having a set of laterally projecting spaced apart hook-shaped flanges 26 disposed along one side of a panel and an opposed set of hook shaped flanges 28 suitably spaced apart on the opposite side of the panel 24. Short or half length flanges 29 are spaced from the flanges 28 on the side of the panel 24 which includes the flanges 28. As shown in FIG. 1, the spacing of the flanges 26, 28 and 29 is such that these flanges fit in cooperating recesses formed between the flanges 22 and 20 of the respective panels 18, as illustrated. The center set of panels 24 may include one or more panels 24a, one shown in FIG. 1, and of half the width of the panels 24, but otherwise identical to the panels 24. Panels 24a provide for spacing the panels 24 with respect to the panels 18 such that they overlap to provide a more rigid flooring system. Referring further to FIG. 2, the panels 24 include a substantially foraminous support surface defined by elongated perimeter webs 30 opposed to and parallel to each other. Transverse, parallel perimeter webs 32 extend normal to the webs 30. Intermediate webs 34 are equally spaced from the webs 32 and the remainder of the surface of the panel 24 is delimited by elongated slots 36, 38 and 40, for example, to form a substantially foraminous surface to allow animal wastes to fall therethrough and to form foothold surfaces to facilitate animals arising from resting positions. Referring to FIG. 3, which is a bottom plan view of the panel 24, it should be noted that each of the webs 30 is reinforced by a depending flange 33 and each of the webs 32 and 34 is reinforced by a similar depending flange 35 and 37, respectively. Still further, the flanges 26 are each provided with a depending hook portion 39. The opposed flanges 28 and 29 are provided with similar depending hook portions 40 and 41, respectively. Referring further to FIGS. 2, 3 and 4 the panels 24 are each provided with means for interconnecting adjacent panels to form a more rigid flooring system, including a boss 44 projecting from a web 32 approximately midway between the opposed webs 30. Boss 44 is provided with a depending hook part 46, FIGS. 3 and 9. The opposite side edge of each panel 24 is provided with a recess 48, see FIG. 4, formed in the web 32 of that side, for receiving a portion of the boss 44 of the adjacent panel. An upstanding hook part 50, FIGS. 2 and 4, delimits one side of the recess 48 and cooperates with a hook part 46 of an adjacent panel 24 or 24a to latch adjacent panels together, as shown in FIG. 9. In this way the panels 24 and 24a are suitably supported against movement in any direction since the panels are supported on the rails 14 and are also interconnected with each other. As shown in FIG. 3, spaced-apart bosses 43 project into grooves formed by the hook shaped flanges 26, 28 and 29 to assist in locating and minimizing shifting movements of the panels 24 when they are supported on the rails 14. Referring briefly to FIGS. 5 and 6, these figures illustrate typical arrangements wherein the panels 18 and 24 are supported by the rails 14. As shown in FIG. 5, hook shaped flanges 20 engage a rail 14 and abut directly against a panel 24 at a recess formed by each panel 24 between its hook shaped flanges 28. In like manner, as shown in FIG. 6, each of the panels 24 is supported by a rail 14 by engagement with the rail by a hook shaped flange 28 and a cooperating boss 43. Flanges 28 project into cooperating recesses formed in panels 18 between flanges 20. FIGS. 7 and 8 illustrate how the hook shaped flanges 26 and hook shaped flanges 22 engage respective rails 14 to support the panels 18 and 24 on the rails in the same manner as described above. Accordingly, with the flooring system 10 arranged as illustrated and described, superior strength is provided by the interconnected and standoff supported panels 24 whereby, when the flooring system 10 is placed in a generally rectangular confinement pen, a sow will normally remain on the cast iron panels 24 due to the comfort provided to the sow thereby, while the offspring will normally remain on the molded plastic panels 18 due to the thermal conductivity characteristics of these panels and the somewhat softer or more comfortable feel that the panels present to swine offspring. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the flooring system 10 may be quickly and easily erected and disassembled, as needed. Thanks to the arrangement of two rows of plastic panels 18 cooperating with a center row of cast iron or similar cast metal panels 24 and 24a interposed the plastic panels and interlocked with each other as well as with the plastic panels, several advantages in the art of animal pen flooring systems are realized. The arrangement of adjacent rows of plastic and metal panels may be repeated indefinitely, although the arrangement of two rows of plastic panels and a center row of cast iron panels is preferred for each pen. The panels 18 and 24 may be provided in various dimensions. Panels having outside dimensions of 24 inches by 24 inches are typical for use in swine farrowing houses. As mentioned above, the panels 24 above are preferably formed of cast iron and the panels 18 are preferably formed of molded plastic, such as polypropylene. The fabrication of the panels 18 and 24 may be carried out using conventional manufacturing processes for articles made of the preferred materials mentioned above. The foramina of all panels is preferably elongated slots. Although a preferred embodiment of an animal confinement pen flooring system has been described herein in detail, those skilled in the art will recognize that various modifications and substitutions may be made to the flooring system of the present invention without departing from the scope and spirit of the appended claims. | <SOH> BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION <EOH>Animal confinement pens, particularly pens for confining sows and piglets in swine farrowing houses present certain problems with respect to the flooring systems for use in such pens. For example, the flooring systems are preferably supported in a standoff position with respect to a subfloor so that animal wastes may be removed from the confinement pens by way of the space between the raised flooring and subflooring therebelow. Raised flooring systems may be characterized by elongated spaced-apart support rails and removable foraminous flooring panels supported thereby. The construction of farrowing pen flooring panels is preferably of thermoplastic covering at least a portion of the confinement pen. However, the weight of the sow is such that conventional plastic flooring panels do not provide adequate support. Moreover, it has been determined that the sow prefers to reside on a cast iron or similar metallic panel which is of adequate strength but which also provides for a heating and cooling effect preferred by the sow. On the other hand the infant pigs prefer the more constant temperature and smoothness of molded plastic flooring and do not require the extra strength provided by cast iron, steel or other suitable metals which may be used for flooring panels. Continuing improvements have been desired in animal pen flooring systems of the general type described herein. The present invention overcomes certain disadvantages in prior art flooring systems and provides an improved flooring system which utilizes both molded plastic and cast iron or other metal panels which are secured to each other and to spaced apart support rails in an improved manner. | <SOH> SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION <EOH>The present invention provides an improved flooring system, particularly useful for animal confinement pens and more particularly useful for confinement pens used in swine farrowing operations. In accordance with one aspect of the present invention, a flooring system is provided wherein spaced-apart elongated support rails are adapted to support spaced-apart rows of molded plastic flooring panels between which is disposed a row of cast iron or similar metal flooring panels. Both types of flooring panels are provided with elongated hook-like support flanges which are interleaved with each other and which engage upstanding elongated support rails to support the flooring in a standoff position from a subfloor to facilitate animal waste disposal. An improved arrangement in accordance with the present invention is one wherein an elongated set of cast iron or similar metal panels are interlocked with each other and supported by spaced-apart support rails. The metal panels are configured to be interleaved with opposed sets of molded plastic flooring panels which are also partially supported by the same pair of support rails which support the metal panels and are further supported by a second set of spaced apart elongated support rails disposed outboard of the first mentioned set of rails. The present invention further provides an improved animal confinement pen flooring system wherein the center set of flooring panels is provided by separate panels which are supported on the aforementioned support rails but which are also interlocked with each other to form a more rigid flooring system. The center panels are each provided with an integrally formed laterally projecting tongue and hook part on one side of the panel and the adjacent panel is provided with a recess and cooperating hook part on an opposite side of the panel. Each center panel may be identical or one or more of the center panels may be of different widths to provide the required overall dimension of the confinement pen. Those skilled in the art will further appreciate the above-mentioned advantages and superior features of the invention together with other important aspects thereof upon reading the detailed description which follows in conjunction with the drawings. | 20040915 | 20060627 | 20050421 | 75105.0 | 1 | SHAW, ELIZABETH ANNE | ANIMAL PEN FLOORING SYSTEM | SMALL | 1 | CONT-ACCEPTED | 2,004 |
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10,941,825 | ACCEPTED | Information processing apparatus and method, information processing system, and transmission medium | When a user gets interested in some music he/she listens to somewhere, for example, in a coffee shop, the user records that music in a memory provided in a portable terminal. A processor reads the information stored in the memory and performs a predetermined process on it. The resultant information is stored on a storage device. The information stored on the storage device is then transferred to a server via a communication device. The server searches the database for the title of the music corresponding to the received information, and returns the result to the terminal. Thus, the user can easily get information about the title of the music. | 1. An information processing apparatus adapted to exchange information with another information processing apparatus, comprising: capture means for capturing information; memory means for storing information captured via said capture means; acquisition means for acquiring information associated with the information stored in said memory means on the basis of the information stored in said memory means; and display means for displaying the information acquired via said acquisition means, wherein the information acquired via said acquisition means is at least one of a title, a singer's name, a composer's name, a songwriter's name and a genre. 2. A transmission medium for transmitting a program to a portable type information processing apparatus adapted to exchange information with another information processing apparatus, said program comprising the steps of: capturing information; storing the information captured in said capture step; acquiring associated information on the basis of the information stored in said storage step; and displaying the information acquired in said acquisition step, wherein the associated information is at least one of a title, a singer's name, a composer's name, a songwriter's name and a genre. 3. An information processing apparatus adapted to exchange information with another information processing apparatus, comprising: an input device for capturing information; a memory for storing information captured via said input device; a circuit for acquiring information associated with the information stored in said memory on the basis of the information stored in said memory; and a display for displaying the information acquired via said circuit for acquiring information, wherein the information acquired via said acquisition means is at least one of a title, a singer's name, a composer's name, a songwriter's name and a genre. 4. A method of processing information with a portable type information processing apparatus adapted to exchange information with another information processing apparatus, said method comprising the steps of: capturing information; storing the information captured in said capture step; acquiring associated information on the basis of the information stored in said storage step; and displaying the information acquired in said acquisition step, wherein the transmitted information is at least one of a title, a singer's name, a composer's name, a songwriter's name and a genre. 5. An information processing apparatus, adapted to exchange information with another information processing apparatus, comprising: capture means for capturing information including at least time information; memory means for storing information captured via said capture means; acquisition means for acquiring information associated with the information stored in said memory means on the basis of the information stored in said memory means; and display means for displaying the information acquired via said acquisition means, wherein said information stored in said memory means further comprises music. 6. A method of processing information with a portable type information processing apparatus adapted to exchange information with another information processing apparatus, said method comprising the steps of: capturing information including at least time information; storing the information captured in said capture step; acquiring associated information on the basis of the information stored in said storage step; and displaying the information acquired in said acquisition step, wherein said step of capturing information comprises capturing music. 7. An information processing apparatus adapted to exchange information with another information processing apparatus, comprising: capture means for capturing information including at least time information; memory means for storing information captured via said capture means; acquisition means for acquiring information associated with the information stored in said memory means on the basis of the information stored in said memory means; and display means for displaying the information acquired via said acquisition means, wherein said time information corresponds to a time when a music is playing and said information acquired by said acquisition means relates to said music. 8. A method of processing information with a portable type information processing apparatus adapted to exchange information with another information processing apparatus, said method comprising the steps of: capturing information including at least time information; storing the information captured in said capture step; acquiring associated information on the basis of the information stored in said storage step; and displaying the information acquired in said acquisition step, wherein said time information corresponds to a time when a music is playing and said information acquired in said acquisition step relates to said music. 9. A transmission medium for transmitting a program to a portable type information processing apparatus adapted to exchange information with another information processing apparatus, said program comprising the steps of: capturing information including at least time information; storing the information captured in said capture step; acquiring associated information on the basis of the information stored in said storage step; and displaying the information acquired in said acquisition step, wherein said time information corresponds to a time when a music is playing and said information acquired in said acquisition step relates to said music. 10. An information processing apparatus adapted to exchange information with another information processing apparatus, comprising: an input device for capturing information including at least time information; a memory for storing information captured via said input device; a circuit for acquiring information associated with the information stored in said memory on the basis of the information stored in said memory; and a display for displaying the information acquired via said circuit for acquiring information, wherein said time information corresponds to a time when a music is playing and said information acquired by said circuit for acquiring information relates to said music. 11. A storage medium readable by a machine, tangibly embodying a program of instructions executable by the machine to perform method steps for information exchange between a portable type information processing apparatus and another information processing apparatus, said method comprising the steps of: capturing information including at least time information; storing the information captured in said capture step; acquiring associated information on the basis of the information stored in said storage step; and displaying the information acquired in said acquisition step, wherein said time information corresponds to a time when a music is playing and said information acquired in said acquisition step relates to said music. 12. An information processing apparatus adapted to exchange information with another information processing apparatus, comprising: capture means for capturing information including at least time information; memory means for storing information captured via said capture means; and acquisition means for acquiring information associated with the information stored in said memory means on the basis of the information stored in said memory means, wherein said time information corresponds to a time when a music is playing and said information acquired by said acquisition means relates to said music. 13. An information processing apparatus adapted to exchange information with another information processing apparatus, comprising: an input device for capturing information including at least time information; a memory for storing information captured via said input device; and a circuit for acquiring information associated with the information stored in said memory on the basis of the information stored in said memory, wherein said time information corresponds to a time when a music is playing and said information acquired by said circuit for acquiring information relates to said music. 14. An information processing apparatus adapted to exchange information with another information processing apparatus, comprising: an input device for capturing information including at least time information; a memory for storing the information captured via said input device; and a communication device for transmitting the information stored in said memory to said another information processing apparatus, wherein said time information corresponds to a time when a music is playing. 15. An information processing apparatus adapted to exchange information with another information processing apparatus, comprising: capture means for capturing information including at least time information; memory means for storing the information captured via said capture means; and transmission means for transmitting the information stored in said memory means to said another information processing apparatus, wherein said time information corresponds to a time when a music is playing. 16. A method of processing information with an information processing apparatus adapted to exchange information with another information processing apparatus, comprising the steps of: capturing information including at least time information; storing the captured information; and transmitting the stored information to said another information processing apparatus, wherein said time information corresponds to a time when a music is playing. | BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an information processing method and apparatus, an information processing system, and a transmission medium, and more particularly, to an information processing method, apparatus, system, and transmission medium that allow a user to store information user gets interested in regardless of where the user is and that allow the user to acquire information associated with the stored information on the basis of the stored information. 2. Description of the Related Art When one watches a television program or listens to a radio program, he/she often wants to know the title, the name of the singer, or other information about music being played in the program. In the FM radio broadcasting, a “visual radio” is known in the art in which available spaces between the carrier frequencies are used to transmit textual information about the music being broadcasted in the main programs so that listeners can get the information about the music. In the case of ground wave television broadcasting, the listeners can download the information about the music being broadcasted, using an intercast. However, different terminals depending on the broadcasts are needed to get information about the music, such as the title or the singer's name. This limits the situation or environment in which the user can get the information. For example, it is practically impossible to get associated information when the user is outdoor. In view of the above, the object of the present invention is to provide a technique to quickly and easily acquire associated information. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION According to an aspect of the present invention, as defined in claim 1, there is provided an information processing apparatus comprising: capture means for capturing information; memory means for storing information captured via the capture means; acquisition means for acquiring information associated with the information stored in the memory means on the basis of the information stored in the memory means; and display means for displaying the information acquired via the acquisition means. According to another aspect of the present invention, as defined in claim 4, there is provided an information processing method comprising the steps of: capturing information; storing the information captured in the capture step; acquiring associated information on the basis of the information stored in said storage step; and displaying the information acquired in said acquisition step. According to still another aspect of the present invention, as defined in claim 5, there is provided a transmission medium for transmitting a program comprising: capturing information; storing the information captured in the capture step; acquiring associated information on the basis of the information stored in said storage step; and displaying the information acquired in said acquisition step. According to still another aspect of the present invention, as defined in claim 6, there is provided an information processing apparatus comprising: reception means for receiving information from a portable type information processing apparatus; judgement means for judging whether the information received via the reception means includes an identification code in a predetermined form associated with the information; and transmission means for transmitting information associated with the information indicated by the identification code to the portable type information processing apparatus, depending on the judgement result made by the judgement means. According to still another aspect of the present invention, as defined in claim 7, there is provided an information processing method comprising the steps of: receiving information from a portable type information processing apparatus; judging whether the information received in the reception step includes an identification code in a predetermined form associated with the information; and transmitting information associated with the information indicated by the identification code to the portable type information processing apparatus, depending on the judgement result made in the judgement step. According to still another aspect of the present invention, as defined in claim 8, there is provided a transmission medium for transmitting a program comprising the steps of: receiving information from a portable type information processing apparatus; judging whether the information received in the reception step includes an identification code in a predetermined form associated with the information; and transmitting information associated with the information indicated by the identification code to the portable type information processing apparatus, depending on the judgement result made in the judgement step. According to still another aspect of the present invention, as defined in claim 9, there is provided an information processing system including a first and second information processing apparatus, wherein said first information processing apparatus comprises: capture means for capturing information; memory means for storing information captured via the capture means; acquisition means for acquiring information associated with the information stored in the memory means on the basis of the information stored in the memory means; and display means for displaying the information acquired via the acquisition means; and the second information processing apparatus comprises: reception means for receiving information from the first information processing apparatus; judgement means for judging whether the information received via the reception means includes an identification code in a predetermined form associated with the information; and transmission means for transmitting information associated with the information indicated by the identification code to the first information processing apparatus, depending on the judgement result made by the judgement means. According to still another aspect of the present invention, as defined in claim 10, there is provided an information processing method characterized in that a first information processing apparatus performs a process comprising the steps of: capturing information; storing the information captured in the capture step; acquiring associated information on the basis of the information stored in the storage step; and displaying the information acquired in the acquisition step; and a second information processing apparatus performs a process comprising the steps of: receiving information from the first information processing apparatus; judging whether the information received in the reception step includes an identification code in a predetermined form associated with the information; and transmitting information associated with the information indicated by the identification code to the first information processing apparatus, depending on the judgement result made in the judgement step. According to still another aspect of the present invention, as defined in claim 11, there is provided a transmission medium for transmitting a program in accordance with which the first information processing apparatus performs a process comprising the steps of: capturing information; storing the information captured in the capture step; acquiring associated information on the basis of the information stored in the storage step; and displaying the information acquired in the acquisition step; and the second information processing apparatus performs a process comprising the steps of: receiving information from the first information processing apparatus; judging whether the information received in the reception step includes an identification code in a predetermined form associated with the information; and transmitting information associated with the information indicated by the identification code to the first information processing apparatus, depending on the judgement result made in the judgement step. In the portable type information processing apparatus according to the aspect corresponding to claim 1, the information processing method according to the aspect corresponding to claim 4, and the transmission medium according to the aspect corresponding to the claim 5, information is captured and the captured information is stored so that information associated with the stored information can be acquired on the basis of the stored information and the acquired information is displayed. In the information processing apparatus according to the aspect corresponding to claim 6, the information processing method according to the aspect corresponding to claim 7, and the transmission medium according to the aspect corresponding to the claim 8, information is received from a portable type information apparatus and it is judged whether the received information includes an identification code in a predetermined form associated with the information. Depending on the judgement result, information associated with the information indicated by the identification code is transmitted to the portable type information processing apparatus. In the information processing system according to the aspect corresponding to claim 9, the information processing method according to the aspect corresponding to claim 10, and the transmission medium according to the aspect corresponding to claim 11, the first information processing apparatus performs the process comprising the steps of: capturing information; storing the captured information; acquiring associated information on the basis of the stored information; and displaying the acquired information; and the second information processing apparatus performs the process comprising the steps of: receiving information from the first information processing apparatus; judging whether the received information includes an identification code in a predetermined form associated with the information; and transmitting information associated with the information indicated by the identification code to the first information processing apparatus, depending on the judgement result. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating an embodiment of an information processing system according to the present invention; FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating the construction of the terminal shown in FIG. 1; FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating the process of storing information; FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram illustrating an example of information incorporated into music; FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating the process of acquiring detailed information; FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating another process of storing information; FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating another process of acquiring detailed information; and FIG. 8 is a block diagram illustrating another example of the construction of the terminal shown in FIG. 1. DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Before describing the preferred embodiments of the invention, a description of the aspects of the invention is first given in which an example of element corresponding to each means is described in parentheses following the description of the means. However, it is not intended to limit the means to those described. Herein, the term “system” is used to describe a total system including a plurality of apparatus, devices, and/or means. The portable type information processing apparatus according to the aspect corresponding to claim 1 includes capture means (for example step S11 in FIG. 3) for capturing information; memory means (for example step S14 in FIG. 3) for storing information captured via the capture means; acquisition means (for example step S21 in FIG. 5) for acquiring information associated with the information stored in the memory means on the basis of the information stored in the memory means; and display means (for example step S24 in FIG. 5) for displaying the information acquired via the acquisition means. The acquisition means of the portable type information processing apparatus according to the aspect corresponding to claim 2 includes transmission means (for example step S21 in FIG. 5) for transmitting the information stored in the memory means to another information processing apparatus; and reception means (for example step S24 in FIG. 5) for receiving the associated information from another information processing apparatus described above. The acquisition means of the portable type information processing apparatus according to the aspect corresponding to claim 3 includes storage means (for example information storage device 61 shown in FIG. 8) for storing the acquired information. The information processing apparatus according to the aspect corresponding to claim 6 includes reception means (for example step S21 in FIG. 5) for receiving information from the portable type information processing apparatus; judgement means (for example step S22 in FIG. 5) for judging whether the information received via the reception means includes an identification code in a predetermined form associated with the information; and transmission means (for example step S29 in FIG. 5) for transmitting information associated with the information indicated by the identification code to the portable type information processing apparatus, depending on the judgement result made by the judgement means. In the information processing system according to the aspect corresponding to claim 9, the first information processing apparatus comprises: capture means (for example step S11 in FIG. 3) for capturing information; memory means (for example step S14 in FIG. 3) for storing information captured via the capture means; acquisition means (for example step S21 in FIG. 5) for acquiring information associated with the information stored in the memory means on the basis of the information stored in the memory means; and display means (for example step S24 in FIG. 5) for displaying the information acquired via the acquisition means; and the second information processing apparatus comprises: reception means (for example step S21 in FIG. 5) for receiving information from the first information processing apparatus; judgement means (for example step S22 in FIG. 5) for judging whether the information received via the reception means includes an identification code in a predetermined form associated with the information; and transmission means (for example step S29 in FIG. 5) for transmitting information associated with the information indicated by the identification code to the first information processing apparatus, depending on the judgement result made by the judgement means. FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating the construction of an information system according to the present invention. A server 15 includes a database 10 storing detailed information. A communication device 30 is an apparatus by which a terminal 35 and the server 15 can communicate with each other via a network 20 including telephone lines or private lines. In the case where a PHS (Personal Handy-Phone System) or a PDC (Personal Digital Cellular) or the like is employed to realize the terminal 35, the terminal 35 itself has the communication capability and thus the communication device 30 is not necessary. FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating the construction of the terminal 35. This terminal 35 includes a communication device 40 that makes it possible for the terminal to directly communicate with the server 15. A display device 41 indicates various kinds of information. An input/output device 42 includes a microphone for inputting music or other information, a loudspeaker for outputting music or other information, and buttons used to operate the terminal 35. A controller 43 controls various elements of the terminal 35 and is realized, for example, with a CPU (Central Processing Unit). A memory 44 is realized, for example, with a RAM (Random Access Memory) and serves to temporarily store information input via the input/output device 42. A processor 45 includes a filter for reducing noise contained in the information stored in the memory 44 and also includes a circuit for extracting desired data from the information. The information processed by the processor 45 is transferred to a storage device 46. The storage device 46 stores the information received from the processor 45 and also information received via the communication device 40. The storage device 46 may be realized with either a removable storage medium such as a floppy disk or a fixed storage medium. The constituent elements described above are connected to each other via a bus 47. The operation of the terminal 35 shown in FIG. 2 is described below with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG. 3. We assume herein that a user carrying a terminal 35 happens to hear some music, for example, in a coffee shop and gets interested in that music. In step S11, the input/output device 42 of the terminal 35 is operated. The input/output device 42 includes a recording button which is pressed by a user to record music and also includes a microphone for inputting music. If this button is pressed in step S11, then music is input via the microphone. In step S12, the controller 43 records, into the memory 44, the music input via the input/output device 42 when the recording button is being pressed. In such a situation, the music may be directly recorded in the memory 44 or a tune whistled or hummed by the user may be recorded. In step S13, the processor 45 reads the music data from the memory 44 and performs a predetermined process on it. More specifically, noise included in the music data recorded in the coffee shop is suppressed first. After suppressing the noise, a series of data shown in FIG. 4 is extracted from the music data if such a type of data is included in the music data. The series of data 51 consists of a plurality of frame 52 each including the same contents. The reason why a plurality of frames 52 including the same contents are incorporated into the music data is because it is impossible to predict when the user records music on the terminal 35 and thus it is required that the data be available whenever music is recorded. Each frame 52 consists of a starting code 53 and a music identification code 54. The music identification code 54 is a number uniquely assigned to particular music. The starting code 53 indicates the data position at which the music identification code 54 starts. The processor 45 of the terminal 35 detects the starting code 53 from the extracted series of data 51, and then detects the music identification data 54 following that. The detected data is transferred to the storage device 46 and stored thereon. In the specific example shown in FIG. 4, the starting code 53 is 0×FEDC and the music identification code 54 is 01010122222. The series of data 51 can be incorporated into music using a data hiding technique. The data hiding technique is reviewed, for example, in Nikkei Electronics, No. 2-24 (1997), pp. 149-162 and also in No. 3-10, (1997), pp. 153-168. This technique has some variations depending on whether the data is hidden using phase, echo, or sound difference. The processor 45 should include a circuit adapted to the specific data hiding technique so that the series of data 51 incorporated in music is corrected extracted. If the data hiding technique is used, it is possible to incorporate all information representing the title of music, the name of the singer, the name of the album and other items associated with the music. However, if a great amount of information is incorporated into music, then the music contains a great amount of noise component. This problem can be avoided by limiting the information incorporated in music to only the information identifying the music whereby the music can be retrieved later using that information. For example, the music identification code 54 may be represented in accordance with the ISRC (International Standard Recording Code) established in 1986 (ISO3901). For further information about the ISRC, refer to ISO3901 or the ISRC Operation Standard issued by Recording Industry Association of Japan. In the ISRC, a particular code is assigned to each music so that any music can be identified by the ISRC. Each ISRC consists of a string of 12 alphanumeric characters. Each recording company provides information such as the title, singers name, composer's name, songwriter's name, genre, etc., associated with the ISRC. Therefore, if such information is stored in relation to the ISRC in the database 10 (FIG. 1), then it becomes possible to retrieve detailed information associated with desired music using the ISRC. In the following description, it is assumed that the music identification code 54 is represented by the ISRC. In the case where an ISRC is detected in step S13, the processor 45 transfers, in step S14, the detected ISRC to the storage device 47 and stores it thereon. On the other hand, if no ISRC is detected in step S13 (that is, if no ISRC is incorporated in music), the processor 45 transfers, in step S14, music to the storage device 47 and stores it thereon. As a result, the music containing no noise or, the ISRC is stored in the storage device 46 (hereinafter the information stored in the storage device 46 is referred to as raw information). Information representing the date and time when the above information is stored is extracted from the timer provided in the controller 43. The extracted date/time information is transferred to the storage device 46 and stored thereon together with the raw information. Alternatively, by operating the input/output device 42, the user himself/herself may input information representing the date and time when he/she listened to the music so that the date/time information is stored together with the raw information on the storage device 46. When the user records music, if the user inputs via the input/output device 42 information about the medium (for example, television, radio, etc.) in which the music is played, then that information is also stored together with the music. Although it is not necessarily required that the user should input this information, the information can also be used to identify the music if it is stored. FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating the process of acquiring information associated with the music on the basis of the raw information stored in the storage device 46. This process starts when the user operates a particular button of the input/output device 42. In step S21, the controller 43 of the terminal 35 transmits one of the raw information stored on the storage device 46 from the communication device 40 to the server 15 via the network 20. In step S22, the server 15 determines whether the received raw information includes an ISRC. If no ISRC is included, that is, if music (melody) itself is received, the process goes to step S23 and music expected to have the same melody as the received music is searched for from the database 10. The information such as the title, the singer's name, etc., associated with the retrieved music is transmitted to the terminal 35. If the received music includes additional information about the date/time or the media, the information is used in the retrieval. For example, the additional information includes “January 1”, “8 a.m.”, and “television”, then the music file of the database 10 including music broadcasted on television, 8 a.m., January 1 is searched. This causes the search to be narrowed and thus a smaller number of candidates are retrieved in a shorter time. In step S24, if the controller 43 of the terminal 35 receives candidates from the server 15 via the communication device 40, the controller 43 displays them on the display device 41 and waits for the user to select one of the received candidates via the input/output device 42. In step S25, the controller 43 transmits a candidate selected by the user to the server 15. In step S26, the server 15 retrieves detailed information corresponding to the received candidate from the database 10 and transmits it to the terminal 35. This detailed information includes the music itself. In the terminal 35, the received music data is supplied to the input/output device 42 and output via the loudspeaker. In step S27, the user listens to the music and judges whether the music is desired one. The user inputs the judgment result to the terminal via the input/output device 42. The controller 43 performs a proper process depending on the information input via the input/output device 42. More specifically, if the user judges that the music is not the desired one and inputs the judgement result via the input/output device 42, then the controller 43 returns the process to step S24 and again displays the candidates on the display device 41. In this case, the candidate whose detailed information has already been received is displayed in a color different from the color for the other candidates or is not displayed at all. Steps from 24 to 27 are performed repeatedly until the user gets detailed information associated with the desired music. On the other hand, if the user judges in step S27 that the music is the desired one and inputs that judgement result via the input/output device 42, then the controller 43 stores the detailed information received on the storage device 46. If the server 15 determines in step S22 that the received raw information is an ISRC, then the process goes to step S29. In step S29, the server 15 retrieves detailed information corresponding to the received ISRC from the database 10 and transmits it to the terminal 35. The process then goes to step S28, and the controller 43 stores the received detailed information on the storage device 46. In this case, the title of the music is displayed on the display device 41. The detailed information transmitted from the server 15 to the terminal 35 includes not only music data but also other information such as the title of the music. In the case where only the title of the music is required, only the title may be transmitted. The above-described process of acquiring the detailed information is started when the user properly operates the input/output device 42. In the case where the storage device 46 includes two or more pieces of raw information, the process from step S21 to step S29 is performed for each raw information and the process is repeated until all pieces of raw information are replaced with the corresponding detailed information. FIGS. 6 and 7 are flowcharts illustrating another method of acquiring detailed information. First, in step S31 shown in FIG. 6, the input/output device 42 of the terminal 35 is operated and music is input via it. In step S32, the controller 43 temporarily stores the input music in the memory 44. Then in step S33, the processor 45 reads the music from the memory 44 and suppresses noise contained in it. Furthermore, the processor 45 extracts an ISRC therefrom. In step S34, the controller transmits the extracted ISRC or the music (raw information) itself to the server 15. In step S35, the server 15 determines whether the received raw information includes an ISRC. If no ISRC is included in the received raw information, that is, if music (melody) itself is received, the process goes to step S36 and music expected to have the same melody as the received music is searched for from the database 10. The candidates (associated information) obtained as a result of the retrieval is transmitted to the terminal 35. In step S37, the controller 43 of the terminal 35 stores all received candidates on the storage device 46. On the other hand, in the case where the server 15 determines in step S35 that the received raw information includes an ISRC, the process goes to step S38. In step S38, the server 15 retrieves detailed information corresponding to the received ISRC from the database 10 and transmits it to the terminal 35. In the terminal 35, the detailed information received is, in step S37, stored on the storage device 46. The above-described process from step S31 to S38 is performed each time the user records music. FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating the process of acquiring detailed information from candidates stored on the storage device 46. The user can, at any time when the user wants, operate the input/output device 42 of the terminal 35 so as to start the following process. If the command to start the process is given, the controller 43 of the terminal 35 retrieves candidates from the storage device 46. The controller 43 displays the retrieved candidates on the display device 41 and waits for the user to select one of them via the input/output device 42. Steps from S42 to S45 following the above process are similar to those from S25 to S28 shown in FIG. 5, and thus they are not described here in further detail. Although in the above-described embodiments communication between the terminal 16 and the server 16 is performed via the network 20, communication may also be performed in any another way. Furthermore, instead of the ISRC system, information incorporated into music may also be represented by any other code system. FIG. 8 is a block diagram illustrating another example of the construction of the terminal. This construction is similar to that shown in FIG. 2 except that the communication device 40 is replaced with an information storage device 61. The information storage device 61 stores detailed information associated with music. Therefore, it is possible to get detailed information by searching the information storage device 61 without having to communicate with the server 15. The information storage device 61 may be realized using, for example, an IC card that may be removably attached to the terminal 35. A plurality of information storage devices may be prepared so that each information storage device includes detailed information categorized by singers, genre, etc. Therefore, it is possible to get detailed information in any desired category by attaching a proper card to the terminal. The information stored in the information storage device 61 may be updated via the network 20 or other communication media at proper intervals such as every week, every month, etc. The terminal 35 shown in FIG. 2 or 8 may further have the capability of giving a notice to the user if the same music is recorded twice or more times on the storage device 46. This capability allows the user to find his/her favorite music. Although in the embodiments described above it is assumed that the information recorded on the terminal 35 is music, the present invention may also be applied to any other type of information. A program used to perform the above-described process may be stored on a storage medium such as a floppy disk or a CD-ROM and distributed to users. Alternatively, the program may also be distributed to users by transmitting the program via a transmission medium such as a communication network thereby storing the program on user's hard disk or memory. As can be understood from the above description, the present invention has various advantages. That is, in the information processing apparatus according to the aspect corresponding to claim 1, the information processing method according to the aspect corresponding to claim 4, and the communication medium according to the aspect corresponding to claim 5, the user can acquire information associated with the information stored by the user. This allows the user to easily and quickly obtain desired information. In the information processing apparatus according to the aspect corresponding to claim 6, the information processing method according to the aspect corresponding to claim 7, and the communication medium according to the aspect corresponding to claim 8, the information stored by the user on the portable type information processing apparatus is transmitted to another information processing device, which in turn returns information associated with the received information to the portable type information processing apparatus. This allows the user to easily and quickly to obtain desired information. In the information processing system according to the aspect corresponding to claim 9, the information processing method according to the aspect corresponding to claim 10, and the communication medium according to the aspect corresponding to claim 11, the second information processing apparatus retrieves the information associated with the information stored by the user on the first information processing apparatus, and transmits the resultant information to the first information processing apparatus. This allows the user, to easily and quickly to obtain desired information. | <SOH> BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION <EOH>1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an information processing method and apparatus, an information processing system, and a transmission medium, and more particularly, to an information processing method, apparatus, system, and transmission medium that allow a user to store information user gets interested in regardless of where the user is and that allow the user to acquire information associated with the stored information on the basis of the stored information. 2. Description of the Related Art When one watches a television program or listens to a radio program, he/she often wants to know the title, the name of the singer, or other information about music being played in the program. In the FM radio broadcasting, a “visual radio” is known in the art in which available spaces between the carrier frequencies are used to transmit textual information about the music being broadcasted in the main programs so that listeners can get the information about the music. In the case of ground wave television broadcasting, the listeners can download the information about the music being broadcasted, using an intercast. However, different terminals depending on the broadcasts are needed to get information about the music, such as the title or the singer's name. This limits the situation or environment in which the user can get the information. For example, it is practically impossible to get associated information when the user is outdoor. In view of the above, the object of the present invention is to provide a technique to quickly and easily acquire associated information. | <SOH> SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION <EOH>According to an aspect of the present invention, as defined in claim 1 , there is provided an information processing apparatus comprising: capture means for capturing information; memory means for storing information captured via the capture means; acquisition means for acquiring information associated with the information stored in the memory means on the basis of the information stored in the memory means; and display means for displaying the information acquired via the acquisition means. According to another aspect of the present invention, as defined in claim 4 , there is provided an information processing method comprising the steps of: capturing information; storing the information captured in the capture step; acquiring associated information on the basis of the information stored in said storage step; and displaying the information acquired in said acquisition step. According to still another aspect of the present invention, as defined in claim 5 , there is provided a transmission medium for transmitting a program comprising: capturing information; storing the information captured in the capture step; acquiring associated information on the basis of the information stored in said storage step; and displaying the information acquired in said acquisition step. According to still another aspect of the present invention, as defined in claim 6 , there is provided an information processing apparatus comprising: reception means for receiving information from a portable type information processing apparatus; judgement means for judging whether the information received via the reception means includes an identification code in a predetermined form associated with the information; and transmission means for transmitting information associated with the information indicated by the identification code to the portable type information processing apparatus, depending on the judgement result made by the judgement means. According to still another aspect of the present invention, as defined in claim 7 , there is provided an information processing method comprising the steps of: receiving information from a portable type information processing apparatus; judging whether the information received in the reception step includes an identification code in a predetermined form associated with the information; and transmitting information associated with the information indicated by the identification code to the portable type information processing apparatus, depending on the judgement result made in the judgement step. According to still another aspect of the present invention, as defined in claim 8 , there is provided a transmission medium for transmitting a program comprising the steps of: receiving information from a portable type information processing apparatus; judging whether the information received in the reception step includes an identification code in a predetermined form associated with the information; and transmitting information associated with the information indicated by the identification code to the portable type information processing apparatus, depending on the judgement result made in the judgement step. According to still another aspect of the present invention, as defined in claim 9 , there is provided an information processing system including a first and second information processing apparatus, wherein said first information processing apparatus comprises: capture means for capturing information; memory means for storing information captured via the capture means; acquisition means for acquiring information associated with the information stored in the memory means on the basis of the information stored in the memory means; and display means for displaying the information acquired via the acquisition means; and the second information processing apparatus comprises: reception means for receiving information from the first information processing apparatus; judgement means for judging whether the information received via the reception means includes an identification code in a predetermined form associated with the information; and transmission means for transmitting information associated with the information indicated by the identification code to the first information processing apparatus, depending on the judgement result made by the judgement means. According to still another aspect of the present invention, as defined in claim 10 , there is provided an information processing method characterized in that a first information processing apparatus performs a process comprising the steps of: capturing information; storing the information captured in the capture step; acquiring associated information on the basis of the information stored in the storage step; and displaying the information acquired in the acquisition step; and a second information processing apparatus performs a process comprising the steps of: receiving information from the first information processing apparatus; judging whether the information received in the reception step includes an identification code in a predetermined form associated with the information; and transmitting information associated with the information indicated by the identification code to the first information processing apparatus, depending on the judgement result made in the judgement step. According to still another aspect of the present invention, as defined in claim 11 , there is provided a transmission medium for transmitting a program in accordance with which the first information processing apparatus performs a process comprising the steps of: capturing information; storing the information captured in the capture step; acquiring associated information on the basis of the information stored in the storage step; and displaying the information acquired in the acquisition step; and the second information processing apparatus performs a process comprising the steps of: receiving information from the first information processing apparatus; judging whether the information received in the reception step includes an identification code in a predetermined form associated with the information; and transmitting information associated with the information indicated by the identification code to the first information processing apparatus, depending on the judgement result made in the judgement step. In the portable type information processing apparatus according to the aspect corresponding to claim 1 , the information processing method according to the aspect corresponding to claim 4 , and the transmission medium according to the aspect corresponding to the claim 5 , information is captured and the captured information is stored so that information associated with the stored information can be acquired on the basis of the stored information and the acquired information is displayed. In the information processing apparatus according to the aspect corresponding to claim 6 , the information processing method according to the aspect corresponding to claim 7 , and the transmission medium according to the aspect corresponding to the claim 8 , information is received from a portable type information apparatus and it is judged whether the received information includes an identification code in a predetermined form associated with the information. Depending on the judgement result, information associated with the information indicated by the identification code is transmitted to the portable type information processing apparatus. In the information processing system according to the aspect corresponding to claim 9 , the information processing method according to the aspect corresponding to claim 10 , and the transmission medium according to the aspect corresponding to claim 11 , the first information processing apparatus performs the process comprising the steps of: capturing information; storing the captured information; acquiring associated information on the basis of the stored information; and displaying the acquired information; and the second information processing apparatus performs the process comprising the steps of: receiving information from the first information processing apparatus; judging whether the received information includes an identification code in a predetermined form associated with the information; and transmitting information associated with the information indicated by the identification code to the first information processing apparatus, depending on the judgement result. | 20040916 | 20070731 | 20050224 | 58753.0 | 2 | NGUYEN, LEE | INFORMATION PROCESSING APPARATUS AND METHOD, INFORMATION PROCESSING SYSTEM, AND TRANSMISSION MEDIUM | UNDISCOUNTED | 1 | CONT-ACCEPTED | 2,004 |
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10,941,915 | ACCEPTED | Dual mode terminal for accessing a cellular network directly or via a wireless intranet | A wireless intranet office (WIO) concept is disclosed, which integrates an IP based Intranet environment (27) and GSM network providing mobile telephones (21) with access to GSM through the GSM network or via the intranet. Access through the intranet to the GSM MSC (26) is provided by a WIO interworking unit (24) which may comprise several network entities (e.g. intranet mobile cluster (241), intranet location register (242), WIO gatekeeper (243), WIO gateway (244) and H.323 gateway). A dual mode terminal for such a system is also disclosed. | 1. A dual mode mobile station comprising: managing means for managing information independently of the mode of operation of the mobile station; first linking means for linking to the interface of a mobile communication network, said first linking means comprising a radio resource manager for the mobile communication network; second linking means for providing a link to the interface of a further communication network, said second linking means comprising a radio resource manager for the further communication network; and means for coupling the managing means to the first linking means when the mobile station is in a first mode and to the second linking means when the mobile station is in the second mode such that the mobile station remains connected to the mobile communication network, while actual data is carried over the further communication network. 2. A mobile station as claimed in claim 1, wherein the managing means further manages radio resources information independently of the mode of operation of the mobile station. 3. A mobile station as claimed in claim 1, wherein the second linking means comprises a low power RF radio resource. 4. A mobile station as claimed in claim 3, wherein the low power RF is Bluetooth. 5. A mobile station as claimed in claim 2, wherein the radio resource management is that the mobile communication network. 6. A mobile station as claimed in claim 1, wherein the call control and mobility management is that of the mobile communication network. 7. A mobile station as claimed in claim 1, wherein the mobile communication network is GSM. 8. A mobile station as claimed in claim 1, further comprising a radio resource manager for a user terminal, and linking means for linking to the interface of the terminal device so as to transfer radio resource information between the mobile station and the user terminal. 9. A mobile station as claimed in claim 1, further comprising a browser. 10. A dual mode station comprising: control means for controlling transfer of information such that in a first mode transfer of information is between the mobile station and a mobile communication network, and in a second mode transfer of information is between the mobile station and a second communication network; and means for providing radio contact between the mobile station and the mobile communication network in both the first and second modes. 11. A method for controlling transfer of information in a communication system comprising a mobile communication network and a second communication network and a dual mode mobile station capable of communicating with both of said networks, the method comprising: providing a first communication link to the interface between the mobile station and the mobile communication network, said first communication link including radio resource management of the mobile communication network; providing a second communication link to the interface between the mobile station and the second communication network, said second communication link including radio resource management of the second communication network; and maintaining said first communication link such that the mobile station remains connected to the mobile communication network, while actual data is carried over the second communication network. 12. A method as claimed in claim 11, further comprising: managing radio resources information independently of the mode of operation of the mobile station. 13. A method as claimed in claim 11, further comprising: providing the second communication link as a low power RF radio resource. 14. A method as claimed in claim 13, wherein the low power RF is Bluetooth. 15. A method as claimed in claim 11, further comprising: providing call control and mobility management of the mobile station via the mobile communication network. 16. A communication system comprising a mobile communication network and a second communication network and a dual mode mobile station capable of communicating with both of said networks, wherein: the mobile communication network comprises a base transceiver station emulator for providing a first communication link to the interface between the mobile station and the mobile communication network, said first communication link including radio resource management of the mobile communication network; the second communication network comprises a second base transceiver station for providing a second communication link to the interface between the mobile station and the second communication network, said second communication link including radio resource management of the second communication network; and the mobile communication network comprises controlling means for maintaining said first communication link such that the mobile station remains connected to the mobile communication network, while actual data is carried over the second communication network. 17. A communication system as claimed in claim 16, wherein the mobile communication network comprises managing means for managing radio resources information independently of the mode of operation of the mobile station. 18. A communication system as claimed in claim 16, wherein the second communication link is a low power RF radio resource. 19. A communication system as claimed in claim 18, wherein the low power RF is Bluetooth. 20. A communication system as claimed in claim 16, wherein call control and mobility management of the mobile station is managed via the mobile communication network. | CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS This application is a continuation of application Ser. No. 09/646,419, filed Nov. 30, 2000 which application is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a dual mode mobile station operable, for example in a public mobile communication network and a private network. The Invention also relates to the system in which such a dual mode terminal may operate, and further components of that system. 2. Description of the Prior Art In modern office work it is necessary to provide the employees with versatile information transfer connections which can transfer speech, facsimile messages, electronic mail and other data—usually in digital form. Transfer of information is needed inside an office or corresponding working environment for communication between employees, for transfer of information between branch offices of an enterprise, which offices can be in other towns or even in other countries, and for communication between the office and “outside world”. In this text and all of the following text “office” stands for an environment with several users, which users “belong together”, and which office physically covers a reasonably limited area. There has been a trend in the telecommunication branch toward integrated systems in which various forms of telecommunication can be controlled as one entity. A conventional realization of an above mentioned type of office communication system comprises a company telephone exchange for providing telephone services and telephones connected to it over twisted-pair connections and a separate local area network (LAN) in which applications for advanced telecommunication services have been implemented and which has the intelligence to run them. The local network is connected to the telephone exchange using a telecommunication server (Telephony Server) which supports the traditional subscriber server architecture in which subscribers are subscribers' computers connected to the local network. For example call-, data-, facsimile-, electronic mail- and speech mail services are connected within an office utilizing the telecommunication server. In an integrated system users can also e.g. control telephone services using their computer terminals connected to the local network. The whole integrated office communication system is connected to public telephone network through the telephone exchange. FIG. 1 presents an example of a prior known office communication system in which users' telephones TP (TelePhone) have been connected by wire connections and a local area network (LAN) has been connected over a telecommunication server TS (Tele Server) into a telephone exchange PBX (Private Branch Exchange) which is connected to a public telephone network PSTN/ISDN (PSTN, Public Switched Telephone Network, ISDN, Integrated Services Digital Network). To the local area network (LAN) have been connected on one hand servers executing various services such as data base server DBS (Data Base Server), voice server VS (Voice Server) and electrical mail server EMS (Electrical Mail Server) and on the other hand the users' computers PC (Personal Computer). It can be regarded as a problem with this kind of realization that even if a user's telephone TP and computer PC usually are on the same table next to each other separate wire connections must be laid to the user's working room for them, on one hand from the telephone exchange PBX and on the other hand from the telecommunication server TS of the LAN. Building and maintenance of two overlapping telecommunication networks naturally causes cost. The problem of overlapping telecommunication networks is increased by portable mobile stations utilizing radio connection coming rapidly more popular. Many persons working in an office need, because of their mobile work, a mobile station and often also a portable facsimile device and/or a combined portable computer/mobile station. In order to be able to use the devices based on radio connection also inside buildings, the constructions of which attenuate radio signals, it has been suggested that mobile radio networks should be supplemented with small base stations individual for offices or even for rooms, which base stations would be connected either directly or over wired telephone network to the central systems of mobile communication network. The network of small base stations would be already a third overlapping telecommunication network within the same office, and accordingly it is clear that in a preferable solution, which the present invention is aiming at, also the arrangement supporting radio communication stations should be realized using essentially the same means and telecommunication networks than the rest of the transfer of information in the office. A challenge of its own to telecommunication systems is issued by the fact that work is done more and more in small office or domestic environment, which is described by the concept SOHO (Small Office, Home Office). Even here advanced office communication services are often needed and it is particularly preferable if such a flexible system is available which can be utilized even both in the office and at home. The present systems which require overlapping connections for the utilization of mobile communication services, conventional telephone services and fast data transfer services are very inflexible for working in a small- or home office. In addition to above, the following kinds of solutions connected with integrated telecommunication systems are known from prior art. If an integrated office communication system is realized utilizing traditional technique, separate wired connections must be laid into a user's working room on one hand from telephone exchange PBX (FIG. 1) and on the other hand from telecommunication server TS of local area network (LAN). Constructing and maintaining two overlapping networks naturally brings extra cost. In said solutions according to prior art a solution to this problem has not actually been striven for. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention reduces the problems caused by overlapping networks. Additionally, the invention reduces problems caused by wireless information transfer inside an office and extra cost. The invention is an arrangement, in which said system, integrating information transfer, can also serve home office- and small office users. The invention is an arrangement of said kind, in which the carrier devices can be used as terminal devices (e.g. mobile stations) in the telecommunication system both in the office and outside it. According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a dual mode mobile station comprising means for managing network information independently of the mode of operation of the mobile station; first linking means for linking to the interface of a mobile communication network so as to transfer control and mobility information between the mobile station and the mobile communication network; second linking means for providing a link to the interface of a further communication network so as to transfer control and mobility information between the mobile station and the further communication network; and means for coupling the managing means to the first linking means when the mobile station is in a first mode and to the second linking means when the mobile station is in the second mode. This mobile station has common network layer information for both modes (i.e. when the mobile station is within and outside the wireless intranet office environment). Consequently, as there is no dual stack at this level, less code is required to implement the dual mode mobile station, hence making it simpler, faster and cheaper. It Is also easy to implement the second mode into existing mobile stations as this may be provided by virtue of a software enhancement to the conventional mobile station. The network information is preferably at least mobile communication call control and mobility information. It may also further comprise mobile communication radio resources information. However, alternatively, the first linking means may comprise a radio resource manager for the mobile communication network, and the second linking means may comprise a radio resource manager for the further communication network. This may enable the mobile station to communicate with an interface on the further communication network by means of simple signalling. For example, the second linking means may comprise a radio resource of an unlicensed band such as a low power RF radio resource like Bluetooth. In a preferred embodiment, the mobile station is further provided with a radio resource manager for a user terminal, and linking means for linking to the interface of the terminal device so as to transfer radio resource information between the mobile station and the user terminal. Furthermore, a mobile station may further comprise a browser, such as a WAP browser. According to another aspect of the invention, there is provided a base station transceiver emulator for interfacing a mobile station of a mobile communication network and a further communication network, the base station transceiver emulator comprising means for determining the presence of a mobile station within its cell; transceiving means for receiving call transfer information from the mobile station when the mobile station is within the cell and for transmitting call transfer information to the mobile station as it prepares to leave the cell. According to a further aspect of the invention, there is provided a mobile station emulator for interfacing a mobile station of a mobile communication network and a base transceiver station emulator of a further communication network, the mobile station emulator comprising means for receiving call transfer information from the mobile station and for forwarding it to the base transceiver station emulator, when the mobile station enters the cell of the base transceiver station emulator, means for maintaining the call transfer information while the mobile station is within the cell; and means for transmitting the call transfer information to the mobile station as it prepares to leave the cell. Such an emulator enables simple signalling between the mobile station and base station transceiver emulator. Furthermore, it enables call forwarding. Moreover, it eliminates the need for a mobile station to be used once it has entered the wireless intranet office environment. For example, instead of using a mobile station when in the office environment, a user could use a lightweight terminal such as a wristwatch and headset instead, or indeed a PC with headset. A device for coupling a mobile station of a mobile communication network to a further communication network may comprise a base transceiver emulator and/or a mobile station emulator. Preferably, the device is a personal base unit and comprises both of these emulators. Such a personal base unit may be implemented in a PC. According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a system for transferring information between a mobile station and a further communication device, the system comprising the mobile station, a communication network to which the further communication device is coupled, and a base transceiver station emulator for interfacing the mobile station and the communication network, wherein the system transfers information over the communication network when the mobile station is within the cell of the base transceiver station emulator, and transfers information over a mobile communication network when the mobile station is outside the cell of the base transceiver station emulator. A base transceiver station emulator and mobile station are also provided for such a system. Such a system allows users to utilize communication networks, such as private intranets to carry cellular services (e.g. speech, data, SMS, facsimile etc.) when within a coverage area. In addition, the WIO concept provides a good platform for local multi-media extensions because it potentially offers higher bandwidth to the user. Access to the public cellular network (e.g. GSM) is offered by introducing a transparent location management method, which allows mobile stations connected to the communication network, such as the intranet, to be reached from the public cellular network in the normal way. Hence, the concept can be utilized to provide extra capacity in hot-spot areas, such as airports and malls. The base transceiver station (BTS) emulator may be an actual base transceiver station or a virtual base transceiver station. In any event, it is an interface between the mobile station and the communication network over which the information (e.g., speech, data) is to be transmitted. The BTS emulator may be the BTS of a mobile cluster. In this event, it is an actual base transceiver station. While a mobile station is within this BTS cell, the information to/from the mobile station is transmitted over the communication network, even if there is an overlap with the cell of another public GSM BTS. Alternatively, the BTS emulator may form part of a personal base unit for a mobile station, in which case it is a virtual BTS. That is it looks like a BTS to the mobile communication network, but does not handover to another BTS. In one embodiment, where the communication network is an IP network, the system takes care of the binding of GSM and IP numbers, so that only one number is required. Such E.164=IP# mapping may be performed in the IWU (e.g. by the gatekeeper or ILR, or alternatively in the personal base unit. The communication system may be one of several kinds, such as a data communication network, internet, intranet, LAN, WAN, ATM packet network, Ethernet (TM), or Token Ring (TM). Also, the further communication device may be one of several kinds, including a PBU, another mobile station, an MSC or an FSC. The mobile station and PBU may be connected by RS232 cable. Alternatively, they may have an RF (preferably LPRF) or infrared connection. Examples include Bluetooth, Home RF, 802.11 WLAN etc. Also, they may be indirectly connected, for example via a connection device such as a mobile station cradle, deskstand or charger, or even a LAN of some kind. According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a dual mode mobile station comprising control means for controlling transfer of information such that in a first mode transfer of information is between the mobile station and a mobile communication network, and in a second mode transfer of information is between the mobile station and a second communication network, and means for providing radio contact between the mobile station and the mobile communication network in both the first and second modes. The first mode is, for example, when the mobile station is outside the office environment and the second, when it is within it, In a preferred embodiment, the control means and means for providing radio contact are realized by virtue of a software enhancement to conventional mobile terminals. Hence, the terminals are much simpler than existing dual mode terminals, which, for example, require switches to change between the modes. Also, the terminal of the present invention remains connected to the mobile network while the actual data (data/speech etc.) is carried over another interface. Thus it provides the mobile network with what seems to be the same operation specified for the standard mobile communication network entities. Now a system has been invented for transfer of information, e.g. speech or data, in which the trunk of information transfer is inside the office a local network (e.g. local area network, LAN), and between office units e.g. a traditional telephone network utilizing wired connections or a fast data packet network utilizing ATM (Asynchronous Transfer Mode) technique, for example. According to one embodiment of the invention the mobile station may be connected to the terminal device by means of a connection device, having a functional connection to the terminal device, and having means for connecting functionally to the mobile station. In response to connecting a mobile station to the connection device, the system will be informed to direct calls to the mobile station via the data communication network. The connection device can be a desktop stand or desktop charger and may be a separate device or integrated into the terminal device. A subscriber device means a terminal device connected to a telecommunication network, such as a telephone connected to a fixed telephone network, and a mobile station connected to a mobile communication network. A subscriber device also means servers and telephone exchanges connected to telecommunication networks, providing telecommunication services to the users of the telecommunication networks. In other words, a subscriber device means all the parts of a telecommunication network with which a telecommunication terminal device (e.g. a telephone) can communicate over a telecommunication network. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Embodiments of the present invention will now be described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, of which: FIG. 1 presents traditional communication networks and terminal devices used in an office environment; FIG. 2 illustrates a wireless intranet office architecture according to an embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 3 illustrates a wireless intranet office architecture according to an embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 4 illustrates the architecture of a mobile station and personal base unit of a wireless intranet office, according to an embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 5 illustrates a general GSM intranet office concept; FIGS. 6 to 11 show information flow from terminals of a GSM intranet office according to an embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 12 illustrates the architecture of a mobile station according to a further embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 13 illustrates a wireless intranet office system according to an embodiment of the invention in which the user is provided with a handsetless user terminal which communicates with his mobile station; FIG. 14 illustrates a wireless intranet office system according to a further embodiment of the present invention, in which the user is provided with a handsetless user terminal which communicates directly with the personal base unit; and FIG. 15 is a flow chart illustrating the functioning of a virtual terminal in the embodiment of FIG. 14, and FIG. 16 illustrates the handling of an electronic book service within a wireless intranet office. FIG. 2 illustrates a wireless intranet office architecture according to an embodiment of the present invention. As can be seen, the wireless intranet office integrates an IP based private intranet environment with a public cellular network, in this case the GSM network. This allows cellular users to utilize private intranets to carry the cellular services (i.e. speech data, SMS, facsimile, etc.) within the intranet coverage area. In addition, the wireless intranet office architecture provides a good platform for local multimedia extensions because it potentially offers higher bandwidth to the user. Access to public GSM network is offered by introducing a transparent location management method, which allows terminals connected to the intranet to be reached from the public GSM network in the normal manner. Thus, the wireless Intranet office arrangement can be utilized to provide extra capacity in hot spot areas, such as airports, malls etc., where this might be needed. In this wireless intranet office arrangement, the intranet forms a new kind of access network to the GSM network. The communication between the GSM backbone network and the end user access node takes place via internet protocol based networks instead of the GSM air interface, as will be seen below, FIG. 2 shows a mobile station 21 in a wireless intranet office environment. When outside this environment, the mobile station acts as a normal GSM phone connecting to a BTS of a public GSM network. However, when in the wireless intranet office environment, the mobile station may operate on one of two modes. In one mode, it connects to a personal base unit 22 (e.g. either with a inter-connection cable, a infrared connection, or with low power RF transmitter and receiver), and in another mode connects to a GSM base transceiver station (BTS) 23. The mobile station 21 is connected to an IP local area network (LAN) and a home location register (HLR) and visitor location register (VLR) 25 and a mobile station controller (MSC) 26 by virtue of an inter-working unit (IWU) 24. This IWU comprises several network entities, including an intranet mobile cluster (IMC) GSM/IP Gateway 241, an intranet location register (ILR) 242, a WIO gatekeeper 43 and a WIO A-gateway 244. Information such as data and/or speech may be transferred from the mobile station to the IP local area network by two routes, each of which includes a BTS emulator. In a first mode, the mobile station 21 is connected to the local area network via a personal base unit 22 (PBU), which itself comprises a virtual BTS. This is further explained with reference to FIG. 4 below. In a second mode, the mobile station 21 forms part of a mobile cluster (for example see reference 32 in FIG. 3). In this case, the information is transmitted to the local area network via a private GSM BTS 23 dedicated to that cluster, and an IMC GSM/IP Gateway 241. The BTS transmits the signal over the A bis interface, and the IMC Gateway 241 performs a protocol transform from GSM to H.323, so that the signal can be transmitted over the IP local area network. (As can be seen from this figure, the wireless intranet office architecture uses the H.323 protocol for the signalling and data connections inside the inter-working unit). The basic access interfaces to the cellular network are the air interface, the A-interface, the MAP protocol, the ISUP/TUP interface and the DSS.1 interface. The A-interface is an interface to mobile switching center and the MAP interface is an interface to HLRNLR. ISUP/TUP interface connects switching centers, while the DSS.1 interface resides in between the BSX and switching center. The air interface connecting mobile terminals to the network can be any RF interface or infrared link. Candidate RF interfaces include e.g. Low Power RF (LPRF), 802.11, wireless LAN (WLAN) WATM and HIPERLAN. The air interface can also be replaced with a physical connection (e.g. RS-232 serial cable or Universal Serial Bus (USB). The GSM network sees this new access network as a BSS entity. New network entities are added to the access network to modify/de-modify cellular signalling. System design principle is to fulfill ITU-T's recommendation H.323 and enhances it with mobility extensions. The WIO A-gateway 244 looks like a base station controller to the MSC 26. A general WIO network architecture is shown in FIG. 3. A local area network 31 is provided with an intranet mobile cluster IMC 32, an LPRF cell 34 and a landline connection 35. The IMC comprises a plurality of mobile stations, a BTS (private GSM BTS) and a server in the form of an IMC GSM/IP gateway. The BTS interface between the BTS and IMC GSM/IP gateway is a GSM A-bis interface. The IMC GSM/IP gateway is responsible for signalling conversions between the GSM and H.323 protocols. The low power RF cell 34 comprises a personal base unit which has a virtual BTS and a low power transceiver, and associated mobile stations with corresponding low power RF transceivers. The PBU is directly connected to the WIO network. To provide the mobile stations with access to the GSM network, the PBU provides conversions between the GSM and H.323 protocols. These conversions can be seen as a bridge between cellular phone and H.323 features which support WIO location management and mobility features. The landline connection comprises a landline terminal 351 hardwired to a personal base unit 352, which in turn is hardwired to the local area network. Also connected to the local area network are a WIO gatekeeper 36, which is responsible for the connection of mobile stations to within and outside the network. For example it might transfer a call from the server to an external system such as PSTN (via gateway 38) or it could provide connection to the IP network 37. The IP network, in turn, is connected to the operators local area network 39. This local area network is provided with an A-intranet gateway 391, an intranet Location Register 392 and IP telephony gateway 393. In this embodiment the main function of the Intranet Location Register 392 is to store mobility management information and call statistics of the subscribers configured into the Wireless Intranet Office system. Roaming of visitors is controlled by the mobile switching center. For visitors only temporary information will be stored into the Intranet Location Register. The ILR has a MAP interface to cellular system network HLR 25. The IP Telephony Gateway 383 in this embodiment supports interworking between Internet telephony endpoints and mobile stations in the public cellular network. The interworking is based on the H.323 specifications. The A-Intranet Gateway 391 in this embodiment makes protocol conversion between SCCP/MTP and IP protocols at the A-interface, and makes the cellular and Intranet location area associations. It has an O&M software entity which operates as an administrative server gateway for corresponding agents in intranet mobile clusters. The A-intranet Gateway operates as a firewall between public telecommunication network and private intranet solutions, Further explanation of the network entities in FIGS. 2 and 3 are outlined below. The Intranet Mobile Station is a generic terminal product portfolio consisting of full-featured cellular phone which supports services of GSM and GSM derivatives. It may have specific features such as extended office/home cell selection criterias, and support of office and home area priority. With a serial cable and with a piece of software to a PC, intranet mobile station—so called LANdline version—enables seamless landline communication to cellular system network and between other Internet telephony entities within IP network. It may be a GSM/LPRF dual-mode device enabling high value services within certain service areas. The Personal Base Unit (PBU) may be a PC Card type of radio card for a desktop PC with a piece of software enabling wireless access to IP network. It provides LPRF cordless and wireless LAN—on 2.4 GHz band—dual-mode access exploiting an unlicensed radio spectrum. In cordless, “unlicensed” mode lower layers will be replaced with new ones, but signalling above them remains the cellular one. It also enables intelligent roaming of terminals between different radio frequency bands, i.e. between cellular and unlicensed bands. The Intranet Mobile Cluster is simulating BSC in a local environment. It consists of minimum set of BTS functionality with reduced physical construction. Intranet mobile cluster is a BTS arid a BTS driver software package for Windows NT 5.0 including rate adaptation, an O&M agent software package and a GSM/IP telephony gateway entity. Intranet mobile cluster provides interworking with data services and facsimile as a direct access to IP network, and it may provide local call routing capability within its radio coverage. The purpose of the GSM/IP Telephony Gateway is to reflect the characteristics of an Internet telephony endpoint to an Intranet Mobile Station, and the reverse, in a transparent fashion. The GSM/IP telephony gateway provides appropriate format translation of signalling and speech. i.e., audio format translations between GSM 06.10, 06.20, 06.60, J-STD-007 and G.711, G.723 and transformation of communications procedures. The gateway performs call setup and clearing on both the Internet telephony side and the Wireless intranet office side. The MS-IP (WIO) gatekeeper 36,243 provides mobility and call management services, and certain radio resource management functions. The MS-IP gatekeeper provides the following services: Registration control—The MS-IP gatekeeper authenticates all the network entities, i.e., intranet mobile stations, intranet mobile clusters, A-intranet gateways, IP telephony gateways, intranet location registers, H.323 terminals, which have access to the system. In case of intranet mobile station, authentication and registration is based on automatic Gatekeeper discovery procedure. In other cases, it's based on manual gatekeeper registration procedure. Connection ciphering—Part of the gatekeeper's authentication procedure is connection ciphering service. It provides key distribution, identification and encryption/decryption services to the gatekeeper and other entities in the system. Service has an option to select ciphering, hashing, key distribution and signature algorithms independently. Key distribution is based on public key cryptography and message ciphering is based on secret key cryptography. Address translation—The MS-IP gatekeeper performs E.164 to transport address association and translation. This is done using directory service in the intranet location register which is updated during mobility management procedures, i.e., during TMSI reallocation, authentication, identification, IMSI detach, abort, and location updating. Call control signalling—The MS-IP gatekeeper can be configured to route call control signalling to the cellular system network or to the local call management entity within the gatekeeper. Call management—The MS-IP gatekeeper maintains also list of ongoing calls and collects call statistics. This information is stored into the intranet location register by the gatekeeper. Cellular procedures—The MS-IP gatekeeper must be able to handle signalling and resource management procedures (BSSMAP resources) specified in GSM recommendation 08.08. Status control—In order for the MS-IP gatekeeper to determine if the registered entity is turned off, or has otherwise entered a failure mode, the MS-IP gatekeeper uses status inquiry to poll the entity at a certain interval. The MS-IP gatekeeper may, for example comprise software which uses a Windows NT platform together with some dedicated hardware in the IMC and gateways to fulfill the ITUT's H.323 gatekeeper specifications, extended with certain mobility management capabilities according to GSM 04.08. FIG. 4 shows the architecture of a mobile station 41 and a personal base unit, personal computer 42, according to an embodiment of the present invention. The mobile station 41 and personal base unit 42 are represented showing layers 1 to 3 of the 7 layer OSI reference model, namely physical layer (layer 1), data link layer (layer 2) and network layer (layer 3). (These are data communication protocols whose purpose is to provide a link between 2 communicating devices). Network layer 43 of the mobile station 41 provides call control management 431 (including supplementary services 435 and short message services 436). This layer also provides mobile management 432 and radio resource management 433. Further, It comprises a MUX which “switches” to a second branch of layer 2 to demand services of the data link (phone bus FBUS) Ctrl 443) and physical layer (FBUS 452) when the mobile station 41 and the personal base unit 42 are “connected”. In any event, the network layer demands the services of the data link layer 44 (data link 441 and control 442) and the physical layer 45 of the first branch, to allow the mobile station 41 to perform and report its measurements about the surrounding GSM network (neighboring BTSs) and thus comply with GSM requirements. Turning now to the personal base unit 42, this PBU comprises a phone driver implementing the physical and data link layers 48 and 47 (FBUS 481 and FBUS ctrl 471). The network layer 46 of the PBU comprises a PBU control/IMC core control 462 and an H.323 protocol entity 463 which provide protocol conversion between GSM and H.323. The conversions are needed for GSM layer 3 signalling messages while the speech is carried as GSM coded in the whole while this intranet office network. The PBU further comprises TCP/IP entity 422 and a local area network adapter driver for the 23 for interfacing with the local area network. The PBU control 462 comprises a virtual BTS 49 for communicating with the network layer 43 of a mobile station 421. This figure shows layers 1 and 2 of the second branch of the mobile station and the PBU as a phone bus (FBUS). This is because, in this embodiment an RS 232 serial connection is used. However, it is evident to a person skilled in the art that these layers would be implemented using different technologies if, for example, connection is via IR or RF. The mobile phone also has a user interface 461. In the network, the mobile station interlaces the intranet mobile cluster and personal base unit entities. The interface to the personal base unit, as can be seen from FIG. 4, uses a modified GSM layer 3 (04.08) signalling in this embodiment. (However, in an alternative embodiment, shown in FIG. 12, the GSM radio resource is not delivered to the PBU from the mobile station. Instead, Bluetooth radio resourcing replaces it as a consequence of part of the virtual terminal being implemented inside the mobile station control software). The mobile station 41 and PBU 42 operate as follows. When the mobile station 41 is outside the wireless intranet office environment, it operates as a normal GSM phone. The MUX 434 does not couple the radio resource management entity 433 with the second branch 443, 452. Voice and signalling is transmitted via the data link layer 44 and physical layer 45 over the first (GSM) branch to the cellular air interface. Also, if the mobile station 41 is within the wireless intranet office, but forms part of an intranet mobile cluster, this same path is taken to the cellular air interface and the information and signalling is transmitted to the GSM BTS of that cluster. However, when the mobile station 41 is connected to a PBU 42 (for example by an RF 232 serial cable or RF interface) information such as voice, data, fax, SMS etc., is transmitted over the local area network. In this case, the MUX 434 demands the service of the second (LAN) branch layers 1 and 2, and layer 3 of the mobile station 41 is seen to communicate with the virtual BTS 49 of the PBU 42. That is, the information (e.g. speech) and GSM layer 3 signalling messages are redirected to the second branch interface. As the mobile station 41 and the PBU 42 are linked, the field strength of the virtual BTS 49 will be greater than that of other BTSs in the GSM network. Consequently handover is made to the virtual BTS 49. After this, the handover signalling relating to this virtual BTS is handled from the MUX through the second branch. When handover has been made, the MUX handles all messages and forwards them to the new host cell through the RS 232 interface etc and “talks” to the other BTSs (as is conventional in GSM) over the first branch. General broadcast traffic is also seen by the mobile station 41, for example from layers 1 and 2 to the MUX and from there through the mobile station/PBU interface to the virtual BTS 49. While in this mode, the speech and layer 3 signalling are routed to the personal base unit, and the radio resource management entity at layer 3 remains connected to the GSM layer 2 (441), that is branch 1. As mentioned above, this is so that the mobile station can act as required by GSM (for example by measuring the RSSI for neighboring BTSs etc.). The parameters in the virtual BTS 49 within the IMC core are set in such a manner that the terminal is forced to remain clamped to this virtual OSM cell. This avoids possible handovers to any other GSM cells the mobile station might hear. The operation of the MUX can also be explained as follows. When the mobile station changes to “LANdline” mode (for example when the other interface is connected), the MUX communicates with the new BTS in a similar way to as it does to other BTSs to which it is not connected. In this phase, the mobile station notices that the field strength of the new BTS relating to this new interface is more powerful than the field strength of other BTSs, and hence makes the handover to this BTS. After the handover, signalling relating to the new BTS are handled by the MUX through the new interface, and the mobile station keeps on listening these and sends measurement reports to virtual BTS general broadcast traffic is also sent to the new mobile station, for example from the lower stage to the MUX and from there through the new interface to the virtual BTS. FIG. 5 shows a general GSM intranet office concept, and FIGS. 6 to 11 show information flow between terminals—FIGS. 6 to 9 being within the office environment and FIGS. 10 and 11 extending to outside the environment. FIG. 5 shows the GSM intranet office 57 comprising different terminal arrangements 51 to 54. The intranet office interfaces with an internet protocol network 58, which is partially situated within the office and partially at the operators location. The operator 59 controls transfer of information between the IP network 58 and network switching centers, such as mobile switching centers 55 and fixed line switching centers 56. Terminal arrangements 51 and 52 comprise a mobile station 51a, 52a and a BTS emulator 51b, 52b. These mobile stations can be within an intranet mobile cluster or can be coupled to a personal base unit comprising a virtual BTS. FIG. 6 illustrates a call between mobile stations of the same office. In this case, the call might be sent by mobile station 51a to mobile station 52a. The information is transmitted from mobile station 51a to BTS emulator 51b and on to the LAN via the inter-working unit. The local area network then transfers the information to BTS emulator 52b which in turn forwards it to mobile station 52a. FIG. 7 shows a call between a mobile station 51a and an H.323 terminal 54 within the same office. Information transferred from mobile station 51a will be forwarded to the LAN in the same manner as in FIG. 6 (i.e. via BTS emulator 51b and the WIO inter-working unit). The LAN then transfers the information to the terminal 54. FIG. 8 shows a call between a mobile station 52a and a fixed line extension 53a of a private branch exchange 53b of the same office. Again, information is transferred from mobile station 52a to a local area network via BTS emulator 52b and the office IWU. The information is then transferred over the local area network via a PSTN gateway to PBX 53b. This PBX then switches the information to the requisite extension 53a. FIG. 9 shows a call between a H.323 terminal and a PBX extension of the same office. In this case, there is no GSM connection. Information is forwarded to the local area network from the terminal 54 where it is transferred to PBX 53b via the local area network on a PSTN gateway. The PBX 53b then switches the information to the requisite extension 53a. FIG. 10 shows a call between a mobile station 51a of the WIO to the mobile network. In this case, information is transferred from mobile station 51a to the local area network via the BTS Emulator 51b and the inter-working unit. It is then transferred across the local area network and to a mobile switching center 55 via an A-gateway. FIG. 11 shows a call between a mobile station 52a of the WIO and a fixed line network. In this case, information is transferred from mobile station 52a to the local area network via BTS emulator 52b and the inter-working unit. The information is then transferred over the LAN to a fixed line switching center 56 via a PSTN gateway. In the information transfer system according to the invention, information transfer connections based upon ATM and GSM technologies may been utilized. Furthermore, it is fully possible to utilize instead of these techniques other kinds of information transfer connections. For example it is possible to arrange, instead of the ATM system, the information transfer connections between terminal devices 40 to 43, teleservers 60, 61 arid network server 90 entirely e.g. using systems based upon Ethernet and Token Ring or future wide band networks. Correspondingly it is possible to realize, instead of GSM-system, an information transfer system according to the invention even in connection with other mobile communication systems, such as e.g. TDMA (Time Division Multiple Access), CDMA, W-CDMA AMPS (Advanced Mobile Phone Service) and NMT (Nordic Mobile Telephone) systems. Moreover, it can be transferred over WATM, 802.11 and mobile IP, which allows the network entities (PBU, IMC, etc.) being mobile. This enables, for example, forming a WIO cluster/IMC into a train or airplane. FIG. 12 shows the architecture of the mobile station 120 according to another embodiment of the present invention. This mobile station is provided with both GSM and LPRF (Bluetooth) parts (processors, RF parts etc.), and communicates with the public mobile network using GSM, and the PBU of the WIO network using LPRF (Bluetooth). An example of communication using Bluetooth is described below with reference to a user terminal and PBU in FIG. 14. The mobile station 120 of this embodiment is represented showing layers 1 to 3, namely physical layer (layer 1) 121, data link layer (layer 2) 122 and network layer (layer 3) 123. Network layer 123 of the mobile station 120 provides call control management 124 (including supplementary services 124a and short message services 124b) and mobile management 125. That is, these layer 3 network management services are common to both GSM and Bluetooth modes of operation. This network layer further comprises a multiplexer, MUX 127, which demands services of the layer 3 radio resource management 126 and also of the lower layers 121, 122. In this embodiment the MUX 127 connects to a second branch of layer 3, to the Bluetooth radio resource management 126b, to demand services of the Bluetooth radio resource management 126b, data link (DL and CTRL 128b, 128d) and physical layer 129b, when the mobile station 120 is within the wireless intranet office environment. The call control and mobility management functions 124 and 125 of the network layer also demand the services of the GSM radio resource management part 126a, the data link layer (DL CTRL 127a, 128a) and the physical layer 129a of the first branch via the MUX 127. This allows the mobile station 120 to perform and report Its measurements about the surrounding GSM network (neighboring BTSs) and thus comply with GSM requirements and also to communicate with a virtual BTS within the WIO if applicable. When the mobile station 120 Is outside the wireless intranet office, the common network layer functions demand the services of the layer 3 GSM radio resource management 126a and services of the lower layers 128a, 128c, 129a of the first branch (GSM branch). FIG. 13 illustrates a wireless intranet office arrangement according to another embodiment of the invention. In this arrangement, a mobile station 131 connects to a PBU 132 which may, for example, be a personal computer. The PBU 132 comprises a BTS emulator in the form of a virtual BTS 133. A radio connection is shown (e.g. infrared or LPRF) between the mobile station and PBU, but the connection may be a different type such as a wired connection. The mobile station 131 is connected to an IP LAN 135 and mobile communications network 136 by virtue of an IWU 134. The IWU may comprise several entities such as a GSM/IP gateway, an intranet location register, a WIO gatekeeper and a WIO A gatekeeper, as mentioned above with reference to FIG. 2. Rather than having to carry the mobile station around, the user is provided with a user terminal in the form of a wireless headset 137 and wristwatch user interface 138. The wireless headset 137 connects to the mobile station 131 over an air interface using LPRF remote audio protocol (e.g. Bluetooth), and the wristwatch UI 138 is similarly connected over the air interface using LPRF remote user interface protocol (e.g. Bluetooth). The mobile station 131 of this embodiment, like that of FIG. 12 has both GSM and LPRF (e.g. Bluetooth) parts. However, as explained above, in this embodiment Bluetooth is used for communication between the mobile station 131 and the user terminal 137, 138, as opposed to between the mobile station 131 and PBU 132. Consequently, the mobile station's protocol stack will differ from that shown in FIG. 12. More specifically, the Bluetooth physical layer 129b will couple to the air interface of the user terminal as opposed to that of the PBU. Moreover, layers 1 and 2 of the GSM protocol stack will be distinguished. That is, this first branch 127a is further divided by the provision of a MUX between layers 2 and 3 as shown in FIG. 4, depending on whether an interface is required to a GSM BTS or to a virtual BTS within a WIO environment. When the handset 131 is outside the wireless intranet office environment, the handset 131 operates as a normal GSM phone. That is, MUX 127 connects to the GSM radio resource management 126a and the GSM lower layers 121 and 122 to obtain connection to a public GSM BTS. The other layer 1 and 2 stack linking to the virtual BTS would be disconnected as described above with reference to FIG. 4. Optionally, the MUX 127 may also make connection to the Bluetooth radio resource management 126b, for example if the user selects an option to use user terminals 137, 138 within the GSM environment. When the handset enters the wireless intranet office environment, on the other hand, the MUX 127 may effect a connection so that the call control and mobility management functions may demand services of the Bluetooth radio resource function and layers 1 and 2, 126b, 128b, d, 129b, either automatically or upon user selection. Such connection enables the provision of a communication channel between the mobile station 131 and the user terminal 137, 138. To effect a link between the mobile station and PBU 132, the MUX 127 connects the GSM radio resource function 126a to the common layer 3 functions, namely call control 124 and mobility management 125. The GSM radio resource function 126 will demand service of layers 1 and 2 of the stack for linking with the PBU when in this wireless intranet office environment. Further, the GSM network will require signalling updates. Hence, layers 1 and 2 linking to both the GSM, BTS air interface and PBU air interface are connected. FIG. 14 shows an alternative embodiment of the invention, in which user terminals 137, 138 communicate directly with a personal base unit, when in the wireless intranet office environment. The system is similar to that shown in FIG. 13, but with one major difference. When the mobile station 131 is in the wireless intranet office environment, its functionality is transferred to the PBU 132. That is, the PBU 132 then comprises a virtual mobile station 139, as will be explained further below. As a consequence, the user terminal 137, 138 can communicate directly with The PBU 132, thereby eliminating the need for the mobile station to remain turned on. When the mobile station MS changes over to the WIO mode, the mobile station 131 transfers the dynamic data relating to the state of the mobile station and the calls in progress to a virtual terminal vMS 139, which is established in the PBU 132. This data is maintained in a state machine, which is located in the virtual terminal. In this context, the state machine means a functional entity that describes the allowed changes in the state relating to the functioning of the mobile station and the related messages according to the protocol. The functionality described by the state machine maintains the data on the possible changes in the state relating to said protocol layer, the instantaneous state, the data structures relating to the change in the state, etc. Thus, a state machine in connection with the GSM means the mobile station's functionality related to the mobile station's GSM Layer 3 protocol (NULL, current switched on, switched to a base station, etc.) In addition, said state machine in the higher level maintains a partial state machine for the mobile station's every connection, whereupon the state of the connection can be, for example, NULL, call initiated, call proceeding, active, etc. The protocol stack of the virtual terminal vMS in PBU may comprise the GSM functionality described by a state machine 105, which comprises at least a radio resource (RR), mobility management (MM) and call management (CM), i.e. functions related to protocol layer. It may also comprise an additional protocol 106 relating to communication between the PBU and the user terminal operating in the WIO mode (e.g. the Bluetooth functionality). This will be discussed later in more detail. When the PBU 132 has the use of the data of the state machine, the PBU starts the virtual terminal vMS 139, which emulates the functioning of the actual mobile station MS towards the mobile communication system. It receives signals from the mobile communication network and, on the basis of the status data it maintains, it carries out signalling towards the mobile communication system, either independently, or according to the information it requests from the user terminal UT in WIO made. It should be noted that since the state machine during WIO mode is maintained by the virtual terminal, the signalling to be implemented in different directions is independent, which means that changing of the protocol in either direction does not interrupt the functioning of the virtual terminal. The flow diagram presented FIG. 15 illustrates the functioning of a virtual terminal on the basis of a message arrived from a mobile communication network. In step 110, the virtual terminal VMS 139 receives a message from the mobile communication network MOB. In step 111, the virtual terminal vMS compares the contents of the message to the state machine it maintains and, on the basis of it, defines the message required for changing over to the next state. In step 112, the virtual terminal defines whether a connection to the user terminal UT that operates in the WIO mode is required for generating the next message or whether the required data is available in the inter-working unit. If a connection to the user terminal UT is necessary, the virtual terminal generates the message relating to said function (step 113) and sends it through the IP network to the user terminal UT (step 114). At the same lime, it updates the state of the process in question to the signalling state maintained by it (step 115). If no connection to the user terminal UT is required and the virtual terminal concludes that the necessary signalling can be managed by itself, the virtual terminal checks whether the subscriber information stored in the PBU is required for the reply or whether the reply message can directly be generated on the basis of the status data (step 116). If additional information is required, the virtual terminal retrieves it from PBU's memory (step 117) and, on the basis of it, generates a message to be transmitted to the mobile communication system (step 118). If no additional information is required, the virtual terminal generates a message in accordance with the mobile communication system's protocol defined on the basis of the status data (step 118). In step 119, the message generated by the virtual terminal is transmitted to the mobile services switching center. At the same time, the virtual terminal updates the state of the process in question in the state machine it maintains (step 115). One way of managing a connection between the virtual terminal vMS 139 and the user terminal UT in WIO mode is to convert the GSM signalling into packets in accordance with the IP and to transfer the signalling to the user terminal UT in the GSM format. Anyhow, information transferred between the mobile communication network and the user terminal UT includes a lot of signalling relating to the use of a radio resource. Such traffic in the arrangement according to the invention is substantially unnecessary. Hence, in this embodiment, a connection is managed by simplifying the protocol during WIO operation. This kind of protocol can be established, for example, by selecting a group of AT commands, which are transported between the vMS and the MS in WIO mode. For the establishment of a connection, a simple, manufacturer-specific protocol can also be defined. The implementation of said protocol could be illustrated by giving an example of the different functions, which are needed for communication between the vMS 139 and the UT in WIO mode. These include, for example, the functions 1.1.-1.7. listed In the first column of Table 1. The second column of Table I contains a functional description of messages. TABLE I Reference Function Messages 1.1 Making of Call Request to Call MS->vMS Resetting of Request to Call vMS->MS 1.2 Reception of Call Indication of Call vMS->MS Resetting of Indication of Call MS->vMS 1.3 Speech Transport of Coded Speech Over UDP 1.4 Ringing Out Request for Switching Off/Indication 1.5 SMS SMS Transmission/Reception 1.6 FAX Telecopy Transmission/Reception 1.7 Handover Handover Message Transmission/Reception (State Machine) When a subscriber wants to make a call (1.1), a user terminal UT makes a request for a call and receives the message of the setup of the call given by an vMS, before the transfer of the data relating to the call begins. When the subscriber receives a call (1.2), the user terminal UT receives the message of the incoming call from the vMS and informs the vMS of the reception of the call before the transfer of the data relating to the call begins. When either the subscriber or the other party wants to cut off the call (1.3), the user terminal UT gives or receives a request to cut off the call. On the basis of the protocol, both the user terminal UT and the VMS should be able to distinguish whether it is a question of the transfer of speech (1.4), a short message (1.5) or telecopied data (1.6). The message 1.7 contains the status data on the calls in progress, which are transported when the virtual terminal is taken into use or when the use of the virtual terminal is terminated as described above. The above-mentioned command group is only one possible way of implementation. For example, making a call can be arranged so that the user terminal UT identifies, on the basis of the first speech packets, that a call is coming in, in which case not even a separate call phase is required. Correspondingly, the vMS can automatically adapted to cut off the call when the reception of the call packets from the user terminal UT stops. With a simple command group, it is possible to implement adequate functions by means of which the user terminal UT that operates in the WIO mode can utilize the mobile communication network's services, though part of the signalling is managed elsewhere. Referring back to FIG. 14, when a user enters the office carrying his traditional user terminal UT handset, the phone indicates that LPRF LAN access is available. When the subscriber so wishes, he/she can e.g. plug the handset into an intelligent charger such as described in PCT Publication Number WO98/15143, and thus enable “handsetless operation” using merely the wrist UI and wireless headset. In such an operation, the traditional terminal is inactive and the virtual terminal acts as a mobile station towards the mobile communication network. The traffic between the lightweight terminal and the virtual terminal is carried out through LPRF connection using the specific protocol layer as described earlier. While in the office, he/she can walk around the LPRF coverage area and use GSM services without the handset When leaving the office he/she can enter normal cellular operation by just taking his/her handset along and even continue the ongoing call. The invention thus facilitates a completely wearable communications device in office environment with the user identified as the same mobile subscriber as outside office with handset. The phone numbers, user setting, personalized features etc. will remain in both operating modes. FIG. 16 illustrates the handling of an electronic book service within a wireless intranet office, according to a preferred embodiment of the invention. The system may utilize a dual mode terminal of the invention as is shown for example in FIG. 12. Mobile data services are becoming increasingly prevalent from mobile communications operators. One such service may be electronic book (E-book) purchasing. In this embodiment, E-book purchasing 161 is available through the operator of a mobile communications network 162. The user of mobile station 160 can access this service either via the public mobile network 162, or via the WIO. In the latter case, connection to the mobile network 182 is via PBU 166 and IWU 165 as explained with reference to FIG. 2 above. Similarly, the book required may be downloaded via the public or private networks. In the event that the mobile station 160 is within the public mobile communications area 162 but outside the WIO environment, the book may be stored in the mobile station's memory (or if the mobile station is a portable computer with data card, then it may be stared an the computer's hard disk, for example). Ideally, this is a temporary measure, and the book can subsequently be transferred for storage within the WIO network when the mobile station enters the WIO environment. For example, the user could choose to store the E-book on his PC (PBU 166), or alternatively in an office library 163 of the offices IP LAN 164. Alternatively, if the mobile station is within the WIO environment, the user may request the E-book via the WIO network, and the book may automatically be downloaded to the requested WIO device (e.g. office library 163, or users PC). An advantage of storing an E-book in the office library 163 is that it is accessible to other users of the office. Consequently, if the user's terminals (mobile station, PC etc.) have a suitable browser, the user can search through books, newspapers etc. for desired information. If the user's terminal is a PC, then a conventional IP browser may be used. Alternatively, if the user's terminal is a mobile station 160, such as a mobile phone, then it is preferably provided with a WAP browser so that it may search the contents of the library 163, over a tow power RF interface 167 such as Bluetooth. The above is a description of the realization of the invention and its embodiments utilizing examples. It is self evident to a person skilled in the art that the invention is not limited to the details of the above presented embodiments and that the invention can be realized also in other embodiments without deviating from the characteristics of the invention. The presented embodiments should be regarded as illustrating but not limiting. Thus the possibilities to realize and use the invention are limited only by the enclosed claims. Thus different embodiments of the invention specified by the claims, also equivalent embodiments, are included in the scope of the invention. For example, while the embodiments refer to intranet offices, it is not restricted to the intranet, but is also applicable to the internet. | <SOH> BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION <EOH>1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a dual mode mobile station operable, for example in a public mobile communication network and a private network. The Invention also relates to the system in which such a dual mode terminal may operate, and further components of that system. 2. Description of the Prior Art In modern office work it is necessary to provide the employees with versatile information transfer connections which can transfer speech, facsimile messages, electronic mail and other data—usually in digital form. Transfer of information is needed inside an office or corresponding working environment for communication between employees, for transfer of information between branch offices of an enterprise, which offices can be in other towns or even in other countries, and for communication between the office and “outside world”. In this text and all of the following text “office” stands for an environment with several users, which users “belong together”, and which office physically covers a reasonably limited area. There has been a trend in the telecommunication branch toward integrated systems in which various forms of telecommunication can be controlled as one entity. A conventional realization of an above mentioned type of office communication system comprises a company telephone exchange for providing telephone services and telephones connected to it over twisted-pair connections and a separate local area network (LAN) in which applications for advanced telecommunication services have been implemented and which has the intelligence to run them. The local network is connected to the telephone exchange using a telecommunication server (Telephony Server) which supports the traditional subscriber server architecture in which subscribers are subscribers' computers connected to the local network. For example call-, data-, facsimile-, electronic mail- and speech mail services are connected within an office utilizing the telecommunication server. In an integrated system users can also e.g. control telephone services using their computer terminals connected to the local network. The whole integrated office communication system is connected to public telephone network through the telephone exchange. FIG. 1 presents an example of a prior known office communication system in which users' telephones TP (TelePhone) have been connected by wire connections and a local area network (LAN) has been connected over a telecommunication server TS (Tele Server) into a telephone exchange PBX (Private Branch Exchange) which is connected to a public telephone network PSTN/ISDN (PSTN, Public Switched Telephone Network, ISDN, Integrated Services Digital Network). To the local area network (LAN) have been connected on one hand servers executing various services such as data base server DBS (Data Base Server), voice server VS (Voice Server) and electrical mail server EMS (Electrical Mail Server) and on the other hand the users' computers PC (Personal Computer). It can be regarded as a problem with this kind of realization that even if a user's telephone TP and computer PC usually are on the same table next to each other separate wire connections must be laid to the user's working room for them, on one hand from the telephone exchange PBX and on the other hand from the telecommunication server TS of the LAN. Building and maintenance of two overlapping telecommunication networks naturally causes cost. The problem of overlapping telecommunication networks is increased by portable mobile stations utilizing radio connection coming rapidly more popular. Many persons working in an office need, because of their mobile work, a mobile station and often also a portable facsimile device and/or a combined portable computer/mobile station. In order to be able to use the devices based on radio connection also inside buildings, the constructions of which attenuate radio signals, it has been suggested that mobile radio networks should be supplemented with small base stations individual for offices or even for rooms, which base stations would be connected either directly or over wired telephone network to the central systems of mobile communication network. The network of small base stations would be already a third overlapping telecommunication network within the same office, and accordingly it is clear that in a preferable solution, which the present invention is aiming at, also the arrangement supporting radio communication stations should be realized using essentially the same means and telecommunication networks than the rest of the transfer of information in the office. A challenge of its own to telecommunication systems is issued by the fact that work is done more and more in small office or domestic environment, which is described by the concept SOHO (Small Office, Home Office). Even here advanced office communication services are often needed and it is particularly preferable if such a flexible system is available which can be utilized even both in the office and at home. The present systems which require overlapping connections for the utilization of mobile communication services, conventional telephone services and fast data transfer services are very inflexible for working in a small- or home office. In addition to above, the following kinds of solutions connected with integrated telecommunication systems are known from prior art. If an integrated office communication system is realized utilizing traditional technique, separate wired connections must be laid into a user's working room on one hand from telephone exchange PBX ( FIG. 1 ) and on the other hand from telecommunication server TS of local area network (LAN). Constructing and maintaining two overlapping networks naturally brings extra cost. In said solutions according to prior art a solution to this problem has not actually been striven for. | <SOH> SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION <EOH>The present invention reduces the problems caused by overlapping networks. Additionally, the invention reduces problems caused by wireless information transfer inside an office and extra cost. The invention is an arrangement, in which said system, integrating information transfer, can also serve home office- and small office users. The invention is an arrangement of said kind, in which the carrier devices can be used as terminal devices (e.g. mobile stations) in the telecommunication system both in the office and outside it. According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a dual mode mobile station comprising means for managing network information independently of the mode of operation of the mobile station; first linking means for linking to the interface of a mobile communication network so as to transfer control and mobility information between the mobile station and the mobile communication network; second linking means for providing a link to the interface of a further communication network so as to transfer control and mobility information between the mobile station and the further communication network; and means for coupling the managing means to the first linking means when the mobile station is in a first mode and to the second linking means when the mobile station is in the second mode. This mobile station has common network layer information for both modes (i.e. when the mobile station is within and outside the wireless intranet office environment). Consequently, as there is no dual stack at this level, less code is required to implement the dual mode mobile station, hence making it simpler, faster and cheaper. It Is also easy to implement the second mode into existing mobile stations as this may be provided by virtue of a software enhancement to the conventional mobile station. The network information is preferably at least mobile communication call control and mobility information. It may also further comprise mobile communication radio resources information. However, alternatively, the first linking means may comprise a radio resource manager for the mobile communication network, and the second linking means may comprise a radio resource manager for the further communication network. This may enable the mobile station to communicate with an interface on the further communication network by means of simple signalling. For example, the second linking means may comprise a radio resource of an unlicensed band such as a low power RF radio resource like Bluetooth. In a preferred embodiment, the mobile station is further provided with a radio resource manager for a user terminal, and linking means for linking to the interface of the terminal device so as to transfer radio resource information between the mobile station and the user terminal. Furthermore, a mobile station may further comprise a browser, such as a WAP browser. According to another aspect of the invention, there is provided a base station transceiver emulator for interfacing a mobile station of a mobile communication network and a further communication network, the base station transceiver emulator comprising means for determining the presence of a mobile station within its cell; transceiving means for receiving call transfer information from the mobile station when the mobile station is within the cell and for transmitting call transfer information to the mobile station as it prepares to leave the cell. According to a further aspect of the invention, there is provided a mobile station emulator for interfacing a mobile station of a mobile communication network and a base transceiver station emulator of a further communication network, the mobile station emulator comprising means for receiving call transfer information from the mobile station and for forwarding it to the base transceiver station emulator, when the mobile station enters the cell of the base transceiver station emulator, means for maintaining the call transfer information while the mobile station is within the cell; and means for transmitting the call transfer information to the mobile station as it prepares to leave the cell. Such an emulator enables simple signalling between the mobile station and base station transceiver emulator. Furthermore, it enables call forwarding. Moreover, it eliminates the need for a mobile station to be used once it has entered the wireless intranet office environment. For example, instead of using a mobile station when in the office environment, a user could use a lightweight terminal such as a wristwatch and headset instead, or indeed a PC with headset. A device for coupling a mobile station of a mobile communication network to a further communication network may comprise a base transceiver emulator and/or a mobile station emulator. Preferably, the device is a personal base unit and comprises both of these emulators. Such a personal base unit may be implemented in a PC. According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a system for transferring information between a mobile station and a further communication device, the system comprising the mobile station, a communication network to which the further communication device is coupled, and a base transceiver station emulator for interfacing the mobile station and the communication network, wherein the system transfers information over the communication network when the mobile station is within the cell of the base transceiver station emulator, and transfers information over a mobile communication network when the mobile station is outside the cell of the base transceiver station emulator. A base transceiver station emulator and mobile station are also provided for such a system. Such a system allows users to utilize communication networks, such as private intranets to carry cellular services (e.g. speech, data, SMS, facsimile etc.) when within a coverage area. In addition, the WIO concept provides a good platform for local multi-media extensions because it potentially offers higher bandwidth to the user. Access to the public cellular network (e.g. GSM) is offered by introducing a transparent location management method, which allows mobile stations connected to the communication network, such as the intranet, to be reached from the public cellular network in the normal way. Hence, the concept can be utilized to provide extra capacity in hot-spot areas, such as airports and malls. The base transceiver station (BTS) emulator may be an actual base transceiver station or a virtual base transceiver station. In any event, it is an interface between the mobile station and the communication network over which the information (e.g., speech, data) is to be transmitted. The BTS emulator may be the BTS of a mobile cluster. In this event, it is an actual base transceiver station. While a mobile station is within this BTS cell, the information to/from the mobile station is transmitted over the communication network, even if there is an overlap with the cell of another public GSM BTS. Alternatively, the BTS emulator may form part of a personal base unit for a mobile station, in which case it is a virtual BTS. That is it looks like a BTS to the mobile communication network, but does not handover to another BTS. In one embodiment, where the communication network is an IP network, the system takes care of the binding of GSM and IP numbers, so that only one number is required. Such E.164=IP# mapping may be performed in the IWU (e.g. by the gatekeeper or ILR, or alternatively in the personal base unit. The communication system may be one of several kinds, such as a data communication network, internet, intranet, LAN, WAN, ATM packet network, Ethernet (TM), or Token Ring (TM). Also, the further communication device may be one of several kinds, including a PBU, another mobile station, an MSC or an FSC. The mobile station and PBU may be connected by RS232 cable. Alternatively, they may have an RF (preferably LPRF) or infrared connection. Examples include Bluetooth, Home RF, 802.11 WLAN etc. Also, they may be indirectly connected, for example via a connection device such as a mobile station cradle, deskstand or charger, or even a LAN of some kind. According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a dual mode mobile station comprising control means for controlling transfer of information such that in a first mode transfer of information is between the mobile station and a mobile communication network, and in a second mode transfer of information is between the mobile station and a second communication network, and means for providing radio contact between the mobile station and the mobile communication network in both the first and second modes. The first mode is, for example, when the mobile station is outside the office environment and the second, when it is within it, In a preferred embodiment, the control means and means for providing radio contact are realized by virtue of a software enhancement to conventional mobile terminals. Hence, the terminals are much simpler than existing dual mode terminals, which, for example, require switches to change between the modes. Also, the terminal of the present invention remains connected to the mobile network while the actual data (data/speech etc.) is carried over another interface. Thus it provides the mobile network with what seems to be the same operation specified for the standard mobile communication network entities. Now a system has been invented for transfer of information, e.g. speech or data, in which the trunk of information transfer is inside the office a local network (e.g. local area network, LAN), and between office units e.g. a traditional telephone network utilizing wired connections or a fast data packet network utilizing ATM (Asynchronous Transfer Mode) technique, for example. According to one embodiment of the invention the mobile station may be connected to the terminal device by means of a connection device, having a functional connection to the terminal device, and having means for connecting functionally to the mobile station. In response to connecting a mobile station to the connection device, the system will be informed to direct calls to the mobile station via the data communication network. The connection device can be a desktop stand or desktop charger and may be a separate device or integrated into the terminal device. A subscriber device means a terminal device connected to a telecommunication network, such as a telephone connected to a fixed telephone network, and a mobile station connected to a mobile communication network. A subscriber device also means servers and telephone exchanges connected to telecommunication networks, providing telecommunication services to the users of the telecommunication networks. In other words, a subscriber device means all the parts of a telecommunication network with which a telecommunication terminal device (e.g. a telephone) can communicate over a telecommunication network. | 20040916 | 20080115 | 20050324 | 98205.0 | 1 | NGUYEN, KHAI MINH | DUAL MODE TERMINAL FOR ACCESSING A CELLULAR NETWORK DIRECTLY OR VIA A WIRELESS INTRANET | UNDISCOUNTED | 1 | CONT-ACCEPTED | 2,004 |
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10,942,062 | ACCEPTED | Electric motor actuated stop and self-closing check valve | An electric motor actuated stop/check valve for industrial use such as liquid pumping systems which has a controlled opening and closing rate when liquid flow is in a forward direction but closes quickly upon reverse flow of liquid with no action from the electric motor actuator. A valve disc having an elongated disc stem contacts a valve seat when in a closed position to stop liquid flow. Actuation of the valve is by an electric motor which provides movement to an actuator rod which contacts the disc stem. The disc stem and the actuator rod are not connected which allows the valve disc and disc stem free movement, by action of the momentarily back-flowing liquid, to a back-flow preventing closed position when liquid forward flow is reversed. No action by the electric motor is required. A spring biasing the valve disc toward the closed position and a hydraulically operated valve closing-speed regulator reduces or eliminates slamming of the valve disc against the valve seat. In a preferred method of operation liquid surge pressure transients are reduced or eliminated and slamming of valve components is prevented. | 1-19. (Cancelled). 20. An electric motor actuated stop and self-closing check valve for controlling forward-flow and back-flow of liquid in a liquid conveying line and reducing liquid surge pressure transients and slamming of valve components, comprising: A) a valve body having an inlet port and an outlet port, relative to forward-flow of a liquid, B) a valve seat disposed within the valve body intermediate said ports, C) a valve disc disposed within the valve body having an elongated disc stem which extends through the valve body, said valve disc and disc stem being moveable along the longitudinal axis of said disc stem to either: i) a closed position whereat the valve disc sealingly engages the valve seat to prevent forward-flow and back-flow of the liquid, or ii) an open position whereat the valve disc is spaced from the valve seat, D) a compression spring external to said valve body for providing a selected bias to said valve disc and disc stem toward said closed position; E) an electric motor operationally attached to said valve, and F) an actuator rod moveable by action of the electric motor such that said actuator rod is disposed at either: i) an extended position of said actuator rod whereat the actuator rod contacts the disc stem and restrains the valve disc at the closed position preventing forward-flow and back-flow of the liquid, or ii) a retracted position of said actuator rod whereat the actuator rod is retracted any amount from said extended position to be at a selectable retracted position, and at all selectable retracted positions of said actuator rod the valve disc is moveable along the longitudinal axis of the disc stem, without further action by the electric motor, such that: a) the valve disc moves to the open position solely through action of forward flowing liquid on the valve disc and forward-flow of the liquid occurs, and b) the valve disc moves to the closed position through action of said compression spring and momentary back-flowing liquid on the valve disc and said liquid back-flow is prevented. 21. An electric motor actuated stop and self-closing check valve according to claim 20, further comprising a hydraulically operated valve disc closing-speed regulator operatively attached to the valve to control the closing speed of the valve disc. 22. An electric motor actuated stop and self-closing check valve according to claim 20, wherein said valve body has a wye configuration or an elbow configuration. 23. An electric motor actuated stop and self-closing check valve according to claim 20, wherein net flow area of the valve is no less than the cross-sectional area of the liquid conveying line and the valve is self cleaning. 24. An electric motor actuated stop and self-closing check valve according to claim 20, wherein the valve body is of cast iron. 25. An electric motor actuated stop and self-closing check valve according to claim 20, further including a flange on the inlet port and a flange on the outlet port of the valve body. 26. An electric motor actuated stop and self-closing check valve according to claim 20, wherein said valve seat is replaceable and is fabricated of bronze or stainless steel. 27. An electric motor actuated stop and self-closing check valve according to claim 20, further including at least one clean-out/inspection port disposed in the valve body. 28. An electric motor actuated stop and self-closing check valve according to claim 20, wherein said valve disc is of cast iron or steel. 29. An electric motor actuated stop and self-closing check valve according to claim 20, further comprising a renewable resilient seat on said valve disc. 30. An electric motor actuated stop and self-closing check valve according to claim 29, wherein said renewable resilient seat is of rubber or UHMWPE (ultra high molecular weight polyethylene). 31. An electric motor actuated stop and self-closing check valve according to claim 29, further comprising a follower ring for retaining the renewable resilient seat. 32. An electric motor actuated stop and self-closing check valve according to claim 31, wherein said follower ring is of bronze or stainless steel. 33. An electric motor actuated stop and self-closing check valve according to claim 20, wherein said valve disc is of stainless steel. 34. An electric motor actuated stop and self-closing check valve according to claim 20, further including a bushing disposed between the disc stem and the valve body for guiding and facilitating the free movement of the valve disc and disc stem along the longitudinal axis of the disc stem. 35. An electric motor actuated stop and self-closing check valve for controlling forward and back-flow of liquid in a liquid conveying line and reducing liquid surge pressure transients and slamming of valve components, comprising: A) a valve body having an inlet port and an outlet port, relative to forward-flow of a liquid, B) a valve seat disposed within the valve body intermediate said ports, C) a valve disc disposed within the valve body having an elongated disc stem which extends through the valve body, said valve disc and disc stem being free to move along the longitudinal axis of said disc stem to either: i) a closed position whereat the valve disc sealingly engages the valve seat to prevent forward and back-flow of the liquid, or ii) an open position whereat the valve disc is spaced from the valve seat, D) an electric motor operationally attached to said valve body, E) an actuator rod moveable by action of the electric motor to be disposed at either: i) an extended position whereat the actuator rod contacts the valve stem and restrains the valve disc at the closed position to prevent forward and back-flow of the liquid, or ii) a retracted position whereat the actuator rod is retracted and the valve disc is free to move along the longitudinal axis of the valve stem, without action by the electric motor, such that: a) the valve disc moves to the open position solely through action of forward flowing liquid on the valve disc and forward flow of the liquid occurs, or b) the valve disc moves to the closed position through action of momentary back-flowing liquid on the valve disc and such liquid back-flow is prevented, and F) a hydraulically operated valve disc closing-speed regulator operatively attached to the valve to control the closing speed of the valve disc, wherein said closing-speed regulator comprises: a cylinder operatively attached to the valve body, a piston operatively attached to the disc stem for movement within said cylinder along its longitudinal axis, a hydraulic oil-reservoir with connecting piping to the cylinder, said connecting piping having a solenoid valve, and a check/needle valve, said solenoid valve and check/needle valve being piped in parallel arrangement. | CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION This application is a Continuation-in-Part of application Ser. No. 10/617,435, filed Jul. 11, 2003, which is a Continuation-in-Part of application Ser. No. 09/507,273, filed Feb. 18, 2000. The contents of application Ser. No. 09/507,273 are hereby incorporated by reference. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention This invention relates to electric motor actuated valves incorporating a check valve feature for controlling the flow of pumped liquids in applications such as are associated with municipal water supply or sewage treatment facilities and industry. 2. Description of Related Art Valves for controlling liquid flow and preventing its back-flow are known in the art and are commonly referred to as stop/check-valves. Such valves can-be actuated to control liquid flow by manual, hydraulic and other means. U.S. Pat. No. 4,667,696 describes a stop/check valve which utilizes a ball which closes upon a valve seat to prevent liquid flow in a back-flow direction. Flow in a desired direction is regulated by a hand-cranked closing device acting on the ball. U.K. Patent specification 141,148 describes a stop/check valve for fluid having a pressure plate extending from a clack into a path of return flow of the fluid so as to urge the clack to a closed position. In an embodiment having control of forward-flow, a hand-actuated spindle is used to position the clack. U.S. Pat. No. 4,945,941 describes a stop/check valve having a feature facilitating movement of a valve disc to a closed position with back-flow of liquid by use of a ridge on the valve seat and a deflector ring on the valve disc to deflect the flow of the fluid. Control of the liquid for forward-flow is carried out with a hand-actuated valve stem. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention provides an electric motor actuated valve to control liquid flow in a forward direction, prevent flow of the liquid in a reverse direction and carry out such control while eliminating or reducing liquid surge pressure transients and slamming of components within the valve. A discontinuous connection between a motor actuation component and valve seating components allows valve seating solely by means of liquid acting on the valve seating components to close the valve and prevent liquid back-flow. Such back-flow prevention occurs without action by the electric motor. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a vertical cross-section of a wye valve of the invention with an actuator rod in an extended position and a valve disc in a closed position; FIG. 2 is a vertical cross-section of the wye valve of FIG. 1 with the actuator rod in a retracted position, the valve disc in an open position and liquid flow in a direction from an inlet port to an outlet port; FIG. 3 is a vertical cross-section of the wye valve of FIG. 1 with the actuator rod in a retracted position and the valve disc in a closed back-flow preventing position; FIG. 4 is a vertical cross-section of a wye valve embodiment of the invention having a closing speed regulator, an actuator rod in an extended position and a valve disc in a closed position; FIG. 5 is a vertical cross-section of the wye valve of FIG. 4 with the actuator rod in a retracted position, the valve disc in an open position, and forward liquid flow in a direction from an inlet port to an outlet port; FIG. 6 is a vertical cross-section of the wye valve of FIG. 4 with the actuator rod in a retracted position and the valve disc in a closed back-flow preventing position; FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram of a valve closing speed regulator of the invention; FIG. 8 is a vertical cross-section of an elbow valve embodiment of the invention with the actuator rod in a retracted position and the valve disc in an open position for forward liquid flow in a direction from an inlet port to an outlet port; and FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram for describing a method of operating a pumping system with use of a wye valve of the invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION FIGS. 1, 2 and 3 show an embodiment of the invention having a wye valve body which provides control of liquid flow when installed in-line with liquid conveying piping having a linear configuration. Wye valve 10 having valve body 12 is preferably installed in-line with use of flanges 14 and 16 which bolt together with matching flanges of the piping. Liquid flow is normally in the direction of arrows 18 and is referred to in this disclosure as forward-flow. In a typical application such flow would result from action of an up-stream pump. With forward-flow in the direction indicated by arrows 18 a port at 20 is referred to as an inlet port and the remaining port at 22 is referred to as an outlet port. Intermediate such ports and substantially perpendicular to the flow of liquid is a valve seat 24. In a preferred embodiment the seat is annular in shape, is replaceable, and is fabricated of a metallic material such as bronze or stainless steel. The seat can be either threaded and held in place by complimentary threads or pinned in valve body 12, which is preferably of a metallic material such as cast iron or ductile iron. Liquid flow is controlled by interaction of valve seat 24 and a valve disc 26 having an integral disc stem 28. In FIG. 1 valve disc 26, is disposed in a closed position whereat it is in contact with valve seat 24 so as to block the flow of liquid through the valve body. Valve disc 26 in the preferred embodiment is of cast iron or steel and can be fitted with a valve disc seat, 30, of a resilient material such as rubber or UHMWPE (ultra high molecular weight polyethylene) to provide a more positive seal between the valve seat and the valve disc. Such valve disc seat 30 is preferably retained by a bronze or stainless steel follower ring 32 attached to the valve disc with use of stainless steel screws 34. Disc stem 28 is of stainless steel material. Clean-out/inspection ports 35 are provided in valve body 12 to view or gain access to the valve interior. Disc stem 28 extends through a valve body cover 36 which in the preferred embodiment is provided with a bronze bushing 38 to enable substantially free movement of valve disc 26 and disc stem 28 along longitudinal axis 40 of the disc stem. FIG. 2 depicts valve disc 26 and stem 28 after movement to a position referred to as the open position whereat liquid flow from inlet port 20 to outlet port 22 is enabled. Such flow position is contrasted with the valve disc position depicted in FIG. 1 which is referred to as the closed position. The valve of the invention is used in-line to 1) stop flow in the forward direction, 2) control flow in the forward direction (from full flow to a restricted flow) and 3) prevent back-flow (flow in a direction opposite to forward-flow). In the preferred embodiment valve body 12 and valve seat 24 are dimensioned such that the net flow area is no less than the cross-sectional area of the piping to the inlet and outlet ports so as to minimize flow restriction by the valve. That is the liquid does not encounter a cross-section, perpendicular to the direction of flow, which is of less area than the cross-sectional area of the adjacent piping. Configuration of the valve body, valve seat and valve disc is such that dead or non-flow cavities do not exist within the valve body and the valve is therefore said to be “self-cleaning”. Operatively attached to valve body 12 is electric motor actuator 41 having actuator rod 42 positioned to act on valve stem 28. Actuator rod 42 is preferably attached to a threaded shaft 43 which rotates through action of the electric motor to move it linearly along axis 40. In event of loss of power or inoperability of the motor the threaded shaft can be actuated manually with a hand-crank 46. Actuator rod 42 is prevented from rotating with the threaded shaft by an extension from the side of the actuator rod which extends into a slot in anti-rotation sleeve 47. Gears linking electric motor 44 and hand-crank 46 to the threaded shaft are within housing 48. A closed position of the valve as depicted in FIG. 1 is attained by action of actuator rod 42 against disc stem 28 to move the stem and valve disc 26 along longitudinal axis 40 to provide engagement of valve seat 24 with valve disc 26. Contact of actuator rod 42 with disc stem 28 when in such closed position prevents an upward movement of disc stem 28 and valve disc 26 away from valve seat 24 which would result from pressure exerted on face 50 of valve disc 26 by liquid flowing in the direction indicated by arrows 18. Such actuator rod 42 position against disc stem 28 also prevents back flow of liquid in a direction opposite to that indicated by arrows 18. FIG. 2 shows the position of valve 10 components when full flow of liquid in the forward direction is desired. Actuator rod 42 is at a retracted position by action of threaded shaft 43 rotated by electric motor 44. Once the actuator rod is retracted valve disc 26 and disc stem 28 move in an upward direction along longitudinal axis 40 to position valve disc 26 to be spaced from valve seat 24 by sole action of the liquid flowing in the direction of arrows 18 and exerting pressure on face 50 of valve disc 26. Actuator rod 42 is not connected to disc stem 28 and such lack of connection is an important feature of the invention and is relied on for prevention of back-flow of liquid which is described below. Although not shown, liquid flow can be regulated to selected rates by positioning valve disc 26 between extreme positions depicted in FIGS. 1 and 2, however the valve is not normally used for such function. As described above, the electric motor actuated stop and self-closing check valve of the invention can be used in municipal water supply systems or sewage treatment systems as a pump control and stop check valve although it is not limited to such usage. In normal operation liquid flow is in the direction indicated by arrows 18 with such flow provided by action of at least one pump upstream of the valve. In event of pump shutdown, either intended or by a power failure, back-flow of the liquid can occur when a valve to check such flow is not provided. Such back-flow is usually undesirable and is prevented by the valve of the invention without any action by the electric motor. Such feature is of importance when back-flow is caused by a power failure and power is not available to the electric motor. In FIG. 3 such back-flow direction is indicated by arrow 52 and is in a direction from outlet port 22 toward inlet port 20. In event of a pump shutdown liquid pressure provided by the pump and acting on face 50 of valve disc 26 would no longer be present and valve disc 26 would be free to move in a downward direction so as to cover valve seat 24 and prevent the back-flow of liquid. Such downward movement of the valve disc occurs by force of gravity acting on the freely moveable valve disc and disc stem and also by a momentary back-flow of liquid which results in pressure being greater on back face 51 than on front face 50 of valve disc 26. Such pressure difference closes and holds the valve disc against valve seat 24 until such pressure difference is reversed, such as by restarting of the pump. Such free movement along disc stem longitudinal axis 40 can take place because of the lack of connection between disc stem 28 and actuator rod 42. A common problem with many check valves when a reversal of liquid flow direction occurs is “slamming” of the valve disc against the valve seat. Such slamming is greatly reduced in the valve of this invention by use of a compression spring 52 which biases the valve disc and its stem toward the closed position. Selection of spring characteristics is dependent on pressure of the liquid being pumped against valve disc face 50. The spring is selected to be strong enough to assist in closing the valve when flow in the forward direction stops so that the valve is at least partially closed when the back-flowing liquid applies pressure to valve disc back face 51 and any slamming of the valve disc is reduced or eliminated because of the shortened distance it moves. The spring can not be so strong as to restrict flow in the forward direction in a significant amount. Spring 52 is shown in a partially compressed state in FIG. 2, and in an extended state in FIGS. 1 and 3. FIGS. 4-6 show a second embodiment of a wye valve of the invention which includes a second component, in addition to the spring, to reduce or eliminate valve disc slamming. Wye valve 54 of FIGS. 4-6 with forward-flow indicated by arrows 56, is similar to valve 10 of FIGS. 1-3, with the exception of an added hydraulic closing-speed regulator indicated generally at 58. Such regulator consists of piston 60 attached to an upper end of disc stem 62, cylinder sleeve 66, solenoid valve 70, check/needle valve 72, hydraulic oil 74, hydraulic oil reservoir 76, and associated piping. Piston 60 is free to move linearly along axis 68 in cylinder sleeve 66 with movement of valve disc 64. The hydraulic closing-speed regulator operates so as to slow down valve closing during a reversal of liquid flow direction with substantially no effect on valve opening speed. The hydraulic circuit of the closing-speed regulator is shown in schematic form in FIG. 7. Shown are piston 60, cylinder 66, solenoid valve 70, check/needle valve 72, hydraulic oil reservoir 76 and hydraulic oil 74. Solenoid valve 70 is open when energized and closes when not energized. Referring to FIGS. 4-7, when valve disc 64 is “opening” with movement in the direction indicated by arrow 78 (FIG. 7), flow of hydraulic oil is in the direction indicated by arrow 80. When valve disc 64 is “closing” piston 60 moves in the direction indicated by arrow 79 and hydraulic oil flow is in the direction indicated by arrow 82. During planned opening and closing, when loss of power is not a factor, and slamming of valve disc 64 is not a factor, solenoid valve 70 is energized and open so as to not require liquid flow through check/needle valve 72 (although a small flow can occur), and operational speed of the valve being operated by the electric motor is not affected. During loss of power, when liquid flow is no longer in the direction of arrows 56 and back-flow is beginning in the direction of arrow 78 (FIG. 6), liquid pressure against back face 80 of valve disc 64 could, without closing-speed regulator 58, slam valve disc 64 against valve seat 82. To eliminate such slamming solenoid valve 70 closes upon loss of power requiring flow of hydraulic oil through check/needle valve 72 in the direction indicated by arrow 82. Valve 72 has two channels in parallel as best seen in FIG. 7. One channel includes needle valve 84 which adjustably controls hydraulic oil flow rate and the remaining channel includes check valve 86 which permits flow only in the downward direction (as when valve disc is opening). During valve disc closing, caused by liquid back-flow, hydraulic oil flow is in the direction indicated by arrow 82 and the hydraulic oil is forced to flow through the restricted channel of needle valve 84 at a controlled rate, thus slowing the movement of valve disc 64 against valve seat 82 and eliminating slamming. Such rate of closing is regulated by adjustment of the needle valve opening. FIG. 8 shows another embodiment of the invention, an elbow valve 86 for use in a liquid conveying pipeline wherein a 90° pipeline configuration is available for placement of a valve. Normal liquid flow in a forward direction is indicated by arrows 88. During normal operation, liquid flows from entry port 90 to outlet port 92 through valve seat 94. As in the wye valve of FIGS. 1-6 valve closure is carried out by movement of actuator rod 96 downward by action of electric motor 98 to contact disc stem 100 to dispose valve disc 102 to cover valve seat 94 and achieve a closed position. Elbow valve 98 of FIG. 8 is depicted in the open position wherein valve disc 102 is spaced from valve seat 94. Operation of elbow valve 98 is the same as wye valve 10 (FIGS. 1-6). The valve disc position depicted in FIG. 8 is maintained by pressure of the liquid acting against face 104 of valve disc 102. In the event of flow stoppage in the direction indicated by arrows 88, back-flow of liquid is prevented by the action of gravity and spring 105 on freely moveable valve disc 102 and disc stem 100, and momentary action of the back-flowing liquid on back-face 106 of valve disc 102 to move such disc downward to contact valve seat 94 and terminate the back-flow. Continued pressure on back face (106) maintains the valve in the back-flow preventing position. Although elbow valve 88 with solely spring means 105 for reducing or eliminating valve disc slamming is shown, such elbow valve can be provided with hydraulic closing speed regulating means as shown and described for wye valve 10 (FIGS. 4-6) and operation of the two types of valves is the same. A preferred method of operating a liquid pumping system utilizing a valve of the invention is schematically shown in FIG. 9. The system can be used in applications such as a municipal water supply system or a sewage treatment system. In FIG. 9 tank 108 is filled with liquid 110 by means of pump 112 acting on it. Pump input line 114 supplies the liquid to pump 112 and it is discharged through pump discharge line 116 toward liquid tank 108. An electric motor actuated stop and self-closing check valve 10 of the invention having a wye configured body is installed to function as a pump control and stop check valve in liquid discharge line 116. A common problem in water and sewage systems utilizing such a pumping arrangement is liquid surge pressure transients and slamming of check valve components during pumping start-up and termination. Such problem is substantially eliminated with use of valve 10 in liquid discharge line 116. In the preferred method of operation for pumping start-up, valve 10 is set to the closed position (FIG. 1) prior to start-up of pump 112. That is actuator rod 42 is extended to locate and hold valve disc 26 against valve seat 24. The pump is then started followed by opening of valve 10 toward the flow position (FIG. 2) at a selected rate with use of electric motor 41. Such rate is controllable by motor control devices known in the art (not shown). Full flow position (FIG. 2) is maintained during normal pumping operation. To achieve planned pumping shutdown without generating liquid surge pressure transients or valve component slamming, valve 10 is closed, or nearly closed, with use of electric motor 41 prior to shut-down of pump 112. Following complete closure of the valve, or at a point nearing complete valve closure, the pump is switched off. Such sequential start-up and shut-down procedure can be conveniently controlled with use of switches and controls which coordinate the operation of the valve and the pump. During normal pumping operation of the pumping system with flow of liquid in the direction of arrow 113, and actuator rod 42 in the retracted position (FIGS. 2 and 3) valve disc 26 is free to move in the direction toward valve seat 24 and close the valve to prevent back-flow of the liquid in the event of failure of pump 112 or loss of electrical power. No action is required by the electric motor for such back-flow preventing closing as the valve is closed by action of the liquid flowing in a direction opposite to the direction of arrow 113. Spring 52 at least partially moves valve disc 26 toward the closed position during momentary liquid flow reversal from forward-flow to back-flow and valve disc slamming is eliminated or reduced. Such configuration and operating procedure for the pumping system enables conveying of liquid without undesirable liquid surging and slamming. While specific materials and configurations have been set forth for purposes of describing embodiments of the invention, various modifications can be resorted to, in light of the above teachings, without departing from applicants' novel contributions; therefore in determining the scope of the present invention reference shall be made to the appended claims. | <SOH> BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION <EOH>1. Field of the Invention This invention relates to electric motor actuated valves incorporating a check valve feature for controlling the flow of pumped liquids in applications such as are associated with municipal water supply or sewage treatment facilities and industry. 2. Description of Related Art Valves for controlling liquid flow and preventing its back-flow are known in the art and are commonly referred to as stop/check-valves. Such valves can-be actuated to control liquid flow by manual, hydraulic and other means. U.S. Pat. No. 4,667,696 describes a stop/check valve which utilizes a ball which closes upon a valve seat to prevent liquid flow in a back-flow direction. Flow in a desired direction is regulated by a hand-cranked closing device acting on the ball. U.K. Patent specification 141,148 describes a stop/check valve for fluid having a pressure plate extending from a clack into a path of return flow of the fluid so as to urge the clack to a closed position. In an embodiment having control of forward-flow, a hand-actuated spindle is used to position the clack. U.S. Pat. No. 4,945,941 describes a stop/check valve having a feature facilitating movement of a valve disc to a closed position with back-flow of liquid by use of a ridge on the valve seat and a deflector ring on the valve disc to deflect the flow of the fluid. Control of the liquid for forward-flow is carried out with a hand-actuated valve stem. | <SOH> SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION <EOH>The present invention provides an electric motor actuated valve to control liquid flow in a forward direction, prevent flow of the liquid in a reverse direction and carry out such control while eliminating or reducing liquid surge pressure transients and slamming of components within the valve. A discontinuous connection between a motor actuation component and valve seating components allows valve seating solely by means of liquid acting on the valve seating components to close the valve and prevent liquid back-flow. Such back-flow prevention occurs without action by the electric motor. | 20040915 | 20050816 | 20050324 | 99264.0 | 1 | KEASEL, ERIC S | ELECTRIC MOTOR ACTUATED STOP AND SELF-CLOSING CHECK VALVE | SMALL | 1 | CONT-ACCEPTED | 2,004 |
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10,942,065 | ACCEPTED | Method for fighting fire in confined areas using nitrogen expanded foam | The method of the invention comprises the steps of proportioning a foam concentrate into a non-flammable liquid to form a foam concentrate/liquid mixture and creating a flowing stream of the foam concentrate/liquid mixture. Nitrogen is introduced to the stream of the foam/liquid mixture to initiate the formation of a nitrogen expanded foam fire suppressant. In one embodiment the nitrogen is chilled below ambient temperature. The flowing stream carrying the initially nitrogen expanded foam is dispensed, which completes the full expansion of the nitrogen expanded foam fire suppressant, into the confined area involved in fire thereby to smother the fire and to substantially close off contact between combustible material involved in fire and the ambient atmosphere substantially reducing the danger of explosion or flash fires. The system for creating and dispensing the nitrogen expanded foam can be self-contained and includes a proportioner, a source of foam concentrate, a source of nitrogen and a dispenser for completing the extension and dispensing of the nitrogen expanded foam. A chiller can be included to chill the nitrogen below ambient temperature. Optionally a power generator can be incorporated into the system in instances where power is not available. The apparatus for expanding and dispensing foam comprises a housing defining an interior through which extends a discharge line. The ends of the housing are closed about the ends of the discharge line and the ends of the discharge line extend beyond the ends of the housing to define a connector at one end for receiving a stream of foam concentrate/liquid and at the opposite end to define the foam dispensing end of the apparatus. A portion of the discharge line in the housing defines an eductor for introduction of the expanding gas into the stream of foam concentrate/liquid flowing through the discharge line. | 1. A method for extinguishing a fire in a mine shaft comprising the steps of: a. providing at least one ingress point to an area of said mine shaft involved in fire; b. proportioning a foam concentrate into a non-flammable liquid to form a foam concentrate/liquid mixture; c. forming a foam fire suppressant by introducing a gas comprising nitrogen under pressure to said foam concentrate/liquid mixture to expand said foam concentrate in said non-flammable liquid; and d. introducing said expanded foam fire suppressant to said area of said mine shaft involved in fire through said ingress point. 2. The method of claim 1 further including the step of flooding said area involved in fire with water prior to introducing said foam fire suppressant. 3. The method of claim 1 including the step of forming a seal between said area of said mine shaft involved in fire and uninvolved portions of said mine shaft. 4. The method of claim 3 further including the step of drawing out at least a portion of the ambient atmosphere from said area involved in fire after it has been sealed thereby to reduce the amount of oxygen and gaseous fuel available to the fire. 5. The method of claim 1 wherein a dispenser proportions nitrogen containing gas into a water/foam concentrate stream thereby to initiate expansion of said foam and said foam is expanded upon the discharge thereof from said dispenser. 6. The method of claim 5 wherein said nitrogen containing gas is proportioned to a water/foam concentrate mixture in a ratio of 2 gallons per minute of said non-flammable liquid/foam concentrate mixture to 1 cfm of said gas. 7. The method of claim 5 wherein said dispenser directs said expanded foam to the sealed portion involved in fire through said ingress point. 8. The method of claim 3 wherein said seal includes at least one foam ingress point. 9. A method for extinguishing a fire in a confined area comprising proportioning a foam concentrate into a non-flammable liquid to form a foam concentrate/liquid mixture, creating a flowing stream of said foam concentrate/liquid mixture, introducing a gas comprising nitrogen under pressure to said stream of said foam/liquid mixture to form a nitrogen expanded foam fire suppressant, dispensing said nitrogen expanded foam fire suppressant into said confined area thereby to substantially close off contact between combustible material involved in fire and the ambient atmosphere. 10. The method of claim 9 wherein said non-flammable liquid is water. 11. The method of claim 10 wherein the concentration of said foam concentrate in water comprises between about 0.1% to about 1.0%. 12. The method of claim 10 wherein said gas is proportioned to said stream of water/foam concentrate mixture in a ratio of about 2 gallons per minute of said stream to 1 cfm of said gas. 13. A method for extinguishing a fire comprising the steps of: a. proportioning foam concentrate into a non-flammable liquid to form a foam concentrate/liquid mixture; b. forming a flowing stream of said foam concentrate/liquid mixture; c. chilling nitrogen gas to a temperature below about 70° F.; d. mixing said nitrogen and said stream of said foam/liquid mixture to initiate the formation of a nitrogen expanded foam fire suppressant; and e. dispensing said flowing stream carrying said chilled nitrogen expanded foam to effect the full expansion of said chilled nitrogen expanded foam and to introduce said chilled nitrogen foam to an area involved in fire thereby to lower the temperature at the surface of combustible material at said area and to smother said fire. 14. The method of claim 13 wherein said nitrogen and said foam/concentrate are chilled essentially simultaneously to provide said chilled nitrogen expanded foam. 15. The method of claim 13 wherein said nitrogen is chilled prior to admixture with said foam/concentrate to form said chilled nitrogen expanded foam. 16. The method of claim 13 wherein said chilled nitrogen foam is dispensed at a temperature of less then about 60° F. 17. The method of claim 13 wherein said chilled nitrogen foam is dispensed at a temperature of about 55° F. 18. The method of claim 13 wherein said nitrogen is chilled to a temperature of less than about 50° F. 19. The method of claim 13 wherein said nitrogen is chilled to a temperature of less than about 45° F. 20. The method of fighting a coal mine fire comprising the steps of sealing a portion of involved in the fire to form a sealed portion of the confined area involved in the fire that is separated from areas of the confined area that are free of fire, dispensing a fire suppressant comprising a chilled nitrogen expanded foam to said sealed portion of said confined area thereby to initiate suppression of the fire and reduction of the surface temperature of combustible material in said sealed portion to about 90° F. 21. The method of claim 20 further including the step of forming said chilled nitrogen expanded foam by the introduction of nitrogen at a temperature at less than about 50° F. to a flowing stream of foam concentrate in a nonflammable liquid. 22. The method of claim 20 wherein said chilled nitrogen expanded foam is dispensed to said sealed portion of said confined area at a temperature of less than about 60° F. 23. The method of claim 20 wherein said nitrogen is chilled to a temperature of less than about 45° F. 24. The method of claim 20 wherein said chilled nitrogen expanded foam is dispensed to said sealed portion of said confined area at a temperature of about 55° F. 25. The method of claim 20 wherein said nonflammable liquid is water and said foam concentrate is a class A type foam concentrate. 26. Apparatus for extinguishing a fire utilizing a nitrogen expanded foam fire suppressant material comprising a source of a mixture of nonflammable liquid and foam concentrate, a source of nitrogen, a diffuser for introducing said nitrogen into said mixture of nonflammable liquid and foam concentrate to act therein to initiate formation of a foam and a dispenser for dispensing said nitrogen expanded foam. 27. The apparatus of claim 26 further including apparatus for reducing the temperature of said nitrogen prior to its introduction into said mixture of nonflammable liquid and foam concentrate. 28. The apparatus of claim 26 wherein said source of chilled nitrogen comprises a nitrogen generator and a chiller in series with said nitrogen generator. 29. The apparatus of claim 26 further including a pump for producing a flowing stream of said mixture of nonflammable liquid and foam concentrate. 30. The apparatus of claim 26 further including an electrical power generator for operation of said pump whereby said apparatus is self-contained. 31. The apparatus of claim 26 wherein said mixture of nonflammable liquid and foam concentrate is held in a container and said chilled nitrogen is maintained in a separate container whereby said apparatus is portable. | CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS This application is a continuation-in-part application of application Ser. No. 10/620,882, filed Jul. 16, 2003, entitled METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR FIGHTING FIRES IN CONFINED AREAS which in turn claims the priority of the filing date of provisional application 60/398,501, filed Jul. 25, 2002 and entitled METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR FIGHTING FIRES IN CONFINED AREAS, both of which are incorporated by reference herein. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Fires in sites that are partially or totally confined are extremely difficult to contain much less to extinguish due to a number of factors among which are included, but not limited to, factors such as heat buildup, the ready availability of fuel and the presence of toxic gases, all of which make delivery of fire suppressant material and extinguishing of the fire very difficult. Confined areas include locations such as structures, storage tanks, subway and highway tunnels and underground mines as well as other types of below surface fires, such as landfill fires for example. These sites can combine the worst dangers to property and life in that the hot combustion gases are confined and can be prone to explosion and can provide additional fuel to the fire. In addition the combustion gases normally contain toxic levels of carbon monoxide gas, methane gas and other toxic substances. In coal mine fires, for example, the abundance of fuel in a confined, poorly accessible area practically guarantees that the fire will burn for extremely long periods of time with resultant loss of production and substantial property loss. Many coal mines must be abandoned in the event of a fire because of the great difficulty in extinguishing the fire. For example the Jonesville coal mine fire started more than 30 years ago and is still burning. The town of Centrala, Pa. has been abandoned because of a coal mine fire that began in 1961 because of the seeping of noxious gases to the surface. The residents of the City of Youngstown, Pa. have seen their property values drop to near zero and they are concerned that they will lose their homes due to the Percy mine fire in Fayette County, Pennsylvania that has been burning for more than 30 years. Although not necessarily prone to the extremely long burning periods encountered in coal mine fires, other fire locations such as underground fuel storage tanks, above ground chemical storage tanks and the like present similar problems in extinguishing fires occurring therein. It is difficult to apply fire suppressant material to the fire because of the location of the fire in a confined area and the resultant danger to the firefighters from explosion, heat buildup and toxic gases. The usual fire suppressant material utilized in the fires even for fire in confined areas is water. However, water is quickly vaporized at the high temperatures encountered in confined areas engulfed in fire and is relatively ineffective in extinguishing such fires. Furthermore, areas of active burning and/or high surface temperatures that can result in ignition can occur on the sides or upper surfaces of a confined area. These areas must be contacted with fire extinguishing material in order to smother the fire and to reduce the surface temperature. Liquid fire extinguishing materials are effective only for the lower surface of a confined area, unless the area is completely filled with the liquid. In most situations, this is impractical, if not impossible, and highly expensive. Air expanded foam has been suggested as a fire suppressant material for a confined areas. However, air expanded foam actually supplies additional fuel, oxygen, to the fire which, as it is consumed, results in a breakdown of the foam so that the foam does not have the smothering properties necessary for effective fire extinguishing. Accordingly, foam has not generally been accepted as a suitable fire extinguishing material for fires in confined areas. The latest concept uses a jet engine thrust of water vapors and inert gases into a mine to smother the fire. This requires months of preparation, including the development of a mounting structure to support the jet when subjected to the engine load on thrust dynamics. Moreover, a new mounting structure would have to be designed for each mine that would appear to be cost prohibitive. Therefore, a need exists to address the aforementioned deficiencies and inadequacies. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for extinguishing a fire in a confined, normally poorly ventilated area. In one embodiment the invention comprises a method for extinguishing a fire in a confined area comprising the steps of: (i) providing at least one foam ingress point to said portion of the confined area involved in fire; (ii) proportioning a foam concentrate into a non-flammable liquid to form a foam concentrate/liquid mixture; (iii) forming a foam fire suppressant by introducing gas consisting essentially of nitrogen under pressure to said foam concentrate/liquid mixture to expand said foam concentrate in said non-flammable liquid; and (iv) introducing said expanded foam fire suppressant through said foam ingress point. Wherever possible, it is preferred to form a seal between a portion of the confined area involved in fire and uninvolved portions of the confined area and dispensing the nitrogen expanded foam while maintaining the seal between said portions of the confined area involved in fire and said uninvolved portion of the confined area. The nitrogen expanded foam fire suppressant acts to smother the fire and to substantially prevent contact between combustible material in the confined area involved in fire and the ambient atmosphere thus substantially reducing the danger of explosion or flash fires. In another aspect, the present invention provides a system and method for extinguishing a fire in a confined area utilizing chilled nitrogen expanded foam. In this regard, one aspect of the method comprises forming a stream of surfactant treated non-flammable liquid and introducing nitrogen chilled to a temperature of less than normal room temperature to initiate the formation of an improved fire extinguishing foam that is expanded by the chilled nitrogen. The present invention can also be viewed as providing a method for fighting a fire in confined area utilizing nitrogen expanded foam which is dispensed at a temperature below ambient temperature. In another aspect of the invention, there is described apparatus for producing and dispensing ambient temperature or chilled nitrogen expanded foam. In this regard one embodiment of the system, among others, includes a source of non-flammable liquid, a source of surfactant, a proportioner for introducing the foam concentrate into the non-flammable liquid, a nitrogen generator, and a dispenser for expanding and dispensing the nitrogen expanded foam. Optionally, a pressure booster unit and chiller for the nitrogen and an auxiliary pump for the non-flammable liquid may be incorporated into the system as required. In still another aspect of the invention the dispenser apparatus of the present invention comprises a housing defining an interior having end walls, a discharge line extending through said housing, said discharge line having a first open end and a second open end, said end walls being closed about said discharge line, said first and second ends of said discharge line extending beyond said end walls of said housing to define a connector at said first end for receiving a stream of foam concentrate/liquid and said second end defining a foam dispensing end of said apparatus, a portion of said discharge line in said housing being provided with at least one opening to define an eductor for introduction of an expanding gas into said stream of said foam concentrate/liquid flowing through the discharge line. The method and apparatus of the instant invention eliminates the problems associated with conventional air expanded fire suppressant foam that provides fire-stimulating oxygen which essentially defeats the purpose and function of the fire-fighting foam. The present invention allows for the dispensing of the nitrogen expanded foam to be accomplished without the necessity of personnel being exposed to toxic combustion by-products. In addition, however, the apparatus of the invention is transportable by conventional means, including by air, and can be set up and ready to use in a matter of hours. Other systems, methods, features, and advantages of the present invention will be or become apparent to one with skill in the art upon examination of the following drawing and detailed description. It is intended that all such additional systems, methods, features, and advantages be included within this description, be within the scope of the present invention, and be protected by the accompanying claims. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIG. 1 is a sketch showing a typical closed coal mine in which a fire is actively burning; FIG. 2 is a schematic flow diagram illustrating a typical system utilizing the method of the present invention; FIG. 3 is a side elevation of the apparatus for expanding and discharging foam in the method of the invention having a portion of its outer housing cut away to show the aspirator portion; FIG. 4 is an exploded view of the aspirator of the apparatus of FIG. 3 in enlarged scale; and FIG. 5 is a plot of surface temperature versus post foam injection time illustrating the reduction of surface temperature for an area involved in combustion for foam injected at several temperatures. DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION As used herein the term “confined area” means a site having normally limited ventilation and limited access for extinguishing a fire. The term includes total and partial confinement of the area involved in fire. In a totally confined area the portion of the combustible material comprising the confined area is essentially sealed and isolated from the surface. In a partially confined area a portion of the combustible material comprising the confined area is exposed to the surface. In partial and totally confined areas combustion by-products can accumulate and may pose a threat to personnel attempting to extinguish such a fire. In addition, if the site is an operational site such as a working coal mine or a land fill, the presence of such a fire can result in the cessation or limitation of operations until the fire is extinguished or at least controlled which can result in severe economic and social hardship. Fires in confined areas are difficult to extinguish because of the buildup of explosive or combustible gases that feed the fire and make extinguishing of such a fire dangerous and difficult if not impossible. The confined area provides a containment area for dangerous combustion by-products. Fires occurring in partially confined areas such as landfill and dump fires or fires occurring at areas where quantities of combustible materials are stored, such as storage tanks for flammable materials, tire and paper storage sites are likewise difficult to extinguish. Although a portion of the combustible material is exposed to the surface and can be readily contacted with a fire extinguishing material, fire can continue to burn in confined areas in the interior of the combustible material away from the surface. This raises the temperature of the combustible material and the burn can erupt to the surface and re-ignite the surface fire. The present invention is directed to a system and method for extinguishing a fire in a confined area involved in combustion by contacting the involved area with a nitrogen expanded foam having improved smothering and fire extinguishing properties as compared to liquid products, particularly water, or conventional air expanded foam. The nitrogen expanded foam exhibits the necessary flow properties and can be dispensed at pressures necessary for reaching and penetrating the fuel source in the confined area. In addition, the nitrogen expanded foam has the necessary structural integrity to fill a confined area and contact not only a bottom wall or floor of the confined areas but also the top and side walls as well to extinguish burning areas occurring on such surfaces. Liquid products cannot extinguish fires occurring on the top and side walls. This is illustrated by FIG. 1 that shows a section of an underground coal mine, indicated generally as 10, that includes a working shaft or chamber 12 where a fire, illustrated as burning areas 14, has broken out on the bottom wall 16, end wall 18 and top wall of a portion of the working chamber. Upon discovery of the fire personnel are immediately evacuated and mining operations terminated. The method for fighting a fire in a confined areas such as in the working chamber 12 conventionally comprises the steps of (i) constructing a seal 22 for sealing the portion of the not already been sealed such as when the chamber is abandoned or closed; (ii) drawing out as much air as possible from the involved area; (iii) introducing a fire suppressant such as water, while maintaining the involved area sealed. Various types of seals and seal construction are known in the art and do not per se form a part of this invention. For example, permanent and temporary seals or brattices are well known and have been long used in the mining field for sealing portions of a passage or shaft in a mine. Brattices of varying designs are used to for ventilation control and for emergencies, such as in the event of a fire. For the purposes of the present invention the sealing element must be fire proof and provide a suitable opening to permit the dispensing of foam to the area involved in the fire. A discussion of several different brattice designs is found in U.S. Pat. No. 5,683,294, granted Nov. 4, 1997 to Teddy Maines. Practicing the conventional fire-fighting techniques normally require the involved area to be out of production for many weeks or months before it is safe to allow working personnel back into the affected area of the mine. In some instances the entire mine is closed for extended periods of time and in some cases even permanently if the fire cannot be extinguished. In mine fires where the involved area is sealed, it is preferred that the atmosphere in the sealed area is drawn out so as to reduce as much as possible the oxygen in the sealed area to limit or slow the progress of the fire. This may followed by an attempt to flood the area with water. Water is not the most effective fire suppressant or extinguishing material for use in most confined area fires, particularly in fighting coal mine fires. In many cases the water does not reach the fire because of dips and fissures in the mine shaft that in effect pool, retain or otherwise divert the water and prevent it from reaching the fire. In addition, the contact time of water that does reach the fire is short and the water evaporates and does not thoroughly penetrate and/or wet the fuel supporting the fire. Moreover, attempts to flood the involved area are impractical unless the burning area 14 is confined to the bottom wall 16 because of the many imperfections in the walls of the working chamber 12 that allow the liquid to run out of the confined area making it impossible to reach the burning areas 14 that occur at the upper wall 20 and higher portions of the end wall 18. Conventional air expanded foam has been applied in attempting to extinguish coal mine fires. This foam is expanded with air that, of course, contains a substantial concentration of oxygen thus adding a highly combustible substance to the fire that becomes available to support combustion as the foam breaks down. In the book, Mine Fires by Donald W. Mitchell, Intertec Publishing, Inc., 29 North Wacker Drive, Chicago, Ill. 60606, in a chapter entitled High-Expansion Foam, the author discusses the use of foam in mine fires and introduces the chapter relating to the use of foam (p 175) with the statement; “[H]igh expansion foams have not yet extinguished a real mine fire.” In accordance with the invention nitrogen expanded foam is used in step (iii) as the primary fire suppressant material rather than a liquid or inert gas fire suppressant. As will be seen from Example 1, an actual mine fire was extinguished in a matter of days rather than weeks or months as would be the normal situation where a liquid fire extinguishing material, such as water, is used in an attempt to extinguish the fire. As shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, a system 30 for generating nitrogen expanded foam in accordance with the present invention is positioned on the surface and a line 31 is inserted from the apparatus into the working chamber 12, preferably adjacent the seal 22. Access to the working chamber 12 can be provided by an existing vent shaft, cable shaft or the like or if such access is not available, a bore can be drilled. The nitrogen expanded foam can be dispensed through the seal 22 into the involved area. Generation of the nitrogen expanded foam and dispensing of the foam is continued until temperature measurements in the sealed area that was involved in the fire are brought down to about 90° F. This is the temperature that is accepted as the point at which the fire is considered to be extinguished. The nitrogen expanded foam has the density and structural integrity that permit it to essentially completely fill the sealed portion of the chamber 12 and in this manner to also contact the burning areas 14 in the upper portions of the end wall 18 and the top wall 20 to extinguish the fires burning on those surfaces as well as on the floor of the chamber. Although, as will be seen from Example 1, good results have been obtained using nitrogen at ambient temperature to expand the foam, it is preferred that the nitrogen used to expand the foam be chilled prior to its introduction into a liquid/foam concentrate mixture prior to dispensing and expanding the foam. As will be seen from Example 2, the time required to bring the temperature of a burning area down to 90° F. is substantially shortened when the nitrogen used to expand the foam is at a reduced temperature. Referring to FIG. 2, the system 30 for creating and dispensing nitrogen expanded foam is illustrated. The system 30 includes a source 32 of water that communicates with a proportioner 34 into which is fed a foam concentrate from a source 36. The initiation of foam begins in the proportioner 34 and the water/foam concentrate mixture is led into a dispenser 38 (FIG. 3) where it is mixed with nitrogen produced by a nitrogen generator 40. Nitrogen generators are well known in the art and the type of nitrogen generator used is a matter of choice. One type of nitrogen generator used with good results is a nitrogen membrane filtration unit. For producing the chilled nitrogen expanded foam a chiller 42 can be disposed in a line leading from the nitrogen generator 40 to the dispenser 38. The chiller 42 in its simplest form may consist of a heat conducting coil around the line leading from the nitrogen generator 40 to the dispenser 38 through which cold water is circulated to extract heat energy from the nitrogen and reduce its temperature below ambient. Accordingly the chiller 42 may be of any conventional design and does not per se form a part of this invention. It will be understood that the chiller 42 may be an integral part of the system 30 comprising the nitrogen generator 40 and that a separate chiller unit will not be required. The reduction of the nitrogen temperature is largely dependent on the size of the chiller 22. It is preferred, however, to reduce the nitrogen temperature to at least about 55° F. to effectively reduce by half the time to bring the surface temperature of the involved areas to 90° F., the temperature at which it is considered that the fire has been extinguished. The foam is expanded and dispensed through a dispenser 38 that functions to introduce pressurized nitrogen into the water/foam concentrate stream to expand the foam and to dispense the expanded foam. Depending on the nitrogen generator 40, the foam is normally dispensed at between about 100 psi to about 250 psi. However, depending upon the condition of the confined area being treated, higher pressure may be required to insure that the foam reaches all of the area involved in fire. In such a case a power booster 46, such as for example a compressor of conventional design may optionally be employed to boost the nitrogen pressure above 250 psi. In accordance with one aspect of the invention, as shown in FIG. 3, the dispenser 38 comprises an outer cylindrical casing 52 through the interior of which extends a discharge line 54 parallel with the axis of the outer casing. The ends of the outer casing 52 are closed around the discharge line 54. One end of the discharge line 54 extends beyond the outer casing 52 to define an intake 56 that communicates with a source of the water/foam concentrate mixture. The opposite end of the discharge line 54 extends beyond the outer casing to define a discharge 58 for dispensing the highly expanded foam. A nitrogen intake nipple 60 communicates through the outer casing 52 for leading pressurized nitrogen from the nitrogen generator 40 into the outer casing and a drain nipple 62 communicates with the interior of the outer casing for draining excess fluid from its interior. A portion of the discharge line 54 defines an eductor 64 for entraining the nitrogen gas in the water/foam concentrate stream flowing through the discharge line. As more clearly shown in FIG. 4, the eductor 64 is formed by four openings 66 in the wall of the discharge line. Each of the openings 66 is spaced 90 degrees apart from adjacent openings. A metal screen 68 is disposed about the discharge line 54 to overlie the openings 66. For ease of handling the diffuser 38, a handle 70 is provided. In operation, water and foam concentrate is mixed as the water flows through the proportioner 34. The proportioner 34 is of a conventional design and does not per se form a part of the present invention. The water/foam concentrate stream flows into the intake 56 of the dispenser 38 while nitrogen under pressure is led into the interior of the outer casing 52 through the nipple 60 that communicates with a source of pressurized gas consisting essentially of nitrogen. It has been found that for best results that the nitrogen pressure should be greater than the water pressure. The nitrogen pressurizes the interior of the outer casing 52 and the flow of the liquid stream past the eductor 64 lowers the pressure in the interior of the outer casing adjacent the eductor to create a pressure differential that the nitrogen to be drawn into the flowing stream. The introduction of the nitrogen initiates the expansion of the foam and the foam is fully expanded as it leaves the discharge 58 of the dispenser 38. Both the flow of the liquid stream and the nitrogen pressure combine to propel the foam from the dispenser 38. Liquid that escapes out of the discharge line 54 through the openings 66 is drained from the interior of the outer casing 52 through the drain nipple 62. Although it is not shown, a diffuser nozzle can be affixed to the end of the discharge 58 by suitable means such as by the provision of external threads on the end of the discharge that threadibly engage corresponding internal threads in the diffuser nozzle. The diffuser nozzle can be of any conventional design and although the use of such a nozzle is not required it does serve to enhance the expansion of the foam blanket. Commercially available high expansion foam concentrates are used in producing the fire suppressant foam. The foam concentrate is a surfactant that is utilized to treat a nonflammable liquid, conventionally water, to produce foam when the foam concentrate treated liquid is aspirated with air or nitrogen. Class A and Class B foam concentrates are preferred for their ability to isolate the fuel. Class A concentrates may be easier to use because the proportioning of the concentrate and water is not as critical as for Class B foam concentrates. The foam concentrate may further include a wetting agent to aid in penetration of the fuel. The proportion of foam concentrate in water depends on the desired density and viscosity of the expanded foam as dictated by the location and type of fire being extinguished in the proportions of the mixture can vary as a matter of choice by those skilled in the art. The foam concentrate, however, is normally proportioned with water in percentages ranging from about 0.1% by volume foam concentrate to about 1% by volume foam concentrate. The choice of proportioning method is not critical. In some cases it may be desirable to premix the foam concentrate and water in a suitable container. Such proportioning method may be preferred in small fires where foam volume will be relatively small. This method also lends itself for use in portable equipment. Venturi type or line proportioning devices are suitable for both portable systems and for more stationary systems where a high volume of foam is to be produced. Venturi type proportioners are best suited in those situations where water pressure is essentially constant in order to insure proper proportioning of water and concentrate and delivery of foam at a constant rate. In cases where water pressure is not reliable a water pump 70 may be optionally incorporated in the system 30 to both raise water pressure and to ensure that it remains constant. Other types of proportioners such as “around the pump” proportioners are well suited for delivery of large quantities of foam at a constant rate and as such are highly suited for disbursement of high expansion foam in fighting mine fires. The system may be self-contained and adopted for mounting on structural frames to allow handling by forklifts, overhead hoists and the like for moving from place to place. An AC power generator 74 can be included to provide power for operation of the water pump 22 and other components such as the nitrogen generator 40 and, if present, the chiller 42 that may require electric power for operation. The self-contained system is compact and lends itself to movement by trailer, ship or even aircraft. As illustrated in FIG. 2, suitable valving (not shown) can be utilized to divert the flow of water directly into an outlet 26 such as for use of the apparatus in a water flooding operation prior to introduction of the chilled nitrogen foam. EXAMPLE 1 The following is an example of the use of the method and apparatus of the present invention to extinguish a fire in an existing underground coal mine. A roof fall behind two seals identified as Seals 6 and 8 on Level 1 of an underground coal mine was the probable cause of a fire started by spontaneous combustion. The fall provided the fuel and created the atmosphere that was conducive to spontaneous combustion. A rise in carbon monoxide concentrations at Seal No. 6 was found during a routine inspection. Once it was determined that the elevated carbon monoxide was not due to normal activities, all personnel, with the exception of those individuals allowed to repair seals and to collect samples were evacuated from the mine. For purposes of this example the sequence of events begins at day one with the evacuation. By day four the site of the fire was located behind Seal No. 6. Installation of water injection pipes to Seal No. 6, as well as to Seal No. 8, began on day four. Additional seals were constructed adjacent to Seal Nos. 6 and 8 to form an airlock between the existing seals and the new seals. On day eight of the fire, dry chemical fire extinguishers were discharged behind the original Seal No. 6 and Seal No. 8. By day nine, the installation of the water pipes was completed and the area behind Seals 6 and 8 was flooded. Although further sampling indicated that the level of carbon monoxide and hydrogen concentration had reduced somewhat, the concentration of these gases remained at a dangerous level indicating that the fire was not extinguished. It was evident that water flooding had not successfully extinguished the fire. On day fourteen of the fire, nitrogen expanded foam injection was started. The existing water pipes through Seals 6 and 8 were employed to provide access for the nitrogen foam into the area behind the seals. The foam concentrate used was a class A foam concentrate for high expansion generators. The foam, which was not chilled, was generated and dispensed using the system without a chiller as described above in connection with FIGS. 1 and 2. The system included the diffuser described in connection with FIGS. 3-4. The nitrogen used to expand the foam was generated on the surface at ambient temperature using a commercially available nitrogen membrane filtration unit. Two screw-type compressors supplied air to the nitrogen membrane filtration unit. The generated gas consisting essentially of nitrogen was delivered to the diffuser in the mine through an existing six-inch steel water discharge pipe. The nitrogen generator was run for forty-five minutes after which nitrogen was pumped through the lines to the diffuser nitrogen hose to purge the lines of oxygen. Once purged, the diffuser nitrogen hose was connected to the nitrogen intake nipple of the diffuser. A water line attached to the intake of the diffuser was in communication with the pump for providing the water at the desired pressure and flow rate. The foam concentrate was introduced into the waterline upstream of the diffuser to form a water/foam concentrate mixture. Nitrogen pressure to the diffuser was maintained at a level of about 100 psi while the water pressure was maintained at about 90 psi. At all times, the nitrogen pressure was maintained at a level above that of the water. Prior to injection of the foam, sample foam was generated and the flow rate of the water/foam concentrate mixture was adjusted until foam having the consistency of shaving cream was produced. Pressure was equalized behind Seals 6 and 8 and foam injection was initiated. Foam injection was monitored through existing monitoring pipes in the seals. Foam injection began on the evening of day fourteen and continued all night and all the day of day fifteen. Toward the end of day fifteen 142,000 cubic feet of foam had been injected into the cavity behind Seal No. 6. Based on gas sampling results on the evening of day fifteen, carbon monoxide and hydrogen levels were essentially normal indicating that the fire was extinguished. On day sixteen gas sampling concentrations had returned essentially to normal and normal operations in the mine were resumed. However, foam injection levels were maintained for several more days to make absolutely certain that the fire had been extinguished. Using the method of the present invention, the operators were able to extinguish the fire in less than 48 hours. Normal mining operations were resumed in less than two days after the beginning of foam injection. EXAMPLE 2 The following example illustrates another aspect of the invention in which the foam is expanded with nitrogen which has been chilled to a temperature below ambient. The combustible material involved in a coal fire normally has a surface temperature of about 1400° F. while involved in combustion. The fire suppressant/extinguishing material must both lower the temperature of the combustible material and smother it to prevent contact between it and oxygen or other fuels that may be present in the atmosphere surrounding the combustible material. The fire is considered to be extinguished when the surface temperature of the coal in the area involved has been reduced to 90° F., a commonly accepted safe temperature determined by the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection. The rate of reduction of the surface temperature of burning coal is reduced radically when contacted by nitrogen expanded foam. However, it was determined that as the surface temperature of the coal approaches 150° F. the rate at which the temperature is lowered is substantially reduced thus extending the time required to bring the temperature of the surface of the combustible material down to 90° F., the accepted temperature at which it is considered safe for personnel to reenter the area that has been involved in the fire. In the case of a mine fire the unsafe area can often include the entire mine, which prevents placing the mine back in operation. It has been found that this time can be substantially reduced by the use of chilled nitrogen expanded foam. To establish the effect of differences between the ambient temperature at the site of the fire and the temperature of the chilled foam, a thermal analysis was undertaken to determine the effect of the temperature of the nitrogen expanded foam on the time required to extinguish a fire in a coal mine. The ambient surface temperature at the site of the fire was calculated as 1400° F. and the ambient surface temperature of 90° F. at the fire site was selected as the point at which the fire was considered to be extinguished. In performing the thermal analysis it was assumed that under normal fire fighting conditions the foam passes through a line of between about 70 ft. to about 90 ft. in length and the temperature rise of the chilled foam is calculated to be about 10° F. between the chiller and the dispensing point. The equipment and system assumed to be used for fighting the fire was at described above in connection with FIGS. 1-4. The thermal analysis was conducted for chilled nitrogen foam that would be dispensed at three different temperatures, i.e. ambient temperature (about 72° F.), 60° F. and 55° F. to produce a temperature differential between 90° F. and the dispensed temperature of the foam of 18° F., 30° F. and 35° F. respectively. In accordance with the assumed normal operating conditions, the nitrogen at the chiller must be brought to a temperature of about 10° F. below the desired temperature at which it is to be dispensed, that is 62° F. to dispense a foam at ambient temperature, 50° F. to dispense foam at 60° F. and 45° F. to dispense foam at 55° F. For purposes of the this example, which satisfies a worst case scenario, the foam was calculated to be dispersed at the rate of 90,000 ft.3 per hour which is the maximum rate at which foam can be effectively produced with existing off the shelf nitrogen generators that are compatible with the equipment described in connection with FIG. 2. It will be understood, however, that the invention is not limited to the foregoing dispersion rate. The rate of production and dispersion of the chilled nitrogen foam will depend on the size of the area to be treated, the type of fire being controlled and the equipment available and the actual dispersion rate will be readily determined by those skilled in the fire fighting art. The coal burn period was assumed to be 48 hours for the purposes of the thermal analysis. Employing the foregoing assumptions, x and y plots of temperature versus time were determined and plotted to produce temperature reduction curves for foam that was assumed to be injected at 72° F., 60° F. and 55° F. The plots are shown in FIG. 5 where the vertical axis is surface temperature in degrees F. and the horizontal axis is time in hours after foam injection. As shown in FIG. 5 the rate of surface temperature reduction at the higher temperatures is relatively rapid and essentially the same for the foam that is injected at the three different temperatures. However, as the surface temperature approaches 250° F. the rate of reduction for the foam injected at 72° F. begins slow down and there is a substantial flattening in the curve at around 130° F. to about 120° F. Thereafter the rate of reduction is gradual and by extending the plot the temperature will reach 90° F. at about 300 hours (12.5 days). The curve for the nitrogen foam injected at 60° F. also begins to flatten out at about 130° F. and reaches 90° F. at about 160 hours (6.7 days). The curve for the nitrogen injected at a temperature of 55° F., although having a similar profile to the other curves, reaches 90° F. in about 137 hours (5.7 days). It can be seen, therefore, that as the difference between the dispensing to temperature of the chilled nitrogen foam and 90° F. increases there is a substantial calculated decrease in the time required for the surface temperature of the coal to reach 90° F., the safe temperature at which personnel can reenter the mine. When the chilled nitrogen foam is dispensed at a temperature of 55° F. the calculated reduction in time is slightly greater than 50% as compared to nitrogen foam injected at ambient (72° F.) temperature. When injected at 60° F. the calculated reduction in time as compared to ambient nitrogen foam is around 46%. This represents a quicker return to operations and a substantial savings to the mine operators as well as an early return to work and full pay for the mine workers when the foam is dispensed at a reduced temperature. From the foregoing thermal analysis it appears that the lower the temperature of the nitrogen the more effective is the nitrogen chilled foam in reducing the time to bring the surface temperature of the involved area to 90° F. Accordingly, depending upon the size and efficiency of the chiller, it is within the scope of the invention to chill the nitrogen to a temperature of about 45° F. or below. It will be understood that the conditions encountered at the site of the fire can change the actual time required to extinguish the fire. Thus in Example 1 the conditions at the mine site resulted in extinguishing the fire in a period of about 48 hours using foam expanded with nitrogen at ambient temperature. However, from the foregoing thermal analysis it can be predicted that chilled nitrogen foam will result in extinguishing a fire in a coal mine in a substantially shorter period of time. As indicated above, under ground mine fires as well as other types of fires in confined spaces are difficult to extinguish and can continue to burn for periods of weeks, months and indeed, even years. Once a fire starts in an underground mine, for example, it is often the case that the mine has to be abandoned because the fire cannot be extinguished. An even more difficult situation occurs in the case of mines that have been closed and abandoned. A fire occurring in an abandoned mine is often allowed to burn for years in the hope it will burn itself out because the cost of extinguishing the fire is too great or because of the risk involved in attempting to extinguish the fire is too high. These fires can be a disaster both from an environmental aspect and a loss in property values incurred by those who live or own property in the area. The present invention allows such fires to be extinguished relatively quickly and inexpensively as compared to conventional methods of extinguishing mine fires. While the invention has described above in connection with a coal mine fire, it will be understood that the method and apparatus of the invention is highly suited for extinguishing fire in other types of confined spaces. Thus, for example, landfill fires can be difficult to extinguish and can burn under the landfill with the generation of noxious pollutants. It is within the scope of this invention to insert a pipe or otherwise form an access path to the site of the fire. The nitrogen expanded foam can then be generated as described above either from the surface and pushed through the pipe or access path to the site of the fire or the diffuser can be inserted into the access path to bring it closer to the fire so that the travel of the foam is thus shortened. As will be understood by those skilled in the art, various arrangements which lie within the spirit and scope of the invention other than those described in detail in the specification will occur to those persons skilled in the art. It is therefore to be understood that the invention is to be limited only by the claims appended hereto. | <SOH> BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION <EOH>Fires in sites that are partially or totally confined are extremely difficult to contain much less to extinguish due to a number of factors among which are included, but not limited to, factors such as heat buildup, the ready availability of fuel and the presence of toxic gases, all of which make delivery of fire suppressant material and extinguishing of the fire very difficult. Confined areas include locations such as structures, storage tanks, subway and highway tunnels and underground mines as well as other types of below surface fires, such as landfill fires for example. These sites can combine the worst dangers to property and life in that the hot combustion gases are confined and can be prone to explosion and can provide additional fuel to the fire. In addition the combustion gases normally contain toxic levels of carbon monoxide gas, methane gas and other toxic substances. In coal mine fires, for example, the abundance of fuel in a confined, poorly accessible area practically guarantees that the fire will burn for extremely long periods of time with resultant loss of production and substantial property loss. Many coal mines must be abandoned in the event of a fire because of the great difficulty in extinguishing the fire. For example the Jonesville coal mine fire started more than 30 years ago and is still burning. The town of Centrala, Pa. has been abandoned because of a coal mine fire that began in 1961 because of the seeping of noxious gases to the surface. The residents of the City of Youngstown, Pa. have seen their property values drop to near zero and they are concerned that they will lose their homes due to the Percy mine fire in Fayette County, Pennsylvania that has been burning for more than 30 years. Although not necessarily prone to the extremely long burning periods encountered in coal mine fires, other fire locations such as underground fuel storage tanks, above ground chemical storage tanks and the like present similar problems in extinguishing fires occurring therein. It is difficult to apply fire suppressant material to the fire because of the location of the fire in a confined area and the resultant danger to the firefighters from explosion, heat buildup and toxic gases. The usual fire suppressant material utilized in the fires even for fire in confined areas is water. However, water is quickly vaporized at the high temperatures encountered in confined areas engulfed in fire and is relatively ineffective in extinguishing such fires. Furthermore, areas of active burning and/or high surface temperatures that can result in ignition can occur on the sides or upper surfaces of a confined area. These areas must be contacted with fire extinguishing material in order to smother the fire and to reduce the surface temperature. Liquid fire extinguishing materials are effective only for the lower surface of a confined area, unless the area is completely filled with the liquid. In most situations, this is impractical, if not impossible, and highly expensive. Air expanded foam has been suggested as a fire suppressant material for a confined areas. However, air expanded foam actually supplies additional fuel, oxygen, to the fire which, as it is consumed, results in a breakdown of the foam so that the foam does not have the smothering properties necessary for effective fire extinguishing. Accordingly, foam has not generally been accepted as a suitable fire extinguishing material for fires in confined areas. The latest concept uses a jet engine thrust of water vapors and inert gases into a mine to smother the fire. This requires months of preparation, including the development of a mounting structure to support the jet when subjected to the engine load on thrust dynamics. Moreover, a new mounting structure would have to be designed for each mine that would appear to be cost prohibitive. Therefore, a need exists to address the aforementioned deficiencies and inadequacies. | <SOH> SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION <EOH>The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for extinguishing a fire in a confined, normally poorly ventilated area. In one embodiment the invention comprises a method for extinguishing a fire in a confined area comprising the steps of: (i) providing at least one foam ingress point to said portion of the confined area involved in fire; (ii) proportioning a foam concentrate into a non-flammable liquid to form a foam concentrate/liquid mixture; (iii) forming a foam fire suppressant by introducing gas consisting essentially of nitrogen under pressure to said foam concentrate/liquid mixture to expand said foam concentrate in said non-flammable liquid; and (iv) introducing said expanded foam fire suppressant through said foam ingress point. Wherever possible, it is preferred to form a seal between a portion of the confined area involved in fire and uninvolved portions of the confined area and dispensing the nitrogen expanded foam while maintaining the seal between said portions of the confined area involved in fire and said uninvolved portion of the confined area. The nitrogen expanded foam fire suppressant acts to smother the fire and to substantially prevent contact between combustible material in the confined area involved in fire and the ambient atmosphere thus substantially reducing the danger of explosion or flash fires. In another aspect, the present invention provides a system and method for extinguishing a fire in a confined area utilizing chilled nitrogen expanded foam. In this regard, one aspect of the method comprises forming a stream of surfactant treated non-flammable liquid and introducing nitrogen chilled to a temperature of less than normal room temperature to initiate the formation of an improved fire extinguishing foam that is expanded by the chilled nitrogen. The present invention can also be viewed as providing a method for fighting a fire in confined area utilizing nitrogen expanded foam which is dispensed at a temperature below ambient temperature. In another aspect of the invention, there is described apparatus for producing and dispensing ambient temperature or chilled nitrogen expanded foam. In this regard one embodiment of the system, among others, includes a source of non-flammable liquid, a source of surfactant, a proportioner for introducing the foam concentrate into the non-flammable liquid, a nitrogen generator, and a dispenser for expanding and dispensing the nitrogen expanded foam. Optionally, a pressure booster unit and chiller for the nitrogen and an auxiliary pump for the non-flammable liquid may be incorporated into the system as required. In still another aspect of the invention the dispenser apparatus of the present invention comprises a housing defining an interior having end walls, a discharge line extending through said housing, said discharge line having a first open end and a second open end, said end walls being closed about said discharge line, said first and second ends of said discharge line extending beyond said end walls of said housing to define a connector at said first end for receiving a stream of foam concentrate/liquid and said second end defining a foam dispensing end of said apparatus, a portion of said discharge line in said housing being provided with at least one opening to define an eductor for introduction of an expanding gas into said stream of said foam concentrate/liquid flowing through the discharge line. The method and apparatus of the instant invention eliminates the problems associated with conventional air expanded fire suppressant foam that provides fire-stimulating oxygen which essentially defeats the purpose and function of the fire-fighting foam. The present invention allows for the dispensing of the nitrogen expanded foam to be accomplished without the necessity of personnel being exposed to toxic combustion by-products. In addition, however, the apparatus of the invention is transportable by conventional means, including by air, and can be set up and ready to use in a matter of hours. Other systems, methods, features, and advantages of the present invention will be or become apparent to one with skill in the art upon examination of the following drawing and detailed description. It is intended that all such additional systems, methods, features, and advantages be included within this description, be within the scope of the present invention, and be protected by the accompanying claims. | 20040915 | 20060912 | 20051013 | 57277.0 | 3 | GANEY, STEVEN J | METHOD FOR FIGHTING FIRE IN CONFINED AREAS USING NITROGEN EXPANDED FOAM | SMALL | 1 | CONT-ACCEPTED | 2,004 |
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10,942,264 | ACCEPTED | Reverse draw technology archery | The nature of the current invention is an archery device that uses what I claim as Reverse Draw Technology. In essance, what this is, is pulling the launch string of a bow or crossbow in the opposite direction that it is pulled in all prior art. Pulling the launch string into the curve of the opposing limbs, instead of away from them, allows for a longer power stroke, thus increasing performance and allowing, if so chosen, a lower draw weight, which translates to less noise at the same arrow speed. Arrow speed is determined by the force rquired to pull the launch string from an at rest position to the ready to fire position, and the distance the string is pulled. This distance is called the power stroke. By increasing the power stroke and decreasing the drawing force, comparable arrow speed is achieved with much less noise and effort on the part of the archer. | 1 A bow that has a mid section, called a riser, with opposing limbs attached to said riser generally at the opposing ends of said riser: 2 A bow of claim 1 that has a string attached in a plurality of methods to one or more cams located generally at opposing ends of said limbs on the bow of claim 1. 3 A bow that has said string of claim 2 that shall be pulled in the opposite direction of a conventional style or compound bow, a string that is drawn towards the riser and into the generally concave area between the opposing limbs, from a starting point where the string is in a “resting” position, to such point as the string reaches a “ready to fire position, and any point along this plane in front of, or top of, on top of, or behind the riser, to build it's energy in what I claim as Reverse Draw Technology. 4 A crossbow that has a riser with opposing limbs attached to said riser generally at the opposing ends of said riser. 5 A crossbow that has a launch string attached in a plurality of methods to one or more cams located generally at opposing ends of said limbs of the crossbow of claim 4. 6 A crossbow of claim 5 that has a launch string that shall be pulled in the opposite direction of a conventional style crossbow relative to the riser, a string that is drawn towards the riser and into the generally concave area between the opposing limbs, from a starting point where the string is in the at rest position, to such a point as the string reaches a ready to fire position, and any point along this plane in front of, on top of, or behind the riser, to build said crossbow's energy in what I claim as Reverse Draw Technology. 7 A bow where a launch string may be held in a ready to fire position by a plurality of means, storing the energy until the string is released, causing the limbs to release their energy and propel the string and bolt forward, away from the ready to fire position to a resting position, where the last stages of this travel have the string traveling generally away from the riser instead of towards it as is done on conventional archery equipment. 8 A crossbow where a launch string may be held in a ready to fire position by a plurality means, storing the crossbow's energy until the string is released, causing the limbs to release their energy and propel the launch string and the bolt forward, away from the ready to fire position to a resting position, where the last states of this travel have the string traveling generally away from the riser instead of towards it as is done on conventional crossbows of prior art. 9 A crossbow that has a riser that is not positioned at the end of the shooting rail and arrow tip, rather it may be positioned at a plurality of positions between the ends of the shooting rail. 10 A crossbow of claim 9 that due to a longer power stroke than conventional prior art, said crossbow requires less pulling force to generate the same speed, thus making the crossbow of this invention much quieter than all prior art at comparable speeds. 11 A Reverse Draw Technology crossbow using a single cam, having a plurality of designs, and an idler roller, utilizing one launch string and one or more cables. 12 A Reverse Draw Technology crossbow using two cams, having a plurality of designs, one launch string, and 1 or more cables. 13 A Reverse Draw Technology crossbow using two zero let off cams, having a plurality of designs, one launch string and one or more cables. 14 (canceled) | CROSS REFERNCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS U.S. Pat. No. 6,267,108 McPherson U.S. Pat. No. 6,460,528 Gallops, Jr. U.S. Pat. No. 5,553,596 Bednar STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT Not Applicable REFERNCE TO SEQUENCE LISTING Not Applicable BACKGROUND OF INVENTION Archery equipment has long been used for hunting wild game for food, as well as recreation. The original style long bow, or recurve bow, consists of specially fabricated, long, narrow, typically wood body that has a central handle for gripping and opposing ends of the limbs that extend away from the central handle, connected at the ends by a taught string. The string create a force to be built and stored in the limbs. When an archer places an arrow in the center of the string and pulls back on the string and arrow, this force of energy is increased relative to the distance pulled. When the archer releases the arrow, the stored energy is released as the limbs return to their original position and propel the arrow forward. While this was an effective way to hunt for centuries, it took a great deal of time to learn the art and become proficient and accurate. A regular type bow was also limited in effective range by the strength of the archer. Later, the weapon to end all wars was created: the crossbow. The crossbow essentially took the design of a regular bow and mounted it horizontally and perpendicular to a rail and stock which held a trigger mechanism, or string release. The crossbow allowed the archer to pull back the string and load the projectile, called a bolt, and remain in a “ready to fire” position until the appropriate time. This weapon, though easier to learn how to shoot, had many drawbacks. Due to size limitations, the limbs on a crossbow were much shorter than those of a regular bow. Because of the shorter limbs, they had to be much stiffer, and they required much more strength to pull back to get the same speed of the bolt as their regular bow counterparts. This increased force also generated much more noise. Another drawback was the fact tat they also had a much shorter power stroke, or the distance the string is engaged to the bolt while releasing the stored energy of the limbs. In modern day archery, there are two types of crossbows, compound and recurve. The recurve type is modeled after the centuries old recurve bow mounted horizontally. The compound crossbow is modeled after the compound bow, having cams on the ends of the limbs to help generate force. Both of these styles of crossbows typically require 150# to 225# drawing force to pull back the string, and are extremely loud for archery hunting equipment. In all prior art, including U.S. Pat. No. 6,267,108 McPherson, U.S. Pat. No. 6,460,528 Gallops, Jr., high noise levels and extreme draw forces are still a great issue. In U.S. Pat. No. 5,553,596 Bednar tried to address noise levels by creating a damping system to mount the limbs, but with little effect. Though many people believe that crossbows are more lethal than conventional bows, this is not the case. Because of the extreme noise level created when the crossbow is fired, and the fact that an bolt is flying much slower than the speed of sound, the noise is heard by the game animal before the bolt reaches it, giving the animal time to react. Thus the louder the weapon, the less effective range it has. To try to compensate for this fact, manufacturers are left to try and increase speed by increasing the poundage force, all the while increasing the noise level. As with conventional bows and crossbows, the string is pulled away from the generally concave area between the limbs, away from the riser and limbs. Because of these design mechanics, bows and crossbows are limited in stoke length due to usable size restrictions. It would be very easy produce a crossbow that had a much longer power stroke, but it would not be usable in the hunting world because of it being so massive. The invention disclosed in this filing answers all of the above described inherent problems of prior art crossbows and bows. One must first understand the basic and general rules of physics related to bows and arrows: For any given bow of any poundage rating, if the arrow weight is the same on all tests, the greater the length of the power stroke, the faster the arrow will fly. To compensate for a shorter power stroke, the poundage rating must be increased to offset this decrease. BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION For purposes of defining some of the terms used in this disclosure and referring to prior art, I have submitted the following Prior art of a recurve bow has the launch string drawn away from the limbs of the bow, which is away from the generally concave area between the opposing limbs Prior art of a compound bow has the launch string drawn away from the riser and away from the generally concave area between the opposing limbs Prior art of a recurve crossbow has the launch string drawn away from the limbs of the crossbow, which is away from the generally concave area between the opposing limbs Prior art of a compound crossbow has the launch string drawn away from the riser and away from the generally concave area between the opposing limbs Stroke is defined as the distance the string travels on the plane of the arrow from a ready to fire position to a resting position, or the distance the launch string is actually pushing the arrow or bolt. There is a formula for determining arrow speed on any given bow or crossbow. A simple explanation of this is as follows If identical arrows are used for all trials, said arrow that is launched from a bow that has a 50# rating and a 20″ power stroke will be faster than the same arrow shot from a 50# bow with a 19″ power stroke. If the power stroke and the arrow weight are to be the constants, then a 55# bow will shoot an arrow faster than a 50# bow. And finally, if power stoke and bow draw force are the constants, then a lighter arrow will launch faster than a heavier arrow. With all of the above examples, the higher the pull rating that the bow or crossbow has, the more stored energy it will have, elevating the noise levels accordingly. A brief summary of the current invention is an archery device that has a launch string that is pulled towards the riser, or mid section, and into the generally concave area between the opposing limbs of the bow or crossbow. This design greatly increases performance of arrow or bolt speed compared to prior art by increasing the length of the power stroke. In all prior art, the distance between the riser and the launch string, called brace height, when the bow was in the at rest position, was not included in the power stroke. An example of this on a cross bow would be as follows: If a constant shooting rail length of 20″ is used, where one end of said rail the the front end, and the opposing end is the latch and trigger assembly end, in all prior art the riser is fastened to the front end of the shooting rail. Using a brace height for prior art crossbows of 8″ leaves a power stroke of 12″ In the current invention, with a shooting rail length of 20″ and the riser mounted as illustrated, the launch string is now at the front end of the shooting rail, thus able to utilize the full shooting rail for a power stroke of 20″. By increasing the power stroke in this manner, much less draw force is required to achieve the same performance, or even greater performance can be achieved by using the same draw force as would be used in the crossbow described in the first 2 sentences of paragraph 16. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a side view of a traditional recurve bow and arrow in the at rest position FIG. 2 is a side view of a traditional recurve bow and arrow in the ready to fire position FIG. 3 is a side view of modern single cam compound bow in the ready to fire position without an arrow FIG. 4 is a partial top view of a recurve style crossbow in the ready to fire position. As most stocks for crossbows are the same, it has been eliminated from this drawing. FIG. 5 is a partial top view of a compound crossbow in the ready to fire position. As most stocks for crossbows are the same, it has been eliminated from this drawing FIG. 6 is a partial drawing of the current invention in the ready to fire position. As most stocks for crossbows are the same, it has been eliminated from this drawing. FIG. 7 is a partial top view of the current invention in the at rest position. As most stocks for crossbows are the same, it has been eliminated from this drawing. FIG. 8 is a right side view of the current invention. FIG. 9 is a left side view of the current invention FIG. 10 is a right side view of a typical compound crossbow FIG. 11 is a left side view of a typical compound crossbow. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Referring to the drawings, FIG. 1 shows the side view of a typical recurve bow having an upper limb (1) and a lower limb (2) joined at opposing ends by a launch string (5). An arrow (4) is attached to the launch string (5) midway on said string by a knock. An archer would grasp the bow midway between the upper limb (1) and the lower limb (2) and at the arrow knock and pull said launch string (5) away from the generally concave area (3) between said limbs into a ready to fire position as shown in FIG. 2. The distance that the arrow (4) has traveled from its most rear position (FIG. 2) forward to the at rest position (FIG. 1) is called the power stroke (6). The greater this distance is with all other factors being equal, such as arrow weight and force required to pull back the launch string (5), the faster the arrow will fly. Referring now to FIG. 3, this is a side view of a typical single cam compound bow, in the ready to fire position, consisting of an upper limb (15) and a lower limb (16) that are attached to opposing ends of a riser (14). At the outer ends of said limbs are attached a cam (12) and an idler wheel(13) that are connected by a launch string (5) and cables (17). The archer would grasp the riser (14) and the launch string (5) midway and then pull said launch string away from the riser (14) and away from the generally concave area (3) between the opposing limbs. FIG. 4 is a partial top view of a recurve crossbow having a right limb (7), and a left limb(8) connected by a riser (10) at the inner ends of said limbs, and the out ends of said limbs are connected to each other by a launch string (5). Said riser (10) is fastened to the outer end of a shooting rail (9). The archer inserts his foot in the foot stirrup (11) and pulls the launch string (5) away from the riser and generally concave area (3) between the opposing limbs to the opposite end of the shooting rail (9) and engages the sting into a latch and trigger mechanism. Again the distance that the launch string travels from the ready to fire position to the at rest position is called the power stroke (6) FIG. 5 is a partial top view of a compound crossbow in the ready to fire position having a right limb (24) and a left limb (23) connected by a riser (10) at the inner ends of said limbs, and the outer ends of said limbs are connected to each other by cams (12), a launch string (5), and cables (17). The riser (10) is fastened to the outer end of the shooting rail (9). The archer inserts his foot in the foot stirrup (11) and pulls the launch string (5) away from the riser and the generally concave area (3) between the opposing limbs to the opposite end of the shooting rail (9) and engages said string into a latch and trigger assembly. FIG. 6 is a partial top view of the current invention in the ready to fire position. In all forms of prior art, the riser (10) is at the front end of the crossbow, while the launch string (5) is oriented reward of said riser. In the current invention, this is just the opposite. The right limb (19) and the left limb (20) are connected at their inner ends to a riser (18). Said riser is not connected to the outer end of the shooting rail(9), it may be connected to the shooting rail (9) at a variety of points between the opposing ends of said rail. The outer ends of the limbs (19) and (20) have a cam(s) (12)and or an idler wheel (13) that are connected by a launch string (5) and cable(s) (17). The archer inserts his foot in the foot stirrup (11) and pulls the launch string (5) TOWARDS the riser (18) and INTO the generally concave area (3) between the opposing limbs and engages said string into a latch and trigger mechanism. Because of this configuration, the crossbow of the current invention will have a longer power stroke (6) than any prior art crossbow with the same length shooting rail (9). Thus, a longer stroke requires less poundage to achieve the speed, which in turn equals less noise. FIG. 7 is a partial top view of the current invention in the at rest position. FIG. 8 and FIG. 9 are side views of the current invention as shown in FIGS. 6 and 7 with the addition of a typical gun style stock (21) FIG. 10 and FIG. 11 are side views of typical prior art compound crossbows. | <SOH> BACKGROUND OF INVENTION <EOH>Archery equipment has long been used for hunting wild game for food, as well as recreation. The original style long bow, or recurve bow, consists of specially fabricated, long, narrow, typically wood body that has a central handle for gripping and opposing ends of the limbs that extend away from the central handle, connected at the ends by a taught string. The string create a force to be built and stored in the limbs. When an archer places an arrow in the center of the string and pulls back on the string and arrow, this force of energy is increased relative to the distance pulled. When the archer releases the arrow, the stored energy is released as the limbs return to their original position and propel the arrow forward. While this was an effective way to hunt for centuries, it took a great deal of time to learn the art and become proficient and accurate. A regular type bow was also limited in effective range by the strength of the archer. Later, the weapon to end all wars was created: the crossbow. The crossbow essentially took the design of a regular bow and mounted it horizontally and perpendicular to a rail and stock which held a trigger mechanism, or string release. The crossbow allowed the archer to pull back the string and load the projectile, called a bolt, and remain in a “ready to fire” position until the appropriate time. This weapon, though easier to learn how to shoot, had many drawbacks. Due to size limitations, the limbs on a crossbow were much shorter than those of a regular bow. Because of the shorter limbs, they had to be much stiffer, and they required much more strength to pull back to get the same speed of the bolt as their regular bow counterparts. This increased force also generated much more noise. Another drawback was the fact tat they also had a much shorter power stroke, or the distance the string is engaged to the bolt while releasing the stored energy of the limbs. In modern day archery, there are two types of crossbows, compound and recurve. The recurve type is modeled after the centuries old recurve bow mounted horizontally. The compound crossbow is modeled after the compound bow, having cams on the ends of the limbs to help generate force. Both of these styles of crossbows typically require 150# to 225# drawing force to pull back the string, and are extremely loud for archery hunting equipment. In all prior art, including U.S. Pat. No. 6,267,108 McPherson, U.S. Pat. No. 6,460,528 Gallops, Jr., high noise levels and extreme draw forces are still a great issue. In U.S. Pat. No. 5,553,596 Bednar tried to address noise levels by creating a damping system to mount the limbs, but with little effect. Though many people believe that crossbows are more lethal than conventional bows, this is not the case. Because of the extreme noise level created when the crossbow is fired, and the fact that an bolt is flying much slower than the speed of sound, the noise is heard by the game animal before the bolt reaches it, giving the animal time to react. Thus the louder the weapon, the less effective range it has. To try to compensate for this fact, manufacturers are left to try and increase speed by increasing the poundage force, all the while increasing the noise level. As with conventional bows and crossbows, the string is pulled away from the generally concave area between the limbs, away from the riser and limbs. Because of these design mechanics, bows and crossbows are limited in stoke length due to usable size restrictions. It would be very easy produce a crossbow that had a much longer power stroke, but it would not be usable in the hunting world because of it being so massive. The invention disclosed in this filing answers all of the above described inherent problems of prior art crossbows and bows. One must first understand the basic and general rules of physics related to bows and arrows: For any given bow of any poundage rating, if the arrow weight is the same on all tests, the greater the length of the power stroke, the faster the arrow will fly. To compensate for a shorter power stroke, the poundage rating must be increased to offset this decrease. | <SOH> BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION <EOH>For purposes of defining some of the terms used in this disclosure and referring to prior art, I have submitted the following Prior art of a recurve bow has the launch string drawn away from the limbs of the bow, which is away from the generally concave area between the opposing limbs Prior art of a compound bow has the launch string drawn away from the riser and away from the generally concave area between the opposing limbs Prior art of a recurve crossbow has the launch string drawn away from the limbs of the crossbow, which is away from the generally concave area between the opposing limbs Prior art of a compound crossbow has the launch string drawn away from the riser and away from the generally concave area between the opposing limbs Stroke is defined as the distance the string travels on the plane of the arrow from a ready to fire position to a resting position, or the distance the launch string is actually pushing the arrow or bolt. There is a formula for determining arrow speed on any given bow or crossbow. A simple explanation of this is as follows If identical arrows are used for all trials, said arrow that is launched from a bow that has a 50# rating and a 20″ power stroke will be faster than the same arrow shot from a 50# bow with a 19″ power stroke. If the power stroke and the arrow weight are to be the constants, then a 55# bow will shoot an arrow faster than a 50# bow. And finally, if power stoke and bow draw force are the constants, then a lighter arrow will launch faster than a heavier arrow. With all of the above examples, the higher the pull rating that the bow or crossbow has, the more stored energy it will have, elevating the noise levels accordingly. A brief summary of the current invention is an archery device that has a launch string that is pulled towards the riser, or mid section, and into the generally concave area between the opposing limbs of the bow or crossbow. This design greatly increases performance of arrow or bolt speed compared to prior art by increasing the length of the power stroke. In all prior art, the distance between the riser and the launch string, called brace height, when the bow was in the at rest position, was not included in the power stroke. An example of this on a cross bow would be as follows: If a constant shooting rail length of 20″ is used, where one end of said rail the the front end, and the opposing end is the latch and trigger assembly end, in all prior art the riser is fastened to the front end of the shooting rail. Using a brace height for prior art crossbows of 8″ leaves a power stroke of 12″ In the current invention, with a shooting rail length of 20″ and the riser mounted as illustrated, the launch string is now at the front end of the shooting rail, thus able to utilize the full shooting rail for a power stroke of 20″. By increasing the power stroke in this manner, much less draw force is required to achieve the same performance, or even greater performance can be achieved by using the same draw force as would be used in the crossbow described in the first 2 sentences of paragraph 16. | 20040916 | 20080212 | 20060316 | 63514.0 | F41B512 | 1 | RICCI, JOHN A | REVERSE DRAW TECHNOLOGY ARCHERY | SMALL | 0 | ACCEPTED | F41B | 2,004 |
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10,942,309 | ACCEPTED | Cover plate | Disclosed is a cover plate for use in connection with an electrical box. The cover plate includes a plate element that attaches to and at least partially covers a side of the electrical box. The plate element includes at least one electrical box orifice to permit access to an electrical appurtenance associated with the electrical box. The cover plate also includes one or more attachable elements removably attachable to a portion of the plate element via an attachment structure. The attachable elements are configured to retain, display and/or interact with an item. | 1. A cover plate for use in connection with an electrical box, the cover plate comprising: a plate element configured to attach to and at least partially cover a side of the electrical box, wherein the plate element includes at least one electrical box orifice configured to permit access to at least one electrical appurtenance associated with the electrical box; and at least one attachable element removably attachable to a portion of the plate element via an attachment structure, wherein the at least one attachable element is configured to at least one of retain, display and interact with an item. 2. The cover plate of claim 1, wherein the electrical box is at least one of a switch box, an outlet box, an electrical utility box and a combined switch and outlet box. 3. The cover plate of claim 1, further comprising a securing mechanism for securing the plate element at least partially over an open side of the electrical box. 4. The cover plate of claim 3, wherein the securing mechanism is at least one screw configured to threadedly engage a corresponding orifice of the electrical box. 5. The cover plate of claim 1, wherein the attachment structure comprises: a first attaching structure in operational communication with the attachable element; and a second attaching structure in operational communication with the plate element. 6. The cover plate of claim 5, wherein the first attaching structure is at least one projecting element extending from a surface of the attachable element and the second attaching structure is at least one orifice extending through the plate element and configured to engagingly and at least partially accept the projecting element. 7. The cover plate of claim 5, wherein the first attaching structure is a plurality of projecting elements extending from a surface of the attachable element and the second attaching structure is a plurality of spaced orifices extending through the plate element and configured to engagingly and at least partially accept a respective projecting element. 8. The cover plate of claim 5, wherein the second attaching structure is a plurality of spaced orifices extending through the plate element and configured to engagingly and at least partially accept a projecting element in a removable manner. 9. The cover plate of claim 1, wherein the attachable element is removable and attachable to a portion of the plate element via the attachment structure, such that the attachable element may be positioned on a plurality of areas on the plate element. 10. The cover plate of claim 1, wherein the attachable element is a hook extending from a hook base portion and configured to permit a user to hang the item on the hook. 11. The cover plate of claim 10, wherein at least a portion of the hook is notched, such that the hook breaks away from the hook base portion upon the occurrence predetermined break force. 12. The cover plate of claim 1, wherein at least one of the attachable element, the attachment structure and the plate element include a breakaway portion, such that the attachable element breaks away from the plate element upon the occurrence of a predetermined break force. 13. The cover plate of claim 12, wherein the breakaway portion is at least one of a notch, a weakened area and a releasable adhesive material. 14. The cover plate of claim 1, wherein the attachable element includes a frame portion and a door portion that is movably attached to the frame portion, such that the door portion is movable away from and towards the frame portion, thereby providing access to an attachable element inner retaining area. 15. The cover plate of claim 1, wherein the attachable element includes a frame portion configured to removably retain an electronic device therein. 16. The cover plate of claim 15, wherein the frame portion includes a gripping structure configured to engage and securely hold the electronic device. 17. The cover plate of claim 16, wherein the gripping structure is at least one padding element positioned on an inner surface of the frame portion, wherein the electronic device is frictionally engaged within the frame portion via contact with the at least one padding element. 18. The cover plate of claim 15, further comprising a door portion movably attached to the frame portion, such that the door portion is movable away from and towards the frame portion, thereby providing access to the electronic device. 19. The cover plate of claim 15, wherein the frame portion includes at least one plug orifice extending through a surface of the frame portion, the plug orifice configured to provide passage of at least a portion of the electrical cord of the electronic device. 20. The cover plate of claim 15, wherein the electronic device is at least one of a cellular phone, a personal digital assistant, a palmtop, a computing device, an electric razor, a hair dryer, a toothbrush and a curling iron. 21. The cover plate of claim 1, further comprising at least one ancillary element configured to be removably attachable to at least one of the plate element and the at least one attachable element. 22. The cover plate of claim 20, wherein the attachable element includes a frame portion and a slot extending at least partially across a surface of the frame element, and wherein the ancillary element is at least one hook having a projecting element extending therefrom, which is configured to engage and slide along the slot. 23. The cover plate of claim 20, wherein the ancillary element is at least one of a clock, a messaging device, an electronic device, a computing device, a tray, a thermostat, a thermometer, a hook, an enclosure, a container, a holder, a bin, a change holder, a mace holder, a bathroom appliance holder, an electrical cord retainer, a kitchen appliance holder, a household item holder, a remote control holder and an electronic device holder. 24. The cover plate of claim 1, wherein the attachable element is at least one of a clock, a messaging device, an electronic device, a computing device, a tray, a thermostat, a thermometer, a hook, an enclosure, a container, a holder, a bin, a change holder, a mace holder, a bathroom appliance holder, an electrical cord retainer, a kitchen appliance holder, a household item holder, a remote control holder and an electronic device holder. 25. The cover plate of claim 1, wherein the attachable element is configured to retain at least one of an electronic device, a computing device, a cellular phone, mail, currency, money, a wallet, a key, a keyring, an item, an object, a remote control and writing utensil. 26. The cover plate of claim 1, wherein at least one of the cover plate, the plate element, the attachable element and the attachment structure is manufactured from at least one of a plastic material, a synthetic material, a polymeric material and a metallic material. 27. The cover plate of claim 1, wherein the attachable element and the attachment structure are formed as an integral unit. 28. The cover plate of claim 1, wherein the electrical appurtenance is at least one of an electrical outlet, a switch, a knob and an actuator. 29. A kit for a cover plate, comprising: a plate element configured to attach to and at least partially cover a side of an electrical box; and at least one attachable element removably attachable to a portion of the plate element via an attachment structure, the at least one attachable element configured to at least one of retain, display and interact with an item. | CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60/503,256, filed Sep. 16, 2003 and United States Provisional Patent Application entitled “Switch Plate with Cell Phone Holder, Key Accessory Hooks With/Without Message Center”, filed Apr. 23, 2004, which are herein incorporated by reference in their entirety. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates in general to cover plates for use in connection with electrical boxes, such as electrical boxes that include wall-mounted switch plates and have one or more actuator switches and/or electrical outlets and, in particular, to a cover plate that is positioned over one or more of the electrical appurtenances of the electrical box and that provides additional storage, display and interactive functionality. 2. Description of Related Art According to the prior art, there are many electrical boxes available that offer various functions to the end user and electrical access, for example switchboxes, electrical outlets, combination boxes and other similar wall-mounted switches and outlets. Presently, however, the switch plate covers and outlet covers for such boxes and outlets are plain plates that have only a single function, which is to provide a protective cover over an electrical box. Accordingly, prior art switch plates do not provide any additional functionality with relation to that specific area around or adjacent to the switch plate cover. Oftentimes, people misplace or forget where they have placed their keys, cell phones, PDAs, wallets and other similar items and objects. In particular, these items are misplaced since people do not generally have a single designated place where they habitually place their keys when they remove them from their person. Accordingly, these items end up lost and a considerable amount of time and resources are wasted searching for the item. In one attempt to solve this problem, and according to the prior art, wall-mounted keyholders are available. However, these holders are designed to be permanently attached to the wall, either by nails, screws or the like, which require new holes to be drilled or punched or secured with an anchor. Next, these screws or nails must be placed into the drilled holes and secured with some attachment mechanism in order to hold the wall-mounted keyholder against the wall. In addition, certain switch plates have been developed that may be used in place of the prior art and commonly-known switch plates used in the vast majority of commercial and residential structures. In addition, some of these modified switch plates evidence integrally formed appurtenances or projections that allow the switch plate to achieve various functions. For example, see U.S. Pat. No. 4,335,883 to Rapps; U.S. Pat. No. 4,425,725 to Moustakas et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 5,594,206 to Klas et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 6,404,569 to Bachschmid et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 5,914,826 to Smallwood; and U.S. Pat. No. 4,239,167 to Lane. In addition, certain switch plates have been developed that include projecting elements or surfaces that can be used to retain a plug or a cord that is associated with an electrical outlet. For example, see U.S. Pat. No. 4,702,709 to Santilli; U.S. Pat. No. 3,331,915 to Lucci; U.S. Pat. No. 2,438,143 to Brown; and U.S. Pat. No. 2,943,138 to Reager. However, these prior art wall-mounted keyholders and modified switch plates have several drawbacks. First and foremost, not everyone has a cellular phone, or a PDA or uses a wallet, etc. Therefore, the prior art pre-molded and modified switch plates do not allow for any flexibility or consumer options for additional modification. Therefore, there remains a need for a switch plate that allows for the consumer, as opposed to the manufacturer, to make the decision of what type of retaining element or attachable element to use. In addition, there are certain safety concerns when a hook is permanently attached to a modified switch plate, or integrally formed therewith. In particular, such a hook would pose a hanging hazard and other similar safety issues with respect to both pets and small children. Accordingly, there remains a need for a modified switch plate that includes the appropriate structure to safeguard one's children, pets, etc. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is, therefore, an object of the present invention to provide a cover plate that overcomes the deficiencies of the prior art. It is another object of the present invention to provide a cover plate that allows for the variable positioning of different retaining elements and attachable elements, which allows the consumer to choose how to configure the cover plate. It is another object of the present invention to provide a cover plate that breaks away or otherwise disengages from the wall in order to ensure the safety of various persons and pets. It is a still further object of the present invention to provide a cover plate that allows for the retainment, storage, display or interaction with various items and objects. It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a cover plate that is simple in its manufacture and easy in its installation. Accordingly, the present invention is directed to a cover plate for use in connection with an electrical box, for example a switchbox, an outlet box, a combined switch and outlet box, etc. The cover plate of the present invention includes a plate element that attaches to and at least partially covers a side of the electrical box, typically the side that has electrical appurtenances extending therefrom, such as switches, outlets, knobs, etc. The plate element includes one or more electrical box orifices that would permit access to these electrical appurtenances. The cover plate also includes one or more attachable elements that are removably attachable to a portion of the plate element via an attachment structure. The attachable element is configured to retain, display and/or interact with an item or object. The attachable element may be a variety of various structures, equipment, devices, etc. For example, the attachable element may be a clock, a messaging device, an electronic device, a computing device, a tray, a thermostat, a thermometer, a hook, an enclosure, a container, a holder, a bin, a change holder, a mace holder, a bathroom appliance holder, an electrical cord retainer, a kitchen appliance holder, a household item holder, a remote control holder, an electronic device holder, etc. In addition, the attachable element may retain an electronic device, a computing device, a cellular phone, mail, currency, a wallet, money, a key, a keyring, an item, an object, a remote control, a writing utensil, etc. Therefore, the cover plate of the present invention allows a user to contain, display and/or interact with a variety of items of the user's choice. The present invention, both as to its construction and its method of operation, together with the additional objects and advantages thereof, will best be understood from the following description of exemplary embodiments when read in connection with the accompanying drawings. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a schematic view of the preferred embodiment of a cover plate according to the present invention; FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a further embodiment of a cover plate according to the present invention and an electrical box according to the prior art; FIG. 3 is a side sectional view of an attachable element attached to a plate element according to the present invention; FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a further embodiment of a cover plate according to the present invention as attached to an electrical box; FIG. 5 is a perspective view of an attachable element according to the present invention for retaining an electronic device; FIG. 6 is a front view of a cover plate according to the present invention as attached to an electrical box and retaining and displaying various items; FIG. 7 is a front view of a further embodiment of a cover plate according to the present invention; FIG. 8 is a front view of a still further embodiment of a cover plate according to the present invention; FIG. 9 is a side and partial sectional view of an attachable element for attachment to a plate element according to the present invention; and FIG. 10 is a side and partial sectional view of an attachable element attached to a plate element according to the present invention. DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS For purposes of the description hereinafter, the terms “upper”, “lower”, “right”, “left”, “vertical”, “horizontal”, “top”, “bottom”, “lateral”, “longitudinal”and derivatives thereof shall relate to the invention as it is oriented in the drawing figures. However, it is to be understood that the invention may assume various alternative variations and step sequences, except where expressly specified to the contrary. It is also to be understood that the specific devices and processes illustrated in the attached drawings, and described in the following specification, are simply exemplary embodiments of the invention. Hence, specific dimensions and other physical characteristics related to the embodiments disclosed herein are not to be considered as limiting. The present invention is directed to a cover plate 10 for use in connection with an electrical box 200. The electrical box 200 is an electrical junction location that provides various electrical services to the consumer. For example, the electrical box 200 may be a switchbox, an outlet box, an electrical utility box, a combined switch and outlet box, etc. As is known in the art, the electrical box 200 would include various electrical appurtenances 202 that are associated therewith. For example, the electrical appurtenance 202 may be a switch 204, an outlet 206, a knob 208, etc. Again, as is known in the art, the switch 204 would be used to turn the electricity on and off, for example, turning the lights on and off. The outlet 206 would be used to plug various electrical devices into the electrical box 200. The knob 208 would be used to provide thermostat or adjustable control of various electrical devices. The cover plate 10 of the present invention is illustrated in various embodiments in FIGS. 1-10. In general, the cover plate 10 includes a plate element 12 that is attachable to or at least partially covers a side 210 of the electrical box 200. In addition, the plate element 12 includes at least one, and typically multiple, electrical box orifices 14 that permit access to the electrical appurtenances 202 of the electrical box 200. Therefore, the electrical box orifices 14 are configured to allow a switch 204 or knob 208 to pass therethrough, or to otherwise allow access to an outlet 206. The cover plate 10 also includes at least one attachable element 16 that is removably attachable and engageable with a portion of the plate element 12 via an attachment structure 18. Further, the attachable element 16 is sized and shaped so that it may retain, display and/or interact with an item or object, as discussed in detail hereinafter. In order to attach the cover plate 10 to the electrical box 200, the cover plate 10 also includes a securing mechanism 20 for removably attaching the plate element 12 at least partially over the open side 210 of the electrical box 200. In particular, and according to the prior art, the electrical box 200 includes multiple orifices 212, and these orifices 212 threadedly engage with the securing mechanism 20 of the present invention. Therefore, in one preferred and non-limiting embodiment, the securing mechanism 20 is one or more screws 22 to allow a user to insert the screw 22 through the plate element 12 and further through the orifices 212 of the electrical box 200, and subsequently securely attach the cover plate 10 over the electrical box 200. In one preferred embodiment, the attachment structure 18 includes a first attaching structure 24 and a second attaching structure 26. The first attaching structure 24 is in operational communication with the attachable element 16, and the second attachment structure 26 is in operational communication with the plate element 12. In a further preferred and non-limiting embodiment, and as illustrated in FIG. 3, the first attaching structure 24 is one or more projecting elements 28 that extend from a surface 30 of the attachable element 16. In addition, the second attaching structure 26 is one or more orifices 32 that extend through the plate element 12 and are configured to engage with and at least partially accept the projecting element 28. In yet another preferred embodiment, multiple projecting elements 28 extend from the surface 30 of the attachable element 16, and multiple orifices 32 are configured to engage and at least partially accept a respective projecting element 28. In order to provide the maximum flexibility to the consumer regarding the attachment and positioning of the attachable element 16 on the plate element 12, multiple and spaced orifices 32 extend through the plate element 12 for engaging with and accepting a projecting element 28 in a removable manner. See FIG. 2. Accordingly, a user can simply disengage the attachable element 16 from one set of orifices 32, and re-engage either a different attachable element 16 in the same orifices 32, or alternatively the same attachable element 16 to a different set of orifices 32. This allows the user to choose the various functions they wish to achieve with the various attachable elements 16 offered. Therefore, since the attachable element 16 is removable and re-attachable to the plate element 12 via the attachent structure 18, the same attachable element 16 can be positioned on multiple areas of the plate element 12 according to the user's needs. As seen in FIG. 3, the attachable element 16 may be a hook 34 extending from a hook base portion 36. The hook 34 would allow a user to hang an item on the hook 34, such as keys and the like. In addition, the hook 34 may be positioned on various portions of the plate element 12 using the various orifices 32 available. In one aspect of the present invention, the attachable element 16, the attachment structure 18 and/or the plate element 12 include a breakaway portion 38. In particular, this breakaway portion 38 allows the attachable element 16 to break away from the plate element 12 upon the occurrence of a predetermined break force. Further, the breakaway portion 38 may be a notch, a weakened area or a releasable adhesive material 40. Of course, any combination of breakaway portions 38 may be used to achieve the appropriate breakpoint at the predetermined break force. For example, the notch, weakened area or releasable adhesive material 40 may be configured to allow the attachable element 16, such as the hook 34, to break away from the plate element 12 when a five-pound force is applied. Any predetermined break force may be used. In a further preferred and non-limiting embodiment, the attachable element 16 includes a frame portion 42 and a door portion 44, which is movably attached or attachable to the frame portion 42. In this manner, the door portion 44 is removable away from and towards the frame portion 42, thereby providing access to an attachable element inner retaining area 46. As seen in FIGS. 5 and 6, the frame portion 42 may be sized and shaped so as to removably retain an electronic device 300 therein. For example, the electronic device 300 may be a cellular phone or a PDA, which can be inserted into the inner retaining area 46 of the frame portion 42. In order to easily remove and/or insert the electronic device 300 into the frame portion 42, the door portion 44 is moved towards and away from the frame portion 42 in the direction of arrow A. This provides the user easy access to the electronic device 300. In another embodiment, the frame portion 42 includes a gripping structure 48 for engaging and securely holding the electronic device 300 within the frame portion 42, and specifically within the inner retaining area 46 of the frame portion 42. In one embodiment, the gripping structure 48 is one or more padding elements 50 that are positioned on an inner surface 52 of the frame portion 42. Accordingly, electronic device 300 is frictionally engaged with the frame portion 42 by inserting and contacting the electronic device 300 with one or more of the padding elements 50. The padding elements 50 may be flexible and have certain shape memory retention characteristics, such that the padding elements 50 are deformed when the electronic device 300 is inserted in the frame portion 42, and return to the original state after the electronic device 300 is removed from the frame portion 42. As is known in the prior art, the vast majority of electronic devices 300 include electrical cords 302 that are used to either operate or recharge the battery associated with electronic device 300. Therefore, and as best seen in FIG. 5, the frame portion 42 may include one or more plug orifices 54 that provide passage of a portion of the electrical cord 302 of the electronic device 300. In this manner, the electronic device 300 may be docked or otherwise placed in and subsequently charged when positioned in the frame portion 42 and connected to the electrical cord 302 (which is connected to an outlet 206 accessible through the plate element 12). It is also envisioned that the frame portion 42 may have some other positioning structure that allows the user to simply engage the electronic device 300 with the frame portion 42 without first connecting the electrical cord 302 to the electronic device 300. In essence, the frame portion 42 would act as a docking station and allow the electronic device 300 to be charged whenever it is positioned in the frame portion 42. While discussed in connection with a cellular phone or a PDA, the electronic device 300 may be a variety of devices. For example, the electronic device 300 may be a palmtop, a computing device, an electric razor, a hairdryer, a toothbrush, a curling iron, etc. In a still further preferred and non-limiting embodiment, the cover plate 10 may include an ancillary element 56, which is removably attachable to the plate element 12 and/or the attachable element 16. As shown in one embodiment in FIG. 4, the attachable element 16 may include a frame portion 42 that includes a slot 58 extending across a surface of the frame element 42. In this embodiment, the ancillary element 56 is a hook 34 having a hook base portion 36, as discussed above in connection with the attachable element 16. However, the hook 34 of this embodiment includes a modified projecting element 60 extending from the hook base portion 36. This modified projecting element 60 is receivable within and along the slot 58, such that the user may simply engage the modified projecting element 60 with the slot 58 and slide (in direction of arrow B) the hook 34 to an appropriate location along the slot 58 and attachable element 16. Further, multiple hooks 34 may be used and slid along the slot 58 to provide greater customizability with respect to the ancillary element 56 and the attachable element 16. Still further, as opposed to a hook 34, any number of various attachable elements 16 (and ancillary elements 56) may include the modified projecting element 60 extending therefrom. In this manner, as opposed to using the orifices 32 to customize the cover plate 10, the user may simply use the slot 58 structure discussed above with various ancillary elements 56, such as a hook, a tray, a container, a bin, etc. In the further embodiment, the ancillary element 56 is a clock 62. As with the previously-discussed hook 34 (when used as an ancillary element 56), the clock 62 includes appropriate attaching structure to removably attach the clock 62 to a portion of the attachable element 16. In operation, the user may simply press and engage the clock 62 against a face of the attachable element 16 in the direction of arrow C, and similarly the user may also remove the clock 62 from the attachable element 16. In this embodiment, the ancillary element 56 is a clock 62 with a thermometer reading, and the attachable element 16 is an electronic device holder 64. As seen in FIG. 6 in use, various items may be retained by, attached to or otherwise displayed by the attachable element 16, as connected to the plate element 12. Further, in the embodiment of FIG. 6, the plate element 12 is attached to the electrical box 200, with the various appurtenances 202 extending therethrough, including a switch 204 and multiple outlets 206. FIG. 7 illustrates a cover plate 10 with multiple attachable elements 16 attached thereto prior to installation on an electrical box 200. In this embodiment, one of the attachable elements 16 is a messaging device 66. In particular, the messaging device 66 allows a user to record and play back messages which provides even greater functionality of the cover plate 10. When used in connection with an attachable element 16 that is an electronic device holder 64, such as a cellular phone holder, the messaging device 66 is particularly useful to quickly record and play back messages as a user is utilizing the cellular phone. As with the other attachable element 16, the messaging device 66 may be removable from the plate element 12 and placed on various cover plates 10 throughout the household that are located at or near a position that the user would like to record or play back messages. As seen in FIG. 8, the plate element 12 includes appropriate orifices 32 for attaching multiple attachable elements 16, as well as electrical box orifices 14 for placement over the various electrical appurtenances 202, but providing access thereto. Of course, the plate element 12 may be manufactured to include a variety of separately positioned orifices 32, and matching electrical box orifices 14 for attachment to a specifically designed electrical box 200, as is known in the art. The attachment structure 18 of the cover plate 10, as discussed above, may take various shapes and sizes. For example, see FIGS. 9 and 10. Specifically, FIG. 9 illustrates a frame portion 42 in the form of a tray, and FIG. 10 illustrates a frame portion 42 together with a door portion 44 that is openable and closeable. In order to provide maximum flexibility, the ancillary element 56 and the attachable element 16 may take a variety of shapes, sizes, forms and functions. For example, the ancillary element 56 and/or the attachable element 16 may be a clock 62, a messaging device 66, an electronic device 300, a computing device, a tray, a thermostat, a thermometer, a hook 34, an enclosure, a container, a holder, a bin, a change holder, a mace holder, a bathroom appliance holder, an electrical cord retainer, a kitchen appliance holder, a household item holder, a remote control holder, an electronic device holder, etc. Accordingly, either the attachable element 16 and/or the ancillary element 56 may be specifically configured to retain an electronic device 300, a computing device, a cellular phone, mail, currency, money, a wallet, a key, a keyring, an item, an object, a remote control, a writing utensil, etc. Turning to the manufacture of the present invention, the cover plate 10, the plate element 12, the attachable element 16 and/or the attachment structure 18 may be manufactured from a variety of materials. For example, these items may be manufactured from a plastic, a synthetic material, a polymer, a metallic material, wood, etc. In one preferred and non-limiting embodiment, the attachable element 16, together with the attachment structure 18, are manufactured in a molded process using a polymeric material. Accordingly, the attachment element 16 and the attachment structure 18, specifically the first attaching structure 24, are manufactured as an integral unit. Still further, as discussed above, various portions of the attachable element 16 and/or the first attaching structure 24 include appropriate breakaway portions 38, which provides important safety precaution functions. However, any material of construction of the various components and subcomponents of the cover plate 10 are envisioned. In this manner, the present invention provides a cover plate 10 that is modified for use in connection with an electrical box 200. The cover plate 10 includes a removable attachable element 16, and typically multiple attachable elements 16, that provide a variety of functions for retaining, displaying or otherwise interacting with an item or object. In addition, the multiple sets of orifices 32 allow a user to customize the look and function of the cover plate 10 according to their own needs. Further, when used in connection with the breakaway portions 38, the cover plate 10 includes the necessary safety precautions to prevent injury of children, pets, etc. This invention has been described with reference to the preferred embodiments. Obvious modifications and alterations will occur to others upon reading and understanding the preceding detailed description. It is intended that the invention be construed as including all such modifications and alterations. | <SOH> BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION <EOH>1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates in general to cover plates for use in connection with electrical boxes, such as electrical boxes that include wall-mounted switch plates and have one or more actuator switches and/or electrical outlets and, in particular, to a cover plate that is positioned over one or more of the electrical appurtenances of the electrical box and that provides additional storage, display and interactive functionality. 2. Description of Related Art According to the prior art, there are many electrical boxes available that offer various functions to the end user and electrical access, for example switchboxes, electrical outlets, combination boxes and other similar wall-mounted switches and outlets. Presently, however, the switch plate covers and outlet covers for such boxes and outlets are plain plates that have only a single function, which is to provide a protective cover over an electrical box. Accordingly, prior art switch plates do not provide any additional functionality with relation to that specific area around or adjacent to the switch plate cover. Oftentimes, people misplace or forget where they have placed their keys, cell phones, PDAs, wallets and other similar items and objects. In particular, these items are misplaced since people do not generally have a single designated place where they habitually place their keys when they remove them from their person. Accordingly, these items end up lost and a considerable amount of time and resources are wasted searching for the item. In one attempt to solve this problem, and according to the prior art, wall-mounted keyholders are available. However, these holders are designed to be permanently attached to the wall, either by nails, screws or the like, which require new holes to be drilled or punched or secured with an anchor. Next, these screws or nails must be placed into the drilled holes and secured with some attachment mechanism in order to hold the wall-mounted keyholder against the wall. In addition, certain switch plates have been developed that may be used in place of the prior art and commonly-known switch plates used in the vast majority of commercial and residential structures. In addition, some of these modified switch plates evidence integrally formed appurtenances or projections that allow the switch plate to achieve various functions. For example, see U.S. Pat. No. 4,335,883 to Rapps; U.S. Pat. No. 4,425,725 to Moustakas et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 5,594,206 to Klas et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 6,404,569 to Bachschmid et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 5,914,826 to Smallwood; and U.S. Pat. No. 4,239,167 to Lane. In addition, certain switch plates have been developed that include projecting elements or surfaces that can be used to retain a plug or a cord that is associated with an electrical outlet. For example, see U.S. Pat. No. 4,702,709 to Santilli; U.S. Pat. No. 3,331,915 to Lucci; U.S. Pat. No. 2,438,143 to Brown; and U.S. Pat. No. 2,943,138 to Reager. However, these prior art wall-mounted keyholders and modified switch plates have several drawbacks. First and foremost, not everyone has a cellular phone, or a PDA or uses a wallet, etc. Therefore, the prior art pre-molded and modified switch plates do not allow for any flexibility or consumer options for additional modification. Therefore, there remains a need for a switch plate that allows for the consumer, as opposed to the manufacturer, to make the decision of what type of retaining element or attachable element to use. In addition, there are certain safety concerns when a hook is permanently attached to a modified switch plate, or integrally formed therewith. In particular, such a hook would pose a hanging hazard and other similar safety issues with respect to both pets and small children. Accordingly, there remains a need for a modified switch plate that includes the appropriate structure to safeguard one's children, pets, etc. | <SOH> SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION <EOH>It is, therefore, an object of the present invention to provide a cover plate that overcomes the deficiencies of the prior art. It is another object of the present invention to provide a cover plate that allows for the variable positioning of different retaining elements and attachable elements, which allows the consumer to choose how to configure the cover plate. It is another object of the present invention to provide a cover plate that breaks away or otherwise disengages from the wall in order to ensure the safety of various persons and pets. It is a still further object of the present invention to provide a cover plate that allows for the retainment, storage, display or interaction with various items and objects. It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a cover plate that is simple in its manufacture and easy in its installation. Accordingly, the present invention is directed to a cover plate for use in connection with an electrical box, for example a switchbox, an outlet box, a combined switch and outlet box, etc. The cover plate of the present invention includes a plate element that attaches to and at least partially covers a side of the electrical box, typically the side that has electrical appurtenances extending therefrom, such as switches, outlets, knobs, etc. The plate element includes one or more electrical box orifices that would permit access to these electrical appurtenances. The cover plate also includes one or more attachable elements that are removably attachable to a portion of the plate element via an attachment structure. The attachable element is configured to retain, display and/or interact with an item or object. The attachable element may be a variety of various structures, equipment, devices, etc. For example, the attachable element may be a clock, a messaging device, an electronic device, a computing device, a tray, a thermostat, a thermometer, a hook, an enclosure, a container, a holder, a bin, a change holder, a mace holder, a bathroom appliance holder, an electrical cord retainer, a kitchen appliance holder, a household item holder, a remote control holder, an electronic device holder, etc. In addition, the attachable element may retain an electronic device, a computing device, a cellular phone, mail, currency, a wallet, money, a key, a keyring, an item, an object, a remote control, a writing utensil, etc. Therefore, the cover plate of the present invention allows a user to contain, display and/or interact with a variety of items of the user's choice. The present invention, both as to its construction and its method of operation, together with the additional objects and advantages thereof, will best be understood from the following description of exemplary embodiments when read in connection with the accompanying drawings. | 20040916 | 20060627 | 20050526 | 57556.0 | 1 | PATEL, DHIRUBHAI R | COVER PLATE | MICRO | 0 | ACCEPTED | 2,004 |
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